Participants: Pr. John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001408
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00:07 From Arcadia, California, the Carter Report presents
00:10 "The Living Word" around the world. 00:17 Hello, I'm Dave Deno. 00:18 And this is the Carter Report 00:20 with pastor and evangelist, John Carter. 00:23 This is where we talk about the issues of life and faith. 00:28 Today, our topic is one 00:30 that is right out of the headlines of the news. 00:33 We're gonna be talking about "ISIS and the Rapture," 00:37 how do they go together, we'll tell you in a moment. 00:43 I wish you would come with me 00:46 to a land of more than a billion souls 00:51 all in need of hearing the Gospel of Christ. 00:53 Did you know this, my friend? 00:56 It is the duty of the Christian 00:59 to take the Gospel of Christ to a lost world. 01:03 And the lost world I'm talking about 01:05 right now is India, 01:07 land of millions and millions of pagan gods 01:12 but more than a billion lost souls. 01:18 India cries out for God. 01:21 We are now back on India TV. 01:24 We're broadcasting on prime time in India. 01:27 We need your prayers, we need your support. 01:30 Is it easy in India? 01:32 No, it's the hardest place we've ever worked. 01:36 Harder than Russia? Harder than Russia. 01:38 Harder than America? Harder than America. 01:41 Harder than Australia? Harder than Australia. 01:44 Because it is a land that's given over almost 01:47 totally to demonism. 01:50 Now I could tell you about those demons, 01:52 I could tell you about the false gods 01:54 but what I want to tell you today 01:55 is about the true God 01:56 and the true God who told us 01:58 go into all the world 02:00 and preach the gospel to every creature. 02:02 We're back in India, yes, we're back in India. 02:06 And by the grace of God, we're back in India to stay. 02:09 We want you to come with us. 02:11 We want you to pray for India. 02:13 We want you to give for India and do it today. 02:16 Please write to me, John Carter, 02:18 Post Office Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California. 02:22 Write to me at Terrigal in Australia. 02:24 Email me, contact me 02:26 and say, "Yes, I'm going to stand with you 02:29 in the preaching of the gospel to the lost souls of India." 02:33 Thank you in Jesus' name and God bless you. 02:44 Welcome to the Carter Report. 02:46 Today, as I said earlier, 02:47 we're going to be talking about ISIS, 02:49 I-S-I-S and the Rapture. 02:52 And we're gonna find out how these two subjects 02:56 go together. 02:58 I've written a few things for myself 02:59 because I want you to know that 03:00 we're discussing events and beliefs 03:03 that are shaping the lives and the destinies 03:05 of millions of people. 03:08 ISIS and the other militants are spreading terror 03:12 all around the world. 03:14 Truly we do live in perilous times, 03:17 as the Bible describes them. 03:20 The question may be, "Will the church be raptured, 03:24 be raptured home to glory before great tribulation?" 03:28 John, this is a subject that is on everyone's mind. 03:33 We see it in the headlines of our newspaper, 03:35 we see it on the evening news. 03:38 There are some unfortunate events, 03:41 terrible events 03:42 that are being played out before us right now 03:45 in the Middle East. 03:47 Let's get right into it, I-S-I-S, ISIS, who are they? 03:51 These are Muslim fanatics. 03:55 They believe with all their hearts 03:57 that they are the only true faith. 03:59 They have a, you could call it, 04:01 Dave, a Messianic Seal for God. 04:04 They believe it is the will of Allah for them 04:07 to takeover not only the Middle East, 04:09 but to takeover the whole wide world, 04:12 including the United States of America. 04:15 They say, they will not be satisfied 04:20 until their flag flies over the White House. 04:24 Why are they so anti-Christian? 04:28 They are anti-Christian because they believe-- 04:32 now of course, they're not mainstream Muslims, Dave. 04:36 But they believe that we are infidels, 04:39 heretics and enemies of God. 04:42 They believe that when we invaded 04:44 Iraq and Afghanistan 04:47 and when we've gone into other countries 04:49 where there are Muslims, 04:51 that we have desecrated sacred soil. 04:54 And so they are on a holy crusade 04:58 to bring about the Muslim faith 05:00 right around the world. 