Active or Passive Faith | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter
by Kenneth Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: Bible study
Scripture: Hebrews 11:6, Hebrews 11:5, James 2:26, John 3:6, 2 Corinthians 5:7, 1 John 4:18, Mark 4:40, Romans 10:10-17, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 2 Corinthians 11:4, Matthew 3:11, John 7:38-39, Acts 16:25-34, Mark 16:15-20, Acts 10:41-44, Acts 11:15-18

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--active-or-passive-faith
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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praise the lord everybody again thank god if you have your bibles open with me today to the 11th chapter of the book of hebrews hebrews chapter 11 verse number 6 is where we begin this morning i do want to make some special um recognition today and uh if he would please pardon me for not remembering his name but i'm glad to have my produce man from walmart here with us today he and his wife i'm so glad to have y'all even if he's the best produce man from walmart you'll never be amen it gives me the insight on all the produce what's fresh and what's not brother and sister jean-philippe would you raise your hands way back there in the back just celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary i'm gonna tell you they got two of the finest boys god ever let to walk on this earth we love y'all god bless you brother sister john philippe thank you so very very much the nichols family we're going to give them the reward for coming the fathers today they are from california and we're so glad to have them with us today and i don't know what god's doing god's doing some things in the nichols family god god reveals and god's doing some great things they started watching the the the webcast around christmas and then when the quarantine hit uh mother nichols told me this morning said this was my life during the corn said every said we were so sad when y'all stopped every day said it was our all the way in california brother sister nichols and family we're so glad to have you here with us today y'all ready for a little word this morning but without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to god must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him for a few moments today i'd like to teach a bible lesson on active or passive faith active or passive faith father i love you this morning thank you jesus for riding upon the instruments and writing upon the praise you have ushered yourself into our presence right now through the praises of your people your glory feel the house the shouts of your people announce your arrival lord god i just asked you this morning that you would open up eyes through the preaching of the word lord help us to know you god through your word will give you praise anoint me in jesus name amen amen you may be seated active or passive faith do you have active or passive faith by the help of god before the bible lesson is done completed today you're going to be able to say well i've got active faith and i need to keep it up or you may have to say i have got passive faith and i need to get my faith i need to get my faith active you know the subject of faith church is something that you can never preach enough of you can never preach enough and teach enough on the subject of faith whether you are just coming to the lord or you have been in the church for 75 years the subject of faith is something that continually continually must be renewed over and over you see faith is essential for any relationship to survive or to grow you have to have now i when people are when people are asking the question tell me what i have to do to be saved i am telling you you have to have faith you cannot be saved without faith you cannot be saved as a matter of fact your relationship with god once you have possessed faith to be saved your relationship with god continually hinges and is determined by your faith whether it's growing whether your faith is active or it is it is passive you see for any relationship because what faith what faith breeds is trust trust faith breeds trust serve god any allah any amount of time and you will come serve god in faith any amount of time and you will come to understand what it means to trust the lord just trust the lord not only that trust also will will breed another word faith trust and confidence confidence you you you have confidence in god the writer of hebrews told us that without faith didn't make any ends after ifs or buts about the subject he said without faith it is impossible to please god now i personally believe that this verse six is here and it really dovetails into verse number five because in verse number five there was a man that was an old testament type of the new testament rapture there was a man by the name of enoch who had this testimony that he pleased god and he was not because god took him god god took him from the earth now i personally believe that verse number five that enoch's life of pleasing god being a type of the new testament rapture is connected with verse six which is us that without faith it is impossible to please him you cannot please god without faith you see we please god when we believe in god we please god we are pleasing to god when we trust in god we're pleasing to god when we have confidence in him god wants us to have an active faith not a passive faith passive faith just simply means i believe but that's all that happens there's nothing in the word that drives you to action because to have active faith means that you have actions that go along because of your faith matter of fact the book of james says it this way faith without works is dead passive faith is dead it is not enough that you know there's one god you you matter of fact the devil does more than a lot of people because the devil believes in one god and he