3ABN Homecoming 2015

The Rock, The Keys, and The Gates of Hell

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Dinzey (Host), John Carter

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Series Code: 15HC

Program Code: 15HC000005A


00:50 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Fall Camp Meeting
00:54 Homecoming, and we are glad that you're here.
00:57 We praise the Lord. People have come from different parts of the
01:00 United States. Anyone come from outside of the United States?
01:03 Raise your hand. Outside, anyone?
01:05 Well we don't see Sr. Julia and the rest of our Russian
01:09 team, but we welcome every one of you
01:12 for this opportunity to come to the Lord and study
01:17 His Word. Our speaker during this hour
01:20 is Pastor John Carter, evangelist.
01:24 And you know, when I came in 1989 to 3ABN
01:28 one of the speakers was Pastor John Carter.
01:32 I didn't know who he was then.
01:34 But he was at a meeting and there was this big spotlight
01:38 following him wherever he went.
01:40 Huge board, and he was writing with chalk.
01:42 A lot of people in the meeting.
01:44 And I said: "Who is this guy?
01:46 Well he has an accent but he doesn't sound Hispanic
01:50 so he must be from another country. "
01:53 So after listening for a while I found out where he's from.
01:57 And we praise the Lord that the Lord has brought him
02:00 here to the United States. And he's a man of vision.
02:04 Dares to step out in faith.
02:06 And I've seen throughout the years
02:10 the Lord use him to bring thousands to the Lord Jesus
02:13 Christ. So during this hour you will hear
02:16 a message entitled
02:18 The Rock, the Keys, and the Gates of Hell
02:23 by Pastor John Carter, also the president and speaker
02:27 of The Carter Report which you can see on 3ABN
02:30 and hear on 3ABN Radio.
02:33 We want to encourage you to stay with us during this hour
02:36 and we want you to grab your Bible and get ready
02:39 to study God's Word together.
02:42 Before that we have Pastor C.A. Murray
02:46 I call him doctor... doctor...
02:49 distinguido... distinguished.
02:51 He's a distinguished child of God
02:53 and I praise the Lord for his ministry at 3ABN.
02:55 He will not be preaching this time... he will be singing.
02:58 And the title of the song is He Lifts Me.
03:04 Praise the Lord. Before we hear this song
03:07 we're going to ask you to join us in prayer.
03:10 And if you will kindly stand as we approach God's throne
03:13 of grace we want to ask for His blessing.
03:15 Immediately after the prayer I will leave you with
03:18 Pastor C.A. Murray. And immediately after that
03:21 we will hear the preaching of God's Word
03:24 in the lips of Pastor John Carter. Let us pray together.
03:30 Our loving heavenly Father,
03:32 we do thank you, Lord, for Your mercy.
03:36 All of us have been blessed by Your mercy.
03:40 Truly anyone that is within the hearing of my voice
03:44 has been extended Your mercy and we thank you for it.
03:49 And we ask, Father, that You will speak through Your servant
03:52 Pastor John Carter.
03:54 Use him once again to bring the message You have for us
03:58 through him. And Father, we pray that You will also
04:01 bless Pastor Murray, and that through him we ask for Your
04:04 children to be blessed all over the world as well.
04:07 We thank you for listening to our prayer
04:09 for we ask it in the mighty blessed name of Jesus,
04:13 Amen; amen.
04:15 Thank you. You may be seated.
04:16 I'm actually pinch hitting for Celestine Barry
04:20 our church clerk. A very beautiful person,
04:23 a wonderful singer. She is with her husband.
04:25 He is in the hospital in St. Louis.
04:28 He's got some challenges. He has some heart problems
04:32 and we want to remember him in prayer.
04:35 A wonderful person and pianist.
04:36 Member of this church family.
04:38 And he's got some very very big challenges
04:42 but we know that our God is good
04:44 and that when we lift up the name of Jesus Jesus lifts us up
04:48 which is the message of this song.
05:08 He lifts my burdens
05:12 whenever I'm down;
05:17 He gives me joy
05:21 when I'm wearing a frown.
05:26 He is my hope
05:30 in the midst of despair
05:35 and He... He is my comfort
05:40 for He's always there.
05:50 So I sing
05:53 not because I feel like singing.
05:59 And I praise Him
06:03 though the end I may not see.
06:10 For whenever
06:12 I lift the name of Jesus
06:17 Jesus reaches down
06:21 and He lifts me.
06:33 He is the music
06:37 that makes my heart glad;
06:42 He whispers peace
06:47 whenever I'm sad.
06:51 He is the sunshine
06:56 that brightens my day
07:00 and He... He is the lighthouse
07:05 to show me the way.
07:11 So I sing
07:14 not because I feel like singing.
07:20 And I praise Him
07:24 though the end I may not see.
