 means 4 was 20. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith giving glory to God. So he talks about Abraham and it says he did not waver. So waver we know means he was not shaky, he was not thinking about possibilities, impossibilities. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, which means that when God had spoken, when he knew that God had spoken, he held on to it. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith giving glory to God. So when we are at that place where maybe our tendency is to waver, tendency is to waver at the promise of God, tendency is to doubt not God, did you really speak and so on. Here is a principle here. First of all, of course, the exhortation, do not waver at the promise of God through unbelief. Unbelief causes us to do that, not really walk in and experience the promise of God. God gives a promise for this purpose that we might receive it, appropriate it, walk in it, experience it. So unbelief causes us to waver and therefore causes us to not walk, not receive the fullness of it. But if we sense that my faith is wavering, then the thing to do is to go back to the person of who God is, the very nature, the very character of who God is, give glory to God and therefore be strengthened in faith. Give glory, when we give glory, meaning when we praise, when we honor, when we thank, for who he is. If we have problems looking at our own lives to say who he is, we can look into scripture, we can look into the word of God, how we dealt with people, how we helped, how we led and we can give glory and therefore our strength, our faith is strengthened in God and we come to that place of not wavering at the promise of God. So that let's pray and give him glory. Father, we thank you Lord for this exhortation and the principle Lord and the instruction. We thank you Lord. Your word says that when you look at the faith of Abraham that he did not waver and so God, that is something that is applying applicable for each one of us, that you want us not to waver, Lord, at your promise. Lord, that you want us to be strong. You want us to not be in a place of unbelief but be in a place of faith. So God, we just bring our lives before you, all those various things, God that you have spoken, God that you have promised and Lord, this morning we choose Lord to look at your promises and we choose to be strengthened in faith or giving you the glory, giving you the honor. Yes, Master, we believe that you are who you say you are. We believe, oh God, that you are our creator, God, we believe that you are the one who is all powerful and all wise and you are the ever-present God and we also believe, oh Father God, that Lord what you said will come to pass, oh God, because your word says that you are a rewarder to those who diligently seek you, Father God. And so, God, we seek you diligently knowing that you are the rewarder, Lord, and from our whole heart, oh God. Yes, Master, we thank you and we give you all the praise. Even today, in Jesus' matchless name, we pray, amen, amen. Okay, right. So, you know wholeness, we, I think we are in chapter 8, right? Yeah, we just started with chapter 8. Yeah, we looked at how we need to, we looked at the mind, the battlefield of the mind, we looked at some of those challenges and some of the practical things that you need to do that comes to renewing the mind, right? We looked at all that. So, there's a, there's quite a lot, you know, packed into chapter 7 and it'll be good if we take our time to go through and make sure that we're able to, you know, especially things like this, you know, take every thought captive, make it obedient to the knowledge of Christ. And, you know, if there is any battle still happening, you know, making sure that we are able to cast down strongholds and so on and to constantly renew our mind, right? Constantly renew our mind. Every time we read scripture, that's an opportunity for us to renew our mind, okay? To renew our mind. What does it mean to renew our mind? Basically change it, renovate it, right? So that, yeah, so, which means simple things could be to take on some truths, some thoughts, to let go of some things. It'll always happen, right, when it comes to renewing our mind, when you take on, you're also letting go, releasing, okay? So, maybe some things were there for many, many years, maybe right from childhood, right? And this is something that, or it could be some concept. It could be a pattern of thinking, you know, if somebody does this to me, this is what I will do. It is so deeply ingrained, right? But there comes a time when you encounter the truth in God's word and you need to decide either to let it go or let it stay with your life and, you know, that area of our life remains untransformed, right? That behavior doesn't change. And so, but if you want that behavior to change our life to be transformed, then we need to definitely, as we take on the truth, we need to let go of some wrong thinking, we need to let go of some thought patterns, etc., right? So, every time we worship God, every time we encounter God, you know, that's a time, that's an opportunity for us to renew our minds, okay? And we also looked at developing a positive