The Advantages of Submission | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

The book of Luke, chapter number one. Luke, chapter number one, verse number 26. And again, so good to see everyone in the house of the Lord tonight. And on this beautiful uh Wednesday evening Bible study. Thank you so much for being in the house of the Lord. And let me go ahead and tell you that what brother Hammond was saying about that Christmas offering. Um, and it's a it's a tough decision. Brother Clayurn wears us out. We don't he probably started a month ago telling us and I want you to announce this. I want you to announce this. I want you to announce this. And then when it comes down a few weeks before Christmas, he starts saying things like, "If you don't announce it, I'm going to blackmail you." Okay. And uh so we we we you know we get he he started talking about Carpenter Carpenter Ericson Hammond. Carpenter. I thought man that sounds like a Jewish law firm he's talking about. Carpenter Carpenter Ericson Hammond. And uh thank you so much for being for being so thoughtful. Are you ready for the word tonight? Luke 1 26. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin and spoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel came in unto her and said, "Hell, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women." When she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be? Seeing I know not a man. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, would you repeat those three words with me right now? And Mary said, "Behold, the handmade of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word." And the angel of the Lord departed from her. For a few moments tonight, I want to minister on the subject, the advantages, the advantages of submission. The advantages of submission. As we pray over the As we pray over the word tonight, I want to thank God for keeping his hand upon two of our members here, Sister Satan and brother John Cornet. Uh both had car accidents uh this past week and both walked away virtually without any kind of major u injuries. And I just tell you, if we'll pray over them, if they had been injured, we ought to praise God over them that they walked away. Amen. Father, I love you tonight. Lord, I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Lord, I thank you, God, for these wonderful, beautiful people that have come out to hear your word. Lord, I pray that for the next few moments that you would captivate our minds, our hearts, and that Lord, we would receive tonight your word that would change our lives. God, we'll give you all the praise, give you all the glory. In Jesus' name we all pray. Amen. And amen. You may be seated tonight. The advantages, the advantages of submission. On Monday, I was praying at my home. And as I begin to pray, some words kind of automatically begin to flow from my lips. And I didn't want to break I didn't want to break the spirit of prayer that was in. And so I just opened the door and uh my wife, she too was in the bedroom and she was praying and I interrupted her and I said, "Honey, write this down. Write this down. Submission must come before actions. Submission must come before actions. And I'm going to I'm going to deal with this tonight. This is what really inspired me because submission of our spirit is the foundation of our walk with God. can have all the actions that you want to have. And you can you can go a certain length of time doing the right thing, but you will eventually quit if you're not founded upon the spirit of submission. The spirit of submission. And so I began to study and I found uh this most timely passage of scripture where uh it was time for redemption to come to the earth. John the Baptist, uh, his parents, uh, Zachcharias and Elizabeth, um, she became pregnant, who had been called barren, and she was six months pregnant. And the angel of Gabriel, the angel Gabriel was sent from God uh, to a virgin that was engaged to a man by the name of Joseph. And of course, when the angel appeared to Mary and began to tell her the plan of God, began to tell her the plan that God had for her life, Mary was troubled and and uh she wondered what kind of salutation, what what kind of salutation is this? What kind of communication is this? And the angel went and told her that she would give birth to the son of God, that she would give birth to the Messiah of his kingdom, there shall be no end. And of course, she did not ask this question in doubt. She didn't ask it because she doubted what the angel said. Uh now, Zachcharias, he doubted what the angel said. And because he doubted, God took his ability to talk until after the child was born. Because he doubted, God wanted to take away his ability to talk. Because you know, when God makes a promise, you don't want to talk yourself out of it. Anything you want to do, you want to talk yourself into it. And so Mary asked a question, but it wasn't in doubt. It was a sincere question. She said, "How could this be, seeing that I know not a man? How how could this be? I I have never had a relationship with a man." The angel goes in and tells her that the Holy Ghost is going to cause this. The Spirit of God is going to overshadow her. She's going to conceive in her womb. And then he gave one of my favorite scriptures, Luke 1:37. And I would like for it to be your favorite scripture or one of your favorite scriptures. For with God nothing shall be impossible. With God nothing shall be