What Are You Desperate For? - Pastor Hope Carpenter

Welcome, everybody. I am so glad that you are here with us right now. If you're tuning in on YouTube or Facebook Live, wherever you are viewing, I am so grateful that you are here. This is a tough word. I just want to warn you in advance, it is a tough word. I'm going to be preaching from Revelation 3. You know, there is something so fresh going on in the church right now, but there is something so stagnant and something so horrible at the same time going on in the church. And, you know, the Lord just pressed on me and pressed on me and said, hope, you gotta preach it. You've got to address it. So here we go. So get your Bibles, Press share, call your friends, say, come on, we're about to have revival tonight. So here we go. Get your Bibles. Revelation 3, starting at verse 14. And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans rite. These things says the amen. The faithful and. And the true witness the beginning of the creation of God. Let's stop right there. These things say the amen. The faithful and the true witness the beginning of the creation of God. What he's saying is, I am faithful. I am true. I am. Amen. I am. So be it. I'm consistent. I am reliable. I have been here the whole time. Where have you been? Is basically what he's implying. The beginning or the creation of God. Do you know what that translates? It literally translates as the source of life. I am the Yes, I am consistent. I am the beginning. I am the source of life. Listen, it's not just the first thing that God created. He said, I am the source of everything that has been created. I am the. Yes, I am. I am certainty. I am true. I am consistent. Are you? Is how he started this whole scripture. Go back to verse 15. I know your works. He's saying what his works are, but he's saying, I know your works. That you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. So this is the Laodicean church he's talking to right here. And you know what basically it is? It's a picture of a handicapped nudist colony. I'll explain. A picture of a handicapped nudist colony. Why? Because they think they have it all. They think they're good. They're like, I'm good. I'm okay. I don't need anything. And see, when you think that that is the Berry time, it's the very season that you've lost it all, you are completely in the dark. When we walk around and we think we know it all, we got it all, we understand it all. We don't need anybody. I got this kind of mentality. I'm good at pastoring. I got this pastoring thing down. I'm good at being a wife. I got this wife thing down. See, when we start to think like that is. It should be a huge red flag to us that we have stepped out of our complete and utter dependence on God and we're operating in pride. Can somebody say Amen? Amen. See, this is what we want in church. I like church the way I like it. I like too fast, too slow, maybe a tongue and an interpretation and go home. Right? We like. Don't change it up on us. Don't make us have to come early to pray. Don't make us have to sit out chairs and sit outside and maybe wear a coat. We want it comfortable. We like it like we like it. Don't mess it up. See, you don't have anything unless you're completely dependent on God. Completely dependent. The Bible says. Let's keep reading. It says, because you were lukewarm, I wanted to spew out of my mouth because you say. This is what you say. I am rich. I have become wealthy. I have need of nothing and do not know that you were wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. That is the picture of the handicapped nudist colony I was talking about. Wretched, poor, miserable, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich. And white garments that you may be clothed that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see God. I ask you right now to take this word. Oh, God, help us to receive it. God, I pray that you would break every shackle off of our eyes and all of our handicappedness. God, in. In our ways of thinking that we're fine and. And, God, we don't need you and that we're not desperate for you. Help us today to see that we need you more than we need air in our lungs. God, we need you. You are the air in our lungs. God, let this word penetrate deep and change us. In Jesus name. Jesus name. There's a scripture in Matthew 5 that says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. That's a beatitude. All the beatitudes, all the promises of God are built on that one why? Because, see, God despises the proud. He says, he says those that think highly of themselves and who think that they can operate in life outside of my esteem. But he says he gives grace to the humble. In India. This is what is an old fashioned happening in India. Women would bear children in their animal waste and they would take their right arm and they would break it and they would set it. Why? So that would. It would be easy for them to be a beggar. They would have their children, they would break their arm, they would set it, they would make them handicapped so that it would be easy for them to be a beggar, so that people would pity the child. And it is that exact picture in this scripture. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the desperate. Blessed are those who have only God as their source, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, who know it's not me, God, because if I don't have you, I have nothing. That is this picture in this scripture. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the desperate, the beggars. There's really no desperation right now. There's no desperation really in our churches. There's no desperation in our homes. Yeah, 2020's come in. It's made us a little more inconvenient. It's made us a little more desperate. But see, we can say with our mouth that we are desperate for God, but the truth is our lifestyle screams something different. And that is so sad. We're desperate for God. But when we get a headache, what do we do? First? We run to the Excedrin Migraine, right? When our child gets a fever, what do we do first we call the doctor. Are we desperate? Are we dependent on God as our source? See, when we can't even get up early to seek God, when somebody calls for a 21 day fast and we start negotiating with God about what we can and what we can't. Oh, I can't fast. I have this hernia issue. It hurts me. Oh, I can't fast. I'm diabetic. Oh, what? All of these ways that we negotiate with God, we're not desperate for God when you can't live outside of his presence and when you can't live outside of praise and worship. And when one day without him makes a huge difference in your life. You've got to start seeing. Seeing how we're not really who we say we are. That. That we're not really hungry, that we're not really desperate for God. We come to church and we say we're desperate. But our lifestyle screams something else. We're more hungry in our natural body. We want the preacher to shut up so we can go get us something to eat. That's what we're desperate for. And when we give it a cry for an offering or for a missions project and we say, oh, I can't give to that because to save for my kids, Xbox. See, that's what I'm talking about when I say our lifestyle screams something different. See, we're desperate to go shopping. We're desperate for another vacation. We're desperate for a wife. We're desperate for a man. We're desperate for a date. We'll do anything for it. The poor in spirit literally means a beggar. A beggar. And we must have to get to the place to live totally off of somebody else. Jesus as our source. Every word that proceeds out of his mouth is how we are supposed to live. I'm a beggar today. I just need to tell you I'm a beggar today. I have lived without him. I have lived where other things satisfied me or tried to satisfy me. It does not work. I am hungry for him today. I am a beggar. He is my source. Why? Because I want to access the kingdom of God in my life. I want the kingdom of God. See, we've rattled off some formulas. Two or three right scriptures, but I want the character of God in my life. What about you? Where is the church? I am so sick of seeing the lukewarm church, the lukewarm marriages, the lukewarm homes. It does not get us anywhere. When times of crisis hit in our country, a lukewarm church does not have the answer. Oh, Jesus, help us. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs, the desperate, the beggars is the kingdom of God. This scripture here in, in Revelation Laodicea really parallels today. It just really parallels today's church. Let's go back and read verse 18. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich in white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eye salve that you might see. I know this makes us mad, but I intend to make you mad tonight. I intend to make you furious. Because sometimes it's only the words that offend us that will move us, that will shake us and let us see where we really are and who we are and who we are not. Most people don't like this kind of word, but I'm going to preach it anyway. So, Laodicea, let me give you a Little history. It's a city that was named after Laodice. And Laodice was the governor of Antioch. He built this city. He was madly in love with his wife. He had two children. It was an Ozzie and Harriet kind of story. I mean, they were good. It was kind of like running hope but enters in another woman. He got distracted. He got his eyes on something else. He turned his affection and his love towards somebody else. She ends up being his first wife. His wife of his youth ends up being banished from the city that bears her name, her and her two children. He throws her out and the kids. And Jesus was speaking to this city, the city of Laodicea, which was absorbed by the spirit of the world who had lost its first love. Whoo. About 50 years after Jesus died, Laodicea was flattened by an earthquake. And the Roman governor came to him and he said, I'm going to help you rebuild. And by this time, Laodicea was so wealthy, so wealthy and confident. This is what they said. They said, we don't want your money and we don't want your help. And it's written in history, these words they needed know God or man. I'm trying to let you see the spirit that is going on that started this whole process. How they ended up where they are. When this. When this whole thing was written by John on the isle of Patmos. Laodicea is known for being so wealthy. It was a banking city. It was a textile city. They built. They. They had plenty of money. They were a textile. They had wool. They made clothes. And it was most famous, known for its medical advances in that whole region. They had developed this isal there in Laodicea. So, you know, there's different places all over the world that specialize in certain things. If you have heart problems, you need to go to Dothan, Alabama. They specialize in heart problems. Cutting edge cancer. Houston, Texas, Maryland. Anderson. My father in