you. Philippians chapter four. Is it all right if we stand reverence to reading of the word of God and just stretch your legs a little bit We're gonna be in Philippians 4 then we're gonna flip over matter of fact I tell you what just go ahead and hold your finger at Philippians 4 Let's flip over to Matthew 13 and let's read a verse over here first and then we'll go to Philippians 4 and I'll give you what's on my heart and and uh... and then get out of the way and let the lord use some other man to help us and i know it'll be a blessing so matthew thirteen look with me in verse number twenty two matthew chapter thirteen and verse number twenty two and uh... the bible says here he also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful." Now, we know what that verse is, kind of right smack dab in the middle of the Lord giving that parable of the souls, you know. And there's two words I want you to really zone in on in that word. The word is care. In that verse, the word is care and the word is choke. Okay? So I want you to keep that in mind. And now flip over to Philippians chapter 4 and look in verse number 5. Back up to verse 4, it says, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. and the peace of God which passeth all understanding." You can't even explain it. You have to experience it. And you don't even understand it when you experience it. Isn't that right? Have you ever been there? You think, man, I really should be more tore up about this than I am. I really should be a little more, you know, but just, I don't know, God's just helping me. You know, you don't even understand, you can't explain it. And he says, the peace of God passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. I'm gonna preach to you for a few minutes with the Lord's help this morning on how to handle anxiety. How to handle anxiety. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. And thank you for the copy of it that we have this morning in our laps. Lord, I thank you. Lord, a lot of blood has been shed by your people down through the years, Lord, that our Bible might be preserved. And Lord, that you might give us, Lord, a pure copy of the word of God. And I thank you so much, Lord, for what we've already heard preached. And Lord, what this place, Lord, what this preacher, the pastor of this church has preached down through the years and what this place has heard in the days gone by. Lord, I thank you for a place that's on the side of the road still preaching the unadulterated Word of God. Lord, still going the old time way. And Lord, I thank you so much that we're able to be in church this morning. Lord, it's such an honor, such a privilege. Lord, it's not a burden to serve you. It's not a burden to be in ministry. Lord, it's a blessing. And Lord, I thank you for the call of God on my life. And Lord, I thank you for putting me in the ministry. Lord, I thank you for these men, Lord, that we can lock arms and serve you together. Lord, I thank you for every preacher and every preacher's family here this morning. I pray, oh God, you'd help us just to go on for your glory this morning. I pray that you'd help every man to be faithful. Lord, I need these men. Lord, I need them to stand where they've always stood. Lord, I need them to keep preaching. Lord, for me and for my family, God, I just pray to you to help them, help us all. Lord, I pray for this church. God, you touch every member, every family that's represented. Lord, in Temple Baptist Church, God, you just do a great work in these days. And we'll thank you for what you do in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. Thank you. You may be seated. Romans chapter 15 and verse number 4 says this, "...for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope." And you know, we're living in some mighty hopeless days. The preacher just got done preaching on the last day, the days of Noah. And as you look around the days of Noah that we are living in, they're not getting more hopeful. And I know that the world is pushing us to the side. They do not want to hear the message. They don't want to hear our message anymore. They want to hear Noah's message, amen. And you notice that it's not, really improving things. The world's lives are not getting better. We are living in a day and living a society. We're living in the most medicated society, probably, that's ever been in the history of the world. Nearly everybody, even within good solid churches, are medicated for some form. There's anxiety meds and depression meds. And by the way, you better always be careful of that stuff because, listen, all this stuff has exploded in the past few years. And a lot of people don't like that, but it's still just the reality. When I was a boy coming up through the 90s, you didn't hear of all this stuff. I'm talking about just everybody. I wasn't medicated like they are. I mean, even in the past five years, 10 years, it has exploded. And what I want you to notice is that it is not coming as a result of our society or even our churches becoming more godly. It's following along the path of us becoming more carnal and more worldly. And I tell you what it lets me know. It lets