impossible. And then verse 38, everything hinges on this. Everything hinges on this. It wasn't automatic. It wasn't the angel spoke it. It's going to happen, Mary. There's nothing you can do for it not to happen. That's not so. There had to be verse 38. And verse 38 was the demonstration that Mary submitted her spirit to God. For she says in verse 38, "And Mary said, Behold the handmade of the Lord." Behold the handmade of the Lord. Be it unto me. Be it unto me according to your word. Behold the handmade of the Lord. Be it unto me according to your word. And look at the last sentence in verse 38. And the angel departed from her. That's all the angel needed for her to have that submitted handmaidaden spirit. Mary the mother of Jesus. Notice she referred to herself, Sister Carpenter, as the handmade of the Lord. She accepted Gabriel's message that she would conceive. And Mary's willingness to serve the plan of God with humility and obedience is a powerful example for you and I to examine on this Wednesday evening. Behold the handmade of the Lord. Now in the Bible, the term handmade is used to refer to a female servant or attendant. Handmaids were women who served in various capacities such as helping with household chores, caring for children, assisting their mistresses. The role of a handmmaid was one of service and obedience to their masters or their mistress. In other words, when Mary referred to herself as a handmade, she was not she wasn't filled with pride that she was going to carry the son of God. She wasn't filled with some kind of look who I am. She simply demonstrated to God, I am your handmaidaiden. I am your handmaiden. As a matter of fact, I give you a little homework. I give you a little homework. I didn't have a lot of time. It the thought just hit my mind. I kind of scribbled a few things down. Well, I didn't scribble it. I typed a few things out here. And uh find me very many conversations that Mary says. Now, you you you will find you you will find conversations Mary is in, but you won't find very many conversations in the Gospels that it's actually that Mary Mary says this. All right. Um you you'll find of course the one how would this be seeing that I know not a man you you've heard that is a direct quote from her how would this be um I I I think again uh my mind memory serves me right um Jesus is 12 years old they go to Jerusalem to worship and they go back home and they leave uh they they leave and Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem and then we do hear of Mary saying the words to Jesus remember the words your Father and I have sought thee sorrowfully. In other words, that's a direct word she says. But I think the most powerful words that are a direct quote from Mary, a quote that I believe really demonstrates that she was a handmaiden and she was a servant is when she attended a wedding in Canaa of Galilee and they came to her and they said, "They have no wine." And she went to Jesus and said, "Jesus, they have no wine." And Jesus makes a statement that uh uh still kind of baffles Bible scholars today. A woman, what do I have? And that's not a disrespect. He wasn't disrespecting. None of you kids go home and call your mother woman. You might get that won't that may not that won't work. I I hear I hear mother saying that won't work. All right. He said,"Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour is not yet come. But here's the famous words. If you can, if you can quote it with me, quote it. Whatever he says for you to do, do it. Whatever he says for you to do, she had that true, she had that true handmmaiden spirit. You see, I believe that God can do a lot of things with us if we just have that spirit inside of our heart is right. That is the first place God looks. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse number 12. Listen to what Paul says. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not. Paul says what God's looking for first and foremost is a willing mind. Or could I say this evening, a willing spirit. People talk about what they don't have to give. People talk about what they don't have in their life. God is not looking at what you don't have. God is looking at your heart. And if your heart has a willing spirit, do you know God ahead and God accepts that willing spirit. Second Corinthians again 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse number 7 talked about giving. It goes like this. every man according as he purposed upth in his heart. So let him give not grudgingly nor of s nor nor of nor or of necessity. For God help me now. For God what? A what? God loves a what now? A cheerful giver. And where's that cheer come from? That cheer comes from the bottom of your heart. Let me tell you something tonight. Whether you had a nickel to put in the offering container when it went by or you had a $50 bill to put in, you ought to put it in with a cheerful heart, or if you didn't even have anything but pocket fuzz to put in the bucket tonight. You ought to reached out and got a hold of the rim and said, "Thank you, Lord, that I'm alive. And Lord, if I had it, God, I would give it to you." And God goes ahead and marks you up as a giver. There's advantages. There's advantages to being and having a submitted spirit. There's advantages to that. Matter of fact, let me end this part of my my lesson with Exodus chapter 25 verse number two. You'll find both God in the New Testament loved a cheerful giver and even in the Old Testament