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This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast. A podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us. And it has been a wonderful, wonderful day.
And I don't say that because the Giants finally got a win. I say that because this is just a precious, precious church to get to be a part of. You already got me weepy, John, so thanks for that.
He asked us to give three things that we're thankful for. And I just jotted down quickly that in 2001, my family moved from Lubbock, Texas to this church.
I'm so grateful my parents felt the Lord leading them to do that. I'm grateful to be here. I'm grateful that I get to serve here and be your associate pastor. I'm grateful I get to raise my kids in this church.
Because this truly is a wonderful church to get to be a part of. My son turns 11 years old tomorrow. Maverick will be 11, which means I've been parenting for a long time now, it feels like.
So my college students pointed out this morning that means I'm old. Which I certainly am. And that's okay. It's okay to be 35 and old with an 11-year-old.
Maverick tomorrow will be the age that I was. My family moved to this church. So a very kind of come a full circle for me. It's pretty neat to get to be here.
I'm just so grateful we get to serve here. I'm grateful we get to serve the pastors and the leaders I get to serve with. My kids get to be here. My wife gets to be here. We just love this church. When Michael asks me to come and preach, probably the hardest part of that is not the nerves of getting up in front of people.
Or even the study or the prep or any of that. It's trying to decide what am I going to preach on. Because for the last several months, since the last time I got to preach, I have a lot of things that are on my heart and my mind.
Other things that I've studied and worked on and been through. But I come to a topic this evening of sin because it is one that weighs heavy on me. This afternoon, Joey sent a text to our pastors group.
It was a picture of five guys that were at one time all pastors. Two of them have gone on to be with the Lord. One of them is still serving faithfully.
But two of the men in the photo have been disgraced. They have fallen to sin. And it was just another sober reminder of how seriously we should be taking our sin and how diligently we should be fighting it.
And I think one of the greatest threats for us as a church and as a culture and as a people is that we know our sin is there. We're aware of it. But we aren't diligently working to fight against our sin.
This is something that I feel like I come back to time and time again, whether it's in lessons or in counseling or meetings or discipleship or different issues. It's constantly coming back to the idea of sin and fighting sin.
And I've watched too many people be destroyed by their sin, watched their families be destroyed because of their sin. And what I want you to walk away with this evening is that we need to take our sin seriously and we need to fight against our sin.
This morning, Joey asked the question, what do you behold? And I continue that thought, what do you behold? What do you look at? Where do your eyes wander?
Where does your mind go? What kind of words and speech are you using? What do you behold? What are the deepest desires of your heart?
And I realize, because I do college ministry, I get to watch students and walk with students who are kind of on the front lines of dealing with sin and things in classrooms and in new workplaces and with families and friends.
And the thing I don't want us to forget is that this isn't something that's just a young man's problem. This isn't something that we fight when we're young, but we deal with sin all the way through our life.
And I think probably one of the most striking things for me is I'm 35 now, and I continue to get older, obviously, but that that sin never goes away.
It's always there. It's always lurking, waiting, ready to attack. And we see pastors and leaders all over our country who fall to sin.
Years into their walk with the Lord. Years after they've been faithful. So I urge you not to ever stop.
Go to war with your sin. Don't let it destroy you. Don't let it destroy your life. Scripture is full of examples of what happens when you don't go to war with your sin.
In Genesis 6, we read of the sons of God that saw the daughters of man and saw that they were attractive. And there's some debate as to what is going on in Genesis 6.
But nonetheless, we know that there is sexual immorality that is going on, that is taking place. So much so that God is ready to bring his wrath and his judgment down and destroy the earth.
Enter Noah and his ark. A picture and a reminder of the remnant and the salvation that God provides. In Numbers chapter 20 and verse 8, Moses is told to speak to the rock to yield water for the people.
And this was how God was going to graciously provide for his people. But instead, Moses strikes the rock twice. He speaks harshly to the people. And then he takes credit for providing this water.
Moses is sinful in his actions, in his speech, and in his pride. And God brings his judgment on Moses. And this leader who has led the people out of Egypt and has split the Red Sea and has provided and has met with God, as Joey talked about this morning, is not allowed to enter the promised land because of his sin.
And this isn't because God's saying, okay, you've been bad, time out. There's a little consequence here. It's because God takes sin seriously. And so should we.
