Participants: Pr. John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001309
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00:08 From Arcadia, California, the Carter Report presents
00:11 "The Living Word" around the world. 00:18 If there is one Christ 00:20 why are there so many Christian churches? 00:23 Welcome to the Carter Report my name is James Venegas, 00:26 with some more Fresh Hot Potatoes. 00:28 We welcome our guest Pastor John Carter. 00:34 Jesus said, "Go into all the world 00:36 and make disciples of all nations, 00:38 baptizing them in the name of the Father, 00:40 Son, and Holy Spirit." 00:42 The Carter Report team has therefore 00:45 accepted the challenge of Worldwide Evangelism. 00:48 Millions in Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Africa, 00:52 India, Australia, the United States, 00:55 and the Isles of the Sea have heard the good news of Christ 00:59 as John Carter has proclaimed God's Living Word. 01:03 You are invited to be a part of the Carter team 01:06 by praying and by giving and when God calls by going. 01:10 Write a note now to Pastor John Carter, 01:13 PO Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California 91358 01:19 or to PO Box 861, Terrigal, NSW 2260, Australia. 01:27 Jesus said, "With God all things are possible." 01:35 Welcome to the program, Pastor Carter. 01:37 Thank you. Fresh Hot Potatoes. 01:39 We are so privileged to have you with us 01:41 and to have so many thoughtful 01:43 and thought provoking questions from our viewers. 01:46 We are gonna get stuck straight in again 01:48 because there are so many to cover. 01:49 I want to ask you if there was one Jesus and one first church 01:53 why today are there so many different Christian churches? 01:57 Because people stubbornly refuse to walk in the light. 02:04 Let me give you a text. Sure. 02:07 I think there is a text here 02:10 that may help us in 1 John 1:7. 02:18 Okay. I think it is, yes. 02:21 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, 02:26 we have fellowship with one another, 02:28 and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, 02:31 purifies us from all sin." 02:34 If we walk in the light as Christ is in the light, 02:38 we will have fellowship with each other 02:40 we will be united. 02:43 The problem is this, that churches have got 02:46 this bad habit of drawing up creeds. 02:52 They say, well, this is what we believe. 02:54 Why do you believe? Because... 02:57 I believe what my church believes. 02:59 Oh, what does your church believe? 03:00 Well, it believes what I believe. 03:02 Now, what does your church and you believe? 03:03 Well, we both believe the same. 03:07 God founded a church, in the days of the apostles. 03:11 As time went by the church fell away from the truth. 03:15 You find that in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 03:18 it talks about the great apostasy, the falling away. 03:21 Then there came a system of church and state. 03:25 A paganized system, baptized paganism 03:29 had so many, many, many traditions 03:33 not taught in the word of God, 03:34 not walking in the light but that church could still say, 03:38 hey, we trace our ancestry back to the apostles. 03:42 That doesn't prove anything. You see, doesn't prove a thing. 03:47 If you want to get the oldest religion in the world 03:49 I guess you got to go to the Canaanites or somebody else. 03:54 Age is not a determining factor in truth, truth is. Yes. 04:00 There came a great reformation 04:02 Martin Luther started preaching but after he died, 04:05 his followers said, well, we're gonna stick 04:07 for what Luther said, Luther had the truth, 04:10 we are not going any further 04:11 and then there came a schism 04:14 and after another church was formed 04:17 they had some more truth of course. 04:19 They got little bit more truth but they made the same mistake. 04:22 They drew up creeds. Yes. 04:25 The true heart of Protestantism is of we don't have a creed, 04:31 but we walk in the light as He is in the light, 04:34 that we recognize that only God and His word are infallible 04:40 and we need to walk in the light of God's word 04:42 and if we do this, we will have fellowship with each other. 