trembles some folks believe in one god and won't even raise their hands to him some folks believe in one god and he's not even worthy of a handcuff offering they believe it you couldn't convince them there's no god they would tell you i know the but their faith is a passive faith it is just an inactive faith never pleases god never pleases god because remember there's two parts to this to this verse it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to god must believe that he is comma and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him there's where the active part comes in you see brother hammond touched on this a few weeks ago the soil in and of itself will never produce a stalk of corn does it matter if the soil is there the soil in and of itself will never produce one stock of corn alone it must have a seed the seed that is from another kingdom the seed which is from another kingdom if i could use that word the seed is from another kingdom it must go into the soil once it is in the soil it germinates and it begins to extract from the soil the nutrients and that seed becomes a stalk of corn i don't care how hungry the animals may get an animal in it of itself will never produce its own food that animal has to lower itself and reach down and take that which is grown from the ground into itself a man a human will never produce food of himself he must himself reach down to the food that comes from the ground that comes from the seed and he has to take it into himself i told you all of that to tell you this the only way that we can be lifted is by a higher kingdom the soil will never bear a a stalk of corn the animal will never make its own food and a human will never make his own food it takes a higher kingdom coming down we have today a need as men and women we have a need for a higher kingdom to come this is where faith comes in this is where faith has connected with it calling upon the name of the lord because we have to admit with our lips that we're hopelessly and without any help at all in ourselves we have no way of saving ourselves we need a higher kingdom to come down and to lift us up out of the dilemma that we're in that's why jesus said in john chapter 3 and verse number 6 that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit you see the new birth is a miracle in itself the new birth is a miracle in itself it is absolutely a miracle it is a miracle that we're born again of the water and of the spirit it took a higher kingdom not willpower to bring us out of sin you can't will yourself out of sin you have to allow a higher kingdom to come down and to lift you out of sin that's the only way that that can happen you can't will yourself into good behavior you can't will yourself out of the situation that you're in but you can by faith believe in a god who has a plan of salvation that says if you obey my word if you will put your faith in two things the person of jesus christ and the word of god if you will allow your faith to be in the person of jesus christ and the word of god that faith will reach down and pull you out of that kingdom and put you in an unbelievable miraculous kingdom and if you believe that would you give god a hand of praise right now in order for it to be effective i want to say it again we must place our faith in the person of the lord jesus christ and we must place our faith in the word of god now our physical and emotional health plays a role in our relationship with god and this is where this is where you really need to hang on to me because too many people they don't possess an act of faith because they are gauging god by how they feel by their emotions you can't do that the truth the matter is it doesn't it doesn't matter how much faith you've got in you if you have faith in you then when you're sick your faith is down if you have faith in circumstances if you have faith in blue skies and happily ever afters if you have faith in that then your faith is up and down up and down as we get older our bodies weaken it's no surprise as we get older as we get older we uh our our emotional health can sometimes begin to to wane the only way that you can live and never get over this is to keep faith in two things the person jesus christ and god's word that's why the writer said and the verses are the verses are connected with death they're connected with death paul said in second corinthians 5 and 7 for we walk by faith and not by sight too many people allow their emotions to be the object of their faith they allow their material things to be the object of their faith they allow how things work out down here to be the object of their faith hence things work out the way i want them to he's a great god things go the way i don't want him to i really don't understand him i feel good today maybe the fact that you got a good night's rest maybe the fact that you you you you you you've guided properly and your body begins to feel good oh he's a great god well he was a great god when he wasn't eating right now i'm talking to you right now i've found out where you're living he was a great god when you wasn't feeling good he was a great god when you had odd on sugar and you were all down you were all drunk you know just drudging your way trying to stay away buying five hour energies by the case full he was still a great god then you see feelings can never be brother thorpe feelings can never be the object of our faith circumstances in life can never be the object of our faith no wonder the writer said it this way if in this life only we have hope what kind of people are we most miserable listen to what the 90 year old apostle john wrote in first john chapter 4 verse number 18 he's knocking on 90 years old when he grabs the pen and he says there is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment he that feareth is not made perfect in love do you know what causes us to fear a lack of faith