Katie from Palm Bay, Florida and Jared Bridgman both sent in this clip at the same time. It's from a message John Piper delivered titled "How to Kill Sin Part 2" which he preached on February 17, 2002. Here's a clip of what he said in that sermon. Ed Welch wrote a book last year, published it last year, called "A Banquet in the Grave." It's a great title.

It's taken from a proverb. It's a book on addiction, addictions. I commend it to you. This is a sentence from an article that he wrote in preparation for that book. "There's a mean streak to authentic self-control. Self-control is not for the timid. When we want to grow in it, not only do we nurture an exuberance for Jesus Christ, we also demand of ourselves a hatred for sin.

The only possible attitude toward out-of-control desire is a declaration of all-out war." I hear so many Christians murmuring about their imperfections and their failures and their addictions and their shortcomings and I see so little war. Murmur, murmur, murmur. Why am I this way? Make war. If you wonder how to make war, go to the manual.

Don't just bellyache about your failures. Make war. He says, I'm continuing the quote, "There is something about war that sharpens the senses. You hear a twig snap or rustling of the leaves and you are in attack mode. Someone coughs and you are ready to pull the trigger. Even after days of little or no sleep, war keeps us vigilant." There is a mean, violent streak to the true Christian life.

But now let's very carefully ask, violence against whom or what? Not other people. Not other people. Not other people. Not Muslims. Not Hindus. Not Buddhists. Not atheists. Not secularists. Not nominal Christians. Not wives or husband or children or ornery bosses. But on every impulse in our soul to be violent to other people.

Violence, a mean streak in Christianity against our own selves. And all in us that would make peace with sin and a settling in peacetime mindset. We make war on that in us. It's a violence against all lust in ourselves. All enslaving desires for food, caffeine, sugar, chocolate, alcohol, pornography, money, the praise of man, approval of others, power, fame.

This is our enemy. This is where we make war. It is a violence against all racism in our souls. A violence against all sluggish indifference to injustice in our souls. A violence against all indifference to poverty and indifference to abortion in our souls. Did you know that in the warfare of Romans, Satan doesn't show up in chapter 16?

We tend to think of spiritual warfare as this little thing where you find some way to pray or some way to lay hands on or some way to do a Satan thing. Well, that's important. Believe me, that's important. We war not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and world rulers of this present darkness and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

That's important. But you know what? It's not nearly as important as this. Because the only foothold Satan has in your life is your flesh and your sin. Nobody goes to hell because of Satan. The only reason we go to hell is sin. Much more important than fighting Satan is fighting sin.

This warfare in verse 13 is vastly more important than figuring Satan out. Get that. My biggest enemy is not Satan. My biggest enemy is John Piper. Fallen, fleshly, rebellious, hostile, selfish, lusting, power-grabbing, fame-loving John Piper is my biggest enemy. And he's the only reason I'll go to hell. Not Satan.

Satan, you don't have nearly that kind of power. And therefore, I really care about us learning how to do this battle. Christianity is not a settle-in, live at peace with the world the way it is religion. Like most Christians live their daily lives. Verse 13, "If by the Spirit you kill." There's a mean streak in Christianity, and it's not against anybody else but ourselves.

In fact, it's against the meanness of ourselves, against other people. If you feel like you're a mean person against others, a harsh person, a critical person, you know your problem? You haven't learned to make war. You haven't learned to be mean. You haven't learned to get violent against your violence, against your meanness, against your critical spirit.

And you complain of it, talk about it, but have you made war 24/7 against it? Powerful. That clip appeared in Tadashi's 2010 song "Make War." This clip was suggested by several listeners, including Katie from Palm Bay, Florida, and Jared Bridgman. The entire sermon, "How to Kill Sin, Part 2," was preached on February 17, 2002, and you can find it at DesiringGod.org.

We're back tomorrow with Pastor John. See you then. Page 1 of 10 Page 2 of 10