The Father of Faith

You're listening to the Cross Kingdom Sermon of the Week. We helped you enjoy

this message from Justin Carpenter. Apparently I offended one of the kids already.

It's great, okay, but I did. I do have a good cup

of coffee in front of me this time, all right, I love it,

all right. I have about five minutes more than I did for service,

So we'll see what happens here. Okay, normally when I you know,

it's not abnormal for me to wake up seven o'clock Sunday morning. Go

all right, Lord, what are we talking about? Because he didn't tell

me all week. In this situation, I felt like the Lord has really

been speaking to me about Abraham over the week. I recently started a new

reading plan. Good to see Florence in the house this morning, by the

way, and uh, anyway, start a new start, a new reading

plan. And I'm in Genesis and in Romans, and uh, there's a

few nuggets I want to I want to pull out of the life of Abraham

for you all this morning. And anything I did not convey clearly in first

service, Lord willing, I will be able to communicate it clear this time.

But I actually titled this Teaching the Father of Faith. I didn't intentionally

do this because it's Father's Day. It just worked out. Many times,

I like, I don't try to do themes like if it's you know,

if it's Father's Day, I have to do a Father's Day message. I

try to hold everything loosely. This just happened to work out this way.

And I uh, I can't think of a more important time than right now.

The time we're living in when it's concerning a fatherless generation, diverse divorce

is as high in the church as it is outside the church. And the

moment the family begins to break down and the father leaves his position of covering

an authority, it opens that home up to spiritual attack, might even say

needless casualties of war. And there's an invitation right now. It's high time

that the men, who the men, stand up. I am. It

grieves me often that I look around meetings and and look around prayer times,

and so many times there's the women way outnumber the men and that and it's

nothing against women, right, we empower women. But what I'm saying is

the silence of Adam is killing America. And it's time that the men grow

a spiritual backbone and begin to rise up and begin to lead. And I

don't mean from a I jokingly said the other night. I said, honey,

you know Sarah called Abraham master right, and I do have your attention.

I was making sure you're listening, and so anyways, but you have

to understand something, husbands, when you are loving your wives like Christ love

the Church, that means you lay your life down. You lay your life

down for your family and wives. When you're submitting to your husbands, there's

a beautiful picture. And I recently did this with a couple. But in

fact, Shawn Nitsurr, we all come up here real quick. I didn't

do this for a service. But y'all know what I'm gonna do, right,

Okay, So now I want you to that's a good looking shirt.

Okay, I want you to. I want you to to. I want

you to to look at each other. Now. I want you both to.

I want you to start to lay your life down for her and I

want her to begin to submit to you. Keep your eyes on each other,

So begin to lower lower, Yes, lay your life down and submit.

Keep going, keep going. Well, you're not supposed to be that

close together. This was horrible. No, the point is, The point

is, as you saw them lowering, what was happening. It wasn't the

husband lording his his function over his wife, but they were mutually laying their

lives down in respect and love. And they had their eyes on each other

the entire well most of the time in this situation. All right, thank

y'all, give them a hand. I didn't give. I didn't give my

heads up. Sorry. But the point is, like when it says helpmate,

I will make you a suitable helpmate, that Hebrew word is aser,

and it means to help, to bring aid, to rescue, to bring

support, and that word azer is specifically used over and over and over with

God bringing aid to Israel, bringing help to Israel, rescuing Israel. So

men, your spouses, your wives are your helpmates. They bring aid and

support and help to you in a way that you cannot do yourself. It's

awful. Quiet. There was one amen, and Malachi said that the Lord

put a portion of his spirit in the marriage covenant, and it says he

did this specifically for godly offspring. So men, if you're not fathering your

kids intentionally if you're not spending time with your children and raising them up in

the ways of God, and hell breaks loose at your fault because you've left

your post. I'm not tickling hers this morning, but I mean that in

love, we have to know the hour we're in. We have to understand

all hell is breaking loose in our nation and the enemy is not hiding anymore.