04:46 So is there a true church today? 04:50 The true church universally is made up the universal church. 04:58 If you go back to Adam you can trace the church 05:02 from the days of Adam to our day. 05:04 It is a church that trusts in God, 05:07 doesn't trust in his own righteousness. 05:09 The church that is saved by the gospel 05:12 and a church that keeps the Commandments of God. 05:16 God has always had a church, 05:19 even when people thought the church had vanished. 05:23 But in the last days it speaks about 05:25 the appearance of a special movement. 05:30 Chapter 12:17 of Revelation "And the dragon" the devil 05:34 "was in enraged at the woman, the church, 05:37 and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring 05:41 those who obey God's commandments 05:43 and hold to the testimony of Jesus." 05:48 In the last days, there will emerge 05:51 a people who believe in Christ. 05:55 Who believe in the gospel 05:57 and who believe in the Commandments of God? 06:00 And they won't have a denomination or name. 06:02 I think what we should do, Pastor Venegas, today 06:07 is not talk about denominations, 06:11 that simply infuriates people. 06:16 It plays into the hands of bigots. 06:18 As somebody said you know, 06:20 I have said it over and over again a million times. 06:23 Well, I'm saved because I believe 06:26 to the church of so and so. 06:30 That's not necessarily so, is it? 06:36 God knows the heart, 06:40 God has His people in the Great Roman Catholic Church, 06:43 millions of them. 06:45 Honest people who trust in Christ alone. Yes. 06:48 God has His people in the Lutheran church, 06:51 the Baptist church, the Methodist church 06:54 you can go on and on. 06:55 God has His people everywhere 06:57 in every nation and every church. 07:00 But, what we should consider is this 07:03 not that we criticize others who don't belong to "our church" 07:10 but we should make sure 07:11 that we are walking in the light of His word. 07:16 Does that answer your question? 07:17 Yes, it does. It does. 07:19 Trying to push those buttons. 07:21 You are throwing, as they say in cricket, 07:22 you were throwing a curve ball, a curve ball move. 07:25 That's the one, that's the one. 07:26 Now, we have got a very interesting email here 07:28 from a lady called Debra. 07:30 Its come through the internet. Good name. 07:31 Yes, very good name. Hi, Debra. 07:33 Have a listen to this, dear Pastor Carter, 07:35 I watched part of the video in which you invited 07:39 a bishop of the catholic church to talk about 07:42 the changing of the Sabbath by the Catholic Church 07:46 also a rabbi, who convinced, 07:48 who was convinced that Sabbath falls on Saturday 07:52 and has not been changed. 07:54 I uploaded part of the video as I got it from a friend 07:58 and it caused quite a stir or an uproar among my friends 08:02 form other denominations on Facebook. 08:04 They protested saying that it's hoax's. 08:08 They demanded that I have to know 08:10 and give them the name of that bishop. 08:13 Would you please clarify? 08:15 Let me try to help. Yes. 08:17 There is an old saying, a text with out a context is a pretext. 08:21 If you are going to watch one of my sermons, 08:24 watch it in its entity, the word that was used there 08:29 and it's a definite word, 08:30 it says, we uploaded part of the video. Yes. 08:35 Don't upload part of any thing 08:38 because you will get a text without a context 08:41 and you will end up with a pretext. 08:43 I would like to say to Debra, look at the entire video. 08:49 See the whole lot and look at the subtitles, 08:53 it tells you exactly who the person was. 08:56 But, let me tell you something, Debra, 08:59 and my friend Pastor Venegas, all those statements 09:04 that were read there by the "Rabbi" 09:09 and by the "Bishop" were authentic statements. 09:13 The man who had the mightier and who read those statements 09:18 was reading from the official writing 09:21 of the Roman Catholic Church, there is no hoax there. 