Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001521A
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00:04 The Carter Report presents Plain Talk with John Carter.
00:16 Hello friend. I'm John Carter. 00:19 Welcome to the Carter Report and today, to Plain Talk. 00:25 Around the world people watch our television program. 00:28 And people send in heaps and heaps of questions. 00:32 Today, we'll be dealing with those important questions. 00:36 Maybe your question 00:38 is going to be answered today on Plain Talk. 00:45 Hello friend. 00:47 I'm John Carter in Havana, Cuba. 00:50 I'm standing here in Revolutionary Square. 00:54 This great square is dedicated 00:57 to the great Communist Revolution under Fidel 01:00 that came to this country back 50, 60 years ago. 01:04 This place is still undergoing a revolution. 01:08 We've come to check out the reality of the situation. 01:13 Freedom of speech is not allowed here still, 01:16 preaching the gospel out of doors 01:19 is not allowed here still, 01:21 whatever you hear about reconciliation, 01:24 nothing has really changed. 01:26 We've been told, 01:28 we cannot run public campaigns in Cuba, 01:32 in any part of this world. 01:35 We can run meetings in churches. 01:38 That's allowed. 01:39 So what are we going to do? 01:41 We're going to support the people of God 01:42 in this part of the world. 01:44 We're going to step through those doors 01:46 as God opens those doors. 01:49 We're not going to come and cause a commotion 01:53 and cause trouble to the people of God. 01:56 We will work diligently 01:59 and "as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves." 02:05 Stand with us in the preaching of the gospel. 02:08 Wherever it is, stand with us. Write to me. 02:11 Post Office Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, 02:13 California 91358. 02:15 In Australia, write to me at the address 02:17 which is now appearing on the screen at Terrigal. 02:21 And let us go forward 02:23 for a mighty spiritual revolution 02:26 as we take the gospel of Christ 02:29 to the lost around the world as God opens the doors. 02:34 This is John Carter in Revolutionary Square 02:38 in Havana, Cuba saying to you, 02:41 God bless you and thank you for your support. 02:47 What difference is there 02:48 between the Muslim and the Christian religion? 02:51 Huge difference. 02:53 The Muslims believe in the Quran, their holy book. 02:56 We believe in the Bible. 02:58 People say, "Oh, no, one holy book 03:00 is as good as another holy book." 03:03 That isn't so. 03:05 The Bible teaches 03:06 that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, 03:09 that Jesus is the Creator, 03:12 and that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. 03:16 The Muslims don't believe that. That's the difference. 03:19 Let me read to you from John 8:56. 03:25 Jesus says to the Jews. 03:27 "'Your father Abraham rejoiced 03:29 at the thought of seeing my day, 03:31 He saw it and was glad.' 03:34 'You are not yet 50 years old,' the Jews said to him. 03:37 'And you have seen Abraham?' 03:41 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 03:43 'before Abraham was born, I am!'" 03:48 Jesus said, "I am." 03:50 And these words mean, I am the Almighty God, 03:54 the Great I Am. 03:55 "At this they picked up stones to stone Him. 03:58 But Jesus hid himself, 03:59 slipping away from the temple grounds." 04:02 The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Great I Am. 04:07 Now if Jesus is the Great I Am, then the only true religion 04:12 is the religion of Jesus Christ. 04:16 I'm going to come over now to John Chapter 1 04:19 and we're going to start 04:21 at the very beginning of this chapter 04:23 as I try to answer that very good question. 04:26 John 1: 1 says, "In the beginning was the Word. 04:31 And the Word was with God and the Word was God." 04:35 And Jesus is the Word. 04:37 "He was with God in the beginning. 04:39 Through Him all things were made, 04:42 without Him nothing was made that has been made." 04:46 The Bible teaches that Jesus made the universe. 