law had to go there when he had his battle with cancer. So there's specialty cities. So this city Laodicea was known for, this is that they created, and it would actually bring you back from blindness. Okay, so there was a problem there. There was Lyme and lime would travel all through the air and it would get into their eyes, and they would take their eyes and they would rub their eyes, and the line was just razor sharp, and it would infect their eyes and it would eventually cause blindness. So they were so smart, they were so wealthy, that they were able to create this cure for blindness, literally recover from blindness. And let me draw you Something how Laodicea was laid out, it was made like this here is Laodicea, okay? And it's built about six to seven miles north of another place called Hierapolis. And Colossae, you've heard of the Colossian church. So Hierapolis is down here. And Colossae is down here six to 10 miles. Six to 10 miles. And there is a river that flows in between. And so Heropolis is known for hot springs. Boiling hot, like a volcano. People would go there and get in these hot springs and be healed of certain diseases in their body. And then Colossae was known for very cold, cold springs. Crystal clear water straight out of the desert. So. So when Jesus was talking to the Laodiceans about being either hot or cold, they could completely understand what he was talking about. He said, I'd rather you be boiling hot with the power of God or I want you to be crystal clear. He said, but you're lukewarm and I've tasted you and it makes me want to spew you out of my mouth. How did they understand that? Because the Laodiceans had to pipe their water source up these channels from Hierapolis and Colossae. And by the time it got to Laodicea, it was neither hot and it was neither cold, it was lukewarm. It had gone through the aqueducts, it had gone through the pipes. It had gotten this silt and this nastiness where it had barely gotten to where it was supposed to go. And by the time it got to Laodicea, it was lukewarm. So Jesus started this conversation with John by saying, I am faithful, I am true, I am the amen. I am reliable, I am valid. I am yes, I am certain. I have not moved. I am the source of life. You Laodiceans have tried to get away. Have tried to get as far away from me as you can. You don't have a hot, boiling, fiery relationship with me or a crystal clear, pure word from God. You have moved away from the source of life. Listen, this ought to scare us to death. It's written to us services where if God showed up, we wouldn't even know it because we're so pre planned and we're so prepackaged and we don't want a move of God. We want it our way. We like it the way we like it. We're trying to cater to this group and cater to that group, but God's saying, let me in. He's saying, let me in. He's saying, I haven't moved. You've shut the door, you've moved. And we live in the sewer. We live in the stagnant. We live in the lukewarm. And we act like we got it all together and like we're walking with God. But we're not walking with God. We're in need of isalve today. We're in need of I salve. We need to be brought back from our blindness. We need to see who we are and who we are not. And it doesn't matter if you look like you've succeeded. It doesn't matter if you have all the money and the clothes and the cars and the friends. But if you're living as far away from God the source of your life, you are wretched, you are poor, you are pitiful, and you are blind. And you are in need of eyes. Have today. And like the Laodiceans, we've opted to pipe in moves of God. We want to bring people in. And I want you to have a word for me, Jesus. Help us. I've heard it so many times. So and so knows how to touch God. If I could just get to this conference and if I could just get to here and let so and so lay their hands on me, I know I would be healed. Why can't you do it your. Why can't you get a word from God on your own? Why do you need somebody else? Why? Because we don't want to. We don't want the responsibility of it. We want somebody else to pray for us. We want somebody else to do Bible study for us. We want somebody else to do research for us. And then we'll throw our cheap $2 offering in the offering plate and expect God to do something. Bless me, thrill me, Jesus, but I refuse to shift and change. It's tough. I know it is. I know it is. We don't want to get close to the refiner's fire. But this was written to us. The world sees us. The world sees the church in our chaotic times. The world sees the church just as divided as the world is sometimes. The church is meaner than the world is in our religious verbiage. We have terrible marriages. Our children hate God. But then we want to invite somebody to our church and want them to give their life to this Jesus who can't even change our life. Yes, he can. But we are so stuck and lukewarm and we're in love with things that Jesus is not in love with. We are not desperate for God. Oh, do you feel the heaviness? And God says, I Want to vomit you out of my mouth. It makes him sick thinking of us. Oh, that's hard to think of sweet little baby Jesus swaddling in these little clothes, laying in a manger to say, you make me sick. I want to vomit you out of my mouth. Listen, I've seen the comments on Instagram, I've seen the comments on all of these platforms on how the world looks at the church. Where is the church? The horrifying part of the scripture back in Colossians 4. I'm not going to