Alright, so we're in Matthew 6. It was a really good and profitable time studying yesterday, I believe, in verses 7-15. I think the word was teaching me some things about what is often, I think, wrongly referred to as the Lord's Prayer. This is a model prayer. It's a training prayer. It's not His prayer. John 17 would be more aptly named the Lord's Prayer, or any number of places. It's prayer in the garden. But this is better known as the bottle prayer. And there were some places I know that I needed more clarity on, and the Lord was very helpful in that, but not to the point where I'm going to be preaching at this point. So I'll come back to that at a later time. I don't know when. probably once we're through with the sermon, and we'll probably do a little series on prayer so I can go through it a little slower. So this morning, we'll start at verse 19. Pick up at verse 19. Start reading there. He says, Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body, so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in wealth." So, Lord willing, we're going to be looking at those passages this morning, spending more time on the first part of it than the latter part of it. I believe this is actually somewhat of a transition In verse 19, I think he is transitioning out of what he was teaching us before, but hasn't fully left the thought or the idea yet. Last week, we looked at really the past two weeks, verses 1-18 leaving out verses 7-15, which I think is somewhat of a sidebar in his teaching. You are practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Otherwise, you have no regard with your Father who is in Heaven." And if you remember, I said that in these little categories here where he talks about giving to the poor, praying, and fasting, he's not teaching on those things. He's using those as examples. But what he is teaching is not to practice your righteousness in front of men in order to be seen and to be recognized and to receive their praise for being such a good and righteous person. But rather do it where God sees, in secret, which means from a pure heart, a clean heart, unto the Lord. If you remember, I said that I think he was using secrecy, definitely not literally. I don't think, it's impossible, you cannot literally not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. And praying, there's too many instances of prayer when the church came together in the upper room at Pentecost, they were together praying, Jesus praying publicly, but rather it's from the heart, it's from the place, in the secret place that God sees that men can't see. And so Jesus' teaching and instruction on that was in not doing things to be noticed by men out of fear of man, out of wanting to receive praise and honor and respect from men, but out of love for our Father who will reward us. And I think this in verses 19-21, is him transitioning out of that and into not worrying. I don't think even in this, we're definitely going to deal with money. You cannot serve God in wealth. And he talks about money. But again, it's not so much about money as it is about trusting the Lord. I think we'll see that as we go along. So he says, do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth. Can you give me some water? Do not store up for yourself treasure on earth. It's really, you could say, don't treasure up for yourself treasure on earth. or don't gather up, hoard up, store and reserve treasure on earth. For yourself. We have to understand again what Jesus is saying here. And I think this has been misunderstood. It's been misunderstood by me in the past in this way. He does not say, do not store up treasure on earth. He doesn't say that. He says, don't store up treasure for yourself on earth. And I think if we read it without that in there, we're missing really the heart of what he's saying here. Don't store up for yourself. Don't be greedy. Don't trust in your treasure on your things. Turn to Luke 12. We'll see another example here. In Luke 12, I'm going to go ahead and start reading at verse 13. Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me. But he said to him, Man, who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you? Then he said to them, Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed. For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. And he told them a parable, saying, the land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, what shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops? Then he said, this is what I will do. I will tear down my barns. and build larger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, You fool, this very night your soul is required of you. And now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. So we have this example of, I think, what Jesus is really getting at here. He's a man, he's wealthy, he's been blessed, he's got a lot of income, a lot of stuff. So much so that his barns won't hold it anymore. He can't fit all the furniture he wants into his new house now. His garage won't hold all the cars that he wants. That's a modern day parallel. Grain was a sign of wealth. If you had lots of grain, you had a lot of farmland, and you made a lot of grain, you were a wealthy, wealthy man in this somewhat agricultural society. And so he's saying, I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Why? So