07:30 For whenever I
07:34 lift the name of Jesus
07:37 Jesus reaches down
07:42 and He lifts me.
07:48 So I sing
07:51 not because I feel like singing.
07:57 And I praise Him
08:01 though the end I may not see.
08:07 For whenever I
08:11 lift the name of Jesus
08:14 Jesus reaches down,
08:19 turns me around,
08:21 and He plants my feet on higher ground.
08:28 He reaches down
08:33 and He
08:37 lifts me.
08:55 Amen. Thank you, my friend.
08:58 Pastor Murray, thank you... you blessed us.
09:02 How are you folks? Blessed! Glad to see you here today.
09:06 Hallelujah! Um-hmm. I want you to know
09:10 that nothing can kill the church. Amen!
09:14 Now today because the Pope is visiting the United States
09:17 of America I'm going to talk about the Rock - the true Rock
09:21 on which the church is built.
09:23 We're going to talk about the keys of the kingdom
09:26 and we're also going to talk about the gates of hell.
09:31 I want you to know this:
09:34 that when God made the church
09:37 He put it upon a Rock that was so solid
09:40 that nothing could move that church.
09:45 Back in 1992 in the midst of a very cold winter
09:51 I traveled by train with a little team
09:55 down to the city of Nizhny Novgorod.
09:58 That's the town of Dr. Julia Outkina
10:01 who is here today with us at 3ABN.
10:06 That church had been ravaged by the Communists.
10:10 A little while before I had gotten there, the Communists,
10:14 the police - the KGB - had gone down to our little church
10:20 and they had beaten up the believers
10:23 and they had smashed all the furniture.
10:27 So I arrived and got off this Russian train
10:32 in the midst of winter. It was very, very cold!
10:37 I looked down into the faces of about 4 or 5 people:
10:42 Alexander, Vasilly, Vitali...
10:46 they now are my great friends.
10:49 They were the survivors of the Holocaust...
10:52 of the Communist Holocaust.
10:55 A few days later I preached in the church:
10:59 just a little company of believers.
11:02 And as I started to preach in that church
11:06 they started to weep
11:08 because I was probably the first foreigner
11:11 who'd ever preached the Word of God to them.
11:14 Just a little group of believers.
11:17 When we gave out the offering baskets
11:20 we did not take up an offering.
11:23 We put money in there so they could take some money out of it.
11:27 You know why? They were so hungry.
11:30 So little food.
11:33 I remember I went downtown
11:36 and there was a truck there loaded up with fish.
11:41 And the person was selling the fish, and there was a
11:44 tremendous line-up of people.
11:46 So cold... and they were buying little bits of fish.
11:51 Everybody was so poor
11:53 because the state had collapsed, the government had collapsed.
11:57 Communism was on its last legs; it was in its death throes.
12:03 And I was moved I believe by the Spirit of God
12:06 to go up, and I said through a translator
12:08 "How much do you want for the truck of fish? "
12:11 So we bought the whole truck of fish.
12:14 And then in the name of Jesus we made an announcement.
12:18 I got up on the back of the truck. I said:
12:20 "In the name of Jesus we want to give you this fish
12:25 because we've come here with a message that God loves you
12:29 and we love you, too. "
12:31 And then when we ran a campaign in that city
12:34 we were told: "It won't work; it can't work.
12:37 Nobody's going to come. "
12:38 But we saw 2,530 people
12:44 baptized in the Volga river. And then a little bit later
12:48 we saw another 500 baptized.
12:50 But I want you to know this, my friend,
12:52 in spite of Communism,
12:55 in spite of the powers of darkness
12:58 nothing can destroy the church of God. Amen!
13:01 And that's what I'm going to talk to you folks about today.
13:04 And I want you to take your Bibles please
13:07 to Matthew chapter 16.
13:09 The topic is: The Church,
13:13 the Keys, the Rock, and the Gates of Hell.
13:17 And I'm just so glad to welcome the television audience;
13:21 I'm just so glad that you're joining us today.
13:24 We're going to turn over here to the text which is
13:26 Matthew chapter 16 and verses 13 through to 19.
13:32 Matthew chapter 16 and verses 13 and onwards.
13:38 And these are the words of God.
13:41 The Bible says: Matthew 16 and verse 13 and onwards:
13:46 "When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea-Philippi
13:50 He asked His disciples: 'Who do people say the Son of Man is? '
13:56 They replied: 'Some say John the Baptist.
13:59 Others say Elijah and still others Jeremiah
14:03 or one of the prophets. '
14:05 'But what about you? ' He asked.
14:08 'Who do you say that I am? '
14:11 Simon Peter answered: 'You are the Christ...
14:14 the Son of the Living God. '
14:17 Jesus replied: 'Blessed are you, Simon,
14:21 son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man
14:25 but by My Father in heaven.
