Transcript of a published sermon by Kenneth Carpenter, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
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Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
The Testimony of Paul: By the Grace of God I Am What I Am
- The telecast sermon takes its text from Paul, the writer of over half the New Testament, presented throughout as a man appreciative of redemption: by the grace of God I am what I am.
- Galatians 2:20 is read with it: crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live — yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life now lived in the flesh is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
- In 1 Timothy 1:15-17 Paul calls himself chief of sinners — a persecutor who dragged men and women from their homes to beating and death and stood smiling at the stoning of the first deacon — yet he obtained mercy so that Christ could show all longsuffering in him first, as a pattern to all who would believe after.
- The springboard is a text message about recycling and converting garbage into gold: Jesus is the master recycler, the master of restoration and renewal, who sees beyond a thing's previous function into its future glory.
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:10; Galatians 2:20; 1 Timothy 1:15-17
Fall Into the Hands of a Merciful God
- David, being punished for the prideful numbering of Israel's armies, is given three choices and refuses to fall into the hand of man: let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for very great are his mercies — God's punishment of a guilty man is not God's rejection of him.
- Jeremiah's word stands behind it: it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not; we are here not because of our perfection but because of his compassion.
- Jesus' instruction to gather up the fragments that nothing be lost shows the same Lord at work: what he has once used he will not throw away just because it is crumbled on the ground — and the appeal goes out to anyone who was once used of God, as preacher, singer, or teacher, and now sits at the bottom of sin.
Scriptures: 1 Chronicles 21:13; Lamentations 3:22
Hosea: Loved Too Much to Be Left
- To show Israel how much he loved them and how they had broken his heart, God taps the prophet Hosea to marry a harlot; Gomer enjoys the prophet's house for a short season, then the old spirit rises, she returns to the men of the city, and sin ages her until she is used up on the auction block.
- Hosea 2:5-7 is read: God himself hedges her way with thorns and makes a wall so she cannot find her paths — not rejection, but a holy God making life in sin as bad as it is, until she says, I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now.
- The prodigal runs the same road and comes to himself in the pigpen; the close appeals to the one — in the auditorium or watching by television or web — who needs to get up, make their way back to the Father's house, and feel his love one more time, from a God who will leave the ninety-nine for that one.
Scriptures: Hosea 2:5-7
Scripture index: 1 Corinthians 15:10; Galatians 2:20; 1 Timothy 1:15-17; 1 Chronicles 21:13; Lamentations 3:22; Hosea 2:5-7.
Transcript
stand with me this morning for just a few moments I want to draw your attention to the word of the Lord first Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 10 the Apostle Paul writer of over half of our New Testament testifies of the redemption the restoration he says by but by the grace of God I am what I am you may be seated but by the grace of God I am but by the grace of God I am what I am Galatians 2 and 20 paul writes
again writer of over half of the New Testament I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not i but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me who loved me and gave himself for me first Timothy 1 and 15 Paul writes again and Paul writer of the Happy New Testament I keep driving that point home because I want you to know that people that wrote this Bible
were people that were appreciative for redemption in their lives paul wrote in first Timothy one in 15 this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom i am chief howbeit for this cause i obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting now into the King eternal immortal invisible the only wise God be glory and honor
forever and ever amen listen to what this man Paul says he says I want everybody to know that I am but by the grace of God I am what I am I want you to hear him as he says I've been crucified with Christ nevertheless I live the life that I now live in his flesh I live it by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me I want you to hear him as he says this is a worthy saying
it needs to be a proverb II said it needs to be a plaque on your refrigerator it needs to be something that everybody understands that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners so I came not to be old churches with stained glass not to be a big organizations Jesus came into this world to save sinners of which he says I want everybody to know i am chief sinner i am the biggest sinner of all i persecuted the church i had people arrested i drugged
women men out of their homes and out of the place is worship I had them beaten and even put to death why I even was there that day when the first Deacon of the first Apostolic Church was stoned to death I was even there with a smile on my face and was ready to hold the coats of the men that stony my god came into this world to save sinners of which I am the chief of all he knocked me off the beast on the road
to Damascus I saw the bright light I cried out what would you have me do who are you lord he said I am Jesus and my life is never being the same but by the grace of God I am what I am I live my life by the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me I am the chief of all sinners I'm the largest center of the biggest Center in all the church so that people who think that they have to think
that their lives are too far gone people who think they've been too bad too sinful for God to save them they only have to tell my testimony I was a Christian killer i arrested him i had them beaten until my conversion in christ jesus moved into my heart and if God could say this is what Paul was saying if God could save and would save me then God can save anybody here King David the man whose name would go along with Jesus but Jesus would proudly
wear the lineage title the son of David we all know David's life we all know David was far from being perfect we know that David on more than one occasion sinned brought disgrace to God in 1st chronicles 2113 he had sinned this prideful heart and number that the armies of Israel and God was punishing David for his sin and I want you to understand something today church family that because God punishes you does not mean God doesn't love you so God was punishing David for his
sins david says in 1st chronicles swing 113 david said unto God he's the prophet I am in a great straight let me fall now into the hand of the Lord for very great are his mercies but let me not fall into the hand of man this was an occasion that God gave David three choices of punishment go ahead and choose what I put you through and he listed three things for David David just puts it back on God and says God here's what I want you