read it. I'm going to reference it. Paul says here, he says, I'm very deeply concerned about Archippus. Tell him to take heed to the ministry and keep it pure. Well, guess who Archippus is. He's the pastor at Laodicea. Tell him to take heed to the ministry and keep it pure. Paul is very concerned because Archippus is the pastor here at Laodicea. This whole area, who's got it going on, right? He's got the big church. He wants the Learjet for all the wrong reasons. And he wants the slick back hair and he wants to look like he's got it all going on. And right car, right neighbor, neighborhood, all that stuff. Can't even praise God. Has to walk out at the last minute, somebody carrying his Bible. He's forgot how to praise God. Oh, I'm meddling now, right? But listen, all of that stuff in itself is not wrong. Big church. We have one. We have nice lights, we have good camera equipment. But there is a place where you can start to get arrogant and you can lose your hunger and you can lose your desperation because you can look around and you can think, I did all this and this is all about me, man. Where would the church be without me? The scripture says this. It says, the full soul loathes the honeycomb. The full soul loathes or hates the honeycomb. What does that mean? Have you ever been to Outback? I love Outback. And they have a dessert there called Death by Chocolate. It's the thunder from down. Yes, that chocolate. But when you go to Outback, you sit down and what do they do? They bring you your coffee, your soda, your tea. You start drinking that. Then they bring you that good, warm brown bread with that good warm butter, and you start eating all that. And then you get your soup and you get your salad with those awesome croutons, and you eat all that. And then you get that bloomin onion, right? Because you have to get the bloomin onion when you go to Outback. And then, you know, there's shrimps and so good on the bob, eh, the shrimp. You have to get the shrimp. And then you eat that. And then here comes your food. And by this time you're like, I mean, you're so full almost already. So then you start eating your food and then she comes at the end and says, could I bring you the dessert menu? And you're like, oh my gosh, I can't even imagine putting one more thing in my mouth. Every nook and cranny is full. I feel like just like I'm about to burst. As my friend Pam says, I'm full as a bull. So when I'm at Outback, you know, you just get full as a bull. But that is what this scripture means. You got so full of so many other things that you didn't even get to eat. The best part, the death by chocolate, the thunder from down under because the full soul hates the honeycomb. That is where we are right now in our western world in 2021. We are so full of so many other things that are vying for our attention and so much to do and so many platforms to be on and so many places to see and so many things to do that we're not desperate for the thing that's the best for the very best part, we've lost our desperation. We don't want the dessert because we're so full of something else. Listen, I remember the day as a little girl in my little Pentecostal Holiness church, sitting, sitting on those wooden pews where church would go on for hours after hours after hours where people were so desperate for God that I would end up on the floor asleep sometimes at midnight. Sometimes my mom would even take me to church in my pajamas because she knew how long it was going to go because they were so desperate for a move of God. I remember people coming up and saying, I need you to pray for my husband. He's a drunk, he's an alcoholic. And the church would not stop praying until he walked through the back door. Sometimes it be 11:12, 1 o' clock in the morning. That is what I'm talking about. But we are so full of everything else that the world offers us that we are not desperate anymore. We are wretched, we are poor, we are pitiful, we are blind. And we are in need of isav. We're satisfied with just coming to church and going home. We're satisfied with coming maybe once a month when it's convenient for us. We're satisfied. We need Isal, why? Because we're rich. We're good. We got this. I got enough money in the bank. I got food on my table. I got to move into that neighborhood. I got to upgrade my car. I got that watch I wanted for Christmas. I got that Xbox. All these things the Bible says these Gentiles do seek. That's Matthew 6:32. All the things the Gentiles do seek. But God has asked us to seek first the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom. God is calling for us today to live in the pure, fresh water of the Holy Spirit. Listen, we're not going to change our world. We're not going to be the answer. We're not going to see racism end. We're not going to see people flood into the church until the church gets it right. Until we start loving. Until we start being what God has called us to be and doing what God has called us to do. Until we start disciplining. Disciplining ourself and beating our flesh into submission. He's tasted us and he says, I want to spew you out of my mouth. There's a cry in the scripture. See, this is the thing. The people at Laodicea had adjusted. Did you hear the word? They had adjusted their body to receive this lukewarm water. But any guest coming into the city, like Jesus said, I've tasted you and it makes me want to vomit. A guest coming into Laodicea could take Laodicean water and put it in their mouth and they would