14:27 And I tell you that you are Peter.
14:30 And on this Rock I will build My church
14:34 and the gates of Hades... ' or hell... 'will not overcome it.
14:38 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
14:42 Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven;
14:45 whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ' "
14:49 What does it mean?
14:51 So we're going to talk today about the church,
14:55 the keys, the Rock,
14:59 and the gates of hell.
15:02 And I want to say to my American audience -
15:05 and you are a great audience. You know that, don't you? -
15:09 I want to say to you today from my heart to your heart
15:13 this message is pertinent for our times - Amen! -
15:19 because right now the Pope of Rome
15:23 is visiting the United States of America.
15:26 He's been addressing Congress
15:29 and telling us how we ought to run our country.
15:33 He's been telling people what they ought to do,
15:36 and even our president called him holy father...
15:42 because so many people are greeting this man
15:47 as though he were God.
15:51 Holy father. But I want you folks to know something:
15:56 there is only one Holy Father and He is not on this earth!
16:01 Amen! We have one Holy Father
16:04 and He is in heaven. Amen!
16:07 And we have one High Priest and that is Jesus Christ the Lord.
16:13 Amen! And so today we're going to talk about
16:17 the church and the keys,
16:20 the Rock, and the gates of hell.
16:26 Now let's talk about the church for a start.
16:31 The word church in the Bible is the Greek word
16:35 ekklesia and it means called out.
16:41 This term church in the Bible
16:44 never refers to a building.
16:49 Now you say: "This is my church. "
16:53 But I want you to know the church is never
16:57 never a building. The church is the people of God
17:03 and the Bible says that they are called out.
17:10 Now God had a church in the city of Corinth. You know that?
17:14 And that was a city with idolatry, immorality,
17:18 and sexual perversion.
17:21 And the church was called out.
17:24 God had a church in the ancient city of Rome.
17:28 Rome... with its politics and politicians.
17:32 Its extravagance; its corruption; its cruelty;
17:36 and its depravity.
17:39 And God had a people who were called out
17:42 of that disgraceful condition in the world in Rome.
17:49 God had a church in Jerusalem.
17:54 And those people were called out of Jerusalem
17:57 with its phony religion,
18:00 man-made rules, and pontificating priests.
18:05 God had a church in Jerusalem. They were called out.
18:09 Not a building.
18:13 And God has a church in Los Angeles
18:17 with its shallowness, its lying, its cheating,
18:22 and its sexual perversions.
18:24 With Hollywood and the pornog- raphy and all of those things.
18:29 God has a church and the church is called out.
18:33 And God has got a church here today.
18:37 I'm talking to the church.
18:39 And the Bible tells me this. Listen to this very carefully:
18:43 The church is called out of the world
18:46 to live lives of holiness. Amen.
18:50 I want you to take your Bibles. You've got them there.
18:53 Turn with me now to Ephesians chapter 2
18:56 and verses 1 down to 10
18:58 to the words of Saint Paul. Ephesians chapter 2
19:04 and verses 1 and onwards.
19:06 Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1 and onwards.
19:10 The Bible says... have you got that text?
19:13 Amen. I want you to see it, dear friends.
19:15 Ephesians 2: "As for you...
19:19 you were dead in your transgressions and sins... "
19:23 That's how we are without Christ... dead.
19:26 "in which you used to live when you followed the ways
19:30 of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air:
19:34 the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. "
19:38 This is not talking about the church.
19:41 This is talking about people before they became a part
19:44 of the church.
19:47 "All of us also lived among them at one time,
19:50 gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature
19:56 and following its desires and thoughts.
20:00 Like the rest, were were by nature objects of wrath
20:05 but because of His great love for us
20:08 God, who is rich in mercy,
20:11 made us alive in Christ Jesus. "
20:15 And the Bible tells us: "Even when we were dead
20:19 in our transgressions it is by grace you have been saved.
20:26 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him
20:30 in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
20:33 in order that in the coming ages He might show
20:37 the incomparable riches of His grace
20:41 expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus
20:46 for it is by grace you have been saved through faith
20:50 and this not from yourselves... it is the gift of God. "
20:57 And so the church is not called to depravity.
21:03 The church is not called to a life of sin.
21:08 The Bible tells me the very Greek word
21:11 tells me that the church is called out.
21:15 And the church is called out saved by grace for holiness.
21:23 Now there's something else I want you to know.
21:25 There's a lot of things I want you to know today.
21:28 But the true church of Jesus Christ is color blind.
21:34 Um-hmm. In the book of Revelation
21:37 it describes the church that is called out. And it says
21:43 it is a church from every kindred, from every nation,
21:49 every color.
