Thank you, Pastor Phil. Thank you, Brother Paul, for that song, for that piano accompaniment. Just, you know, when Jesus comes, things just don't stay the same. When he passes by, there's changes that take place. That's why I always want to be where he is, wherever he is, and when he graces us with his presence and his spirit and his power, then we're just not the same as we came. There's a little chorus that I've heard many times. I'll not be the same in Jesus' name. When he comes, you know, we're different because he passed by, but anyhow, Praise God, I'm glad you're here today. Thank you for joining us today in 930 worship and pastor, thank you for singing and ministering in song and helping to prepare hearts to receive the word of God. I believe that songs Ministry of music has a way of turning over the soil of our heart to the place where we're receptive to the good seed of the word of God. And so when the word of God is sown and our soil is turned over in our heart, through singing and worship, we are ready to receive what Jesus has for us. And so I'm thankful today for this opportunity and certainly in worship. I want to say this, I'm thankful for my lovely wife this morning, Julia, as she came to me and I've got to tell this because this was her desire. I didn't ask her to play the piano this morning. She came to me and said, Would it be all right if I just play some hymns and kind of before the service starts? And that was her desire, and I said, why, absolutely. And how many heard her playing this morning? Exactly, yeah, yeah, you need to come in about, yeah, come in here at least at 15 after, no later, and she'll be playing. And she'll be kind of what I'm talking about, kind of help to, helping to kind of break up the soil of our heart and get us ready for some good things that God wants to do. And I appreciate my wife and she is very talented and she loves to play. At least she's played, you know, many years ago she played somewhat, but anyhow, she's a blessing and I appreciate you doing that. You contributed. to many being blessed. As a matter of fact, I'm a little bit emotional. I don't know what it is. Does anybody else have this problem? The older I get, it seems like the more emotional I become. And I don't know, there could be merit to that, but one thing about it is if you get into it and really get emotional, you're not good for sharing much of anything. So anyhow, I'll reign my emotions in this morning as we get in to God's Word. And I'm gonna be sharing with you on the title this morning of this message, Overcomer, Come on Over. Overcomer, come on over now. Now I wanna tell you, this will be part three of Overcomer. Come on over. And I told pastor this morning, pastor, I do know now. There's one more part to this, and it'll be next Sunday, part four. I feel like I've got one more part that I've gotta share with you on this subject of Overcomer. Come on over. Now, I have to say on this title, it's a little bit catchy, and you've noticed it, you know, it has with it a statement of Overcomer, of which we all need to be, but it also comes with a little sideline, come on over. And that sideline, whether you know it or not, is a heavenly invitation. Come on over means come on and join the crowd. Come on and join the family of God and let's stay busy and continue on our way to heaven. And that's where we're headed. How many are headed that way this morning? Just lift up your hand. We're headed to heaven. That's our pathway. That's a clear pathway. And I want to take you right back to 1 John 2. Again, I want to read these three verses, and then I'm going to touch on a few things and try to get right on into it so I can get it all shared today. Get it all shared today. If I'm unable to share it all today, it's my fault, pastor. You gave me plenty of time and I'm focused on getting it done today. And I don't believe in chasing rabbits. I believe in getting the word of God out there like I feel like God would have me to do it. So we're gonna look at 1 John 2 again, where John says some very interesting verses. In verse 15, he said, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Now that's a very strong statement. If you love the world, the love of the Father's not in you. Do you get that? Do you get that? He said then, he goes on and mentions in verse 16, that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, clearly he says, is not of the father, but is of the world. He said then in verse 17, and the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he, He that doeth the will of God, he says, abideth forever. Let us pray. Father, I thank you that we have one purpose today, and that is to do your will in our lives. to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, to get a hold of all that you have for us as promises and live with those promises and live in those promises on our way to heaven. Father, we thank you for the clear path. We don't have to question, is this the right path? Your word lays out a map and a path of direction. And so Father, we apply to you today to be able to share some things in your Word that will help us on our journey to heaven and help us to be aware of some things maybe that we need to kind of lay aside and look past and focus on what we need to focus on. And so, Lord, I thank you for your word today. I thank you for this lovely congregation of people that are here as hearers of the word of God. And Father, I will do my best to be a messenger of your word as you lay it out to me. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen. Now, I told you I told you that it is the world that lies in our pathway to heaven. We're on our way to heaven, but the world lies in our pathway to heaven. So we must overcome the world, and we are clearly told how to do it. And I'm gonna go back. Let's turn to I John 5, four. Once again, we're clearly told here how to overcome the world in I John 5, 4, it says, for whatsoever is born of God, You're a child of God today because you're born of God. You're born of the Holy Spirit. If you're here and not born of the Spirit of God and have eternal life, well, you need to be quick to come and receive it because it's here for you. It's here for you and we'll give you opportunity today at the end of the service. But he said, whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, overcometh. Notice he says what we're overcoming. We are set in order to overcome the world. Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, he says, even our faith. Now, I want to point this out to you and I wanna go to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, he said then, John said, it's what overcomes the world is even our faith and you have faith. You have faith, you have just, if not just a mustard seed of small amount of faith, you have faith and faith can be developed, faith can be increased and I'll tell you, Every time you gather in in the assembly of the congregation and hear God's word, God's word will minister faith to your spirit. Romans 10, 17 says, for faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I'll tell you what we ought to do. is be a people that just take his word and read it back to ourselves. How many have ever read the word of God back to yourself? You're reading it to yourself, you're reading it back to yourself, you hear it as you read it. I tell you what will build your faith is reading God's word back to yourself. But notice now in Hebrews chapter 11, Faith says, and faith says this, faith says what the examples of faith have said. Who were the examples of faith here? And I'm just gonna mention a few of them in Hebrews chapter 11, since it is the faith chapter of the Bible. And faith says what the examples of faith said. Faith says what verse four says, by faith able. Verse five says in Hebrews 11, by faith, Enoch. Verse seven, by faith, Noah. Verse eight, by faith, Abraham. And then finally, and only to mention a few, in verse 11 says, through faith also, Sarah herself received strength to conceive. So then I want you to look at verse 13 in chapter 11. Verse 13, because I'm referring to these that are examples of faith. All of these that I mentioned this morning. Examples of faith, and verse 13 talks about them and says this. These all died in faith. not having received the promise, but having seen them afar off. Now that's the persuasion of faith. Looking at heaven afar off. Now I don't know how far you are today. I'll tell you, somebody that's made the trip and got there and did just fine, and that's Estelle Harp. She had the vision of heaven afar off, but I tell you, her time came, and now she's in glory with Jesus. What a place she has today. But he said, these all not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them. Are you persuaded of the promises of God this morning? I'll tell you if you're not, you need to take another look because you're missing something dear to your heart and to your life. He said, these all were persuaded of them and embraced them. How do you embrace when it's by faith? Faith has a way of embracing. Praise God. I don't understand it, but faith embraces the things of God. And it says, and embrace them and confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on this earth. Let me tell you, we're just passing through today. How are you doing? Well, I hope you're doing well, and I hope you're living by faith, even your faith that's gonna take you on to heaven. But we're just passing through, and he said then, look at this, so Hebrews 10, 23, let's look at verse 23. One chapter before this one, Hebrews 10, 23. So this is what we do. Let us hold fast in verse 23, the profession of our faith without wavering, without giving an inch of what we believe, without letting go of anything that we're fastened to and focused on. We have Jesus in our focus and we're gonna see him, and we're going to do this. We're going to overcome the world. Why? Because there is a world there to overcome. And so I want you to see. Now let's look at 1 John 2, verse 16, where we are here today. Chapter 16, and notice this. He said, for all that is in the world, and it mentions three specific things in the world. for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh. And he said, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. And so I got interested in this word lust here. And I thought that as it's really highlighted here in verse 16, I got interested in it and what it really meant in the Greek. I'm going to pronounce it to you this morning. Now, I want to tell you, I'm not a Greek or Hebrew scholar of any sort, any way, shape, or form, but I have a strong, exhaustive Greek and Hebrew concordance, and then I have a help of pronunciations, and so I go into that with a serious focus, and I want to share it with you what I get out of it, and I think that words in the original language of the Bible, Greek and the New Testament, Hebrew and the Old. I believe we can glean some real truths by knowing what was intended in the original