04:50 My Muslim friends say, Jesus was a great prophet. 04:54 He was a mighty man of God. 04:57 We respond by saying, thank you. 05:00 But Jesus was more than a mighty man of God. 05:04 Jesus was the Son of God. 05:07 Jesus was the Creator. Jesus was the Great I Am. 05:11 And the Bible teaches 05:13 that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. 05:17 The Muslims say, 05:18 "No, He didn't die on the cross. 05:21 No, the great prophet of God cannot die on the cross." 05:24 But the Bible says 05:25 that the Son of God actually died on the cross. 05:29 That's the difference. 05:32 Who pays for your evangelistic campaigns? 05:35 And why do you even bother to do this work? 05:38 Well, it's not a bother. 05:40 We do this work because God told us to do it. 05:43 It's commanded in the Holy Scriptures. 05:45 We don't do it because it's easy. 05:48 We don't do it because it's just some job. 05:51 We do it because of our convictions. 05:54 I'm going to come over here in the Bible 05:56 and I'm coming over here to Acts Chapter 4 06:00 and getting close, 4:12 it says, 06:03 "Salvation is found in no one else, 06:07 for there is no other name under heaven given to men 06:11 by which we must be saved." 06:14 The only way a person can be saved 06:16 is through Jesus Christ. 06:18 Now you say to me 06:20 well, that's not politically correct. 06:22 Not everybody believes that today, 06:24 in fact, most people don't believe that anymore. 06:27 Quite frankly, I don't care what most people believe. 06:30 I really don't. 06:32 I don't want to be politically correct. 06:34 I want to be God correct. 06:36 And I want to believe the Scriptures. 06:38 And the Bible tells me 06:40 that the only way that a person can be saved 06:42 is through the Lord Jesus Christ. 06:46 Jesus said, 06:48 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." 06:53 My friend, that is the truth. 06:56 Now I'm gonna turn over now to the Book of Ephesians 07:01 here in the New Testament. 07:03 And I'm going to read you here a text 07:06 that many Christians, people in the church, 07:10 they don't seem to believe it. 07:12 Ephesians 2 tells me, and in verse 1 it says. 07:18 "As for you, you were dead 07:20 in your transgressions and in your sins." 07:24 If a person doesn't know Christ, 07:26 the Bible says, he is a dead man, 07:29 he is a dead woman, 07:32 and he needs the Gospel of Christ. 07:35 Are you listening to me? 07:37 And then the Bible goes on to say, 07:39 it talks about the lost. 07:41 "Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, 07:46 excluded from citizenship in Israel 07:50 and foreigners to the covenants of the promise." 07:53 Listen to these words. 07:55 "Without hope and without God in the world." 08:00 "Without hope and without God in the world." 08:03 "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away 08:09 have been brought near through the blood of Christ." 08:12 Now I know there are lots of people today, 08:14 even people in the church 08:16 don't like to hear this plain word, 08:19 they don't want to hear this plain truth, 08:22 they don't want to hear the, the clear word of God. 08:25 But the Bible says, 08:26 the only way you can be saved is through Christ, 08:30 through the preaching 08:32 of the everlasting gospel of Christ. 08:34 That's why I do this work. 08:37 You say, but "oh, no, that's your job." 08:39 You know this, 08:41 you're gonna have a job as a doctor. 08:42 No, no, everybody has been called, 08:45 if you're a Christian, you've been called 08:47 to teach the gospel of Christ and to win the lost for Christ. 08:52 That's why we do it. 08:54 And we go wherever God opens the doors. 08:57 Who pays for these campaigns? Well, people like you. 09:02 You say you don't get any money from the church organization. 09:04 No, not a dime. 09:06 But we don't, we don't need it because God supplies our needs. 09:12 We have faith in God and people send offerings to us 09:16 and we use that money 09:18 for the most important work in all the world. 09:22 It's God's work. 09:23 It is the preaching of the everlasting gospel. 