Rico Sharp Live Stream

Overcome means to get the better of in a struggle or conflict. Literally means to conquer or defeat, and there's a reference here as it relates to overcoming or conquering or defeating an enemy. Again, it means to get the better of in a struggle or a conflict. It means to conquer and to defeat. Number 2, to overcome means to prevail over oppositions, debilities, temptations. Debilities are things that would try to debilitate you or cripple you, paralyze you, conquer you, leave you in a state of helplessness, hopelessness. Amen. It means to totally deplete someone of their strength and their virtue. It's referring to overcoming someone in the area of their weaknesses, which is very calculative when the enemy is involved. Yes. Because he always targets and preys upon your vulnerabilities, your weaknesses. And when he comes against you, he comes against you not to attack you in the area of your strengths, not to attack you on your good day, but to try to catch you on a bad day and attack you in the area of your weaknesses. Hallelujah. And the reason this is important and the reason this is realistic is because we all have certain areas of vulnerabilities in our lives, whether it be through our kids, whether it be through something that is in the marriage, whether it be through something that is on the job, whether it be through financial situations. There's, there's something in our life, there's a kryptonite that has been designed as a weapon for every believer. You know that to be true, don't you? Yes. And number 3, To overcome means to overpower or overwhelm in body, mind, or spirit. To overpower or overwhelm in body, mind, or spirit. Yes. So, it means that when the enemy comes against you in whatever form, shape, or fashion, He potentially targets your total existence. Amen. Because he knows that you are first a spirit being. Yeah. So, he brings spiritual warfare. Yeah. And he knows secondly, you are a soul, which is more relative to your spirit than it is to your body. Yeah. Having mind, will, emotions, intellect, and imagination. So he brings mental, psychological, and emotional attacks against your life. Then he knows that you are a physical human being, or that you are a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. So he would attack you in the physical realm as much as he possibly can. Yes, sir. He would attack you naturally. So he knows that you are spirit, soul, and body. So he brings attacks against your spirit, soul, and body. And to be an overcomer means you must overcome in your spirit, soul, and body. Amen. You can't just overcome in your physical man and not overcome in your spirit man, because then you're not crowned as an overcomer. Because to be an overcomer means to have holistic victory in your spirit, soul, and body. Yes. In other words, whatever area of your life you're being attacked under or attacked in, you have to overcome in every particular area in order to be crowned an overcomer. Amen. You can't be 99% victorious and, and still declare to have the victory because you don't have the victory Unless it's 100% victorious. Does that make sense? Amen. But it's not difficult to have 100% victory. For the most part, Jesus has already done most of the work for us. Yes. Now, you're going to see that in this particular series. To be an overcomer— and I want you to write this down— means that you triumph. That's what it means. It means that you triumph. And the word triumph is the act or fact of being victorious over everything, and particularly the things that you're dealing with from day to day. Amen. To triumph. It also means to have a successful achievement or a significant accomplishment. It means to have a successful achievement or a significant accomplishment. That's what it means to triumph. So again, to be an overcomer means you must triumph. Right. You must be successful. Amen. Over whatever it is that you're out to accomplish or achieve. But it doesn't stop there. In order to triumph, it means that you must conquer. Because if there is an opposition, if there is an adversary, and you want to triumph, In order to triumph, you must conquer. But in order to conquer, you must confront, which means you can't run from it. You can't hide from it. You have to stay your ground in the realm of the spirit, of course. And sometimes in the natural, and you must understand that if I'm going to conquer, then I must be willing to confront. There's a scripture. You don't have to turn it. I'm just quoting in the book of Saint Matthew, chapter twelve, and I believe it's verse twenty. 