you cannot be filled with faith and fear at the same time you can't have it you either have faith or you have fear but you don't have both if you have faith in god you can look at the storm and say so what god's in control but if you don't have faith you look at the storm and say doesn't he care about us because anytime faith is present it's a testimony that you don't have any time fear is present it's a testimony that you don't have faith but you see fear also spins off something just like faith spins off trust and confidence fear spins off torment the bible says there is no fear in love perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath wha what's the word torment i don't know about you but i'd really like to operate in the realm of faith because i like trust and confidence a whole lot better than torment lack of faith brings fear here they are in mark 4 40. here they are in the ship with jesus and the storm is beating and the waves are coming in the ship and he said unto them jesus said unto them why are you so fearful how is it that you have what why are you what's the first thing he asked him why are you afraid and then he addresses the root of fear what is the root of fear how is it that you have no faith you are fearful because you don't have faith it's easy to really get a grip on this if we can learn how to put our faith in the person of jesus christ he's always going to come out ahead put him in the worst situation you can put him in and three days later he's not in the tomb anymore why he has come out victorious over death hell and the grave give me a reason why ought to worship jesus christ today i'll give you a reason you will never come upon a situation in your life that what you put your faith and confidence in god that he won't bring you out on the other side with a testimony of how good that he is that's why i worship him today that's why i worship him today you ever notice that faith that people that have faith have a different attitude have a different behavior than people that don't have faith you see faithless breeds defeat now let's put these together if you're without faith you are defeated hands down i don't care how much money you got in a bank okay how how you think you got it all figured out you have no faith you are already defeated if you are defeated you are sad doesn't really take a rocket scientist if you know nothing about the ball game if you don't know who won or who lost stand outside the stadium and watch them leave well my analogies are deep aren't they just real deep take the people coming out happy smiling yeah they're a winner take the people coming out an hour before the game's over they lost same thing with us you show me somebody that can come in god's house when the word of the world has fallen apart they have absolutely nothing no reason they can see with their eyes that they ought to be worshiping god you bring them in the house of god you listen you would have to go up to them and ask them about their problem because their behavior would not speak of their problem if you looked at them on the outside if you saw sister josephine dance across the front of this room you would think she never has a problem in this world well you're she does have problems she does have issues she's dealing with but when she comes to the house of god her faith in the person of jesus christ and the word of god says i might as well go ahead and shout because god's already got this taken care of can i get a witness this morning you ever walked into the room when your grandkids are in there playing you got three of them just as happy as can be playing around with something you got one over in the corner you know why he's in the corner he's not happy you know why they're out here playing they're happy you know why he or she's in the corner i got to watch it you know why he or she's in the corner because they didn't get their way sometimes we get in our spiritual corners oh lord i'll get in trouble if i go there you know why that little boy girl gets in that corner and if you walk in and you don't pay them no attention because sometimes that can be the best thing for them and you can teach them that you don't get attention that way don't come to me don't do that it's not the way to get papa to move papa don't move with that papa moves when you talk poppin papa moves when you when when you talk now listen there's some people i don't know why but they want to act in such a way to get your attention sometimes you can baby that for a certain period of time but there comes time you have to say grow up grow up because you'll never get a happy with your arms folded in the corner dragging your bottom lip drop down around your knees and talking about how bad and how unfair everything is in life churches can be unfair people can be unfair families can be unfair but you read this preacher's lips today god has never been and the church as a congregation cannot be my object of faith i cannot choose how i'm going to praise god because somebody shook or didn't shake my hand today i've come in this place to give him praise whether anybody else wants to give him praise i'm going to give him praise why because i don't want fear why because i don't want torment why because i don't want sadness why because i don't want defeat faithless defeat sadness weakness faith faith truly not hard it's really not hard look at romans chapter 10 verse number 10 can you say praise the lord it's really not hard this is really not hard this is really not hard today active or passive faith romans 10 10 for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation for the scripture saith whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed for there is no difference between the jew and the greek for the same lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him for whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved how then shall they call on him and whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things but they have not all obeyed the gospel for isaiah saith lord who hath believed our report so faith cometh by hearing so faith says i want some of that faith i want some of that faith because without faith you can't please him and he's a rewarder of them to diligently seek him i want some of that faith how can i get it hear the word hear the word faith cometh by hearing doesn't say faith cometh by an experience sometimes we're too experienced minded we're too emotional minded we want we want something to move our emotions and that's one of the reasons that's that that's that that's one of the reasons uh people would rather hear a spiritual comedian than a convictional preacher because the spiritual comedian makes them feel good while giving them just a dab of the cross i need faith how can i get faith but cardinal would you lay hands on me and and and pray that i can have faith i will not lay hands on you for that because faith does not come through the laying on of my hands now come up here and tell me you're sick and i'll anoint you with all and pray for you and lay hands on you but i will not lay hands on you and say god give them faith what i will tell you if you say carpenter i need more faith i'll say get in the word get in the word of god whatever your problem is study it out until you find what the word addresses your problem what does the word have to say about your problem get in the word because here faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god so that's how faith comes today faith comes through your bible faith comes by setting under a god called minister that is sent from god not mama sent but god sent he is sent from god he didn't go to bible cemetery i mean seminary he is sent from god he is god called he's bringing the scriptures to you matter of fact how many of you would say amen to this this morning that you have faced dilemmas in life that you didn't even share with your pastor but you found your way here on a wednesday night or a sunday morning and all of a sudden pastor just opens it up and starts preaching exactly what you need hey don't give me the praise today the praise goes to god this morning because somewhere in prayer god said i need you to go over here to this book right here and i need you to address this subject and there's been times i've wondered god do you really want me to preach that but god said yes i want you to preach that and when you preach it somebody gets what what do they get out of preaching they get faith out of preaching because anytime you get faith you get trust anytime you get trust you get confidence and not only that faith is the substance of things hoped for do you know your faith is your receipt that you've already got what he paid for faith is your receipt that you've already got what he paid for and i want to drive that home faith is your receipt there are some stores that will not let you return something unless you've got a what a receipt now this is backwards all right or if you're where i'm from backwards this is backers right now all right if you go to a store and you take something in a store and say hey i bought this here i'd like to return this they will say where is your receipt and if they want to and you say well i don't have it they can say we're not going to return it because you don't have the receipt you've got what you you've got it in your hand but you don't have the proof faith is the opposite god through the word gives us the receipt i don't have it yet but i've got the receipt because faith builds trust and trust builds confidence how many has ever been healed you know what you had to have before you got healed sister josephine you had to have the receipt before god ever lowered the fever before god ever mended the bone before god ever turned the cancer report around you had a receipt in your hand called faith that said i believe that god is able to do this he can be trusted he can be dependent i'm not going to be led by fear because fear is the absence of faith i'm going to be it says simple turn your neighbor turn to your neighbor and say it's that simple so then faith come at the hearing and hearing by the word of god but now turn with me to second corinthians chapter 11 verse number three oh praise god second corinthians chapter 11 and verse number three paul said but i fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled eve through his septility so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in christ it's simple folks but the devil wants to pull your mind away from the simplicity that is in christ the devil wants to pull your mind away from the simplicity that is in christ what do you mean the simplicity faith he that cometh to god must believe that he is do you believe that he is come on do you believe that he is all the active people are saying amen right now do you believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently that's where the active people stay active it's that simple jesus is the object of my faith i put all my faith in jesus i put all my faith in the word if the word says it that's it if the word says if i do x y z it's going to happen it doesn't matter if it comes in my time frame if the word says to do it something good is coming out of it it's that simple you know why we're here today the word says to come the word says to come do you know why people marched today people had a ten percent of their income in their value are you kidding me that's right you know why they did that because the word says it but i'm telling you i've done it enough and i'm not alone in this room today i've proved god enough as a matter of fact in the area of your finances it's the only time that god said put me to the test it's the only time in all the scripture god ever said just put me to the test he said prove me now