language. Now this word lust here, for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh. The word lust is pronounced epiphamia, epiphamia. Well, I said I was going to pronounce it right and I'm going to give it one more shot. Epiphamia, there we go, epiphamia. Now, I don't know about you, that sounds like some disease of the flesh to me. I'll tell you, whatever that is, I wanna get away from it and I don't want epiphamia jumping on me. Well, it's not that, it's how it sounds. But this word epiphamia means this, it means desire, craving, longing, or desire for that which is forbidden that is of the carnal nature of man. Now we have a carnal nature, the nature of Adam. Even though we're saved, born again by the Spirit of God, the carnal nature is there and will continue to raise up his ugly head and you have to take it and put it back in its place and tell that ugly head of the flesh that you're walking by the Spirit and you're not controlled by the flesh. we have to understand that there's always a part of the flesh that's trying to draw us away from the things of God, the craving and the longing of the desire for what is forbidden. So in John chapter eight, I want you to go with me there quickly. John chapter eight, I want to mention here, Jesus was talking with the Jews about a true child of Abraham. I'm not gonna read all the verses, I just don't have that kind of time. But in John chapter eight, Jesus was talking about the Jews, about the child of Abraham. Go to verse 39. So in verse 39, it says, the Jew, it says, first of all, verse 39, the Jews said unto Jesus, Abraham is our father. And then Jesus replied to them and said, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. Now I can tell you I'm a child of God, but if I don't do the works of a child of God, and walk to please God and lift up Jesus and give testimony of that. You're gonna say to me, well, I don't know about him. He said he's a child of God, but I don't really see a whole lot of God coming through his life. Well, we need to be careful about that. But Jesus said unto them, if you were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. Then in verse 44, look at verse 44. Jesus said to the Jews, ye are of your father, the devil, and the lust, the lust of your father ye will do. The lust of your father ye will do. Now I've gotta pause here with that word lust again because it's the same Greek word that was mentioned in John, ephipedemia. It's the same Greek word. It means the very, very same thing. Jesus said, if ye are of the father, your father the devil, then he said, he said then that the lusts of your father ye will do. And he goes on then to talk about the kind of involvement that the old father devil would get people entangled in, and I thought that interesting also. Now, John 10, 10, John 10, 10, let's go there just real quickly. John chapter 10, verse 10 says, he said, let me just turn and read that quickly here. John chapter 10, verse 10, he said, for the thief cometh not, but for to steal, to kill, and destroy. Jesus is telling us the purpose of the enemy of our soul, the devil, what he's out to do, what his programs are, kill, steal and destroy. But Jesus then says, here's my mission. Here's what I'm all about. I'm come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. So his mission is life. spiritually, and the enemy of our soul, that old devil that we call him, his mission is destruction and death and separation from God. You have to always remember that. And I'll tell you this, in this world we live in today, the devil is peddling his program, his program of lust, his program of enticement, drawing us away into all kinds of things. And so Jesus said, the lust of your father, ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning. I'm back in verse 44 then in John. He said, the lust of your father, you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own for he is a liar. Get this, the enemy of your soul, the devil is a liar. And it says here, he's the father of lies. He's always promoting lies and deception. Well then if that's true, how are we gonna know the truth? You're gonna have to stay in the truth of the Word of God to discern and to know what the truth of God's Word is. And so the devil is always promoting his program of lies and lust to draw a person away from God, always. His intention is to keep you from getting to heaven. What are we talking about this morning? We are talking about overcoming the kinds of of enticements and entanglements in this world that we face. And we're gonna overcome them through what? Through faith, through faith. And as you build up your faith, you'll be stronger and stronger to be able to face whatever obstacles the old enemy puts in your pathway. Now, I want you to go with me. to Matthew chapter four. Now, before I read Matthew chapter four, a few verses there, I want to say this to you. And this verse just jumped out at me and I've got to share it with you right here. James 1, 27, you don't need to go there. I've got you in Matthew four. I wanna give you a little time here. But in James 1, 27, notice this, what James said, pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. Now that's part of it. But let me tell you another big part of it. And that's a part we don't really focus on too much. He said, visit the widows, the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. And now it gets real personal. He said, and to keep himself unspotted, unspotted from the world. Now, does that