I do pray that you do have an open heart this morning to receive God's Word. I'm excited about this message, so we'll jump right into Colossians chapter 3 this morning. If you haven't been here in a few weeks or you're not a regular here, just let me explain briefly. We've been doing a series now for several... Well, about two months now, actually, through the book of Colossians, looking at Paul's letter and seeing how it applies to our lives. And we just got into chapter 3 last week, which is a transitional chapter. And what I mean by that is the first two chapters of Colossians, and much of Paul's writings in general, starts out with This is who Christ is. This is the doctrine. This is what we believe. And then at some point in his writings, chapter 3 in this case, he transitions over from who God is, what we believe, to okay, now if you believe these things, if you are a Christian, how does that play out in my life? What does that look like? How do I live out the teachings that I've learned? six weeks or better, looking at chapters 1 and 2, which tells us that Christ is God in the flesh, that He has every attribute and every characteristic of God the Father because He is God in the flesh. And so when we want to see God, we look to Christ and we get a picture of exactly what the Father looks like and the Spirit as He led Christ throughout His time here on the earth. And then Paul starts to talk about the fact that because You have put your faith in Christ. You have been baptized, not water baptism, but united with Christ in His death and raised to eternal life because Jesus was raised. So we are united together with Him. And Paul had laid out that teaching for us in the first and second chapters of Colossians. And then we come to chapter 3, and last week we covered verses 1-4. And I want to read those to you again if you weren't here, because it's Crucial. It's crucial that you understand this transition because if you don't, you're going to get caught in the trap that much of modern Christianity is caught in today. And that is, if I can change my behavior, if I can modify on the outside the way that I live my life, God will be pleased with me and I can find favor with Him. And that is exactly what Christ came to destroy. Christianity is not about modifying your behavior. It's about changing and having a relationship with a God that you did not know. And because of that relationship, your behavior is going to change naturally. And so verses 1 through 4, real quick, Paul says, if then, that's the qualifier. Chapters 1 and 2 covered all the doctrine. If then you are a believer, if you are in Christ and have been raised with Him, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, and set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died, past tense, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. So when Christ, who now is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory." So, if you're a Christian, your salvation is secure. No more working, no more efforts, no more trying to make yourself acceptable in God's eyes, no more trying to clean yourself up so you can be saved. God took care of that, period. You've got to get that. There's no more works. There's never been any keeping the law that could justify you. So Paul says, if then you understand this and you are saved, How is that going to look? Now we're going to look today at verses 5 to 11. And we're going to see how we put this into practice. If you're a believer, these things are going to happen. But the danger with this is, we can look at this list, and my message today is entitled, Grace-Centered Removal. And the key is the word grace. Because anytime you revert back to your own effort, and your own strength, and your own ability to try to live the Christian life, you're no longer under grace. You've put yourself back under the law. And listen, this is what I want you to understand today. There are people in this room myself included, that are struggling with certain areas of their life. And if you're honest, I don't care what stage of the game you're in in your Christian life, until Christ comes or you go to see Him in glory, you're not complete. You have not reached perfection in your Christian life. And there is some area, maybe it's so deep down in your heart that you don't even recognize it, but it doesn't have to be external, it can be internal. But regardless, there is some area of your life where you struggle with some sin. There's a sin today that every one of you, maybe several in this room, are struggling with. And no matter how many times you think you've got that thing under control, it rears its head again when you least expect it. And you're stuck in this cycle of trying to get free from this thing and it keeps coming up and dragging you down. And the key is to understand that the only way you can ever get rid of those things is to kill it by grace, not control it by your efforts. And that's what we're going to look at today. Paul's going to list some things. I'm going to read all these verses and then we'll come back because it'll make more sense if you hear it all together. So, 5 to 11. