Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001804A
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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 is John Carter. 00:21 Today, we're talking about the message. 00:23 This is part two. 00:24 The Bible teaches in the very last days, 00:27 a great message rises 00:29 and gets people ready for the Judgment Day. 00:32 This is the message of the three angels 00:35 of Revelation 14. 00:37 This is just what we've been talking about. 00:39 The first part of that message is the preaching of the gospel, 00:43 all the good news. 00:44 Now, what on earth is the gospel? 00:46 The good news is not about us. 00:49 There is no good news about us. 00:51 The good news is about God. 00:55 The good news is this that God because He loves the world. 00:59 In the person of His own Son, God became a human being. 01:04 And the Bible tells us, 01:05 He died for our sins on the cross to bring us to God. 01:11 Jesus... 01:13 Wait for this, Jesus in essence is God, 01:16 a very God from all eternity. 01:20 When He came to this earth, however, He was a carpenter, 01:24 Did you know, He was not a part of any religious establishment. 01:30 Isn't that amazing? 01:31 He was not employed by a church organization. 01:34 He did not serve on a committee. 01:38 He was not a member of a political party. 01:41 He was not a Republican or a Democrat. 01:45 He never held a position of influence in the government. 01:48 He never held office in any organization. 01:53 He never traveled more than a couple of hundred miles, 01:57 and He never wrote a book. 02:00 And yet He is the most influential person, 02:05 the most important person in the history of the human race. 02:09 Now, the Book of Revelation written by John 02:15 also has another book. 02:19 The Book of Revelation has a complementary book 02:21 because it's written by the same person, 02:24 and that is the Gospel of John. 02:27 Now, please take your Bible 02:29 and turn to John 1:1-3, 02:35 please, if you don't mind. 02:38 Now John, the man who wrote the Book of Revelation said, 02:41 "In the beginning was the Word, 02:44 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 02:49 He was in the beginning with God. 02:52 All things were made through Him, 02:55 without Him nothing was made that has been made. 03:00 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 03:04 and we beheld His glory, 03:06 the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 03:11 full of grace and truth." 03:15 And so the Word is Christ. 03:20 The Word was with God and the Word was God, 03:23 and He became a human being. 03:26 And the greatest text in the whole Bible is John 3:16, 03:33 Bible says, "For God so loved the world 03:35 that He gave his one and only Son 03:38 that whoever believes in Him shall not perish 03:41 but have everlasting life." 03:45 This is the word of the gospel. 03:52 And, folks, that's the main reason 03:55 I believe in Jesus Christ and the Bible 04:00 is because He presents the only solution 04:03 to the human problem. 04:06 The Bible describes me perfectly. 04:11 When I read the Bible 04:12 and I read the characters in the Bible, 04:15 I can see my own sins, 04:20 all of my faults, 04:23 all of my problems. 04:24 There's something dreadfully wrong with the human race. 04:29 It is called sin 04:31 that causes all the troubles that afflict humanity. 04:35 We all have this problem. 04:37 We are born in a state of rebellion 04:41 and alienation to God. 04:45 And the good news is that 04:46 God in the person of His Son Jesus Christ 04:50 became a real man. 04:53 What amazing, isn't it? 04:54 And He died for your sins 04:58 and my sins on the cross. 05:03 And if I believe this, my life is changed. 05:10 There's a story of an old skeptic. 05:12 It's an old story and it's true. 05:15 This old man was dying. 05:16 He was the president of an atheistic society. 05:20 He was dying. 05:22 So a young man went across 05:24 with a little girl and talked to him, 05:27 and the young man said, the young father said, 05:32 "Maybe I can leave you my old Bible, my Bible." 05:36 And the skeptic said, "I don't want your old Bible. 05:39 Get out of here." 05:45 And later on this little girl thinking about it, 05:51 she thought to herself, 05:53 "Well, he doesn't want daddy's old Bible. 05:55 I've got a new Bible that I got for my birthday. 05:58 Maybe he'll like my new Bible." 06:01 So she went over and knocked on the door and he came out 06:03 and she said, "I'm really sorry 06:05 that you don't want daddy's old Bible, 06:07 but maybe you'll have my new Bible." 06:11 What do you say to a little girl? 06:15 So this famous atheist took the little girl's new Bible 06:20 and as he read it, 06:21 and I promise this will happen to you. 06:24 If you read the Bible, and read the Gospels, 06:27 and the Word of God, 06:30 a change it will happen in here, 06:33 you will be changed inside. 