Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001802A
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00:01 The Carter Report presents,
00:03 Mission and Message, 00:05 a new look at the church and its future. 00:08 Is the church an endangered species, 00:11 or is a time of explosive growth just ahead? 00:16 Now, here's John Carter. 00:21 We welcome you back to the Carter Report 00:24 and we're talking about The Mission of the Church. 00:28 Next week, The Message, 00:31 but today, we're talking about The Mission. 00:35 In the last program, 00:36 we talked about those bad things 00:38 like legalism and liberalism 00:41 that are a curse to the church. 00:44 But here's another thing 00:45 we're talking about hindrances to the mission of the church. 00:47 Here it is, that can wait for it. 00:51 "The confounding of spiritual gifts 00:54 is a hindrance to the sacred mission of the church." 00:58 God knows am I talking about. 01:00 Now we know how the traditional churches 01:04 messed up on the Sabbath. 01:06 They got the order wrong, number seven became number one. 01:12 They messed up God sacred order 01:15 and we have messed up God sacred order 01:19 as far as the mission of the church and spiritual gifts. 01:23 I want you to come over here to 1 Corinthians 12:27 and 28. 01:28 And I can almost guarantee 01:31 that most of you folks who go to church 01:34 have never thought about this and you have never studied it. 01:38 1 Corinthians 12:27 and 28. 01:43 I put it to you, 01:44 I think most people who go to my church 01:48 haven't got a clue about this. 01:50 So I want you to be intelligently informed. 01:53 1 Corinthians 12:27 and 28, 01:58 "Now you are the body of Christ..." 02:01 That's the church. 02:02 "And members individually. 02:05 And God has appointed these in the church:" 02:09 last of all apostles. 02:11 No, no, no, no. 02:13 Well, why do we act like that? 02:15 "First apostles, second prophets, 02:18 third teachers, after that miracles, 02:21 then gifts of healings, helps, 02:24 administrations, varieties of tongues." 02:29 Now this is I believe you'd agree with me, 02:33 this is the Word of God. 02:35 Here we've got God's order of spiritual gifts. 02:42 Here we've got God's order. 02:44 And I asked the question, 02:46 "Do we obey God or do we follow the ways of men?" 02:50 So I want you to think about God's order of spiritual gifts. 02:56 Number one, apostles. 03:00 Number two... 03:02 Apostle is a person that can be translated a missionary. 03:05 A person's got the mission, you see. 03:08 A person's got the mission. 03:10 A person is going with the mission 03:12 to preach the Word. 03:13 Number two, prophets, 03:15 in this context, he's not talking about 03:17 people who have visions. 03:19 He's talking... 03:20 I mean your dreams and all that stuff. 03:22 He's talking about people who preach the divine word, 03:26 every good commentary will agree with me. 03:29 Number three, teachers, 03:31 those who explain God's revelation. 03:34 Number four, people who do 03:36 extraordinary, extraordinary works. 03:39 Number five, healings, you can heal the sick. 03:43 Number six, helpers, people who help God's work. 03:47 Number seven, administrators, don't put them down folks 03:51 because even though they are only number seven. 03:57 They are needed tremendously for the organization 04:02 of the spiritual gifts that God has put in the church, 04:06 and then you come to number eight, 04:08 which is talking in tongues. 04:11 Communicating the good news supernaturally. 04:15 George Knight has said rightly so, 04:18 "We need to take more seriously 04:21 what the Bible has to say on the gifts of the Spirit..." 04:26 Now today, say it to everybody. 04:29 I speak as a member of the church. 04:32 I speak as one who loves the church, 04:35 as a loyal member who has spent his life 04:38 promoting the church and its mission. 04:44 But we need to return 04:47 to God sacred order of spiritual gifts. 04:52 Number one, the most important gift 04:55 is the gift of preaching the Word of God. 04:58 I'm amazed when I meet young pastors 05:00 and I've met heaps of them, 05:02 I say, "What do you want to do with your life?" 05:05 "Oh, I want to get behind a desk." 05:08 "What, do you want to go down to number seven, do you?" 05:10 Yeah. "I want to be a president. 05:14 I want to be an administrator." 05:16 I say to them, "What's wrong with you? 05:20 What's wrong with you?" 05:22 Have you got the Spirit of God or not, 05:24 or are you following simply church tradition. 