Tonight, let's run over to the book of 1 John. Amen. 1 John chapter number 4. And this is a good time for everybody to be in a good spot to receive the Word of God. Amen. Amen. Don't need no waters around, little guys. Amen. Hallelujah. Alright, look what the Bible says over in 1 John chapter 4 and verse number 4. And now once you get there let's all stand we'll read pray and ask the master for his help tonight That's first john chapter number four and verse number four of the bible says in verse number four chapter four of first john Ye are of god what? little children and have I like that have overcome them why because greater He that is in you Than he that is in the world and we will continue our sermon series on the power To overcome and tonight we'll talk about the power to overcome sin Father, I pray for your help tonight. I pray God to guide us and direct us. I pray God to fill us up with the Holy Spirit. I pray God that our ears will be very tuned in to your Holy Ghost voice when you speak to our hearts. I pray God that you reveal to us how, yes sir, how we can overcome the various sins in our life that the enemy has told us that we can't overcome. We have been told a lie. We have been sold, Lord, a bill of bad goods, matter of fact. God, we've been lied to. But I pray and ask God, you reveal to us the truth from a precious, life-changing, holy word of God tonight. And I pray, God, we leave tonight, we'll be so encouraged, so encouraged, that joy, joy would flood our soul. That joy would fill our mind with peace. would be that coat that wraps around us when the enemy tries to cause us to feel his chill, Lord, to feel his coldness. But your coat will wrap its arms around us and we'll feel the warmth of a living God, a breathing God, a life-changing God. But help somebody, because I know I do, somebody needs your help. I pray God for clarity of mind and thought. I pray God to fill the spirit of God. I pray God if there's anything whatsoever between you and I that will hinder you from using my vessel tonight, I beg you in the name of Jesus to clean me thoroughly inside and outside. And God help me to preach the word of God with a fresh anointing, with fresh power, with a fresh touch. And I pray God that each of us will lead with this on our breaths. My has been good to be in the house of God and that God will thank you and then God does he anything else? Yes, sir. Take care that day to force in Christ's name. We pray Jesus Amen. Amen. Maybe sit in the power to overcome sin We have an enemy that's lied to us and has told us that we can't But yet we're reading the Word of God. The Bible says in verse 4 of chapter 4, 1 John, he says, greater, larger is he that is in you than who? Than he that's in the world. When you and I got saved, when we got blood-bought and born again, the Holy Spirit of God came and moved on the inside. He took up residence on the inside. We are now his dwelling place. The Bible says that our body is a temple of what? Don't be afraid. Start with a G. God, amen. We are the temple of God. God indwells us. Y'all think y'all ain't taking a test. Amen. Y'all's afraid. We know the answer, but somebody else saying amen. But nonetheless, the Bible says greater. And God, this in itself should cause you and I to be so thrilled. so thrilled that the Spirit of God lives. God lives on the inside of each of us. He lives there. So that means this, no matter where we go, guess who's there with us? God. See, sometimes we think of it like this, like God's on the outside, like the air around us, and that He is going with us that way. But hold on a minute, baby. Where's the air at also? Huh? On the inside. You're breathing, ain't you? You're breathing in this air. Hallelujah. You're breathing in this air that's in this room right now. The same thing, my dear friends, the Holy Ghost might be on the outside, but hallelujah, if you're saved by God's amazing grace, he's also on the inside. Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. So all this stuff, but I can't help but get angry. I can't help but cuss. I just have to cuss. It's the only way them kids gonna hear what I got to say. If I don't cuss, they won't hear me, preacher. I've got to cuss. I've got to use new words. No, amen. If nothing else, start praying. I remember there was a time when Jolene says they be coming home and they doing something they shouldn't be doing. They see their mama kneel and start praying. They go, who we got to get going? Mama praying, mama praying. You know, why they feel like that? Because they have felt the effects of mama's prayer. her tribe to die. I told you about that time. They was out there in the ocean, messing around. Little mama said, come on, come on to the shore. You see mama swim? Mama couldn't swim. So you know