This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Let's take our Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter 4, beginning at verse 1. Now the man had relations with his wife Eve and she conceived and gave birth to Cain and she said, I've gotten a man child with the help of the Lord. Again she gave birth to his brother Abel and Abel was a keeper of flocks but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering, he had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, Will not you be lifted up if you do not do well? Sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you, but you must master it. Cain told Abel his brother and it came about when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? He said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you. You will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth. And Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is too great to bear. Behold, you've driven me this day from the face of the ground and from your face I will be hidden and I'll be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me. The Lord said to him, therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold. The Lord appointed a sign for Cain so that no one finding him would slay him. Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. This is the word of the Lord. What a great New Year's text. I was having fond memories this week of family worship years ago when Alex was little and sat down for family worship and Alex said, Daddy, would you read me the story of King and Eagle? I said, honey, I don't know the story of King and Eagle. Yes you do, yes you do, please. I wanna hear about King and Eagle. I said, honey, I don't know. He goes, yes, you do. Remember, King killed Eagle. And then, of course, I realized that it was Cain and Abel. But they'll be forever remembered by me as King and Eagle. Adam and Eve, of course, had been exiled from the garden. And even though they'd been exiled, there was still hope. And there was hope because God had given a promise. And that promise, although spoken to the serpent, was actually a promise to Eve and to Adam and to all of their posterity. And that promise was that God was gonna create enmity between the woman and the serpent and between her seed and his seed. And the great promise is that the seed of the woman was going to crush the head of the serpent. That was the promise, and I think that Adam and Eve understood not everything about that promise, but they understood a great deal about that promise, and it ends up even being reflected when Adam renames his wife after the fall and calls her Eve because she's now the mother of all the living. In other words, she's going to have seed, and in that seed is our hope. And so you can imagine, here's Adam and Eve and they're exiled from the garden and they're working hard because of course now the earth is not yielding itself to Adam's dominion and Eve becomes pregnant and as she prepares to bring forth their firstborn child into the world, there must have been serious hope. Maybe. Maybe. This one will be our deliverer. But, of course, things are going to get worse before they get better. And God is going to allow the darkness to set in and to become exceedingly dark before any light begins to shine. And so as chapter four, Genesis, begins to unfold, we actually see two things developing in this chapter. And the first is the spread and escalation of sin. We're going to see sin spread, but we're not just gonna see it spread, we're going to see it escalate, we're going to see it intensify. But the second thing that we're going to see in this chapter is the war between the two seeds. The war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. In verses one and two, we have the births of Cain and Abel. And of course, the text literally reads, and Adam knew his wife. Of course, the word know, yada, is a euphemism for intimacy that would actually take on incredible significance in the rest of the Bible. So God will know Abraham, for instance, and he knows him in an intimate way. He knows him in a way that's personal, not just cognitive. So Adam knows his wife and she conceives and she gives birth to Cain. Now there's a play on words because the word Cain means to acquire or to gain or to possess and so she names him Cain and says I have acquired or I have gotten a man child. The terminology is really strange. Because when moms give birth to baby boys, they don't say, I've given birth to a man. That's what she says, I've given birth to a man. Now, there's a reason why she says it. There's a reason why she doesn't say, I've given birth to a baby boy. I mean, obviously Cain was a baby. But she sees something in his birth. And in fact, if you look at the text, and if you have a New American Standard, you'll be able to see this. She says, I've gotten a man-child. And then notice, the help of is in italics. The text actually just literally reads like this, I've gotten a man child, the Lord. Now, some people take Eve's expression at Cain's birth somewhat negatively as if Eve is saying something like synergistic, like I've gotten a child with the help of the Lord. I did my part and he did my part. Some even see it even more negative than that, saying something like, I have equally created a man even as God has created a man. But I actually don't think that any of that ends up being true. I think that what Eve is saying here is actually