1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

You are impossible to please. Nobody wants that to be said of

them, do they? And yet we all know a person who

is impossible to please to them. You could get a 99 on your exam,

but you didn't get 100. You could hit the game-winning

home run, but you did drop that catch in the third inning.

You could serve them a Michelin star meal, but you could have

used a little more salt. Some people, it doesn't matter

what you do, because whatever you do will never be enough.

Some people are unpleasable, quick to critique you, difficult

to read. It's hard to tell if they're

ever happy with you. You wonder if it's even

possible. At best, they're neutral,

unmoved, indifferent. What is God like?

God is so very different. You don't have to wonder what he

thinks about you. You can know today if you're

living a life pleasing to God because in God's Word he's

revealed to us what's pleasing to Him, and by God's Spirit He's

enabled us to do what is pleasing to him.

Please turn in your Bible to the book, to the book of First

Thessalonians. We're going to be in chapter 4,

First Thessalonians, chapter 4. If you don't have a Bible, maybe

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

you left yours at home and maybe you don't even have one.

There's some Bibles in the back. Raise your hand.

We'd be. We'd love to get a Bible in your

hand, one over here. We're in First Thessalonians.

We've been studying Paul's letter to the first ever church

in Thessalonica. It was planted by Paul and his

missionary team just 20 or so years after Jesus's death and

resurrection. The church was full of fresh

converts. It was a church loved by God, a

church chosen by God, a church pleasing to God.

The Thessalonian church is the only church in the New Testament

that Paul calls an example. You could say the Thessalonian

church was a healthy church, a church others could look to for

a model. But it was not a perfect church.

Those don't exist this side of glory.

In other words, it was a church with room to grow.

It was a church like ours. In chapter 3, we saw Paul sent

Timothy to check out on this new church plant.

He planted the church, so naturally he wanted to hear how

they're doing. By God's grace, in chapter 3,

Timothy reported back good news. Paul, they're doing well.

Then at the end of chapter 3, we heard Paul's pastoral prayer.

Do you remember what Paul prayed for?

Look at chapter 3, especially at verses 12 and 13, Paul prayed

that their love for one another would increase and abound.

And verse 13, Paul prayed that their hearts would be holy

before God. Today in chapter 4, Paul exhorts

them to be holy before God. What he just prayed for and

originally I was supposed to preach verses 9 to 12.

Also, I'm calling an audible. We're going to do that next

week. So next week verses 9 to 12

today, verses 1 to 8. Listen as I read verses 1 to 8.

Finally then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus,

that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please

God just as you were doing, that you do so more and more.

For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord

Jesus. For this is the will of God,

your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,

that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness

and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do

not know God. That no one transgressed and

wronged his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an

avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and

solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for

impurity, but in holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards

this disregards not man, but God, who gives His Holy Spirit

to you. How can you please God?

Friend, you don't have to wonder.

It's so clear in this text. Keep walking in holiness.

Keep walking in holiness. The Thessalonians knew this.

Verse 3 Paul says this is the will of God, your

sanctification. Verse four, he tells them to

control their own body in holiness.

Verse 7 he reminds them God's not called us for impurity, but

in holiness. Paul exhorted them to walk in

holiness. But look at verse one, they were

already walking in holiness. So Paul urges them, just as

you're doing, do so more and more.

They were already pleasing God. They were already walking in

holiness. Paul's message to them is keep

doing what you're doing. And brothers and sisters, what a

joy that I can say to you, to this church, by God's Spirit,

you're walking in holiness. Keep doing what you're doing.

Do it more and more. That's the one exhortation I

want to give you. Trinity Baptist Church 1

exhortation. It will not be surprising.

Keep walking in holiness, Keep going.

And as we walk through the passage, I'll give 5

applications of them. So one exhortation, keep walking

in holiness. Do not forget that five

applications we'll consider as we work through the passage

around 400 AD. The Church.

Father Agustin, pray, Lord, give what you command and command

what you will. In verses 1 to 8, we'll see that

God's will is that we're holy. God's command is be holy.

God called us in holiness. God enables us to be holy by

giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

God cares about holiness. In other words, as Augustine

prayed, if you're in Christ through the gospel, by the

Spirit, God's made you holy and will make you holier until Jesus

Christ returns. He who began a good work in you

will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.