when they were building the tabernacle. Exodus 25 and2 God said speak unto the children of Israel that they bring me an offering of every man that giveth it how willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. Even God God said God said I want you to I want you to give God said I want you to give I want you to give that offering. I want you to give it willingly and I want you to give it with your heart. Would you just lift your hands right now? And could we willingly give God a praise right now, a worship right now? I mean, I'm I'm just talking about going from ground zero and lifting your hands and lifting your voice and willingly giving him a sacrifice of praise and a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Giving him a praise right now. Giving him giving him a praise. Oh, don't you love Jesus tonight? But let me tell you something. Being highly favored of God, being in the plan of God, and having a submitted spirit with God doesn't always mean things are going to go smoothly in your life. If you really think about think about how Mary submitted to the will of God, she submitted to the plan of God. Behold the handmaiden of the Lord. That's a great day. Behold the handmaiden of the Lord. Oh, what a great day. But do you know a few months later Mary finds herself with her engaged husband saying, "You've been with another man. You have been with another man. You you you have committed you have committed fornication. You have been with another man. And I will put you away." Now, I'm not making this up. This is in the Bible. See, don't always think that just because you're favored of God, everything's going to be rosy. Sometimes when you get in the will of God, when you get in the will of God and you begin to line your life up with the will of God, it's not if it may happen. It is when it will happen, you will be misunderstood and mislabeled by somebody that's got something opposite to say about you. And my friend, my friend, if what somebody can say about you will cause you to get off of God's potter's will, you don't even need to get on God's potter's will because it's not if someone says something. It's when someone says something. Joseph was going to put her away. No doubt he may. No doubt he talked to her about it. No doubt there was friction there. Do what? an angel appeared to you. The Holy Ghost is going to come on. Come on, tell me something else. He had to go to sleep. And in his sleep, an angel had to come and tell him, "Don't you put her away. For that which is conceived in her is of God. It's in the plan of God." And Joseph got up. Can I tell you something? Don't give up on your critics. God can give your critics a dream. Don't give up on your enemies. Pray for your enemies. God can turn the heart of your enemy around. Is God not able? Do you realize that God can make your worst enemy your best friend? So, you really believe that? Well, I believe Luke 1:37. For with God, all things are possible. Nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible with God. So, Joseph gets up. He goes in. He says, "Hey, I'm not mad at you anymore. Hey, I'm not going to I'm not going to leave you anymore. I'm not going to put you aside anymore. Why? I had a dream last night. You're exactly right, God. This isn't the plan of God. But can I tell you that all through the life of Jesus, there was a rumor that went out about him, that Mary and Joseph had come together sexually before they were married. And therefore, Jesus was referred to, and please excuse me tonight, but Jesus was referred to as a bastard child. He was referred to by the religious group. Of course, we find this in John chapter 8 and verse number 41. Jesus is somewhere around 30, 30, 31, 32 years of age here. And he's he's talking to the Pharisees. And he says to the Pharisees in John 8:41, he says to the Pharisees, "Ye do the deeds of your father." Then said they unto him, "We be not born of fornication. We have one father, even God." In other words, that one phrase right there, most Bible scholars believe that it was a it was a slur. It was a way of picking him because he was exposing their hypocrisy. And as he began to expose his hypocrisy, they bow bow their shoulders back and said, "Well, I'll tell you one thing about me. We weren't born of fornication like you were born of fornication. I got news for you. When you get on when you get on God's plan and you begin to develop that submissive spirit, get ready. Get ready for a bumpy bumpy road. As a matter of fact, as a matter of fact, let me help you tonight. As a matter of fact, having a submitted spirit will work in any condition of your walk with God. If you're here tonight and if if if you're here tonight and you would come up later and talk to me and say, "Bill Carpenter, I'm telling you, I've been coming to church, but I've been checked out for a long time. Well, Carpenter, I've been here, but I I've not really been where I'm I'm I'm I'm out. I'm out of God's will. Can I tell you? Can I tell you that submission will work in your life wherever you're at? You're a prodal. Submission will work out of the will of God. Out of the will of God, submission will work for you. Let's go to Genesis chapter 16, verse number one. You still with me tonight? Amen. The advantages of submission. Genesis 16 verse number one. Now Sarahi, Abram's wife, bare him no children. And she had a handmade. Okay. She had a handmade, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abram, "Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto my maid, that it may be that I I may obtain children by her. Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarahi. And Sarahi, Abram<unk>'s wife, took Hagar, her maid, and the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt 10 years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to him uh her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. I'm going to tell you something. Hagar got out of her role of being a handmmaid. And yes, she was changed and became Abram's wife. Although the angel in a few moments will not refer to her as is as is Abram's wife because that was never the will of God, right? for Hagar to be Abram's wife. But when Hagar conceded, she began to despise Syria. That Seri wanted her to draw some water. And Sarah, no. Uh I mean, Hagar said, "No, uh I'm not going to draw you any water. I'm I I'm just as much a wife to Abram as you are. You You go get me some water. I'm pregnant. My feet are swollen. You You go You go. You You go You go get me." and she despised her in her heart. And here's where things kind of go haywire. And uh verse 15, Sarah said unto Abram, "My wrong be upon thee. I have given my maid into thy bosom." And when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. The Lord judged between me and thee. Now, here is where we can turn around. You'll never get out of you. You'll never get back in the will of God until you admit that you're out of the will of God. And we say a lot, we say a lot to about Sarah. I call her Seri. She would later be called Sarah, but you can say a lot about it. At least when she was wrong, she would admit she was wrong. We were driving the other day. We were driving the other day with uh my my brother-in-law and my my sister-in-law um Mike and Robin and we were driving on a little country road up around Newport and uh I needed to turn around and um Mike said to me, he said, "Right there is a church. That's a good place to turn around." I said, "Mike, I'll preach that message, man. You know, the church is a good place to turn your life around. You I was going in the wrong direction. That's nothing new for me. I was going in the wrong I talk too much when I drive. I was going in the wrong direction, but you can find the church and you can turn around and you can start going in the right direction if you find a church. You see, what's wrong with people tonight is they know they're wrong, but they won't admit they're wrong and they keep going down the wrong road. Let's give Sarah a hand right now. Come on, let's give She said, "I was wrong. Wrong be upon me in my book. The wrong wrong be upon me. I've given you something that was not God's will. Verse 16 or verse six, please. But Abram said unto Sarahi, "Behold, thy maid is in thy hand, due to her as it pleasth thee." And when Sarah Sarahi dealt hardly with her rough, she fled from her face. Now, it wasn't the will of God for her to go. Don't care how hard it gets in your life. Don't get out of the will of God. How difficult. If you know you're in the will of God, you keep doing what you're doing. Even when it's a level load road, and even when it's uphill, you keep doing what you're do. If you're if you believe you're in the will of God and you got friends sitting with you tonight, you stay in the will of God when you don't have anybody sitting with you tonight. You keep doing the will of God. So she dealt she dealt hardly with her. And um verse six, but when Abram but Abram said unto Sarah, "Behold, I made this in thy hand do to her as it pleasth thee." And when Sarahi dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness. by the fountain in the way to shure. The way to shure is the way back to Egypt. Where was Hagar going? She was going back to Egypt. That's where Abram and Sarah bought her was in Egypt. And she's going back to Egypt. Get get out of the will of God. Don't go back to Egypt. Don't go back. The angel of the Lord found her there. Found her there. And listen to the angel. Listen to the angel of the Lord. Verse eight. And he said, "Hagar, Sarah's maid, whence camest thou, and wheither wilt thou go?" I believe if anybody when they get out of the will of God will begin to remember where they've come from and where they're going, I believe they'll turn around and go back. He said, "Where did you come from?" Where did you come from? Where you going? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Seri. And the angel, are you ready for this now, church? Are you ready? And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands. He said, you're out of the will of God, and you need to go back to your mistress and do what? Submit yourself. It's difficult. It was never the will of God. It was never the will of God for Abraham to be with her. But now that you have got out of the will of God, God is not finished with you. God can still work with you. You've just got to be willing. You've just got to be willing to endure some bad seed that you've sown. But if you'll just endure that bad seed, look at what the angel says. Said, "Go back and submit thyself under her hands." And the angel said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child. Thou shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because the Lord heard thy affliction. Guess what the name of Ishmael means? God will hear. I don't care if you got out of the will of God. I'm not preaching for you to get out of the will of God, but if you