Poor In Spirit | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

if you have your bibles and turn with me to the book of matthew chapter five and verse number one and i thank you for the monitors tonight if you would just lower the monitors just just a bit for me i would appreciate it every church needs a man with a sound mind amen and i thank god for those men back there in the sound booth tonight matthew chapter five and verse number one we're going to read verses number one two and three while you're finding matthew five and one let me remind you of the 21 days of prayer that will continue tomorrow night from seven to eight pm and friday night from seven to eight pm and then saturday we're praying in our homes using the outline that brother erickson gave us and then sunday we'll be back here praying and then we will continue we'll take right back up on monday evening and certainly i said it before and i'll say it again i have been amazed uh my expectation level has has has went off out just out the roof of the people that have showed up uh for prayer if we put everybody together it would it would just about be the entire church that's come through for prayer and i appreciate that so very very much if you would i know that you're standing those of you that are physically able i know you stand in honor of the word of god could i add something to that would you go ahead and mute your phone right now would you go ahead and mute your phone all right in honor of the word of god would you would you mute your phone right now and and uh thank you man i think i i see a bunch of people muting their phone just go ahead and make sure honey would you make sure my mine is muted all right and it'd be just like me to give this announcement in my phone go off tonight um don't you think that the word of god is in honor of us giving our undivided attention to it tonight our undivided attention to the word of the lord matthew chapter number five and verse number one and seeing the multitudes he went up into a mountain and when he was set his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven for a few moments tonight i want to teach simply on the subject poor in spirit poor in spirit father i love you this evening i thank you tonight for my brothers and sisters of light precious faith i thank you tonight lord that you have called and assembled us here and that we have a desire on this midweek to come and to worship and to receive of your word lord what we receive tonight will alter our lives i pray tonight that you would anoint your servant i pray god for the ears to hear your word this evening i give you praise and give you honor speak to us o lord in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen you may be seated tonight you know any great government any great government has a document that is the foundation of that of that government for us our document is the declaration the declaration of independence it is a document that spells out democracy is it it is a document that spells out the role of government and the people jesus we could say in matthew chapter 5 we know this portion of scripture as the beatitudes it begins with the word blessed and it goes through a list of characteristics characteristics the personality the personality of the believer and it is commonly accepted that the beatitudes is somewhat like our declaration of independence that the beatitudes that jesus spelled out is what should be the standard it should be the standard of our personality as christians it's interesting when you study the word blessed you study the word blessed the word blessed simply means happy simply means happy now when we read that and we see that the word blessed means to be happy it gets all of our attention because i don't think there's anyone here tonight that doesn't want to be happy all right now i do realize there may be some twisted people that are happy being unhappy all right they are they are happy being unhappy but i i i i don't fall in that category uh everybody wants to be happy everybody wants to be happy and so when we use the word blessed we're all on board yes man that's hey if the word blessed means happy count me in i want to be happy but yet when we begin to examine the word happy we've got to understand that it goes far beyond our thoughts of being happy because when we think of the word happy there's another word that comes in called entertained all right we like to be entertained we like to be entertained or there's another word that comes in fleshly satisfaction we like that entertainment we like that comfort we like that it makes us happy we have a certain uh feel about this i'm happy with this product i'm happy with this but when it comes to the word blessed or happy in reference to god it takes on a new dimension it takes on a new dimension and what that dimension is is is an unspeakable indescribable essence that is about your life it's an it's a it's an un it's uns unspeakable it's it's indescribable but it's just an essence it's a it's something that permeates your being it's it's it's it's a sense of well-being it's a it's it's a sense of just everything is all right and everything is going to be all right it's a it's a godly it is a godly it's based on it's based on god himself this happiness is rooted and grounded that you can't divide it you can't take god out of the happiness you can't divide it god is in this in such a way that it's just simply described as a god happiness it's a god happiness blessed it begins well in first timothy chapter 1 and verse