mindset, okay? Yeah, okay, so let's look at crucifying the flesh, okay? So, the Bible talks about that, about the flesh. What do we mean when we say the flesh? Is it this? Is it the world? Okay, so how do we know that? Yeah, what is he, right? Everything that is in the world. And he says, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life, okay? So, one thing that we can conclude is, okay, these are desires of the flesh or appetites of the flesh, okay? Maybe some are blatantly wrong, but some could be appetite. It's a good appetite, but the craving is to satisfy that appetite in unrighteous ways, right? Not God-ordained ways. So, that's something we could think of, right? Okay, what else? What else would mean the flesh? Because we need to be clear, what are we crucifying? Like, what are we putting to death? So, when we say flesh, you're saying, okay, sinful nature, earthly things. So, let's look at Romans, the book of Romans and chapter 8, okay? Romans chapter 8 says, verse 5, okay? Romans 8 and verse 5, for those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, okay? So, and those who live according to the spirit, the things of the spirit, for to be carnally minded, okay? What does that mean? It means to be fleshly minded, okay? So, which means here is a, here is a kind of mind, which is completely filled with carnality, things of the flesh, right? So, for to be carnally minded is enmity against God and so on, right? So, when we say flesh, crucify the flesh, put to death the flesh, we're talking about the appetites, we're also talking about something that is not renewed, something that is fleshly minded, okay? The unrenewed part of us, okay? Right? So, this is what Peter says that 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 11, okay? Fleshly lusts war against the soul, 1 Peter 2 verse 11, abstain from fleshly lusts because what do they do? They war against the soul, okay? So, war is battle, right? War is conflict and war is something where they're, you know, if you look at a war, there's a lot of damage, right? From one party to another, there are, maybe there are two countries or maybe more who are in, yeah, sorry, Nina, just noticing your comments, thank you. That part of us, which is not yielded to God, yeah, carnality, right? So, when we look at wars, we see that there are, maybe there could be countries and there is, when there is a war raging, there is a lot of damage, right? Damage to property and more importantly, there are lives that are lost, right? There's a lot of damage, okay? So, here Peter says, you know, I beg you as Sahajaners and pilgrims, abstain. What does abstain mean? What does abstinence abstain? Stay away from, right? Just stay away, right? Abstain, don't indulge, like stop it. Stay away from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. So, this is what happens, you know? Whenever we give in to the demands of the fleshly lust, it is a war against our soul, right? It is a war against the soul, which means that there is damage that is happening to our mind. There is damage that is happening to our thinking, right? There is damage that is happening to our imagination, right? You know, there's a lot of videos that are coming up where people are talking now, there's a realization that, hey, if I continue to watch things that are fleshly, you know, like pornography and so on, they're saying that it is damaging to the mind. Now, the medical faculty is also, you know, they are catching up, the fraternity is catching up and saying, yeah, there is actually damage to thinking, there is actually damage to emotions, there is actually a, you know, kind of a rewiring of thoughts and imaginations that's happening in the mind and which does not, which drags people into depression and which, you know, prevents people from, you know, living or relating to people in a healthy way, right? It actually stops people from connecting in a healthy manner with the rest of humanity, right? So, people are realizing that and this is the scriptural truth, right? When we give in to fleshly lust and we're not just talking about pornography here, we're talking about everything that is to do with carnality, right? What other things could be there where you could say, you know, this is carnality, right? When we look at Galatians 5, it gives a list, right? The works of the flesh, okay? Galatians 5, 19 and then verse 22, we talks about the fruit of the spirit, right? Galatians 5, 19 says, now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, right? Verse 20, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like. It says, and the like, which means etc., etc., right? The list is, this list goes on, right? And he says that, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in time pass, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Then goes on to say, but the fruit of the spirit is this, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And against such, there is no law, which means there is, no, there's nothing which is against this. But the works of the flesh, it gives a partial list and which is actually quite an exhaustive list. So, which means that, in this, there are some things which are acts of the