Good morning church. It's a joy to gather together again this morning and to learn from God's word. Please turn with me to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 and we'll be looking at from verse 5 and all the way to verse 11. Colossians chapter 3 and we are studying from verse 5 and all the way to verse 11. And it reads as follows. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and coerciousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self. with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. Amen. Brothers and sisters, the title of my sermon this morning is Living the Christian Life, Put Sin to Death, Living the Christian Life. A Christian is someone who belongs to a new kingdom. A Christian is someone who has been transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. A Christian is someone who submits to the authority of Jesus Christ. It is someone who lives in obedience, someone who has declared war against sin. And it's critical to grasp this point that Christians are called to obey. Christians are called to obey Jesus in all things. in that great commission in Matthew 28, Jesus Christ speaks to his followers and he says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then he says this, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And so, Jesus forgives sinners. Jesus frees sinners from the slavery of sin. And Jesus empowers us to obey Him and He calls us to obey Him and obey all things that He has commanded. So for a time this morning, I want us to see the ugliness of sin so that we can fight a deadly war against it in our lives and live a life of obedience to Jesus Christ. That's our focus from these verses. And first, I want us to see that sin is not compatible with who you are in Christ. Let us look at our text in verse 5. It says, Put to death, therefore, and underscore what is earthly in you. Pay attention to these words, what is earthly in you. You see, the point here is that sin is not compatible with who you are in Christ. Sin does not belong. Sin is for rain and sin must be put away. Colossians chapter 3 opens with these reminders of who we are in Christ. It says you have been raised with Christ in verse 1. You have died to sin in verse 3. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. In verse 4 it says Christ is your life. And my call to you this morning is that we need to see sin for what it truly is. Sin is part of my old life. Sin does not belong in who I am in Christ right now. Pay attention to what this verse says. Look at verse five. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you. Jump to verse seven of Colossians chapter three. It says, in these you too did what? You once walked. when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away. Look at verse nine in your Bibles. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old selves with its practices and have put on the what? The new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator. My brother, my sister, in order for you to conquer sin in your life, you need to see sin for its ugliness. You need to realize that sin is not compatible with who Christ has made you. You need to realize that sin does not belong to your life right now. Christ has rescued you from it. Christ has cleansed you from it and away with sin in your life. Galatians chapter 2 makes this point in verse 20 that my own self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So, in other words, that old, rach, deserving, God-hating, hope-lacking, sin-loving, and hell-deserving dead self is gone. In Jesus, I am accepted. In Jesus, I am forgiven, I am welcomed, and I am empowered to obey. In Him, I am cherished, I am loved, I am righteous, I am made new, I am adopted. See sin for what it is. Sin is not compatible with who you are in Christ. Brothers and sisters, sin says, wear dirty clothes after you have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. Sin says come back to the coffin and the grave after you have been raised with Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, sin says come drink from dirty waters when Christ has provided for you fresh streams of living water. In Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 13 it speaks about this. It says my people have committed two sins. They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Sin says reverse, turn back. You see, brothers and sisters, sin is an undoing and an undermining of God's work in your life. See sin for what it is. See sin for its dirtiness. See sin for its dastardliness. See sin for its heinousness. Sin is a rejection of God's work in your life. You see, sin says what God has done in your life is insignificant. Sin says settle for less. Sin wants you to become what you are not. It is not compatible with who you are. Sin says to the free, go back to the chains. Sin says to the one who has been released, go back to the prison. And sin says to the emancipated ones that come, come back to this chains and slavery of sin. Sin wants you to forget the cost of salvation. Sin wants you to forget that Jesus, the Son of God, died for you. Jesus, the Son of God, was humiliated for you, was shamed for you. That Jesus, the Son of God, bore the wrath of your sin on the cross. That Jesus, the Son of God, was humiliated, was shamed. He died, he was forsaken, and he was raised for you. Sin says, forget about all of that, come back. and enjoy what Christ has accomplished. Come back and enjoy what Christ has died for. Friends, we must remember that it was my sin and your sin that held him