05:01 But, John, you talk about them 05:03 having this zeal for their faith, 05:06 don't we as Christians 05:08 have an equal zeal for our faith? 05:11 We would--we would hope that we have a zeal for our faith 05:15 but a zeal that is motivated by the love of God. 05:20 Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord 05:21 your God with all your heart and all your soul 05:23 and your neighbor as yourself." 05:26 You don't go ahead and behead your neighbor. 05:29 You don't rape the people. 05:30 You don't do these unspeakable abominations and atrocities. 05:36 So many times though, these acts are excused by them 05:42 saying, well, we are the enemy, we are the great Satan. 05:47 They look upon us-- the fanatics, too, 05:51 as the enemy and the great Satan. 05:55 But there's no doubt about it, Dave, 05:57 they are on a crusade to spread their religion 06:01 around the world. 06:02 And they're going to spread it with a sword, with a gun, 06:06 with a bomb, with a terrorist, whatever it takes. 06:09 Let's talk about the attitude. 06:10 I want to stay on this for just a moment longer. 06:13 Because as Christians, we are taught 06:16 that you are either for Christ or you are against Christ. 06:19 Yes. 06:20 You are either in His camp, you are either a believer 06:24 or you are a tool of the enemy. 06:27 What is so different in that belief 06:30 on the part of Christians 06:32 than what we hear from radical Muslims? 06:35 There are radical Christians 06:38 and they have been always radical Christians. 06:41 Christians in the dark ages went on the crusades 06:45 against the Muslims to take the city of Jerusalem 06:49 and they killed, and they plundered 06:51 and they did all these, these dreadful things. 06:54 And so, Dave, in history, 06:57 there have been radical Christians. 07:00 Undoubtedly in some places today, 07:02 there are radical Christians who would do the same 07:06 if they had the opportunity and the power. 07:10 Wow. 07:12 But this--this is not the teaching of the Bible. 07:15 It is not the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. 07:18 What Jesus taught us, to love our enemies 07:21 and to do good to those who hurt us 07:23 and those who despise us. 07:26 The teachings of Jesus Christ will make a person kind 07:29 and gracious and forgiving. 07:32 Christ gives us freedom. 07:35 Yes. 07:37 Let's talk about that for just a moment. 07:39 True belief this whole area of religious freedom 07:45 because the radical Muslims are saying, no. 07:49 You need to believe as we do and that is it. 07:52 No religious liberty at all. 07:54 What is religious liberty? How do you define that? 07:56 I believe, Dave, that God made us in His own image 08:00 and God made us to be free. 08:02 God made us to have a clear conscience. 08:05 God made us to either serve Him or not to serve Him. 08:08 But God gave us the awesome ability of choice to say 08:14 I will choose God or else I will not choose God. 08:17 And so God has put in the soul of man 08:20 this amazing ability to choose 08:24 and so God has given us freedom. 08:26 And of course, this freedom can be perverted. 08:30 And people are perverting this freedom 08:32 all the time around the world. 08:34 ISIS is perverting the freedom of choice 08:37 that God has given to every person. 08:39 In other words for us, as Christians, 08:42 we can say to people, here's the gospel. 08:45 Yes. Here's the message. 08:48 It is up to you to decide whether you accept it or not. 08:52 The only motivation that a Christian should use 08:56 is the motivation of persuasion in the love of God. 09:01 We have the right to express our opinions 09:04 and to argue and to debate 09:07 which we may even do here on this program today. 09:10 But we don't have the right to force people to see it 09:13 as we see it. 09:15 God says, "Come let us reason together." 09:16 Yes, He does. 09:17 Book of Isaiah Chapter 1. Yeah, right. 09:20 You have been to the Middle East several times-- 09:23 Heaps of times. 09:24 It is a mystery to many of us. 09:27 Yes. We don't understand the people. 