how she is out there, mom can't come out here and get it. Then all of a sudden, they look to the shore. It was her and Steve, one of their friends. And they look over to the shore. And they see their mama have her head down like this. And they see she was praying. They said, come on, we got to get out of here. Mama started praying. Mama's praying. And their friend didn't understand what that meant. So what does that mean, she's praying? So about that time, I think Jolene was ahead of everybody. About that time, Steve was their friend. That jellyfish, what was it? It was his friend. He got ahold of him. Oh! Oh! Then he started biting him up in the water. Amen. You know what, my dear friends? Hey, I'll tell you what. Mamas start praying like that. Have that kind of faith. They pray. Your kids see you start going like that. They be like, let's go, let's go, let's go. We got to get to the house. Amen. We ain't got time to be messing around. But they think your prayers ain't got no power. They be like, what they doing? I can do that too. You know? But they know that your prayer worked because it's been mixed with faith. Remember Matthew 4 verse 22, what's there we should ask in prayer, believing we shall receive. Now look at what it says here. We have the power to overcome. We have the power, and we'll talk about it tonight, to overcome sin. Whatever that sin is, as a matter of fact, look at what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter number 12. Look at what the Bible says. I didn't say it, the Bible said it. Look at Hebrews 12 and look down at verse number 1. Hebrews 12 and look at verse 1. The Bible says this, God's Word says this, Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed and circling about with so great a cloud of witnesses, here it is, let us lay aside, what? every weight in the sin that so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us now why in the world would God tell us to lay aside something that we cannot lay aside that does not make sense God would not be right nor fair if he was to say, hey, lay aside that sin that's so easy to set you if you could not. So therefore, if God says, lay aside and run the race, that means it's possible. That means it's possible. Now run with me to Romans chapter number 6. Look at Romans chapter number 6. And look what the Bible says here in Romans chapter number 6. And look down at verse number 12. We have a choice. We have a choice to yield. You can either yield to sin or not. Now picture what sin you're talking about, the one that keeps flashing in your mind. I have no doubt, vast majority of us, there's a certain sin that's flashing in your mind right now when I say that. Now watch what the Bible says, not me, the Bible. The Bible says in chapter 6, verse 12, and Paul talks to the church, born again, blood-bought believers. He says in chapter 6, verse 12, That word let is present imperative. He's commanding us to do something continuously. Let not what? Sin. Therefore, reign, rule, be king in your mortal, mortal body, that ye should obey it and the lust thereof. I like the way the Bible talks. Because he didn't say which sin. He said sin. whatever that particular sin is, that you're struggling with, that you feel like, I always struggle with this sin. Now, there is a way to overcome that sin. And I tell you what you wind up doing, avoiding those places that will cause you to want to be involved in that sin. But the Bible does say He commands us to let not sin reign. Don't let it be king. Don't let it rule your life. Watch what He says here, friends. He says this. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. I'm about to have a spell here. The mortal body that ye should obey it and the lusts thereof. That word should obey means to listen. That's a problem we have sometimes. We listen to the wrong voice. He's sittin' there, you know, he said, Jackie, just go get you a drink, girl. It'll make you feel so much better. Just get a cool drink, a cold drink. Get you a cold beer with a little frost on the side. Some of y'all might get nervous now. Grab you one of them things and you'll feel so much better. But what you do don't miss it. La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la You know? And you guys know how to do it. You tune your wife out, do the same thing the devil. Tune him out. I'm sorry, I'm talking about somebody else, amen. I'm talking about Jim. But anyhow, y'all know how to tune out, amen. Tune out the devil's voice, amen. When he's trying to speak, say, I'm not listening. I'm not listening. But what he says here in verse 13, neither yield, present, turnover, your members as instruments of unrighteousness. He is telling us not to do this. Why if we can't? Why if we can't help it? He says right here, don't yield your