21:51 And so the church, my friend, abhors the sin
21:57 of racism. In God's church
22:03 you've got people from Mexico
22:07 and from England and France
22:12 and Russia and China and El Salvador and Cuba
22:18 and Africa. From every nation.
22:22 From India, from America, from Canada and from Chile.
22:28 God's got people in the church who are white
22:33 and He's got people in the church who are black.
22:37 And He's got people in the church who are brown
22:41 and in God's eyes they are all equal
22:45 because they've been washed by the blood of Jesus.
22:47 Amen! Hallelujah!
22:51 Now I'm going to tell you folks something.
22:54 You've gotta hear this through.
22:57 Don't get mad at me until I've told the story.
23:01 OK? Don't... don't presume anything.
23:05 But I want you folks... here it starts now:
23:08 I want you folks to know there'll be no white people
23:12 in heaven. Amen! I want you folks to know
23:16 there'll be no black people in heaven.
23:22 The only people who are going to be in heaven
23:24 are red people because they're under the red blood of Jesus.
23:28 Amen! Praise the Lord!
23:31 Praise the Lord! And so we're talking today about the church
23:34 that is called out. And in the church of God, my friend,
23:38 there are no hierarchies.
23:41 Oh now... there are no hierarchies.
23:46 We don't have a pope in our church.
23:51 And in the Bible church there was no pope!
23:55 There are people who say: "But don't you know that
23:57 Peter was the first pope? " No I don't know.
24:02 Umm. Peter never went to Rome.
24:05 There is no evidence that Peter ever went to Rome.
24:10 The church has got one head. He is not in Rome;
24:14 He is not in Washington.
24:20 The head of the church, my friend, is in heaven
24:24 and His name is Jesus. Amen!
24:27 Now I want you to come over... You're such a great audience,
24:30 you know. You really get me...
24:32 you sort of stir me up a little bit.
24:35 I don't know if I could take too much of you folks.
24:38 I think you'd sort of wear me out.
24:41 Umm... Now would you come over here to Galatians chapter 3
24:45 verses 28 and 29.
24:47 And really I tell you: you are a very good audience.
24:51 I wish the people watching in Australia,
24:53 any other place, I wish you could be here and meet
24:56 with these great people. This is a great audience.
24:59 Galatians 3:28-29.
25:04 Turn to the text: Galatians 3. Having a good time here today.
25:09 Galatians 3:28-29. You ready?
25:13 "There is neither Jew nor Greek,
25:17 slave nor free,
25:20 male nor female
25:24 for you are all one in Christ Jesus. "
25:28 In God's church the Bible says
25:31 there are no men and there are no women
25:36 but they are all equal in the sight of God.
25:40 Amen! And so God doesn't have any second-class citizens.
25:45 And I've got a feeling that for a long, long time
25:50 in the church - not talking about this church here...
25:54 I'm covering myself a little
25:57 I want you to know... but for a long time
26:01 in God's church women have been second-class citizens.
26:07 All right... all right!
26:09 Have they never heard of the blessed virgin Mary
26:12 who gave us our Lord?
26:15 And the great saints like Mary Magdalene?
26:24 So the church is called out.
26:26 Sometimes we don't get quite out, do we?
26:28 We bring a lot of baggage with us.
26:31 Racism. Chauvinism.
26:36 Um-hmm.
26:38 I can't tell much more 'cause I'm running out of words.
26:44 Now I want to... I want you to know something else.
26:50 The church is not perfect.
26:52 It's not sinless.
26:55 When our blessed Lord in Matthew 13 gave the parables
26:59 you know He talked about the wise man who went out
27:04 and sowed the good seed.
27:06 You know the story.
27:08 And the enemy who went out and who sowed the bad seed.
27:14 And after a little while the kingdom of God was
27:18 filled with good seed and bad seed.
27:22 And Jesus said: "Don't root 'em up; let 'em grow together
27:27 until the harvest. "
27:29 And Jesus said: "That's My church. "
27:34 There was a person looking for a perfect church.
27:38 Said: "When I find the perfect church
27:41 I'm going to join the perfect church. "
27:43 Somebody said: "Don't do that because if you join it
27:46 it won't be perfect any longer. "
27:49 Now folks, there are no perfect people
27:52 except those who are perfect in the righteousness of Christ
27:58 and that is the gift of God.
28:01 And so God has got a church
28:03 but don't expect that it's going to be a perfect church.
28:09 Now we had a person in our church
28:14 who we believe had a prophetic gift.
28:18 And that person - Ellen White - said this:
28:21 "The church today is not the church triumphant;
28:26 it is the church militant. "
28:31 It's not the church triumphant.
28:33 We are a church of... wait for this...
28:38 We are a church or the church is a collection
28:43 of saved sinners.
28:47 And in Revelation chapter 11 it talks about the true church
28:52 clothed in sackcloth and ashes.