25. If it's not 25, it's definitely 29. But it talks about when an evil spirit comes against a house, it comes to bind up the strongman. Right. And if it can bind up the strongman, then it can spoil the house. Yeah. Well, when a spirit or a devil or an enemy or an adversary or an opposer or an opposition comes against your house, you got to be willing to stand your ground. Amen. You got to be willing to confront. You got to be willing to stand up. The Bible says that in Ephesians 6, stand having done all to stand, which means you don't allow for the enemy to resist you. But James 4:7 says, resist the enemy and he'll flee from you, which means as much as you are spiritually fortified and know that God has given you the strength to overcome, you got to be willing to use it. Amen. You got to be willing to act on it. You can't just have this knowledge in your heart and in your head that I'm victorious because of Jesus' death. You are victorious over certain things because of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, But there are certain things, other things that you're going to have to conquer, you're going to have to confront, you're going to have to overcome from day to day as long as you live in this body. Amen. Amen. And if you, if you, if you, if you haven't discovered that yet, then you're living in denial. And I don't know about you, but I live in the real world. Real enemies. Hmm? I have real enemies. I war against a real devil. And so therefore, I must be true to myself and tell myself that if the enemy is coming against me, then it is what it is, and I don't need to act like I'm dreaming and then be spiritually asleep or in a spiritual coma. I need to rise up and gather the tools together that God has given me for victory And begin to use the tools so that I can obtain the victory. Am I making sense to you? So, to conquer means that you have the victory once you've walked through the process. Now, there are verses that comes to my mind that informs me. that God has given us the grace to overcome. There are scriptures that also informs me that not only has God given us the grace to overcome, but that he has also given us the liberty to fight for what he's given us. Amen. He's given you the ability to stand. He's given you the liberty to fight. He's given you the grace to overcome. Amen. He sees your end from the beginning. He knows that in the end you win, but in order to win in the end, you must be willing to fight from the beginning all the way through to your finish. Are you watching? Are you listening? Amen. Okay, go to 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14. 2 Corinthians 2:14. Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the Savior, or the Savourer, of his knowledge by us in every place. So let me talk a little bit about this verse. The first part of this verse says that thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph. He always causes us to triumph. You cannot triumph over anything unless you engage in some degree of conflict or battle with it. Right. For God to cause you to triumph means that you had to have been in a state where you were in a certain level of warfare and God stepped in to equip you with the triumphing victory, or the victory of triumph. You cannot not have an issue or struggle or a fight or war and then triumph. Yeah. You got— you can only triumph when you're in a situation or circumstance. And if you're in a situation or circumstance and, and you, you allow God to equip you and allow God to walk you through it, he comes in the middle of your situation. Yes, he does. He comes where you are and he gives you the ability to triumph, to rise above the situation, to have a successful accomplishment. But he only do it when you're involved in a situation. The, the Bible says in Psalms 46:1 that the Lord is our strength and refuge, a very present help in the time of trouble, which means he don't, he don't keep you from going through the trouble. He keep you while you're going through the trouble. That's good. He doesn't, he doesn't keep you away from the fire. He makes you fireproof, and he jumps in the fire with you, like he did with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. That's what he did. And, and when they were thrown in the fire, he got in the fire with them. He could have kept them from going through the fire, but he wanted them to know, I won't keep you from going through some things, But I will keep you going through them if you want to get to the end of it. Are you with me? I'm with you. And he says that, and I believe it's in Isaiah 43:2 or either 45:2 when he says, and when thou passest through the fires, the floods, I'll be with you. And the waters, they will not overflow you. And when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, neither shall the flames kindle against you. Amen. There it is, Isaiah 43:2. So he's telling us you're not going to get a ticket or a bypass from having to deal with certain things. You know, but that's what I used to think. I used to think that when I first became a Christian and gave my life to Jesus and started doing good and trying to live right the best I could, that man, there were just certain things that are behind me and I would never ever have to deal with them again. I thought that people would always love me and support me and everybody would want to see me do good and see me— especially coming from the lifestyle that I used to live. I'm thinking everybody's going to be happy for me, nobody's going to