I can have more stuff. This is the way a man thinks who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Jesus said, do not store up for yourself treasure on earth. No word does Jesus ever say being rich is a sin. No word does Jesus ever say to be wealthy, to have the need to hold bigger barns if you're keeping it all for yourself. It's not a sinful condition to be in, to have so much that you can't contain it on yourself without expanding. It's not the having, it's what your mindset towards it is. It's the condition of your heart towards it. We'll get into that more. I would say that it's actually a good thing, if possible, to store up treasure on earth. I would actually say that's a good thing. Proverbs 13. Verse 22 says, a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, meaning that he puts back and he stores up because he loves his children and their children to be a blessing to them. It's not for himself. It's for someone else in mind. There's other verses. I'm sorry this was somewhat of a hurry lesson. There's other passages. This is the one that came to mind. It's good for a man to lay up an inheritance for His sons. That's what our salvation is. That's what our reward is. It's an inheritance laid up for them. Jesus said, I go and I prepare a place for you. It's the attitude of the heart, it's the trust, it's the dependency, and it's who is your master. Do not store up for yourself treasure on earth. I mentioned this last week. I'm going to talk more about it now. Treasure, what is treasure? Most commonly, this is taught as what I've been talking about, wealth. But this is coming right out of the previous section about men that sought to gain something from other men. Treasure is something of value. It's a deposit. It's wealth. It's something of value. What we find value in. Don't store up for yourself treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy. What do you find valuable? Is it earthly things? Or as we'll get into, is it things that have value in the Kingdom of God? Don't store up for yourself treasure on earth. The place, the realm, the storehouse is this earth. In 1 Timothy 6, we have some instruction to us who are rich, and that would be everyone in this room. in 1 Timothy 6, verse 17. He says, "...instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, In other words, treasure in heaven, so that they may take hold of that which is life and deed. So Paul is instructing Timothy how to instruct those that are rich. And that's not to build bigger barns for yourself to hold more of your wealth, but rather to share. That's why we're told those that are are failing to work are instructed to work hard with their own hands so that they'll have something to share with those that are in need. It's to have the same mind that Christ had. It's to have the mind of God to be generous, to share, to be benevolent, to do good to those less fortunate than us. That's our instruction on how we should use our riches. But it's not that we should make ourselves poor in helping the poor either. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves, treasuring a good foundation for the future. I'm sorry, I started too late. It's the end of verse 17. We're not to trust or set our hope in the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. There's really two different mindsets when it comes to earthly treasure. One is that we shouldn't have any of it. And the other is, I should have more of it. There tends to be an extreme. If we find ourselves in a difficult situation, we cry out to the Lord, help, help, help. We desire Him. When He does and He blesses us, there can be a tendency to go, uh-oh, I'm enjoying what He gave me. I must be sinning. And that's wrong. It's wrong. Part of the blessing is He gives us all good things to enjoy, but not to be greedy in. not to store up for ourselves treasure on earth. In James 5, I'm reading some passages that have to do with money because in all times, money is the root of all kinds of evil. The love of money, not money, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. In James 5, he has some pretty hard words for us. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver has rusted, and the rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. I was thinking about that. The gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. Whenever we have an abundance and that abundance starts to disappear, it starts to fade away, it starts to rust, the thief breaks in and steals, what does that do to us? What does that do to our confidence in the Lord and in His Word? What does it do to our anxiety level? What does it do to our worry level? It'll be a witness against us. The rust of it. The deterioration of it. The going away of it. The losing of it. It's going to show what we were really trusting in. And it'll burn up our flesh. It'll consume us. if our heart is not right. If our heart is not right. If our heart is right, it won't. It may tempt us to worry and to be anxious. And it may tempt us to have moments of selfishness. But if our heart is right with the Lord and we are trusting in Him and not the certainty of uncertain riches, then our heart will not be hurt by it. by its rust, by its deterioration. It is in the last days that you have stored up