Let's look at verse one. Paul urges the Thessalonians.

He's like their coach cheering them on towards the finish line.

He's like their personal trainer, pushing them on towards

their gains. I did CrossFit briefly.

It was only 8 weeks in seminary. I had a group on.

My trainer's name was Rose. Rose regularly yelled at me.

Come on, you got this. Keep going, friends.

That's Paul. That's Paul right here.

He urges them, but he urges them verse one in the Lord Jesus.

The instructions he gave them, verse two, were through the Lord

Jesus. In other words, Paul writes by

the authority of the Lord Jesus, and these instructions he gives

them are not new to the Thessalonians.

Paul reminds them of what he taught them when he planted the

church. Verse 3 of God's will.

We can think of God's will when we think of it.

We often think of questions like who should I marry?

What should I do for work? Where should I live?

Where should I go to school? What should I major in in

school? What should I do with my life?

For many of us, these are the most important questions of

life. And they are important

questions, aren't they? But they are not the most

important. God's primary concern for you

today is not where you'll live, not which job you'll take, not

which spouse you'll find. It is verse 3, your

sanctification. As Paul reminds them, this is

the will of God. What is sanctification?

We recited our statement on it earlier in the service.

The moment you became a Christian, you were set apart by

God for God. You were devoted to God.

The theological term for this is called positional

sanctification. It happens as we read in our

statement of faith at the moment of your regeneration.

But there's another aspect of sanctification and that that's

that it's a process. 2 steps forward, one step backward.

If you've been a Christian for a decade, Lord willing, people

that didn't know you before you became a Christian, if they met

you today, they would say, I mean you look the same but man,

you're different. What is that?

That's called progressive sanctification.

It's growth in godliness. It's what Paul describes in 2nd

Corinthians 3 verse 18. As we behold the glory of

Christ, we are being transformed into Christ's image from 1° of

glory to another. Over time the Christian sins

less and realizes there is so much more sin left, sins we were

completely blind to before we become exposed to.

Over time we grow an understanding God's grace.

We grow an understanding that our very life hangs upon the

mercy of God, who is the only one who is always aware of every

thought and intention and motivation.

Sanctification. And this is key happens over a

long time. We don't change all at once.

God grows us organically. You can see a picture of

progressive sanctification in the growth of a child.

As many of you know, I just got back from a month of paternity

leave as we celebrated the birth of our little girl Sunday, Don

Abraham, just about a month ago. You know she's already in one

month grown out of those first diapers we had that so many of

you so graciously gave us. She's already lifting up her

head. She's smiling.

I don't know if it's at us or what.

Now, none of that was observable overnight until it was.

God does not grow us in godliness overnight.

Sanctification is, as one brother said, a long obedience

in the same direction. You can see a biblical picture

for progressive sanctification in verse one.

Look at verse one. They've been taught to walk and

to please God walking. There it is.

Most days after I finish work, my family goes for a walk.

Now some of you in this room are fast walkers.

We've got 4 kids under 7. We walk slow.

After work, we head to the mailbox and back.

It's about 10 minutes round trip.

To some of you, that's unspectacular, but it's actually

an unpredictable walk. You never know what's going to

happen. We just take one step at a time.

Sanctification, though, is a long walk.

Not from my house to the mailbox.

It's more like my house to Seattle.

You have to cover 3000 miles. It will take you months, but if

you just keep walking northwest, eventually you'd get there.

Sanctification is a walk that takes a lifetime.

It's a walk. God takes with us every step of

the way. He's interested in how we take

every step. He's interested in the direction

that we're headed. And God Himself is taking us

somewhere. He's taking us from earth right

into heaven. But if you're here, you're not

there yet. Until heaven, whether if you've

been a Christian for 40 days or 40 years in the Christian life,

there will never be a day when you can say I've made it.

No more valleys, no more forks in the road, no more need for

guidance, no more hard decisions, no more killing sin

in the Christian life. There is no cruise control.

In verses 3 to 8, Paul specifies that he's not talking about

sanctification in general, but specifically about the

sanctification of our sexuality. Look again at verse 3.