05:28 The Bible says the most important gift 05:31 is the preaching of the Word of God. 05:35 That's what the... 05:36 Now, some of you're looking at me 05:37 as though you're surprised, 05:39 the problem is you've never read this text before 05:41 and you never thought about it, that's the problem. 05:46 This is new to you today, you're saying, 05:47 "I just don't believe any of this stuff." 05:52 Well, perhaps, you ought to start to believe 05:56 the Word of God. 05:57 We need to return 05:59 to God's sacred order of spiritual gifts. 06:01 I believe it, we have devoted, 06:04 we have developed our bloated bureaucracy, 06:11 and we have stifled 06:12 the apostles, prophets, and teachers. 06:15 And so you go to a place like Australia, or Europe, 06:19 or America, 06:22 and where are the missions. 06:26 Where is this strong force right 06:29 preaching of the Word of God? 06:30 And young ministers say to me, 06:32 "Oh no, we just want to get behind the desk." 06:35 I say to them, "What's wrong with you?" 06:39 It's time for you to return to the Word of God. 06:43 Another force that is stifling the mission of the church 06:46 is institutionalism. 06:49 Hold on to your seats. 06:53 Institutionalism is a negative force 06:57 in the mission of the church. 06:59 I believe it is God's will for us to have hospitals. 07:04 But Jesus never said go into all the world 07:06 and build hospitals, they're important. 07:08 Jesus didn't say go and do it, He said, go and preach. 07:13 You say, "Oh no, no, you got it wrong." 07:15 No, my problem is I got it right. 07:18 I got it from the Bible. 07:19 I believe it is God's will for us to have 07:21 hospitals, schools, colleges, especially, colleges 07:25 and universities and publishing houses. 07:29 But institutionalism is when the church 07:31 is defined by its institutions 07:35 and not by the mission 07:38 which is the preaching of the gospel 07:40 and the winning of the lost to Christ. 07:43 Listen to this, 07:45 leaders of institutions whom I respect. 07:50 If we're only doing what other institutions are doing, 07:53 just performing operations, 07:56 taking out gallbladders, etcetera, etcetera, 08:01 we are not fulfilling the mission. 08:04 Go into all the world and preach the gospel. 08:06 Oh, that's out of date. 08:08 No, it's not out of date, you're out of touch. 08:13 One of the greatest hospitals 08:15 I think you'd find anywhere is the hospital 08:17 that I was associated with many years ago, 08:20 the Sydney Adventist Hospital. 08:22 One of the finest hospitals in Australia, 08:25 I would think one of the finest in the world. 08:29 I was a senior pastor 08:31 of the large church in the campus. 08:34 Dr. Tom Ludowici was the head chaplain 08:37 and one of our pastors, we worked together. 08:39 The church took a large group on a mission trip to Manila. 08:44 The hospital cooperated. 08:47 The head of the hospital 08:49 was my friend Dr. Bert Clifford, 08:52 and who was a loyal member of the church. 08:55 We work together to fulfill the mission of the church, 08:59 to save the lost for Christ, 09:01 but if I'm simply taking out an appendix or a gallbladder, 09:07 and if that's all I do, what's the point? 09:13 The mission... 09:15 is the preaching of the gospel of Christ. 09:20 Can you see why I get into trouble with my preaching? 09:23 I believe you see in biblical theology, 09:26 I believe infidelity to the Word of God, 09:30 and I can see what's happening to the church, 09:34 the visible church. 09:37 I think of my friend at Andrews University 09:40 which is an excellent institution. 09:41 Dr. Randall Younker, an outstanding archaeologist. 09:46 We've traveled together through Egypt. 09:48 He's one of the world's best. 09:51 He has an institute at Andrews University 09:56 to promote the cause of biblical archaeology. 10:00 It is probably the best institute 10:03 for biblical archaeology in the world. 10:09 It's promoting the word and the preaching. 10:14 That's the mission of the church. 10:20 And Randy is being faithful. 10:23 Here's the question. 10:25 "Are our institutions helping to proclaim the message of God 10:29 and save the lost for Christ? 10:32 That demands an honest answer. 10:39 Another factor that destroys the mission of the church... 10:45 Wait for it. 10:47 It is compromise, conformity, and mediocrity. 10:57 I believe from long experience 10:58 that our church system of organization 11:01 tends to produce people 11:04 who are often afraid to think for themselves 11:08 and speak out for Christ and truth. 