09:28 We don't understand the culture at all. 09:32 Give me if you would, I'm gonna just take you through 09:35 some of the countries of the Middle East. 09:37 Give me if you would maybe in a sentence or so 09:39 a snapshot of these countries, Egypt. 09:43 I've been to Egypt many, many times. 09:46 I think I've got the-- 09:47 a bit of the Nile River in my blood. 09:50 I love Egypt. 09:52 Some would call it the birthplace of civilization, 09:56 the home of the Pharaohs. 09:58 I love the land of Egypt, but today, of course, 10:01 it is ruled largely by a totalitarian system. 10:05 The Egyptians themselves are warm, wonderful people. 10:09 But the present government has thrown out 10:11 the Muslim brotherhood 10:13 whom they saw as a threat to their security. 10:16 And so Egypt today now has a military government, 10:19 virtually. 10:20 What about Syria? 10:21 It's in the news here and there. 10:23 For many, many years 10:25 it has been a place of suffering 10:27 for the people of God. 10:29 I remember, Dave, driving through the City of Homs 10:32 and my guide saying to me, 10:34 thousands and thousands of people 10:37 have been put to death in this city. 10:40 But today, it is in a terrible state of chaos. 10:45 You have the government and it is besieged, 10:49 they're fighting terrorists 10:50 and people say the government is a terrorist state anyhow. 10:54 And so it's very, very difficult. 10:55 And Christians in all of these countries, 10:58 I just praying to God that 11:00 He'll give them a time of security 11:02 and a time of peace. 11:04 Let's talk about the other country 11:06 that is always in the news from the Middle East 11:08 and that is, Israel. 11:10 Israel, of course is quite different in many ways. 11:14 It is a free democracy 11:16 and a great ally of the United States. 11:18 Israel is a Jewish state that means that it is a state 11:23 for the Jewish people, it is their homeland. 11:27 And I certainly love the land of Israel. 11:31 But you have a very interesting view 11:36 of Israel's place in God's plan. 11:40 That's a little bit different 11:41 than we perhaps hear from many others in the ministry, 11:45 tell me about that. 11:48 That is an understatement, is it not, Dave? 11:52 Let me say this... I love Israel. 11:57 I love the Jewish people. 11:59 Goodness, I've got two doctors. They're both Jewish. 12:04 Some of my best friends are Jewish. 12:06 I have a Jewish attorney, would you ever have any other 12:10 if you could so choose, the best attorneys. 12:13 And so some Jewish people-- some of these people, 12:16 Jewish people, are very close to my heart. 12:19 I believe this that Israel 12:23 the same as the United States of America, 12:26 and Australia, and England, and France, and Germany, 12:30 Israel has the sacred right to exist. 12:35 She has the right to determine the national identity. 12:39 But that's a different thing to saying that Israel 12:42 is the focus of Bible prophecy 12:45 and that the land of Israel is the holy land 12:50 as far as God is concerned. 12:52 Can I read you a text? I'd love to hear it. 12:54 Now this, this is a big subject, Dave. 12:59 But I think it's worth looking at today. 13:02 I think you're gonna get a few letters on this. 13:04 Oh, I'm sure I will but-- 13:05 and I welcome all of the letters, 13:09 because it's not what I think, it's what the Bible says. 13:13 This is a parable. 13:14 "Listen to another parable, there was a landowner 13:17 who planted a vineyard," that's what the land of Israel. 13:20 "He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it 13:24 and built a watchtower," that was the city of Jerusalem. 13:28 "Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers, 13:30 went away on a journey, " that is to the Jewish people. 13:34 "When the harvest time approached, 13:36 he sent his servants to the tenants 13:38 to collect his fruit. 13:40 The tenants seized his servants, they beat one, 13:43 killed another, and stoned a third." 13:45 This is the persecution of the great prophets 13:48 of the Old Testament, as you and I know. 13:50 "Then he sent other servants to them, 13:52 more than the first time, 13:54 and the tenants treated them the same way. 13:57 Last of all, he sent his son to them. 13:59 'They will respect my son,' he said." Who was that, 14:03 who was that, Dave? 14:04 That would be Jesus. That's, that's Jesus. 