09:26 And we invite you to become our partner 09:29 in this great work, in the preaching of the gospel. 09:32 God bless you. Amen, I say. 09:35 Here's a theological question. What is righteousness by faith? 09:41 That is a theological question. 09:44 And it's a tremendously important question. 09:47 The person who sent me this letter said 09:50 "What is your belief in righteousness by faith?" 09:56 You know, I'm a bit scared sometimes 09:57 of these theological terms 09:59 because it can be a turnoff for some people 10:03 they say, you know, "What are you talking about? 10:05 Why can't you just say simple things?" 10:08 Well, we're trying to say simple things today. 10:11 The Bible says in Luke 15:1. 10:14 "Now the tax collectors and sinners 10:16 were all gathering around to hear Him. 10:18 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law 10:21 muttered, muttered, muttered," 10:23 "This man welcome sinners and eats with them." 10:28 Righteousness by faith says that God loves sinners. 10:34 If you're a sinner, 10:35 I want you to know Jesus loves you. 10:39 If you are a sinner, 10:41 Jesus would like to come to your house today. 10:43 He'd like to talk with you. 10:45 He'd like to sit down and have a meal with you. 10:48 This man receives sinners. 10:51 Righteousness by faith tells me that we're born sinners. 10:55 Every one of us, we're born without a knowledge of God 11:00 and we're born in need of the grace of God. 11:03 Now how can an unrighteous person 11:07 become righteous in the sight of God? 11:09 A lot of people don't understand this. 11:11 And the reason they don't understand this, 11:13 is because they don't read their Bibles 11:16 and even if they do read their Bibles, 11:18 they don't seem to believe what they're reading. 11:21 And here's the Book of Romans 11:22 written by the world's greatest theologian 11:24 after our Lord. 11:26 That was Saint Paul. He says Romans 4. 11:29 "What then shall we say 11:30 that Abraham, our forefather discovered in this matter? 11:33 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, 11:37 he had something to boast about but not before God." 11:39 You can't be saved by being good. 11:42 You can't be saved by your works. 11:45 "What does the Scriptures say? 11:47 Abraham believed God, 11:49 it was credited to him as righteousness." 11:53 Credited. 11:54 "And when a man works, 11:55 his wages are not credited to him as a gift 11:58 but as an obligation. 12:00 However, to the man who does not work 12:02 but trusts God who justifies the wicked." 12:07 Can you believe this? 12:08 The Bible says He justifies the wicked. 12:11 "His faith is credited as righteousness." 12:16 Now listen. 12:18 Your soul depends upon your getting this my friend. 12:23 The Bible says, we're born in a state of sin. 12:27 We're born, lost. 12:28 People say, I don't want to hear that. 12:30 You know why you don't want to hear it? 12:31 It's because you're self righteous. 12:35 But you can't be saved if you're self righteous. 12:38 You can only be saved through God's righteousness. 12:41 Now God is completely, absolutely perfect. 12:43 Jesus is absolutely righteous. And the Bible tells me this. 12:48 When I come to Christ, as a penitent, in true faith, 12:54 and I take hold of Christ and I believe in Him, 12:59 He gives me as a gift, His righteousness. 13:06 The Bible says it's a credit. 13:09 It's as though you've got yourself in a terrible mess 13:11 and you owe a billion dollars. 13:13 And someone comes along and by the grace of God, 13:17 and because of the love in his heart, 13:19 he credits you with all that money. 13:22 It's credited to you. You didn't earn it. 13:25 It is the gift of God. 13:28 Righteousness by faith 13:30 is when God takes a poor sinner like you and me 13:36 and because of the merits of Christ, 13:39 because of the blood of the cross, 13:42 are you listening? 13:43 Because of the blood of the cross, 13:45 because Jesus paid it all, 13:48 He gives you as a gift His righteousness. 13:52 My friend, we are saved by works, 13:56 Christ's works. 13:58 We are saved by righteousness, Christ's righteousness. 