to do I don't really know what to choose but I know one place I don't want to be and I know one place that I do want to be I don't want to be in the and a man because man is cruel and man is without mercy and compassion but he said Oh God just let me fall into your hand why for great are your mercies he's not debating he's guilty he knows he's guilty but he says the place that this guilty man wants to be
is in the hands of a merciful God it was it was the Prophet Jeremiah it was the Prophet Jeremiah and lamentation 322 that says it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not it's because of God's mercies that we're here today we're not here today because of our perfection we're here today because of God's mercies we're here today because he's compassionate we're here today because God is able to recycle and God is able to reuse and God has been
green before we ever thought of going green he's all into recycling he doesn't want to throw anything away why let Jesus perform a miracle and let red crumbs and fish crumbs be laying all over the ground and Jesus will look to the Ummah and said I worked with that bread and I worked with that fish and I made a miracle but now crumbs and broken pieces are laying on the ground dis eyeballs take up the fragments that nothing be lost he is telling us there by
way of revelation that I once worked miraculously with this fish and bread and just because it's crumbled up and man doesn't even care enough to reach down and pick it up God says I want you to pick it up because anything that I've used I never want to throw it away I'd like to reach somebody either in this auditorium today or watching my television that God wants use your life God wants through your life maybe you were a preacher of the gospel maybe you had a
talent to sing and play music maybe you were a schoolteacher a Christian school teacher what have you and you find yourself this morning on the bottom of sin and sin has got you in its vices and in its crib but I've come to tell you something good today that there's a redeeming Savior there's a restoring Savior this walking by and saying pick up the fragments you see yard loved you so much that God would let 99 save people take a pause this morning be late for
church dinner God would put 99 people on hold for just one person here today that needs the touch of God I close with this today God wanted somehow some way to show Israel how much he loved them oh I want Israel to know how much they've broken my heart Israel's backslidden brought him out of Egypt brought them through the Red Sea brought them through the wilderness I was the rain I was the water I was their food I was their comfort I was their warrior but
they got in the land of Canaan and turned their back on me they go now to false idol temple God's houses and worship and they broken my heart now some of us today because we possess not the mercies of God when that which has been treated well goes astray we're ready to put them in the garbage can and be done with them but not our God our God said israel needs an illustration israel needs an illustration of how i feel right now so God tapped the
Prophet Hosea on the shoulder God told this clean man of God to go marry a daughter of the harlots and that he did he married a harlot by the name of Ghimire for just a short season go mere enjoyed living the house of the Prophet for just a short season go mere enjoyed being the wife of a prophet she enjoyed her change of scenery she enjoyed her change of company but that old harlot spirit was still inside of her there were three children born to Hosea
and Ghimire and each child bears the name of how God feels you are not my people one of them were called and on and on after a few days go mere packed her bags up and in the face of her husband Hosea begin to lay in lewdness with the men of the city it wasn't long she was the popular prostitute because she was the former wife of the Prophet CN has a way of aging you and taking you in taking the joy out of your life
wasn't long till Hosea was ordered by god to go down to the auction house and there on the auction block ghimire was being auctioned off she was no longer the salt after beauty she was a has been used up in the eyes of the world but God said she has one more message in her and this message is to have my love stamped all over her you see Hosea 2 & 5 says for their mother have played the harlot she has yet she that conceived them
have done shamefully for she said I will go after my lover's that give me my bread and my water in my will and my flak and my all in my dream therefore behold I God will hedge up thy way with thorns and make a wall that she shall not find her path she shall follow after her lover's but she shall not overtake them she shall seek them but she shall not find them then shall she say I will return and return I will go and return
to my first husband for then was it better with me than now you see what happened God loved her too much to turn his back God loved her too much as wipe his hands and say I know you're playing the harlot you've turned your back and done things that is disgraced my name and given the right to the accuser Satan to come to my presence and tell me what a low-down person that that you are and I shouldn't be loving you but God says I'm going
to get into your life and I'm going to be trouble to you I'm going to hedge up your way nothing's going to open up for you there's going to be thorns it's going to be curses you know what that's from that's a holy God trying to show you how bad it is in a life of sin and how good you had it back in the house of my first husband well wasn't it the prodigal son who could not enjoy the house of his father demanded of
him the inheritance off down the road into a far country went wasn't it the prodigal son who had been used he never worried about breakfast he never worried about luncheon or dinner he never worried about shoes he never worried about anything because his father provided it all to for him but when he finds himself in the Pigpen guess what comes to his mind how many servants in my father's house have bred enough in despair he saw how bad it was in the world he got up
he made his way back to his father's house just like some of you need to do today you need to get up out of your pig pen and you need to bet make your way back to your father's house and you need to fall into his arms and let him fault let him fall over you and you need to let him love you again and put the shoes on your feet that you so desperately need and the ring on your hand that you so desperately need
and the robe of righteousness that you so desperately need because I'm here to tell you today he's a God of second chances he's a God of new beginnings he's a God of mercy he's a God of love he's a God of opened arms today he is a God today that stands and says I'll leave 99 he's a god that will say preacher this morning on the telecast I don't want you to preach about prosperity and giving him being blessed preacher on the telecast today I want
you to tell them about my love but you know God the majority of us here today I know what right relationship with you but God says no my son I may have just one either there in the auditorium where they're watching my way of television to the World Wide Web it needs to feel my love one more time
Scripture references as spoken: 1 Corinthians 15:10; Galatians 2:20; 1 Timothy 1:15-17; 1 Chronicles 21:13; Lamentations 3:22; Hosea 2:5-7.