members. Remember, members means parts of the body. There's certain parts of our body that the enemy wants us to yield over, to give over. And then he says, don't do it. Don't give that part of your body to unrighteousness as a tool. That word instrument here means a tool or a weapon or a utensil. Don't let the devil use your body as a tool, as a utensil for unrighteousness. He said don't do it. Whether it's talking the wrong talk, walking the wrong places, going to the wrong places, touching the wrong things, looking at the wrong... These are all parts of your body. He just don't turn it over to unrighteousness. Folks, we have the power to overcome whatever it is that's trying to entice us. It's there. What we need is a new mindset. For so long, we have been taught from the enemy that you can't help it. It's in your DNA. It's in your makeup. Your mama was this way, your daddy was this way, your grandpappy, all your relatives were like that. That's just part of you. I mean, you're Italian, so that's fine. You're black, that's why. You're Mexican, that's why. That's a lie, amen. It's a lie, friends. Well, I'm going to forget, but my mama come visit us. We lived down in Georgia. And she would visit for about a week or so. And then when she got ready to go back home, you know what she would say? It's time to go back to the real world. I'm like, Mama, this is the real world. There ain't no fantasy. Why was she saying that? When she would come there, we'd go to church, and she would meet the folks, and she would see that folks were really trying to serve God. They were really trying to love God, trying to help people. And to her, it was like, this is like a fantasy. But I got to go back to the real world, the real world. Folks, this is all the real world. But what happens is this, when I grew up on the west side of Chicago, I thought that was my world. That was my world. So everybody was in my world, or as some famous actor said, in my circle. In my circle. I thought that's how everybody was. Well, everybody drink a little bit. Everybody cuss sometimes. Everybody smoking dope. Everybody ain't smoking. My grandma wasn't smoking no dope. Well, you know, I mean, everybody, anybody's doing it. Ain't nobody, ain't nobody trying, ain't nobody... Yes, they are! But what happens is this, if you are hanging around those folks who are not, to your mind, you think ain't nobody trying to do nothing right. That's why it's so important, my dear friends, to make sure, like the Bible says, if you look at 1 Corinthians 15, we're coming back to your holy place here, but look at 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33. That's why it's so important to practice this very principle that God teaches us in his word. This is not just, it's not gonna be easy for young people. Y'all need to read that verse. Old folks, you too, me too. Look what it says in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 33. Be not what? Deceived. Don't be fooled. Don't be led astray from the truth. Evil, bad, wicked communications. That word communications means companionships. The Bible says here corrupt what? Good manners. That word manners means habits. You hang around the wrong folks, friends, and it's going to corrupt your good habits. That means your good habits turn into bad habits. He said, don't be fooled. Don't think it won't happen. No, I'm just going to be... I don't know how many folks, how many young folks, about seeing... I'm trying to help my friends. The next thing you know, they fall in that same trap that their friends are in. I'm trying to let them see Christ in me. Well, how are you doing that? Do you talk to them about the Lord at all? Do you invite them to come to the church? When they come to you with their problems, because they will. We all have friends that come with problems. When they come to you and they say, I got this problem going on, do we say, let's pray? I'm going to say, let's pray, because then they don't think, oh, you are. What's the word today for square? What would it be? Slang word for day. Lame. You lame. Girl, don't go talk to her. Don't go talk to her. You talk to Elena and she'll be like, you know, well, let's pray. Pray, girl, I want to slap her. Gee, look at me. If I want to slap her, I'm going to let her pray. That's what I'm going to do. But when you try to be a witness, then you tell them what God does to help you. If he's helping you. You say, this is how God's helping me. I want to slap a dude, but God's not. I pray that the Lord help me to pray for them, because I need help too, Lord. See, my dear friends, we need to practice these things the Bible teaches that we can have a part of our lives. Let's go back over to Romans chapter number 6. We're going to hurry up here. The Bible says this, at verse 