there. until it was accomplished, until the full, until the full wrath of God was accomplished. It was my sin and your sin that held him there until Jesus Christ would say, Tetanus die, it is finished. I have completed the work that you have sent me to do. It was my sin and your sin that held him there. His dying breath has brought us life. And why would we entertain the pleasures of sin when Christ has died for sin. Sin is not compatible with who you are. And if you want to put sin to death, you need to begin here by realizing that sin is not compatible with who you are. If you want to put sin to death, you must remember what Christ has accomplished for you. You must remember that you were ransomed from futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without blemish or spot. This is how you were ransomed, 1 Peter 1 verse 18. You see, in order for you to conquer sin, you must remember that while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Romans chapter five, verse 10. You see, in order for you to conquer sin, you must remember that God being rich in mercy because of his great love for us, he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins. He made us alive together with Christ. Ephesians chapter two, verse four. See, if you want to conquer sin in your life, you must remember that you were, at that time, separated from Christ. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers to the covenants of God and the promises of God. You had no hope. You were without God in the world. But now, Christ Jesus, who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 12. Remember that you have been raised with Christ. We have a new identity. You have died to sin. Your life is hidden with Christ in God and Christ is your life. Sin is not compatible with who you are in Christ. Amen. Brothers and sisters, let us continue with our text. Look at verse five. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, your sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and coerciousness, which is ideology. Jump to verse 8 and 9a. But now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from our mouth. Do not lie to one another. Now we move to our second point. We have seen that in order for us to conquer sin, We need to see it for its dirtiness. We need to realize that it does not belong. It's not compatible with who we are. But also, in order for you to conquer sin, you must identify it. Sin must be identified in order to be destroyed. You see, sin must be known in order to be defeated. You cannot fight what you don't know. Now Paul gives us a list of sins that we must identify and destroy. Now to look at the first list in verse five, it says, put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and coerciousness, which is idolatry. See, brothers and sisters, the morality of the Christian must be informed by the Bible. And the first thing here that the Apostle Paul warns us about and calls us to put to death is sexual immorality. See, this word here is the word where we find our term pornography. See, the meaning here is that Christians must not engage in any form of sexual activities that are outside the bounds of the Bible. Let me put it this way. God made sex to be sacred, to be pure, to be joyful and enjoyed only within marriage. Only within the marriage union of one man and one woman. Let me say it again. By God's design, sex must only be enjoyed by a husband and a wife. Hebrews 13 verse 45 says, let marriage be held in honor among all, and let marriage at the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. And you see, this is the first thing that Apostle Paul brings to our attention as Christians, as the new humanity, as those who have died to sin, as those who have been rescued by Christ from sin. He says, you don't only have a new identity, but you have a new morality. You see, your new identity comes with a new morality. You don't live like the world lives, you live as Christ commands you to live. Any kind of sexual pursuits and fulfillment outside of marriage is sin. It is forbidden and it must be put to death. Well, there's been a pushback against this message even by men claiming to be pastors today. Quite recently, one man said, this is not practical and it's not sustainable. See, this is exactly what many people say. Come on, it's not possible. Everyone is doing it. Why are you making such a big fuss about nothing? Sex is not such a big deal. Come on, don't be so outdated. Brothers and sisters, we need to choose to believe God and not our sinful desires. We need to choose to obey God and not pop culture, not our society. We need to do what is right in God's eyes, not what is normal to society. You see, believers are not called to be slaves to their feelings and desires and culture and traditions and norms and society. Believers are called to make a resolve to obey God, even when people say this is foolish, outdated, impractical, and impossible. What God commands is good. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, and this list begins with sexual immorality. It continues, it says, impurity, passion, and evil desire. See, this speaks about lustful thoughts. It speaks about impure imagination. It speaks about pornography and sexual perversion. Someone might say, I'm not harming anyone. I'm just watching pornography. There's no one else involved. I'm just having these imaginations. No harm. What does the Bible say? False. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5 verse 28, You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his mind. It doesn't stop there. It says, Matthew 5 verse 29, If your right eye causes you to sin, take out and throw it away. Listen to this warning. for it is better that you lose one of your members than your whole body to be thrown into hell. One author says lust is a sexual desire that dishonors its object and disregards God. It disregards the promises and the warnings of God. In other words, when you insist on lust and pornography, when you don't repent from your impure thoughts and actions, you dishonor a man or woman who is made in the image of God. You disregard God himself. You disbelieve the promises of God and you dismiss the warnings of God. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 3, it says, for this, I want you to memorize this verse, for this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality. Brothers and sisters, by the authority of Colossians 3, verse 5, by the authority of Matthew 5, verse 28, by the authority of 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 3, and by the authority of Philippians 4, verse 8, Christians must not watch anything that shows explicit sex. Christians must not have sexual imaginations about anyone they are not married to. Christians must not watch pornography or nudity. And Christians must not speak or joke about sex in a careless and brazen manner. And Christians must not listen or delight in descriptions of erotic stories. And Christians must remove from their homes all media that undermines the Christian sexual morality. In other words, Christians must put an end to anything else that opposes God's design for sex and for intimacy. How are you doing with this? What do you consume? What do you listen to? What do you entertain in your life and what entertains you in your life? Let me speak a moment to Christian parents. Restrict what your child watches on TV, on cell phones and tablets, especially devices that are connected to the internet. And this applies to everyone. Be technology-wide. A child should not have the freedom to do whatever they like with a cell phone, a TV, or any other device. You need to be aware of the dangers that your children, even that you are exposed to, At an appropriate age, teach your children what the Bible teaches about purity. Teach your sons and daughters the beauty of modesty and the beauty of chastity. And use actual scripture instead of mere common phrases. You see, this teaches them that these are not just made-up rules by my mom and dad, These are not just mere rules that are made up by my parents who are stuck up in the past, but this is what God commands. Matthew 5, verse 8, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 4 to 5, let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterous. Christians are called to be different. Let's continue with our list. Look at the end of verse five. Coerciousness or greed, which is idolatry. Now, what is coerciousness? It's also translated greed. This is an unquenchable desire for more. But not only that, you see, greed is a desire for more which is accompanied by an evil intention. You see, there is a strong desire for things that belong to others so that you can use them to bring attention and exaltation to yourself. See, this is not just wanting more things, but it is this unquenchable passion for more so that you can use them for evil purposes. See, this is the sort of person who will do anything to get ahead. They will backstab, steal, lie, and, listen to this, even genuinely work hard to get ahead. But their motivation is prestige, fame, power, control, and pride. Self-exaltation. See, this is how this kind of person speaks. They say, I will get this promotion so I can have more money so I can prove to them. You see, I will do what it takes to get what I want And then, they will bow down to me. You see why the Bible says this is idolatry? This sort of person speaks like this. They say, ah, once my haters get to see what I've achieved, they will respect me. Ah, they will admire me. They will worship me. My haters will know me. They've laughed at me so much when I was down, but now I'm on the up. My enemies will now put respect to my name. Friends, this is not how Christians should live. We don't live for the praise of men. We don't live to prove points to people. We don't live to frustrate others. We live for God. What a pitiful existence to live to prove points to people, to spend so much of our efforts to achieve things for the sake of getting ahead, for the sake of prominence. This is worthy thinking. This is pitiful thinking. This is sinful thinking. Ephesians chapter five, verse 35, it says, do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named a minor. there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting which are not fitting, but rather giving thanks. For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Do you see this connection between covetousness and idolatry? One Puritan, Stephen Chalmock, says all sin is founded in the rejection of God. He says all sin is atheism. It is the rejection of God. All sin is idolatry. All the wicked inclinations in the heart are sparks from this latent fire. The language of every sinner is this, I want to be the Lord of myself. I don't want anyone to be superior to me. Every sin is a kind of cursing God in the heart. Every sin is an aim at the destruction of the being of God. A man in every sin aims to set up his own law and his own glory. Every sin is a form of rejection of God. Every sin is idolatry. It is setting yourself to be above God. Sin must be identified in order to