number 11 it's connected to god this blessedness that we're talking about is connected to god look at first timothy 1 and verse 11 paul says according to the glorious gospel of the blessed god of the blessed god which was committed to my trust in other words when it begins to describe god it places before him of the blessed god the god that wants us to be happy but in a real happiness a god that wants us to be content but a real contentment he says according to the glorious gospel of the blessed god as a matter of fact if you read from matthew chapter 25 and verse number 34 you'll hear this on that day on that day of judgment matthew 25 34 then shall the king say unto them on his right hand come ye blessed of my father you're going to hear that word come ye blessed of my father it is the blessed god come ye blessed of my father i believe it is very noteworthy i believe it is very noteworthy do you know the last word of the old testament the very last word of the old testament now before you go trying to thumb through can i tell you what the very last word of the old testament is curse curse that's the very last word of the old testament curse none of us want to live in the curse we don't want to live in the curse that's why god came to this earth is to turn the curse into a blessing and this beatitude this statement that he makes this first recorded message that he sets up just like our declaration of independence this first recorded message yes he began to proclaim the gospel but the first recorded classroom that he went up into a mountain and when he was set the disciples came to him and he said i want to give you the constitution i want to give you a teaching that should be the guard rails that's going to keep you going in the right direction and he started in matthew chapter 5 in verse number one verse number three blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven now you have to understand with me now that the greeks had two terms for poor all right they described poor in two ways there was two classes of poor people in that day number one there was where most of us would have fit in there was what was called the working poor all right the working poor now these people would work but they were poor they had enough education they had enough trade they had enough skill simply to work and to provide for their daily or their life's need and when they would talk about poor the greeks would say that man is the working poor but the greeks had another poor and they had another class of poor people and these were people that were beggars they were beggars may have been a handicap it was just something that kept them from being able to even be classified as the working poor these people were so poor that their only hope in life was to be a beggar they they they didn't fit in the working poor the only hope they had was to somehow connect themselves to someone else that could possibly provide for them what they needed it's interesting to note that when jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit he didn't use the word that the greeks used for the poor working class he used the word of the beggar he used the word of someone that says i don't have it in me there's no it's impossible i am so poor that in and of myself i cannot provide for my needs i am a beggar i believe that god requires that as christians we always live our lives knowing that we are beggars do not look within yourself for satisfaction you are hopelessly you are hopelessly lost without god you are hopelessly lost without god maybe if i could describe it to try to get someone to get what what if what if there was one man who had the cure for any cancer what if there was one man that had the cure he had the he had the the the the treatment the pills the the the chemical and he could he if you could get to him it didn't matter if it was a brain tumor it didn't matter if it was leukemia if you could just get to him but what if the price of the treatment was trillions of dollars you might as well turn around you can't borrow enough for that you have to turn around you say there there's just no way that i can i can meet that do you know that serving god we have to have a spirit that is poor to where we know i must have him i'm a beggar i'm not even the working class i'm a beggar if i don't get connected to him my life's over he's the only one that can get and so if i have to take on the role of a beggar i have to take on the role of a beggar well let's look could we just kind of read even through the bible how god presents beggars in first samuel chapter 2 verse number 8 this is the prayer of hannah after god miraculously caused her to conceive and samuel was born she had went hopeless without a child but because she connected herself as a beggar to god she later would say in first samuel two and eight look at how god views a beggar he raiseth up the poor out of the dust he raised up the poor out of the dust and lifted up the beggar from the dunghill that's as low as you can get a beggar is as low as you can get but he raiseth up the poor i don't know about you i want to connect to that he raiseth up the poor and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them watch where he sets you among princes does it say he sets you among the working class it says there is a drastic change that happens to your life oh if we could only reach out and embrace the god the god that wants to so elevate us and has a plan for us a plan that will blow your mind he raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory for the pillars of the earth are the lords and he has set the world upon them it seems like that god all through the bible is attached to beggars as a matter of fact if we read through the book of leviticus we would find that when god was giving laws he gave certain laws of protection to the poor to the fatherless to the widow and even to the stranger he said there's going to be there's come to some people that have no hope but me and they're going to be considered to be the beggar as a matter of fact it's not a parable this is not a parable because parables jesus when jesus taught a parable he never used names some people have said that that the rich man in hell and lazarus in heaven was a parable it was a parable it wasn't a parable and we know it wasn't a parable because he used names but what was lazarus this man that was in abraham's bosom heaven what was lazarus occupation he was a beggar he was a beggar he was dependent upon someone else yes he went down to the rich man's house she said well but but the rich man doesn't have a name that's obvious if you don't know jesus christ you don't have a name that's why he says depart from me i never knew you i i never i never knew you some someone said well you know if my dad doesn't make it to heaven or my mom doesn't make it to heaven or my brothers doesn't make it to heaven it won't be heaven to me can i tell you if they didn't know the lord you won't miss them you you won't miss them you you see if i get to heaven now i've got an older sister and by the help of god and her husband she's going to make it to heaven but i won't miss my baby sister in heaven why i never had one you see if you don't know god you don't have a name your house is dark that's why the bible talks about if there's just one in a household god will sanctify the whole house that doesn't mean that god will save that doesn't mean the whole house are saved that just simply means god recognizes that house because there's a believer there so the rich man no he's not named he didn't have to beg on earth did he what kind of life did he have he fared sumptuously what every day man he had the wind in his fist he didn't have to worry about light bills he didn't have to worry about doctor bills he didn't have to worry about anything but when he died all he wanted was a drop of water from the finger of a beggar i don't know about you tonight but a beggar's taking on a whole different role with me there's one in this house tonight that i can't do without and if i gotta if i got if i got to appear to be a beggar i'll appear to be a bigger lord i want you to know i need you tonight i i i need you beggars beggars beggars biggers as a matter of fact you go through the bible you find god doing things for beggars here's one in the book of mark chapter 10 verse 46 would you go there mark chapter 10 verse number 46 it says and they came to jericho and as he went out of jericho with his disciples a great number of people and a great number of people blind bartimaeus the son of timaeus set by the highway side what was he doing begging he's blind he is not even a part of the working poor he is blind the only thing he can do is to depend upon the compassion of others that's his old job his whole job is his whole life's existence is all wrapped up in if just some compassionate people come by today if i just have some compassionate people to come by today and he sat by the highway side and the bible says begging and when he heard that it was jesus of nazareth he began to say it with me he began to cry out and say jesus now son of david let me stop i'm going to get ahead of myself here but i just got to do it do you know it's a whole new dimension of praise is coming available to me now that i'm reading about blessed are the poor because this using your voice to cry out has nothing to do with your personality it has to do with your position or condition as a child of god has nothing to do that oh that guy's got type a this or that lady's got type b this or all that i'm going to tell you this is how we can prove we're all flesh you line 10 people up and you hit their thumb with a hammer all 10 are going to cry out does it matter if they're irish does it matter if they're cherokee indian doesn't matter if they're white black chinese or what they're all going to cry out get me 10 people that know god that love god that know that without him they can't make it and i'm telling you yeah there we go there's something just you know what i'm really saying to god right now i'm a beggar god i love you jesus i praise you lord i need you god i need you god i'm a beggar lord he begin to cry out and say jesus thou son of david have mercy on me and many charged him that he should hold his peace many came up and said shh be quiet you don't have to do that to get his attention shh calm down settle down you don't have don't you don't you just love it when people try to do that to you they try to tell you how you ought to respond to him people that have never spoke in tongues that are telling you you don't have to do that well you've come too late to tell me it don't happen you've come too late to say it doesn't happen or people that that'll say you you know i just don't really believe you have to be emotional and you just want to say to him have you ever tried it don't knock it till you tried it don't don't cry out like that blind bartimaeus but he cried the more a what great deal thou son of david have mercy on me and jesus stood still and commanded him to be called and they called the blind man saying be of