09:28 Now, you are a Sabbath keeper? 09:30 Yes, like Jesus. Like Jesus. 09:33 Like Paul. And like Paul. 09:35 A young lady named Jackie, I assume she is a young lady. 09:38 Oh, I think so. We call her young lady. 09:40 She says in a question, please tell me exactly 09:44 how you spend your Sabbath? 09:46 Do you start it on Friday beside the church service 09:50 what else do you do on Sabbath? 09:52 Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man. 09:56 The Sabbath was made for our good. 09:59 God never gave us a Sabbath 10:01 to restrict us and take things from us. 10:04 But he gave us holy commandments how we are to keep the Sabbath. 10:08 You can read those holy commandments in Exodus 20 10:11 and other passages. 10:19 If you want to see how the Sabbath should be kept 10:23 you need to look at the life of Jesus. 10:27 Jesus went to church on the Sabbath. 10:31 You see the Sabbath is the Lord's Day, 10:35 it is the rest day, it is the blessed day 10:42 which makes it the best day 10:46 and for most people it is the test day. 10:51 And so we are told that Jesus went to church 10:54 and Jesus healed on the Sabbath. 10:58 So I go to church on the Lord's Day. 11:01 Not the Jewish day. 11:03 But, oh, of course the Jews, 11:05 they are welcome to keep it too 11:07 and we have Jewish people in this congregation. 11:09 So, the Sabbath is made for all people. 11:11 I go to church, I try to have a wonderful meal 11:15 with my friends on the Sabbath day. 11:18 And I often go for a walk on the Sabbath day. 11:22 When people say, couldn't keep that old Sabbath. 11:25 It's such a yoke of bondage, 11:29 I don't know, what they are talking about. 11:37 You don't know what a mango is like until you taste it. 11:42 So the Bible says, taste and see. 11:46 Can you make comment on when 11:47 the Sabbath begins for you and why? 11:49 Well, it doesn't begin for me, it begins for the world. 11:53 The Sabbath is from sunset to sunset. 11:57 The Bible says, in Leviticus "From even unto even, 12:03 shall you keep your Sabbaths." 12:07 And so, the day of paganism commences at midnight 12:12 when good people ought to be asleep. 12:16 It commences at the darkest time of night, James. 12:20 Yes. Yes. 12:21 But God has stay commences with the great stroke, 12:25 a stroke from heaven. 12:27 When the sun dips beyond the horizon, 12:30 beyond the horizon then the Sabbath commences. 12:35 Friday evening is the seventh day 12:39 and the seventh day starts Friday sunset 12:43 and it goes through to Saturday sunset. 12:45 Who says so? Every theologian who knows. 12:49 Every historian, every Roman Catholic Scholar, 12:53 ever Jew, every Rabbi, every encyclopedia 12:59 the Sabbath from sunset to sunset 13:02 its not my day, it's the Lord's Day. 13:04 It's the day that Jesus kept. 13:06 It's the day that you ought to keep too, friend. 13:08 And it's the best day. 13:09 It's the best day, rest day, test day. 13:12 Test day and the rest day. 13:13 Now, we have lots more questions to ask you 13:15 but we are gonna take a moment and pause 13:16 and we are gonna hear from an important message. 13:22 Hello, friend, I am John Carter in Colombia. 13:27 Behind me is the great city of Bogota 13:30 the capital of this amazing country. 13:33 This city is a city of more than eight million souls. 13:40 It's up more than 8,000 feet in the Andes. 13:45 And we've come here today with one purpose in mind 13:49 to preach the everlasting gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 13:54 We are here because we have a commission from God. 13:58 Jesus said, "Go into all the world 14:01 and preach the Everlasting Gospel, 14:04 baptizing them in the name of the Father, 14:07 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." 14:10 The people here need the Gospel of Christ. 14:14 And I am asking you today come with us, 14:17 if not in body but come with us in spirit. 