There's a number of examples throughout Scripture. Stories, each one standing to warn us against the seriousness of our sin and what happens when we don't take it seriously.
And we allow it to creep into our lives. All the way from common people who are lost in sexual immorality to the leaders of God's people, God takes sin seriously.
As Joey mentioned, again, we read in Scripture, and that is how we are transformed. The Word is here to reveal to us that we are not perfect, that we're a sinful people.
And again, it warns us of what happens if we follow those sinful ambitions and follow that sin in our life. So how is it, if we know that sin is there, that there are warnings, and we've seen it happen and seen people destroyed, why is it, how is it, that sin can so easily creep in to our lives?
How is it that so often by the time we realize there's an issue, it's almost too late? And sin already has its grip on us.
If you would, please turn to 2 Samuel. We'll be in chapter 11. That's where we'll start, and then we'll go over to the book of James.
And then we'll spend briefly a little bit of time at 1 John, kind of jumping around this evening. But sin creeps in unnoticed and undealt with because so often we just refuse to fight it.
And we allow excuses or blame shifting or a number of things to keep us from fighting against our sin.
If you turn to 2 Samuel 11, you probably know already where I'm going here. David, King David, was a great man, a man after God's own heart.
He was chosen by God to be the successor to the throne of Israel after King Saul. And despite being an unlikely choice initially, he quickly proved himself.
Through being a faithful servant to Saul, he killed a giant named Goliath. He was a poet and a musician. He wrote a number of our psalms. But David, as you probably know already, fell to sin.
Because instead of fighting sin, he cracked the door open, let it slip in unnoticed. To find refuge in his heart and in his mind, in his life, until it all came to fruition.
As I flip to the book of 2 Samuel, I have a drawing tucked into this page. I think I have a picture of it this evening. Do I? Maybe? Yes, there it is right there.
So this is a picture that my daughter Calvin drew a year ago, maybe two years ago, something like that. And in the middle is a big letter D. Her last name is Davis. And then you'll see each of my family members with a little heart in different parts.
And there's an L in the top left for Lottie. And in the top right, that's Calvin. That's her. And the bottom left is an M for mom. And the bottom right is a B for Bubba.
And right in the middle, there's a P, which stands for PA. That's me. And I took it and I tucked it in 2 Samuel 11. So that when I opened my Bible, it would fall to that page.
It would stand as a reminder that I am in the center of my family. And unlike anyone else, I have the power to keep my family together or to wreak havoc.
I hope this is a sobering reminder for us all. That sin does not just affect us, but affects all of those around us.
And I easily could bring destruction to my family. And so I want my Bible to open and fall open to 2 Samuel 11 to be a reminder that David fell.
And he was a great king and a great man. And forever he will be remembered as being sexually immoral. Because it only takes just a little bit to destroy a really great thing.
You can, thank you. Read my mind. In 2 Samuel 5, David takes the throne. And as quickly as he does, there seems to be signs of sin.
David has started taking and trying to play with his sin, to try to manage his sin. In 2 Samuel 5, 13, it says that he took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem.
And Kent Hughes points out that David is desensitizing himself to sexual immorality. And we do this all the time. By the things that we watch.
By the things that we watch. The things that we talk about. The websites that we go to. The things that we try to hide on our phones. The TV shows that we're a part of. The entertainment that we allow to be in front of us.
We desensitize ourselves. And we do this with all kinds of sin. The things that we talk about with our friends. The places that we go.
The things that we fill our minds with. The things, as Joey said this morning, that we behold. What do you behold? And by the time we arrive at 2 Samuel 11, David is about 50 years old.
And he's been very successful. But he's beginning to back off from his responsibilities. He's trying to live the American dream.
Of working hard. And then doing nothing. Retiring. Being blissful. Not staying busy.
Not taking care of the responsibilities that he should be taking care of. In verse 1 it says, In the spring of the year. The time when kings go out to battle.
David sent Joab. So this is the time of the year when he should be going. Leaving. Going to work. Going to battle with his people. For his people. Verse 1 says, But David remained at Jerusalem.
Instead of going and being where he needed to be. He lets the young guys take care of it. He lets somebody else deal with it. He handed it off to his general, Joab. You go.
