Participants: Pr. John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001638A
|
00:13 We're glad to see you today.
00:15 The topic is 00:17 the greatest person who ever lived, 00:20 who died 2000 years ago and who is still alive. 00:26 Of whom am I speaking, any body know? 00:28 We're talking about the Jewish Jesus 00:33 because Jesus is the greatest Jew 00:36 the world has ever seen, ever known. 00:40 Now there are some issues upfront 00:42 I just want to talk about for a moment. 00:46 The greatest atheist in the world 00:47 is the great oxford scholar Dr. Richard Dawkins. 00:53 Great atheist, doesn't believe in God. 00:57 And until recently 00:59 he didn't believe in the historical Jesus 01:02 but recently he said, and this is a sign of progress. 01:05 He said, "I was wrong, there was a Jesus." 01:10 So that's progress. 01:11 I want you to know this, 01:13 there was a historical Jesus Christ, 01:16 there is no doubt about this. 01:20 Now there is something else if I'm skeptic 01:22 that I should try to avoid doing. 01:26 I should not patronize Jesus Christ 01:29 because if Jesus was not the person 01:32 He claimed to be, don't say He's a good person. 01:38 This is a person who claimed to be God. 01:42 Can you believe this? 01:44 He claimed to be God. 01:46 If a person claims to be God, don't say He is a good person. 01:50 He is a crazy person, completely crazy. 01:55 So Jesus claimed to be God 01:57 and yet He was the only person who ever claimed to be God, 02:01 who was judged to be saying by His contemporaries. 02:05 Nobody said, He was a lunatic. 02:08 So Jesus, these are the alternatives. 02:11 Good man, 02:13 mad man, 02:15 bad man, 02:18 or God man. 02:20 But He can't be all of those together, 02:22 He's either one or the other. 02:23 Now I want you to take your Bible 02:25 and turn with me over here to the Book of Isaiah 9:6. 02:29 And this of course is right out of the Hebrew Bible, 02:34 the Bible of our Jewish friends. 02:37 Isaiah 9:6 says, "For unto us a Child is born, 02:43 Unto us a Son is given, 02:45 and the government will be upon His shoulder. 02:49 And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, 02:53 Mighty God, Everlasting Father, 02:58 Prince of Peace." 03:01 Now Christians believe that the little Jewish boy 03:07 who was born 2000 years ago 03:10 was more than just a little boy. 03:12 The Bible says, Everlasting Father, 03:16 Prince of Peace. 03:17 In other words, He was more than a man. 03:22 He was God incarnate. 03:27 It's important my friends here in our studio in Moorpark, 03:32 Southern California 03:33 and the audience around the world. 03:34 It's important that we don't confuse 03:36 the real historical Jesus 03:39 with the Jesus of so many religious people. 03:42 Recently here in Los Angeles, 03:46 I heard a great American figure, 03:51 everybody knows him today. 03:53 He said, I'm a strong believer in Jesus, 03:56 I'm a very, very, very strong Christian. 04:00 And then he said in the next phrase, 04:03 "I believe in torture, I believe in waterboarding." 04:07 He said, we're going to bring back waterboarding 04:10 and we're gonna do a lot worse than that. 04:15 Doesn't he realize 04:17 that torture is satanic? 04:23 Waterboarding came 04:25 from the Spanish inquisition. 04:30 And the Japanese who waterboarded our soldiers 04:34 during the World War II 04:36 were hung by their necks until they were dead. 04:39 That's what America, 04:41 the real America thinks about torture. 04:46 You can't claim to be a Christian 04:48 and believe in the teachings of antichrist. 04:51 God is love. 04:52 Such comments have brought shame to the name of Christ 04:57 and a disgrace to the Christian church 05:00 while making us a laughingstock of our enemies. 05:05 So never forget it. 05:08 Don't confuse the Jesus of the Bible 05:11 with the Jesus of some people who say they follow Him 05:16 because they don't. 05:18 Jesus claimed to be God. 05:19 I want you to come over here to John 8 05:22 and I want you to notice 05:23 this amazing passage in the Bible. 05:27 Now I want every person to turn to this passage in the Bible. 05:31 John 8:48 and onwards 05:37 and Jesus is having an altercation 05:40 with the Jewish leaders. 05:41 John 8:48 and onwards. 05:47 "Then the Jews answered and said to Him, 05:48 "Do we not say rightly You are a Samaritan, 05:52 have a demon?" 