good comfort rise he calleth for thee do you know why he cried out because he's a beggar his whole life depends on someone compassionate coming by but on this day i imagine he had heard hey hey rabbi rockefeller's coming by hey blind blind blind hey rabbi gold pockets is coming by hey hey but somebody had told him about jesus of nazareth he had began to hear about a man walking on water he began to hear about a man that was opening deaf ears he began to hear about a dead razor he began to hear about a miracle worker and on that day he's been he began to hear the noise of the crowd and he said what's going on is rabbi rockefeller coming by is rabbi gold pockets coming by and somebody said no jesus of nazareth he said man this is my one time jesus jesus oh i gotta connect myself with the one that can help me i don't know what your need is tonight but jesus is the answer i don't know what's in your life but he is our answer jesus that's why every service matters jesus and guess what jesus heard him and jesus said somebody poor in spirit is calling out now watch this this is amazing jesus stood still commanded him to be called and they called the blind man saying unto him be of good comfort rise he calleth thee verse 50 and he casting away his garment wait a minute what do you mean oh yeah i have this special handicap garment i have this special garment that identifies me as a beggar i have this special cloak around me that says i'm a beggar be compassionate to me i have this special garment but when jesus called for me he doesn't even have to heal my eyes yet but i'm going to go ahead and throw this garment away because i'm not going to need this garment any listen a lot of people are wearing garments tonight if you would become a beggar become poor in spirit you could go ahead and start throwing off a lot of the garments the garments of guilt the garments of condemnation the garments that life is unfair and you're never going to get ahead he cast aside his garment rose came to jesus jesus answered and said unto him what thou that i should do unto thee the blind man said unto him and i could just stop or i could just preach this whole thing tonight you know sometimes jesus wants you to tell him what you need you know you you a blind man comes running and jesus says okay now what you want me to do for you as if this is not obvious enough but even though it's obvious god wants to read your lips not your mind god would like to read your lips because from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and if you don't have any praise that means there's no praise in your heart you can sell yourself on that bill of goods that god really knows what's in my heart that's what scares me to death is he doesn't know what's in my heart so i better go ahead and get a poor spirit i better get a beggar's mentality because if i ever get that spirit on me then god i can't go through a service following my fingernails down i can't go through a service with my legs crossed and jacked back up on the pew i can't go i'm a beggar i gotta have you in my life i gotta have you right now i'm a beggar oh i wonder tonight if god's not walking the aisles here saying what do you have come forth and if somebody just say lord i've been depressed all day long god i'd like for this to lead me i wonder how many more touches of god we would have if he just walked by and i said god i've just been feeling down today and i just need a touch right now come on praise him beggars come on praise him beggars come on praise him beggars what do you want me to do lord that i might receive my sight jesus said unto him go thy way thy faith that may be whole and immediately he received his sight and followed jesus in the way blessed are the poor in spirit you got to catch on to that poor in spirit poor in spirit you ever heard somebody say to you you don't have the right spirit and you know you don't have the right spirit you know if you don't have a poor in spirit you don't have the right spirit you don't have the right you don't have the right spirit david had sinned grievously david had disgraced his god he found repentance but as he found repentance that took care of his past he wanted never again to fall into that trap so in psalms chapter 51 and verse number 10 psalms 51 and verse number 10 david cries out to god in a prayer create in me a clean heart oh god and renew help me now renew uh within me we knew a right spirit david had a bunch of wrong behavior you know why he had wrong behavior he had the wrong spirit wrong spirit creates wrong behavior but the right spirit creates the right behavior his cry was renew a right spirit within me later on in psalm 78 verse number 8 psalm 78 and verse number psalms chapter 78 and verse 37. he begins to speak about a people and he says in verse 8 and might not be as their fathers a stubborn and rebellious generation a generation that set not their heart a right and whose spirit was not steadfast with god i believe that a right heart is what produces faithfulness and consistency in our walk with god and we need more than just a right blessing on sunday night we need you do you know why and we don't we don't ever need to let it leave our church we ought to always leave from the altar whether anybody came to get the holy ghost whether any prodigals came to pray back through because i don't think i would be here today had it not been for the opportunity as a boy to get up around the altar and just cry out on what sunday night god give me the right spirit god god you know what i'm battling as