David should have been busy at work. At war. And not only was he letting his physical guard down. But we will soon see that he's letting his spiritual guard down. As he steps into this laziness.
Of just hanging out. Relaxing. In verse 2 it says, It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch. It was walking on the roof of the king's house.
And he saw from the roof a woman bathing. And the woman was very beautiful. David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, Is that not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam?
Wife of Uriah the Hittite? And they tried to warn him. They tried to tell him, That's a married woman. That's somebody else's wife. But David had let sin creep in.
And he was not going to be denied. Verse 4. So David sent messengers and took her.
And she came to him and he lay with her. He steps in to sin. He should have had his defenses up.
He should have been prepared. But he wasn't. This great king and this man after God's own heart. Should have looked back on the stories of the people before him.
And remembered, Wait, this is sin. Lurching, waiting, ready to devour me. I need to stop. I need to go find safe refuge.
I need to get off of this roof. And go get dressed. And go to war with my men. But not only is he not at war physically with his people.
He's not at war spiritually either. He's completely let his defenses down. If you'll flip in your Bibles to James chapter 1.
This is a great book. If you've not spent any time in James, I encourage you to.
The author introduces himself as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Jesus' little half-brother. Instead of claiming any kind of fame for that, he simply calls himself a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ because he knows that his older brother Jesus is much more than his older brother.
But he is the one who can save us from our sins. It was true for James. It's true for us. But James is going to help us in this book understand where temptation comes from.
Where this sin is coming from. If you'll go to verse 13. It says, James is helping us understand and give us theological insight here that our sin and our temptation does not come from God.
Why? Because he is holy and he is perfect. He is good. He is gracious. Even as we were singing earlier, he's loving and kind. These are attributes that belong to God.
But being a tempter, being sinful, those are not attributes that we can give to our God because he is holy and he is perfect.
You jump down to verse 17. It says that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. God is not the source of evil.
And that is an unchanging fact about who he is. So if not from God, then where? Go to verse 14. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
It's something that is in us. David was lured and enticed by his own desire for multiple wives and relationships. David is lured and enticed by his desire to relax, to hang out, to not go to war and to work like he should.
David is lured and enticed by his desire for Bathsheba. As humans, we are designed to worship and to be dependent.
We're designed to worship God and be dependent on him for all things. But because of the fall, because we are sinful, because we are broken, we worship things.
We give our time and our effort and our money and our interests, our hearts, desires. We give all those things to other things that aren't God.
We worship other things. We don't honor God and we don't make ourselves dependent on him and him alone. We look for anything and everything else to find our dependency on.
And that's the nature of sinfulness. And that's what David is chasing here. Momentary pleasure and self-satisfaction.
Verse 15 continues to explain, Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. So when temptation comes and our own desire get together, they give birth to sin.
The things that we allow to sit in our minds without any real fight, they surface when temptation comes. The things that we fill ourselves with constantly.
When that temptation comes, that's what we desire. That's what we've been harboring up inside of us. And we go after it. We will not be denied. We want that.
We desire it. And we have pursued sinful things. Our house, right off of 152, there's a Mongolian grill that just opened in front of it.
And that means on Fridays and Saturdays when I'm mowing, about 11 o'clock, they're kicking the grills on. And hopefully I'm about finished out there. And the smell of Asian food hits me.
And I think, oh, this is glorious. Either the rapture's happening or, you know, something good is going on right now. It's enticing. But I also know that I have a wife who's inside, who's probably already prepared lunch for me, or is getting ready to.
And because of what I know about her, because I know her character, I know that she cares for me and cares about me, the thing that waits me in the house is far better than any Mongolian grill can offer.
Do you know your God like that? Do you know that when temptation comes and that thing that's right there in front of you comes, that you have a God that is far greater?
Have you stored his word up inside of you to prepare you to fight against that temptation that's coming, to keep you from falling into the trap of sin?
Matthew 5, 27, Jesus says, that 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 heart, because sin comes from within us.
Our sin starts with the things that we fill our minds with. Where are your desires found? And does that desire, the things that you behold, the things that you hold to, do they lead you to fight your sin?
Or do they lead you to crack the door open and let them slip on in? Romans 12, 2 says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
Because that's where sin starts. We have to renew our minds that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
So what if I play with my sin a little bit? So what if things happen that nobody knows about? There are consequences to sin, and James reminds us in verse 15, Then desire, when it conceives, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
Sin that is not dealt with will bring forth death. And maybe it's not always physical death, but it will bring spiritual death.