05:53 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon, 05:55 but I honor My Father, you dishonor Me. 05:59 And I do not seek My own glory, 06:01 there is One who seeks and judges. 06:03 Most assuredly, I say to you, 06:05 if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.'" 06:10 What an astounding we need to say. 06:12 If you follow me He says, you will never see death. 06:16 Verse 52, "Then the Jews said to Him, 06:18 'Now we know that You have a demon! 06:22 Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, 06:24 and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word 06:27 he shall never taste death.'" 06:30 So you've got a devil. 06:31 "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? 06:34 And the prophets are dead. 06:36 Who do You make Yourself out to be? 06:38 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, 06:40 My honor is nothing. 06:41 It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say He is your God. 06:47 Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. 06:50 And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' 06:52 I shall be a liar like you, 06:55 but I do know Him and keep His word. 06:57 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, 07:00 and he saw it and was glad. 07:02 Then the Jews said to Him, 07:04 'You are not yet fifty years old, 07:07 and have You seen Abraham?'" 07:11 Here it is. 07:12 "Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, 07:15 before Abraham was, I AM.'" 07:21 Then they took up stones to throw at Him, 07:23 but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, 07:26 going through the midst of them, and so passed by." 07:31 Why were the Jews so mad with Jesus 07:35 that they wanted to kill Him because of what He said? 07:39 Because when Jesus said before Abraham was, 07:44 not I was, before Abraham was I am, 07:48 He was claiming to be all mighty God. 07:53 And I will prove it to you. 07:54 I want you to come over here to the Old Testament. 07:56 Come back here to a parallel passage. 07:58 Back here to Exodus 3:1-6. 08:02 Genesis, Exodus 08:04 as we base our conclusions today upon the Bible. 08:09 Exodus 3:1 and onwards. 08:11 "Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro 08:14 his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. 08:17 He led the flock to the back of the desert, 08:19 and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 08:22 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him 08:24 in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush." 08:28 This was an amazing thing, 08:30 there was a bush on fire wasn't been consumed. 08:34 "So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, 08:37 but the bush was not consumed. 08:39 Moses said, 08:40 ''I will now turn aside and see this great sight, 08:43 why the bush does not burn." 08:45 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, 08:48 God called to him from the midst of the bush 08:50 and said, "Moses, Moses!" 08:55 He said, ''Here I am." 08:57 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. 09:00 Take your sandals off your feet, 09:04 for the place where you stand is holy ground." 09:08 Moreover He said, ''I am the God of your father, 09:11 the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 09:13 and the God of Jacob.' 09:15 Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God." 09:23 So here is almighty God talking to Moses. 09:27 Moses is afraid to look upon Him 09:29 because here is the self existent God. 09:34 Then if you come down a little bit further. 09:36 If you come down to verse 13, verse 13. 09:42 "Then Moses said to God, 09:44 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel 09:45 and say to them, 09:47 The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' 09:49 and they say to me, 'What is His name?' 09:52 What shall I say to them?" 09:55 God said to Moses, you ready? 09:58 ''I AM WHO I AM." 10:02 And He said, 10:03 "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 10:07 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 10:12 Verse15, "Moreover God said to Moses, 10:15 "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 10:17 'The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, 10:20 the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, 10:23 has sent me to you. 10:24 This is My name forever, 10:27 this is My memorial to all generations.'" 