13. Ye that yield your members... Man, I got a long way to go. Ye that yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness, under sin, but want it, want it. That's why I said this is a choice to yield. But yield yourselves unto who? Unto God! as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments, or tools, or weapons, or utensils of righteousness unto God. In other words, I'm a fork. No, I'm a knife. I can use this knife in several ways. I can use it to cut me a good piece of steak, or I can use it to cut somebody that's acting crazy, or I think needs to be cut. You remember that one, Jackie. Thank you for attending. She's like, I cut him. I cut him. And we keep her around just in case we need somebody to cut. But now that's all changed. Amen. Hallelujah. But now I can be used to cut somebody or cut me a piece of steak. Amen. It's still a knife, but how is it being used? You have hands, you have feet, eyes, mind, ears. You have these things, my friends, but how is your utensil, how is your tool, how is my tool, my utensil being used? For righteousness or for unrighteousness? Whose choice? Mine. I've got the choice of how it would be used. So the next time we start blaming the devil, the devil, the devil. We blame so much on Pope Devil. The devil made me do it. No, he did not. He did. He provoked me. He provoked you. Why weren't you listening to him? Well, some of the stuff he was saying was true. No! He is the father of lies, the Bible says. The father of lies. Don't listen to the enemy. Now watch this. We've got to hurry up. Look what it says over here. Now, he says in verse number 14. Oh, this one messed up somebody's theology. For sin shall not have dominion over you. Wow. That's a Bible, folks. He says, for sin shall not have dominion or rule over you, for you are not under the law, but under who? Grace. Grace. Hallelujah. Look at this one. Look at this one. Look down at verse number 18. No, no, no, no, no. Verse 16. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. But, Paul by the shout here, would God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you. Being then made free from sin, he became the servants of what? Righteousness. Folks, let's be servants of right and not servants of wrong. Now watch this. We have a choice to walk in the Spirit if we have to overcome sin. Look what the Bible says in Galatians 5 and look at verse number 16. Galatians 5 and look at verse number 16. Look what the Bible says right here. But preachers, you don't understand. It's rough out there. It's rough. I know it's rough, but we got to help her, amen? Ephesians, we're going back a little bit. In Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20, it says there's a power, my friends, that's greater than what you and I can even ask or even think. It's bigger than that. But now watch this first. Look at Galatians chapter number 5. Let me get verse 16. The Bible says, Paul says to the church, this I say then, walk. In who? In the Spirit. And what'll happen? Ye shall not fulfill or perform the lusts, the desires of the flesh, if you walk in the Spirit. Now some people say they walk in the Spirit, but they're walking in the flesh. You can tell by their walk. You there walking right? What's up? What's up, pimp? I'm Doggy Spice. It's a dynamo. How you walking? Why you got to have all that? I mean, I'll tell you what, Christian, if she ever brings somebody to our house, come up, Daddy, I want you to meet someone. He come up, what's up? What's up, pal? I'd be like, this is what's up, amen. Don't be coming in there, you know, but don't walk, don't fake walk either now. You might probably go, oh, how you doing, Mr. Shabim? I'm a really good guy. Really, I am. I mean, come on now. Come on. Do right, amen. Sometimes folks walk in to see. You know, they turn their hat one way, but they're another way. You know, I mean, it's like you turn the light on. What do roaches do? They run, amen. It's the same thing with the Lord. The Bible says the Lord is the light. When the light shows up, God shows up, man. I'm telling you, folks, we're scattering, scattering, scattering. But if everything all right, you're like, what's up? I'm good. I'm good. But you don't want folks to see stuff. Wait a minute. I'm going to go there. But look what it says here. Verse 16. Well, now let's jump out of verse 17. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary, they are opposite, they are adversaries, but one to the other. So that you cannot do the things that you would. But he said, my soul, if you be led of the spirit, you are not under the law. Are you being led of the spirit? Are you led? The word led, that means driven, to carry, to be led, to lead. Is He leading your life? He can if you let Him. He can if you let Him. Or you can choose to be a slave. Not to Christ, but to your flesh. Look what the Bible says here about being a slave. The Bible says here, Now the warps, the deer and flesh are manifest, which are these. You can be a slave to the flesh, this is it. Well, adultery. I ain't committing adultery. You sure? I ain't touching no woman. I ain't touching no guy. What does the Bible say in Matthew? If you look at a woman and lust after her, you commit adultery already where? In your heart. Now, I know some of us, we like to play lawyer. Well, I might as well go ahead and do it then. I mean, I guess I'm already guilty. Now, now you're moving to another arena. Amen? But the Bible says here, these are the deeds of the flesh, adultery, fornication, oh my, uncleanness, Lasciviousness, that means absence of restraint. That means there's nothing off limits. Do what you want to do, baby. Do as you please. It's my world. What did Frank Sinatra say? I did it my way. Is your way God's way? Then that's good. But if your way ain't God's way, that's the wrong way. But the Bible says Lasciviousness, absence of restraint. Idolatry, which is image worship. Witchcraft, which deals with medication or pharmacy. That's what that word means there. And that's what we have today. We have a society. Drugs. Look at the word. I'll explain it right now. But that's the same word we got the word pharmacy from. This word witchcraft. The same word we got the word pharmacy from. We got all kinds. We got legal drugs that folks are addicted to. We live in an addicted society. Flesh. Flesh. Look what the Bible says here. Not only witchcraft. By the way, let me pause here. When you think about witchcraft, you think about something that's doing what? Controlling you. Say it again. A spell. Something that has you in a spell. That's what drugs does. It has you in a spell. You know what you're talking about. Yes, I do. I can tell you all about the cocaine. I don't care how much you do. It has you under a spell. It has you under its control. You're being influenced by it. The Bible goes on to say this, my friends, but also variance. That means, I mean, hatred, hostility, a variance, which is quarreling. Immolation, which is jealousy. Wrath, that means breathing hard, somebody about to get hurt. Strife, which is contention. Seditions, which is division. Heresies. Envy, which is spite. Murders, drunkenness. Revealing, that means riotous conduct. And such might be dissimilar. Uh-oh, he's going to hit somebody. Of the wicked, I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not what? and have the kingdom of God. Oh, preach the temple talk, that man right here. That word do, or which do is one word, which means habitually practice, perform repeatedly. If you're practicing these things, the Bible says you're not going to enter the kingdom of heaven. Why do you practice? To get better. We got folks that practice sin. We got some folks that fight against it. I mean, you know, it's like, it's like, come for a minute, Brent. It's like this, you know, instead of just instead of just going right along with it, you know, you're still trying to grab ahold of you and what you're doing, what you're doing, you're fighting. No, I don't want to go over there. I don't want to go over there. But now some folks ain't doing that. When sin comes, you're like, well, take me. Wait a minute. Something's wrong with that picture, Amen. The Bible's saying that you and I should be fighting sin. Not just going, oh, I want to go. I won't think. Yeah, take me on over there. Where that party at? Party! Party! Instead of saying, no, I don't want to go to that party, Amen. I know what's going on on that side of the street, Amen. Watch what the Bible says here. But listen, the choice to be a slave or the choice to be fruitful. The Bible says this, but the fruit, the produce of the Spirit is what? Love, joy, peace, love, suffering, which is patience, gentleness, which is kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, which is humility, and temperance. Ooh! Now we need that. Somebody say, what does that mean, Preacher? Self-control. Self-control. But who produces this? The Holy Spirit. So we're trying to produce it. I'm in control. I'm in control. I'm in control. You can't control nothing unless the Spirit of God produces self-control in you. And what you do is you bear it. You bear a fruit, an apple tree that's not for the apple. An apple tree is for others to come by and partake of its fruit. But see, we got that thing all messed up. Messed up. We're trying to produce something we can't produce. That's why I said the power to overcome. It comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. Look what he goes on to say. We're about to come home. I'm going to show you. I'm going to give you all this now and