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you. Sexual immorality, that's the Greek word pornea, that covers any sexual sin from adultery to homosexuality to anything in between. Pornography, you want to throw a sexual sin in there, it's covered by that term, sexual immorality. impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. See that? So, idolatry is not you just having a little statue on your mantel that you worship every evening. Coveting things that aren't yours. Coveting things that you think you deserve. is idolatry, because you've put something else on the throne other than God. You've made something else more important than God, and that is idolatry, Paul says. And verse 6, on account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them. So that's a habitual pattern, a lifestyle. These people lived in these things. It was the way that they lived their lives. But now, that you're in Christ, you must put them all away. Now look at this list. 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 not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all." So, he gives a list, alright? And if we're honest, somewhere along the way on that list, we're all guilty. Because the law condemns everybody. If we were to break out the Ten Commandments, if we were to go through the Sermon on the Mount, nobody's getting out of here with 100%. We've all fallen short in some area. And that's what the law was intended to show. And that's why it's so ridiculous when you break a command that you roll up your sleeves and get busy trying to keep it. Because it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen for you. And it's ridiculous to think that you're going to be the one that somehow finally makes it work. Because you can't. It's all about the grace that you've been given in Christ that gives you the ability. So, verse 5, jump back to that. He says, "...put to death therefore what is earthly in you." And like I said at the start, Christian behavior always follows being a Christian. You can't mix that up. You can't act like a Christian without being one. You can, but it's futile. It means nothing. It's chasing the wind. It's not going to get you anywhere. Because all of those efforts may fool man, but you're not going to fool God. And at the end of the day, when you stand before Him, no amount of works is going to earn your salvation. And so, modifying your behavior, trying to live a life that you're really not having on the inside, is ridiculous. And it's a waste of time and it's not what is meant by the Christian life. And so Paul goes on and says that basically the answer to this is not controlling it, it's killing it. It's killing these sins. And he's going to get into depth a little bit more. But I want to read to you a statement. I'm stealing this statement from a theologian named D.A. Carson. And he wrote several books, probably 50 or better books. And I heard this myself in a sermon that I was listening to last week. But I wanted to share it with you because it really, really ties in great with this message today. D.A. Carson, in his book, wrote this. He said, people do not and will not drift into holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate towards godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, or delight in the Lord. Instead, we drift toward compromise and call it tolerance. We drift toward disobedience and call it freedom. We drift toward superstition and call it faith. We slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism. And we slide towards godlessness and convince ourselves that we have been liberated. And in that statement, the key thing that Dr. Carson says is that To conquer these things takes grace-driven effort. Grace-driven effort. It's not me trying to better my behavior. It's by the grace of God and who I now am in Christ, taking the things that God has given me to fight this spiritual fight with and allowing Him, through the Holy Spirit, to change me. Do you see the difference? God has given you things, and we're going to talk about that in length. to overcome sin, to be victorious in your life, to walk and live the Christian life. But when you set out to do it in your own strength and try to fix yourself up, you're never, ever, ever going to get there. That's exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden, wasn't it? I mean, they had fellowship with God. Everything was good. They sinned. They sewed together fig leaves. They said, OK, we've got a problem. We're naked. Let's fix it. Let's fix it. There's an issue here. We're naked. We see that now. We've got to fix that. So they sewed together fig leaves. Guess what? The fig leaves covered them up on the outside, but it didn't take away their guilt. It didn't take away their shame. So as soon as they heard God coming, what did they do? They jumped in the bushes and hid, because they were still guilty on the inside. And that's what happens when you try to clean yourself up. You can make your behavior look good, but your heart's still wicked. And so that guilt and that shame never leaves. It still hangs on. And as a matter of fact, the sin never leaves. You might cover it and mask it, but it's still there. And you see, God had to make the covering for them. And He had to make a covering for you and I. And He did in His Son, Jesus Christ. And now He gives you this resurrection power to live by. And you've got to live by that. In 2 Peter 3.18, He says, in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. So, if Peter