Participants: Pr. John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001312
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00:08 From Arcadia, California, the Carter Report presents
00:11 "The Living Word" around the world. 00:18 Is Jesus the only way of salvation 00:22 or are there different ways to be saved? 00:24 Welcome to the Carter Report. 00:26 This is James Venegas, with more Fresh Hot Potatoes 00:29 and with our special guest Pastor John Carter. 00:36 We believe in the public proclamation 00:38 of all the mighty truths of God's saving 00:41 and transforming Word, around the world 00:44 in Russia, Ukraine, India, Africa, 00:46 the Philippines, Australia, 00:48 America and the Isles of the Sea. 00:50 Millions have been powerfully touched by the Spirit of God 00:54 as the true gospel has been proclaimed. 00:57 Please be a part of the Carter Report team 00:59 by praying, giving, and when God calls by going. 01:02 Please write today to PO Box 1900, 01:05 Thousand Oaks, California, 91358 01:09 or to PO Box 861, Terrigal, NSW 2260, Australia. 01:16 Your gift will light a candle in a dark place. 01:19 Your gift will bring the gospel of Christ to a lost soul. 01:23 Please write today. 01:37 Pastor Carter, welcome to the program. 01:39 Thank you. Great to have you here again. 01:40 Glad to be here. 01:41 Some really, really hot and fresh potatoes for you. 01:46 We're gonna get stuck in again, 01:48 Michael writes in an email 01:50 about a comment that you made a while ago. 01:54 He has seen it on YouTube. 01:56 He says, that you said now you know that Allah 02:00 is the same as the God that the Christians worship. 02:05 Apparently this is what you've said 02:06 and that Allah is another word for God 02:10 and then he also says that he has seen on your website 02:12 that you talk about trusting in Christ alone for salvation. 02:16 Of course. 02:17 And he says, it seems to be an irreconcilable conflict 02:19 between these two statements. 02:21 Pastor Carter, are there many ways, 02:23 do all roads lead to Rome or is cross the only way? 02:26 Let me read you a text, and then I'll talk about Allah. 02:30 Acts 4:12, "Salvation is found in no one else, 02:38 for there is no other name under heaven given to men 02:43 by which we must be saved." 02:46 The only way to be saved that the Bible says 02:48 is through the Lord Jesus Christ. 02:51 That is not politically correct. 02:56 We live in an era in the world 02:57 especially here in this Great United States. 03:00 When we are taught that everything is of equal worth. 03:05 Every religion is the same. 03:07 Every God is the same. 03:10 I'm not buying it. I don't believe it. 03:13 I don't have any sympathy for that viewpoint at all. 03:18 I'm not politically correct as ifar as salvation is concerned. 03:22 I hope I'm biblically correct. 03:25 Let me read you the text again, pastor. 03:27 "Salvation is found in no one else." 03:31 I mean, what don't we understand about that? 03:34 I have-- I read this text to people 03:36 and then they want to argue and they philosophies 03:39 and they say it's not fair, I don't believe. 03:42 I'm not talking philosophy, I'm talking from the Bible. 03:47 Salvation is found in no one else, 03:50 for there is no other name, no other name. 03:55 We ought to put it up in lights, 03:57 no other name under heaven given to men 04:02 by which we must be saved. 04:04 The only way we can be saved the Bible says 04:08 is through the Lord Jesus Christ. 04:12 That's why I preach the gospel, 04:15 because there is no other name, there is no other way. 04:18 Now, Allah. Yeah, Allah, Islam. 04:20 Now, in the Old Testament 04:23 the word for God is Elohim or El. 04:28 Very similar, Allah, El, Elohim. 04:34 Arab Christians in their Bible refer to God by the term Allah. 04:42 I'm talking here not about Muslims, 04:44 I'm talking about Arab Christians. 04:48 In their Bible when they read about God, 04:50 they read about Allah. 04:55 But they don't believe the same 04:56 as the Muslims believe about God. 05:01 Muslims believe that Jesus is a great prophet and a great man. 05:08 But we don't believe He is merely a prophet or a man. 05:12 We believe that He is the eternal Son of God. 05:16 Yes. Amen. 05:17 Amen. Amen. 05:19 We believe He is the eternal Son of God. 05:21 We believe as Christians what the Bible teaches 05:25 we believe in the trinity, we do not believe in three gods. 05:33 We are not polytheists, we are monotheists. 05:41 We believe in the unity of God. 05:42 Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one. 05:46 But Jesus said, go and baptize them 05:48 in the name, singular of the Father, 05:52 the Son and the Holy Spirit. Yes. 05:56 He didn't say baptize them in the names, the name. 06:01 God is manifested in three people, 06:04 the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 06:08 Okay, so no conflict whatsoever Christ is the only way. 06:11 Christ is the only way 06:14 and we do not believe in the Muslim teaching. 