give you the key to it. I'm going to give you the key because the key opens the door. But look at the Bible. Watch this. Watch this. The Bible says this. Meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. There's no law against love. No wall against joy. I'm so happy for that. Ain't no wall against any of these things. The Holy Ghost produces it through us as we yield to the Spirit of God. Let me show you this one. It's possible. The possibility. The Bible says in verse number 26. This is good. Verse 25. If we live in the Spirit, then us what? Say it again. Also walk in the Spirit. I'm talking to saved people. You're living in the Spirit. You're alive because of the Spirit. Now walk in the Spirit. That means it's possible and it means it's our choice. What happens if I don't? This is what happens when you don't. And believe me, God is a whole lot longer than this right here. He is stretched out far. I don't care where you try to... He is bent. It goes around corners. You trying to hide around a corner. It's like one of them heat-seeking missiles. It'd be like... Assume the position. And by the way, if you don't want to assume the position, God knows how to get you in that position. Amen. Before long, you'll be like, Oh God, that position is... Oh God! You know how to get to there, amen? But instead, so we can avoid all this right here. You know, God ain't trying to hurt nobody. It's all to help us. It's all to help us. But if you want to avoid getting a spanking from Him, what do you do? Do those things that are pleasing to the Father. So therefore, we should walk in the Spirit. We can walk in the Spirit. But here's the key. Let me give you the key. We're done. Here's the key. The key to overcoming. I know this is going to shock y'all. It's going to be something that's dynamic. It's going to blow my mind. The key to overcoming is a word that you've heard since you've been going to church. It's called believing. Believing. Wow, that was profound, deep, deep. Boy, you were deep in thought and meditation. Just read the Bible. Let me show you. Look with me to Matthew chapter 9 verse 28. The key to overcoming is believing. So your beliefs, it's our belief system. All of us have a belief system. And depending on how you've been taught will determine on how you believe and what you believe. Luke says in Matthew chapter number 9, and look at verse, here's the illustration, look at verse number 28. These boys need some help. They encounter Jesus, and watch what he says. He said in verse 28, and when he was coming to the house, Matthew 9 verse 28, and when he was coming to the house, the blind man came to him, and Jesus said to them, Believe ye that I am able to do this. Do you believe? They're going to have to respond. Do you believe that I'm able, that I have the ability, that I have the, here it is folks, that word able means to build power. It's possible to do this. then said, they said to him, no Lord. Oh, but they said, yay. And that word, that word yay here means yes. It means a strong affirmation. And that going, yes, they believed. So what happened? The Bible says this in verse number 29, then touching their eyes saying this, According to my faith. According to your faith. Be it unto you. Do you believe that you have the power to overcome that sin? Believe. Watch what it says. I ain't done. Watch what it says. Look at Luke 11. Luke 11, chapter number 9. Luke 11, chapter number 9. Luke 11, chapter number 9. Louis says here. Is that right? Yeah, that's it. And I say to you, stop asking. That's how we do as parents. I wish you would stop asking. But he's the opposite. He says, ask. Present imperative, guys and girls. That means it's a command to do something continuously. That's it. Keep on asking, baby. You just ask. What will happen, preacher? And it shall be given you. Seek. Present imperative. And ye shall find. Knock. Present imperative. And it shall be done or opened unto you. Why? For everyone that asketh, receiveth. And he that seeketh, findeth, and he that knocketh, it shall be opened. Let me tell you something, guys. If a son, now I'm going to put my son's name, I'm going to put DJ's name in there. If DJ shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Did you come to me and say, Dad, can I have some bread? I say, here's a stone, here's a rock. I don't make sense. I'm going to eat a man. Or if he ask a fish, would he for a fish give him a serpent? Here, son, take this snake. What's his name again? Smokey D? Here, Smokey D, take him. We got the zoo at our house. Y'all come by. But mostly the same. Or if he should ask an egg, would he give him a scorpion? If ye. No. In other words, we won't do that. You know, Brayden asks his mama for something to eat. And she goes, here, take this poison. No. Oh, you