me know that as we are departing from the Word of God, as we are departing from the Scriptures, it's causing us to be more and more hopeless. Not more hopeful, not more grounded, not more satisfied, not more committed, but more hopeless and empty and discouraged and even full of anxiety. The cares, the Bible says, of this world. And you know, that's really where the world is at, but we have to be very careful that that doesn't get into our life. And there is no doubt, there is no, preacher, there is no doubt in my mind that there is somebody sitting, maybe more than one person sitting in this church this morning, And if you would be honest, listen, a lot of us put a brave face on at church, and it's easy to be real high when we're in Jubilee. We're singing songs about trusting God to get us through the storm and all those things. And I'm for it. I say amen. I was shouting louder than anybody back there, because I tell you, I have seen God get me through some storms, and God has brought me through some valleys through my life. Praise God. But listen, it's easy to be high when you're in here in meeting zone. But you wait till you get back to your place. I know for a fact that there are going to be times of anxiety and cares and discouragements and worries. You know what keeps a lot of preachers from preaching the whole council? Anxiety. They worried about losing that family or how it's gonna affect that one, how it's gonna affect that one. So we frame our preaching and frame things. And by the way, I don't think you ought to be a jerk. Listen, you can take a bold stand for God without being a jerk about it, amen? Somebody say amen right there. And so I'm not talking about, I'm not being a jerk. Listen, we frame a lot of our things very carefully tiptoe around this one or that one. And if we're not careful, you know, that'll get into my preaching or your preaching too, amen? I know we're in a fundamentally independent Baptist church, and that's not a problem around here, but it could be one day if you're not careful, amen? Amen? And I tell you, and not only that, but listen, there's a lot of times, and you know this would be true too, every preacher knows what I'm talking about. You'll go ahead and preach it anyways, even though you know that family's sitting there, but you'll go home with it thinking, well, this is it, this is the last time, this is it. It'll keep you up at night. You'll lay up at night worried about it. And we'll say, oh, no, I'm just caring. No, you're worried about it. You've got anxiety. And you think it's going to split. They're going to leave. Then they're going to get in that one's ear. And they're going to take that family with them. Before I know it, I ain't going to have a church anymore. This is the end. Before we know it, we've built it up to be the end of ministry. And we're all going to die. See what that is, that is anxiety, friend. And this world is battling and dealing with it more than it ever has before. And I tell you, it's getting into our churches, it's getting into our lives. And in these fallen bodies, in this fallen world, these fallen bodies, we tabernacle this fallen world in. I tell you, it is human nature to deal with anxiety. By the way, anytime you hear the term human nature, you need to automatically think to yourself, fallen nature. Anytime you hear human nature, think fallen nature. That's what it is. That's what it is. To worry and be concerned about things that we just don't even have any control over. And your mind will get to racing and will not let that thing go. But my Bible tells me that these things were written that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. Our hope and our comfort does not come with our ability to be diplomatic and work things out and talk somebody through something or frame things a certain way. Listen, our comfort and our hope comes from this Bible, from the Word of God, amen? And listen, when the stars are falling to the earth and the moon's dripping blood, this Bible is going to stand, amen? And so if we're gonna stand, we better be standing on this Bible. Believe it or not, this Bible has some things to say about anxiety. Now that word anxiety, you won't find that word in the Bible, but you will find the principle of it there. And that word anxiety, that word means a feeling of worry. or nervousness or unease. It's typically about some imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. You don't know how it's going to all play out. And it comes, I thought this was interesting, it comes from an old English word that means to strangle or to suffocate. Tell you, when you get eat up and overcome with anxiety, that's the way you feel, ain't it? Feels like you're suffocating, feel like you're being choked to death. As a matter of fact, we just read in Matthew chapter 13, verse number 22, that the care of this world The care, that's the concerns, the worries, the nervousness, the anxieties. The Bible says that the cares of this world is what, what did it do to the word? Choked the word. You know, anxiety keeps a lot of people from ever being born again by the good grace of God. And listen, anxiety and the cares of this world, the nervousness and all those things, that's what drives a lot of people to excel in the things of this world. Listen, you ever hear somebody talk about having nervous energy? They can't sit still. They get anxious. Full of anxiety. Some of the richest men in the world were eat up with that. Elon Musk is right now. I listened to an interview one time, this is not too long ago. Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world. He might be the richest man in the world right now, and it's kind of back and forth, you know. He's at least like top two or three. Richest man in all the world. And I saw an interview with him, and they're of course, you know, they're bringing up different things. They're talking about death, and if you believe in God, different things. They're talking about dying. And he made this, and I heard it with my own ears, my own ears. He said, I believe that death will come as a bit of relief. Life is running him so ragged, and he's so eat up with the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, that he believes that whenever he finally dies, that it's going to be a little bit of a relief to him. he doesn't realize it's going to get worse. For him, if you don't get saved, it's going to get worse. It's not going to be a relief. Amen. I'm just simply saying, listen, that is the feeling. That is what anxiety is. And it will choke you to death if you're not careful. In Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 5, he says, let your moderation be made known unto all men. That word moderation there, that means the ability to be calm. It means the ability to not be extreme, to not go to extremes. And you know, whenever we have anxiety or there's something that we are worried or concerned about, and it could be any thousands of scenarios, could be in the church, on the job, in the family, whatever it is, financial, emotional, whatever it is, you just interject your situation there, whenever we have something we are concerned about, it's bothering us, we are worried about it, when we have anxiety, we always tend to go to extremes in our mind. A situation that, from anybody else on the outside looking in, is not really that big of a deal, but if you're in the middle of it, that thing's so much bigger than you, and it gets so big that before it's over, it's going to ruin your whole life, it's going to ruin everything, everything is going to end, it's going to live and die on how this situation plays out. I tell you, we make things so big. I had a preacher tell me one time, I called him, and I was doing some things at the church I was at back in Mississippi when I was a pastor in Mississippi, and I called a good preacher friend of mine, we was just talking, and he told me this, he made this saving, I tell you, it just helped me so much. And I know this isn't, you know, this isn't anything you don't already know, but it helped me in the moment. He said, brother, I was telling him all my problems, you know, all my perceived destruction that was coming. He said, brother, He said, listen, you're just overwhelmed. And he said, when you're overwhelmed, little things become very, very big things. We go to extremes. We build it up. We make the monster so big. And so we go to extremes. And so he says to let your moderation, let your ability to be calm, let your ability to not go to extremes in your life when the pressure, he said, let that be known unto all men. Let the world see that in you. And then he says the peace of God. The peace of God. Now the peace with God is what we get when we get saved. Amen? Praise God for it. Amen? But that doesn't necessarily mean we always have the peace of God. There's a difference of having peace with God and having the peace of God. I'll tell you what the peace of God comes with. Peace of God comes with growing and maturing in the Lord, walking with God. It comes with discipleship and growing up and learning some things about God, walking with God for a little while. And that peace of God, that's an inner tranquility that the world does not know or understand. That's why they medicate it with alcohol and with drugs and with therapy. And that's why, listen, that's what's driving a lot of this transgender movement. That's what's driving a lot of this sodomite movement and all this woke agenda. A lot of what's driving it is the cares and the anxieties and no peace in people's soul. No peace. Let me read you a little excerpt from an article. This was written by Time Magazine, put this out March 26, 2020. So just think about what's going on, March 26, 2020. Time Magazine put out a little article. It said, as the physical coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, an emotional pandemic is following fast in its wake. When the whole world is going to pieces, it's awfully hard for the human mind, a fragile thing in the best of times, to cope. And more and more, doctors are reporting the spread of despair, worry, and depression among their patients, especially those already suffering from some form of anxiety disorder. Even before COVID-19 hit its shores, the U.S. was a clinically anxious place. That's amazing. Richest country in the history of the world, and we are eat up with anxiety. We're not enjoying the blessings of America. Listen, they're killing us. a clinically anxious place. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, just over 19% of all American adults will experience at least one anxiety disorder over any 12-month period. Generalized anxiety disorder involves a pathological response to everyday challenges like worries over money, work deadlines, and parenting. For people with GAD, generalized anxiety disorder, those common woes produce disabling pain, and coronavirus is surely having an impact. The worry becomes, how do I pay my bills? What if I lose my job? What if I lose my car? McGrath says anxiety disorders are based on two words, what if, followed by the worst scenario your brain can devise. That is the root of anxiety and worry. It is what if followed by the worst scenario your brain can devise. What if this happens? I want to give you about four things very quickly straight from your Bible. straight from your Bible this morning on how to handle anxiety. Now I want you to know something. I am not swatting anybody over the head this morning. I know this is a very real, very relevant thing. And if you're battling this, this preacher is going to give you something straight from the Word of God of how you can have victory over anxiety. No matter the extreme, no matter the situation, no matter where, it doesn't matter if it's in your family, in your church, on the job, it does not matter. Your Bible gives you a way right here how you can have victory. You can give it to the Lord and walk on for God. You do not have to be controlled and have sleepless nights because of your anxiety. This Bible says to choose to worry about nothing. How you gonna handle anxiety? Choose to worry about nothing. In verse number four of Philippians chapter four, he said, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Now look at verse number six. This is a direct command from God. Be careful for nothing. That word careful there means overcome. It means worry. Be careful. Don't be overcome. Don't worry. He says for nothing. That is about anything. Don't be careful about it. Don't worry or be overcome with anxiety about it. That's a command from God. A command from God. Now, it does not mean that we don't do what we can. Doesn't mean you sit back and you just, you know, let it all go to the wind and, well, God'll take care of it if it's gonna be taken care of. That's like that fella that was really praying, you know, Lord, Lord, he stood there leaning on a shovel and he needed a hole real bad and he's praying, Lord, please send me a hole. Oh, we just need this, the wind in this hole, wind in this ditch dug so bad, and he sat there leaning on a shovel, you know. And so let me tell you, God, if there's something that needs to be done, God will put a shovel in your hand, get to work, and leave the rest to God, amen? And so it doesn't mean we sit back and do nothing and just let everything fall where it goes and we just kind of let everything go. No, Colossians 3, verse 23 said, whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. As a matter of fact, everything we do ought to have a higher standard than what the world does. I don't know about you, and it's sitting in my notes, but I get really tired of the halfway mentality in ministry. I have a high standard for ministry, amen? And I tell you, I get tired of just the halfway done and the yard sale religion and goodwill religion. Whenever we're used up with all of our time and all of our gifts and all our abilities and all, if I've got anything left over in my life, I'll give it to God, you know? Listen, God ought to always have our best, amen? I tell you if this world can kill themselves working for a dollar bill and for success by the grace of God We ought to be killing ourselves. We ought to spending and be being spent for the glory of God. Amen I tell you I got nothing for a lazy preacher that'll lay around all day and not study, and get up in the pulpit and rant and rave about everything that gets on his nerves, and take a verse and just preach 90 miles from the verse, amen. Listen, get in that book and study, amen, and give God's people something, and I tell you, get up early and walk with God, amen. We're missing that in this generation. Amen. Praise God. None of that's in my notes. That's all free for you. Amen. I'm trying to help you with the anxiety this morning. Amen. But I am saying this, we ought to be doing everything we can to serve God. We ought to be doing everything we can to get to God. We ought to be spending and being spent for the glory of God. Amen. But listen, whenever you get down to the end of all that, Whenever you and I both, I don't, listen, mama, when you get down to the end of raising them kids, those little boys, those little girls, the best of your ability, for the glory of God, to see them come up and serve God, I tell you, you can do your very best, but you'll get down to the end of it all, and you'll have to take your hands off of it, and there'll just be things you can't control. Preacher, you give your very best to the glory of God. And when you get down to the