06:18 Now, we are not here to criticize Muslims. 06:21 We ought to stop criticizing people. 06:25 We ought to stop putting people down. 06:28 We ought to stop hate speech and all of the stuff. 06:31 It is so bad. 06:33 Of course there is wars and everything, 06:35 we ought to love Muslims. 06:37 I have Muslim friends, but I want every person to know 06:42 that I believe that the only way to salvation 06:46 is through the Lord Jesus Christ. 06:49 Politically incorrect I'm? Yes. 06:51 But biblically correct I'm also. 06:54 So moving away from the Muslims 06:56 and on that point that you touched. 06:58 How about those people that perhaps lost their grandparent 07:01 and there were a good person. 07:03 When Jesus returns is there anything for them? 07:07 That argument is often used about a loved one dying 07:11 who is not a member of our church or my church. 07:16 The last thing we want to do 07:18 is to sit in judgment on individuals. 07:24 That would be to play the place of God. 07:27 God is the judge. 07:30 I can tell people this, that if God can get someone into heaven 07:34 He will because He wants them there. 07:39 But I come back to this text, there is no other name, 07:42 but the name of Christ. 07:46 Salvation is through Jesus, but having said that, 07:49 let us remember that people were saved by grace through faith 07:54 in the Old Testament and they were not talking about 07:57 the name of Jesus specifically. 08:01 Where they? No, no. 08:02 I mean, they weren't talking about-- 08:04 they weren't people like coming to our church 08:05 and or coming to Christian churches 08:07 and raising their hands and praising the name of Jesus. 08:11 They were worshipping Yahweh, Elohim. 08:15 And salvation was found through Him. 08:17 Now, Jesus is the only way 08:22 whereby people are going to be saved. 08:25 But when we get home to glory, 08:28 we may have a few things to learn. 08:31 And I will have more than a few things to learn. 08:35 So this are the question I have here 08:36 relates to exactly the same thing. 08:39 So are people saved on the light that they have. 08:42 Imagine someone that lives in a remote place 08:45 in the jungles of South America. 08:47 Never heard of the gospel of Jesus. 08:49 Once again I'm politically incorrect. 08:52 I would disagree with many, many people 08:56 who go to so called Christian churches. 08:59 And when they say that people have lived according, 09:01 lived by-- they are saved 09:03 by living to the light they have had. 09:06 Firstly, I would comment that no person on the face of the earth 09:10 has ever lived up to the light He has. 09:13 Nobody, because we all sinned, 09:16 we fall short of the glory of God. 09:17 So the argument that people are saved 09:21 because they live according to the light 09:23 they've got is erroneous. 09:28 Because that would mean that we are saved by works. 09:32 And all of our works are incomplete. 09:34 Now, if you read the Book of Romans. 09:35 The great theme of the Book of Romans is that, 09:38 you can't be saved by your works 09:39 because your works are not good enough. 09:41 And when I say that to people, 09:44 I find that most of them have never read the Book of Romans. 09:47 If you want to understand salvation, 09:52 be honest with yourself. 09:54 And sit down and read the Book of Romans, 09:58 read at least the first eight chapters. 10:01 And read it slowly and don't be like the elder 10:04 who came to me years ago and said, 10:06 I have been reading the Book of Romans 10:08 like you told me to and that's not what we believe, is it? 10:13 He says, we don't believe what Paul's, of course we do. 10:16 It's not what he believed but he had a new revelation. 10:20 I saw him 40 years later he said, 10:22 it took me 40 years for the light to come on 10:25 because the Book of Romans says we are saved by grace alone, 10:29 Christ alone, faith alone. 10:33 So how do we balance Paul in Romans 10:37 and James the brother of Jesus 10:39 who talks about faith and works, working together? 10:42 Well, Wesley did it long time ago and far better than me. 10:46 And I will see if this memory is still working. 10:49 This is its great test, right now. 10:52 John Wesley said we are saved meritoriously through grace. 11:00 Instrumentally through faith not by faith, 11:06 instrumentally through faith, it's the instrument, 11:10 evidentially by works. 11:15 Meritoriously by grace, 11:20 instrumentally through faith, 11:25 thirdly, evidentially by works. 11:29 Works are the evidence that my faith is genuine. 11:34 Now there are millions of people who talk about faith. 