be destroyed. Let us look at the second list. Now, look at verse 8. It says, but now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another. Let's take this list. Anger and wrath. These are vices that the Christian must put away, must pull off, must destroy. Anger and wrath. This is a deep, smoldering, boiling bitterness that is brewing in one's heart. refers to this sporadic, unpredictable nature, a burst of fury and frustration. It is the kind of person who lacks control, the kind of person who is easily aggravated. Are you an angry person? Are you a person of wrath and fury? Brothers and sisters, I am commanding you today by the authority of God's Word, put it to death. the kind of person who is easy to irritate? Are you the kind of person who is easy to offend? For you, every misunderstanding turns into a conflict. Every conflict is treated with aggression. Are you the sort of person, you raise your voice, you intimidate, you threaten, you even get physical, you are quick to fight? This is not compatible with Christianity. This is not compatible with those who have been raised with Christ. Are you this person? Help is available for you. Don't destroy your family. Don't destroy your children. Don't destroy your job, your work relationships. Don't destroy your relationships around you. and don't ruin your church. Speak to God today. Put to death anger and wrath. And if you are not saved, I ought to call you to repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Only a Christian can do this with the power of the Holy Spirit. See, if you are a Christian, be who you are. Put to death anger and wrath. This list continues. It says malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth and lying. Malice and slander. This is speaking with the intent to cause harm. See, it is hasty and nasty talk. Twisting of the truth, telling half the story. and modification of facts. You see, this is leading people on to have a negative view about someone else. Obscene talk and lying. This is filthy language, shameful words, blasphemy, dirty jokes, sex jokes, disrespectful language, innuendo. We are called to put this away. Crude language, embarrassing speech, abusive tone of speech, dishonesty. It's the kind of person, when they speak, people become uncomfortable. You speak with aggression. You turn everything into an innuendo. We are called to put this to death. This must not be named amongst believers. And the point of the Apostle Paul, brothers and sisters, is that the contents of your heart will come out in your speech. There's a strong connection here between what is in your heart and what comes out of your mouth. You see, what is in your heart will be evident in your speech and ultimately in your actions. You see, by your speech, we will see what is in your heart. By your actions, we will see what is in your heart. And he says, get to the heart of the problem. But now, you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth, and do not lie to one another. See, the teaching here, brethren, is that the result of anger, wrath, and malice is abusive speech, dishonest speech, harmful speech, and ultimately dangerous actions. Get rid of it. Don't tolerate it. Don't make excuses for it. Don't explain it away. Put it to death. Christians cannot live that way. Sin must be identified in order to be destroyed. Let us investigate further and see some more sin that we must put to death. Look at verse 11. It says, Here there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. What is this verse talking about? Here's the key. Christians do not discriminate. That's the key. Christians do not subscribe to common categories of classifying people, common categories of classification that are meant to separate people. Christians do not treat people like the world treats them. You see, the cross of Jesus Christ is the great equalizer. We are all equal before God. See, the apostle Paul here is bringing to attention one of the challenges that were evident in this church. There were people who created sinful and superficial distinctions amongst people in society. See, there were people in the church who thought of themselves as being superior because they came from a particular background. And he gives a list here, he says, Jew and Greek. The Jews boasted in being the people of God. They bragged about being the people of the promise, the people of the covenant. And they looked at the Greeks as those who were late comers to the faith, unclean, unworthy, and ashamed. And then it talks about circumcised and uncircumcised. And these were the Jews saying, we bear the marks of the promise in our bodies. And shame on you, Greeks. You don't bear any marks of the promise. We are people of favor. people loved and favored by God, and you are second-class Christians in this congregation. Oh, you poor Greeks. And then it talks about barbarians. Now, these were foreigners considered to be foolish. Greeks mocked how the language of the barbarians sounded. They were considered uncultured, uneducated, and weird, according to Greek standards. You see this in the same church, the Jews look down on Greeks, Greeks look down on barbarians. Civians, these were considered to be savages and uncivilized people. And then slave and free. The rich and the poor, the independent and those who were dependent. And Paul says here that the gospel is for Jews, the gospel is for Greeks. The gospel is for the circumcised, the uncircumcised. The gospel is for barbarians, is for civilians. The gospel is for the rich and the poor. You see, in Christ, all