herewith saith the lord if i will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive so i just take that my faith in god's word and i just go ahead and determine that a dime out of every dollar belongs to god and then an offering on top of that and nobody's making me do it i'm not doing without because i do it it is a medium of faith that i bring and i drop it in there and then god listen folks god can bless us far more than giving us ten dollars for every one dollar we give god can give us peace of mind god could put a spirit of peace upon our families god can put a spirit of contentment upon us it's just simply it's that simple satan wants to pull us brother hammond away from the simplicity of christ look at verse 4 real closely second corinthians 11 4 for if he that cometh preacheth another jesus whom we have not preached or if you receive another spirit which you have not received or another gospel which you have not accepted you might bear you might well bear with him you see what we've got here is somebody came along and started preaching another jesus and another gospel and another spirit because it goes something like this somewhere we just have heard whether we're going to get anything from god we've got to be worthy oh if i'm going to really get healed i've got to be worthy oh i'm never going to get healed i've not been worthy oh if we're going to get healed i've got to be worthy if i'm going to get the big break in life i've got to be worthy of that big break you have just moved your faith from your redeemer to your behavior you just moved your faith and i feel sorry for anyone that believes they're going to get anything from god because of their behavior you say behavior and obedience the same thing not necessarily you can have that you can have behavior that is you know that is actually a spin-off of being obedient to god's word that's not me trying to be worthy that's me trying to be obedient but oh i don't feel worthy can i tell you come on we're all emotional we all have emotions you're not going to feel saved 24 7. i hate to tell you that lose a night or two of sleep and you're not gonna feel like you can walk on water but when you get up or the alarm clock gets you up that's the best time to test your salvation isn't it you can't go on how worthy i am oh friend can i tell you if we could just put our trust in the cross if we could just put our trust in what on what he did for us and how much he i just don't know if god loves me read matthew mark luke and john and read where he died for you and then tell me god doesn't love you it's gonna feel like i'm loved i'll tell you right now you're not reading your bible are you because if you'd read your bible you'd find out where he willingly came to this world robed himself in flesh allowed people you don't believe he loves you and he allowed himself to be spit on you know that's one of the most shameful things a person could have done to him is someone to spit on them he allowed he allowed god who held their very breath in his hand god who could have just cut off their oxygen and they would have died in a few moments god allowed them to be to spit on him because he wanted to tell you i love you he allowed them to spread his arms out and drive spikes to his hands and his feet he allowed them to curse him he allowed them to smack him about his face and rip his beard out of his face he allowed all of that to happen so that you and i could sit on a sunday morning in maryville tennessee and not have to have a goosebump to believe that god loves us not to have gotten an unexpected check of a thousand dollars for us to believe that god loves us not to have somebody tell us that we're to get a big break on our job but we can come and sit confidently on a pew and know that god loves us because of what the word says so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god jesus is the holy ghost baptizer oh yes he is some pre some some people preach another jesus they preach another jesus but the jesus said i'm going to preach for the next 15 minutes is going to be jesus the holy ghost baptizer because matthew said in matthew 3 11 i indeed baptize you or john said i indeed baptize you with water under repentance but he that cometh after me is mightier than i whose shoes i'm not worthy to bear he shall baptize you with the holy ghost and with fire i'm talking about jesus the baptizer because you know if there's something we ought to have as a symbol of our faith or as a sign of our faith is the holy ghost the holy ghost well we'll we'll read it here in just a moment but you know there's good people today good god-believing people that don't believe in the holy ghost you know why they don't believe in the holy ghost go back to go back to uh 2nd corinthians 11 and 4. you know why they don't believe in the holy ghost because they didn't preach him it's another jesus you see the jesus of the scripture is the jesus that will baptize with the holy ghost but there are some preaching another jesus it's there ii corinthians 11 and 4 it's there there are those that are preaching another jesus another gospel and another spirit but how many is interested in hearing the jesus of the scripture because it's only the jesus of the scripture that will bring faith john said i need baptize you with water into repentance but he that cometh after me is mightier than i whose shoes i'm not worthy to bear he shall baptize you with the holy ghost and fire listen to jesus his own words in john chapter 7 verse number 38 listen to his the own words of jesus he that believeth on me as the scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water but this spake he of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the holy ghost was not yet given because that jesus was not yet glorified look at this how can you get the how can you get the holy ghost you got to hear a preacher that is preaching