treasure. Christ has come. The Kingdom of God has been preached. We know what's lying out there in front of us. It's heaven or hell. What are we going to value? Here and now in this life, what are we going to store up valuables for? That that deteriorates and rusts and drags a man to hell? or will we store up and value the things that lead us to heaven? Do not store up for yourself treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourself treasure in heaven where moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, will be also. In 1 Peter 1, which we've been going over in Monday nights, you don't need to turn there. This is in chapter 1. He says that He's caused us, but our Heavenly Father has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Verse 4, to attain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. We're not to store up treasure here in this realm on earth, a temporary realm, where all treasures lose their value, including what other people think about us. Including, going back to last week, doing things to be pleasing to others so that other people will think well of us. That only lasts as long as we're pleasing them. Why is our reward imperishable and no one can steal it? We're kept by God. Christ is our reward. What God has made for us is our reward. God is the one who has justified us, declared us to be in a right standing according to the law, to be found guilty of nothing. No punishment. He's the one that has done this. He is the one that keeps us. He is the one that has prepared the place for us. He is the one someone would have to rob from. He is eternal. When does eternal come to an end? When does eternal treasure tarnish or rust or perish? It's eternal. What is this treasure, heavenly treasure? If we're seeking after reward of man, by man, through man, of man, for man, it's doomed to failure. But if we're seeking the reward from God, it will last. We see some rewards here. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Humility, something to be valued, something to be treasured. Humility. Those who mourn after after things that are worthy of mourning over. That's to be valued. Being gentle, meek, meekness. Christ was gentle and lowly in the Spirit, hungering and thirsting for righteousness. The Beatitudes, having a pure heart. That's a great value in the Kingdom of God. Love never fails. Right? That's what we've been looking at. Love. Other things will fail, but love will never fail. It will never come to an end. That's a great value. That is a great treasure for us to be seeking after. Verse 20, "...but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven where our Father is, Doing it with the right motive, the right reason to be seen by Him. Knowing that what we're doing is pleasing to Him out of a heart that is ready to be obedient to Him. This is the key verse, I think, in this section. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I think what came before verses 19 and 20 really is a description of this. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Everything in this sermon, Jesus goes back to the heart. Everything, everything goes back to the heart. It's not external. You cannot judge a godly man by the size of his bank account. Not by how little it is, and not by how big it is. Because you don't really know what he's doing with it. We'll get into that in judging. The value of things. What is of value in the Kingdom of God? That's the things that we should be seeking for. Things that have eternal value. He that winneth souls is wise. That is a reward that will not lose its value. It will not fade away. It will not rust. To be used by God to save someone, to have a good sermon on saving people. Paul said he saves people. It's what he means by it. It's not what other people want to ascribe it to. That's of eternal value. That is a reward that will be in heaven. That's what Paul said of different churches. You are my reward. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We'll be engaged in the things that we truly value. We will pursue what we desire. What we desire is what we find value in. What we find value in is our treasure. So what are we pursuing? What are we chasing after? This isn't a matter of action so much as it is of the heart, the secret place that God sees. A lot of times, this can't be seen. I'm going to use something I was talking with someone about last night. You have one man, you have two men. One of them gets up and goes to work every day because he loves money. And he's got a good job, and he's out there making money. And so he works hard. And he likes the praise of men, and people tell him what a good worker he is. And so he works harder. and he finds his identity in his work, and so he works harder. And he works, and he works, and he works, and he's a great worker. And then you have another man that works side by side with him and is equally a hard worker, except he's doing it because he knows that it pleases the Lord. and what causes He needs to provide for His family. Because He enjoys giving and helping others. And because He knows that it's pleasing to the Lord and that the way that He works and performs is a testimony and an example of Christ to those around Him. And so, He works hard. He works diligently. From the outside, if you watch the two men work, they look the same. It's in the secret place where God sees that the difference is made. And that's the place where God sees what Master they're serving. So we can't judge by outward appearances. Not truly. Because we can't always see. There are signs. There are some things that we can see. But ultimately, Ultimately, the things that we value, we need to look at personally. What am I valuing? What is my treasure? What is my motivation? What am I trying to obtain in this life and the things that I do? Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Everything that he teaches here, there's a contrast. between the righteous and the wicked, in all of it. It doesn't mean, oh, well, this is convicting me some. I see this. I see that I sometimes find myself being greedy and not content and wanting more. Does that mean I'm wicked and lost? But those are the actions of a lost man. And that is what comes from the heart of a lost man. And what comes from the heart of a child of God is that he walks in a manner of life, doing the things that are right, storing up for himself treasure on earth because he's doing the things that he does because he values and loves his Lord. He values Christ. He values what God thinks about him. And so he does the things motivated to be pleasing to him. It's a reason for any and all of us to examine ourselves, to correct ourselves, to repent whenever we find ourselves giving in to the temptation to do what's wrong or to think in a wrong way. There's plenty of examples of Christians repenting from their wrong way of thinking in Scripture. Verse 22, he says, the eye is the lamp of the body. This is exactly the same word that's used over in chapter 5, verse 14. Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under the table. You are the light of the world. Now he's talking to those that are the light of the world. The eye is the lamp of the body. So then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. And then the light that is in you, if then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? I think this is tied into what is before of it, not separate from it, but a continuation. and a part of it to help us understand it more. Light, what we see as being good and of value. The eye is the lamp of the body. The way we look at things around us. That's what he's talking about. How do we see things? The eye is the lamp of the body. The eye is where the light goes in. It's where the image is, the reflection of everything as light is reflecting off things and it's going into the eye. It's the way that we look at things. The eye is the lamp of the body. The way we look at things, what we desire, what we lust after, what we find value in. That's what we look at. That's what we take in. It's how we see the world around us. The eye is the lamp of the body. So then if your eye is clear, if it's healthy, your whole body will be full of light. If we're looking at things, if we're viewing things the right way, if we're seeing things as they really are, if we see what is truly earthly treasure, and we can distinguish between that and heavenly treasure. We're going to be healthy. We're going to be whole. The whole body will be full of light. We'll see clearly. We'll understand things properly. We'll think rightly. We'll treasure the right things. But if the eye is bad or evil, sick, not functioning properly, your whole body will be full of darkness. If we're not viewing things the right way, if we're seeking for the praise of men rather than the praise of God, if we're fearing men more than we're fearing God, if we're delighting in earthly things rather than in heavenly things, If that is our motivation, is to gain the things of this world, rather than doing what is pleasing to God, then our eye is evil. We're looking at things the wrong way. Your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. It's talking about deception, being deceived, thinking that what is bad is really okay, justifying greed and lust and the earthly things. If the light that is in you is darkness, if what you perceive as being good is actually bad, how great is the darkness? Being deceived. There's some warning signs that I think will help us out. If we get rid of something, only to take it back again, convincing ourselves, well, it's really okay, I can really handle it. That's a warning sign that we're seeing things wrong. We're thinking, more highly of ourselves than we should. I'm not talking about getting rid of something and then five years later, you go back and you look at it again. And I'm not talking about sinful things. I'm talking more of weights. Things that are keeping you from the Lord. Things that are not benefiting you and causing you to grow, but actually causing you to stumble and that are entangling you and pulling you away. You get rid of your TV because you just can't control yourself watching it. And not only are you watching things you probably shouldn't be watching, but you just spend too much time in front of it watching it. So you get rid of your TV. And then a week later, oh, wow, look. Here's an ad in Craigslist on getting rid of a 72-inch flat-screen TV. It's only $300, brand new, in the box. Yeah, I should give it. That's a great deal. Too great of a deal to pass up. That's more value than the state of my soul. When light