In case you hadn't figured that one out, he is completely unmasked,

and he's picking fights. And we as men men of a thought, my

battery died, men of honor, men of kingdom, have a king that

we're representing to a lost and dying world. We as the fathers over the

house, have a responsibility before the Lord Jesus that we will give an account

as husbands how we loved our wives and how we let our children raise them

up in the ways of God. Now I said this first service, I

wasn't one, you know. My parents separated when my mom was pregnant with

me. They divorced shortly after, and we moved into my grandparents' house when

I was about four years old. My grandparents never lived in the same room

from the time I moved into the time I moved out at eighteen, rarely

would see them show affection. So fast forward, Lisa and I get married

at twenty two years old in nineteen ninety nine, and she thinks the first

seven years or hell, y'all recall that a couple teachings ago. But I

really didn't have that same perspective. I'm not saying it was great, y'all

was there were some battles to be won, but I was comparing what I

came out of with what I had. But in the same breath, holding

this tension that I was clueless when it came time to have kids, felt

completely ill equipped. And I remember saying, Lord, you have to help

me because I don't want to mess this up. And I remember early on,

even at seventeen years old, saying, Lord, I so connect with

you as Jesus my Savior, my Lord, my friend. But when I

say father, it feels really hollow. I don't feel a connection. And

I begin this journey and again, it's not like there's three gods up there,

right, y'all understand, he's one, and just forget about trying to

understand the trinity. You'll lose brain cells. But when you're engaging him,

you're engaging him period. And Jesus said, I you've seen me, You've

seen the Father. So if you can love and connect and bond and respect

and have honor for Jesus, that is the Father. Jesus said, I

won't leave you as orphans, but I will come to you. I will

send a helper. And so this, this issue of fathering goes way more

than just teaching our kids to be successful in today's market. First and foremost

it is spiritual. And there's so many nuggets in the life of Abraham when

it comes to learning how to bother our kids spiritually. Then I actually I

had titled this the Father of Faith. But we're Paul and the New Covenant

and first Grifthians eleven to one, You prophetic people, wres chay one one,

one, eleven eleven oh twice a day, Paul says, be imitators

of me as I am of Christ. Now, how many of us not

Sunday morning, where we got our spiritual groove on, but the other two

hundred and ninety six hours in the week. How about when nobody's around?

Would you want others imitating you? Are you imitating Christ? In the secret

place? When no one's aroun. Now, we're all human, we all

have falls, right at least that I were bickering back and forth a little

bit yesterday, and uh, the Lord always sends her in to chip on

me when he starts to deal with a stronghold, and I don't leg it,

and uh, but it always seems to be accurate after I get my

after I get over my intercessory whining and complaining sound just like that, you

know what I mean. But he says, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

If we're imitating Christ, then we're representing the Father to a lost and

dying world. And Jesus said, the son can do nothing of himself,

but only when the Father shows him. And he told us, just like

I can do nothing apart from the Father, John five, you can do

nothing apart from me. I think we're on the precipice of understanding how to

break through the ceiling of unbelief over this country and the American faith. Right

now, every other week somebody's biting the dust. Tony Evans just set down

or stepped down for some sin that he had committed years ago. A mate,

I mean, I've always loved Tony Evans, phenomenal teacher. But he

literally just stepped down for a restoration process. God's purifying and pruning the body

of Christ. He's dealing with the leaders. I said this first service.

Anybody ever been hurt in church? Oh? Yeah, but put both feet

up like that. Now. I don't want to try that. That won't

end well. I'll be the next blooper, like when that one when that

one old boy went to forget it. Okay, so it wasn't bad.

I just my wife's telling me don't anyways. So Abraham was the father of

our faith. And Genesis seventeen it says when Abraham or Abram was ninety nine

years old, the Lord appeared to him, to Abram and said said to

him, I am the God Almighty. Walk before me, be blameless,

that I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly.

Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, behold,

my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a

multitude of nations. No longer show your name be called Abram, but your

name should be called Abraham. If y'all study name changes. When the Lord

shows up and changes somebody's name. It's because their destiny is in their name.

See in the Hebrew culture, they took it very serious on what they

would name their children. I think I've shared this before. My name was

gonna be Matthew Lee, and it was even my mom had even written it

down on the birth certificate when I was born. And my aunt stepped in

and pitched a fit because she didn't like the name Matthew. If your name's

Matthew, it's okay. I love matt faust mad of your watching, we

love you. I love your name. But she said, I want his

name to be Justin. And I don't know all the story of them wrestling

back and forth as sisters and blah blah blah, but my mom agreed to

change my name to Justin. Justin means full of justice. So what do

you think happened to me as a kid? Injustice starting at about four or

five years old, with molestation for seven years. Complete injustice? Right?

But I know my name, and I know as a revelatory person, I

hate injustice. I've experienced injustice. I hate when I see it the enemy

cross, you know, overplaying his hands and attacking. I hate the injustice.