It will prove whether we are a child of God or whether we are a child of darkness. The things that we allow to build up in our heart and in our life will show proof to who we behold.
The sin that goes undealt with will destroy you. The way you use your words around certain people, the way you manage yourself at work, the motivation in your heart as you engage in certain relationships, you need to be very watchful because your sin will unravel your life and lead you to places that you don't want to go.
Think about David. Where does his sin lead him? First of all, it leads him into a sexual relationship with a woman who is not his wife.
That's sin. It leads him to have a child out of wedlock. That's sin. It leads him to get Uriah, her husband, away from where he's supposed to be.
Hey, come back home like me. Go be with your wife. And now he's neglecting his responsibilities. Sin. It leads David to get him drunk, trying to get David back over or Uriah back over to his wife.
Sin. Eventually, when Uriah will not cooperate, it leads to David setting up his murder. More sin.
This is not the righteous king that David is supposed to be. David couldn't manage his sin. This great man of God, who the Bible often refers to as righteous, what makes you think you can manage your sin?
What makes you think that it won't unravel your life? Because that's what sin does. Now, I want to be clear that this doesn't mean that you can lose your salvation or that your actions save you or anything like that.
If you will briefly go to 1 John 1 with me. In verse 5, it says, this is the message you have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
So John is agreeing with James that God is holy and he is perfect and there's no darkness in him at all. Verse 6, if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and we do not practice the truth.
So the way we live, they will give proof to where our heart truly is. If we claim to know Christ, you need to look at the pattern of your life. Does the pattern of your life prove that you really do know Christ?
Verse 7, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus' son cleanses us from all sin. Again, if the pattern of our life is that of godliness and pursuing the things of the Lord, it shows that we do have a relationship with him.
Verse 8, if we say we have no sin, we've deceived ourselves and the truth is not in us. Everybody sins. Even after salvation, we're going to continue to sin. But the pattern of our life, do you fight sin or do you allow sin to just repeatedly come back over and over and over and you just keep visiting it over and over and over?
What is the pattern of your life? Verse 9, this was quoted this morning during the first service baptisms. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The first thing we must do when dealing with our sins is confess and repent. And then I think James helps point out two things that we have to do when it comes to sin.
First of all, we have to accept responsibility for our sin. We live in a culture of people who love to point blame at other people. They love to shift the blame off of themselves and say, oh, that's their fault.
They did that. This is the reason this is happening. This is why I made that decision is because of them. And that's American politics in a nutshell. It's always the other side's fault. My party didn't do it. They did it.
We do this in our lives too. Oh, well, I mean, the only reason that happened is because God didn't give me this financial situation or he didn't provide these material things for me or this is the family situation that I'm in or these are the issues that I've faced in my past.
That's why I've made these destructive, sinful decisions over and over and over again. It's not my fault. That's not what Scripture tells us. It says that we all have a sin nature that we have inherited from Adam.
That's why your kids at home, if you've raised kids, you've seen a sin nature on display, you never have to teach them to be, you have to teach them to be kind. You never have to teach them to be mean.
They just, they figure that out quick. They say, no, no, it's mine. They want to fight each other and wrestle and do all that stuff. That's the sin nature in them. You have to train them and teach them to be kind and gracious and gentle because they have a sin nature that's in them and we all have that sin nature and we have to accept and recognize that we are sinners.
We can't carry ourselves as if we're not sinners. We can't carry ourselves as if we are too righteous or too high above falling into sinful patterns in our lives.
We have to be guarded and ready. We also live in this broken world because there's all these temptations coming at us.
1 Peter 5, 8 and 9, be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him. Firm in your faith but that desire, it is still in us.
Remember James 1, 14, each person is tempted when he is learned and enticed by his own desire. So yes, there's things all around us in the world but it is in us that our sin nature comes out.
That's where it all comes from. We have to accept responsibility for our sin and when we fail to do that, we try to blame circumstances for our sin.
Ultimately, we're really blaming God because we know that he's sovereign over everything and we know that he directs our steps and when we try to blame God for our temptation and for our sin, we are attributing something to him, an attribute to him that belongs to Satan.