11:37 They don't have faith at all. 11:39 It's a fantasy because they don't have any works. 11:43 They say they have got faith 11:44 and they're looking at pornography. 11:47 They say they have got faith, 11:48 they spend two minutes a week reading the Bible 11:52 and 40 hours a week watching television. 11:55 Well, they don't have faith 11:57 because the work show that they don't have faith. 11:59 And then when you come through, pastor, 12:01 to the Book of Revelation 20, there is a passage there 12:05 that says, "We are judged by works." 12:09 People say oh, no, we are judged by faith. 12:11 No, no, no. You are not judged by faith. 12:14 Revelation 20 says, "We are judged by our works." 12:18 Matthew 7, doing the will of God, the fruits, 12:23 so in the scriptures the fruits-- 12:27 the fruits of faith are works, 12:32 and where you have no works, you don't have faith. 12:37 So, that is the balance. 12:38 Remember what the Paul said, 12:40 I would not work my soul to save for this my Lord has done, 12:47 but I would work like any slave 12:51 for the love of God's dear son. Amen. 12:55 So the sum total of these questions that we have had 12:59 is that we are saved by Christ alone, 13:01 nothing that we can do, but the flip side is that 13:04 it will be evidenced in the way in which we live. Yes. 13:07 We need to pause for a moment. 13:08 We got a few more good questions coming up. 13:10 But we are gonna take a very important message. 13:16 The Carter Report is a self supporting ministry 13:19 with the global mission. 13:21 We believe that the most important thing that we can do 13:24 in this tremendous hour is to tell people 13:27 about the Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus said, 13:31 "I am the way, the truth and the life." 13:34 We do not believe that this is business as usual. 13:38 We believe that we are living in the closing hours, 13:41 in the history of this world. 13:43 Bless your heart, friend. 13:44 Look at the signs that are being fulfilled almost every day. 13:48 The signs of the times are shouting at us, 13:51 and they're saying, "Jesus is coming soon." 13:55 I want you to be my partner in global mission. 13:58 I want you to be my partner in helping to tell the world 14:02 about the coming of Jesus. 14:04 I want you to be my partner in the preaching 14:07 of the distinctive truths of the Three Angels' Messages. 14:12 Please check us out at the New Carter Report website, 14:17 www.cartereport.org. 14:19 We have a special section whereby you can ask questions 14:23 and I will give you the answers 14:25 from the living word of the living God. 14:29 That is the cartereport.org. 14:34 My friend, we want you to join us 14:37 in the mission to preach the gospel in China, 14:41 in India, in Australia, in Africa, 14:44 in the United States of America. 14:47 Wherever people are lost and wherever people need to hear 14:51 the good news that Jesus saves. 14:55 Please check us out, the new carter report website 14:58 www.cartereport.org. 15:01 I want to hear from you today. 15:18 And welcome back to our Fresh Hot Potatoes 15:20 with Pastor John Carter. 15:22 Pastor Carter, we have answered some 15:23 very deep theological questions. 15:25 We've tried to. We've tried to anyway. 15:28 And according to the scriptures I think we have done very well. 15:30 I want to turn the spotlight on you a little bit and ask you. 15:34 You have been doing evangelism now for over 50 years. 15:37 Why is it that you do evangelism? 15:41 Why do you do it? 15:42 Pastor Venegas, it's because I believe the Bible. 15:45 It's as simple as that. Let me give you a text again. 15:50 Here it is, here it is, 15:53 "The name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, 15:57 salvation is found in no one else, 15:59 for there is no other name under heaven given to men 16:03 by which we must be saved." 16:05 I don't believe that we are saved by churches. 16:10 Churches don't save. My church can't save me. 16:14 My church needs to be saved. 16:16 So how can an organization that needs saving, save me? 16:20 Christ is my savior, I believe this. 16:25 I'm going to say these words slowly, 16:28 because they are controversial 16:31 and completely politically incorrect. 16:34 The problem is they are true. 16:40 We are not saved by living up to the light we have 16:43 because none of us do it. 16:47 We are not saved because we are good enough. 16:51 We are not saved because we are born in a certain religion. 16:57 We had a person in our church and we believed was a prophet. 17:02 Her name was Ellen White, 17:04 and she said, millions are going down 17:07 into Christless graves unwarned, unsaved. 