these labels fall off. It is a sin to be a Christian and be a tribalist at the same time. You see, brothers and sisters, according to this passage, racism is a sin. It is a sin to be xenophobic. Discriminating people based on their economic position is a sin. You cannot be a Christian and undermine people based on their culture and ethnicity. All these labels fall off. And anyone who claims to be a Christian and is proud of being racist, you know for sure that person has a false hope and they're not a Christian. Anyone who claims to be a Christian and is tribalist and is racist and is xenophobic, they have no part in the kingdom of God. Because according to this passage, it tells us here that Christ is all and in all. And all these superficial distinctions, these superficial distinctions on economic status, economic class, on race, on culture, on tradition, they fall away because the cross of Jesus Christ is the great equalizer. All Christians have the responsibility to treat all people with dignity because people are made in the image of God. Now here's the true test. How do you speak about people who are different from you in your home? What efforts are you taking in pursuing people who are different from you? Let us look at our final point. Sin must be put to death because it is a direct threat to your soul. Look at verse 6. For the context, let's start from verse 5. Why? Verse 6. Why? On account of this, the wrath of God is coming. God will punish unrepentant sinners. There's a false teaching that says, if I made a sinner's prayer, or I've accepted Jesus in my heart, it does not matter how I live, I am saved. See, Christianity is like Orlando Pirates. Once saved, always saved. I can do as I please. The Bible does not make such a promise to those who delight in sin. You see, the promise of preservation, and Mr. Kwasi preached about this, the promise of preservation and the promise of protection, of eternal security, is not for those who delight in sin. The Bible does not make such a promise. Look at Colossians chapter 1, verse 21. It says, Who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body or flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. Verse 23. If indeed you continue in the faith, the promise to be presented before God as holy and blameless and above reproach is only for those who respond to it in obedience, by continuing in the faith, by being stable and steadfast and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that they had. You cannot claim one saved, always saved, if you delight in sin and you have no desire to repent from it. This promise is for those who are fighting sin. This promise is for those who say, I am weak and I sin, but I delight in obeying God and I'm going to continue to fight this sin. And I want to give you this warning, that if you don't repent from your sin, Hear the sure word from God's Word, the wrath of God is coming for you. Romans 8 verse 13, For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. There is no glory without a fight. There is no heaven without a battle with sin. 1 Peter 2, 11. Beloved, I urged you as surgeons and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh. And he says, what do these passions of the flesh do? They wage war against your soul. This is not an empty promise. Brothers and sisters, sin must be put to death because sin is a direct threat to your soul. Listen to how our Lord and Saviour put it, Matthew 18 verse 9. If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it out. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. Hear this warning, brothers and sisters. Sin is a direct threat to your soul. To delight and glory in sin is to deny the glory of the Saviour. Lack of sanctification is a sure sign of lack of justification. One who will not turn away from sin will not find themselves in the delights of God in heaven. Mark this, there can never be glorification without sanctification. And our text speaks to us this morning, speaks clearly to us this morning, Colossians 3 verse 6, On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. The enjoyment of sin is short-lived and temporal, but the consequences of sin will be eternal and terrible. God will surely punish sinners who don't find their refuge in Christ, and God will surely punish sinners who don't repent from their sin. And this punishment will be eternal and it will be terrible. 2 Thessalonians describes this to us in chapter 1 verse 7 to 9. It says, The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And He continues to say they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His night. and the glory of his might. So brothers and sisters, hear this. When this warning says the vengeance of God and the wrath of God is coming against sinners, it does not mean that God is going to put you on a naughty corner for a couple of minutes until you come to your senses. The warning here is that the eternal punishment and the eternal wrath of God is coming against those who will not repent, those who will not turn away from their sin, and those who will not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this will be a terrible punishment and it will be an eternal punishment. You see, hell is an existence where unrepentant sinners will be stripped of all that makes life pleasant. They will be made miserable forever. And this is the warning. that you need to hear this morning Ephesians chapter 5 verse 5 for you may be sure of this that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure who is coercive there is an idolater