06:38 The old man died. 06:39 And when they went through his belongings 06:42 they discovered this, this is pretty true story, 06:45 it's almost too good to be true. 06:48 "I've tried in vain a thousand ways, 06:52 my fears to quell and my hopes to raise but what I need, 06:56 the Bible says is ever, only Jesus. 07:03 My soul is night, my heart is steel. 07:09 I cannot see, I cannot feel. 07:13 For light, for life 07:14 I must appeal in simple faith to Jesus. 07:21 He died, He lives, 07:23 He reigns, He pleads. 07:25 There's love in all His words and deeds. 07:29 There's all a guilty sinner needs 07:33 forever more in Jesus. 07:37 Though some should sneer and some should blame, 07:40 I'll go with all my guilt and shame. 07:46 I'll go to Him because His name, 07:49 above all names, is Jesus." 07:58 Jesus knows the problem in our hearts 08:04 and He has the solution, 08:08 it is called the gospel. 08:11 And the good news of Christ is our message. 08:15 Would you notice Revelation 14:7? 08:18 Read it before, going to read it again, Revelation, 08:21 "Saying with a loud voice, 08:23 'Fear God and give glory to Him, 08:26 for the hour of His judgment has come. 08:29 And worship Him who made heaven and earth, 08:32 the sea and the springs of water."' 08:37 What does it mean? 08:39 The Bible says, "Fear God, give glory to Him 08:44 because we live in the time of the judgment." 08:48 It means that we need to treat God with respect. 08:52 I want to tell you, folks, I think, 08:55 I get a shutter every time I hear some person say, 08:59 "Oh my God!" 09:02 Or talk about Jesus Christ. 09:07 The Bible says, "Fear God, respect God." 09:12 And when you respect God, 09:15 you will respect people who are made in His image, 09:19 you will not be calling them names. 09:21 You will not be putting down people 09:24 because they're of a different color to you 09:28 or a different social status. 09:32 Fear God, give glory to Him. 09:35 In El Salvador, I went up in the mountains, 09:39 I had a meeting with a hundred pastors. 09:41 They were really soldiers, soldiers of the cross. 09:44 Going to say this to you all, 09:46 this is going to be seen in Australia. 09:48 I don't say this to embarrass anybody 09:50 but some people need to be embarrassed. 09:52 I met with these pastors in this country 09:55 that is filled with crime and gangs. 10:03 I noticed... 10:08 they dressed as though they were going to see 10:10 the president of the United States. 10:14 They were going to see Christ. 10:18 They sang with a passion 10:22 that came from their bellies. 10:28 I thought to myself, 10:30 "What's happened in America to the church? 10:36 What's happened to the church in Australia, 10:40 where people go to church 10:41 as though they are going to a beach party?" 10:46 Maybe I am terribly old fashioned. 10:49 I learned something here in El Salvador, I was blessed. 10:54 The Bible says, "The hour of His judgment has come." 10:57 Daniel, the Prophet, in chapter 7 of his book 11:00 wrote about a judgment that takes place, 11:03 takes place before the return of Christ, 11:07 and it says, "Worship the Creator. 11:10 Worship Him who made the heavens, 11:12 the earth, the sea, the springs of water." 11:18 When I was a boy of 19 or 20, 11:22 Beverley and I who were at Avondale College 11:25 went down to Sydney. 11:27 We went to hear a preacher preaching to 150,000 people. 11:33 Of course, in Australia people have said, 11:35 "Well, this just can't happen. 11:38 Nobody in secular Australia is going to go 11:40 and hear this preacher." 11:45 How little they knew. 11:48 And then I heard a man sing before Billy got up to preach, 11:53 and he sang a song that had made this pilgrimage. 11:59 It started in Sweden where it was composed, 12:01 then it went to Germany, then to Russia, 12:04 and then came to the USA, 12:07 and I heard this man sing the song, 12:12 "O Lord my God." 12:14 Of course, you know the song. 12:17 George Beverly Shea, "O Lord, my God, 12:19 when I in awesome wonder 12:21 consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made. 12:24 I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, 12:28 Thy power throughout the universe displayed. 12:32 Then sings my soul..." 12:34 What about it when we go to church? 12:37 We are going to the football match, 12:40 going to a beach party. 12:42 "Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee: 12:45 How great thou art, how great thou art! 12:49 Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee: 12:51 How great thou art, how great thou art!" 12:56 We are talking here about worship 13:00 they had it in El Salvador. 13:03 "And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, 13:06 sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, 13:10 that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, 13:13 He bled and died to take away my sin. 13:18 When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation 13:21 and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. 