14:05 Yeah, that's Jesus. 14:07 Before we, we take our break, 14:09 I want people to know about a brand new magazine 14:12 that we have, it's called Ebenezer. 14:14 And this magazine is available absolutely free 14:17 and some of the subjects that we're talking about today 14:20 are in this magazine. 14:22 It is yours to have free simply by going to our website 14:27 www.cartereport.org, 14:32 take a look at this, we'll be back in a moment. 14:38 Did you ever have a sense of destiny? 14:41 Did you ever feel that God has put His hand upon you 14:44 for some tremendous task that you really got a purpose, 14:48 that God has called you for such a time as this? 14:52 I have that sense, that conviction today 14:56 because God is opening up doors for us in Latin America. 15:01 And in Latin America, my good friend, 15:04 There's a revolution going on. 15:07 It's not a revolution in the streets. 15:09 It is a revolution in the hearts 15:12 of men and women. 15:15 That's why, the Carter Report is going to go to El Salvador. 15:20 We are renting an outdoor stadium 15:23 with room for more than 60,000 souls. 15:28 And we're planning a baptism in the-- 15:30 on the Sabbath afternoon 15:31 of more than 5,000 born again souls 15:36 in El Salvador, in Latin America 15:41 where there's a revolution going on, 15:43 where the Holy Spirit is being poured out. 15:45 Don't you want to be a part of this great purpose, 15:51 this great task, this God-designed outreach, 15:57 the Latin America. 15:59 Would you please write to me, John Carter, 16:01 Post Office Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California. 16:04 Tell me, I'm going to support you. 16:06 Write to me in Australia, tell me, 16:08 I'm going to support the preaching of the gospel. 16:12 Write to me today and support 16:14 the preaching of the Word of God 16:17 around the world 16:18 but right now, in Latin America. 16:22 Thank you and God bless you. 16:38 Welcome back to the Carter Report 16:40 with pastor and evangelist John Carter, I'm Dave Deno. 16:43 And today, we're talking about two subjects 16:46 that may not necessarily seem to be related. 16:49 But in a moment, you will see the connection. 16:52 ISIS, I-S-I-S, 16:54 the militant group in the Middle East 16:57 and the great tribulation, the rapture as well. 17:02 John, before we paused, 17:05 I had asked you to talk about your view of Israel. 17:08 You talked about their right to exist politically, 17:11 but you also said, that you don't necessarily agree 17:14 with what a lot of people say about the Holy Land, 17:17 about it being God's chosen place 17:20 in prophetic history. 17:22 You have read to us a scripture, 17:23 a parable, from the Bible. 17:25 Can you explain that for us? 17:27 Yes, Dave, thank you. 17:28 Let me take this a little bit further. 17:31 We got up to the place where it says, 17:34 He send, God sends His Son. 17:37 "They will respect my son," this is Matthew 21, 17:40 "But when the tenants saw the son, 17:42 they said to each other, 'This is the heir. 17:45 Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' 17:49 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard 17:52 and killed him.'" 17:54 This is the cross. 17:56 This is when the Jewish people put our Lord on the cross, 18:00 and of course, our sins putting on the cross 18:02 we know this. 18:03 "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, 18:06 what will he do to those tenants?" 18:08 Jesus said, 18:09 "'He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,' 18:13 they replied, 18:14 'and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, 18:17 who will give him his share of the crop 18:20 at harvest time.' 18:21 Jesus said to them, 18:22 'Have you never read in the Scriptures, 18:25 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, 18:29 the Lord has done this, 18:31 and it is marvelous in our eyes?' 18:33 Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God 18:37 will be taken away from you 18:42 and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 18:47 When the chief priests and the Pharisees 18:49 heard Jesus' parables, 18:50 they knew he was talking about them." 18:53 Jesus said, 18:54 that because of the rejection of Christ 18:58 and His crucifixion, 19:00 the kingdom of God would be taken from those people 19:05 and given to a people who will bring forth 19:08 the fruits of salvation. 