an expression of messianic expectation. It seems to me that as you read the text, especially as it reads literally, that Eve believed that she had just given birth to the Deliverer, to the Savior's seed who was promised back in Genesis chapter three and verse 15. The text just says, I've gotten a man child, the Lord. Now, many, many commentators, Old Testament scholars, see some kind of hopeful expression that is connected with the seed promise here, but very few actually will just translate it straightforwardly. And I don't want to bore you, but if you look at the text, the text just says, I've gotten a man-child, and then the text says, et Yahweh, and the little Hebrew particle et can be a preposition or it can simply be a direct object marker, which it is the predominant number of times in the first few chapters of Genesis. So the text should read, I think, I've gotten a man child, the Lord. In other words, Eve thinks that she has just brought forth the divine Messiah who's gonna deliver the people by crushing the head of the serpent. Jim Boyce believes Eve's statement is that she'd just given birth to the Messiah. Luther, Luther's always interesting to read, he says, focusing on I've given birth to a man. He says, from this statement, another reason may be gathered why Eve did not call Cain a son, namely, that because of her excessive joy and reverence, she was unwilling to call him son, but had something greater in mind about him, as though Cain would be the man who would crush the head of the serpent. For this reason, she doesn't just simply call him a man, but the man, the Lord, of whom the Lord had promised, your seed will crush the head of the serpent. Although this was a false hope, it nevertheless was clear that Eve was a saintly woman and that she believed the promise concerning future salvation through the blessed seed. Walter Kaiser, Wonderful Old Testament scholar, he says, some hint of what these early mortals may have understood from this announcement is evident in Eve's response after she'd given birth to her first son. She named him Cain and explained, I have gotten, the verb sounds like the noun Cain, a man, adding, even the Lord. This is the way Luther rendered the clause and came to the end of the verse. Such a translation is possible for there's no word for help as most modern versions generally render it. He says, if this suggestion is correct, then Eve understood that the promised male descendant of human descent would be in some way divine, the Lord. If so, then Eve's instincts about the coming Messiah were correct, but her timing was way off. Jim Boyce says she'd given birth to a killer rather than the Christ. She thought she had just brought forth the Christ and in reality she just brought forth the Antichrist. It's great messianic hope, and this messianic hope of maybe this one is the descendant is going to reoccur. In fact, when Noah's born, his father believes he's the Messiah who's going to give rest from the land and deliverance to the people. But Eve, of course, is incredibly and sadly, sadly mistaken. And really, you have to kind of put yourself in that situation and think to yourself, here we are, exiled from God's presence, we are out of Eden, we are under the curse, we are fallen people, death is our lot, but God's gonna deliver. And then to have the hope, maybe I've just brought forth the one who is going to deliver us. The text then tells us almost without any kind of fanfare or description, she gave birth to, and notice the way the phrase goes, his brother. So who's the main actor in Genesis chapter 4? Well, it's Cain. Abel comes in and Abel is his brother. Well, the word Abel The name Abel in the Hebrew text is chavel, meaning breath or vapor. And of course, it would be incredibly fitting for one whose life would be a breath or a vapor. Bruce Waltke says, Somewhat sadly that Abel is now the father of all of those who get the short end of the stick. The text then tells us that Abel was a keeper of flocks and Cain was a tiller of the ground. And of course, both of those callings, both of those vocations were completely legitimate in the eyes of God. In fact, when we see that God accepts Abel's offering but rejects Cain's, one German scholar says, well, it's because God didn't like gardeners, he preferred shepherds. Okay, well, it's just not true, all right? Both callings were completely legitimate, and so here is Abel, and he's out tending the sheep, and he's a shepherd at heart, and he's taking care of the flocks, and then there's Cain, and Cain is a farmer, and he's working the ground, and verse three then gives us a picture of their worship. The text says in the course of time or at the designated time, literally the text reads at the end of days, at the end of days, which of course may be a reference to the Sabbath being a reference to the end of the week, but whatever the case is, it's the appointed time for their worship, and we see that Cain and Abel end up bringing their offerings to Yahweh, and both Cain and Abel at this point are acting as priests, and they're going to an altar, and they're making an offering as they worship Yahweh. They're doing, no doubt, what their parents had instructed them to do. They're doing no doubt maybe what even God himself had revealed to them that they ought to do. And the text says that Cain brought an offering to the Lord. Now, what's interesting is if you have the NIV or the New English Translation, they do something with the text that actually is very helpful. Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. New English translation, Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering to the Lord. And the reason that they insert the word some there is because of the Hebrew preposition that could be partitive and could mean that he brought some of it, not all of it. In fact, as you read about Cain's offering, there's something that is missing. And what's missing is there's nothing that said about first fruits. It's just Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground as an offering. Now Abel's offering is described as Abel brought the firstlings of his flock and their fat portions. Alan Ross actually says the construction should better be translated that he brought the fattest of the firstlings of his flock. So Cain brings the just some of the fruit of the ground, but Abel brings, in a sense, the first fruits, the best of his flock. The text then tells us that Yahweh had regard for Abel's offering. Now, older commentators used to say that it was because Abel had brought blood. That's not true. And the reason it's not true is because there's going to be a number of legitimate offerings that are acceptable to the Lord that are bloodless offerings. And in fact, if Cain is a gardener or a farmer, then it would be natural for him to bring the first fruits of his produce related to his calling. Okay, so the reason that God accepts Abel's offering is not because it was blood. There were plenty of acceptable bloodless offerings. Abel actually has his offering accepted by God, Hebrews 11, four tells us, because he brought it by faith. In other words, as Abel brought his offering, I take it to mean that Abel, as a man of faith, went to his flock and actually chose the best of the best. And in choosing the best of the best, that was an act of faith and it was love and devotion to God that flowed from that faith that made him want to offer the best to God. That's what made it acceptable. In other words, Abel was a true worshiper. He was a man of faith, a man of true devotion to God. And when it came time for him to engage in worship, there was absolutely nothing on his mind other than, my God, my father is worthy of the best of the best. And I come to him by faith and I offer it to him in love and devotion. And Abel's offering is accepted, was regarded by the Lord. But then the text says, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. Imagine. Waltke comments, he says, Cain manifests his lack of faith by his tokenism. Remember years ago, reading Dan Fuller's book, The Unity of the Bible, and he summed up Cain's attitude like this. Cain goes out to the field, says, ah, it's time to go to worship. And he's looking around, he goes, well, any old pumpkin will do. Any old pumpkin will do. And that's what he goes and that's what he takes to the Lord. And God has absolutely no regard whatsoever for Cain's offering. Why? Because the offering cost him nothing. And it wasn't offered by faith. It was just an obligatory token. Now, How do we know that God actually had regard for Abel's offering, but did not have regard for Cain's? And the answer is, ultimately, we don't know for sure, but perhaps, perhaps, as Abel offered up his offering to the Lord, the Lord consumed it from the altar with fire. Maybe. He's done that before. And there's Cain, and he brings that old ratty pumpkin with all the warts on it, sticks it up on the altar, and standing there waiting for the fire to come down and consume it to show God's regard, and all that happens is a bunch of flies land on it. Two worshipers. One comes to the Lord by faith, and brings his best, and seeks that which is pleasing to the Lord, and the other simply discharges a duty. You know, that got me thinking. It's the very same thing here today, isn't it? It's the very same thing here today. There are some of you and you woke up this morning and there was something in your heart that resonated that said, this is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. And there was something in your heart that said, I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. And the very idea of going and being able to sing God's praise and to come and to hear God's word and fellowship with God's people. There was a sense of joy, a sense of expectation. a sense of anticipation to meet with the Lord. You sit there and you think, I'm gonna gather and God is so worthy of my praise, he's worthy of my money, he's worthy of my time, he's worthy of me giving this day to him. And I do it gladly because of who he is. I'm gonna give him my best today. And you're sitting here and you're sitting here by faith. You're offering your best to God by faith. Because out of that faith flows a true love for the living God and for his son and there flows a true devotion to God and to all that he's called you to do. And it's not a burden, it's a joy. And there's something in it that resonates in your heart that I'm glad to be here. And then sitting maybe right next to you is Cain. And your first thought this morning as you came in through the doors was not, well, it's good to be in the house of the Lord with God's people. Your first thought was, I hope that guy doesn't go too long, because I got to get home and watch football game. I hope so-and-so doesn't come up and talk to me. I can't stand that person. Let's see what's in my wallet. I