says we are to grow in the grace and knowledge, how do we do that? How does that look? How do we put sin to death? without being deceived into doing it in our own power and in our own works. That's the question that I want to ask you today. How do we do that? What does it look like? How do you live this sanctified, if we want to use the theological term, this sanctified life where we're growing in Christ without falling into legalism and doing it in our strength? I'm going to give you several things today. Number one, we've talked about, is a new heart. Grace-driven effort, you putting to death the sin in your life and growing in Christ can only happen when you have a new heart. Apart from that, you are just playing games. You're pretending to be somebody that you're not. Listen to what the Bible says in Ezekiel 36, verses 26 and 27. This is the promise. I will give you a new heart. See that? A new heart, not some renovation. He's completely going to give a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. See the progression? The new heart comes, puts the spirit in, then I will cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. We get it backwards. We set out to obey rules and walk in the statutes and hope that our heart will change as a result. And it can't. It can't, because you must be born again. You must have that new nature. You must be saved. You must be regenerated. Whatever words you want to use. He told a religious guy that kept more rules and regulations than you and I ever could, Nicodemus. He came along at night and asked Jesus some questions. And Jesus tells him in John 3, 3, "...truly, truly, or barely, barely, I say to you, unless one is born again, or born from above, saved, regenerated, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Period. He cannot see it. You cannot get there. apart from having a new heart. And you cannot have a new heart until you get serious about your sin and turn from that sin and repent and come to Christ by faith and receive what He did for you and I on Calvary's cross. And on the third day rose again. That's the only way to be saved. There's no other way. But the legalist, the person that's convinced that they can do it in their own effort, will put sin against sin in some kind of battle to overcome sin. You see how ridiculous that is? That even sounds silly to say it. You pit sin against sin to try to defeat sin. Let me give you some examples. 80% of men struggle with pornography. 80% of men struggle with pornography. Churched and unchurched. Professing Christians and non-professing Christians. That's a lot of people. 8 out of 10. And what we do in that battle, that very real battle, is we take lust and we put it in the arena with self-righteousness. And we say this, we say, okay, I looked at something I shouldn't have looked at. I did something that I shouldn't have done. God, I promise you, that's the last time. I'm washing my hands of it. I'm going to put blockers on the internet, I'm going to lock my phone, I'm going to do everything I can do, and I'm going to clean myself up, and this won't happen again. And then it happens again. And again. And again. Because you've pitted your lust against your self-righteousness, saying, God, I'm going to clean myself up and you'll be happy with me. You'll love me and be pleased with what I've done. And either way, sin wins. Either way, sin wins. What about this? What about bitterness and gossip? You're mad at somebody. You're offended at something they did. So instead of going to them and making it right, instead of praying that God would change your heart and take away that feeling, that bitterness, you decide to try to get people on your side. You decide to try to go and get enough people to join your opinion or your view, and that way you can justify how you feel. And either way, sin wins. You see the silliness in that? So, we could go on with that anger and manipulation. You have an anger issue, so you like to blame other people. It's your fault. I'm not angry. You make me this way. You drive me nuts. You drive me insane. It's your fault. You're always the victim. And you're pitting your anger against manipulation, and either way you lose. You can't, listen, I used to, for a while there, I was trying to get into this old car thing. Some of you maybe like to do that. It's a fun hobby, but it's an expensive hobby and a time-consuming hobby. But if you buy a fixer-upper car, if you buy something that requires a lot of work to get it ready, and it's got some rust on it, you can't spray over the rust and have a show car, okay? I mean, you can try to sand that down and do a little bit of work with it, but if you don't cut that rust out and put in some new metal in its place, that rust is going to bubble through on that paint sooner or later. And it's the same way with our Christian life. You paint the outside when the heart's still wicked on the inside. It'll never work. So a new heart, number one, is what you need. Number two, you need to use the weapons of grace. to fight. You can't fight in your own strength. God has given you things. What has He given you? I'm going to give you three things. He's given us the blood of Christ. Number one, the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2.13 says, But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Do