11:11 Yes, yes, yes, marching in lockstep. 11:17 I believe in unity, 11:19 but not the curse of uniformity that produces mediocrity. 11:29 Now, here is a question I'm going to ask an answer 11:32 and it will help you. 11:34 Is our organization divinely inspired? 11:37 Should it always be obeyed? 11:39 Now I say that to most people of my congregate, 11:42 they say, "Yes, divinely inspired." 11:45 Whatever the church organization says, 11:47 we say "Amen" that is the voice of God. 11:51 Goodness, not even the pope says that, 11:55 not even the pope says that. 11:58 But some of my church members say that. 12:01 I want to read to you from George Knight, 12:07 "Then in 2005, 2006 12:09 came the General Conference Commission 12:11 on Ministries, Services and Structures. 12:15 Preliminary to its first formal meetings, 12:19 Jan Paulson invited me to meet 12:20 with all with General Conference offices 12:23 and presidents of the world divisions 12:25 at a Florida retreat. 12:28 I had been granted 30 minutes to make my presentation, 12:31 but my 60 page paper formed the agenda 12:34 for nearly four hours in this important pre-meeting. 12:40 My task was to bring harmony, 12:44 relative harmony among the leadership 12:47 by demonstrating that the current structure 12:50 was not inspired." 12:52 Oops. 12:54 "Was not inspired 12:57 but in the past had been pragmatically adapted 13:00 to meet the needs of an expanding mission..." 13:04 Not divinely inspired pragmatically set up, 13:10 think about it. 13:12 "The good news is that the eventual result 13:14 of the commission's work was a vote to reduce 13:17 the "necessary" levels of structures 13:19 by fully recognizing the "union of churches" model. 13:24 Thus, local conferences became an option 13:27 that could be dispensed with." 13:32 Too much, too expensive. 13:37 So they voted. 13:39 We'll get rid of them and other parts. 13:42 "The bad news about the vote is that by and large 13:45 its revolutionary promise 13:47 has not been recognized and implemented. 13:51 My guess is that it won't be 13:53 until the system is faced with financial disaster." 13:59 So we grow, he wrote a book 14:01 called "The Fat Lady and the Kingdom". 14:07 There's this lady, a little heavy, 14:10 she trying to get through a door 14:11 but she got so many packages. 14:17 She can't get through the door because she got so much stuff. 14:24 George Knight said, she got to get rid of some of the stuff 14:28 to get into the kingdom. 14:33 Thus, I want you to hear this very plainly I preach this, 14:37 and some people got so mad with me, 14:39 that's because they don't understand, 14:41 that's because they're marching in lockstep. 14:45 All together for the kingdom of God 14:47 but nobody thinks for himself, 14:52 thus we know the church organization 14:54 is not divinely inspired. 14:57 Organization is vital 14:58 and we have a good organization, 15:02 but the organization that is needed 15:06 is one that is efficient and effective. 15:10 And listen to this. 15:13 To worship the church organization 15:16 as some do is idolatry. 15:22 One step removed from the mark of the beast. 15:30 Mark of the beast says, "You just got to stop thinking. 15:36 And do what we tell you to do." 15:38 I say never, never... 15:44 never. 15:46 Because first and foremost I'm a Christian, 15:48 but secondly, I am a Protestant. 15:53 My experience teaches me 15:54 that the ignoring of God's priorities and spiritual gifts 15:59 and in promoting evangelism 16:06 and the substitution of a well meaning 16:08 that bloated bureaucracy 16:12 is counterproductive 16:14 to the fulfillment of the mission. 16:16 Why does the Review say 16:19 that church is an endangered species? 16:22 Anybody listening? 16:25 Elder Bob Spangler said to me, my friend of many years, 16:29 why do we produce such dreadful mediocrity? 16:36 More than that I will say this, 16:41 we stifle the voice of the apostles, 16:43 the prophets, and the teachers. 16:45 We starve them to death. 16:47 No money for evangelism 16:49 and the preaching of the cross of Christ, 16:51 but money for institutions, 16:53 that's because we don't understand 1 Corinthians 12. 16:57 We crush their spirits. 16:59 We even persecute those who are compelled by God 17:02 to proclaim the Word. 17:06 We're a threatened species, then why? 17:11 You say it, then why not do something about it 17:14 instead of mouthing platitudes? 17:17 I asked the question, "How would a Billy Graham 17:22 survive today in our church?" 