Paul says God's will is that you abstain from sexual immorality.

The term sexual immorality, it's one word in the Greek cornea.

It's used throughout the New Testament to describe any sort

of sexual sin for our holy God. Nothing in our lives is off

limits. Even the most private and

personal aspects of our lives must be lived corum deo, before

the face of God. And in kindness, our holy God

has given us limits for our sexuality.

He warns us for our good that sexual morality is off limits.

Before we consider Paul's exhortations in verses 4 to 6,

it's worth answering one more question about sanctification.

That is, how does it work? How do you grow in godliness?

Colossians 3 describes sanctification as a continual

putting on and a putting off. Because we've been raised with

Christ, we must put on virtues like compassionate hearts,

kindness, humility. Because we've been crucified

with Christ, we must put off put to death vices like sexual

morality, impurity, and evil desires.

Think of sanctification like rowing a boat.

Not many of us do this today, but you'll get the picture.

To make progress in a rowboat, you need to use both oars.

One or is putting sin to death, the other or is cultivating the

fruit of the Spirit in your life?

John Calvin, the reformer, he called this mortification and

vivification. When God's holiness enters our

lives, it kills whatever is evil in our hearts.

Just like the human body was created to rid itself of every

disease, when God's holiness enters our lives, it also brings

to life what's already been born by the Spirit of God.

Our duty in sanctification is continually to die to what's

been put to death at Christ's cross and to live out what's

been brought to life by Christ's resurrection.

In other words, specifically with sexuality, there are

aspects of your sexuality that will need to be starved to

death, mortification, but there are other aspects of your

sexuality that need to be fanned into flame vivification.

And friends, look at verses 3 to 6.

Both aspects are at play. Look again, verses 3 to 6.

What do they need to fan into flame?

Verse 4, self-control. They need to know how to control

their own bodies in holiness and honor.

They need to master their bodies, not be mastered by their

bodies. And what do they need to put to

death? Three things.

Verse 3 one, they must abstain from sexual morality.

They need to stay far away from sexual sin.

Don't even go near her house. King Solomon wrote to his son in

Proverbs 5. Second verse 5, They can't live

in the passion of lust like the Gentiles.

You might wonder how did the Gentiles live in the 1st

century? It was not that different than

today. Sexual morality was all too

common. One second century Greek

grammarian said we keep mistresses for pleasure,

concubines for daily concubinage, but wives in order

to produce children legitimately.

That was their cultural worldview.

Sexual morality was even a feature of idol worship in

Thessalonica. These were those who had turned

from their idols to the living God and that needed to include

their idol worship, their sexual immorality.

And the third thing he tells him to put to death, verse 6, they

can't transgress or wrong their brother.

Or you could translate it, brother or sister.

Sexual sin steps over boundaries God's given us.

It takes advantage of people made in the image of God.

It devastates the church. It devastates society.

It is deserving of divine judgement.

Friends, our sexuality is a gift from God-given with boundaries

and limits. It's a gift to be received.

And steward it. How do we do this?

Here's 5 applications, 5 applications to encourage us to

keep walking in holiness. First, calibrate your conscience

to Scripture. Calibrate your conscience to

Scripture. In verse 2, Paul says he

instructed the Thessalonians about what God thinks of

sexuality. Then Paul reminded them we need

to instruct ourselves with Scripture and rewind, remind one

another of Scripture's teaching about sexuality.

In other words, we need to take our consciences, which is what

we think of as right or wrong, and we need to bathe them in

Scripture to learn what God thinks is right and wrong.

And we need to do all of this while walking through the Vanity

Fair that is this world. The world catechises us with

cultural mantras. Friend, if you're not a

Christian, what do you think of these Born This Way, My body, my

choice? Everything's fine as long as

there's consent or the acronym that's ever growing LGBTQ plus.

More importantly, we need to ask, what does God think of

this? We need to study the scriptures.

Study Genesis 1 and 2 closely. Before the 7th commandment, you

shall not commit adultery. Before the 10th commandment, you

shall not covet your neighbor's wife.

God made Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where they

walked in perfect fellowship with him and with one another.

He gave them the gift of their bodies.

He gave them the gift of one another.