17:15 Now, you know, we like to quote her when it suits us, 17:18 but we don't like to quote her when it disturbs us. 17:22 When it suits us, good, 17:24 when it disturbs us, oh, no, I wouldn't. 17:26 Millions are going down 17:28 into Christless graves unwarned and lost. 17:34 I believe that people without Christ are lost. 17:40 And Jesus said to the disciples through Peter, 17:43 "I'll give you the keys of the kingdom." 17:46 Why don't we believe that text? 17:49 Why do we just use it to argue 17:50 with our beloved friends in the Roman Catholic Church? 17:54 Why do we turn it into a negative, it's a positive. 17:57 He said, "I'll give you the keys of the kingdom." 18:01 The keys of the kingdom represent 18:04 the knowledge of the gospel of righteousness by faith 18:09 through Christ alone as told in this Bible. 18:13 When that gospel is preached, 18:15 the key is put in the door of paradise 18:18 and the door is opened up. 18:21 Therefore I do evangelism because I believe 18:24 that God has given to us His disciples, 18:29 the keys of the kingdom. 18:31 And I believe that people are going to be lost by the millions 18:37 because Christians were too indifferent to Christ 18:43 into the plight of the heathen. 18:45 Why do we go to dangerous places? 18:47 Because we do, to preach Christ, so people will be saved. 18:51 But many Christians say, oh, they will be saved anyhow. 18:54 They are deluded, they are totally deluded. 18:58 Now, there is another question here 19:00 about evangelism that I have got. 19:04 What have been the greatest obstacles? 19:05 May be you have answered this already 19:06 but what have you seen to be the greatest obstacle 19:10 to evangelism and the keys of the kingdom? 19:14 Well, I've had some interesting experiences, 19:18 I've had people come after me with guns 19:20 and I have been marched down the road 19:24 in a jungle track in Africa 19:26 with machine guns expecting to be shot. 19:31 I don't consider those to be great obstacles 19:34 because we have the presence of holy angels. 19:38 The greatest obstacle to the preaching of the gospel 19:41 everywhere is unbelief in the words of God. 19:44 And here is the text, there is no other name under heaven 19:47 but you read this so often to Christians 19:50 and they will explain it away. 19:51 They will end up by completely explaining away 19:54 and saying oh, but they are going to be saved anyhow. 19:58 You see, don't tell them. 19:59 They are going to be saved anyhow. 20:01 If they are going to be saved anyhow, 20:03 there is no inducement to tell them. 20:05 You see, if they are going to be saved anyhow, 20:08 there is an inducement to keep them in the dark. 20:11 Why bring them into the light and give them the responsibility 20:14 and therefore millions of Christians 20:17 are keeping millions of lost souls in the dark, 20:22 because they do not believe the plain words of the Bible. 20:25 And of course that brings up the issues 20:26 of the reform church or predestination. Yes, yes. 20:31 If we don't see the need to bring people to cross, 20:33 then what would spur us on to. 20:34 And that's why those churches are dying too. Yeah, yeah. 20:38 Something a bit more personal, 20:39 again along the lines of evangelism. 20:42 Pastor Carter, who influenced you the most in your life? 20:46 Who are the influences other than Jesus Christ, of course? 20:49 I had some wonderful people who have influenced me, 20:54 some alive and some dead. 20:57 John Wesley, all goodness, the Apostle Paul 21:02 but in more recent times John Wesley, 21:05 you know, a flame in the hand of God, 21:08 this little preacher who preached 42,000 sermons, 21:13 traveling on the back of a horse, 21:14 360,000 miles, he was a man. 21:19 Most of us are just babies. 21:22 In more recent times, H.M.S. Richards, 21:25 great preacher of the gospel, 21:27 the man who raised up the Voice of Prophecy. 21:30 A man who was a man of God, 21:32 who walked with God and he was a Bible preacher. 21:37 Then there have been others, Bible teachers, 21:44 some scholars, Billy Graham has influenced me 21:49 in the sense that he is a man 21:51 who believes in the preaching of the gospel 21:54 and believes in running big campaigns. 21:57 He has to overcome tremendous cynicism 22:01 from politically correct Christians. 22:04 So, I had a number of people who have influenced me. 22:09 Brave people and courageous people, 22:11 and people who believe in the word and who practice it. 22:15 There is another question 22:17 about your journey in ministry in evangelism. 22:19 What has been the most or the single most 22:22 amazing spiritual event that you have ever experienced? 22:26 Now, that's a big, that's a big question 22:28 you have seen a lot of things. 22:29 Well, well, well, in India when we had 30,000 people 22:36 come down in front and I recall 22:39 and as I prayed the spirit of God took over the meeting 22:43 and the people spontaneously broke out in prayer. 