He does not tempt. He provides a way out of temptation but he does not tempt us. There is no evil in him at all. We are the sinful ones.
And then secondly, and really the whole point of my message is that we have to fight temptation. We have to go to war.
How does Jesus fight temptation? Well, he fights it with truth, by knowing God's word. When Michael was teaching through the book of Mark as Jesus goes into the wilderness and is tempted by Satan, Michael took a detour into the gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 4 verses 1 through 11 and Michael did an excellent job of explaining that passage.
I highly encourage you to go find that, to go listen to it, spend some time and that passes but you will see that every time that Jesus is tempted, he responds by quoting scripture back to the enemy. He is prepared and he is ready to fight.
I think this is why Jesus in Matthew 5 when he gets into lust, we've already read this, he says that, as you have heard, 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 heart and then he goes on to say, and I don't think Jesus is being metaphorical here, I think he's being dead serious.
He's saying, if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away for it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell because your sin will drag you to hell.
We have to fight our sin and if that means you live different than the world around you and you're going to miss out on some things, so be it. I'm reminded of Romans 1 in verse 18 it says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and righteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
They refuse to look and consider and hold to the truth of God. They continue to pursue the things of this world and God gives them up in verse 24 Paul tells us that God gave them up to the lusts of their heart.
We have a God that is good and gracious and he extends that grace but there comes a time when he will turn people over to their sin when they refuse to listen to his truth.
Don't be turned over to your sin. fight and you primarily fight with God's word. The things that we fill our minds with are a result of the position our position either as a child of God or a child of darkness.
The things in our mind when given the opportunity come out of us and display publicly the state of our salvation. What is the pattern of your life?
Does the pattern of your life reveal you to be a child of God or a child of darkness? So I want you to leave with some practical things.
How do we fight temptation? 1 Corinthians 10 13 says no temptation is overtaking you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability but with the temptation he will also provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it.
God provides a way out of temptation ultimately through his word and through the power of Christ Jesus in us. Hebrews 2 18 for because he himself has suffered when tempted he is able to help those who are being tempted.
I say it again take sin serious and go fight. If you flip your handout over there are nine ways that we can fight sin.
These come from John Owen who famously said be killing sin or sin will be killing you. Take these go hang them up on your window stick them in your closet.
We have them hanging up in our pantry door in our house. Go find a place set these somewhere that you will be reminded that you must fight sin. These will give you reminders of how you can go about that.
So quickly I'll go through that first. Diagnose sin severity because it will drag you to hell. Romans 6 23 for the wages of sin is death but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sin is a serious thing not to be messed with. Secondly grasp sin's serious consequences both in this life and the next. Romans 6 19 for just as you were once for just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
David's sin did not just affect him he thought it was private he thought he was keeping it to himself but it affected people all over him. It first affected his wife it affected Bathsheba her husband his unborn child because in 2 Samuel chapter 12 this private sin that David thought he was keeping to himself was made very public and Nathan says he's going to make it public and just I think it's seven days after this baby is born he dies as a consequence of his sin so for real in front of him David sees that the consequences of sin is death he watched his child die because that was God's wrath being poured out on David our sin affects other people around us if I get lost in sexual immorality it doesn't just affect me it affects my wife it begins to unravel our home it affects my children
I have about 70 college students that I love dearly I have a church family that I serve that I love dearly it's going to affect all of you I can't allow myself to go there I have to fight I have to protect myself from those things and the same is true for you you have people all around you that are affected by your sin whether you realize it or not whether you want to admit it or not number three be convinced of your guilt we have to accept the responsibility like I've already said Romans 3 23 for all of sin to fall short of the glory of God fourthly earnestly!