flesh. There are some things which are spiritual or interacting with the powers of darkness, right? Like idolatry and sorcery. There are some things which are maybe motivations of the heart, right? Like hatred, right? It's something that you have in your heart for another person. Jealousy, again, not seen outwardly, but then you have it inside your heart. Selfish ambition, wrong teachings, which are or long beliefs, which are heresies, envy, again, something that you have in your heart, murder, which is an act, right? Drunkenness, drivelries, etc. So, you list down all these categories and say, these are works of the flesh, okay? So, when a person is controlled by it, when a person gives into it and, you know, these are what we could say are, it's a work of the flesh, it's a fruit of the flesh. And therefore, it is warring against the soul. You know, you realize that, hey, I used to be a strong person of faith, but suddenly there is fear, right? I used to be strong in this area, or I used to have a strong understanding of this area of different things. You know, maybe you've learned something from scripture and you're strong in it. And suddenly you realize that if you have a lifestyle of giving into the flesh, you realize that, hey, these things have been broken down, right? These things have been stolen away because that's what the enemy does. And it is a war, it is a battle, it is a conflict against the soul, against the mind and whatever is there of the mind. And when we give into the flesh, it means that our will is being slowly broken, right? Our will is being broken or, you know, weakened to the point of being broken, which means, you know, what is our will? You know, our desire, our maybe strong desire, our decision making, right? To do the right thing. You want, you have a will, you have a strong will to do the right that is being weakened, that is being broken. Okay, so that is how the battle for the soul, or the damages of the battle for the soul, right? This is what happens. So, so we need to be, we need to be careful. We need to bring to an end these kinds of things. We need to crucify the flesh. Okay, we're going to look at how to do that. But another thing that we need to understand is when there is, when there are seeds sown into our life, we can be sure that, you know, given the right environment, it is going to bear fruit, right? Simple truth. You know, I think that, yeah, at home, we were just using the, whatever, you know, the water from cleaning the vessels, right? Maybe we wash vegetables or we clean the, clean the, you know, cooking vessels. We're just using that water to water the garden, the plants. Okay. And then suddenly, suddenly we realize, hey, there is a tomato plant coming up. Okay. Suddenly we realize there are some chilies that are coming up. Okay. Now, we didn't actively go and plant that tomato or plant that chili. It was just those seeds which were there, you know, in the vessels, those chilies that were cut, maybe that cutting board nicely washed. And that water we collected and poured into the plants in the garden. And suddenly we see chilies coming up. We see tomatoes coming up. So there's a thing that we learn. Okay, as long as there are seeds and the right environment, there's a plant which is going to grow, right? There's something that is going to take root. And there's something which is going to bear fruit here. And this, it was positive. We were happy, hey, we're getting tomatoes now, we can actually take some, right? It's bearing fruit. We didn't realize until we saw the plant and then we saw the, you know, we saw the vegetables growing out of it, chilies and tomatoes and so on. So that's a positive thing. But the negative thing is this, as long as there are roots, there are seeds being sown, we can be sure that something is taking root. We can be sure that one day, you know, it might be hidden, but one day it'll bear fruit, right? So what are some seeds? We need to be careful, right? Because Scripture talks about the fact that he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap eternal life, but he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap death, right? So we need to be careful. Okay, so what seeds were sown into our lives? Okay, so when we're talking about seeds, we are talking about maybe some, some ideas, right? When we talk about seeds, we are also talking about something that we learned, some things that we watched, we observed, you know, maybe at home, we saw. And then we realized that, hey, I am displaying that, you know, like one day my wife said, you sound just like your father, right? And I think I just reacted to something. And it was, I was upset and I reacted and I said something or, you know, I made a noise. And she said, you sound just like your father, right? And how did that come from? I had spent time, I had observed, right? So certain things we learned, right? I'm sure and you're learning about marriage, marriage and family, finished. Oh, so you're all experts now. So the thing is this, you know, we learn from our parents by observation, right? Some of the things, the conversations, the way they handle money, who handles money, right? We learn it, right? Maybe