know I got to put something in. Let's see, there's a five, there's a 10, there's a 20. Okay, five will do. Is he almost done? Do you know how long we sang? What is it with you people in the singing? Can't you just do like two short songs and then get to the sermon and we can just get out of here? And then you wanna eat together on top of that? Give me a break, I got stuff to do. Discharging a duty. And in fact, if there was no, duty. By the way, duty is not a bad word. But if there was no duty, you wouldn't be here today. You're here because there's a sense of obligation. And you know that you missed the last two weeks and Charlie's going to call you if you don't show up today. Stop and think about it. What kind of worshiper are you truly? What kind of worshiper are you? Are you the kind that has a heart full of faith and joy and the presence of God and God's word and the worship of the living God is the most precious thing in this world to you and you're glad to be here or are you like Cain actually? I'm gonna give God what I have left over. And I'm only gonna be here as long as I possibly have to be. The thing is, is it the God who made you? It's his regard that you should be concerned about. It's his opinion that you should be concerned about. Your elders might say, oh, you know, they look so happy today. God looks on the heart and God knows whether you're a worshiper full of faith and joy or whether you are an any old pumpkin will do kind of worshiper. God help us. God help us. Now, Cain realizes that God did not have regard for his offering, and yet he saw that God had regard for Abel's offering, whatever that looked like, and then here really is the incredibly tragic part of the text. The second part of verse five says, so Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Now, this is stunning in one way because first of all, the text reads literally, it burned to Cain exceedingly. That's how the text reads, it burned to Cain exceedingly. Now, what is so peculiar about this is that Cain is angry at who? He's angry at God. He's upset with God. You know what? This only makes sense if you're a narcissist. This only makes sense if you think you're the most important person in the world. Why in the world would Cain be angry at God for God not accepting Cain's offering? And the answer is actually quite simple. It's because Cain was ticked that God was requiring him to conform to God's standards instead of God conforming to Cain's standards. And he was mad about it. Now, that's insanity really. But yet it's a form of insanity that afflicts the vast majority of the human race. Because you know, let's just be clear about this. There's a little guy that lives inside of you named Cain. And you know what we want? We want God to rubber stamp our way. We want God to put his stamp of approval on our agenda. We want God, and in fact, it's not even as if it's something that we just long for. Oftentimes, it is just something that we flat out assume. Well, of course God is on my side. Of course God understands. And so what we have in our minds is we have a deity that's quite manageable whom we can get to conform, at least in our own brains, to our own standards. And so we make up God in our own image and after our own likeness. And we make him conform to the things that we like and that we don't like. And you know what? When it comes right down to it, the people I don't like, those are the people God doesn't like. And the stuff that I like, that's the stuff that God likes. And the stuff that I do, that's the stuff that God approves of. Now the stuff other people do, I actually can bring the rod of divine wrath because I know what God likes and doesn't like, and what you like, that's not what God likes. If you don't believe this is true, Examine your own heart. My sin isn't that bad. God understands. I mean, he knows. I've told you before that great reformed theologian Mark Twain once said, God created man in his image, and man has been returning the favor ever since. Here's Cain. What audacity! I'm just mad at God. By the way, I don't care what the psychobabbling Christians say. It's not a wise thing to be angry at God. Okay? We could go on about that, but there are people, just be mad at God and tell God how you feel. Okay, Cain, why don't you do that? See how it goes for you. So here's Cain, and he's mad at God, and he's so mad, and the text says his countenance falls. So instead of repenting, see, here's logically, rationally, reasonably, what should have happened. God didn't have regard for my offering. He didn't accept my offering. What did I do? What's wrong with my heart? Why, what's between God and me? Lord, please show me, show me my way. Examine my heart. I wanna see what wicked way is in me. Right, that would be the logical thing to do. God doesn't accept your offering. I wanna know why. Because my fundamental assumption has to be that the problem is in me. And instead, Cain assumed the problem was with God. And he's so mad, and instead of repenting, and instead of conforming, Cain is angry, and his face shows it. In a sense, the state of Cain's soul is written all over his face. He's scowling. He is so mad. He is so irritated. There's a article about was Cain actually depressed, okay? Well, I don't know if he was depressed or not. I don't care if he was depressed or not. You know what? He was just mad. And sometimes people that can't control their anger get depressed