end of your, the best of your abilities, you'll just have to take your hands off and say, Lord, I've done my best for you. And there'll be things you just can't control. And so I'm saying this morning, listen, give your very best and control what you can, but whatever you do, do it heartily. Amen. Do what you can and do not worry about the rest. Don't worry about the... You can't control it anyways. Do your best. Give your best to God and give the rest of it to God too. Amen. Matthew chapter 6. I hope maybe you're still in Matthew 13. I want you to flip over to Matthew 6 very quickly. Boy, I got to hurry to get through all this. Matthew chapter 6 and verse number 25. Look at what Jesus says here now. Straight from the mouth of our Savior. He says, no man can serve two masters. That's why a lot of people read up on anxiety in the church, because they're trying to serve two masters. And a lot of people talk about how hard it is. They've told me, and probably told you, and you, and all you other preachers. You have people come to you and tell you, preacher, it's so hard. You say, it ain't hard. Jesus said, my yoke is easy. My burden's light. The way of the transgressor is hard. And when you're trying to live with one foot in the church, that's a hard life to live. It's hard physically. It's hard emotionally. It's hard spiritually. It's a hard life to live. And so if you'd sell out and serve God, I tell you, his yoke is easy and his burden is light. I tell you, if you ever feel burdened by the ministry or burdened by living for God, Jesus is not doing that to you. Amen. Jesus has never made you feel the burden and the hardness of ministry. Amen. We get that way when we're wrong. No man can serve two masters, for either he'll hate the one and love the other, or he'll hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 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 you shall put on, is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment? He said, Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather in the barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature? things we can't control. 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. 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 in the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Amen. Take therefore no thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Amen. Be careful. Be careful in Philippians 4, 6 is the same thing as take no thought in Matthew 6. It's the same thing. And he's not saying, the Lord is not telling us in Matthew 6, he's not saying, don't think about your life, don't plan, don't use wisdom, amen, amen. Listen, you ought to be planning for retirement. You ain't going to be able to preach, you know, till you die. I hope, I want to die on the battlefield, but I tell you, not all of us are going to croak out in the pulpit. And I hope it's that way for me, but it ain't gonna be that way for most. Listen, plans, make sure your family's taken care. That's a biblical principle, by the way. It's good and it's right to leave something to your children and your children, make sure your wife and your family, if you ain't got life insurance, go today and get life insurance. I mean, the Lord's not telling us to be foolish. I mean, He's telling us to think and use wisdom, but listen, the message is don't be consumed with those things. Don't be consumed with worry. And He gives us a list there. Now, everything He lists there in Matthew 6, listen, are those not the things that we worry about the most? I'm not going to go through it, but when you get time, just go back and read through the list the Lord gives us in Matthew 6. Of all the things, He says, take no thought for. And you'll find that that, generally speaking, are all the things that we as humanity, fallen humanity, worries about the most. Take no thought. Now that's not a careless attitude. It means we take care of what we can and the rest we just don't worry about. Choose to worry about nothing. Make up your mind, God, I'm not gonna worry about this. I'm not gonna walk one more step with this thing weighing me down. I'm giving it to you. I'm making up my mind. Choose to worry about nothing. Number two, choose to pray about everything. Philippians 4, verse 6, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, you know what he said, pray without ceasing. That is, let every worry, every anxiety always be a reminder to you to pray. If you're worried about it, and you can't control it, and you don't know how it's going to play out, let it just remind you, I need to get somewhere with that. And it may just be a minute, or two minutes, or a little three-minute prayer where you get off by yourself somewhere, and you just get down, and you just pray real quick. I tell you, you'd be amazed. I have been amazed, preacher, at how just a little two-minute prayer, just getting along with God, and just rolling that burden over. And I tell you how He'll just take that thing and I can walk on and not worry about it anymore. Can I tell you what happens? The peace of God will fill my heart, amen. That peace that passes all understanding will just fill my soul when I pray. The