mean the world can put a spot on us? Let me tell you real quick. Real quick, and so we have to guard in that very area and be careful of the kinds of things that are out there that we can get tangled up in. Now let's go to Matthew four. We are reading there in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Now, whether you know it or not, this was a great onslaught of the enemy, the devil, to keep Jesus off the pathway of the cross. Now Jesus was headed to the cross of Calvary. He had you in mind. He had me in mind. He so loved the world. So loved you that God so loved you that he gave Jesus to die for you on the cross of Calvary. And so Jesus was on his way to the cross and he was doing everything he could to yield to the Father. and to give in and totally give himself to that mission and to that purpose. But what you have to know that the enemy also had Jesus in his focus and in his sights. And what we see here in Matthew chapter four is a great onslaught of the enemy. Pardon me, a great onslaught of the enemy to stop Jesus on his way to the cross. And so, and so in looking at that, at a time when Jesus, Matthew chapter four. and at a time when Jesus was his weakest, was his weakest, you have to know that. Matthew chapter four, at a time when Jesus was his weakest, it says here, and it says, and the tempter said unto the Son of God at a time when he was hungered, when he had fasted. Now he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights. It wasn't something that he was getting ready to do. He was already in completion of that. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights and his flesh was weary, needing some bread, needing some sustenance, and oh, how weak he was. He was all God, but he was also all human and all man. What a picture. of God's plan as he set Jesus right there, and Jesus was there. And the tempter said, if you be the Son of God, in verse three, command that these stones be made bread. And this is the answer. Really, the enemy was telling Jesus, this is the answer to what your flesh is craving. Right here it is. Command that these stones be turned into bread. Now, I'm going to tell you that the flesh is what Jesus was battling here. He was battling the flesh and the flesh, you know, really, I'm sure just loved, reached out and got a hold of some bread, turned the stones into bread. Could Jesus have turned those stones into bread? Absolutely, in a moment. He also on the cross of Calvary in a moment could have called 10,000 angels, but he did not elect to do that. He was on a mission to do the will of the Father. He would not be overtaken or stopped from it. The devil says, command these stones be turned to bread. Now what I want you to see, that's all that's in the world, is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. I'm not going to give it to you in that order necessarily, but Jesus and his flesh was weak and needy of physical sustenance. And if you be the Son of God, the old enemy says to him, command these stones be made bread. And this is your answer. And what did Jesus do? He responded, it is written. It is written. Now, what he was saying, it's already been written down. And I'm not gonna read these verses. I just don't have the time. If you wanna write them down, feel free. But what Jesus was saying, it is written. It is written in Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse three. Jesus was referring to what is written in Deuteronomy 8, verse 3, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And so, Jesus was telling the old devil that was trying to stop his pathway to the cross, that I'm not going to listen to you, it is written. And he's telling the enemy who is against him and trying to keep him From getting on his way on further to the cross of Calvary, he's telling him it is written and he's using what was written, what was in God's Word about him and what it says there in Deuteronomy 8 verse 3. And now notice verse 5. Now hold, keep in mind that was the last the lust of the flesh, what the flesh craved, sustenance and provision. And so that's what all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh. Now notice the enemy of the soul of Jesus, the enemy that came against Jesus, to try to stop him, him was working his plan, the same plan that is mentioned here in John, that I read to you in John, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Now notice verse five, then the devil taketh him and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple. A pinnacle of the temple said to him, if you be the son of God, cast thyself down. Now Jesus, here's your real opportunity to prove you really are the Son of God. You're up here, you're up here on the high pinnacle looking down and you can clearly show yourself to be the Son of God. Go ahead, just jump off, throw yourself down, the angels will have charge over you and catch you and you won't destroy yourself. But Jesus, Jesus had every opportunity being who he was and knew who he was, the Son of God. Pride could have gotten a hold of him to the point that he said, yes, it's time for me to show who I really am here and just throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple. and then the angels would gather him and catch him and save him, and this was an opportunity. The devil was working his thought of pride, and pride, you know, in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And so he was working that pride on Jesus. Jesus, show yourself who you really are, the Son of God. And