you see that? There was this separation. There was this gap that your sin created. You were at arm's length from God and had no way to get to Him. but now by faith in Christ, in His blood, in His perfect sacrifice on the cross to pay for your sin, He has brought you near to Him. He has saved you. Let me read you this statement that someone said. I believe it was Warren Wiersbe said this. It's not what I do or don't do that makes Him love me. Boy, that's good news. Somebody ought to say amen just for that. Alright, that was weak. I'm going to say it again. It's not what I do or don't do that makes Him love me. Amen. But the blood of Christ. I have acceptance with Him and freedom to come to Him, not because I'm doing well or not doing well, but because He shed His blood for me and through the lenses of that blood, He sees me as His spotless, perfect, adopted son or daughter. You see what he said there? Through those lenses. Anybody wear glasses or contacts? What happens when you slide those on or you put those in? Don't things clear up? Don't you see differently? Well, God the Father, when you were in sin, you were dead in your trespasses in sin. You were at arm's length from God. You were separated from Him. And all He saw was the stain of sin in your life. And when by faith you come to Christ, now all He sees is His Son's blood. And that's good news because no matter what you do, and this isn't, people say, you talk like this, that gives people a license to sin. And Paul said, if you're dead to sin, how can you live any longer in it? So my point is, I'm not giving you a license to sin. If you've got a new heart, I shouldn't have to tell you not to sin. The Holy Spirit does that quite well without me doing it. But by grace, God now looks through different lenses at you. He doesn't see you in your sin. He sees His spotless Son in your place. And that's how you can be adopted and forgiven and loved, even when we're all jacked up. Right? There's no other way. If it's not through the blood, we're all lost. And we all have no hope. Because every one of us are going to sin, probably before we get out of Frisch's today. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. Maybe it happened this morning. Maybe you got up late. You screamed at the kids. You cut somebody off on the way and gave them a gesture or said a word you shouldn't have. I don't know. It happens. And in those moments, you need to repent. In those moments, you need to ask for forgiveness. And you need to remember that it's the blood of Christ that God's looking at, not your efforts to be good enough. were the Word of God, number two, the weapons of grace to fight with. The Word of God. 2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17. Many of us maybe know this by heart. All Scripture is breathed out or inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction or training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete or perfect, equipped for every good work. So, the Word of God has a power and an effect. to change, to transform, to convict, to do the work that's required, and I'm going to come back to that in a second, because number three is the promises of the New Covenant. Hebrews 9.15, listen to what the writer of Hebrews says. Therefore, He, Jesus Christ, is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called Those who are saved may receive the promised eternal inheritance." Listen to this. Since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. You know what the first covenant was? It was the law given to Moses on Sinai. It was the rules that now you're trying to live under and clean yourself up by. And do you see what he just said there? You see that he said, a death occurred. And it redeems us from those transgressions under the law. It redeems you from the law. Because as Paul talks about all through the letter to the church in Galatia, no one will ever be, can be, justified by the works of the law. It's impossible. Because you are fallen people trying to keep a perfectly holy God's law. And it won't work. And so he says, the good thing is a death occurred, the blood of Christ will shed, you're free from the law. You will keep the law now because you've got that new heart, not because you're trying to earn God's love and favor. And both of those things, the blood of Christ and the promises of the new covenant, come back again and again to knowing the Word of God. That's why And listen, we live in a generation now, it's difficult because the last thing on a young person's list of things to do is read, period. I mean, you know, they just, very few young people like to read. I know there's that exception here and there, but it's hard to get people to read. I won't even say young people, it's just hard sometimes. I mean, internet and television and all that stuff has replaced reading a book. But regardless of if you're popping in the Bible on your MP3 or your iPod on your phone, some way, more than just listening to me up here for an hour, you need to get in the Word of God and know it. Because that is the only way, like the song we sang, Ancient Words, that Word is going to be what equips you, what changes you, what gives you understanding, what grows you to know Christ. And so you've got to get in that Word. If you're not in it, And then you come and say, I don't