get out of the will of God, God will hear your prayer. Don't stay out of the will of God because God will hear your prayer. And he says, "You're with child. You'll have a son. His name will be Ishmael. He will be verse 12, a wild man. His hand will be against every man, every man's hand against him. and he shall dwell in the presence of all of his brethren. Now, I know that that that verse there, Ishmael, he is the father of the Arab race, but listen to me tonight. Do not categorize all Arab people as terrorist. Don't even categorize all Middle Eastern as terrorist. All right? That's wrong to do that. There are good Arabs that are filled with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Baptized in Jesus' name. Fil filled with the Holy Ghost. Don't categorize all of them. Now, yes, Ishmael's a wild man, but don't categorize all of them. Don't categorize all of the Arabs in lump into into that. We could have our own race categorized by some something that someone has done and that's not right to do that. Right. Well, both Mary and Hagar have an open heart and an obedient spirit. They have an attitude toward the plan of God for their lives. Mary follows the perfect plan of God and gives birth to the son of God. Hagar follows a plan that was not God's will. But she becomes the mother. She becomes the mother of a race of people. What is the first thing that we need to do to be submitted? There's no way that you will be submitted until you surrender your spirit. You got to surrender. Even the terminology with preaching today has changed. 50 years ago, altar calls were given that went like this. Come and surrender your life to God. Today, we hear alter calls like this. Come and commit yourself to Christ. You see the difference? When you surrender, you have no rights. When you commit yourself, you keep your rights. You just commit a part of you to God. I'm here to tell you, God is not looking for commitments tonight. And may the saints of first apostolic church never be commi people that are just committed. May we be people that is said we have surrendered our lives to God. We have surrendered our right. I have no rights tonight. I have surrendered them all to the master. And oh what a wonderful life we're living. What a wonderful life we're living tonight. Being surrendered to God. A matter of fact I show you. You got to surrender. You got to surrender. Acts chapter nine. Acts chapter 9 verse number one. And Saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord went unto the high priest desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. He's one more bad guy now. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus. And suddenly there shine round about him a light from heaven. He fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. He is saying, brother Fart, he's saying, Saul, you know, I've been I've been pricking you with my presence. Hard to kick against the pricks is is is that is that is a a a farming tool that was used to to to stab the back of the foot of an animal that was stalled. They would stab the back of the foot and it would cause pain and he would move on. And God said, "Saul, I've been dealing with you. You you you you just don't know. I I've been I've been trying to deal with you. How long are you going to kick against the pricks? Look at verse six. Because here's the response. And Saul trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? What do we have here? A surrendered spirit. He's a Christian killer. He is a blasphemer. He is a blasphemer. He doesn't believe that Jesus has risen from the dead. He doesn't believe he was God. He is using his life to persecute stamp out the church. But now he has this he has this experience on the Damascus road and he says these words, "What wilt thou have me to do? I'm surrendered." Now, I'm going to tell you something. I doubt people's conversion after they come to the altar and they say, "Man, I got a touch from the Lord tonight, but I'll tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to do XYZ." That don't sound like conversion to me. That sounds like a contract. When God really gets a hold of your heart, there's nothing that you would tell God, "God, I won't do." When God gets a hold of your heart, you surrender all the rights that you have and you just simply say, "God, what will you have me to do?" Give him a hand of praise right now. Matter of fact, it is in the foundation of the birth of the church. Acts chapter 2:37. Look at Acts chapter 2 and verse 37. Now, when they heard this, there's that word pricked again. They were pricricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, let's finish that out as a congregation. Men and brethren, that sound like submission to me. That sound like a submitted spirit to me. Lord, what do you want me to do, God? Lord, what shall we do? You see, when your spirit is submitted, you have bankrupt your resources for life. When your spirit is submitted, you you humbly confess, I am spiritually bankrupt. I'm spiritually bankrupt. That means you are poor in spirit. Do you know in the Bible days that if you were poor, if you were poor, you were so disadvantaged because you could never get in a school of learning being poor. There was no way you could be taught to read or write if you were poor. If you were poor, you were left up to go somewhere in town and listen to an old man read from an Old Covenant law. We know it today by the Old Testament. But do you know something? Being spiritually poor is the best thing that could ever happen to us. Because when we admit we're spiritually poor, look what Matthew chapter 5 verse number three says. Blessed are the poor in what? Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I may not have money to go to Yale. I may not have money to go to a college. And I may not have money to get some kind of education and some kind of knowledge. But if I'm poor in spirit that I can go to the house of God and let them open up the word of God, I become rich as heaven. You know, some of the old-timers used to sing songs like this. I'm a poor poor rich man. Oh, I'm a poor poor rich man. You know what? I I listen, I know some rich poor people. But I'm glad tonight to preach that I'm a poor poor. Aren't you thankful that your spirit got bankrupt one day and you came to the altar and you said, "Lord, what will you have me to do?" Oh, I believe it'd be a good time to love on Jesus for a moment. I believe it'd be a good time to love on Jesus for a moment. Lord, I I want to have a poor spirit. I want to have a poor spirit because the opposite of that is Proverbs chapter 16 verse number 18. Look at this closely. Proverbs chapter 16 verse number 18. Pride pride goeth before destruction and a halty spirit before a fall. A halty spirit. There's a lofty spirit. A halt a a halty spirit is a spirit that believes it's above you looking down on you. It's a spirit that thinks it's better than you. There's nothing wrong with wearing nice clothes, driving a nice car, and living in a nice house, and even eating a good restaurant. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you ever get in your spirit that you're better than somebody else because you got a suit on and you got shoes on and you got a new car and you got a house and you think you're better than anybody, you just better watch out because pride goeth before, destruction, and a halty spirit before a fall. a halty a halty spirit. You see, you'd like to really keep an humble spirit low to the ground so when you do fall, you don't have far to go, right? You have a good that's why that's why halty people lofty people they don't show m much mercy to other people because they see every time somebody falls they see they get on the they just get one more rung on the ladder of being some super spiritual hero but when you are a person an humble person and somebody falls you give them mercy because you consider your own self you consider your own self listen I'd rather stay low to the ground so when I fall. I don't fall very I don't fall very far. A halty a halty spirit. Look at verse 19 of that same chapter. Better it is to be of an humble spirit, an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud. James 4, this is really where we get here. James 4 and6. This is really where I want the church to live. I want you to live right here. James 4:6. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud. Oil and water don't mix. Pride and God don't mix. Matter of fact, God resists the proud, but giveth more grace unto the humble. Here's where I want us to live. It's where I want us to live. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Now here here's what I want you to understand. You do you don't need to have preacher religion. You don't need to have brother Carpenter religion. Thank you for respect. Thank you for honor. But don't have carpenter religion. Well, I'm submitted to brother Carpenter. I hope you never say those words. I want you to say I'm submitted to God. I'm submitted to God. Now, I'm going to tell you something. If you submit to God, you'll be submitted to a spiritual leader, but you don't get the cart before the horse. All right? You first got to get It don't work that way. You'll live for God. You you you'll do the action. That's why I was in the I was in the I was in the room praying. I I stopped it because the words come to my mind. The words come to my mind. You got to have submission before you have action. You start with action because the preacher says it. And you may do it for a while, but you'll eventually stop. But if you could ever get connected, plugged in to God. It's God that'll keep you going and going and going and going, I'm not going home with you tonight, but God is. I'm not going to work with you tomorrow morning, but God is. If you get cancer, I can't heal you, but God can. If your kids go astray, I can't get a hold of them, but God can. That's why we got to be submitted. Oh, let me let me rush you on tonight. We got to be submitted to God. Matter of fact, we find this we find this in Hebrews chapter 13 verse number 17. James said, "Submit yourself to God." And here's the order. Hebrews 13:17. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls. as that they must give an account that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Now, we're getting it right. God loves you enough to give you a person in your life. God loves you enough to give you a person in your life. And the preacher is not here just to bury you when you die and to marry you when you want to get married. The preacher is there to give you the word of God, to introduce you, to get you into a relationship with God through the word so that you can you can live. Let me let me just keep on going. I got something I want to This is interesting to me. Turn with me to Exodus chapter 13 verse number 12. Everybody still happy tonight? Say amen. Everybody still happy tonight? Say amen. Amen. That sound like everybody. That sounds good. That sound like everybody. Exodus chapter 13:12. Now, you do realize when you when we go read Exodus, you do realize that in the Old Testament, God has given hints and and he's kind of pulling back the the the the veil of this is what I'm going to do in the New Testament. All right? I'm I'm going to do this in the New Testament. And I'm giving you some type types and shadows. This this is interesting. Exodus 13:12, God says that thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that open the matrix or that's the womb and every first sling that cometh of a beast which thou hast the males shall be the Lord's. Now he said now now when an animal gives birth that firstborn belongs to God. it. The first one belongs to God. But now he calls out one certain animal. And he says in verse 13, "And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb. And if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck, and all the firstborn of man among the children shalt thou redeem." I find it interesting that he would say now the firstborn of an animal and the firstborn of a human male belongs to me. But there was one animal that is known known for being stubborn. There's one animal that's known for being stubborn. You don't have to put blinders on an ox. All right? You don't have to put blinders, these big things that go around their eyes like that on an ox. An ox doesn't get distracted very much. An ox just bows his head. An ox will just keep plowing and keep plowing and keep plowing. But a donkey, a donkey, you got to carry you stick. You got to carry you something. And then you got to put these blinders on because that donkey, he's prone to want to look around. He is an animal that is stubborn by nature. Stop elbowing one another tonight. He is stubborn by nature. And God says when that firstborn of that donkey is born, the only way he can live is a lamb. Oh my god. A lamb has got to die in order for the donkey to live. And it says, if the lamb is not offered, what were they to do to the donkey? Break his neck. In other words, if you saw that donkey coming down the road, you knew that a lamb had died in order for that d. I know you you already know where I'm going tonight. I'm here to tell you tonight that the only way that we can have the right spirit is for us to understand the death of the lamb. You tell me what God could ask of you or I that we would not be willing to do when we read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and find out what God did for us so that we could live with salv. You tell me one thing, I'm telling you, when you see me coming down the road, you better know it's not by might. It's not by power. It's not by my own righteousness. There was the death of a lamb in order for me to live. There was the death. He said that lamb, that donkey's born. The only way that donkey can live is for you to kill a lamb. And the donkey is alive because of the lamb. Now, I don't think this I don't think I'm stretching this. I don't think I'm stretching this at all. Old Testament, the donkey only was saved by the death of the lamb. That's the only way the donkey was saved, by the death of the lamb. The donkey's nature represents our nature. stubborn, self-willed, do it on my own, can't focus, can't keep our minds on any one thing here and there. I don't think I'm stretching that. Matter of fact, I know I'm not stre I'm not even going to say that because I'm not I'm stretching it. It had to be the death of the lamb to save the life of the donkey. Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21 and verse number one. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Beth Bethagia, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway you shall find an ass tied, and a coat with her. Loose them, and bring them unto me. If any man say ought unto you, you shall say, the Lord have need of them, and straightway he will send them, all this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and setting upon an ass, and the and a coat of the fold of an ass. Now, he rode into Jerusalem and fulfilled the scripture in the Old Testament. But isn't it amazing that the lamb of God, oh hallelujah, that the lamb of God would choose that donkey. And a matter of fact, he would choose two of them. He would choose two of them. Now, I know he could only ride one, but he could only choose two of them. He could choose the one he was going to ride on and the other one could ride there beside. Now, some believe that he was he was a typology and this possibly could be so. It could be so. typology of the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews will not allow the lamb to set on its back. The Jews rejected him. But us crazy Gentiles, us sinner people said, "Hey, I got to live. I can't live. They'll break my neck. Sin will break my life. Sin will destroy me. Come on, lamb of God. Ride on the back of this donkey. Come on, lamb of God. I I I'm stubborn, but if you can get on my back, it'll change me. I can't keep my attention, but if you can get on my back, I'll keep going straight forward. I don't believe I'm I I know I'm not stretching that. I'm going to tell you what a lot of I'm going to tell you what we all need. The only thing that can master us lock, stock, and barrel, the only thing that can disciple us is let the lamb get on our back. Because if we don't let the lamb get on our back, we're good for nothing but to have our neck broke. But I want the lamb on my