14:03 It's given to you and to me as a gift. 14:07 Not because of our goodness, but because of His goodness. 14:13 It can be your's today. 14:15 Why don't you say now, I confess my sin 14:19 and I accept Jesus as my Lord and my Savior? 14:25 Hi, I'm John Carter. 14:27 My wife Beverly and I 14:29 were watching television the other night 14:30 watching the news, American News. 14:33 They told us that the church in North America 14:35 is actually shrinking. 14:37 They said that atheism is the fastest growing 14:40 religious movement today in North America. 14:43 And people are saying 14:44 what on earth can we do to save the Church. 14:46 Well, of course, Christ died for the church, 14:48 He saved the church. 14:50 But what they mean is, 14:51 how can we keep the church as a vibrant force 14:54 in the world today, 14:55 in Australia, in America and in Europe 14:57 and in rest of the world. 14:59 Let me tell you a little story. 15:00 John Wesley was one of the greatest preachers 15:02 of the English speaking world has ever heard. 15:06 John Wesley came upon the scene 15:07 of the church in England a few hundred years ago, 15:11 when the church was dying. 15:12 Like the church today, it was a shrinking church. 15:16 But the people in the church were in state of denial. 15:19 They refused to accept the reality 15:21 that the church was dying. 15:23 John Wesley did something 15:24 that other people said couldn't be done. 15:27 He revived the church through public evangelism. 15:30 Did you hear that? 15:32 He started to preach Christ, he preached the Bible 15:35 and he preached out of doors and indoors. 15:37 And the church was saved. 15:40 Not only did he save a lot of souls, 15:42 the souls of sinners, 15:44 he saved the souls of the saints. 15:48 Please join me, my friend, in evangelism. 15:53 It's what Jesus did. 15:55 Write to me, John Carter, Post office Box 1900, 15:59 Thousand Oaks, California. 16:01 In Australia, write to me at the address on the screen 16:04 at Terrigal, in New South Wales. 16:08 Join me, my friend, in preaching Christ. 16:12 Join me in public evangelism around the world. 16:17 Thank you, in Jesus' name. 16:26 Pope Francis is a Jesuit. 16:29 Who are the Jesuits and what do they believe? 16:32 Well, now that's quite a question. 16:34 Not many people asked me that question. 16:37 Most people don't know anything about history. 16:40 It is true that Pope Francis, 16:43 who is immensely popular is a Jesuit, 16:48 as you would expect him to be popular, if he were a Jesuit. 16:52 The Jesuits were founded 16:54 about the time of Martin Luther, 16:57 back in the early 1500s, about 500 years ago, 17:02 by a Spaniard, by the name of Ignatius 17:07 from Loyola, a little town in Spain. 17:11 People call him Ignatius Loyola. 17:15 But it's really Ignatius of Loyola. 17:19 And he was born with a passion for the Roman Catholic Church. 17:24 When Martin Luther was studying the Bible, 17:26 and studying the Book of Romans to discover the truth 17:29 about righteousness through faith, 17:32 and the truth of the Bible, Ignatius was a soldier. 17:37 He was fighting as a soldier. He had blood on his hands. 17:41 He was a brave soldier. He got terribly injured. 17:45 And while he was recovering, 17:48 he had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 17:52 Martin Luther got his revelation from the Bible. 17:55 Ignatius Loyola got it from visions given to him, 17:59 he believed by the Blessed Virgin Mary. 18:02 But I believe that the Bible teaches 18:05 that the Blessed Virgin Mary is dead. 18:09 And she's asleep, 18:11 a great saint of God, awaiting the resurrection. 18:15 So how can a person who is dead come to you in a vision? 18:18 It's an impossibility. 18:21 So he gave his heart to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 18:25 And then he went into deep meditations. 18:28 And he wrote the spiritual exercises. 18:34 And when you do the spiritual exercises, 18:36 you meditate, 18:38 and you prostrate your soul before God 18:40 and you do it for days and weeks and months and years. 18:45 And by so doing, 18:47 he felt he was coming to be more like Jesus. 