Your body's a good gift from a good God, but your body is a

terrible God. God made mankind in his image.

He made us male and female. He called us very good Paul

Warren, the Corinthian church. Do you not know that your body

is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from

God? You are not your own, for you

were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body,

Christian. Your body is a temple of the

Holy Spirit. Even if you're not a Christian,

you've been fearfully and wonderfully made.

As Brian said in Sunday school this morning, you are not a

cosmic accident. God made you.

Sex is also a good gift from a good God.

But sex is a terrible God. God made sex for marriage.

God ordered his creation so that man and woman are united in the

gift of marriage. They become one flesh where they

mutually give themselves to one another.

They are naked and unashamed. Sex only thrives in the context

of marriage, where there's safety and affection and trust

and respect and mutual generosity.

Is this what you believe? Are you calibrating your

conscience according to scripture, or are the lines

blurred because your mind is full of things from below?

You don't need to binge watch R rated movies for this to happen.

Suggestive content PG13 is enough to stir up your passions.

Netflix is glad to present to you sin as entertainment and

lust as love, as long as it pays their bills.

Parents, teach your children about God's good design for our

bodies and for sexuality. And be aware, be very aware of

every contrary voice that whispers for your children's

attention. It is through much practice and

propaganda and social reinforcement that what God

calls evil, the world calls good.

God's good design is suppressed, distorted, ignored.

God's been placed on mute. But God, not the President, not

the Supreme Court, made your body and sex.

He defines both. He evaluates both.

Second application, Learn to control your body verses 4 to 5.

In verses 4 to 5, Paul contrasts the Christian self-control with

the pagan's passion. You need to learn to control

your body. Jesus says that the source of

your sin is your heart and his half brother James says your

sinful conflicts arise from your passions that are at war within

you. Every human being created lives

as a morally responsible creature before the face of God.

Behavior that doesn't conform to God's law comes from the heart

and his sin. Your body, though, can provoke

you to sin, but it cannot make you sin.

In other words, don't blame your body for your sin.

Now, we know this intuitively. For example, you don't sin

because you're hangry. The circumstances of hunger

provides an opportunity for sin. But sin arises from your heart.

The hunger exposes your sin. So yes, the commercial eat a

Snickers that could help you. But sin is a choice.

You have moral agency. You don't also sin because

you're tired. We've all been there.

It's been a long day of work. That could be the reason that

you are having trouble paying attention to your spouse as

they're trying to talk with you. Weakness.

It's not the reason, however, that you blow up and scream at

your spouse after a hard day at work or apply this to sexual

sin. If your friend confesses to you

he stayed up too late, it is past 3:00 AM, and then he

committed sexual sin. Your advice to just go to bed

earlier? It's certainly not bad advice.

I mean, not a lot of good happens at 3:00 AM.

But it misses the heart, which is the Control Center of our

motivations and our desires. Your body cannot make you sin.

The world cannot make you sin. The world can tempt you to sin,

other people can entice you to sin, but no one can make you

sin. To paraphrase Augustine, we

always do the thing we most wanted to do.

So friends, don't blame your body, but learn to control your

body. The Christian life is a self

controlled life. Self-control is a fruit of the

Spirit. A holy life is a life of

restraint. So much so that in Titus Titus

one Paul says self-control is a requirement for an elder.

In Titus 2, Paul exhorts older women, older men to

self-control. Then he tells older women to

exhort younger women to self-control.

Then he tells Titus to exhort younger men to self-control

without self-control. Proverbs 2528 says a man is like

a city broken into and left without walls open for

devastation. Friend, if you're single, this

means that even if you feel ripe and ready for love, you must

restrain your sexual desires. As Solomon's bride adjures, the

daughters of Jerusalem do not stir up or awaken love until it

pleases. If you're married, this means

that the only context to be naked and unashamed is with your

spouse. You were to give yourself to

your spouse and your spouse alone.

As our statement of faith says, marriage is the only legitimate

God ordained context for sexual union and procreation.

Yet even in marriage, Ecclesiastes tells us, there's a

time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.

Whether you're married or single, how do you need to grow

in controlling your own body before you think of what you

watch on TV or what you swipe through on your phone, begin

with your heart, which guides your eyes, and then your

fingers. What desires need to be bridled

and controlled? If you feel like controlling

your body's hard work, you are absolutely right.