28:57 That's Revelation chapter 11.
28:59 The church clothed in sackcloth and ashes.
29:03 The true church talks about Jesus;
29:06 a cult talks about itself.
29:11 Did you get that? A cult is always talking about itself.
29:16 How good we are. My friend,
29:19 the church is composed... it is a called out company
29:24 of people who've been washed in the blood of the Lamb
29:31 but they're still sinners
29:33 saved by grace.
29:37 Martin Luther said these words. We're going to talk about it
29:39 tonight. Luther said these words:
29:43 "A Christian... " Now some of you will find this hard
29:46 to understand... but not if you know your own heart.
29:49 "A Christian is always a sinner,
29:52 always a penitent, always right with God. "
29:58 What does it mean? A Christian is always a sinner.
30:02 Does it mean he's going out and stealing?
30:04 Committing adultery? No, no, no, no, no.
30:11 But in our hearts we know that we are stumbling
30:15 and falling and rising again.
30:18 We know that all have sinned and continue to fall short
30:23 of the glory of God. If you know your own heart,
30:28 you won't be so hard on the people in the pews.
30:34 Or your spouse.
30:37 Or your children.
30:39 A Pharisee makes the worst father or mother
30:44 because as I mentioned last night he's got the religion
30:48 of do, do, do... cock-a-doodle do.
30:51 You've got to do, do, do, do, do.
30:53 And that's how we drive people out of the kingdom of God.
30:58 You know, as the poet said: "I would not work my soul
31:02 to save for this my Lord has done.
31:05 But I would work like any slave
31:08 for the love of God's dear Son. "
31:11 So I'm not saved by my works.
31:13 I'm saved by Christ's works.
31:16 And so the church members recognize that they are
31:20 a company of penitent sinners.
31:25 Now... the Rock.
31:31 Now if you go and talk to the Pope, he'll tell you
31:34 that the church was built upon Peter.
31:37 The Pope is wrong! Um-hmm.
31:42 You say: "You know more about the Bible than the pope? "
31:45 Yes I do.
31:47 Yes I do.
31:49 Of course I do.
31:54 Is this pride? No!
31:57 I know what the Bible teaches.
31:59 I don't think he does.
32:04 When Francis was made the Pope
32:07 they whispered to him... they pronounced to him...
32:10 "Thou art Peter. "
32:13 And that is why this man is being received
32:18 almost like God
32:22 by the Americans
32:25 who once were brought up to believe the Bible.
32:29 But most of them know nothing any more about the Bible.
32:33 Nothing!
32:42 "I say unto you that you are Peter, and on this Rock
32:46 I will build My church. "
32:48 This is a great text for our beloved Roman Catholic friends.
32:52 Let us make it very plain: we love the Roman Catholics.
32:56 We love the Roman Catholic church.
32:58 We love the Pope, but we reserve the right
33:03 to preach the Bible and say what we believe.
33:06 This is still America. Amen!
33:11 And there are some who would take from you
33:15 the precious gift of freedom of speech
33:18 and freedom of religion.
33:24 So who is this Rock?
33:26 Would you come in your Bibles
33:29 to Deuteronomy. And if the Pope is watching
33:37 I'd like you, Francis, to please go and get your Bible.
33:44 And if you don't have one, write to me, John Carter,
33:47 P.O. Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, CA,
33:50 and we will send you a Bible.
33:56 It's OK to laugh in church, folks.
33:58 You know that? All right?
34:01 Deuteronomy 32:4.
34:03 He is the Rock. Deuteronomy.
34:07 Written by Moses, the servant of God.
34:11 Deuteronomy. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
34:14 Numbers, Deuteronomy.
34:16 The fifth book of the Pentateuch.
34:20 "He is the Rock. His works are perfect
34:24 and all His ways are just.
34:27 A faithful God who does no wrong; upright and just
34:30 is He. " HE is the Rock.
34:33 God is the Rock. If you read through the Old Testament
34:37 text after text it says that God, the Almighty God
34:42 who made us, is the Rock. He is the Rock of Ages.
34:45 Would you come over now to I Corinthians chapter 10
34:47 and verse 3.
34:49 I Corinthians 10:3.
34:55 I Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 3.
34:59 Some folks coming in. We welcome them coming in.
35:02 Haven't they missed out on a lot of good stuff, though?
35:05 Boy! We've been having such a good time.
35:08 Don't tell them what you've heard, though.
35:11 I Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 3.
35:13 You folks ready to go?
35:15 "They all ate the same spiritual food
35:19 and drank the same spiritual drink
35:22 for they drank from the spiritual Rock that accompanied
35:25 them and said: 'And that Rock was Christ. ' "
35:30 Amen! Listen: Christ is the Rock.
35:36 There's no other foundation laid than that which is laid
35:39 which is Jesus Christ.