jesus the holy ghost baptizer you got to hear that jesus wants to baptize you with the holy ghost then you cross reference that with jesus words he believeth on me verse number 38 he that believeth on me as the scripture hath said you don't get to choose which way you believe on him if you want to have faith and you want to have the holy ghost you don't get to choose which way you believe you've got to believe on him according to the scriptures as the scripture has said now there's a there's a little phrase that i want to work on for the remainder of my bible lesson today because i believe it's one of the most used and one of the most uh least likely to be explained believe thou upon the lord jesus christ that phrase is flippantly thrown out to people believe thou upon the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved what was it was the jailhouse it was the in acts 16 25 midnight paul and silas prayed i'm gonna read very fast to get to my point midnight paul and silas prayed and sang praises unto god and the prisoners heard them suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were open and everyone's bands were loosed so paul and silas pray the holy ghost moves upon the structure of the jail in such powerful force that the doors are open their chains fall off verse 27 and the keeper of the prison awakening out of his sleep seeing the prison doors open he drew out his sword and would have killed himself supposing that the prisoners had fled now the reason this man was ready to commit suicide is because he was under such a law of the romans that if you allowed prisoners to escape that you paid for it with your own life this man was awakened by the by by the jailhouse shaking and when he looks and sees doors open he grabs a sword and was about to kill himself but paul cried with a loud voice saying do thyself no harm for we are all here then he the jailer called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before paul and silas and brought them out and said sirs what must i do to be saved and they said believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved and thine house now this man asked a question i want to be saved paul and silas told the man where to put his what faith in who right you want to be saved the man has faith you don't ask how can i be saved if you don't have faith his faith needs to be directed to the right object he said what do i need to do to be saved how can i be saved believe thou upon the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved but now listen that's not the end this verse is quoted as the end it's not the end it's the start now comes the explanation read the next verse and they spake unto him the word of the lord and to all that were in his house it wasn't just believe that upon the lord jesus christ and the jailer said i believe that jesus christ is the son of god and he was saved no it was a statement jailor put your faith in the person of jesus christ but now that you have the spotlight on the person faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god they taught him a bible study in the middle of the night they taught him a bible study because the man needed faith and they taught him a bible study let's go on and they spake unto him the word of the lord and to all that were in his house and he that's the jailer took them the same hour of the night he took them why because just believing and doing nothing is passive but believing in doing something is active you're not believing if you do nothing you're only believing if you do something do you know what your something can be today your something can be at the end of my message just walking out of your pew and walking down to the altar well i don't know what difference it makes i believe god can touch me back here just as soon as he can up there he can if you have active faith but maybe you need to show god that you're willing not just to believe he can help but you know i think i'll just walk down to the front that'd be something i could just do i could just walk down to the front of that room i could just walk down there and lift up my hands oh god that's good even if i did say it it's still good it is and he took them who's he the jailer the same hour of the night and washed their stripes because the faith that he got from the preaching of paul and silas turned into he needed to do something what did he need to do it was the jailer that put the stripes on the back of paul and silas it was the jailer that calls their shirts to be dried by the blood to their backs it was the jailer and as paul began to preach evidently maybe paul turned around or silas turned around and the jailer saw them stripes i was the one that did that i was the one that took the whip and whipped their backs i need to do something about what i've done honey that's called repentance rip i change your mind when y'all first come in here you all were just two rubble rousing uh speech givers you all were just too insurrectionist toward the roman government but now because i've heard and i believed upon the lord jesus christ and i've heard the word of god you're not just two men you're preachers are the most high god you're the messengers of god and he says i've got to he said i've got to do something about what i what i've caused that's active faith if you're sorry for what you've done what are you gonna do about it you ought to be willing to do something about what you've done maybe you can't fix it all but maybe you can wash something maybe you can't heal the stripe but maybe you can wash it real good somebody say that's repentance i wish somebody shouted that's repentance he washed their stripes say said again that's what and was baptized he washed their stripes and was baptized where do you get baptism out of believe thou upon the lord jesus christ you don't he's the object you don't get fed today because you pull up in the