it was the mother who was always making financial decisions, we learn it. But that's a seed that is sown. So we're growing up and you're, you know, you're getting married and you expect the wife to handle the money, right? And you're very upset. Why is she not doing it? Why? Because that's how it was at home. That was a seed that is sown, right? So these take root, so some examples of seeds could be discouragement, negativity, strife, anger and the list goes on, right? Abandonment, rejection and these take root and bear the wrong kind of fruits, the negative fruits in our lives. So we, again, you know, when we were children, maybe we did not have the right kind of environment. But now, having known God, having come to the Lord, we, you know, we have the opportunity to intentionally, you know, sow good seeds in our hearts, right? So we're talking about, maybe we can intentionally remove those things, we identify and remove those things and, and like we learned, you know, we lay the ax to the root, lay the ax to the root. The Holy Spirit, you know, the Lord Jesus talked about, I mean, John the Baptist talked about the Lord Jesus, Matthew chapter 3 and he says, you know, this is who Jesus is. He's the one who baptizes the Holy Spirit, right? And he, the winnowing fan in his, is his hands and, you know, the chaffee will burn with unquenchable fire and so on. Even now the, he says, the ax is laid to the root, right? He's talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the Holy Spirit and he's referring to it in this manner, saying that even now the ax is laid to the root. So the thing is to lay the ax to the root of the things. Sometimes we, we can probably do a cosmetic change, you know, change in behavior. Okay, people are watching, let me be on good behavior, right? Or I'm in this surrounding. I should be this, in this manner, I should act like this. I should speak words like this. Take the environment, be in a different environment. The behavior changes, right? Can our behavior change with the environment? You know, some are good things, right? You know, like in family, maybe we are, we are more relaxed, right? With friends, we are more relaxed, right? Maybe in a work setting, we will be a little formal. That's fine, we're a little more professional. That's okay. But you know, if we are, you know, different to the point of being unrighteous, if you are different to the point of being, you know, fleshly and carnality and so on, then there is a, there is an issue, right? If you are different in different environments. So we need to be clear that the, the ax is laid to the root, right? What is it that is causing this kind of behavior, right? So it's not just behavior modification, but what is behind that behavior? What is causing that behavior? That's very important. What is causing the behavior? What is causing this person to behave in such a way? Is it some root that they, is it from, you know, some seed that they received in life, some beliefs that they have? Yeah. So all this, right? So laying the ax to the root, you know, Matthew chapter 3, John the Baptist, you know, just read through, says, even now, the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water and to repentance, but he who is coming after me is my tear, then I and so on, right? So he will baptize with the Holy Spirit and water, okay. Sorry, fire, Holy Spirit and fire, right? Okay, so we studied this again, laying the ax to the root, some of the things that, that cause problems in our lives that cause a carnal reaction, carnal behavior is self, jealousy, pride, lust, right? We looked at these and can I again go back to the book, laying the ax to the root and, you know, the free download is available, apcw.org slash book. So you can download that and, you know, and study and it, it can be a good time. And that's a, that's a reason why at the start of every academic year in Bible College, you again revisit it, right? When the new batch comes in, you can revisit it and say, you know, we need to lay an ax to the root. And this is a way to really clear out, you know, if there is a root, if there is something that is conflicting with the behavior that God wants, then we need to allow the Holy Spirit to lay the ax to the root, right? Okay. Another thing that we see in Galatians is also the fact that the key to walking in the spirit or key to having victory over the things of the flesh, okay? Let's turn to Galatians chapter 5, okay? Galatians 5 and verse 16, okay? Galatians 5 verse 16, it says, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. You shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. And verse 17 talks about how the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary or opposite each other so that we do not do the things that we want to do, that we wish to do, right? So it creates a conflict. The flesh always creates a conflict with the things of God, always creates a conflict with God wants for us or things of the spirit, always there is a conflict. So it says you walk in the spirit and when you walk in the spirit, now you're going to win the battle, okay? What is the battle? The battle against the flesh, battle against the urges, the