35:43 Christ is the Rock.
35:45 That was the teaching of the Protestant reformers
35:48 who believed in sola Christus:
35:51 only Christ.
35:55 We have a High Priest.
35:58 We confess our sins to our Priest every day.
36:02 Our Priest is Christ. Amen! Sola Christus, sola scriptura.
36:07 Not the writings of the church.
36:10 Not the deliberations of the church councils.
36:15 But this is the truth.
36:19 This is our guiding star.
36:22 This is our wisdom.
36:25 This is our authority: sola scriptura... only scripture.
36:31 Sola gratia... only grace. We're not saved by our works.
36:35 Sola gratia. Sola fide... only faith.
36:38 That is the battle cry of the Protestant Reformation.
36:45 Did you know that sometimes I show a movie
36:50 on Martin Luther. And many of the people who come
36:54 they say: "Wasn't he the black man who was killed
36:58 in America? "
37:03 No! This is what people...
37:05 Most people today have never heard of him!
37:08 There would have been no America except for the Protestant
37:13 Reformation! Amen! Um-hmm.
37:19 Now Peter said... Peter's confession:
37:23 "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. "
37:28 It is upon that great truth that the church is built.
37:33 Now listen to this: if you want to know the truth,
37:37 and once again I hope Pope Francis is watching today,
37:41 want to welcome you today...
37:44 Listen... listen to this:
37:49 The Bible tells me that when you die you sleep in the grave
37:53 unconscious until the resurrection. Amen!
37:56 The blessed virgin Mary... a lot of people disagree with me
37:59 on this, but that's OK... They have the right to be wrong.
38:02 But... but listen to me:
38:05 the Bible teaches that when a person dies he sleeps in the
38:09 grave until the resurrection.
38:11 The blessed virgin Mary is not in heaven.
38:14 The great saint Paul is not in heaven.
38:19 The great saint Peter is not in heaven.
38:22 They are waiting the resurrection. Amen!
38:25 You hear what I'm saying? Yes!
38:29 Now, if the church is built upon Peter
38:32 it is built upon a dead man.
38:38 I want you to know this:
38:41 a spiritually dead church is built upon a dead man.
38:47 The false church is built upon a dead man
38:52 but the true church is built upon a living Christ!
38:56 Hallelujah! Amen!
38:59 The true church is built not upon Peter;
39:03 it is built upon the Rock
39:07 and that Rock is Christ.
39:11 Therefore we look not to man... however mighty...
39:17 but we look only to Christ.
39:21 We do not fall down before any pontiff
39:25 and kiss his ring.
39:30 We fall down at the feet
39:33 of the Man whose hands were pierced for you and me.
39:39 Yes! The church has one foundation:
39:43 tis Jesus Christ her Lord.
39:46 She is His new creation
39:48 through water by the Word.
39:51 From heaven He came and sought her
39:54 to be His holy bride.
39:57 With His own blood He bought her
40:00 and for her life He died.
40:04 The keys. "I give unto you the keys of the kingdom. "
40:09 The keys. The Pope teaches that this represents
40:16 some supernatural mystical power
40:19 and he can shut some people out and let others in.
40:23 I would imagine after this sermon today I'll probably be
40:26 shut out.
40:32 And millions have been held in the fear of superstition
40:38 all their lives. "Unless I forgive your sins
40:42 you will be shut out and confined to hell! "
40:49 That doctrine is called in scripture "the abomination
40:53 of desolation. "
40:56 What are the keys that unlock the doors of paradise?
41:01 Would you come with me to Luke 11 verse 52
41:07 to the words of our blessed Lord.
41:13 We're turning to Luke chapter 11
41:19 in the holy Bible. This is our authority.
41:24 Not some hierarchy... no.
41:28 Luke 11 verse 52.
41:30 Jesus, our blessed Lord, said to the religious leaders
41:35 of His day these words:
41:38 "Woe to you experts in the law
41:41 because you have taken away the key to knowledge.
41:48 Ye yourselves have not entered and you have hindered those
41:52 who were entering. "
41:54 The knowledge... the key.
42:00 The keys of the kingdom: the knowledge of the Word of God.
42:04 The knowledge of scripture.
42:07 The religious leaders took it away from the people.
42:11 They would not go in themselves
42:14 and they stopped all those who wanted to go in.
42:17 Jesus said: "Woe unto you. "
42:21 The keys. God gave to the church
42:25 the power to open the gates of paradise
42:30 through the preaching of the Word of God
42:35 and the gospel of Christ.
42:40 When I was a boy going to Avondale College
42:43 I was 17 years of age
42:46 and there came a man. He was a British preacher
42:51 and he preached in the chapel for a week.
42:56 And one day he spoke about the God-filled blank.