parking lot at aubrey's it's repentance you only get fed when you go in just believing upon the lord jesus christ focus your attention upon him he's the only saving name he's the only one that can bring salvation he's the only one that died for your sins he's the only one that rose on the third day he's the only one that promised the holy ghost and he's the only one that's coming back again that's why my faith is on you i can swear my shoulders back and tell you today i believe upon the lord jesus christ i believe upon the lord jesus christ how did he get baptism out of that how did you get baptism out of that i got baptism out of verse 31. i got baptism excuse me out of verse 32 and they spake unto him the word of the lord that's where the baptism part came in and he took them the same hour of the night and watched their stripes what's that church what is that new repentance and was baptized he and all his house and when he brought them into his house he set meat before them and rejoiced care how you cut it here's the plan of salvation from repentance to baptism to the baptism of the holy ghost he washed their stripes he repented he was baptized in jesus name why would paul baptize any other way he was baptized in jesus name for the remission of the sins and when he got back to his house he received the gift of the holy ghost and started rejoicing because it's joy unspeakable and is full of glory place your faith in him it's not hard to get the holy ghost today the only thing you need if you're here today and you've not received the gift of the holy ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues all you have to do is believe it today well when i get good enough i'm coming to the altar you'll never get it even when you think you're good enough you'll never get it well i got some things i need i got some things i need to clear up oh that's how that works believe thou upon john doe believe thou upon john doe and thou shalt be saved no that's not how it reads believe thou upon the lord jesus christ do you understand today that true belief is an active faith it is something that puts into action something in your life and anytime you put it into action god will begin to confirm anytime god sees your faith go from passive to active then god begins to add to that act of faith mark mark 16 15 the musicians would come mark 16 15. and he said unto them go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he that believeth not shall be damned and i'm going to pause here for just a moment because i'm going to live the rest of my life trying to enlighten people to this one verse because according to the word of god baptism plays a role in your salvation and there's those that would say well yeah brother carpenter i know that it says he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but isn't it funny isn't it amazing brother carpenter that it doesn't say he that believeth not and is not baptized shall be damned well you've heard this before it doesn't have to say that any more than i have to say he that breatheth and eateth shall live he that breatheth not shall die oh but you didn't say and eateth not you don't have to you're not breathing you're not eating and these signs shall follow them that believe in my name they shall cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover then after so then after the lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and said on the right hand of god and they went forth and preached everywhere the lord working with them confirming the word with signs following amen how about moving today from your passive faith to some active faith how about if you're here today and you're going around the same mountain time after time again oh i believe in god why don't you show god that today why don't you move from just passive believing god to active my focus is point is upon you jesus my focus is upon you you see cornelius was a good man godly almsgiving but he wasn't saved okay how good he was he wasn't saved so you know that for sure i absolutely know that for sure because he didn't know anything about the savior jesus christ he knew nothing about it and when peter came and this is how this is how it happens when the connection happens because some of us need to be delivered today from the worthy gospel god i'm just not worthy i you know i've not had yeah i just not worthy you'll never be there sir and if you ever get to the place that you're you're worthy that you feel like you're worthy the preacher said it this way one time he said if you ever feel like you're worthy he said you're could be likened to fruit you're not right you're not right you're rotten if you ever feel like i'm worthy now you're you'll never be worthy never corneas could give all the arms he wanted to give he could he could pray all that he wanted to pray was he saved absolutely not absolutely not you know that for sure i do because he had never heard the saving name he had never heard the gospel he had never heard but in acts chapter 10 when peter came and when peter in acts chapter 10 and verse number 41 he's talking to this man he says peter says to cornelius he says cornelius not to all the people but unto witnesses chosen before of god even unto us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead and he commanded us jesus commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of god to be the judge of the quick and the dead to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins that's verse 33 43 that's verse 43 sister carpenter watch what happens when peter shifted cornelius faith from prayers and alms and and doing good deeds when when he shifted his faith from his prayers and his arms to one name one lord one that would give remission a sins verse 43 he shifted and in the room cornelius faith shifted from his pocketbook it shifted from how good he was to the poor people and it shifted to