lie on me. Nobody's going to try to hurt me. Nobody's going to try to say negative things about me. Nobody's going to say bad things about my family. I just always believed that now that I'm a Christian, that everything is going to be alright. That everything is going to be fine. That all I can focus on, all I need to focus on is just helping people, doing good, making sure I turn my life around, going into the jails, going into the prisons, going into the streets, going into the crack houses helping people get off drugs, helping people to get their lives straight, to get away from the criminal lifestyle. I thought that this is all I'm going to have to focus on and I won't be attacked and I won't be thrown in the lion's den and I won't be thrown in the fire and I won't have any struggles and I won't have any issues. But I was wrong! You definitely were, Pastor. I was wrong! In fact, not only was I wrong, but I was very wrong. Very. Because it wasn't until I decided that I wanted to do something good, positive, and constructive with my life that I discovered that the devil ain't happy about my choices. And not only was he not happy, but there were some people who would not be happy about the decisions that I would make with my life. It's almost as to suggest that some would rather that you continue doing bad and doing wrong than to do good and to do right. That's right. It almost suggests that some would rather see you struggle than to see you prosper. It suggests that, that the devil is not going to let you serve God peacefully without attacks against your life. And I remember one day I said to God, I said, God, I turned my life around, I turned my life over to you, now use me for your glory. And what I was doing is I was signing up to be a part of his army. Yes. But I didn't realize that when I signed up, That I signed up to go through hell and high water. Yes, sir. I didn't realize that when I signed up, that I signed up to be treated in a way that makes you want to fight. Yes, sir. I didn't realize that, but I discovered it along the way that God would not prevent you from having to deal with certain things in your life. In fact, you can't have a testimony if you don't have the test. That's right. You can't— you cannot have an anointing that protrudes from your life, that destroys the yoke and lifts burdens, unless you paid for it personally and sacrificially yourself. In other words, somebody else Amen. Someone else cannot pay the price for your anointing. Someone else cannot pay the price for you to be powerful. Someone else cannot pay the price for you to have a ministry. You've got to pay for it yourself. It's not something that you can inherit from someone else. It's not something that you can gain from reading a book. It's not something you can gain from reading the Bible. It's not something you can gain from just coming to church. You have to literally walk through hell. Amen. But in the end, you win because you're an overcomer. Look at somebody and tell them, I'm an overcomer. So this verse, 2 Corinthians 2:14, says that he causes us to triumph, which means he gets in the midst of our fights with us And he fixed the fight so that no matter what you're dealing with while you're going through the process, you come out with a guaranteed victory. It's a fixed fight. It's a fixed fight. Yes, sir. Everything don't start out the way you want it to start out, but the promise and the guarantee is that it will end the way you want it to end. Yes, sir. And if your enemy could only read Come on. The way the story ends, they would repent to you, apologize to you, back off, leave you alone, because in the end, you win. In the end, you win. Your enemies could never win. The devil could never win. Your foes could never win. Your haters could never win against you. In the end, you win. I am an overcomer. Praise God. I am an overcomer. Hallelujah. Now let's go a little further in this. So we talk about triumphing or being triumphant, overcoming, conquering, and being victorious. But the question is, Over what exactly are we to triumph over? What exactly are we to overcome? What exactly are we to conquer and to have the victory over? Well, 2 Corinthians, rather, chapter 2, verse 13 through 15. I want you to read this. Colossians 2:13 through 15. For therefore, if any man be in Christ, And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he, God, quickened together with him, him being Jesus. He's quickened us together with Jesus, which means made us alive with Jesus, having forgiven you all trespasses, or having forgiven you of all your trespasses, which is another word for sins. Verse 14, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, or he embarrassed them openly, doing what? Triumphing. Triumphing over them in it. 2 things I want to say about this passage. Number one, you have the victory because of what Jesus did, right? Right. Jesus did it for us, and I said this earlier, most of the things that we have to deal with from day to day, Jesus has already overcome it for us. But what