13:25 Then I shall bow in humble adoration, 13:28 and then proclaim my God, how great thou art!" 13:37 Christians everywhere 13:40 have lost the art of worshipping God. 13:46 Many of our hymns are about me, me, me. 13:51 Worship is not about me, it is about Christ, 13:58 then sings my soul. 14:01 Revelation 14:8 is the second angel's message. 14:06 "Another angel followed them saying, 14:08 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 14:11 because she has made all nations 14:13 drink of the wine of the wraths of her fornication." 14:19 Now, this is the message we're called to preach. 14:21 Babylon is a great religious system 14:24 that is active in the world today. 14:27 I had been to the old city of Babylon many times. 14:32 It was a city that was built on the worship of false gods. 14:36 Babylon is alive and well today. 14:40 Today, there are many gods 14:43 that we worship but only one God. 14:48 In Revelation 14:9 and 10, 14:51 you have the most controversial message in the world. 14:57 "Then a third angel followed them 14:59 saying with a loud voice, 15:01 If anyone worships the beast and his image, 15:06 and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 15:11 he himself shall also drink wine 15:16 of the wrath of God." 15:23 Goodness me. 15:26 We naturally avoid talking about it. 15:30 I know by experience, if you preach it, 15:35 you will be a marked man. 15:38 You may even get your name in the black book. 15:44 You will receive threats but God says, "Preach it." 15:50 People say, "No, no. 15:51 Don't talk about that stuff anymore. 15:54 We've grown." 15:56 You're right. 15:58 We've grown beyond God, that's the problem. 16:03 God says, "Preach it." 16:07 Going to preach about the beast, 16:08 the Bible says, "Preach it. 16:10 Preach it with love. 16:12 Preach it with tact. 16:14 Preach it with compassion but preach it." 16:19 Oh, Lord, I couldn't. 16:21 Well, then you are not a part of God's last day movement. 16:28 So God says, "You preach it, and preach it, and preach it, 16:33 and preach it." 16:36 Covered by the blood of Christ, preach it with love. 16:40 Preach it in the context of the cross of Christ 16:44 but preach it... 16:50 because the Bible says, 16:52 "It is the preaching of that whole package, 16:55 the gospel, creation, the judgment, 17:00 a warning against Babylon, 17:03 and then the great message about the beast, 17:08 the image of the mark of the beast." 17:12 That is the message 17:18 and the mission of the church is to preach the message 17:25 with love with tact, but preach it. 17:28 I can tell you stories but not now. 17:33 Our mission is not to be popular. 17:37 I want it, no. 17:40 Our mission is not to be popular, 17:42 political, prejudiced, 17:44 panicky, or pigeon hearted. 17:49 God is looking for men and women 17:51 who will preach it in the context of the cross. 17:57 We are called to please God, 17:58 we're not called to please the church, 18:00 we're not called to please some committee, 18:02 we are called to please God, so help us God. 18:08 Have you heard of Bloody Claverhouse? 18:14 John Graham of Claverhouse. 18:18 He lived in 17th century Scotland. 18:23 He was a great persecutor of the Protestants. 18:31 There was a little group of Protestant pastors 18:37 who were being kept alive 18:40 in a cave up in the Scottish highlands. 18:45 And a little Scottish boy would take them food every day. 18:51 But there are always informers. 18:59 The lowest of the low 19:01 and they informed on this little boy. 19:05 And Claverhouse got the little boy 19:08 by the scruff of the neck, 19:10 rode over to a cliff 19:12 and held him out at arm's length 19:14 and said, "Tell me laddie, 19:18 where are the ministers?" 19:23 And then he said, "Look down laddie, 19:25 it's a long way down there." 19:29 It's a long way down there 19:31 but the little boy screwed his neck around, 19:34 he said, "It's a long way down but not as far as hell." 19:41 And then he said the words, 19:44 "I canno' and I will naa." 19:49 That's good Scottish theology, I cannot and I will not. 19:54 I will stand for what I believe in, 19:58 I canno' and I will naa. 20:04 That, of course, was the spirit of the Scottish Protestants 20:08 who refused to betray their own people. 20:13 It is that same courage that is needed in these last days, 20:18 I canno' and I will naa, you see. 20:22 Look at Revelation 14:12, 20:26 Revelation 14:12, 20:29 "Here is the patience of the saints, 20:33 here are those who keep the commandments of God 20:37 and the faith of Jesus." 20:41 It doesn't say, 20:42 here are those who keep the commandments of the church, 20:46 it says, "Here are those who keep the commandments of God." 20:53 And the Bible says, 20:54 "Here is the patience of the saints." 20:59 So you will never be a dead saint 21:01 unless you're a living saint, 21:04 who keeps the commandments of God. 21:06 And in the commandments of God, 21:08 you have two great institutions, 21:11 one is the Sabbath, the Lord's day 21:14 and the other one is marriage, 21:17 and both are being trampled underfoot today by the world 21:23 and much of the church. 