appetites of the flesh. And again, I just want to remind this, when we looked at what comprises the flesh, it's different categories, it's motives, it's attitudes, it's behavior patterns, so many things that we saw, okay? Galatians 519, right? Talked about that. So we looked at the entire list. So here, if we live or if we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, okay? And then as we go down, verse 25 it says, if we live in the spirit, which means that our life is a life of walking in the spirit, okay? So it's not just a moment, it's not just a pathway, but it's a life. If we live in the spirit, it says, let us also walk in the spirit, okay? So every area of our lives, every area of our lives, if we live in the spirit, or if we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, okay? So the key thing is what? To understand, okay, how can I walk in the spirit? Like, how can I be sensitive to the things, the leading of the Holy Spirit, right? And we know, okay, the Holy Spirit leads me, the word and the spirit, they are one of the same as in, you know, it does not contradict, right? To be led by the spirit is to again, not contradict the word of God and so on, right? Okay, okay, so when we walk in the spirit, okay, we also talk about the fruit of the spirit, okay, which means the outcome, the end result of what would happen as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, okay? Fruit of the spirit is what? It is love, love for God, love for God's people. It is joy, you know, it's a joy that is an emotion that is produced in our hearts, right? It is peace, it is long suffering or patience, it is kindness, it is goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-governing ability or self-control. Now, all these are the end result or continuing to develop as a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, okay? So it's a very important thing, right? This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, this is the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. Now, if the, you know, for the Holy Spirit to produce this in my life, what should I do? What should my role be? Submission, so how do we, how do we practically submit? Maybe you can use the mic, so. Submission, so to obey or what Holy Spirit or the word of God is saying, even if it is not something what I like to do, but still I have to be submissive, so I have to make a choice of not doing what I want, but to do what God is telling me to do. Okay, so maybe I have an idea and I want to do this and, you know, and but the Holy Spirit leads me and gives me wisdom and I yield to it, even if it's something that is very different from what I've already, you know, made up my mind maybe, right? It is also something that I, you know, when we say I need to be led by the Spirit of God, I need to cooperate, okay? I need to cooperate, right? I need to surrender, yield, cooperate. Now, it's a, it's something, you know, something that we delight and sometimes it's easier, right? I said, oh, wow, God, yeah, I also think the same way, fantastic. You know, we say amen to that, Lord, but if you see things differently, right? But God, this is painful, you know, this is uncomfortable or this is difficult, but those are the times when we resist, right? When we resist and say, Lord, not this time or those previously, yes, Lord, but not this time or just one time, no, right? So those are the times, you know, when we yield, when we cooperate, we are actually walking, right? Walking in the Spirit when we, so scripture is clear, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. It seems very simple, right? This is the key. You want to see transformed behavior, be transformed by the renewing of your mind with the truth of God's word. You walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh and so on. So it seems very simple, but we know that when it comes to actually implementing it, why is it difficult? When we see these things, particularly, most of the people will think only spiritually, like being holy in some other way, but it depends upon the character and how we are, how we behave ourselves and it's all matter, right? So maybe some of us, maybe we are showing obedience to God in one perspective, but on the other perspective, living in this world, we are not fulfilling his purpose to the full and most of the people, they don't know also that we're doing wrong and they're not obeying, thinking in only in one side of the coin. So maybe it's ignorance, right? But then, with ignorance, there is no struggle. We just end up yielding to the things of the flesh, draw the flesh. But, sorry, yeah. So the struggle is, one thing is, yes, it's not convenient. It's not convenient, or I have this understanding that, hey, this is too spiritual. Let's be practical. Yeah. So both, when we, no, when we, yeah, wanting to do the right thing, because, but the drawer, pull of the flesh is so strong and we struggle, right? The other thing is struggling to make that right choice. Okay, so, you know, I, because it's inconvenient, because it's difficult, because it's costing me something, right? It's costing me something, you know, maybe, maybe I don't want to compromise and