sad truth is most of the time prayer is a last resort for us. And so he said pray without ceasing. And if we were to let every worry, every anxiety to always remind us to stop and pray, we'd probably pray without ceasing. We'd probably always be praying because, listen, if I can't control things, I can talk to the one who can control them. Amen. Number three, choose not just to worry about nothing. Choose to pray about everything, but then choose to be thankful in all things. It's right there in the verse. Everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God. It's right there in the verse. He said back in verse four, rejoice in the Lord always, always. And again, I say rejoice. Now, the entire time he's writing this, I probably need to remind you that Philippians is one of the prison epistles. Ain't that right? That means this preacher is sitting in a prison cell. He's got it worse than any of us have got it this morning. And he certainly don't know how it's all going to pan out. I mean, he's in the worst kind of way. He's got it worse than any... I mean, it's worse than the power being off. Poor old Brother Chad didn't even get to do his hair this morning, man. I tell you, he's in a bad way, but Apostle Paul's worse. Right? He said, in a prison cell, writing, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Matter of fact, look in verse 10. Same preacher said, But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again, wherein ye also were careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be a base and how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound, to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me." That verse, Philippians 4.13, isn't there so you can slam-dunk a basketball or hit the game-winning home run, amen? It's there. So you can abound or abase in whatever state of life you're in, wherever you are, you can live it for the glory of God and be okay and have peace in your soul because you have given it all to the Lord. Amen. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 16 says, Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing in everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. You're praying about the will of God? You ain't even got to pray about that. It is the will of God to rejoice and be thankful in everything. Now you notice he didn't say for everything. He did say, in everything though, Romans 8, 28, all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. And for everybody, it's for them who love God, who are the called according to His purpose, amen? And so not all things are good, but they all are working together for good. And I don't know where you're at or what's going on in your life, but I'm telling you right now, based on this Bible, it is working together for your good some way, somehow. Kind of like biscuits, you know. I don't know what all it takes to make biscuits. I ain't never made a biscuit in my life. But I think it takes flour and butter and some other stuff. Eggs. You just get you a belly full of raw eggs and tell me how good that is. or just eat a stick of butter, right? Or just take down a cup of flour, delicious. None of those things are good in and of themselves, but you mix them together just right, you put them in an oven just right, you get the pressure and the heat on just right, I tell you, you'll pull it out and you say, ooh, this is all worked together for good, praise God, amen. God's not looking to make biscuits out of us, but he is working things out for our good, amen. Anything good in our life, anything ever good that would come out of us is what the Lord has done. And we all know for a fact, we all know, if you've lived for God any length of time, you know that you've learned more of the Lord in the valley than you have on the mountain. All of us. You look back and you see that unseen hand was there the whole time. Standing somewhere in the shadows, you'll find Jesus. Listen, choose, choose to be thankful in all things. Wherever you're at right now, make up your mind, Lord, I am thankful. Not necessarily, maybe not for this, but Lord, I am thankful in this. I'm gonna praise you. One of the best ways to get through the valley is praise your way through. Amen? And by the way, let me just say this, and I gotta hurry and quit, Preacher, I promise I'll quit. But listen, isn't it amazing how whenever we get in this situation, when we get eat up with anxiety and worry and things we can't control, it's amazing how it never affects our carnal life. We still go to work. We still clean the house, still cut the grass. Right, we still all of those things. Boy, it can get mighty hard to go to church sometimes. And if you do make it to church, you come dragging in. It can be mighty hard to lift up your voice and praise. Is God still God in the valley or is He not? I mean, is He still on the throne when things aren't where we want them to be or is He not? Listen, He's worthy no matter where we are. He's worthy. He's worthy when we're up and when we're down. He's worthy when the bills are paid and unpaid. He's worthy when we've got the crowd and when we don't have the crowd. Amen. And I tell you, we've got to get