21:27 But in the last days, 21:29 God will raise up the people like that little Scottish boy, 21:35 I canno' and I will naa, 21:39 and they will uphold the commandments of Christ 21:42 and especially, the Sabbath and marriage. 21:49 And you know what marriage is. 21:56 There will be God's people doing God's mission 22:00 and preaching God's message in God's way. 22:04 And the Bible says, "They will triumph. 22:07 It will take a little bit of courage 22:11 to be saved in these last days." 22:17 Look at Revelation 15:2 and 3. 22:23 Revelation 15:2 and 3, 22:29 "And I saw something 22:30 like a sea of glass mingled with fire, 22:34 and those who have the victory over the beast and his image 22:38 and over his mark and over the number of his name, 22:42 standing on the sea of glass, 22:44 having harps of God. 22:46 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, 22:50 and the song of the Lamb, saying: 22:52 'Great and marvelous are Your works, 22:54 Lord God Almighty! 22:56 Just and true Your ways, O King of the saints.'" 23:01 Listen to me. 23:03 The people of God, 23:06 even though they may be persecuted will triumph 23:12 and get home to glory, that is a fact. 23:18 Years ago, I ran a campaign in the great 23:21 and the beautiful city of Melbourne, 23:22 the capital of Victoria in Australia. 23:25 I had a beautiful audience, 23:28 some thousands and thousands of people 23:30 in the great Dallas Brooks theatre. 23:33 In the audience every night 23:34 sitting in that great theater seated thousands, 23:38 there is a beautiful young woman, husband, 23:42 and two little kids came to every meeting. 23:45 After a while, 23:49 you get to know people in the audience 23:51 and know where they are sitting, 23:54 and one night she wasn't there. 23:57 And weeks went by and she wasn't there. 24:01 Husband came to me and said, "Would you come to my home?" 24:05 I said, "Why?" She's very sick. 24:07 She used to have this long beautiful hair. 24:11 When I went to the home, 24:13 she had no hair, dying of cancer. 24:18 I went in and sat beside her bed. 24:22 I read her John 3:16 and I told her, 24:28 "My dear, you are going to get your hair back." 24:35 She said, "I am afraid." 24:38 So I read her the texts of the Bible, 24:41 read to her from the Book of Psalms and so forth, 24:43 and the fear went out of the room. 24:52 I never saw her again 24:58 but I will, 25:01 because she will be home safe with Jesus in glory. 25:05 Listen to me, my friends. 25:07 God has got a message that will go to the world. 25:12 It will triumph gloriously 25:14 and the people follow that message 25:18 and preach it... 25:22 are going to live with Jesus forever, 25:27 and ever, and ever, and ever. 25:33 Would you not like to be part of those people 25:39 who get home to glory 25:42 and who sing the song of Moses, 25:45 the servant of God 25:48 and the song of the Lamb? 25:53 God has a message, 25:57 and God will have people 26:04 in the name of the Father and of the Son, 26:09 and of the Holy Spirit. 26:13 Amen, and amen. 26:17 Amen. 26:22 Time, that takes only a minute to have eternal life. 26:26 How can you get saved in a minute? 26:28 It's simple. 26:29 First, believe that Jesus was the Son of God. 26:32 Second, accept His free gift of eternal life, 26:35 and then you're saved. 26:37 It's not hard, it doesn't take any time. 26:40 You can be saved in a minute right now. 26:43 Pray with me, "Lord God, I realize that I am a sinner. 26:47 My sin has separated me from You. 26:49 I accept that Your Son Jesus Christ died for me. 26:52 I ask Jesus into my heart." 26:54 If you pray this prayer, you are saved. 26:57 The next thing to do is tell someone, 27:00 fellowship with other followers of Jesus, get baptized, 27:04 read your Bible and pray. 27:06 Choices, we make them every day, all day. 27:10 The most important choice you will make in your life 27:13 is whether to choose eternal life 27:15 or let it pass you by. 27:17 If you would like more information 27:18 about your new life, 27:20 call the number and visit our website. 27:24 In the series, This I Believe, 27:27 Pastor Carter reveals the heart and soul of the Carter Report. 27:31 I believe in Jesus Christ. 27:35 I believe in the Ten Commandments. 27:41 I believe in the true gospel. 27:46 I believe in the last days. 27:51 I believe in the America that believes in God. 27:58 I believe in heaven. 28:02 I believe in evangelism. 28:08 This I believe. 28:11 The seven DVD series, 28:13 This I Believe can be yours 28:15 with the gift of $75 US or $105 Australian. 28:19 Please write to us at the address on the screen, 28:21 or visit our website at cartereport.org. 28:27 For a copy of today's program, please contact us 28:30 at P.O. Box 1900 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 28:37 Or in Australia, 28:39 contact us at P.O. Box 861 Terrigal, 28:43 New South Wales 2260. 28:46 This program is made possible 28:48 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:51 We thank you for your continued support. 28:54 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2018-04-16