10:30 This is one of the great amazing stories. 10:34 Moses sees a bush 10:38 and it's burning 10:41 and it's not consumed 10:44 because the power of God is in the bush. 10:49 And then the power that made this miracle 10:54 almighty God talks to Moses and He says, 10:57 "I will tell you my name." 11:01 I am who I am. 11:05 You shall tell the children of Israel this, 11:08 "I am has sent me to you." 11:14 I am is the name of this person. 11:20 We shall say it softly. 11:25 We will not be presumptuous here. 11:30 This name is so awesome 11:36 that the Hebrews would not say it. 11:40 So when they came to it in a Hebrew Bible 11:43 they substituted the word, they said, "Don't hide, Lord." 11:48 But they were afraid to say this name that burns with fire. 11:55 It is the Hebrew word YHWH. 12:00 From this word somewhat erroneously 12:05 we've got the word Jehovah. 12:09 But Jehovah is a modern way of trying to say this word. 12:16 But the name of the great self existent God 12:20 that you and I cannot look upon, 12:22 here is the name, Yahweh. 12:30 Yahweh's name is "I AM." 12:36 So here you have Jesus, 12:38 He's talking to the Jews and He says, 12:43 I'm going to tell you who I am. 12:46 Before Abraham was born He said, 12:48 I am, I am Yahweh. 12:57 The self existent God, the almighty God. 13:03 This is why they took up stones to kill Him. 13:10 I want you to notice some of the names of God. 13:14 He says, I'm the Lord God. 13:17 Hebrew there is Yahweh Elohim, 13:23 this means mighty God, mighty God. 13:28 The Lord God, I'm Yahweh Elohim, 13:32 the only one. 13:33 I'm the creator. 13:36 I am, I am, I am the creator. 13:40 He is the one who made the universe. 13:47 This man who was speaking to the Jews. 13:51 I'm the creator 13:56 who made all these stars. 13:59 Very recently we believe there were 200 billion galaxies 14:03 in the cosmos, 200 billion galaxies. 14:07 Few weeks ago, they took the figure up 14:10 to two trillion galaxies, two trillion. 14:14 Can you comprehend it, two trillion galaxies? 14:17 That doesn't include the small galaxies. 14:20 And what goes on beyond. 14:22 He is the God who made all life forms. 14:27 He is the one who said, 14:29 let there be life who spoke that you know 14:33 how He made the universe? 14:34 He breathes it into existence. 14:38 You think, haa. 14:42 The I AM said, Haa. 14:47 Amazing. 14:49 I am law giver. 14:51 He came down on Mount Sinai, gave the Ten Commandments. 14:56 He gave us the Ten Commandments 14:58 because the commandments are good for us. 15:02 He said, I'm the deliverer. 15:06 He was the one who rolled it back the waters 15:11 of the Red or the Reed Sea. 15:13 So the people of God could go through. 15:15 What a God is this? 15:17 He is our savior. 15:20 He is the one who delivers us. 15:22 Have you got problems? 15:25 Sometime ago I was in the south of Iraq. 15:28 I had crossed over the River Euphrates 15:31 in a little boat from Iran to Iraq. 15:37 I've been traveling for a day, 15:39 practically without any water. 15:42 I came to this little town in the south of Iraq 15:45 parched lonely, apprehensive. 15:50 Had nowhere to stay. 15:53 Surrounded by camels and by Bedouins. 15:57 I stopped on the street, I prayed, "Oh, God help me." 16:03 Instantly a man, this is not just a tale. 16:07 A man dressed in white. 16:09 I'm not saying he was an angel. 16:10 He was an Arab sheikh. 16:12 He came to me he said, "Sir, how can I assist you?" 16:18 I said, "I got nowhere to stay. 16:20 Haven't eaten all day. 16:22 He said, "Well, I'll take you to a place 16:24 where you'll be safe." 16:27 The Bible tells us Jesus is the great I AM, 16:30 I AM the deliverer. 16:33 So if you're going through a tough time, my friend, 16:36 look up because Jesus Christ is your deliverer. 16:40 He delivers, He saves. 16:43 He is the one, He says, 16:45 I am the one who caught Elijah up into heaven. 16:49 I AM. 16:51 He's the one who sent down the fiery furnace and Elijah, 16:55 so he is the God of a glorious future. 17:00 I am the one who raised Moses from the dead. 17:03 Moses died on Mount Nebo. 17:06 You know this. 17:07 The Bible says, God buried him there 17:10 on the top of the mountain. 