18:51 And that's why they founded the Jesuits, 18:54 well, he founded the Jesuits. 18:55 And that's why people joined the Jesuits 18:58 because they believed they were following Jesus. 19:04 They became the leaders of the counter-Reformation. 19:08 Now you know about the Reformation, don't you? 19:11 That's when Martin Luther got up 19:13 and preached the Bible and the Bible alone, 19:16 taught the true gospel of righteousness by faith, 19:19 taught the commandments of God, 19:21 and the faith of Jesus, and the Bible prophecies. 19:25 And the Reformation had tremendous success 19:28 around the world. 19:29 But then the popes, with the Jesuit said, 19:33 we've got to stop the progress a Protestantism. 19:37 And they started what the historians call, 19:40 you know what it's called? 19:42 The counter-Reformation. 19:44 And the Jesuits were in charge of the counter-Reformation 19:48 at the Council of Trent. 19:51 It was the purpose of the Jesuits 19:55 to obliterate Protestantism from the face of the earth. 20:01 They became the greatest scholars, 20:04 the greatest theologians, some of the greatest scientists 20:08 and they infiltrated almost every government, 20:13 and every church, and every organization. 20:18 They were the pope's soldiers and the pope's men. 20:24 They were in charge of the bloody Inquisition 20:28 and they put to death hundreds of thousands 20:32 of Catholics, Protestants and Jews. 20:36 They were the Jesuits. 20:38 And today, we have a Jesuit in the Vatican. 20:44 Do you believe in evolution? And if not, why? 20:48 These are such good questions. 20:50 Do I believe in evolution, 20:52 well, what sort of evolution are you talking about? 20:55 Tell me that. 20:56 Are you talking about micro evolution? 20:59 Because every person believes in micro evolution, 21:02 every person believes 21:04 in variation within the species. 21:07 We see through mutations, viruses mutating. 21:12 They become slightly different. That's microevolution. 21:17 But macroevolution 21:19 is the idea that man came from the hominids, 21:23 who came from another species connected to the apes, 21:28 and we all go back to some simple celled creature 21:34 that spontaneously generated. 21:37 Do I believe in that? 21:38 No, I do not believe in macroevolution. 21:44 Because I believe it is unscientific. 21:49 As Stephen Jay Gould said, 21:52 one of the greatest evolutionists 21:54 of the 20th century, he said, 21:56 "For all practical purposes, neo-Darwinism is dead." 22:01 I don't believe it. 22:04 Should Christians keep the Sabbath? 22:06 When is the true Sabbath? And why do so few keep it? 22:10 Well. 22:12 Why do so few keep it doesn't concern me at all. 22:17 Truth is not discovered by counting noses. 22:20 You don't discover truth by finding the biggest church. 22:25 I am a Sabbath keeper. 22:26 "Oh, then, you must be a Jew." No, no, no. 22:30 I'm not a Jew. 22:31 But I follow a Jesus who was a Jew. 22:35 I'm a spiritual Jew. 22:37 But I keep the Sabbath because Jesus, my Lord, 22:43 the founder of the Christian church 22:47 was a Sabbath keeper. 22:50 And the Sabbath was changed hundreds of years after Jesus. 22:56 In fact, it was changed by the Roman Catholic Church. 23:02 "You know, that's terrible what you're saying." 23:05 No, no. 23:07 We're just talking about the plain facts here today. 23:10 You see, we're just talking about plain talk 23:12 and so and that's what we're trying to do. 23:15 But it was, the Sabbath was changed 23:17 by the Vatican and they say so. 23:20 Now the Bible says, "Jesus went to Nazareth," 23:22 this is Luke 4, "where He'd been brought up 23:25 and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, 23:28 as was His custom." 23:30 Jesus was a Sabbath keeper. 23:33 Jesus risked His life 23:37 to show the importance of the Sabbath. 23:41 He precipitated a number of crises with the Pharisees 23:46 and the Jewish religious leaders over the Sabbath. 23:51 He never did that for circumcision 23:52 or for the ceremonial law. 23:55 Jesus was a Sabbath keeper. 