see, let me ask you a second here. But watch this. If ye then, being evil, we bad. Some of y'all want me, I'm bad. Know how to give good gifts unto your children, oh my. How much more should a heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that what? Ask Him. Somebody said, Preacher, I thought we already have the Holy Spirit. We do. Of course, it's before the indwelling of the Holy Spirit here. But we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit now. But if you ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to control your life, to fill your life, do you think that God won't let that take place? Same principle. If you ask. The Bible says in Ephesians 5, 18, But be not drunk with wine, wearing it in success, but be filled With what? The Holy Spirit. Feel the Spirit. Be controlled by the Spirit. But do you want to be controlled? But I want to be controlled. See, if you and I are controlled by the Holy Spirit of God, we'll overcome that sin, friend. So in other words, when that sin comes by and antagonizes you or tries to pull you, what do you do? Pray! God, control me with your Holy Spirit. Fill me with the Holy Spirit of God. Lord, help me to get out of this situation. Father, I want you, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit of God will guide us into all truth. Holy Spirit, guide me into the truth. Show me how to get out of this situation. He's not going to not show you. He'll show you and then give you the power and the strength to do it. Here's my last verse. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse number 20. It's good to have your Bible with you. Ephesians chapter number 3 and verse 20. Look what it says. Ephesians 3 and verse 20. What are you trying to get us to see preacher? Stop relying on your own strength. Stop. I'm talking to me too. We got to stop relying on our own strength. Because we're going to soon quit relying on the Holy Spirit's strength. Luther Bible says in Ephesians chapter number 3 and verse 20, the Bible says this, Now unto him that is able, that has the power to do exceeding abundance, that means over excessive, I like this kind of excessive, above all, that we ask or think according to the power that worketh where? In us! This power works in us! And the Bible says this power is able to do above, be above all, above all that we ask or think. That means that we can even perceive or understand according to the power. That word power means miraculous power. That means it's Holy Ghost power. They're yours! Holy Ghost power! Miraculous power! It's there. In a sense, waiting to be awakened. You ever heard the old saying, it's like a sleeping giant waiting to be awakened? To be awakened from his sleep? Now the Holy Spirit ain't just sleep, of course. What I'm saying is the power of God is there. But we got to rely and depend on it. Ask God. to help you to overcome that particular sin that keeps flashing in your mind. Somebody says, Preacher, can I be sinless in this world? No. But you can sin less. Oh, yeah. You can sin less. By the way, when he gets done with that unforgiveness, now we got to handle that bitterness. When you're done with that bitterness, now we got to deal with that anger. When we take care of that anger, we got to take care of that gossip. You take care of that gossip, that roving eye, whatever it might be, my dear friends. Hey, there's a lot of things that as you continue to walk with God, He'll begin to reveal it. Okay, now we got to take care of this. Oh, ain't no other problem. Yeah, that's a problem. Let's take care of this now. And we got to keep on depending on His Spirit. Listen, I haven't done drugs since 1987 was the last time I did cocaine. The last time I did any type of drinking, any of that stuff was 1989. That's a long time ago. Now I can walk around and say, I'm immune. Lie. I ain't immune. I get to hanging around folks that got cocaine lines laying out there. Now, of course, the first day I might be going, woo! I mean, I'm not going to be doing that. But I keep hanging around that stuff. Then one day, Jolene, she made me mad. I mean, that's a miracle there, but still. And I'm around folk that got all them lions laying out there or whatever else is out there. Your flesh be like, you know what? What's the use? Now, don't raise your hand, but y'all know exactly what I'm talking about. That flesh start telling you what's the use in other areas. What's the use? Why read your Bible? Why pray? Why go to church? Why try to do what's right? I mean, like me, every time I try to do what's right, I'm trying to do this, trying to do this. It seems like everything falls apart. I mean, why? But even sometimes when you're thinking that way, there's something inside you that's saying, no. That ain't the truth. But sometimes, like, still, I