17:13 Then the Bible tells us this sometime later, 17:16 God came back in the person of Christ 17:19 and raised Moses from the dead. 17:22 That is taught in the Book of Jude. 17:25 I AM the one who raises the dead. 17:31 You think we ought to be afraid of death? 17:33 I'm not afraid of death. 17:35 I'm not afraid of death 17:37 because one day I'm going to be with Christ in paradise, 17:40 because Christ is the one who raised Moses from the dead. 17:44 I AM, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 17:50 the Bible calls Him this, "I am the God of Abraham, 17:53 Isaac and Jacob." 17:55 What a bunch of guys they were, 17:58 faulty men, not sinless people, sinful people 18:05 that Christ saved them, so there is hope for us. 18:09 He saves faulty men. 18:11 We are faulty men and women. 18:14 The Gospel says, this man receives sinners. 18:20 I am, I am the God of Israel, the God of His people, 18:24 the God of His church. 18:26 And God no longer has a special nation. 18:28 There are some people who are very nationalistic. 18:32 Once upon a time there was British Israelitism 18:35 and many of the British people felt that 18:37 they were the chosen people of God. 18:40 They were the new Israel. 18:42 Of course, none of this is true. 18:44 God doesn't have a nation today. 18:46 He has His people in every nation. 18:50 So He's got people, His believers in every nation, 18:53 Russia, America, Australia, Great Britain, 18:58 France and Germany and Latin America, everywhere. 19:02 I am the God of Israel. 19:03 Think of the great prayer. 19:05 Listen to this prayer. 19:07 "The Lord bless you and keep you. 19:11 That's Yahweh bless you and keep you. 19:13 The Lord make His face shine upon you, 19:15 and be gracious on to you. 19:17 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, 19:19 and give you peace." 19:21 The Lord has repeated it three times, 19:25 because this is an early intimation of the trinity, 19:31 the nature of God. 19:33 He says, I am El Shaddai. 19:37 I love those words. 19:38 I am El Shaddai, almighty God, 19:42 the God of impossible causes. 19:46 Every person who does good will have opposition 19:49 but we need not fear our foes 19:54 because we serve El Shaddai, 20:00 almighty God, so don't pick on me, 20:04 don't pick on a child of God 20:06 because he's standing 20:11 in the hallow of the hand of El Shaddai, 20:18 the almighty God. 20:20 I am the Lord your righteousness. 20:22 That's what it says. 20:23 I AM, this is all referring to Jesus. 20:26 Come over here to Jeremiah 23:6. 20:30 Jeremiah 23:6, dear hearts and gentle people. 20:37 Jeremiah 23:6, 20:40 "In His days Judah will be saved, 20:44 and Israel will dwell safely." 20:47 That's good. 20:49 Then the Bible says, verse 6, 20:54 "Now this is the name by which He will be called, 20:57 The Lord, Yahweh our righteousness." 21:06 Before Abraham was I AM. 21:11 I am your righteousness. 21:14 You know something? 21:15 We're all a bunch of sinners. 21:18 Even if you've gone to church for 50 years, 21:20 you're still a sinner. 21:22 Not a lost sinner, you're saved sinner. 21:25 But none of us are perfect or good enough to go to heaven. 21:29 Remember the Sabbath school teacher, 21:31 Sunday school teacher, taught a class 21:33 and she asked the class, 21:35 who is good enough to go to heaven? 21:37 Oh, mommy is, daddy is. 21:40 Sabbath school teacher understood, they go, said no, 21:43 daddy is not good enough. 21:44 Mommy is not good enough. 21:46 Only person good enough is Christ. 21:50 But if you are in Christ 21:52 and if you accept Him as your savior, you are saved 21:57 because He is the Lord our righteousness. 22:01 We should never despair because we're imperfect, 22:06 because we're saved 22:07 because He is our righteousness. 22:11 Jesus made extraordinary claims. 22:13 John 14:6, one of the most amazing text. 22:18 John 14:6, Jesus said to him. 22:21 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. 22:24 No one comes to the Father but by Me." 22:28 Muhammad never said that, 22:31 with all respect to our Muslim friends. 22:35 Buddha never said that. 22:37 Only one man said stuff like this, I am the way, 22:41 the truth, and the life. 22:43 Said, you can't come to God unless you come through Me. 22:49 Who is this man? 22:52 Who is this man? 22:56 I think of a young woman 22:59 down in the south of Ukraine, 23:05 down in the south of Ukraine. 