14:21 This is been a very, very dangerous city. 14:24 A very dangerous part of the world 14:26 but we believe that we are safe when we are in the hands of God. 14:32 Therefore I am beseeching you in the name of Christ 14:36 and in the names of these eight million plus inhabitants 14:40 in the city of Bogota to come 14:43 and help us to preach the word of God. 14:46 Please support the preaching of the word of God in Columbia. 14:50 Please write to me, John Carter, PO Box 1900, 14:55 Thousand Oaks, California, 91358. 14:59 In Australia, write to me at the address, 15:02 Terrigal, New South Wales, Australia. 15:06 Jesus said, "Work while it is day 15:09 the night is coming when no man can work." 15:13 Please write to me today. Thank you, and God bless you. 15:24 And welcome back to a Fresh Hot Potatoes program 15:26 with Pastor John Carter. 15:28 How are we going? We are doing well. 15:30 How are you doing? I'm doing pretty well. 15:32 You are in the hot seat, don't you? 15:34 Now we are answering some great questions 15:36 that are coming in through the internet, 15:38 especially through the email and through our Facebook 15:40 and we have another one here for you. 15:43 Gustavil through an email says-- 15:46 Gustavo. Gustavo, oh, I'm sorry. 15:48 Nobody would fake that name. Did I say it properly? 15:50 No, no, I wouldn't know how to say. 15:52 He says, how can I distinguish 15:55 who is a true prophet or who is a false prophet? 16:00 Are there biblical verses to distinguish 16:02 who is true and who is false? 16:04 Good question, easy answer. 16:06 I think, I think, I think it is Matthew 7. 16:14 "Watch out for false prophets." Matthew 7:15. 16:18 "They come to you in sheep's clothing, 16:19 but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16:22 By their fruits you will recognize them." 16:27 then down in verse 29, he says, 16:29 "By their fruit you will recognize them" repeats it. 16:32 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' 16:35 will enter the kingdom of heaven, 16:37 but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." 16:43 Jesus said, you can tell a true prophet by the fruits. 16:48 You don't get orange, you don't get oranges off a-- 16:52 An apple tree. An apple tree or a mango tree. 16:54 So that's a symbolic thing, what would fruits look like? 16:57 Acts of righteousness. 17:00 If a person claims to be a true prophet 17:03 but he is a man who loves money 17:07 and whose ministry is based on fleecing the flock. 17:12 Are there any people like this? 17:14 If there are people whose even a ministry has one emphasis 17:19 and that is to fleece the flock they shear the flock. 17:24 They put the money into his own pocket 17:26 he is a prophet, okay. Yes. 17:28 He is a false prophet. And he is making a profit. 17:31 He is making a profit. 17:32 And true prophet will live a righteous life, 17:35 he will not be an adulterous man, 17:37 he who won't be a thief, he won't be a liar, 17:40 he won't be a cheat but he will be a person who loves God 17:44 and loves the people of God and who lives for the glory of God. 17:49 And of course we are talking 17:50 a prophet being a messenger of God. 17:52 Yes, a messenger of God. 17:53 Not just any old preacher, we are talking about-- 17:55 And the Bible tells that there are heaps of false prophets. 17:57 Yes, yes, and there will be more as well. 17:59 And people are easily taken in, James, by false prophets 18:02 because they don't read their Bibles 18:03 and because most people are naive 18:08 and they are taken in by bitter glamour, you know. 18:12 And the Bible teaches that there will be much falling away 18:15 because of these people. 18:16 People need to think for themselves and read their Bibles 18:19 and make up their own opinions. 18:20 Yes, now a couple of practical questions about the ministry, 18:23 the Carter Report ministry. 18:26 Sandy writes, I love your teaching on television. 18:30 What I don't understand is why you have 18:32 so many flags on your stage? 18:36 I got to fill it up some how, Sandy. 18:37 No, no, that's not the full question. 18:38 And no Israel flag? Oh, goodness. 