23:57 All the early Christians were Sabbath keepers. 24:00 But hundreds of years after Christ, 24:04 the Roman Catholic Church changed the Sabbath 24:08 from the seventh day to the first day of the week. 24:13 How do I know it? 24:14 It was predicted in the Bible in Daniel Chapter 7: 25. 24:19 Because I've got a ton of books 24:22 written by my beloved friends in the Roman Catholic Church, 24:26 and they say, "Of course, we changed the day. 24:30 And the change is the mark of our authority." 24:37 Where did the different nations come from? 24:40 Well, that's an easy one. 24:43 Some of these questions you sent to me 24:45 are really tough ones and some of them, 24:48 I, you know, I've got to really think hard about 24:50 but I don't have to think about this one at all, 24:52 because all the nations came from the hand of God. 24:56 We're all related. 24:58 Every person on the planet goes back to the first couple, 25:02 Adam and Eve, an historical couple. 25:05 They did exist. 25:06 And so I'm related to white people, 25:10 I'm a white person so I'm related to white people 25:13 but I'm related to black people and brown people 25:16 and yellow people and red people. 25:19 We all come from the hand of God. 25:22 We're all brothers and sisters. And we all need Christ. 25:27 I'm a new believer. 25:29 And I'm having real problems with what I find in the church. 25:32 Should I just stay home and have church by myself? 25:36 Well, I'd only stay home and have church by myself 25:38 if somebody was threatening to take my life 25:41 when I went to church 25:42 and I don't think it's as bad as that, is it? 25:45 Now, they have always been hypocrites in the church. 25:49 People say I don't go to church, 25:51 I couldn't join the church 25:53 because it's got so many hypocrites. 25:54 But there are more hypocrites 25:56 outside the church than inside the church. 25:59 But Jesus said there would be hypocrites 26:02 and there would be unworthy members in the church. 26:07 But do you need to follow Christ 26:11 and not the people inside the church? 26:14 The problem is that people try to follow the church. 26:18 And that's why they get into trouble. 26:19 In Matthew 13, Jesus spoke about the weeds and the tares. 26:24 The weeds of the good people-- 26:27 And the tares, they are the bad ones 26:29 but, there's good weed there also 26:32 and Jesus talks about it. 26:33 He says, 26:35 "The weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, 26:37 it's going to happen like this at the end of the age. 26:40 They will throw them into the fiery furnace." 26:43 And then it says, 26:44 "He's gonna weed out of His kingdom 26:46 everything that causes sin, all that do evil." 26:49 Then it says, "The righteous will shine 26:51 like the sun in the kingdom of His father." 26:55 In the church, there are two types of individuals. 26:59 You've got the wheat and you've got the weeds. 27:04 You've got the wheat and you've got the tares. 27:07 You've got the good and you've got the bad. 27:10 You've got the sincere and you've got the hypocrites. 27:15 But remember what Jesus said to His disciple. 27:19 "Don't worry about this man. Follow me." 27:23 You and I are not saved by the church. 27:25 The church needs salvation. 27:28 We are saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. 27:34 Jesus had a church of 12 members 27:36 and one of them was a murderer, a hypocrite, a thief, a liar. 27:41 His name was Judas. 27:44 Now go to church. Try to make the church better. 27:47 Go and shine for Jesus and keep your eyes on Jesus. 27:51 And when Jesus comes, my friend, 27:54 if you a following Jesus, 27:56 you are going to go home with Him to glory. 28:13 For a copy of today's program, please contact us 28:17 at P.O. Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, 28:20 California, 91358. 28:23 Or in Australia, contact us 28:26 at P.O. Box 861, Terrigal, New South Wales, 2260. 28:32 This program is made possible 28:34 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:37 We thank you for your continued support. 28:40 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2016-01-28