But your name is so important, and all through scripture they were renamed

because your destiny's in your name. And so here he is ninety nine years

old. And if you recall and she and Sarah was ninety right. As

for Sarah, your wife, you shall not call her Sarah, but Sarah

shall be her name. I will bless her. Moreover, I will give

you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become

nations, kings of people shall come from her. Then Neighbraham fell on his

face again and laughed and said to himself, shall a child be born to

a man who's one hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years

old, bear a child? And then he begins to mourn. And Abraham

said to God, oh, that Ishmael might live before you, Lord,

because remember thirteen years previous. Guess what Ishmael? They said, we got

a promise from the Lord, and he's taking a little long, so we're

gonna help him. Sarah, I goes here, take my maiden, right,

and then she gets He takes her as a wife, she gets pregnant,

and here comes Ishmael. Thirteen years passed to this point in this chapter.

Not a peep, not a word of revelation from the Father to Abraham

for thirteen years. Thirteen is the number of rebellion and the fullness of his

rebellion. After the fullness came, the Lord came to Abraham and spoke to

him. Fathers are full of compassion. We you know, we were talking

to somebody the baby boomer generation, and they were had a tendency to be

very stoic. My grandfather came out of World War two. He was born

in nineteen twenty five and super stoic, like just and I remember learning to

become very stoic because I was imitating my grandfather and so not much emotion.

But yet we're supposed to be full of compassion. And Hebrews, when Jesus

is praying, it says that with loud cries and tears and full of emotion,

he would intercede. And somewhere along the lines, we as men were

told that if you don't show emotion, that's what a man does, and

that's how you're tough. Hogwash. The shortest scripture in the Bibles, Jesus

wept. If God can cry, I can cry. And he never ever

healed raised the dead, did a miracle without being moved with compassion, the

compassion of the Lord. So when you are being stoic and trying to push

down your emotion, you have disconnected from living from your heart, and you're

actually grieving the compassion of the Lord from flowing through you. Y'all with me,

so seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and

all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, For I've chosen

him that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the

way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may

bring to Abraham what he has promised him. I love the theme of the

promises, because what is this year? We declare war in twenty four right

on what doubt and unbelief taking hold of the promises of God because we do

hard things. Anybody found that twenty twenty four has some really hard things that

twenty twenty three didn't have to do again one of those both feet in both

hands, Like Kylie said, I don't like that word justin you need to

take that back. I'm like, I don't get to vote. I didn't

like it either, but it, Oh, my goodness is absolutely showing to

be true. That's a teaching in and of itself. So anyways, so

you know the story in Genesis eighteen. He's fixing to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah

Abraham, who is a prophet of God and a kingly and definitely prophet and

had a lot of profit, very wealthy. The two angels go off to

Sodom, and it says that he stayed back with the Lord, but Abram

stood still before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, will you

indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within

the city, Will you then sweep away the place and not spirit for the

fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such

a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that

the righteous fair as the wicked. Far be that from you. Shall not

the judge of all the earth do what is just. And the Lord said,

if I find it Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I'll spare the

whole place for the sake of fifty. And you all know the story.

He keeps going, He keeps going, and he dwittles, he negotiates as

a businessman, dwidtles. That's a good word. He negotiates his way all

the way down to ten. When was the last time you intercede for someone

from mercy over judgment? When was the last time he said? But Lord,

you're a god of justice and psalms. It says that your throne is

built on righteousness and justice. Lord, mercy triumphs over judgment. When was

the last time you cried out for mercy over your enemy? Fathers teach their

sons what faith is and what it is not Romans four thirteen to seventeen.

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be the heir of

the world did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the

heirrors, faith is null and the promise is void, for the law brings

wrath. But where there is no law, there is no transgression. That

is why it depends on faith an order that the promise may rest on grace

and be guaranteed to all of his offspring. Y'all, Abraham believed God,

and it was accredited to him as righteousness. He was justified by faith before

circumcision. And yet now we get all weird with these Hebraic roots movements,

where all of a sudden, you gotta say yahweh and yeshoo a, and

you're no longer gonna say the name of Jesus, and you gotta go do

this act and this act, and you bring yourselves under the law. And

Scripture says the law brings wrath. Hei is that what you want? I'm

not saying, y'all in here as what's Ken Fish said. You know the

church down the street which Ken's gonna be coming back next year to minister again,