Sanctification requires great effort.

Sanctification is like learning to ride a bike.

Now I've not taught any kids how to drive yet.

I think that'd be illegal, but I have successfully raised 2 bike

riders. When you're teaching your kid

how to ride a bike, they need to pedal and you parent need to

hold on. They ride while you run

alongside, but if they don't put in the effort, if they never

pedal, you can run them around the neighborhood all day long,

but they'll never learn to ride their bike and you will look a

little crazy. The New Testament consistently

says that growth in godliness requires hard work.

We need to peddle. Perhaps most explicitly, Peter

exhorts us. Make every effort Christian fan

into flame. The Spirit's gift and fruit of

self-control in your life. Third application Confess sexual

sin. Confess sexual sin.

We strive for self-control. Sometimes we stumble and fall.

Some visit the brothel downtown, others visit the brothel in the

neighborhood of their minds. Sexual drift begins with a baby

step, a second glance, then a wandering eye, a flirtatious

text, then a secret thread, an adulterous thought, then a full

blown affair with sexual sin. The more deviant dangers always

seem so far away until you're knocking at their front door.

Friend, has your sexuality been distorted and darkened?

Has it become unhinged? What can you do?

Confess your sins. If we confess our sins, He is

faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from

all unrighteousness. Lust thrives in the darkness, in

privacy, in isolation, and in the darkness.

It grows, it festers, it gets stronger.

It is only in the light that lust will wither and even die.

Brothers and sisters, take heart if that's you today.

No darkness is too dark that it can't be overcome by light.

Bring your sins into the light of our holy God, who is light,

and in Him is no darkness at all.

Confess your sins. When we confess our sins, it's

like a little death. It rips down the polished image

that we present of ourselves, and it reveals the true man, the

Sinner, the person God already sees and loves.

Confess how you've personally wandered off God's holy paths.

Don't use vague language like I slipped up or I fell.

Confess specific sins, adultery, fornication, homosexuality,

pornography. Speak plainly.

Aim for transparency. Risk oversharing.

That's what it looks like to take God's side against your

sin. Brothers and sisters, who in

this congregation is helping you walk in the light?

Brothers, confess your sins to a trusted brother in the church.

Sisters, confess your sins to a trusted sister in the church.

We are always either confessing our sins or suppressing them and

hiding them. As Ray Ortland says, you can be

impressive or you can be known, but you can't be both.

Confess your sins. 4th application.

Be warned of Christ's perfect vengeance, Verse 6.

Be warned of Christ's perfect vengeance.

Look again at verse 6. Paul already warned the

Thessalonians don't transgress and wrong one another in this

matter. But the warning was worth

repeating and Paul grounds his warning in Christ's coming

vengeance. Sexual sin, when done against

another human being made in God's image is sexual assault.

Sexual assault is a particularly heinous evil.

Justin and Lindsay Holcomb in their book Rid of My Disgrace,

they define sexual assault as any type of sexual behavior or

contact where consent is not freely given or obtained and is

accomplished through force, intimidation, violence,

coercion, manipulation, threat, deception, or abuse of

authority. At least one in four women and

one in six men will be victims victims of sexual assault in

their lifetime. Savvy.

Sadly, those statistics are likely underreported because the

crime itself is vastly under reported.

Most victims, about 90% are female and most most victims are

assaulted by someone they know and trust.

Friend, if that's happened to you, you need to hear this.

You are not responsible for the sins done against you.

It's not your fault, and what's been done to you does not have

to be the end of your story. If you're in Christ, He is both

your refuge and your avenger. He promises vengeance for all

who have harmed you and persistent on repentance.

The sins done against you are sins done against God himself.

He will not forget. He will not brush them aside.

He will strike terror and pour out his wrath on that day when

Jesus Christ returns. Friend, this is a day that Paul

warns us of. If you're not a Christian, Paul

warns of this day of coming judgment.

God made you to walk with him and to please him.