is seen as darkness, it's a warning sign. Being convicted of something and getting rid of it only to turn right around and pick it back up, it's a warning that we're being deceived. being convicted about something, but never doing anything about it. Sitting and hearing a sermon and being convicted, I really need to do something, and then you leave, and nothing's ever done about it. Why? Because what we see as light is actually dark, and we excuse it. Realizing something is hurtful, but ignoring it, because I like it. Ignoring counsel from God, men over it. When godly people say, hey, you may want to consider something. And you go, yeah, OK, I'll consider it. And they never do, because after all, they don't know me. They don't know me. I'm doing OK. Or maybe their concern isn't about whether you're OK or not. They just have already been there and fallen to it 20 times before. I know how deceitful and how easy it can be. Warning signs that we should be on the watch for. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? In 22 through 23, he's talking about how we view things. How we look at things, how we judge things. Do we have a content eye or an eye that is full of discontent? Do we have a righteous eye or an unrighteous eye? A lustful eye or a thankful eye? How do we look at the world around us? What do we see as being of value? I really think this is flowing right out of the verses before it. Which flows right out of the verses before it. From His warning about practicing our righteousness before men to be noticed by them and having no reward with our Father. To the things that we value and not storing up for our self treasure on earth. Not being greedy. but storing up for our self-treasure in heaven, valuing things that are of eternal value. Which, what would that be? Just go through the scripture and read instructions on how we are to live. The fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. That's heavenly treasure. That will never fade away. It will never let us down. It won't decay. As long as we're walking in the Spirit, pursuing, it is always there. It's always true. Being gracious, the entirety of heaven is of grace. No one can serve two masters. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. This is not possible. We cannot serve ourselves and serve God. We can do the things that please us and serve God, though. If we're doing it for Him, I'll find pleasure in it. If I'm His, if I'm a child of God, if I belong to Him, if you cannot find any satisfaction in pursuing righteousness, in pursuing heavenly treasure, in valuing the things that God values, it's because you're not His. And you just won't find any pleasure in doing it. But if we are His, if we do belong to Him, then I can do the things that I delight, and I can delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. If my delight is Him and to do what is pleasing to Him, then these heavenly treasures, they will be my treasures. It won't be just what God finds who says is valuable. It'll be things I find value in. It'll be things I desire for, that I long for. But no one can serve two masters. In 1 Kings 18, You don't have to turn there. You can if you want to. In 1 Kings 18, this is when Elijah is going to go up. He's called all the prophets of Baal and the Asherah. He sent word to Ahab to bring all the prophets to Mount Carmel. And he's going up on the mountain. Verse 20 says, so Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. If Baal, follow him." I would say that's our challenge. If we are God, then do what you want. That is the law of the Satanist. Do what thou wilt will be the whole of the law. If God isn't real, if He's not there, then go do whatever you want to do. Ignore everything that I've said. Ignore everything that Scripture says. And go serve yourself. Go please yourself. Go eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Isn't that what Paul wrote? If in this life only we have hope in God, Let's go eat and drink, party. Tomorrow we die. So what? If religion is only for now, for this present time, ignore everything I've said. I'm a fool. If God is real, if His Word is true, then make up your mind and decide. Are you going to follow Him or are you going to follow yourself? Who's God? That's all idolatry is. It's self-worship. That's all it is. In the old testament, in the times when they would build I still do this today, but everyone did it back then. They would have their altars. They would have their statues. They would have their temples. They would have all these rituals and all that. It was to get what they wanted. It was to sacrifice to the God of the sky to bring rain so that they would have plenty of food to eat. It would sacrifice to the God of the vine so that they had plenty of wine to drink for their parties. It was to go and have sex and call it worship so that we would be fruitful, take pleasure, doing things to please the gods so that I would get something in return. Only problem is, just like Isaiah said, they have eyes but they can't see. Talking about idols, false gods that aren't real gods. They're just simply not real. No one can serve two masters. He will either hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. Store up for yourself treasure and heaven, not on the earth. If