So looking forward to that. He I just he just texted me a

couple of days ago. But it says it depends on faith in order that

the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all of his offspring,

not only to the inherent of the law, but also to the one who

shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. And

it has written, I've made you the father of many nations. In the

presence of the God in whom he believed, he gives life to the dead

and calls into existence the things that do not exist now here's one of the

main nuggets. I want to camp out here for a second because this was

one of the main things that really hit me. Fathers teach their sons how

to overcome unbelief. If we're going to be good fathers to our kids,

our sons and daughters, then we need to equip them for life. All

of us are gonna deal with hardship in this life. You're gonna have trouble,

Jesus said, But take heart, I've overcome. Don't think it's strange

when many fiery trials come upon you, James says. It says that we

have to enter into the kingdom through many trials and tribulations. So how do

you get into the kingdom through testing? What's the initial door into the kingdom?

The Cross? How is it that we think we can go through the

cross, preserve our life and make a gospel about us and think we're going

to produce fruit Romans four In hope, he believed against hope. Anybody been

there up against a wall like ready to throw in the towel because there's a

part of your heart that's convinced it's easier to throw hope away because then maybe,

just maybe I won't feel as much pain inside if I throw off hope

and hope. He believed against hope that he should be come the father of

many nations, as he had been told, so shall your offspring be.

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was

as good as dead since he was about one hundred years old, or when

he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the

promise of God. Now pause, what did he just say? He said

he did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body good as dead

since he was one hundred years old, and when he considered the barrenness of

Sarah's womb, No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God. What

was what category is being put in as unbelief? It was the reality that

he's one hundred years old, she's ninety years old, and they can't have

children. Was that not true? See, that's your problem with dealing with

unbelief. You're looking at things in the natural that are true and you're not

recognizing them in the category of unbelief. When God gives you a greater promise

to crush what is true of the natural? Are you with me? Because

it is true? He was one hundred years old, It is true.

She was ninety years old. It is true. And especially in that day,

there was you know, it wasn't like they were going to take him

to the doctor and do all this technology. There was no plan B.

And he did not waver one hundred years old. He hoped against hope,

says hope deferd makes the heart sick. But a word spoken in season is

a tree of life. Now bring it present. What are you dealing with

in the natural right now? What is true in the natural? That's trying

to tell you what to believe about God. Because if you have a promise

from God, that is unbelief. If you partner with what's true in the

natural, you go against his promise. Now do you see the restle with

unbelief? Now do you see why when the disciples stood before the demonised child

and they couldn't cast the demon out, he said, oh, you unbelieving

generation, how long am I going to tarry with you? Bring the boy

here? Boom instantly delivered, Lord, Why couldn't we cast out the demon

because of your unbelief? The demonization became greater than God's word over their life

in their sight, kind of like when Israel goes into spy out the promised

land and the giants are bigger than the promise. We are like grasshoppers.

My buddy Dan Gerroi used to call it grasshopper thinking. He said, you

got to kill the ants automatic negative thoughts. We're we're literally right on the

precipice of prom of a of a promised land for cross kingdom, but also

for the body of Christ and a move of God. And there are giants

in the land. Are you gonna let them prophisey greater than the promise?

Are you going to look like a grasshopper in their in their sight? Come

into agreement with that and allow unbelief to rule over your hearts and move Jesus

out of the way. But he grew strong in his faith as he gave

glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had

promised. Remember, I said, the Lord said, here's your battle plan.

I'm going to praise you in the darkness. I'm going to praise you

from the lion's den. Hello. All of those situations look impossible. Hello,

Daniel's in there in the lions den. They're not baby lions, people,

They're real lions. I don't know about y'all, but I might have

soiled my drawers when I got put in there with two lions. These things

happened. This isn't Disney fairy tales that we tell our children to entertain them.

This is the We have the record, the history with God here where

time after time after time, he says, yes, you're one hundred years

old, but I got the answer. Yes you've been diagnosed with cancer,

but by his stripes you're healed. Healing is the children's bread. He did

not let any unbelief. He did not weaken in faith and hope. He

believed against hope. He did not weaken in faith, but considered when he

considered his own body. He did not weaken in faith when he got the

doctor's report. He did not weaken in faith when he got the tax bill.

He did not weaken in faith when the business sales were low. He

did not weaken in faith when one of his children ran off. He did

not weaken in faith when he lost a friend. He did not weaken in

faith when his faith cost him relationships. Because the high way of holiness is

costly, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,

fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised. This is

why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. But the words it was

counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also.