desire deliverance you have to learn to hate your sin not try to manage it and visit it occasionally but hate it and fight against it Ephesians 2 10 we are his workmanship created for good works not evil works for good works number five consider the relationship between your sin and your natural temperament we all struggle with different sins in different ways and some of that boils down to the difference between men and women and that's why in my house my wife is in charge of the TV remote if she says we're not watching it we're not watching it it's the end of the conversation I don't know why she said it I don't really care it was said it's been said it's done and you have to figure out what is it that I'm susceptible to what is it that presents dangers and go fight those things use people around you if you're married use your spouse find someone to disciple you hold you accountable find a friend someone close that can help hold you accountable and help put safeguards in your life six avoid occasions that incite sin again if your right arm causes you to sin cut it off if scrolling
Instagram causes you to sin delete it that's easy get away from it if TikTok is leading you to places you shouldn't be going be done it's better to lose your smartphone than for your whole body to be thrown into hell Jeremy Davis 2025 version this is where we start living different than the world around us we start looking crazy and radical because we're not going to just watch whatever TV show or whatever thing that's out there whatever's popular but we're going to earnestly desire to honor the Lord with everything that our eyes gaze upon number seven address sins first signs David did not do this he allowed sin to creep in he was desensitized to it and it took him down James 115 the desire when it conceives gives birth to sin and sin when it's fully grown brings forth death do you want to fight the baby sin the baby sin of temptation or do you want to fight it when it's fully grown imagine your sin is a bear you want to fight the cub or do you want to fight the mama bear you want to fight the cub it may hurt a little it'll be alright you'll get through it
I had somebody come and sit in my office and I was I'll tell you I was prepared for the worst I could hear it in his voice when he called me he comes and he sits in my office and he starts telling me temptation that he's facing and he's nervous he's on edge I said have you engaged in this no okay he's like but I know the temptation's there and it's scaring me and I need to know how to fight this and I had so much respect for him in that moment because he's seeing sin at its first signs and he's ready to fight it he doesn't want this to take him down and he's putting himself out there saying I don't I don't care about my pride I don't care about what you think of me no I see that sin is there and I can't let it take me down he wanted to fight go fight your sin at his first signs number eight meditate on God's glory
God's holiness and perfection are in contrast to our sinfulness to that I would say go listen to Joey's sermon this morning who do you behold meditate on God's glory number nine don't rush to comfort yourselves don't get comfortable don't let your guard down that's what David did he let his guard down he got comfortable he went he relaxed he was hanging out he wasn't what he was supposed to be he wasn't paying attention anymore and sin came in and destroyed him don't let your guard down and just because you've had some success and some victory over time don't don't quit keep fighting keep putting more guards up surround yourself by walls of defense to keep yourself away from the enemy's arrows don't let yourself be brought down and if you'll think about your sin as war in real war when I was in the air force we were doing all this mock deployment stuff and in this fake village boot camp and never once did they say okay the enemy's going to come from this place and they're going to ask us what gate they want them to come through and we'll be able to set our defenses up and all that and at a certain time we'll all engage in war and hopefully we win no that's not how it happened it was we were trained day and night that at any given moment you gotta be ready they would wake us up in the middle of the night and pretend like they were killing us and I was so tired there were a few times I really thought
I was dying there were a few moments I wished I was dying because the enemy doesn't attack when we're ready it doesn't attack in the places that we have our guard up it attacks where we have our guard down or when we're comfortable that's when he comes in that's when he gets us I'll end with just a couple thoughts here because I know I'm two minutes over now church I love you and I care deeply about each and every one of you I love serving this church as I've thought about what to preach because I've known for a few months now that I would have this opportunity I just knew I just want to warn you and plead with you and encourage you to go fight your sin because
I'm tired of watching it destroy people's lives don't let it destroy your life trust in the Lord and him alone spend time in God's word prepare yourself for war put things in front of you that glorify God not lead you other directions surround yourself with people that will encourage you in this not with people who will pull you away from it go to war with your sin Colossians 3 5 tells us to put to death what is earthly in us let's pray and you'll be dismissed Lord we love you so much and we thank you for your written word that prepares us and warns us against the seriousness of sin prepares us to fight
Lord I pray that we would be a people that is marked by our willingness to live different than the world around us and to say no to certain things in order that we should keep ourselves pure in our heart and in our mind that we would be a people that seek you and you alone Lord we thank you for the glorious gospel that although we are broken sinners and you are holy and perfect it is through Christ Jesus your son that we can be saved that we can be reconciled back and have a relationship with you and that sin won't overtake us but that one day when physical death comes we will be with you basking in your glory forever we thank you for this church what a precious gift to get to spend our days with these precious saints to learn and encourage to fellowship with one another
Lord I pray that we would make much of you that we keep our hearts and our minds set on you and you alone you have been so good to us and we rejoice in that we love you and we praise you and we pray this in Jesus name amen love you guys you!
dismissed and!