understand why I struggle so much. I'm going to say it's pretty obvious. It's pretty obvious. And so the legalist, rather than using the weapons of grace, makes this list of do's and don'ts. I can't do this. I can't do this. I won't do this. I won't do this. And by trying to not do certain things and trying to do certain things, it's just a constant battle where you don't get anywhere. And let me give you an example. I'll embarrass my daughter. She loves it when I do this. Any of you with kids, especially when they're little, you want to start to teach them to clean up after themselves, right? I mean, at some point, you're absolutely drained from picking up things and stepping on Legos at 3 in the morning. And so you say, I'm going to teach my kids to pick up a little bit. But when they're real small, they don't do very good at that. But you don't want to discourage them, right? You want to encourage them to keep doing it. So they make a mess, and you get the paper towel, and they smear it all over the table. Good job, buddy. Great. And when they leave, you clean up the mess behind them, right? Well, that's exactly what happens when we try to clean up our lives when we fall short. All we do is just smear it around. We don't really clean anything up. We just smear it around and make a big mess. And the Father is the one that cleans things up. He is the one that cleans things up in our lives. It's not by our own effort. Let me give you another example. There was a man named Frederick Hanley Page. He was an aviation pioneer, and he was flying over Arabia all by himself. flying, you know, the desert of Arabia. And all of a sudden, he hears this gnawing sound. And man, as he's flying along and he keeps, he's just focused on this sound. And he realizes that there's a rat behind the cockpit. And he starts to think, man, if this thing chews through the wrong wire or chews through something, I'm going down. I mean, there's no autopilot, there's no co-pilot. So he's thinking, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? And he finally remembers his training, that if ever anything like that was to happen, that if you climb to a high enough altitude, this thing won't be able to survive. It won't be able to breathe. And so he starts to climb higher and higher in this plane, and he's listening, he's listening. And as he gets to a certain altitude and stays up there for a while, the gnawing stops. And when he lands and they get into the plane, they find the rat dead behind the cockpit. And that's a perfect example of how you have to defeat sin in your life. You've got to climb to the heights where God is. You've got to get in God's company, in God's presence, and be with Him. If you want to see those things in your life, die. If you want to have victory over those things, you've got to raise your elevation. You're already seated with Christ, Paul told us. You've just got to live out that power in your life. Number three, I've got to get moving or you guys are going to get upset with me. Number three, attack the root, not the branch. Attack the root, not the branch. Listen, a lot of things in our life pop up and those are evidences of things, but they're not the problem. If you've got a porn problem, that's a good indicator that absolutely there's something wrong, but that's not the problem. There's something deeper going on in your heart. There's a heart issue there. And so when you try to stop watching porn, you're not going to have victory because the problem is deeper than that. You're cutting off branches, but the root's still there. If you can't overcome anger, that's because there's something going on in your heart that's deeper. If you're constantly tearing people down, there's something deeper. All those things are evidences, good signs, good diagnostics that there's something going on inside. You can't, I've told you this before, you know, in the summertime when it starts to get dry out and hot, the weeds love to grow and the grass doesn't. And when you go outside and you look at your yard and you say, man, I guess I need to cut the grass. And so you go out there and you mow over those weeds and you come out a day or two later and guess what? The weeds are all right back. Because you can't mow over the weeds and get rid of them. You've got to pluck them out by the root. And it's the same way with sin in your life. You can't mow over the weeds. You've got to get in there and let God change your heart and pluck those things out. Jeremiah 17, 9 says that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And sometimes we fail to recognize just how wicked and evil our hearts can be. You've got to understand that there's not just some things going on on the outside of your life that need fixing up. You've got a wicked heart. And so when these things pop up, when anger and lust and all this other stuff pops up, You've got to understand that, yeah, you're saved if you know Christ, but you still have the propensity in your heart to do wicked and evil things. And it's going to take grace to overcome that, not you cleaning yourself up. Number four, the fight goes beyond having a peaceful conscience. And what do I mean by that? A lot of times when you do wrong, you feel bad, right? And there's some good to that if it's the Holy Spirit convicting you. Absolutely, that's a good