mean, you know what? Everybody else, there we go. There we go. Everybody else doing it. They getting out of here. They lying. Look at them. They got big bank. I'm telling the truth about bank. I ain't got no bank. They won't even let me sign up for a bank. The flesh will tell you all kinds of things. But if you're saved, the Holy Spirit is still there. He said, no, don't quit. Don't give in. Don't throw in the towel. Don't wave the white flag of surrender to the enemy. And then what you have to do is say, you know what, Lord? I need your strength. I need your power. I need your might. Because you know that I'm weak. I'm weak. I'm weak. But we don't like to say weak. We want to say, now I'm strong. No, I'm weak. I don't care how, I don't care how much strength. You know, that's why it makes me nervous. I'm done. It makes me nervous when folks say this, I'm a strong Christian. I can't say that. I can't, Ms. Barbara, I can't say something like that. I'm strong. The Bible says, take heed lest ye fall. You on your way, baby. Because that means pride. How, are you strong enough? If Paul, Apostle Paul, he didn't say, I'm strong. He said, I'm still trying to attain. Let me show you real quick. Let me show you. Where's that, guys? Is that Philippians? Where's that? What is it? Look at Philippians 3. What it says right here. Philippians 3. We're done. Philippians 3. Paul says this. This is Paul. He wrote half the New Testament. Apostle Paul, great man of God. Paul says this in chapter number 3, verse 12. He says this. Might want to read verse 11 first. Verse 12 did. forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. Paul said, I've not obtained, I've not arrived, I've not apprehended, but I'm trying to forget some stuff back here so I can go forward. See, some of us can't go forward because we can't forget what's behind us. It's still hanging on to us. You got to let it go. Yeah, but they, but they, but they, yeah, they and you too. No, I'm not to them. No, somebody else. You hurt somebody else. I ain't hurt nobody but myself. You hurt your mama. You hurt your daddy. We have not arrived. We will never arrive until that day we step off into those pearly gates or Christ comes back for us one or the other. That's when we have arrived. But until then, we can overcome. The Bible says we're not slaves of sin. We choose to be. We choose to be. Well, preacher, that's a lot of responsibility on me. No, it's not. Because you ain't doing it in your own power. See, that's how we look at it. It's my power. No! It's in His power. Listen, here's my... I got two questions. I'm done. Three questions. First question is this. What sin do you need to overcome? Don't say all of them. I ain't talking about all of them. I'm talking about the one that's flashing in your mind right now. That's what I'm talking about. What sin do you need to overcome? Sin of unforgiveness? The sin of whatever it is is flashing in your mind or whatever it may be. And let me ask you this question next. This is key. This is key right here. Do you, do I believe? Do you and I believe that that power of the Holy Spirit that lives on the inside will help me to overcome that sin that keeps seemingly to prevail in my life? Do you and I believe? And then lastly, will you ask, here it is, this key too, will you ask for the power to overcome? The choice is up to you. Father, thank you for your many blessings. I've done my best, God, to present the word of God as you gave it to me to give out. And I just ask God that somehow, some way, someone was not only challenged, but was helped. They realize something. I've been doing this thing the wrong way. It's just gone on me. I've been trying to do it in my own strength, and I can't. But greater is He that is in me, not myself, but the Spirit of God. He will help me to overcome. Father, I pray that you would increase someone's faith tonight. And somebody said, how does my faith increase? By stepping out, by trusting you, Father. I pray, God, they trust your word. Believe your word. Your word's written down. They can go over these scriptures and re-read them again. And they can hold to those power, do His work in their life. But I pray, God, that folks come tonight and say, Lord, help me to overcome this sin or this problem or this struggle, whatever it might be, that keeps holding me back. God, help me to overcome. Perhaps, God, there's someone that wants to come and say, thank you, Lord, for helping me to overcome this particular thing in my life. And now, God, help me to overcome this other area of my life. God, we all should be here. But help us, Lord. Let your Holy Ghost breathe, draw, change, encourage. And then, God, whatever the other needs might be, help us to respond. For it's in Christ's name we pray, Jesus, amen. Amen.