back. Don't I I want I I want the lamb. I want the lamb on my back. Well, let me bring this to an end tonight. You know, if there's anything we need, submission cannot come from a hard heart. I said submission cannot come from a hard heart. Twice in the Bible, Hosea and Jeremiah, God gives a plea to his people. Break up your fow ground. What's he saying? No need for me to rain on you. People sitting around saying, "Well, if God would touch me, if God would touch me one more time, I'm telling you, God's touching you. But if your ground is hard, you're not receiving it. You got to break up your fow ground. Twice Hosea and Jeremiah, God gives a plea to his people. Please break up your fow ground. Please break it up. Please break up your fow ground, church. Please, church, don't ever don't don't don't ever get used to coming to church and not being broken. Don't ever get used to I here's what how here's how you know your heart needs to be worked on. Well, I'm tired of him telling us to stand up. Well, I'm tired. He's going to get us together up. I'm tired of that. I I'm tired. He's always telling us to lift our hand. What's wrong with that? You go to any Listen, try to get on a plane and and I'm here to tell you, if you work at the TSA, you need Listen, I know you probably right, but some people need the Holy Ghost. They talk rough to you. Put your bag up here. Coke, drink, damp, pocket knife, whatever you got in your pocket. Take it out. It's not Listen, I've tried to smile. I've tried to I've tried to put the Kenny Carpenter charm on. It don't work. It don't work. Buzzer goes off. Take your belt off. I want to. I ain't doing that. Who Who's you telling me to take my belt off? You You don't do that. I don't do that. You If you do that, you don't have good sense because you ain't get on the plane. I've t I taken shoes off. Even though I got a Even though I got TSA, I got I got all that. Sometimes the shoes got metal in them. Sometimes a belt. Take shoes off. Keep going through the buzzer. Keep going. And then just when just when you're about to miss your plane, buzzer goes off and they come up and say, "You've been randomly chosen." No, you're not. No. No. I've not been You You go plug that computer in sometime. I'm getting on that plane. You get arrested for doing that. And we won't do that. We can submit ourselves to everything outside this church. But we come in here and I'm gonna tell you, you get your heart in trouble when all of a sudden a preacher telling you, "Would you lift your hands and love Jesus?" And it's he going to make me walk. Yeah. I'm going to walk all now. I can stand in line at Disney for an hour and 45 minutes to ride a 45 second ride. But you, you know, he's talking he's want me to come down there and talk to the God of eternity. He's want me to come down there. I mean, he's not my dentist. He's not my surgeon. He's not my weight loss specialist. I mean, he he's just a man trying to get me over there to the other side. You better believe it, friend. And we ought to be willing to do whatever we need to do to get in the presence of God. If the man of God says, "Let's all stand right now." And the man of God says, "Let's all stand right now." We ought to stand right now if we're physically able. If the man of God says, "Let's lift our hands," we ought to lift our hands right now. If the man of God says, "I want you to lift up your voice tonight, and I want you to begin to praise him right now. Break up your fellow ground. Oh God, break up your fellow ground right now. Break up your fellow ground right now. Now break up your fellow ground. Come on. I want you to break up. I know I do this a lot, but but we got to go to heaven, church. We got to be right with God. I know. Come on. Get get your hands up tonight. You got the Holy Ghost. Get your hands up in the air. We got to start breaking up the fellow ground right now. Come on, break it up. Break it up. Break it up. Break it up. I'm not going to be a church pretender. I'm not going to be a church attender. I'm going to be a worshshiper of God. I'm going to be submitted to the plan of God. I'm going to be submitted to that plan tonight. Oh yes. Won't you listen to me for just a moment? Come on, keep coming up around the altar. I want you to listen to me for just a moment. There was a woman that had an alabaster box of ointment. Very costly. But as long as the aroma was concealed in the bottle, it was only the bottle that knew the aroma. But the woman came into the presence of Jesus and she break the alabaster box. And when she break the alabaster box, the fragrance filled the room where they were at. It filled all the room where they were at. There was a God that was receiving it. There was a God that was receiving the fragrance. There was a woman that was giving praise to God. She was given praise to God. She was given praise to God. But there were those that were there that day that said, "This is a waste. This is a waste." said, "Oh, I pray to God right now. Come on, move closer to the altar. They're coming in. I I want everybody to have a chance. I pray to God tonight. I pray to God tonight. Brother Long, I pray to God there's nobody here right now saying, "Here we are again. Here we are again." It's not a waste. It's worship. It's not a waste. It's an obedient spirit. It's not a waste. Whether you're Mary or you're Hagar, come on, let's praise him. Oh, let's listen intently to the words of K. Let's listen to Kay Hannah sing this right now.