I want you to write down, and I want you to receive this in your heart, you are triumphant over your sins and the law of penalty of them. Where did I get that from? Right here out of verse 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Amen. So, the Bible is letting us know that Jesus took all our sins, shortcomings, wrongdoings, and nailed them to the cross. Why is that important to understand? Because if you didn't understand that, you would walk around with a conscience that would destroy you. Because the truth of the matter is, in this fleshly body, no man, no woman is flawless. Yes. Do not get religious. Do not be over-spiritual and do not be self-righteous. We're only in his will and in his kingdom because Jesus took all of our shortcomings and he nailed it to the cross. Amen. And by grace are ye saved through faith. Second thing I want you to receive Is you are triumphant over principalities and powers of darkness. This is where it gets a little deep at. Right. You are triumphant over principalities and powers of darkness. Now, everything here becomes more so centered around spiritual foes and spiritual adversaries versus physical things that we deal with in this world. So, look in Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 12, so we can have more enlightening or enlightenment, enlightening understanding, comprehension of what the Bible is referring to when it talks about principalities or spiritual foes. Ephesians 6:10 through 12. Amen. My brothers and sisters, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against— what? Principalities. There that word is again. Against powers. There that word is again. Flesh and blood Or principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places. So, 4 things are being named here. Number 1, principalities. Number 2, powers. Number 3, rulers of the darkness of this world. And number 4, spiritual wickedness in high places. So, there are 4 particular enemies of the spirit. That the Bible details and outlines for us. Again, principalities, powers, number 2, rulers of the darkness of this world, number 3, and spiritual wickedness in high places, number 4. So let's talk about this and break them down. First thing, understand that this is not natural or physical but a spiritual battle, and therefore verse 10 tells us that our strength because this is a spiritual battle, need to be in the Lord. Because when you're fighting against principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places, you can't fight in your own might. Amen. You can't fight. When you recognize that there is a certain level of spiritual attack and spiritual aggressions that have come against you, come against your family, come against your children, come against your grandchildren, come against what you've been working for all your life. You, you have to know that this is a spiritual motive of the enemy to try to assassinate you in the area where it matters the most, and that is in your spirit man. That's right. That is in their spirit man. And so we must do what the Bible says, put on the whole armor, because the enemy would attack you in every way imaginable. Every way imaginable. That's right. That's why you must always be on your watch and always be on your guard. So here's the breakdown. It talks about principalities. Principalities represents jurisdictional or regional rulers. Principalities are spirits of Satan that has been given assignments over certain regions and jurisdictions to bring certain levels of darkness and destruction in that particular land. Yes. And I don't know if, if you've realized this. I've talked on this line before, but I don't know if you've realized that you can go to certain cities and you'll find that there are certain strongholds and certain battles in that city. Yes. And then you can leave that city and go to another city, and you'll find that there are certain strongholds and certain battles and that— and certain things that hovers over that particular region. And every region you go to, you'll find that there is a struggle in that region. And, and when I— when it's a regional struggle, it means that this is the thing that most people in this region are being dominated by. Amen. Here's an example, and you'll find that the principalities that hovers over that region is a gang principality. Crips and the Bloods and all these different gangs, and there's a whole bunch of other gangs, and they war and fight and kill and murder day by day. Leave there and go to Atlanta, Georgia, and the principality of that region is a homosexual principality. Leave there and come to Sanford, Florida, and you'll find that the principality over this region is a religious principality. Leave here and go to Orlando, and you'll find that there's a narcotic principality where drugs have terrorized the neighborhood. Every region you move into, there's a principality that hovers over that region. And God is saying that this is a spiritual battle, and when you're dealing with spiritual battles, you got to know how to overcome spiritual