18:42 Not only that why you, sorry, not only that, she says, 18:46 but why do you revere so much Martin Luther 18:50 when he had such a hatred for Jews? 18:53 He is pope of the Jews and their lives, 18:55 of course, the Nazi's loved him. 18:57 So are you favoring Martin Luther and-- 19:01 over the Jews here? 19:02 Let's get to an easy part first, the flags. 19:06 I thought, we had an Israeli flag. 19:08 Okay. I'm sorry if we don't. 19:11 But there are hundreds of nations in the world 19:13 and we don't have room for hundreds of flags. 19:16 But I'm quite certain at one stage we had an Israeli flag 19:20 because we love the Jewish people. 19:23 This is a Jewish book and this amazes some people 19:27 but Jesus was a Jewish man. 19:31 All the apostles were Jewish people. 19:33 The Blessed Virgin Mary, the icon of the Catholic Church, 19:38 Jewish, a Jewish woman. 19:41 And Martin Luther, Martin Luther was raised up 19:45 by God to commence a great reformation 19:47 that was based on Sola Scriptura, 19:50 Solo Christo, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide. 19:53 That's the rallying cry 19:55 of the great protestant reformation. 19:56 I believe in everything with all my heart. 19:58 But Martin Luther as he got old got cantankerous. 20:04 That's what happens you know. 20:05 That happens, they tell me that happens. 20:06 So, he got cantankerous, he got very sick, 20:10 he was continually in pain 20:13 and he wrote some very, very unpleasant things 20:15 about the Jews that the Nazi's used. 20:20 I say this to the shame of his name. 20:26 That he said things that could fall into the enemies, 20:30 into the hands of the enemies of the Jewish people. 20:34 That just tells you that people are fallible 20:39 and we should not follow people including Martin Luther 20:41 we should follow Christ. 20:43 Very true. Who was a Jew. 20:45 Yes, so we love the Jews? Yes we do. 20:48 And we respect Martin Luther for what--how God used him. 20:50 For what he did but not for what he said about the Jews. 20:52 Absolutely, another practical question 20:54 from lady named Elaine, through the email. 20:59 When will you be holding a crusade in London, England, 21:04 in your mother country? 21:06 Well, my homeland is Australia 21:08 but my folks came from England a long time ago. 21:11 They came out, Elaine, with very cheap type of transportation. 21:17 They came out courtesy of the government on boats 21:19 but we won't go into that one right now, James. 21:22 It's a different-- different program. 21:25 We would love to run a campaign in London. 21:28 We went over there a couple of years ago to check it out. 21:31 But, Elaine, you must understand, 21:34 that we raise the budgets ourselves 21:38 for these campaigns, nobody helps us. 21:41 We don't have a big church denomination 21:43 that is bank rolling us. 21:45 In fact, we don't have a bank role. 21:49 We raise the money ourselves and when money comes in 21:52 through a certain project then or as it comes in, 21:55 then we can move ahead. 21:58 And if the Lord wish to give us money 22:00 to run a campaign in London we would do so. 22:04 But to run a campaign in London would cost 22:06 many, many millions of dollars. 22:10 And we would need to have a team 22:14 come together over there who would work with us 22:18 in the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. 22:21 God has many people in the great city of London. 22:24 Yes, Marvelous city. 22:26 There is a great need there, so perhaps. 22:29 Enormous, enormous need, 22:31 I just wish that the spirit of God would move 22:34 upon the hearts of English people and our people 22:37 and that they would storm the city of London 22:39 to preach Christ and the gospel. 22:41 Amen. Amen. 22:42 Now, I back to some biblical questions here. 22:45 We have a fellow called, Laurence on the email. 22:47 He says, when will probation close? 22:50 Now, we first need to explain what is probation 22:53 for those who don't know? 22:54 I think I know where he is coming from. 22:56 He is talking about the last time of opportunity. 23:01 But, if you are a lost soul you are not on probation. 23:04 You know, and if you come to Christ in true faith 23:06 you are not on probation either. 