a new convert god god you know the reaching from the world that still wants me the devil that's not ready to give up and god i just need you to put the right spirit in i i'm thankful for that second time of talking in tongues and that third time of talking in tongues and that that praying consistently praying back through you know why it created in me the right heart and the right spirit and it created a faithfulness i could live for god more than just sun monday and tuesday and fall off the wagon on wednesday i could start living for god on monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday saturday and if i had a little slip up i could get back and i could pray through again can i tell you that if we'll keep the right heart we can have a steadfast god wants you in this church more than just six months god wants you in this church more than just when the court date's over with god wants you in this church more than just when somebody's gone for your house god wants you in this church 24 7. verse chapter 78 verse 37 talking about this stubborn rebellious generation that did not set their heart look at verse 37 for their heart was not right with him neither were they steadfast in his covenant could instead fastly live for god could instead fastly serve god because their heart was not right could praise the lord when the sun was shining could praise the lord and pray when you had a dire need that was before you but what about when the sun is shining and there's no apparent needs in your life how about the ultimate need i need you i need you one of my favorite songs one of my favorite songs that i love to sing or i love to hear someone else sing let me be truthful i need thee oh i need thee every hour i need thee bless me now my gentle savior i come to thee oh what a song that ought to be our anthem what a song that ought to be our spiritual pledge allegiance i need thee oh i need thee every hour i need thee i need you lord you see there's something about and i'll go back to something about our praise and our heart psalms 34 and verse number 6 listen to the psalmist see if this helps you psalms 34 and verse number 6. this poor man what did he do would you say it again this poor man and the lord and saved him out and i think right there is the answer i'm all dependent upon one passing by me tonight that has the compassion and power to help me but i've got to cry out to him my praise is a testimony that i'm a spiritual beggar psalms 3 and verse number 4. here it is again it's tied together it's tied together in psalms 3 and verse 4. i cried unto the lord with my voice and he heard me out of his holy heel selah i cried to the lord now come on now put your feet out just a little bit i might step on them tonight i might step on tonight what really hinders people from praising god huh man i might as well shut my bible go home right now pride pride can i read you a verse of scripture in proverbs 16 and 18. proverbs 16 and 18 simply says this pride goeth before destruction if you got pride there's destruction in your pathway pride go up before destruction but i'm not done with this verse anna halty spirit before fall now wait a minute now we can be poor in spirit right we can be right in our spirit or wrong in our spirit what about being healthy in our spirit you know how halty is don't you it's self-exalted arrogant i like that word arrogant self-exalting i i i you know i just don't think you have to do that i i just i just i you you know i i just i i just you know i i just don't think you have to do do all that you know so because your your spirit your spirit's healthy you got a healthy spirit and um let me just say this and i'm coming to a close you are going to show emotions people that say i assume we have to do that well they do so they do they do something to express themselves they do they do let me say this everybody's going to cry out it's just who you're crying out to don't tell me it has anything to do with education because you can go to these concerts and the educators will be there their concerts guess what they're doing crying out so you're going to cry out but i'd like to know who you're going to cry out to you're going to run either to or from david said by you o god i have run through a truth you see you're either going to be have the power of god to run through a truth or you're going to have the power of yourself to run from a truth by the o god have i run through a truth and by the o god i have leaped over a wall you see you are either going to run from a truth or run into a wall but i would rather cry out to him and be given the power to run through a troop and not run into the wall but leap over the wall you're ever you're gonna cry everybody's gonna cry out why don't you just cry out to what's right everybody's going to sing why don't you just sing the right song it's coming today revelation chapter 6 verse 12. this day is coming this day is coming revelation chapter 6 and verse number 12. turn to your neighbor and say this days are coming now that's about 50 of you come on i said turn to your neighbor and say this days are coming and i beheld when he had opened the sixth seal and lo there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became his blood and the stars of heaven fell into the earth even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rowed together and every mountain and island were moved out of their place and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and ever bondmen and ever freeman hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and