sight of that again. Don't you remember when you first got saved? And how's you just proud to be here? Don't you remember when God first called you to preach and was dealing with your heart? And you're just proud to be rubbing shoulders with some of these preachers. I tell you, I met earlier, I met the notorious Stacy Shifflin, praise God. And I'm just glad to get to rub shoulders with men like him and Brother Terry Dees. I'm just proud to be, listen, here sitting under the preaching of Brother Chad Bailey. being with all you other men. And don't you remember whenever it was that way when you first got saved? I mean, you were so nothing. And then I get to mix it up with Brother Leland Frazier now. And I tell you, if we're not careful, we'll get a little beyond ourself. And we'll start thinking we're a little more than what we ought to be. And I tell you, we'll start looking at the crowd we've got. And it's not as much as what somebody else has got. It's not as big as the church down the road. And I tell you, if we're not careful, We won't say it with our mouth, but we'll say it in our heart. God, this is not good enough. At one time, it was good enough just to be on a street corner for me. At one time, it was good to be in a jail for me. At one time, it was good enough to be in a nursing home for me. At one time, it was good enough just to have a Bible and just to preach the Word of God to anyone that would listen. Amen. But if we're not careful, we'll get too big for our britches, and we'll think we're more than what we are. Amen. God, help us. And I tell you what happens, you become unthankful for what God has given you. Is that not one of the signs of the days of Noah, the last days? Unthankful and unholy are right next to each other. They're Siamese twins in that verse, unthankful and unholy. Oh, God, help me. Oh, God, help us all to always be thankful for what God has given us. Choose to be thankful in all things. Last of all, number four, and I'm done. I'll give you this very quickly. Choose to think only on good things. Now, I agree with the preacher. Listen, these phones and YouTube and social media has not helped us at all. Not at all. And I'll tell you what'll help you, it'll help you if you throw that thing out the window on your way back to the hotel this afternoon, amen. I'll tell you what will fix the majority of people's anxiety is turning that cell phone off. If I right hand offend thee, cut it off. And so if that cell phone offend thee, cut it off. If that internet offend thee, cut it off. If that TV offend thee, cut it off. Cut it off. Amen. Make no provision for the flesh. It's still in your Bible. And by the way, let me just say this. I don't preach these things or believe these things or even live these things because I'm spiritual. I believe in preaching because I know that I am unspiritual. Amen. I don't have things in place in my life. I don't have things that I made up my mind a long time ago that I would do or not do or have or not have because I'm some type of spiritual giant. It's because I'm a spiritual weakling. I know that I am unspiritual. Listen, don't ever take pride in your standards. Know that it's there. Know that it's there not because you're somebody. It's there because you're nothing. We're nothing. Isn't that right? And I tell you, the devil is working. I don't even have time to preach on the mind. I love to preach on the mind this morning. And I tell you, that's where the attack is. And the devil's got our minds so wrapped up and so, so pulled aside and so distracted by so many things that just do not matter. I watched a few election cycles ago. holding a Bible that says that God sets up kings and tear down kings, amen, and holding a Bible that says the heart of the king is in the Lord's hand and as the rivers of water He turns it with His every will, holding a Bible that says those things. And a couple election cycles ago, I'd walk into churches and meetings that had turned into glorified Republican Party rallies, glorified Trump rallies. Now, listen, I'm not trying to swat at your favorite political leader of all time, but let me just tell you something. God is bigger than this election. And listen, I watched the whole, I watched the entire conservative bay, I watched churches and preachers do nothing but shout Trump from the rooftops for an entire election. And then, and then, when we got him elected, we sat by and did nothing. Did nothing. And I tell you, if you're not careful, this election will eat you up. And you'll get concerned because, I ain't worried about Kamala getting elected. I would rather have the alternative, don't get me wrong. Let me tell you something, God's still God, regardless of who's in the White House. Amen. And by the way, it's high time, it's high time that America face some judgment. It's high time that America face a reckoning day for what we've been doing for all these years anyways. Amen. It's high time for when preaching it was coming, well, it's here now. Amen. All I'm simply saying is listen, every election is the most important election in American history. And if you don't believe me, turn on the news and they'll tell you. They say it