has no inheritance in the kingdom of God And then the Apostle Paul anticipated. Then he says, let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not become partners with them. For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. You get the warning, brothers and sisters. This is why we are here. We are not a group of people who were bored on Sundays and had nothing to do. We are certainly not a group of people who are broke and wanted to make money from people. We are people who are convinced that this is the truth of God's word. And if there are churches that are not preaching this, we want to be here and preach this truth. in this community. Put it to death. Listen to the seriousness of this command. Put to death. When it comes to sin, the Bible does not say restrain it. You see, the Bible doesn't say put it in a cage. It doesn't say reduce it or control it. The Bible doesn't say Try and take it easy. The Word of God says put to death, kill it, keep putting it to death, make an end to it, slay it. All Christians are commanded to put to death all kinds of sin. Amen. Now I want to close with some extra practical and pastoral step six strategies for the battle against sin. Number one, see sin for what it is. Call sin what it is. Don't make an excuse for sin. See sin for what it is. Call it for what it is. So if you are battling with anger, don't make an excuse for it. Call it what it is. It is anger. Believe the promises of God, number two. Ephesians chapter six, verse 16, tells us that we must take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and this is what we use to fight against sin. The weapon for offense is the word of God. Believe it, study it, memorize it, and love it. Third, remember that God does not call you to do the impossible. This is where most people struggle with sin. It is at this point to say, I see, I see other sins, but this is impossible for me. Remember, God does not call you to do the impossible. Listen to what a Christian counselor says, JD Adams. It says, when God created man, he gave him a commission to subdue the world and have dominion over it. You find this in Genesis 1.28. But sin brought a reversal of man's rule over earth. So instead of man subduing and ruling the world, he is subdued and ruled by the world. See, sin brings a reversal of the Genesis mandate. Now, JD Adams continues to say, the main problem in cancelling is that man has allowed the environment to control him. The men and women cry and complain. They say, I can't. I'm helpless. I cannot control my desire to sin. I cannot control my anger. I cannot control my foul thoughts. I cannot control my rage. I cannot control my lying and my slander and my wrath. So J.E. Adams says, when Christians do this, they simply submit to the rule of sin in the world universe set against them. No Christian has a right to act that way. The Christian's task is to subdue. God's command is still in force. The Christian is called to master his environment. The Christian is called to master his sin, to master himself. And by God's grace, he can, because you have been made alive with Christ. Now live for Christ. The picture of a man crippled by his environment, subject to his environment, cowering before it, crying out that he is helpless. This picture is, of course, a pitiful distortion of God's mandate to man. This is what J. Adams says, and he has counseled many, many Christians coming to him with different scenarios and different sins. And he says, the root cause of most people's problems is that their first inclination and approach to sin is to give up and say, I can't. But you cannot say, I can't. Because when you say you can't, you are saying that the work of Christ was insufficient. And you're saying the promises of God are not true. By God's grace, you can conquer sin. You can say, you can't say I can't. Don't make excuses for it. Remember the Genesis mandate, subdue and rule. Number four, never make excuses for your sin. You cannot say this is the way I am. You cannot say I'm short-tempered. Even my family knows this. People know. Never make excuses for your sin. You need to deal with your sin decisively. Number five, don't fight aimlessly. Get to the roots of your sin. Avoid occasions that incite your sin. Address the first signs of your sin and meditate on God's word and God's truth. And here's the final one. Don't fight sin in solitude. God calls you to a community of believers. Make a commitment to be a member of this church, be faithful, make a serious effort to seek help, pursue the godly, to disciple you, be serious about making Christian friends, invite people to your home, make opportunities to connect to people, try to get to know people really well, ask questions, be involved in GCs and be a faithful member of this church. Brothers and sisters, we have a great calling to live lives worthy of the gospel. From our passage, we see that we must put to death what is earthly in us, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and coerciousness, which is idolatry. On account of these things, the wrath of God is coming. Brothers and sisters, may we honor God's word. And may we live a life that honors God by putting off, putting sin to death. Because by the grace of God, we can. Amen. Father, we thank you for your word. We ask that we would obey you. We would believe your word. That we would fight sin, fight the fight to death. We should put to death sin. We ask that you help us. to grow in this way, to honor you in all things. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.