43:00 And he said: "In the heart of every person there is a blank
43:05 and only God can fill it. "
43:08 I think he quoted the words of the great Roman Catholic
43:11 theologian Saint Augustin.
43:14 And Saint Augustin or St. Augustine said these words:
43:18 "Our souls were made for God
43:21 and they cannot rest until they rest in Him. "
43:25 There's an emptiness inside you
43:27 if you don't have Christ in your heart.
43:30 And you can try to fill it up with everything.
43:32 You can try to fill it up with illicit sex and drugs
43:37 and television.
43:40 Preach it now! I'm trying to, ma'am...
43:42 I'm trying hard.
43:46 You folks watching this program, you don't know what's really
43:49 going on here. But we're just having a great time here.
43:54 We're having a little talking back and forth here.
43:57 Now that lady who's there: I'd take her with me anywhere.
44:02 You know, I'd put her on my team just to have a comic.
44:10 You know what's happened?
44:12 I've forgotten what I was going to tell you.
44:13 I now remember it... I now remember.
44:16 I sat in that chapel. I was a lost young boy.
44:22 And as that man told me about Christ...
44:25 that God came down and in the person of Christ
44:29 lived among us and was nailed to the cross for our sins...
44:35 When he told me that for the guilt of our sins
44:39 the nails drove in when Him they crucified
44:42 it broke my heart.
44:47 I went about for days in a daze.
44:52 I would walk around the campus of dear Avondale College
44:57 and I did not know where I was going
45:00 because I was caught up almost to the third heaven.
45:05 I'd seen a vision of the King in all His glory
45:09 and my soul cried out: "Glory, glory, glory. "
45:12 Amen! The birds were singing sweeter.
45:16 They were... um-hmm.
45:19 The sky was bluer.
45:22 People were nicer... kinder.
45:29 They hadn't changed but I had because I had seen
45:34 Christ on the cross. Amen.
45:36 That man had opened the gates of paradise.
45:39 He'd put the key in the door and he had turned the lock
45:44 and a door had opened up and a sinner had come home.
45:50 The most important work for the church...
45:54 listen to this... is not to have committee meetings.
46:00 As you go around the world
46:02 how many monuments, pray tell me, do you find to committees?
46:08 You don't.
46:12 Now committees on occasions may do some good things...
46:15 on occasions.
46:17 But the work of the church is not to talk and deliberate.
46:21 The work of the church is to preach the gospel. Amen!
46:26 People say to me: "Why do you keep going? "
46:28 Because there are two things that a minister can't do:
46:31 he can't tell lies and he can't retire!
46:37 That's what H.M.S. Richards said
46:39 my American friends.
46:43 And so God gave to the church the awesome power
46:46 to save souls. They are the keys.
46:50 Not some words of gibberish spoken by some
46:55 religious cleric to terrify people
46:59 that the church has got some power to throw them into hell
47:03 or not. It is the gospel of the Son of God.
47:09 It is the blood of Christ.
47:16 The greatest honor that I have ever had,
47:20 the greatest privilege, the greatest responsibility
47:24 the greatest authority is the preaching of the gospel
47:29 of Christ and saving souls.
47:32 "I give unto you the keys of the kingdom. "
47:39 The gates of hell... what does it mean?
47:43 Come to Matthew 16 verse 18 again.
47:47 Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18.
47:53 What a passage of scripture!
47:55 Matthew 16 and verse 18.
48:00 "And I tell you that you are Peter... " a little rock.
48:04 A little rolling pebble.
48:07 "And on this Rock... " The Rock of Ages...
48:11 I will build My church.
48:15 And the gates of hell... " The gates of Hades...
48:19 "will not overcome it. "
48:23 Now I'm reading to you from the NIV.
48:27 The KJV says in a very beautiful way
48:30 "the gates of hell. " This translation says
48:35 more accurately "the gates of Hades. "
48:40 Now Hades was believed by the contemporaries of Christ
48:46 to be the abode of the dead.
48:50 When you read in the gospel of Luke - I think it's chapter 16-
48:55 you read there of the rich man and Lazarus
49:00 and how the rich man went down into Hades.
49:05 It was a story that was believed by the people back there
49:11 that there was a great expanse
49:16 where the dead lived.
49:21 Now Jesus says "the gates. "
49:28 This is very interesting: the gates of Hades
49:33 are the gates of the grave.
49:36 The gates right at the very commencement
49:41 of the vast abode of the dead.
49:45 Did you know that the ancients believed
49:50 that was where the demons met?
49:54 Because in ancient cities - and this is not speculation -
49:58 the elders of the city would go to the gates
50:02 and they would talk and deliber- ate and do their business deals.
50:08 They would also do their scheming at the gates
50:13 of the city.