your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. If we're looking at things bright, we'll be healthy. Our whole body will be full of light. God's given us His Word to check our vision and to make sure that we keep our eye clear. We make sure we keep our eye singular, I think is what the King James says. Pure. Focus. What did we read this morning? Running the race, how? Fixing our eyes on Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. That is how we are to live. That is what Jesus, I believe, is teaching us here. Value things that are of eternal worth and eternal value. Look at things correctly. Because we cannot serve two masters. We can only serve one. If you'll notice, I've been here, I'm sure most people have been walking with the Lord for any amount of time. When you get to the place, if you get to the place to where you start valuing things of this earth, And you start seeking after these things. You get your eye off. Your eye becomes polluted. You cannot be devoted to God. You cannot be devoted to the Lord. And there are thoughts of, why me? Why haven't you heard me? Why aren't you helping me? There's a strong temptation to start despising the Lord. They go hand in hand. We can't be devoted to the Lord and to ourselves. He says, No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God in wealth. Stuff. If we're serving stuff, why are we doing it? Pleases me. So when I compare it to, you know, if God is God, follow him, and if you are God, then do what you want to do, it's accurate. Because the reason that men value things of the earth is because it brings them pleasure now. When men have a bad eye, a covetous eye, selfish eye, it's because it pleases them now. The reason that men serve wealth and not the Lord is because wealth pleases them, it gets them the things that they crave and they want. So it is serving self. Idolatry is self is God. It's disguised as something else. No one can serve two masters. We just had the Lord's Supper a little while ago. Peter says that He Himself bore our sin in His body on a tree. While we were sinners, Christ died for us. We who were dead in our trespasses and sins, separated from the life, separated from God, He made a life. It's by grace you're saved. It's not because of works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. He washed us. He cleansed us. He opened our eyes to see the truth of who Christ is. If we've seen the value of the cross, How can we take our eyes off? I've got to go back. There's so much in 1 Peter 1. It is one of those chapters that is just so packed full. It's from a few weeks ago in verse 17, 1 Peter 1, 17. If you address as father, the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourself in fear during the time of your stay on Earth, knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers. Hell is purchased with perishable things like silver and gold. But we weren't. We were purchased with a precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Precious blood. Precious life. That's what blood symbolizes, life. Every time you see blood, think life. What is the shedding of blood? It's the giving of one's life. It's dying, or the giving over of life. We were redeemed with precious blood. Why should we run the race with our eyes fixed on Christ? to remind us the value, the cost of what it took to save us. That should be our motivation. And to remind us we cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and wealth, man and stuff, treasure. values, valuable things. Will the Lord help us to do exactly what Elijah said? And what Joshua said, choose you this day who you will serve. If we have tasted and seeing that the Lord is good, then let's serve Him wholeheartedly. Wholeheartedly. Which means to live a life laying up for our self-treasure in heaven. To not store up for ourselves the treasure on earth. Value heavenly things. Let's pray. Father, I thank You again for Your Word. Lord, just the wealth of goodness that is there. Father, help us. Help us to remember Elijah's exhortation. If the Lord is God, serve Him, and fail, and serve Him. We can't serve too massively. We cannot value the things of this earth and the things of heaven both. Father, help us to have a healthy eye, a singular eye, and a pure eye, to look at things as we should. So many times we're exhorted in Your Word to be sober-minded, to think rightly about things. Father, help us to be sober-minded and to serve You, to love You, for our motivation to be because You loved us. Help us to see the value of the price that was paid so that we could have peace with God. Father, I just pray that You would help Your people, help those that are struggling, help those that are tempted, Lord, those that are tried, those that are The things of this world are trying to choke out the truth and the life that is there. Father, I pray that You would pour out Your Spirit on us. Help us to see Christ clearly with the eyes of faith. And that we would find Him so much more valuable than anything my flesh would desire, anything the world has to offer. And that we would serve Him in a way that honors You, in a way that would cause other men to glorify You, our Father and Mother. Father, help us during this time now as we share a meal together. Help us to share more than just the food. Help us to be sharers of Christ in Jesus.