because there's something that masters them that they have no control over. Whether Cain was depressed is irrelevant. He was angry at God. and it was written all over his face. There was absolutely no way. You know, God's created us so that we are these psychosomatic people. That is, we are soul body people. And what's happening in the soul oftentimes will manifest itself on the outside with the body, right? Here's Cain pouting. scowling, and God asks this question, why are you angry? You know, that question, why are you angry? It's a heart question, isn't it? Cain, what possibly is the source of your anger? Why are you in this state of rage against me? Think about it, why? Why? And then God says, why has your countenance fallen? That is, why are you scowling? Why do you have this anger and vehemence written all over your face? Ken Matthews says, Cain telegraphed. by his facial expression, the bitterness of his darkened soul. Forget who used to say it. They say the older you get, the more you wear your face. You know, you smile, You get good lines. It's like you're this frowning, grumpy, bitter person. You need Botox. Now, the text doesn't tell us that Cain answered. But of course, what's common with people that are so mad they can't see straight? God then offers Cain counsel. This is absolutely astonishing to me. Here you have Cain and God asks him, why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? Now, God had asked Adam, where are you? And you know what Adam did? Adam answered. It's what we see, intensification, escalation of sin. So Cain is just so mad. And so God now offers him counsel. Now, God didn't walk up to Adam and Eve as they were standing at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and give them counsel. But you know what he does for Cain? He gives him counsel. What a loving and kind and gracious thing for God to do. And here was his counsel. If you do well, that is if you do right. If you repent and do the right thing, Cain, will you not be lifted up? The new American standard puts in, will not your countenance be lifted up? And that's fair enough, but you understand that the lifting up is not just the lifting up of the countenance, it's the lifting up of Cain's heart. It's the lifting up of his heart from this slew of absolute sludge of hatred and anger and vehemence. And God says, you know what? Listen, if you do well, if you do the right thing, Cain, you're gonna be lifted up. In other words, conduct, right behavior will affect your emotions, Cain. You do what's right and it will have an effect on you, Cain. You know, we're going through in Sunday school on the counseling class, and here is a bit of counseling advice that just never goes wrong, and that is, for the right reason, do the right thing. You know, there's actually power in just doing the right thing. Maybe you don't at the moment feel like doing the right thing, but do the right thing. Do what you know you're supposed to do. Confess that you don't wanna do it and then do it. And oftentimes the power comes in the doing. And God says, listen, Cain, right now you're angry. How you are going to respond out of this episode is going to be so determinative on your person, Cain. And if you do well, you'll be lifted up. you'll have a good conscience without shame. He just simply encourages him, just do the right thing, Cain. And then he warns him and he says, if you do not do well, you know, he could have stopped with just the thing, just do the right thing, Cain, and everything will be okay. but he turns around and he warns me and he says, but listen, if you don't do well, in other words, God again, by the way, warnings are always gracious. Giving somebody a warning about what will happen if they continue a certain course of action is a loving thing to do. You don't see your kid riding down the street like a maniac in the middle of the road without a helmet and just say, you know what? You don't get a granola bar. No, you actually say, you know, you could get hit by a car and if you fall without a helmet, you could really hurt yourself. These are all the terrible consequences that could happen to you if you don't, act like a normal human being, that's love, that's love. And God says to Cain, if you do not do well, look it, sin is crouching at the door, its desire is for you, but you must master it. Sin in Genesis 4 7 is personified by the way, I mentioned in Genesis 3 16 where God is speaking to Adam and Eve Your desire will be for your husband. He'll rule over you. This is the same exact Construction and the words and the idea is is sin Sin is like this this wild animal that's that's crouched down Cain and it's right there at the door of And Cain, it's ready to pounce on you. Its muscles are tight. It's ready to pounce on you, Cain. There's a danger. Now, what's interesting is the word that's used here is related to another cognate word, and the rabbis often thought that because it was related to an Akkadian word for demon, that there was the idea of that the sin is pictured virtually as a demon that is crouched at the door ready to pounce. So like a wild animal is just crouching at the door. And you know what, Cain? You need to understand this. Its desire is for you. It wants to ruin you. It wants to ruin you. Understand this. There is no sin that dwells in our hearts that does not have as its goal our destruction. There is not just a little bit of lust. There is lust that says, give