the lord jesus christ no wonder we have verse 44 while peter yet spake these words the holy ghost fell on all them which heard the word no wonder that happened because it wasn't a worthy issue it was a faith issue and when cornelius faith went from what he was doing in his arms and all his prayers and it went to the lord jesus christ boom the holy ghost hit them the holy ghost said the door is open and the holy ghost hit them would you stand with me right now go ahead and praise him right now go ahead and praise him right now go ahead and praise him right now go ahead and praise him praise him right now come on maybe maybe the chat you want from god today is when you get your mind upon the lord jesus christ get your mind upon the lord jesus christ right now hallelujah come on musicians come on now let's go thank god thank god thank god thank god thank god come on faith faith faith faith faith faith faith faith faith faith faith how many has cried yourself to sleep this week how many bit your fingernails down to the quick right now how many how many have medications i'm not telling you not to take it i'm just i'm just bringing out a point how many's got medication right now in your purse that's got that that you have to take to help you to cope with things in life i'm not asking the show of your hands i'm just saying i'm not telling you to stop taking your medication but i am asking you to do something i wonder what would happen if we'd shift our attention and believe that upon the lord jesus christ god i believe in you god i believe in you god oh god i believe in you i trust in you god oh god i believe in you god i trust in you god that's why i've altered my lifestyle god i believe in you that's why i've altered my lifestyle god i believe in you jesus i believe in you come on right now come on would you just do that right now i believe in you god i believe in you god i believe in you god i believe in you god i believe in you god i believe in you god i believe in you god come on right now come on weary woman come on weary woman come on better battered soul come on right now i believe in you god oh god i love you lord i love you god i love you god i love you god i love you god i love you god i praise you lord i praise you lord i praise you lord thank you lord come on singers come on right now sing the lord we pray oh yes god your kingdom i focus my attention on you god we pray god i believe upon the lord jesus christ i believe upon you today come on do you believe it enough to say it with me i believe upon the lord jesus christ i believe above you lord i believe upon your saving power oh changes everything changes come on let your kingdom come let me have let me have your attention just for a moment i i won't be able to rest today i won't be able to go about my day if i feel like i miss god right here i feel like i miss god right here today if you're in this room and you've never been baptized with the holy ghost it is god's will to fill you with the holy ghost it is god's will well brother carpenter i i think i got to think about it for a while you all you need to know is that the word of the lord says it's a gift it is a gift to you it's what's missing in your relationship with god if you've never been baptized with the holy ghost and spoke in a heavenly language has proved that you got the holy ghost there's something missing in your walk with god why don't you decide today i'm gonna focus my attention from myself am i worthy no i'm not worthy that's why it's a gift in the 11th chapter of acts i didn't give you this this morning those that are running the scriptures on the screen i didn't give you this but in the 11th chapter of the book of acts verse number 16 and 17 peter is having to defend himself because he preached to the gentiles cornelius he's standing before the jews in jerusalem and he's defending himself and as a matter of fact go to verse 15 because he's telling them he's rehearsing being in cornelius house and he says and as i begin to speak the holy ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning that tells me right there eight years later god was still pouring out the holy ghost then remembered i the word of the lord how that he said john indeed baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the holy ghost for as much then listen to him now for as much then as god gave them the light gift as he did unto us who believed on the lord jesus christ what was i what was i that i could withstand god when they heard these things they held their peace and glorified god saying that then hath god also to the gentiles granted repentance and to life peter said he gave us a holy ghost who believed upon the lord jesus christ he gave us the holy ghost if you're here today and you've never been filled with the holy ghost right now step out of your pew become active in your faith step out of your pew and walk down here to the front of this building you will signify to a minister that you want to receive the gift of the holy ghost and we will come to you and help you pray through to the baptism of the holy ghost this morning if you'll step out of your pew right now if you don't have the holy ghost if you'll just come that's called active faith that's called active faith not passive faith that's called active faith today you just step out of your pew right now i i want the holy ghost i don't want to i don't want to leave here without receiving the holy ghost just step out of your pew today and walk down to this altar father in the name of jesus christ in the name of jesus christ god lord move right now god move right now bonus god lord move right now upon us god lord move right now god touch that man right now god touch that man right now touch that woman right now oh god in the name of jesus today lord it is your will to fill every soul with the holy ghost it is your will god to fill every soul with the holy ghost