23:06 The Nazis came through, they devastated her village 23:11 because they had showed resistance, 23:13 they marched them out into the snow, 23:15 made them dig a pit and machined gun them down. 23:19 But she escaped with a young man 23:22 fleeing naked through the snow. 23:25 Caught a train later on, 23:27 some of us think we've had it hard, hey. 23:31 Out on a train went up to Russia 23:33 went to Nizhni Novgorod. 23:34 Fifty-years in despair that a spirit of atheism. 23:39 Don't tell me atheism's got anything to offer. 23:41 I've met millions of atheists who are in despair. 23:47 Because the death of God always leads to the death of hope. 23:52 So you got no God, you got no hope. 23:54 Don't fool yourself. 23:56 She came to our meetings after 50 years, an atheist. 24:01 She said I've been longing and searching for the way, 24:05 the truth, and the life. 24:06 She said I found Him. 24:08 When I found Christ, I found it all. 24:12 And if you come to Christ, 24:14 you'll find everything you need. 24:15 Listen, "He claimed that He had the authority 24:18 to forgive sins, 24:19 He demonstrated His divinity by His ability 24:22 to read the thoughts of man, He performed miracles, 24:25 He walked on the water. 24:27 He raised the dead." 24:30 Then John 1:1-3. 24:35 All of His disciples said He is God. 24:41 "In the beginning was the Word, the lugos, 24:43 Word was with God, and the Word was God." 24:46 It doesn't say, the God, or a God, 24:49 it says you have the nature of God. 24:53 That's what it means in the Greek. 24:55 And the Bible goes on to tell us, it says, 24:58 "All things were made by Him, 25:01 without Him nothing was made that was a made." 25:05 He's one who made the stars. 25:07 Then you come down a little bit further, 25:09 it tells us. 25:11 Here it is. 25:12 The Word was made flesh. 25:17 "The Word was made flesh the text says, 25:20 and dwelt among us." 25:25 Now think about this, 25:27 this is one tenth of milli-material 25:29 I've got to talk about today. 25:33 He got a little baby boy, 25:38 just a little baby boy born in the normal way, 25:45 with tears and maybe blood. 25:48 Who was He? 25:53 Almighty God in human flesh. 25:56 That is why we sing, 25:59 "O come, let us adore Him." 26:04 Christ, the Lord 26:08 and more in a moment after this break. 26:26 We should never say something is impossible, 26:28 because Jesus said that with God all things impossible. 26:34 It seems impossible to think that a group of Americans, 26:38 Australians could come here to Castro's communist Cuba 26:43 and preach the gospel. 26:46 We're here with the permission of the Cuban government, 26:48 we've got special visas, so we can preach here. 26:53 I've had the privilege of preaching 26:55 in the most difficult places Moscow, all across Russia, 26:59 all around Ukraine and dangerous places in Africa. 27:03 But this is one of the biggest miracles of all. 27:06 Here we are a Carter report team, just a little team. 27:12 But we're here by the grace of God 27:14 because with God all things are possible. 27:19 But God works through people, 27:21 He's working glory be to God we believe through us. 27:25 But He's also working my friend through you, 27:29 because of your prayers 27:30 and your support and your gifts, 27:33 these people, many of them are hearing 27:36 the true Gospel of Christ for the first time. 27:39 So my heart is full of thanks to God and to you today. 27:45 Would you please drop me a line? 27:47 John Carter PO Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California, 27:51 91358. 27:53 And of course, you can write to me at Terrigal in Australia. 27:58 Let's get a fire going in this country. 28:03 We have established a beachhead on the shores of Castro's Cuba. 28:09 A gospel beachhead, not a military one. 28:13 We are the ambassadors of peace 28:15 and we've come here to preach the gospel of peace. 28:19 Stand with us and thank you for your support. 28:28 For a copy of today's program, 28:30 please contact us at PO Box 1900, 28:33 Thousand Oaks, California, 91358. 28:37 Or in Australia contact us at PO Box 861, Terrigal, 28:43 New South Wales, 2260. 28:47 This program is made possible through the generous support 28:50 of viewers like you. 28:51 We thank you for your continued support. 28:55 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2017-02-05