battles. Amen. Then you have powers, and powers are authoritative forces. And the Bible says in Luke 10:19, Jesus told the disciples, he said, behold, I have given to you power to tread over serpents and scorpions and then over all the powers of the enemy. Yes. And what he was talking about is that there are powers or authoritative forces that has received authority from the devil to try to do certain things against people in this land. Amen. It's just like when a police officer receives a warrant from a judge. He has authority to do certain things. And what the devil wants to try to do is to deprive you of what God has given you. And so there are Powers. Then there are rulers of darkness, and rulers of darkness are spirits who does nothing more than to mastermind how to bring destruction in the land. And then there are spiritual wickedness in high places, which has a lot to do with the influence on a very high level. Particularly in the government, where certain things are being passed as a law and legislated and vetoed and being presented before Congress that contradicts the word of God, that contradicts the way we live, that contradicts what God stands for. Spiritual wickedness in high places. Amen. High places. Things that, that when they are passed as laws, you and I clearly know we can't— that's totally against the word of God. Amen. But these are things that we must overcome in order to be overcomers. And you can't say that it don't pertain to you because everything that is implemented in this land as a law that contradicts the word, it pertains to you too. In other words, You may not have to do certain things about it, but then there are certain things about it that you do have to do. That's right. Like for me, for an example, being a pastor, I don't believe in homosexuality. I do not believe in a man marrying a man. I do not believe in a woman marrying a woman. Personally, I don't criticize the people for the way they choose to live because I'm mature enough to understand that's their life. Right. This is my life. They got to stand before God as I have to stand before God. I can't be judged for them. They can't be judged for me. But at the same time, the Supreme Court wants to institute that pastors cannot refuse marrying a man who wants to marry another man or a woman who wants to marry another woman. And I'm not interested in that, and I'm never going to do that. And so I realized that although what gets passed on does not relate to me directly, there is an indirect aspect of it that could possibly one day come my way. Yes. And so I realized that to be an overcomer, I must overcome in every area of my life. I can't just dance around the church and speak in tongues and have a good service and then know in my heart that I'm not overcoming in my life. Right. That's a show. Yes. Amen. 5 more minutes and I'm done. Go to 2 Corinthians 10. Verses 3 through 6. Second Corinthians 10:3 through 6. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Now, let me say a couple of things on this before I close out. Number 1, we are spirit beings who have a soul. We live in a body. So naturally speaking, we are human beings, right? We can all agree to that, right? And because we are human beings, we are all subject to like passion. Yes. We get tired. We get hungry. We get emotional. We get upset. We gain weight. Sometimes we think things, say things, do things, whatever those things consist of. Nobody can deny that truth. That's right. Nobody can deny that fact. The Bible says that though we live in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. He didn't say that because you live in the flesh that you won't sometimes want to war in the flesh. Come on. Because we are human beings. And sometimes you want to war in the flesh, especially when people are warring against you in their flesh. And I've experienced some of that recently. You want to sometimes do something about how you're being treated when you know you've done nothing deservingly to be treated the way you're being treated. Yes. For the goodness of God. I don't like to be in the company of people who try to be so spiritual when it comes down to their observation of other people, but when it comes down to themselves, they know they need the grace of God for their life. I'll be the first to tell you I need the grace of God for my life. Amen. I am not a perfect man. I'm not a perfect man. I'm not a perfect pastor. I'm not a perfect father. I'm not a perfect husband. I'm not a perfect son. I'm not a perfect individual. I don't mind acknowledging that truth. It's only when I acknowledge that that I'm candidate to qualify for his grace. If I think that I got it all together, that I'm perfect, then I cannot be a recipient of his grace. I mess up sometimes. Yes. And one of the things that gets me is when somebody attacks me and expects for me to be so spiritually saved But I can't say nothing, I can't do nothing to defend myself. Amen. I, I haven't arrived to that place. I'm not sure if I will ever arrive to that place where I'm