23:08 But what he is talking about is the time of opportunity 23:13 for the world to come to God. 23:15 Would that be like Noah's ark? Yes, yes. 23:17 When the door closes. Yes, it's when the door closes. 23:19 And it appears in the study of scriptures 23:22 that the door of mercy closes just before the second coming. 23:27 At the time when the seven last plagues are bought out. 23:30 When the human race is sinned away its stay of grace 23:36 when that happens we do not know 23:38 but we do know that now is the day of grace. 23:42 And if we come to Christ now, whatever our defects and false 23:47 and our imperfections and our grow sins 23:50 we can find salvation now, 23:53 because now is the accepted time. 23:55 Now is the day of salvation. 23:57 Amen, now we have a couple of Bible verses 24:00 that we have been asked to look up. 24:03 Jackie, for example she asks what does Matthew 16:9 mean? 24:08 So we have to look that up-- Matthew 16:9 24:10 Matthew 16:9 what does it mean? 24:14 Matthew 16:9, well, I want to know. 24:16 Thank you Jackie, for the question. 24:17 I hope Jackie, that I can answer this question now. 24:20 Matthew 16-- Matthew 16:19, excuses me 16:19. 24:26 Matthew 16:19, oh, here it is, 24:33 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" 24:38 oh, good text, I believe in that. 24:41 "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, 24:44 whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven." 24:48 So we are going back to question of Peter here 24:50 and Jesus speaking to Peter, He--we talked about the Petros 24:54 and Petra and what is Jesus telling here? 24:58 Yes, Jesus said to His disciples, 25:02 I'm going to give you the capacity 25:05 to open the doors of heaven. 25:07 He said, I'm going to give you the key 25:10 and that and if you use that key correctly 25:13 you will open the doors of paradise 25:15 to a multitude of people. 25:18 At another occasion Jesus chastise 25:21 the religious leaders of His day. 25:23 He said, you have taken away the key of knowledge, 25:29 you wouldn't go in yourself, 25:31 you won't let other people get in. 25:33 The key is the knowledge of the scriptures, 25:37 the knowledge of the scriptures 25:40 and the key that God gave to Saint Peter 25:44 under the Christian church 25:45 was the key of the knowledge of the Gospel of God. 25:50 The one true holy gospel 25:52 that the vast majority of people do not understand. 25:56 But their gospel of faith in Christ alone, 25:59 Solo Christo, Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, 26:02 only grace, only faith 26:03 when that gospel is preached, Pastor Venegas, 26:07 a key is inserted in the door of paradise 26:11 and the door is opened and sinners are saved. 26:15 So, we are not saying here that, 26:17 that Peter was going to be God's representative on earth 26:20 making decisions for God on earth. 26:21 Well, every person who is a true Christian 26:24 is God's representative on earth. Yes. 26:26 But no person, no person can assume 26:31 a divine authority presumptuously in his own right. 26:37 Peter was a sinner, Peter died. 26:40 Peter had been saved by grace like the rest of the apostles. 26:45 But what did Peter do? Peter went out and he preached. 26:49 At Pentecost he stood up 26:51 and he preached to a great crowd of people. 26:53 He put the key in open the door, 3,000 souls came in. 26:58 Yes, so, obviously it wasn't so much his authority on earth 27:02 but he and the gospel that went-- 27:04 That is the authority. Yes, it's through the gospel. 27:07 It is not an arbitrary authority. 27:10 No man can say to one person or another person. 27:13 I'm going to let you in, I'm going to keep you out. 27:15 Correct. No, no, no. 27:16 That's God's purgative. Yes. 27:18 But a true Christian minister is called to preach the gospel 27:23 and through the gospel, 27:25 through that key of knowledge sinners are saved. 27:28 And on that note, we are going to have to end 27:30 our time together Fresh Hot Potatoes. 27:33 We thank you Pastor Carter, for your time. 27:35 And we thank you for watching, keep those questions coming in. |
Revised 2014-12-17