But you've displeased God. You've been a slave to your

sinful desires. You, like all of us in this

room, are a sexual Sinner. Jesus said, You've heard that it

was said you shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you, whoever looks at a woman with lustful intent

has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

So you, like all of us, are guilty before this holy God and

deserving of his holy wrath. Friend, is there forgiveness for

sexual sinners only in Jesus Christ?

Jesus was like us in every way except without sin.

He always did what pleased the Father.

If you remember His baptism, the Father's voice boomed from

heaven. This is my beloved Son, with

whom I am well pleased. And this Son went to the cross

and was crucified in the place of sinners.

He, though he was innocent and perfect and spotless, bore God's

just wrath. He took away our shame.

Three days later he rose from the grave.

But he will return to judge the living and the dead.

Friend, turn from your sinful ways and trust in Him alone for

salvation, and he'll wash you whiter than snow.

And for those of you who have, If you've trusted in Christ,

you're united to Christ. You are adopted into God's

family. If you've trusted in Christ, you

have God as your heavenly Father and he is pleased with you.

If you've trusted in Christ, you'll find that the blood of

Jesus is sufficient to cover every sin.

If you've trusted in Christ, one day he will wipe every tear

away. He will soothe every fear.

He will remove every scar in the gospel.

By the blood of Christ, sexual sinners are washed clean.

Such were some of you, Paul says.

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified

in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our

God. As we conclude, look finally at

verses 7 and 8, fifth and final application.

Do not disregard God's call to holiness if you've trusted in

Jesus Christ. God has not called us for

impurity, verse 7. But in holiness you are holy.

Be holy, for our God is holy. This is now your identity.

Yes, you're still a Sinner, but you are also now a St.

Holiness is your destiny. Holiness is also your job.

How do you need to fight today for holiness?

Where are you slipping in sanctification?

What are you doing today or thinking today that you're

comfortable with that? Years ago you would have been

shocked by Brothers and sisters. God has called you not for

impurity, but for holiness. Your holiness is also the

church's job. We are spiritually responsible

for one another's growth and godliness.

In other words, holiness is a team sport.

If you played sports in high school, you know there's

varsity, there's JV, there's the starters, and there's the bench

warmers in the local church. There is no bench.

Everyone is a starter. Your brothers and sisters need

your holiness. When you pursue holiness, it

rubs off on other people. It ripples throughout the

congregation. When we watch you put your sin

to death, we are strengthened and encouraged to put our own

sin to death. When we watch you fight and

wrestle for self-control, we are encouraged to do the same.

You who are strong, help us who are weak.

You who are mature, help us grow into maturity.

Your holiness is contagious and it's the church's job, not just

the elders, to keep this pulpit preaching what God says about

sin and sexuality. Paul warns us, look at verse 8.

Whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God.

Years ago in Kansas City the biggest mega church in Kansas

City change their stance on biblical sexuality.

They became open and affirming of homosexuality.

Their pastor wrote a blog post where he said I know what Paul

says, I just disagree with Paul. Brothers and sisters, God not

your preacher always gets the last say.

Protect this pulpit. Any man who does not believe

these things or is afraid to preach them preaches a different

gospel. Don't let it happen here.

Your holiness is finally God's job.

It's your job. Sure, it is the job of the

church also. It's God's job too.

And what a relief. Surely you've been in that group

project where you had that one friend who just carried the

whole team. They basically did all the work

and you get some credit. God is absolutely, unrelentingly

committed to your sanctification.

He works you degree after degree more into the image of His Son.

So what happens when you, Christian, fall flat on your

face in descent? God doesn't give up on you.

God does not leave you to yourself.

He's not driven away or repulsed by you.

He has more mercy and grace for you.

Still, He is better at sanctifying than you are at

sinning. He is committed to your

sanctification. So keep walking.

It's a long walk, but we'll get there.

By God's grace, be holy today. And friends, this day will turn

into a month, and this month will turn into a year, and this

year a decade. And soon, by God's grace, we

will hear like those Saints who've gone before us.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

On that day our God will be pleased.

Let's pray. Lord, you are our holy God.

You've called us to holiness. Lord, strengthen us for this

work. Help us give an effort, help us

strive. Help us work hard to rid

ourselves of sin and to conform ourselves to your law and to

your Son Jesus Christ. Do this work in us.

We pray in Jesus name, Amen.