When No One Is Watching - Pastor Hope Carpenter

Foreign, you are in for a spanking. We are right in the middle of such challenging messages on character and integrity. Let me say first of all though, that none of us are there. None of us are there spiritually where we get it right all the time. Amen. We are all on a journey. We are all striving to please the Lord. We are all hopefully pressing toward the mark of the high call of God in Christ Jesus. And there's none of us who glow in the dark, you know, there's none of us who have reached that spiritual place where we can look down our self righteous nose at anybody and judge them. And you know, that's why Romans 1 says, except those who are weak in the faith without passing judgment, right? We are to accept those who are weak. Brand new babies, just learning, just toddling. You know, I've got five grandbabies and every one of them, when they were learning to walk, they would fall, they would bust their mouth, they'd hit their eye, they'd scratch their knees. And that's who we are when we're weak in the faith. We get up and then we fall down and then we get back up and then we fall down again and then we get all scratched up and we have to take a break, right? Have you ever had to take a break with Jes. Have you ever had to back up and punt again that you just felt like you got it so bad? You're like, I just need to breathe a minute. So let me just encourage you that we are all on different levels, but the whole goal should be we're pressing, we're pressing toward the mark. Amen. And God's word is here to challenge us, to press. It challenges us every day. If you leave here and you're not challenged, we are not doing a good job at what God's called us to do. He's called us to, to grow up and to, to educate and to mature the saints. That's what we're called to do. So when you leave here, you should leave challenged. You should leave with a to do list. Amen. And Galatians 5, 21 and 23 talks about the fruit of the spirit. And it says this. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, Sel. And against such things, there is no law. Circle that. If you got your Bible, there is no law. We'll get back to that in a minute. So let's review. We're talking about character and integrity. And Pastor Ron calls those the power twins. They go Together. Can't have one without the other. Character, Integrity. And so why do we call characters on our computer, on our laptop, the ABCs? One, two, threes. They're all called characters. Why do we call these things right here statues? Why? Because they. They don't move, they don't change. An A will be an A today, it will be an A tomorrow, three will be three next week and next year. It does not change. And the definition of character is this. The distinctive nature of something. Who you are naturally. Did you get that? It's the nature comes naturally. Right? Who you are naturally. Integrity means that you're integrated. It's the state of being whole and undivided, internally consistent. And the Bible says that there are three in heaven. It's the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. And they're one. They are one. They're three, but they're one. And they never contradict one another. Why? They're trustworthy. They're one. They say the same thing. And the angels in Isaiah 6 are crying, Holy, holy, holy. And that word means one. You're only one God. You are one God. That's why words that people give, you have to line up with the word of God because they're integrated. They're the same. The Holy Spirit will never tell you something that contradicts what he's already said in the Word. The Holy Spirit will never tell you not to tithe. It's already established. The Holy Spirit will never tell you not to come to church because Scripture says, forsake not the assembly together with the believers, as some are in the habit of doing. Come on now. I'm already preaching good. Preaching better than you shouting. And I too. I am three. I'm a three person part. I have three dimensions. I am a spirit. I have a soul and I live in a body, have a spirit. I have a soul and I live in a body. And Paul says that those three things are at war with each other. Right? How many of you can attest that your soul and your body ever had a duking out? Your body wanted to do one thing and the spirit on the inside of you said, don't type that. How many of you ever typed it? About 10 times and had to delete it 10 times. I know. Not y', all. Just me. Our spirit is alive on the inside. But our flesh, it's that flesh that we war with. It's that mind that tries to control us. Right? We want to slap people. We want to give them a piece of our mind, our soul. That's what our soul is. It's our mind, our will, our emotions, our intellect. We want to set up a fake Facebook page and stalk people, but our faith has to be integrated into our words and our mouth and our attitudes and our finances, in our marriage and the girlfriend's getaway and your business trip, man. God says, I want you to be like me. I want you to not contradict yourself. I want what's in your spirit to be infused into your attitudes and your emotions so that you can be integrated just like me. People need to look at you and know that they can count on you. Know that you'll do what you say you're going to do. Know that when you go to borrow that money that you will pay it. Come on, who wants their money paid back? We get funny with our money, don't we? God said in Genesis 1, let us make man in our image and likeness, and then let him have dominion. So there's an order to this thing. Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and then let him have dominion. See, we all want dominion. We want the abundant life, the overflow. We want to rule and reign. We want to walk in the promises, however, shout, however. There is a protocol. First you have to bear his image, his character. Then you have dominion. Image before dominion. Say, image before dominion. We got to be like him to be able to do what he does. Before there was a resurrection, there had to be a crucifixion. And we have to die. To me, we have to take up our cross. We have to deny ourselves. My want to my desires. What I want to say, how I feel, how I act and follow him and do it like him. How did Jesus do that? He turned the other cheek. He gave up his right to be right. He laid down his life. And even when he was doing this, the Bible says he opened not his mouth. Then he was kind to those who were crucifying him. He said, father, forgive them, Lord. We keep running our mouth and wonder why we don't have dominion. We can't go through anything and do it like Jesus. We want to kick and scream and blame. Maybe not you, just the carpenters, but to live like this, it takes time. Say time. Time, time, time. It takes time to develop. Listen, let's just bring it right down to where we live. I want my legs toned and muscular. I want to put on a pair of shorts and put on a pair of heels. And you can see that cut. You know what I'm talking about, ladies? That cut. See, that's what I want. But it takes discipline. It takes exercise. It takes putting the fork down. It takes turning down what I want. And anybody who has nice toned legs will tell you that it took hard work and that it did not happen overnight. Right? Over time, you will see visible change. Right? Over time, if you've put in the work, you see visible change. But what about those people who've been Christians and saved for how many years? 10, 12, 15, 20 years? And they still act like they used to. They still talk like they used to. They still mean as the devil. They still don't pay the money back. They have come to church. Y' all wish Ron Carpenter was here today, don't you? He's a little more pastoral. I'm a little more prophetic. Character development should provide visible change over time. I should look different today than I looked last year in my walk with the Lord. You should look different next month than you look three months from now in your walk with the Lord. It takes time. You should look at me and see that I am not the same person that you met years ago. It takes time. It's not easy, but it's doable. Galatians 5:22. The fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. These are godly character characteristics. This is God's character. It comes natural to him. And against such there is no law. That word law means no accusation. Oh, that's so good. People who live with these godly characteristics, there's no accusation against them. Y' all ain't getting it. That's why when people try to assault these types of people's character, it don't stick. It don't stick because they have a track record. No, you might hear it, but in your heart and in your mind, you've known them all these years. You say, no, that's not true. They're not like that. There's no accusation against them. That's why so many times when people bring accusation against us, we're just silent. We just say, we've been doing this a long time. We'll let our track record prove. We'll let our track record prove that no accusation can stick. Didn't mean it wouldn't come, but it means it won't stick. Their life outweighs the accuser. And when you operate in godly fruit, you can live never worrying that the accusation could bring you down. Oh, that's good, man. That's freedom. Character development is when your core values never change, no matter what situation, no matter what circumstance. Listen, you cannot Be wishy washy and have godly character and change in every environment that you enter. You have to be the same Saturday night on Santana Row as you are on Sunday morning at church. That's godly character. If you wouldn't do it in church, you don't need to be doing it at Santana Row. And that's from the mama of the house. Talk about the difference between gifts and fruit. We're talking about the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is responsible for gifts. Kaylis just established that. It's Romans 12. The gifts, the preaching, laying on of hands, teaching, prophesying. The nature of a gift is this. The receiver has no control over it. I had no control over the gifts that God gave me. You