it's costing me something, right? Maybe I, you know, things like, you know, let's, if you look at the list, you know, Galatians 519, we see certain things like contentions and jealousies and, you know, selfish ambitions and dissensions, dissension is again, you know, divisions, etc., right? Envy. Now, some things we see, okay, it's outright, you know, some things we just say, okay, this list, I will not even face, you know, that's fine. You know, whenever there's a suggestion, I don't even consider it, but certain things are very subtle. These are attitudes of the heart or motives. Now, like envy, maybe envy can be even spiritual, right? Quentin Church, they were envying, right? And Paul had to write about the gifts of the spirit and he's saying, hey, you're all part of the body. So he's saying, you cannot, the hand cannot say to the eye, I don't need you, right? You cannot or you cannot say, you kind of look down on yourself and say, I can't be a part of this, etc., right? So these are very subtle things, but yet it can be giving into the pull of the flesh, right? Very subtle things, right? Okay, so, so the good news is this, we always keep the scripture in front of us, you know, I want to be led by the spirit and I know as a child of God, I can be led by the spirit and if I'm walking in the spirit, as led by the spirit of God, then I know that I will conquer, I will be victorious, right? I will not give in to the things of the flesh to keep that, yeah. We are seeing all these things laying eggs, self, jealousy, pride and lust. Maybe, can we, is it because of the ignorance, because I am telling this lust and self, maybe these things as a Christians, for us to conquer these things is very easy. When compared to pride and jealousy, like being judgmental, critical, condensing, what we read in Galatians, maybe as a Christians, for us... Sorry, conquering, which is easy? Like lust, lust of the flesh is easy than these things being judgmental, critical, pride, because maybe for the worldly people, maybe this lust of the flesh is maybe difficult for them, but for as a Christians, for us conquering these things are easy, because we think like these are only the important things. We don't consider the remaining things and we are going away in these things, mostly as a Christians. Is it because of ignorance or...? Well, actually, see, one thing is, each person is brought up differently, each person has different struggles. So, I won't say that, okay, once a person is a believer, then things like adultery fornication and all those things are not struggles for a believer. I won't say that, yeah, because I mean, you look at some of these recent happenings in church, church leadership, you see that, hey, it has been a struggle for them, right? And so, yeah, so we can't really say, but yes, these are things that are most subtle in the sense, the attitudes of the heart, things, certain things which are not very apparent, which are hidden, these are, these are definitely much more difficult, yeah. So, that's the, some things are hidden, some things are apparent, right? So, when you say ignorance, it is like, let's say, jealousy, envy, etc. Well, maybe the person doesn't even want to consider it, and it could be in spiritual matters, for example, it could be in ministry, it could be comparing how a church is doing and how you're comparing, and there is envy because of that. How come they came only now, they came started only now, things like that, right? Or, we've been so faithful in doing all things right, and I know certain things in their life which is wrong and yet, so there is jealousy, there is envy. So, even in spiritual matters like gifting, anointing, and all those things. So, yeah, so I won't say that for some, the world, this is easy or I won't say that. Definitely, there are different things which are struggling for different people, right? Yeah. Yeah, the key is again, also always to remind ourselves to present ourselves and our members, and those who are, you know, come from alive to God, right? Romans 6 talks about that, right? So, to present ourselves and as slaves of righteousness, right? As people who have been set free from being slaves to sin, to be slaves of righteousness. So, that's the thing. Okay. Any other questions? Okay. So, you know, let's look at Romans 8. Okay, so Romans 8. Romans 8 talks about the fact that we are debtors to live according to the Spirit. Okay. Romans 8 verse 12 says, therefore brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh, which means we are actually, we are indebted to live according to the Spirit. If you live according to the flesh, you will die. Okay. So, that's where the path leads, right? If we are going to be consistently having a lifestyle of living according to the flesh, it is going to lead to death. It is going to lead to separation, you know, it is going to lead to physical death, you know, even indulgence of the flesh, right? Appetites of the flesh, it will lead to death, you know, let's say some form of addiction, some form of abuse of the, you know, body and, you know, it is going to lead to death, physical death, maybe, right? But, you know, it's, it will lead, but if