me my way and I'll ruin you. There's not just a little bit of greed. There's greed that says, let me have my way. I'll destroy you. There's not just a little bit of pride or just a tiny bit of anger. There are these seeds of sin that if led to run their full course, they would destroy us. If you don't, you don't mess around with sin. And that's what God's telling Cain. Listen, Cain, that sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you. Its desire is to consume you. Its desire is to rule over you. Its desire is to take over your life. But you, must master it. You know the logical, rational thing at this point would be for Cain to say, oh Lord, what danger. Thank you gracious God for warning me. feel such weakness in my own heart. I don't think I can subdue it on my own. I plead for your help. And instead, God gives him the warning. He's counseled by God himself, but the pride in Cain's heart is raging. I wanted the recognition at the altar. Get it! By the way, pride is going to carry itself through Cain's line. We're going to see through the rest of chapter 4 and even into chapter 5, pride will be the thing that marks the line of Cain. Hey, that demon is right there at the door. You need to do something because it is ready to master you, but you have to subdue it. And so note well, the right choices can lead to recovery from sin. The right choices can lead to recovery from sin. If you give in once, guess who comes back and wants you to give in a second time? How do you master it? By not giving in the second time. By making the right choice the second time. That's how you master it. This isn't some secret of the higher life. This is simply, you know what, dependent upon the grace and the power of the Lord Jesus, subdue that thing. There is in the right choice, right choice can lead to recovery from sin, but note well, the wrong choice can stir up and strengthen sin. So, Cain has been counseled by God, and there, as he stands there contemplating what God had told him, he had, right before his very face, the way of life and the way of death. And in fact, he had such a clear choice in front of him that he knew if I choose life by doing well, God will lift me up and I will press ahead and I will be better for it. But he also had in front of him the specter of sin crouching at the door ready to destroy him, knowing if you don't do well, it's going to consume you. And so here he is, and the choices are absolutely clear, but here's the problem with our choices, is our choices don't come down to simply the rationality between the two options. What drives our choices is what controls our hearts. What at that point is controlling Cain's heart? It's not, I wanna do the right thing. I wanna be lifted up, I wanna be right with God. What is controlling his heart was pride and the pride would not let him let go of the anger and would not allow him to make the right decision and so there he is and instead of turning his back on the anger and doing the right thing, you know what he does? He nurses a wounded pride and he nurses bitterness towards God and he nurses anger towards his brother. And I have no doubt, no doubt whatsoever that Cain felt absolutely justified in all of it. Tell me when this gets relevant. We're gonna leave Abel alive for this week. Next week, we'll look at the first murder in human history and what happens when you nurse anger. By the way, do you think there's a reason why Jesus says you're guilty of murder if you've got anger in your heart towards your brother? Here's where we're gonna leave it today. There are some of you here and sin is crouching at your door and it wants you. And that sin could be bitterness, could be anger, could be lust, it could just be covetousness and greed. And you know what it is. You know what it is. It's no secret to you. It's not the boogeyman that's gonna burst out of the dark closet in the middle of the night. You know what it is, and it's right on the other side of the door, and you're right on that side of the door, and God's saying to you, listen, I love you, I don't want you to be destroyed by this, and so by the grace of the Lord Jesus, master it. Subdue it. If by the spirit you're putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Don't, don't nurse your wounded pride. Wounded pride does not deserve to be nursed. It deserves to have a pillow stuffed on its face. Don't nurse anger or bitterness. It will ruin you. God says, by the grace of the resurrected Christ and the power of the indwelling spirit, Put your foot on the neck of anger and bitterness and kill it. And so, in the immortal words of John Owen, be killing sin or it will be killing you. And that is not a joke. Let's pray. Father, we we plead for your help. First of all, we pray that you would help us to see that the sin that's crouching at our door is not a friend. It's an enemy. And we pray that you would help us to fully embrace your will that that sin be subdued. We thank you for your gracious warning. We thank you for the promise that if we do well, we'll be lifted up. And we pray that your grace would come upon all of those who are struggling right now And we pray that you would give us a clarity, not simply of the choices in front of us, but we pray that you would give us a clarity as to the motives of our own hearts and what we really want. And we pray that you would fix what we want so that we would choose what's pleasing to you. In Jesus' name, Amen.