It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the

dead, Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised

for our justification. How many promises have not been fulfilled in your life because

you allowed the trials to be your teacher. You allowed the hardship to weaken

you because maybe maybe you haven't figured out how to actually tap into the power

of God his strength. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens

me. Maybe we haven't figured out this issue of the soul's strength versus spirit,

and the only way to figure that out is through death at the cross.

Or you embrace your limits, you embrace humility, you embrace your weakness,

and you allow his strength to come forward. Because if you hadn't figured

it out, the Holy spirits a gentleman. He will let you struggle if

you want to play tuger war with him. Hmm, you know, I

know, Jacob russels of God all night, but he was playing with him.

He's go and he walked with a limb all of his days. But

he did not weaken in faith. Jacob said, I will not let you

go until you bless me. Jesus, I'm not letting go until your promise

happens. Last point, Fathers teach their children how to function in the kingdom.

Y'all, the kingdom is opposite. It's completely opposite, exactly what you

want to do. Nerd knee jerk instinct, Nerd dink starting to speak in

tuks are tongues and a tuxt too. But that moment you realize, oh

wait a minute, I have to die to live. I have to love

my enemy. Ugh, I have to bless those that persecute me. Ugh.

His way is opposite. That'sell everybody, It's always opposite. Day in

the kingdom. Bless your enemy, love those that persecute you. If they

want to walk them, walk two miles with them. Do your kids know

how to walk in the kingdom? Do they know how to prosper in the

kingdom? Do you understand that in the kingdom. We give to get,

to give, to get, to give, to get, to give,

to get. In the kingdom, whatever we steward grows. It's the law

of promotion. Take heed on how you hear, because how you hear more

will be added. So obedience is a key to everyone hearing God, especially

you eagles. You want to hear God more. Obedience is not optional.

If you're not obedient, don't expect to get more. Because you were an

obedient to the last thing he said. Now you're treating him like a pez

dispenser. Prophetic word almost done Isaiah sixty one one to four. The spirit

of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to

bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the

broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the

prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

and the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn,

To grant those who mourn in zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead

of ashes, the oil of gladness, instead of mourning, the garment of

praise, instead of a faint spirit that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall

build up the ancient ruins. They shall raise up the former devastations. They

shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations, repairs of the

breach fathers. It's time to stand up and repair the home. It's Nehemiah

a hammer in one hand and a sword in the other. It's time for

us to not just think about our comfort, but about legacy and future generations.

It's time that we have vision for our children's children, and we don't

get nearsighted like Hezekiah, who said, well, at least there's going to

be peace in my day. Forget my family. There's an invitation. There's

an invitation man for us to stand up, for us to say, Lord,

search me, search my heart. Where am I not leading? Where

have I dropped the ball with my children? Where have I failed to show

them your ways so that when they are old they will not depart Matthew twenty

eight. Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on

earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them, and the name of the Father and of the Son and

of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you,

and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

Y'all end of the age. We I don't know. I don't know.

No man knows when his second coming, when he's coming back. But I

do know it's twenty twenty four today. I do know that all of the

birth pains mentioned in the Gospel are happening today and increasing as I speak.

They're getting closer together, more intense. We're getting close to the end of

the age. And if we are alive when he comes, then we're going

to be changed. Last scripture got sixty seconds one Timothy one eighteen to nineteen.

This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance

with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the

good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some

have made shipwreck of their faith. Prophetic words are promises from God, not

oath, but conditional promises. And if you throw away these promises, these

words that have been spoken over your life accurate words. Not somebody just reading

your soul and telling you your own soulish desires back to you in the name

of prophecy, but legitimate prophetic words. And you let go of them,

and you don't keep them before you, you're gonna ship wreck your faith.

Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint. Sometimes that's

what a deliverance session sounds like. Lord peace. All right, all you

amazing good looking men that wore my shirt once, y'all come up real quick.

All the guys, all the men, come on, all the men,

not just people that had the same shirt, but all the guys with

the same shirt. If you'll get in the middle there, same shirt middle,

other men spread out in front of the I can't believe has anybody ever

seen hair like this? This dude has got the best. I am so

jealous of John's hair. I've got no hair left. And like I've seen

this guy come off a motorcycle and it doesn't move. Okay, quick,

quick photo, and we're gonna pray. There's like eighteen phones up, which

one we supposed to look at you? Look at your wives? Okay,

have you amazing ladies would extend your hands towards these men. Okay, so,

Father, I thank you for the commissioning. Lord, I thank you

for the invitation to take back territory we've given up. Thank you for listening.

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