19:11 Now who are those people? 19:13 That refers to the church. 19:16 It's made up of Russians and Americans 19:21 and Jews and Arabs, 19:25 Germans and Mexicans, 19:28 any person who has true faith in Jesus 19:32 is considered to be, by God, the true Israel of God. 19:39 So the church becomes the Israel of God. 19:43 So this is the most anti-racial idea 19:50 that you could think of. 19:52 That the-- everybody now is a part of the Israel of God. 19:58 We've talked about ISIS, we've talked about 20:00 the perilous times that we live in. 20:02 Yes, yes. 20:03 We've talked a little bit about the Middle East. 20:06 And some of the different countries in the Middle East 20:09 and sort of the role that they are playing 20:11 in modern times 20:14 and even toward prophetic times as we look ahead. 20:20 Let's talk about the great tribulation. 20:23 And let's see how these come together. 20:28 There are a lot of different theories 20:30 about the rapture. 20:31 And its relationship to tribulation, 20:35 how do you see these two coming together? 20:39 Dave, I believe this and people are free of course 20:44 to disagree with me, they do all the time. 20:47 But I want my faith to be built upon 20:49 not the teachings of the church 20:50 but the teachings of the Word of God. 20:54 I believe that the great tribulation, 20:57 the great time of trouble 20:58 comes before the second coming of Christ. 21:04 And for many believers in the world today, 21:08 they are already in the tribulation. 21:11 How much worse can it get 21:14 than it is for Christians believers 21:17 in a place like, like Nineveh. 21:20 There were 60,000 Christians in Nineveh 21:24 and ISIS said, "If you stay, we're going to kill you. 21:29 But you can stay and we won't kill you 21:32 if you convert to Islam. 21:34 But if you want to save your lives you got to go," 21:36 so they left with the clothes that they were wearing. 21:40 That for them is a time of trouble. 21:43 Can I please read a text about this, Dave, 21:46 with your permission? 21:48 Because let me a read a text on the great tribulation. 21:53 It is believed by most Christians, 21:56 I think, in this part of the world 21:59 that the church is going to be raptured onto glory. 22:03 And then the tribulation is going to come 22:05 after the church is raptured home to glory, 22:09 that's very comfortable. 22:10 Yeah, we feel many of us have been taught to feel-- 22:14 we're gonna get out of here before the bad stuff happens. 22:16 What about the believers in Iraq? 22:19 What about the believers in Syria? 22:21 What about the believers in Nineveh? 22:24 They haven't been raptured home to glory. 22:26 They're in the midst of a great tribulation now. 22:28 Now Jesus said, Matthew 24 22:32 verse, let me see, 18, 22:37 "Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 22:40 How dreadful it'll be in those days 22:43 for pregnant women and nursing mothers. 22:46 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter 22:49 or on the Sabbath. 22:51 For then there'll be great distress, 22:55 unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-- 22:59 never to be equaled again. 23:02 If those days had not been cut short, 23:05 no one would survive, 23:08 but for the sake of the elect 23:11 those days will be shortened." 23:16 Therefore the elector on the earth, 23:20 during this great tribulation. 23:22 The Bible says, "If it were not for the sake of the elect, 23:26 nothing would be left on the earth. 23:28 But for the sake of the elect 23:29 those days are going to be shortened. " 23:32 And then it goes on to say this, so I believe 23:36 on the basis of the teachings 23:38 of the greatest Jew of all, Jesus, 23:42 that God's church is going to be right here on the earth 23:44 during the great tribulation. Then Jesus said, 23:47 "Immediately after the distress of those days," 23:50 after the distress of those days, 23:52 "'the sun will be darkened, 23:53 and the moon will not give its light, 23:56 the stars will fall from the sky, 23:57 heavenly bodies will be shaken.' 23:59 At that time the sign of the Son of Man 24:01 will appear in the sky, 24:02 all the nations of the earth will mourn, 24:04 they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky 24:07 with power and great glory. 