thing. But a lot of times our reason for repenting is because we don't like how we feel. God, I messed up. I feel so awful. I don't like this. Forgive me so I can feel better. That's not repentance. That's you wanting to feel good. That's you wanting to have your conscience be quiet so that you can go about your life again and not feel so bad. And Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 7.10, for godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. But worldly grief or worldly sorrow produces death. You see, the worldly sorrow says, man, I got caught. Man, I feel bad. Man, I don't like this. Man, what will someone think of me if they knew about this? I need to fix this up. I need to clean this up. I need to sweep it under the rug so nobody sees what I really am. And the problem is God sees what you really are. And so you've got to understand that when you repent, it's not to feel better, it's to understand that you've offended a holy God, you've grieved the Holy Spirit, you've put a roadblock in your fellowship, and you need to repent to God. Don't do like Adam and Eve and sow fig leaves and jump in the bushes. You've got to understand that you've sinned against God and to Him is where you need to run. To Him is where you have to go. Otherwise, you're just mowing over those weeds. David said in his repentant Psalm 51, verse 4, the beginning there, he says, Against you and you only have I sinned. Now, he sinned against Uriah, he sinned against Bathsheba, he sinned against a whole host of people. But when it came to repentance, David said, Against you and you only have I sinned, God. Because he recognized at the end of the day, that was where the disconnect was. That was where the problem really lies. And so, you've got to get things right with God first. and then go and reconcile with your brothers and sisters. And so when you feel bad over a sin, that's a good indicator. But just getting rid of the bad feelings is not repentance. You've got to go to God and get things right. And number five, and this is one of, if not the most important, one of the most important. There's a violent desire to kill sin, to put it to death, to get rid of it. And here is where so many people, and if you're struggling today with sin, if you just can't get victory in your life, I would say that 10 out of 10 times, this is why. This is why you're not having victory in your life over certain things. Because the legalist, the person that wants to clean up their life, doesn't want to kill sin, they just want to control it. They don't want to kill sin, they just want to control it. And it looks like this. When you get tired, or frustrated, or angry, or you don't get what you think you deserve in life and you just get dealt a bad hand, when any of those things happen, you run to that sin for comfort rather than God. And maybe some of you today do that and you're stuck in that pattern. When things go wrong, when life gets down, it's to that sin that you turn, not God. Because you haven't put it to death, you've just tried to control it. You've tried to put it on a leash. And it's going to turn around and bite you every time. It's going to turn around and get you when you least expect it. It was a sad story just last week about a lady in Madison Township that had a dog attack. And listen, I love animals and I'm not here to condemn pit bulls. I do think they're good dogs. But the bottom line is a dog is a dog, an animal is an animal, period. And so it shouldn't shock people. when an animal attacks someone, because it's just part of their nature. They can be the most loving, kind animal on earth, but all it takes is the right situation, the right trigger for an animal to turn on you. There used to be a show, I don't, I've never really watched it, and maybe it's still on, it's called When Animals... I mean, maybe it's still on, maybe it's not. But, you know, they'd watch the show and, you know, have a lady in a cage with a lion laying there and all of a sudden the lion jumps on the lady and everybody's, you know, in shock. And I'm like, it's a lion. That's what they do. They're a predator. I mean, nothing in the jungle hunts the lion, right? The lion is the king of the jungle. It's hunting everything. And so why are we shocked when a lion just simply does what it was created to do? It's a predator, an apex predator. And so why are we shocked when we try to control sin and then it turns around and bites us? It turns around and gets us. It's because we haven't taken it serious. We haven't put it to death. We haven't gotten violent. And there was a story of a man, and every week he'd come to the altar and he would pray, Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life. Every week he'd come and the preacher would listen to him. Every Sunday, Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life. Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life. And finally, the preacher got a little aggravated about this going on every week, and when the man came forward and started to pray, the preacher got down there and put his arm around him and said, Lord, kill the spider. Lord, kill the spider. And that's the attitude that we need to have. At some point you've got to say, quit saying, Lord, help me overcome this, help me overcome this, and Lord, help me to put this to death. Help me to use the tools of grace and put this thing to death. You've got to get serious enough where you quit trying to control that sin and realize it's controlling you. And put it to death. Listen to verse 11 and we'll close. Paul says this, There is not Greek and Jew, this is in Christ. If you're born again this morning, if you know Christ, this is what Paul is saying. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, which was the covenant between God and the Jews, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. And all Paul's saying there is this, no matter where you're at this morning, whether you've been at Freedom Baptist Church since they laid the foundation, or this is your first time ever in a church, you need Christ. You need Christ. And so, listen, if your life is absolutely broken this morning and you are just farther from God than you've ever felt, You need to get out of the bushes and quit hiding and come to Him. And He wants to receive you. And if you've never ever repented and turned to Him by faith, then today is that day for you. And maybe you did that, and maybe you're settled in your heart that you're His, but you don't have that joy, you don't have that fellowship, and you're battling a sin that's just got you captive. I would encourage you to come and see that maybe you haven't been attacking the root. Maybe you haven't been using the tools that you need to use. And maybe it's time you just get serious about following God. And I hope today that you realize and see how you do that. So I'm going to pray and then we'll have an invitation this morning. Father, it's my prayer this morning that lives would truly be changed from Your Word, God. That You would get a hold of hearts this morning, God. Not just our behaviors, but our hearts. And that You would move in such a way that we would know the victory that is ours in Christ. And if there's someone here that doesn't know Christ, He would be so real this morning, so close, that they could almost reach out and touch Him. And by faith, they can. And I pray, Lord, that You would just move in a mighty way now as we give the invitation, that You would draw people to come forward and give their lives, give their hearts, get serious with whatever it is that You're dealing with them. And we just thank You for Your Word. We thank You for second chances. We thank You for grace that covers are many, many sins and makes us holy in Your sight when we feel unholy. So God, just do what only You can now in Your precious name, I pray. Amen. As we sing, will you come? I am Thine, O Lord. Are You His this morning? If not, You can come. If you don't feel like you're His, you should come. Have you heard His voice this morning? Do you feel something in your heart that's not right? Don't leave here with that guilt and that shame and that sin. Draw me nearer, Lord. Draw me into His presence. Where you come? Get set free from that thing. Whatever it is that's keeping you in bondage, put it to death today. Resolve in your heart to not walk in that anymore. As we sing, will you come? What is it that's keeping you from being what Christ would have you to be? What's holding you back? What guilt, what shame do you carry around? Let it go. Let the blood of Christ wash it away. You don't have to carry that burden anymore. Where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side. O the pure delight of a single hour that before thy throne I spend. When I kneel in prayer and with Thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, To Thy precious bleeding side. There are depths of love that I cannot know Till I cross the narrow sea. There are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with Thee. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to Thy precious Christ in me is all I want to be solely you. Solely you in everything I do and everything I do Cleanse me today mold me like the potter's clay I'm free to be you can be free today if you're not Christ is I want to thank you again for being here. Thank you all for being a wonderful church. I'm blessed to be here. I'm blessed to be your pastor. And I want you to know that if there's things in your life that, you know, listen, I hear a lot of people say, I don't like to bother you, Chris, because you're busy. I'm never too busy to talk to you. If I am, I'm in the wrong place, in the wrong calling. So, just know that you can call me and I'll do my best to walk with you through whatever you're facing or rejoice with you in whatever you're rejoicing in. So, God bless you. Pray for Marcus and the chaperones. They're going to take a little adventure to the Reds game. Pray that you make it back safe and just have a good time and the Reds get a win. But thank Marcus for everything he's doing. He's doing a great job. Bless y'all. Come back tonight. We're going to talk about anxiety. If you're a little nervous from time to time, which a lot of us are, come back and see what God's Word says tonight about that. So, Brother Mike Jordan, I know you're a little sore, but you feel up to praying this morning? All right. Thank you, Mike. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yep. Just fine. Do you know, did mom get those little red cards that have the money at the Reds game? Did she bring those to anybody? Oh, I don't think so. Okay, let me call her. Okay.