every time. Every two years, it's the most important election in American history. And by the way, two years from now, that one will be the most important election for American history too. Every one will be. Let me tell you something, I'm standing before you with a Bible right now. that if your hope is in this Bible, and if you believe this Bible is true, listen, that's where your comfort, that's where your hope's gonna come from. I'm not, listen, I'm not saying we shouldn't be involved, we shouldn't care about these things, and we, I'm not saying any of that, but I am telling you that if you get, if you, listen, if you get overcharged with the cares of this world, anxiety will eat you up. And this Bible says to choose to think only on good things. Look in verse number seven. The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 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, if there be any praise, think on these things. You choose what you think about. You choose what you think about. 2 Corinthians 10, verse five says, casting down imaginations. And every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringeth into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. I had this in my notes before Chad Bailey ever got up to preach. There's not one positive thing said about man's imagination in the Bible. When he got up and started saying that, I thought, that was already in my notes, just so everybody knows. I had it first. But it is true, it's right. You never find anything positive about the imagination of the Bible. You say, I've got anxiety, what do I do? Stop thinking about that thing. Stop thinking about it. Stop dwelling on it. Stop letting that thing bring you into captivity. You say, I've got bitterness, I'm just so bitter. Stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about it all the time. You know what Romans said? Overcome evil with good. The only way to not think about negative things is to intentionally think about positive things. Think about right things. That's why you gotta have this Word of God, this Bible in your heart. That's why you need to be in the Bible every day. That's why you need to listen to good, clean, godly, Jesus-exalting, Jesus-glorifying music. Amen. Listen, because I tell you, it'll keep the good things, the right things, pure things on your heart and your mind all the time. You read Philippians 4, verse 8, and you tell me if any of those things describe the media or the president or the government or what's on Facebook. Amen. Does any of that, does any describe those things? Proverbs 23, 7, for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. So you'll become what you think about all the time. 2 Timothy 1.7, "...for God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." A sound mind. And then in chapter 2, verse 4, he said, "...no man that warreth and tangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." See, soldiers, they check their worries at the door. And this is why. They're taught to do that. They're trained to do that. And the reason is because their lives and the lives of everybody around them depends on their performance. And they can't be frozen with fear. And do you know as God's people, listen, our lives and the lives of everybody around us, our families, this lost and dying world around us, it depends on our performance. Right? See, the devil wants you to eat up with anxiety because he knows if you eat up with anxiety and worry, you'll never step out on faith. He knows if you eat up with anxiety and worry, he knows there's things you'll not preach. He knows there's things you won't stand for. He knows there's things you won't take a stand on. He knows that there's a line you won't hold and maintain in your home. He knows you'll compromise with your kids when they get teenagers. How many parents we know that they held the line for God when their little ones were small, but when they get a little older, start thinking for themselves, they throw every standard out the window. I'm afraid I'm gonna lose them. Ain't that right? Afraid I'll lose them. And a lot of mommas and dads lay in bed tonight, and they'll cry tears that'll drip on their pillow, worried to death what's gonna happen to their little boy or their little girl if they keep holding this line, holding this standard. I tell you, that's right where the devil wants you. Well, listen, I'm not saying it's not a reality. Losing your children will be one of the hardest things you ever go through. I've got three little boys and a little girl on the way. I can't imagine watching one of my little boys or girls go to the world. But I know this, and I hope God will help me to know it all the days of my life, that if I ever go down to the far country with them, they'll have nowhere to come home to. Isn't that right? And see, the devil knows all that. And we can't walk by faith and be overcome by anxiety at the same time. The devil wants you overcome, so you'll never walk by faith. And the world will tell you all kinds of things to do to deal with anxiety, but Paul from a jail cell told a church the way to deal with it. Do what you can for God's glory and leave the rest to God.