22:46 You can hear the prayers 22:47 sweeping around this vast audience, unforgettable. 22:52 '92 possibly in Nizhny Novgorod, Gorki in Russia. 22:57 In this place where they sent the decedent to close city 23:02 where the communist said, 23:03 we don't even think of him anymore, they told me. 23:06 And then the opening night, the crowd was so great, 23:10 that they had to send the officers of the KGB 23:13 to act as our deacons and take up the offering. 23:19 That night when the firebombs were thrown on the stage 23:23 and my Russian friends were rushing around 23:25 pouring water on the firebombs as I was preaching, 23:29 but then seeing tens of thousands of atheists 23:34 and communists come to Christ, 23:37 preaching to the KGB as I have on two occasions. 23:42 And having the KGB Colonel stand and salute 23:46 and all the Colonel stand up 23:49 and more than a thousand officers stand 23:52 and then come down in the front 23:54 to give their lives to Christ and accept Bible. 23:58 I believe that we are living in the day of God's power 24:02 and I'm praying for the time to come when there will come 24:05 a revival among church members in the western world. 24:11 Where the church is asleep, 24:14 indifferent, asleep, ignorant of the word of God, 24:18 but one day there will come a mighty revival 24:21 among God's people and the work will be finished. 24:27 So I guess looking forward then, 24:29 the other question I have for you here 24:32 is what then are your hopes and dreams and goals for the future? 24:37 Perhaps on a personal note 24:39 and perhaps also for the rest of us following your footsteps. 24:42 What do you see for the future? 24:45 I see only good things. I think the best is yet to be. 24:51 I've been remarkably privileged and blessed. 24:57 The wealth of this world leaves me completely indifferent, 25:02 but the wealth of souls won to Christ stirs my soul. 25:08 We are going to have a new approach, 25:11 we are going to continue to work in Russia and other countries 25:15 even including the Islands of the Sea, PNG and so forth. 25:19 The Solomon, the Philippines 25:22 but we are going to go down to Colombia. 25:25 Now, I'm told it's dangerous, but you know, it's dangerous, 25:28 more dangerous probably in Los Angeles. 25:31 The will of God will never take you 25:32 where the grace of God cannot keep you 25:34 and we think there is a great avenue 25:37 for the preaching of the gospel in Latin America. 25:42 Where we are seeing today, millions of Latinos 25:47 come to a knowledge of the scriptures. 25:50 They are stepping out of an old church with all its traditions 25:57 and these people are finding salvation in Christ. 26:00 That's pretty exciting. 26:02 And in the word of God that's what I hear. 26:03 Yes. Coming back to the word. 26:05 Time Magazine calls it "The New Reformation." 26:08 The New Reformation. 26:09 I want to be a part of the New Reformation, 26:12 while God gives me strength. 26:16 The final question I wanted to ask you 26:17 is something very personal 26:20 and I think it's a good place to finish. 26:22 And that is what Jesus means to you individually? 26:25 We've talked about evangelism, we've talked about theology. 26:27 What does Christ mean to you? 26:29 I want to finish on that note for our viewers. 26:32 He is a person who has influenced me 26:34 more than anybody else. 26:37 I read His writings every day. 26:41 The most important part of the Bible 26:43 are the words of the Christ, 26:45 the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, 26:47 easily the most important part, 26:49 and the words of the gospels, the words of Christ. 26:53 He shapes my life. I find salvation in Him. 26:58 I commune with Him all through the day. 27:03 I can't imagine a day without Him. 27:05 I have no doubt that He is alive. 27:09 Oh, He is, He is absolutely alive. 27:12 He lives. No one can get rid of Him. 27:17 The communists couldn't get rid of Him. 27:19 I preached in a great place in the Soviet Union 27:22 where Khrushchev said, we're going to get rid of him. 27:25 Well, time got rid of Khrushchev, 27:28 but Jesus is alive and well. Amen. 27:30 And He is coming back in glory. 27:33 So to me He's the alpha and the omega, 27:36 the beginning and the end. 27:38 Pastor Carter, we thank you for sharing your heart 27:41 for answering these questions. 27:42 And once again we want to thank you 27:44 for all the great questions that have come in. 27:46 We want to again invite you to send more questions in. 27:49 Anything you have regarding the scriptures 27:52 and Pastor Carter will answer those for you. 27:54 The website is cartereport.org. 27:57 We thank you for joining us, God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17