50:16 Now Jesus here is picturing
50:21 in His divine mind
50:24 the hoards of demons led by Lucifer
50:28 sitting at the gates of death.
50:32 You know, in the book of Hebrews it says
50:34 that this great demon - Satan - has the power of death.
50:39 It says that in Hebrews.
50:42 The power over death.
50:45 But Jesus is saying: "I don't care what the devil does. "
50:50 Because there's a real devil. I don't care what the demons do.
50:55 I don't care what their machinations are.
50:59 I don't care what politicians even do here in the
51:05 United States of America to insult God to His face.
51:10 I don't care that they can throw the law of God
51:15 and the law of marriage down into the gutter.
51:19 I don't care what these people do. They may think
51:24 they are going to succeed
51:27 but nothing can overthrow the church of God.
51:31 Amen! The gates of hell shall not prevail.
51:42 I want you to know this, and when you're having a bad day:
51:50 the gates of Hades - the grave -
51:55 shall have no power over God's children
51:58 because Jesus Christ conquered death
52:02 and He is Lord of all. Amen!
52:07 Amen! I want you to know that.
52:11 I believe in the reality of the resurrection.
52:16 I don't believe in what the great Oxford atheist and
52:21 antagonist says: that this is just a fable
52:25 and a made-up story.
52:29 I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross.
52:33 I believe it is history.
52:35 I don't believe it because it makes me feel good.
52:40 My faith is not built upon fables.
52:44 My faith is built upon the truth.
52:49 I believe it is the truth that Christ lived among us.
52:53 Even Dawkins says: "Yes, there was a Jesus. "
52:59 And on the Sunday the unbeliever has a problem
53:03 if he doesn't want to believe in the resurrection.
53:06 And he must ask the question and answer the question
53:09 "What happened to the body? "
53:13 Think this through: what happened to the body of Christ
53:16 if He were not raised?
53:19 There are three possibilities.
53:22 The Jews took the body.
53:25 But if the Jews had the body why didn't they produce it
53:29 and destroy the church?
53:31 The best way to kill the Christian church
53:34 is with a dead Christ.
53:37 The second possibility is that the Roman soldiers got the body.
53:43 But the Romans were the great antagonists
53:47 of the Christian church. They too, like the Jews, would have
53:51 finished off the church forever by producing a dead,
53:54 decaying Christ.
53:58 The third possibility is that the disciples stormed the tomb,
54:05 attacked the Roman soldiers, overcame them,
54:08 and got the body.
54:11 Nobody in his right mind would believe that nonsense.
54:16 But there is another possibility we have not discussed
54:20 and that is this: that the body was nowhere to be found
54:23 because the body was raised from the dead.
54:26 Amen! And the body is safe home in glory.
54:32 Now years ago when I conducted a great campaign
54:37 in Nizhny Novgorod we had a magnificent choir.
54:42 It was led by a most beautiful girl whose name was Anna
54:46 with long black hair.
54:49 And when I went back to Russia six months after the campaign
54:52 to see how the people were doing
54:54 I was asked to go to the hospital on a very cold, cold,
54:59 cold day and visit Anna because Anna was dying.
55:03 Anna had just given birth to two little girls.
55:07 One had lived. Her name was Anna... the little baby.
55:11 But one little baby girl had died.
55:15 I went into that ward in that Russian hospital
55:18 and I discovered that she could have been saved
55:21 for $5 worth of drugs... which none of us had.
55:26 I held her hand as she died.
55:31 I buried her, as my Russian brethren and sisters had dug
55:35 a hole in the hard, hard earth.
55:40 She was buried in a cardboard box because
55:42 they had nothing else.
55:44 They painted flowers on the side of the box.
55:47 I stood there in this Russian cemetery
55:50 as the wind moaned through the trees
55:53 and the church sang hymns.
55:56 Now a large church. They sang hymns
56:00 and we talked about Christ
56:03 and that Christ is alive
56:07 and that Anna will live again.
56:10 She was buried with her little baby girl...
56:12 holding her.
56:14 I told the people: "This is not the end. "
56:20 Because Jesus said:
56:24 "You are Peter, and on this Rock
56:27 I will build My church
56:30 and the gates of hell
56:34 will not prevail against it. "
56:40 Amen and amen.
56:45 Let me bring you to God in prayer.
56:47 Would you please bow your heads?
56:50 Oh my Father, we thank you that the true church
56:55 of the Living God is not built upon a man
56:59 or a dead saint.
57:02 But the true church is built upon the living Christ.
57:06 And because He lives we, too, shall live.
57:10 We thank you that God has given to the church the keys -
57:13 the gospel - and today, our Father, we accept Christ
57:18 as our Lord and our Savior.
57:20 And we do this in Jesus' precious name,
57:25 Amen and amen and thank you Jesus.


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Revised 2024-02-28