17:27 No brother, you need to be behind a desk 17:30 and you need just to do 17:32 what you're told and shuffle some papers. 17:37 America has gone downhill spiritually 17:41 and in every way since this man 17:44 had stopped running big campaigns. 17:47 He was the modern voice of certainty. 17:53 The reason we have so much of lying, 17:56 so much slander, 17:58 so much evil from the top to the bottom. 18:03 It's because preaching has been downgraded. 18:09 And I've gone to churches 18:11 in North America and in Australia 18:14 and people have had the... 18:18 I was going to say audacity, 18:20 they've had the nerve to say to me, 18:25 "Oh, didn't you know, he belonged to a different era, 18:29 that's finished now. 18:31 We don't do that anymore. 18:32 There's no more preaching, we don't do that. 18:34 All we do now, 18:37 now we're friendly, we're friendly. 18:40 Of course, what's wrong? 18:41 You had to get a doctorate to be friendly, 18:44 we're just friendly. 18:45 We have friendship evangelism. We have this..." 18:47 Listen, the Bible said, Jesus said, 18:49 "Go into all the world 18:51 and preach the gospel," you see. 18:54 That's what Jesus said, 18:55 but we say, "Well, who is Jesus?" 18:59 He's your judge. 19:02 Now we come to our transition in this talk. 19:04 You're ready for the transition? 19:06 I can feel a transition coming on. 19:10 The transition is made up 19:13 at the start of three introductory words, 19:17 here they come. 19:18 The first one, "However," whatever I've said "However, 19:23 but nevertheless 19:28 there are powerful, 19:30 positive forces waiting to be 19:33 unleashed upon a sleeping church 19:37 and an indifferent world." 19:41 And if you don't get with it, my friend, 19:44 you just may not be a part of God's church 19:48 or of the kingdom of God. 19:52 Let me talk about it. 19:54 Faith, faith says, "It shall happen." 19:58 Unbelievers says, 20:00 "Oh, that's too hard, it can't happen. 20:02 It's too difficult. 20:04 Nobody will come." Goodness. 20:07 And you pay people like that. 20:09 Goodness, I'd pay to have them removed. 20:11 Faith says, "It shall happen." 20:14 Vision says, "I see a mighty harvest." 20:18 And courage says, "I can walk among lions 20:21 and I shall not be hurt." 20:24 People say, "Why would you go to dangerous countries?" 20:27 Don't you think God goes there? 20:29 You don't think God lives there. 20:30 People say, "Why would you go to El Salvador, 20:33 it's too dangerous?" 20:34 Don't you think God lives there? 20:36 What's wrong? 20:40 And so, faith, vision, courage. 20:43 Let me tell you just a little 20:45 for those who haven't seen this before, 20:47 you haven't seen it before, that's good. 20:50 You know, I believe in Sola Christus, 20:52 Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, 20:55 that's a battle cry 20:56 of the Protestant Reformation there, 20:58 the Latin words, Christ, scripture, grace, faith. 21:02 We had the privilege of some time back 21:04 going to El Salvador, 21:07 place full of crime and wonderful people. 21:10 Union president was and is, 21:13 thank God a man by the name of Pastor Abel Pacheco. 21:17 We said Pastor Pacheco, 21:20 let's hire the national stadium. 21:23 He went to some of his lieutenants, 21:25 they said, "Oh, can't be done. 21:27 Never been done before. 21:29 It's too hard. 21:31 Maybe nobody will come." 21:33 You get this everywhere. 21:35 He said, "I see a vision. 21:39 I see a vision." 21:40 I tell you what he did. 21:43 Before we got there, 21:44 he put on 70 meetings, seven-zero. 21:47 He employed 70 extra pastors. 21:49 He brought them in from around the world. 21:53 They hired 765 buses 21:56 to bring the people to the meetings. 21:59 Will they do that in America? 22:00 Will they do that in Australia? 22:03 Will they do that in Europe? 22:04 No, I don't think so. 22:08 Maybe one day. 22:10 55,000 people got inside the stadium. 22:14 The biggest crowd in the history 22:15 of that part of the world. 22:18 Five thousand, five hundred people 22:20 were baptized in a single day, 22:22 small and petty cost. 22:24 And we had one goal, one aim, 22:26 one purpose to fulfill the mission, 22:29 to proclaim God's message and save the lost for Christ. 22:33 Now I want to tell you this. 22:35 I say this to everybody who's listening on television. 22:38 God has always had His man or His woman. 22:42 Here, John Wesley in England 22:45 was kicked out of his own church, 22:47 the Church of England. 22:48 Get out and preach before breakfast, 22:51 four in the morning in cold to 20,000 minors. 22:57 Hundreds of thousands coming to Christ. 