by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. So, that's another thing. One is, you are led by the Spirit and then you will not live according to the flesh. Here, Paul is saying, if you, if by the Spirit, right, you put to death, right? So, the Holy Spirit is maybe, he is empowering, he is leading, he is giving ideas, suggestions, right? Wisdom. So, with that, who is doing the work? You put to death, right? So, we take responsibility, we take ownership. By the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Okay? One thing is to actively sow to the Spirit, right? Which leads to life and peace, right? Not to sow to the flesh. Here, it says that we take the responsibility of putting to death or bringing to an end the deeds of the body, right? So, we, first of all, we need to know that we are on the winning side, that we are the ones because of our new identity in Christ. We will dominate sin and sin cannot dominate us. Now, that's the basic thing. As long as we believe that I'm only human and all other humans are struggling, so I will also continue to struggle through life, right? There's no point in even proceeding further, right? Because that's a very clear deception, very strong deception. I'm always going to be under the circumstance. I'm always going to live like this. That is not the step to recovery. That is not the step to freedom, right? That is not the step to putting to death the things of the flesh. We need to come to earth and say, yeah, I'm struggling right now. That's a fact. But this is what scripture says that sin cannot dominate me because I'm a new creation, right? And he who is in me is victorious and a stronger is greater than he who is in the world, right? He's talking about the Holy Spirit. So, this is what we do, that by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live, right? So, that's verse 13 and verse 14 talks about being led by the Spirit and so on, right? So, crucifying the flesh or putting to death the things of the flesh, these are hard decisions, difficult decisions, difficult choices. And like with all difficult, hard decisions, well, it would mean that there is some amount of pain. It can't be without discomfort. It can't be without pain. So, that's the thing. And one needs to be knowing that the path leads to death. One needs to be careful, right? Knowing that, you know, progressively it leads to a place of physical death. It leads to a place of, you know, having this lifestyle. It leads to a place of me coming to a place of being hardened my heart being hardened. No, that's the thing. Hebrews 3 talks about that, I think, right? Hebrews 3 says that don't be hardened because of the deceitfulness of sin, right? Let's look at Hebrews 3, 8, is it? 13, right? Hebrews 3, 13, Exot one another daily, why it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Okay, Hebrews 3, 13, so sin has this thing of hardening us. Hardening us, meaning, you know, you become so calloused to the things of God. You lose sensitivity to the things of God. The longer we have a lifestyle of sin. So, things of God lose, I mean, you're not interested anymore, right? So, that's the problem with sin, right? You become callous. What does callous mean? It's like, you know, if you're playing guitar, you know, if you're, your fingers become calloused over a period of time, right? So, I can't, yeah, I'm not, I can't actually feel certain because it's become hardened, the fingertips, and because it's playing, you know, keep playing and then it becomes hardened, right? So, I can't feel, you know, right hand, yes, I can feel pain, I can feel, you know, something is soft or hard, but with my left hand, the fingertips are hardened. At least these four fingers are hardened, right? So, that is what it is. Your heart, your inner man loses sensitivity to the things of God, right? The deceitfulness of sin causes that. So, you continue repeatedly, having a lifestyle of sin, it hardens us to the things of God. Hebrews 3.13 is very clear and which means we end up in a place where we are distancing ourselves from God, we're distancing ourselves from God's people. Well, God is reaching out in grace, God is sending, you know, messages right after the other, one after the other, but we distance ourselves and it is possible, like we see in Hebrews, it is possible to come to a place of saying, okay, I don't need Jesus. So, that's the danger. It's come, it's come, you know, it can. We can't rule that out to say, you know, I reject Christ, I reject everything. I don't need anymore, right? It's possible, okay. So, we are looking at, you know, several aspects of walking in the Spirit and putting to death the things of the flesh. So, the thing is, the antidote is to be rooted in Him, to be rooted in love, to be rooted in Christ, right? So, Colossians 2 verse 6 talks about that, as you have received Christ the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, rooted and built up in Christ, established in the faith, abounding in it, as you've been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. So, what does it mean to be rooted in Christ? Oh, okay, so we'll take a break. I think we've gone beyond that. Okay, we'll take a break and come back, right?