what did Jesus say? He said this, he said, it is written. It is written, and I want to tell you, That was Deuteronomy 6.16, by the way. In the Old Testament, Jesus was using the word of God against the adversary, the enemy. And I wanna say this in quickly passing as my time's getting away. In quickly passing, I want you to know in verse five, there's more to it than that, and I can't linger there, but did you know that the devil even knew scripture? Right here in verse five, here's what the enemy said to Jesus, son of God, cast thyself down, son of God, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, and at any time And at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone. And so what was he telling him? The devil knew scripture and there it was. Psalms chapter 91. This was what he was quoting. The enemy was quoting Psalms 91 verses 11 and verses 12. You can write that down. I don't have time to read it. Write that down. But also Jesus simply came to him and he said, it's written. it's written, and then finally, quickly, I'm gonna move on, and in verse eight, the devil takes Jesus up into an exceeding high mountain. Now notice this in verse eight, and showeth him, in verse eight, taketh him on an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world. And it doesn't stop there. All the kingdoms of the world and the glory and the glory of them. I'm wondering if there was some kind of parade going on when he was able to see Jesus looking at all the kingdoms and the glory, some kind of something to glorify all the kingdoms of the world and make it attractive. This was the lust of the eyes. This was the lust of the windows. the eyes that are in our head that we can see and we can be drawn away and seen. We can see lust and we can see things that'll draw us away from God. And here, the devil was working his program to show Jesus what would appeal to him. And Jesus, was he taken in by it? No. This was the lust of the eyes. Was he taken again by it? No. He said, get thee hence, Satan, for it is written. It is written and once again refers to the scripture that is written as his defense. Deuteronomy 10 verse 20, that's what he was telling him there. It is written, Deuteronomy 10 verse 20, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. And now finally in verse 11, Now I want you to know how big a deal this was. This was a big offensive of the enemy. I can't really tell you how significant it was. I mean, in Matthew four, this is so significant. It was so exhausting to Jesus. It was so much of the enemy working his methods of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life on Jesus. And he was so worn out by it There he was, and it says that then the angels came and ministered unto him, the angels. In verse 11, the devil leaveth him, in verse 11, after Jesus, it's written, it's written, it's written, and the angels came and ministered unto him. Now that's how exhaustive it was. That's the kind of entanglement Jesus had. That's the kind of victory that he had to enter into. I wanna tell you, in everything that came at Jesus, there on the mountain, after he had fasted and prayed 40 days and 40 nights, it was exhausting. But I wanna tell you, in everything that came at Jesus, he remained through, and you know what he did? He overcame. If you wanna see a picture of overcoming, there it is. Right there, Jesus overcame. What did He overcome? He overcame the world. He overcame the flesh. And He overcame the devil. He overcame the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. The victory was waged right there. The angels came and ministered unto Him. Think about that. He overcame all of that for you. A missionary sat with a minister. of the only church in a small town, and watched the passers-by from the seclusion of the parsonage veranda. And said the minister, he said, while that man had a great start a year ago, and he looked a little further as the passerbys went near the porch, and only church in town, they were looking out and observing. And then the minister said to the evangelist here, the missionary, he said, that young man came out of the meeting last fall. Why, look there, wow, that little girl started when the evangelist was here in the spring. The missionary had seen none of the dozen or so persons to whom the minister spoke in the church or in Sunday school. And at last, here's what he said. Get this, he said, you have indeed, telling the pastor there, the minister, he says, you have indeed a great number of starters here. But none of them, none of them really, it seems, have finished. And I wonder how many of them are really gonna finish. And so what I want you to know this morning is that whatever we do in our calls for Christ, whatever we do, whatever we start, we need to be people. that finish what was start. We need to be people that overcome. Overcome what? The world, the flesh, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, when funds are low and debts are high, and you want to smile but you have to sigh, When care is pressing, you down a bit, rest if you must, but don't, oh please, don't quit. You started on this race of overcoming, and I wanna say to you, you've got obstacles, Pastor, come on, you've got obstacles to overcome. And what I wanna say to you this morning is, that heaven is for the overcomer. What you started, you need to finish. There's an enemy out there trying to stop you. He didn't stop Jesus. What did Jesus do? He overcame. What will you do? You must overcome, pastor.