23:01 George Whitfield, another great English preacher 23:04 who came over here to America, took America by storm. 23:09 George Whitefield, 23:12 little man, just a boy, put him up on a table. 23:16 H.M.S. Richards. 23:18 He started the Voice of Prophecy 23:21 battling against indifference 23:23 and may I say the church hierarchy. 23:27 "Oh, we don't want that sort of stuff, 23:29 you're causing too much trouble." 23:31 Danny Shelton. 23:32 "Oh, you shouldn't even mention him. 23:34 He not even an ordained minister." 23:37 He's a layperson, who made a difference 23:40 within ministers and laypeople. 23:43 We're all laypeople. 23:45 I don't believe in a hierarchy. 23:48 A carpenter in southern Illinois, 23:51 a layperson with a vision, courage and faith, 23:55 he has one of the biggest television networks 23:58 in the world. 23:59 Everybody said, "Can't be done. 24:01 He's silly, stupid, nobody can do it." 24:04 When he did it, "Oh, now you're a troublemaker, 24:07 now you're getting too much money." 24:12 These are the people. 24:14 All these people had one gift, 24:17 the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 24:20 Come over here to Acts 1:4 to 8. 24:23 Acts 1:4 to 8. 24:26 Let these words get down into your heart. 24:29 "And being assembled together with them," that's verse 4. 24:32 "He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, 24:34 but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 24:36 'which,' He said, 'you've heard from Me, 24:38 for truly John baptized with water, 24:41 but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit 24:44 not many days from now.' 24:46 Therefore, when they had come together, 24:48 they asked Him, saying, 24:49 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' 24:53 He said to you, 24:55 'It is not for you to know times or seasons 24:56 which the Father has put in His own authority. 24:59 But you shall receive power 25:02 when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, 25:04 and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, 25:07 and in all Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth.'" 25:12 To the ends of the earth. 25:18 God is going to have a people 25:20 who get these things straight. 25:25 Get spiritual gifts straight. 25:28 And the Holy Spirit will come upon them 25:31 and they will be God's witnesses around the world, 25:36 including United States of America, 25:39 and Australia, and Europe. 25:43 And the mission will be fulfilled, 25:48 and the message will be preached, 25:54 and the work will be finished, and Christ will come. 26:01 In the name of the Father and of the Son 26:04 and of the Holy Spirit, amen and amen. 26:16 The Word began in a village. 26:20 Churches and schools sprang up and multiplied 26:24 reaching into the city. 26:28 Great truths revealed 26:30 to the people of Papua New Guinea, 26:32 changing thousands of lives. 26:36 Our eyes are going to be opened 26:39 to the discovery of amazing truths. 26:42 The greatest truth in the Bible, 26:44 it is the truths that God loves you. 26:48 It has completely changed my life, 26:50 and I'm going to be baptized this Sabbath. 26:52 Pastor Carter has put something in my heart 26:55 that I will never forget. 26:56 Thank you Pastor Carter for your program, 26:58 it has changed my life completely. 27:00 John Carter's "Great Truths Revealed" 27:02 was recorded live from Papua New Guinea. 27:05 Experience the miracles in this 21 DVD series 27:08 for a gift of $150 US or $210 Australian. 27:13 To order, visit our website or call. 27:24 This is my 43rd visit... 27:30 to preach the everlasting gospel 27:33 of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 27:44 And they had smoke bombs and they had fire bombs, 27:48 and the Russian army had to take me to the meetings. 27:54 I come here, my friend, because of the need. 27:56 These were days of grace, and glory, and mighty power. 28:03 For a donation of $100 or more, 28:05 a signed copy of the John Carter biography 28:08 can be yours by writing to us at the address on the screen 28:11 or visit our website. 28:21 For a copy of today's program, 28:23 please contact us at P.O. Box 1900, 28:27 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 28:31 Or in Australia, contact us at P.O. Box 861, Terrigal, 28:37 New South Wales 2260. 28:40 This program is made possible 28:42 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:45 We thank you for your continued support. 28:48 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2018-03-22