24:09 And he will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, 24:12 and they will gather His elect from the four winds." 24:17 Now, Dave, I put it to you, 24:20 Jesus said, He is going to come at terrible time of trouble. 24:24 He said, the elect are going to be right there 24:26 in the midst of that time of trouble. 24:27 He said, but, but for the elect, 24:29 he actually talks about the elect. 24:32 The days are going to be shortened 24:34 because of the elect. 24:35 God's children, God's church and then it says, 24:39 after this, you're gonna have these celestial signs. 24:42 And then they're going to see the Son of Man 24:44 coming on the clouds of the sky 24:45 and He's going to send his angels 24:48 and they're going together his elect. 24:50 Therefore, this is gonna get worse, Dave. 24:54 And I tell you what I believe, I don't believe in the rapture. 24:57 I don't believe in a secret rapture. 25:00 I believe that Jesus comes in power and glory 25:07 and with a tremendous noise. 25:10 I believe the dead are resurrected 25:12 and the living saints are caught up in the clouds. 25:16 And they're taken home to glory. 25:19 So I believe that what's happening 25:21 in the Middle East today 25:23 with ISIS is a taste 25:28 of what is going to come upon the whole wide world. 25:32 And just as God's believers in the Middle East 25:35 are going through a great tribulation now, 25:37 so the church is going to go through a great tribulation 25:41 before the return of Christ. 25:45 This is, for many, 25:47 a very difficult message to hear. 25:49 It's a hard one, isn't it? 25:51 It's not comfortable. 25:52 I mean, we like to believe I've come to Christ 25:55 and therefore, 25:56 well, I'm not so Pollyannaish to believe that 26:00 I'm not gonna have anymore problems. 26:01 But not much. But not a lot. 26:03 But what about the believers who suffered in Russia? 26:06 Millions put to death. 26:08 You see the gospel, that is taught over here, Dave, 26:11 is not always the gospel that is taught elsewhere. 26:15 Now if you went to the believers, 26:16 60,000 of them in the city of Mosul 26:20 which is the old city of Nineveh 26:22 and if you said to them, "Hey, you don't need to worry, 26:25 you're gonna be raptured home to glory," 26:29 you say, you're gonna go home to glory, 26:31 you're gonna be raptured home 26:32 and then the trouble's going to start. 26:35 Dave, it isn't so. 26:38 The church has always gone through 26:41 tribulation and trouble. 26:43 Jesus said, "In the world you will have trouble 26:47 or tribulation," Jesus said that. 26:50 We're called in weakness 26:52 but we're not called for weakness, I'm sorry. 26:54 But He also tells us in His scriptures 26:57 that He never allows anything to come upon us. 26:59 Absolutely. 27:00 That He does not give us the power through the spirit 27:04 to be able to handle. 27:05 That's the only way we can face the future. 27:07 Unfortunately, our time has come 27:10 far too quickly to an end. 27:11 It has. 27:12 Some of the topics that we've talked about today 27:15 and I want people to know about this 27:17 are available in our new magazine, 27:19 the Carter Report Ebenezer. 27:22 Many of the subjects that we've talked about 27:24 are in here. 27:25 Some of the articles, "Can Bad Be Good", 27:29 "Nothing Is Too Hard for God", "Signs of the Times." 27:32 Here's one that I really want to read, 27:34 "John Carter's Amazing Health Secrets." 27:37 I can't wait to get into that one. 27:39 Well, how about this? 27:40 "Why They Buried the Bishop on the Sidewalk." 27:45 This magazine is free, it's yours for the asking. 27:48 Just go to our website www.cartereport.org. 27:54 Now also, we'd love for you to write to us 27:57 and if you'd like to support this program, 28:00 we are entirely viewer supported. 28:03 The address is on the screen, you can write to us here 28:06 at the Carter Report at P.O. BOX 1900, 28:10 Thousand Oaks, California, 91358. 28:15 And elsewhere in the world P.O. BOX 861, 28:19 Terrigal, NSW 2260, Australia. 28:26 You can email us at info@cartereport.org, 28:30 log on to our website 28:31 www.cartereport.org. 28:36 John, thank you so much. Thank you, Dave. |
Revised 2014-12-17