gonna always, all the time, turn around and walk away. I don't know what kind of pastor y'all are looking for, but I'm not that guy. There are many times I would turn and walk away. There are many times where I won't get in my flesh. There are many times where I won't say something back. But there's a part of me that judges the situation discreetly because sometimes I feel like a person need what you're about to say. Yes. They need, they're begging for what you're about to do. And when it comes to that point, God, you're just gonna have to forgive me for this one. Because I got to get some straightening. Amen. Amen. And I was involved in a situation like that a couple of days ago, trying to do the right thing to help my father out. And a couple of people, one being a family member, came off on me, went off, cussed me out, said all kinds of things, and talked about my kids. Call my kids a name. Jesus. And you can say anything you want to say about me. You can say anything you want to say about my mom and daddy, as long as you ain't saying it in my presence. You can talk about the church, you can talk about me, call me all kinds— call me the devil if you want to. But if you say something about my kids, I ain't the pastor no more. You're not talking to the pastor, you're talking to the Father. You've, you've, you've summoned the Father out of me. Yes, sir. You've subpoenaed the Father to come to the scene. So I'm gonna take the pastor and I'm gonna put the pastor to the side, and I'm gonna get in your face, and I'm gonna get on your level, and I'm gonna set you straight. Because you can never think that you know me that well and got me that figured out that you can say something to disrespect my children knowing that they can't defend themselves and then think that I'm supposed to say, oh, praise the Lord. Oh no. No, I'm going to say something, but it ain't going to be praise the Lord. And I ain't— and I'm— and listen to me, and I'm not trying to suggest That anybody else should do what I did. Right, right, right. But there was a certain circumstance that when it came about, it needed to be dealt with the way I dealt with it. I don't blame you. And I know that it may not be over, but I also know I'm an overcomer. And I'm gonna keep on enjoying my life from day to day. Amen. And I understand that the Bible says that though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. Now, I'm not gonna put my hand on nobody unless somebody try to put their hand on me. Jesus said this, and I believe I'm justified with the scripture. He says lay hands on those who are sick. That's right. And if you put your hands on me and you are sick, and I, I gotta lay my hands on you. And I don't know how that makes some of you feel, but I'm a good guy. I don't go around bothering nobody. I mind my own business. I do my best to take care of my family. And to help people along the way of life. And I know that there's a devil out there that'll use anybody who he can to try to get you to get in your flesh. And I cannot tell you that I, I've been saved and serving God over 20 years, I can't tell you that I've never gotten in my flesh before. And you can't tell me that either. That's right. What I can do What I can tell you is that after it's over, I get on my knees and for whatever I did wrong, I say, God, I was wrong. Forgive me for what I said. Forgive me for what I did. Help me to not do it again. Somebody asked me this jokingly many years ago, and we were talking about the verses that says If someone smite you on your cheek, on the left cheek, turn and let them smite you on the right cheek. Which means if somebody walk up to you and pow, hit you on that side, you just look at them and say, now hit me on this side. And pow, they hit you on that side. And that's a total misconstruer of what the scripture means. Yeah. But someone asked me that and said to me, well, Pastor Rico, if somebody hit you on the left side, what are you going to do? You going to turn and let them hit you on the right side? I said, well, all I can say at this point is I know that when God saved me that he delivered me from some things. Okay. But I'm not sure if he delivered me from all things. Yes. Because some things I've been tempted with and I've been able to overcome. That's right. And I have the knowledge that I've been delivered from those things. But there are other things that I used to do back in the day that I've not been tried with since I've been saved. I can't tell you if I've been delivered from those things. And one of the things I can't tell you if I've been delivered from is knocking the mess out of somebody who walks up to me and hit me in my face. Straight up. I said, I can't tell you if I've been delivered from that because it hasn't happened. So don't you try it, because I can't tell you. If I'm going to turn the other cheek or not, we are overcoming saints. We're not overcomers because we're perfect. We're overcomers because He's perfect. We're overcomers because He has given us the victory. Amen. Amen. I'm out of time.