have no control if you are good at certain things. You have no control. If God's given you a gift to sing. If God's given you a gift to prophesy. That says nothing about you. It says everything about the giver. He just loves you so much. He's just dishing out gifts. Dishing out gifts. For an example, my husband loves to give me good gifts and I'm so thankful for it. But that says nothing about me. It says everything about his love for me. I could take the gift and throw it away. I could abuse it. But he went and spent time and invested in it and chose it because he loves me so much. It's the same way with God. He loves us so much that he gives us gifts. Now there are people that are abusing them miserably. But that has nothing to do with God. Okay? It says everything about the giver. Now fruit that has nothing to do with the stage, that has nothing to do with any of that. These are daily day to day attitudes that describe who you are at your core. Fruit. Now, I've heard people say, I've just been praying for patience. Well, that's ridiculous. God does not give fruit. I've been asking the Lord, help me with my self control. No, you know what God wants you to do? Control yourself. He's not going to make you have self control. He's not going to make you be kind. He's not going to make you be long suffering. Gifts he gives, fruit has to be developed. Gifts he gives, fruit has to be developed. It's birth. It's birth. You know, we call our children the fruit of our womb. Fruit comes from an intimate relationship. Are you getting this? It comes from a relationship. Intimacy. If I see somebody operating in the fruit of the spirit, that tells me that I can trust him. Because I know that they have a relationship with the Lord. It came from an intimate relationship in time spent with Jesus. Listen, you can't fake fruit. It's developed. Just like you can't fake toned legs. You can put cream all over them, you can put a shade all over. You can try to airbrush them, you can put 12 filters on them, but you can't fake toned legs. It takes time. It takes commitment, it takes development, it takes discipline. And it's the same way with fruit and character. Godly character is the seed for trust. You want people to trust you. Develop your fruit. You want God to trust you with more. Develop your fruit. Matthew 7 says this. Matthew 7 says, Ye shall know them. That's the only proof. By their fruit. Not about how much their tithing record was. Not about how many Sundays they come to church. I know people who come to church every Sunday who's mean as the devil. I know. I've known people in ministry who stand up and preach and who come to church every Sunday and beat their wives. You can't fake fruit. It takes time. Ye shall know them by their fruit, not by how good they sing, not by how good they prophesy, not by what they show you on Instagram, not about what they say they are. But it's how you treat people. Ah. God wants us to get this today. God wants us to be saved. And that's not enough. That's just fire insurance to get you to heaven. But I want to be an overcomer here on earth. I want to live in victory here on earth. God wants you saved, but then he wants you to be conformed into his image. He wants you to bear his likeness. You know, children are supposed to look like their daddy, and we are supposed to look like Jesus. We're supposed to sound like Jesus. We're supposed to operate like Jesus operates. Jesus wants to be integrated into every facet of our life. Is it tough? Yes. Yes. Is it doable? Yes. See, obviously, I don't want toned legs enough. I can say it all day that I want to be in shape. I can say it all day. But if I am not willing to do what it takes to get in shape, my words have no meaning. I'm not integrated. We say we want the blessing of God. We say we want God to flow through us so that we can touch and love and reach our neighborhood and reach our city. But our neighborhood in our city looks at us so many times and says, why would I waste my Sunday to come to your church when you are no different than Anybody else I know. If we really were who we said we were, guys, we would have to knock out walls. We would be emptying crack houses. People would be flushing drugs down the toilet. If the church really was who we say we are, if we would just love people just like they are without passing judgment, if we would show them a life that has been changed and transformed and that God's really doing something in my heart and he can do it in yours. No, you don't have to be perfect. But we're on a journey together. We're on a journey together to be more like Jesus. To be more like Jesus. To look like my daddy. That's what he's called us to. That's what this series is about. It's about character integrated. I know it's challenging. I know it's hard. I know we don't want anybody to tell us what to do. And we. We're like. We groan. Who are they to tell us what to do? But look where that's gotten us. If somebody close to you, the fruit of the spirit, remember, are godly characteristics, those are God's characteristics. What would