begin to vomit. But the people in Laodicea had been there long enough, had gotten used to it, had adjusted their body to it, to where they could drink it, and they thought they were fine. They didn't know anything was wrong with the water. Same thing with a frog. You can put him in a pot of water and slowly, slowly, slowly boil him to death and he doesn't even know it's happening. Laodiceans had adjusted themselves to the water. God has not called the church to look like the world. I'm just on it today, aren't I? God has not called the church to look like the world. We are not here to put sinners at ease. I'm going to get it for that one. This seeker friendly stuff, tone it down. Don't offend anybody. Make them feel comfortable. Sing the world's songs. Listen. Praise and worship is not supposed to look like a bump and grind session. My dance is supposed to look different than the world's dance. I want God at ease. I want God welcome. I want God happy. I want him to bust in and rule and reign in my life and in our church. Our job is to cast the devil out and you can't do it if you're not boiling hot with the power of God in your life. We will lose generations off this kind of preaching. We will lose generations off this kind of Christianity. That's why our kids are not serving God. They seek lukewarmness in our life and it makes our own children want to vomit. Jesus. See, the water didn't bother the Laodiceans, just like your lifestyle might. Might not bother you, but it probably bothers God. My lifestyle bothers me, my sin bothers me, my weaknesses troubles me and I'm going after it as hard as I can. I started a fast a few days ago and it's a 21 day fast. And my husband, I told him about it and felt like we needed to be in agreement over it. And he said, why are you doing this fast? I said, because I have got to get me under control. I said, there's issues in my life that I know are not pleasing to God. I said, and if I can't put down a Diet Coke, how can God use me to do big things for him? If I simply cannot go past the M and M jar and not pick up three or four? I have got to shave these inconsistencies off of my life. It bothers me. Why would Jesus want to taste them anyway? Why would Jesus even say, I've tasted you. Why would he even desire to taste them? Because Jesus is a thirsty God. He is a jealous God. He does not want you loving something or anyone more than you love him. There was a cry on Calvary and it has thoroughly messed my life up. Thoroughly. This is what he said while he was on the cross. He said, I thirst. And listen, if vinegar, if he wouldn't take the vinegar in water, it wasn't a natural thirst he was thirsty for. He said, I thirst. It was not of a natural realm. And David asked in scripture before that. He said, what could I give unto the Lord that would satisfy him, that would quench his thirst? This is what he said and it has messed me up this week. He said, I will take the cup of salvation and I will call on his name. See, it's one thing to receive salvation for yourself, but it's another thing to take the cup of salvation and live your life in such a way that you are bringing souls into the kingdom of God. And one thing that Jesus was thirsty for was for souls. It was for people. While he was on that cross, he said, I want the world. He said, and I'm laying it all down. I'm giving it all up because I am a thirsty God, because I love people. See, he was sold out. He was sold out for the call. He was sold out for the mission. And that's the only thing that he quenched. That's the only thing that would quench him with souls. He was thirsty and he's thirsty for our life that is laid down before him. Impacting the world, not lukewarm. You can't impact the world lukewarm. You gotta be boiling hot or you got to be crystal clear. He's a thirsty God. He wants an on fire church who has power in their hands, who knows the word of God, who does not waver, who does not love the world more than they love God, who says one thing and does another, who says I'm desperate. But their lifestyle screams something else. God, help us tonight. God, help us today. God help us. Help us. We are wretched, we are poor, we are miserable, we are blind. And we are need of eyes to have tonight. God, we repent, Lord, we repent. We repent for being lukewarm, for losing our father first love. God, forgetting about you, for being so desperate for other things. God, that we don't even have the basic Christian spiritual disciplines and principles in our life. God, forgive us for not being an example and the answer to the world's problems. Lord, we repent tonight. And God, I'm asking that you show us what it is that we need to shave and cut off so that we can be hungry and thirsty for righteousness, so that we can be desperate like a beggar for your presence. God, in Jesus name, I love you. I know it was a tough word, but if you will take this and let the Lord refine you in the refiner's fire tonight, I believe that we can change the world. I love you. God bless you. I'll see you next time. Wow. Wasn't that such an impactful word from Pastor Hope? You know, what I love about her is that she's always legit. She always brings a real word in season and it's just so moving. I just absolutely love her. If you were inspired by her message and you you want to hear more from her, you can find her on Instagram, you can find her on Facebook, and you can find her on Twitter. For more information, you can go to hopecarpenter.com we'll see you next week.