the rocks fall on us hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand can i tell you there's coming a time that everybody is going to get emotional about the times that are around now i'm not trying to be cute this is not a little cute saying but it is the god's gospel truth i am headed to the marriage supper of the lamb i am heading to that great marriage supper of the lamb because we are the are the are the lamb the bride we are the bride of the lamb we are headed to a great reception of all receptions i'm headed to the marriage supper of the lamb but in that same book of revelation the bible talks about a war and the bible talks about so much carnage that blood will run for 240 miles to the horse's bridle that god will have to summons the birds of the earth and say come to the supper of the great god listen to this now you're going to fall on one of the side of the table you're either going to go to dinner or you're going to be dinner it's all how you act right now you're either going to go to the marriage supper or you're going to be the flesh that'll be eaten don't know about you but i want to be a beggar tonight i want to be poor in spirit jesus i need you jesus i've got to have you jesus i need you in my life god lord i need you on my job lord i need you in my marriage lord i need you raising my children lord i need you and always god i need you i need you in my college classes i need you about my career i need you and how to choose a mate god i want you to know i need you lord oh just remain standing right now would you everybody brother mike fuller everybody is going to be emotional it's just what are you emotional about don't tell me people in georgia don't get emotional it didn't matter if he's pentecostal presbyterian or atheist if you were a go dogs fan you got excited and if you lived in alabama you showed an emotion you were sad he said why are you saying that because you're going to put your emotion somewhere why don't you put them where it matters come on why don't you put them where it matters i close with this i close i close with this i close with this they needed and had a showdown elijah said to the false prophets of baal said take a sacrifice said call on the name of your gods and the god that answered by fire you know what if you look at it if you really look at it what they did was a lot of the same things that people did i mean the worshipers of jehovah some of the things the worshipers of jehovah did the false the false prophets of baal put their sacrifice out there and they began to call on the name of baal oh bail help us oh baal would you help us bail would you help us and you got to hand it to him you got to hand it to him they hung in that prayer meeting to noon and then when when they couldn't get their prayer answered they start leaping they started leaping they leaped on the altar and then when they didn't met the thorpe when they didn't get that they start prophesying to each other yeah i say unto bell bell saith that fire shall fall i want you to know there's something special about your life god's going to do something i see it in your future i i see that it says they prophesied brother name they were prophesying i'm telling you thus saith baal right now stay at it bell is on the way bell has seen your tears bill bill has heard your cry but nothing happened you can have all the emotions you want to but if you're not having it to the right god nothing's going to happen but when he but when elijah stepped out there and prayed a 58 word prayer he put his emotions to the right god and the fire fell i just end with this tonight blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven what's that mean it's a blank check write whatever you need because god is able to fulfill whatever his will is blessed all the poor let me tell you something hmm hallelujah oh if you'll just get a bigger spirit god will blow your mind on the doors that he'll open for you oh yes if you just get a beggar spirit or college student tonight if you just get a better spirit it's amazing what god's going to do in your life it's amazing how god's going to work for you come on just get a better spirit right now god i can't make it without you lord i need you in my life god i can't make it lord without you i need you in my life lord come on come on just open up your mouth come on just open up your mouth some of you are wondering some of you are afraid because you're standing by somebody don't worry about what they think they can't help you they're not going to be the one that charts your course why don't you just throw your head back right now and just love on jesus for a moment before we go home oh yes lord hallelujah oh yes lord hallelujah i love you jesus i need you jesus i've got to have you jesus you're my everything jesus you're my alpha and my omega you're my bride and my morning star oh yes lord i need you hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah you watch god start turning some things around for you right now hallelujah oh praise the lord i need you lord i'm not ashamed of you jesus i want you to know i'm not ashamed to you right now lord i praise you right now lord i'm not ashamed of you i'll clap my hands to you right now lord i'm not ashamed to clap my hands lord i'm not ashamed to lift up my voice i'll let my friends know i love jesus i love you jesus oh yes and i wish i wish kay hannah or laurie hawkins or chad erickson could do this tonight but um we want to go home here in just a minute but could we just sing our anthem right now