be the characteristics that somebody close to you would write down about you? That's inventory, right? That's taking inventory. What would your wife say that your characteristics are? What would your husband say your characteristics are? What. What about the most honest? What would your children say that your characteristics are? We got a long way to go. But the good news is all of us in this room have a long way to go. We are on the same journey, and that's to look like Jesus, that's to talk like Jesus, that's to live like Jesus. Will you get it right every single day? Nope. Will you fall down? Absolutely. Will you have to ask for forgiveness? Absolutely. I want you to stand up where you are and I just want to pray for you. I want to pray that God give you strength to make the necessary changes. Some of you are one change away, one change away from God, lifting the lid off of your life. Some of you, it's a friend that you know you are not supposed to be in relationship with. Some of you, it's. It's a man you know you're not supposed to be in relationship with. Some of you, it's what you watch, it's what you listen to. I tell my kids all the time, and they're grown, they're grown kids, but I tell them all the time I still treat them like they three, four, and five when I'm teaching. I said, kids, listen, you can't listen to that and expect a godly result. You can't know more about the walking dead than you do the abundant life of God. Me personally, I told them in the first service, none of you would want to be my friend. You think you would, but you wouldn't. I'm boring. I am so boring. I don't watch tv. I don't listen to secular music. To me, they're time wasters. And there's so much more. I mean, I know people, I know friends who listen to hours and watch hours and hours of Netflix series. They've watched probably 12 of them last year in the pandemic. And I'm like, my God, have you read a book? Have you. Have you done anything godly to change your mind? And you sitting here telling me about all these Netflix series and you wonder where God is in your marriage. You can't say you want toned thighs and go to McDonald's. You can't say you want God's character and stuff the world in you. 24. 7 One change. Two changes away from God doing something so powerful in your life. God, I just pray for our church, Lord. I pray for everybody listening today that you'd give them the grace and the courage, the strength, the determination and the discipline to do what it takes to produce the fruit, the godly character in their life. Oh, Jesus, give them the strength today. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. That's God doing a work in somebody right there. God's doing a work in somebody right there. He's purging something out of them. He's purging somebody. Go pray for him. He's purging something out. Sometimes it's painful to give up. Sometimes it's painful to stop doing things. But oh, my God, the joy and the blessing on the other side. On the other side. Oh, God wants you set free. He wants you delivered. He wants you to live that abundant life. But we got to sow to the wrong to the right place and give up sowing to the wrong places. Do it, Jesus. Do it, Jesus. And I know you're going to do great things in us. God, thank you for this word. Thank you for this spanking. Holy Ghost, thank you for this spanking. You said that you chasten those you love. You discipline those that you love. And I thank you that you love us so much, Jesus, and that we're going to be better because of it. In the name of Jesus, come on. Give God a praise. Give God a praise. Pastor Ron will be back next week to pour in the oil and the wine and pet you some. I love you. Be blessed, have an amazing Sunday and we'll see you next week. God bless you. Hey there. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us here tonight, today, wherever you are, all over the world. We truly appreciate the investment of your time into the ministry of Hope Carpenter Ministries. If these messages have been a blessing to you, why don't you hop on over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, be a subscriber, follow, like, share, and anything you can do. Listen, if you can get the word of God in your heart on a daily basis, it can never hurt you. It's always going to make you better. There's tons of messages on there that you're going to love that will empower you to be the best you that you can absolutely be. Because God wants you to live that life, a powerful life, an overcoming life. But you've got to get the word of God in your heart also. If these messages have blessed your life in any way, would you consider sowing into this ministry so that we could continue to pay these bills and these technicians and these cameras and the time that it takes to make these videos and get them all over the world? I want to reach everybody that we can all over the world, and I need your help as a partner if God lays it on your heart to help. Thank you so much. And you can find all the information on hopecarpenter.com God bless you. See you next time.