Participants: Danny Shelton (Host), John Carter
Series Code: 15HC
Program Code: 15HC000009A
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00:51 Good evening friends and welcome to another
00:54 evening here at the 3ABN Worship Center 00:57 in Thompsonville/ West Frankfort, Illinois. 01:01 If you've been here before you know that both of those 01:04 major cities are just a few feet away 01:06 and you know they are not major 01:08 by any stretch of the imagination. 01:10 One city has 600 people. The other has maybe a little 01:13 over 3,000 or under 4,000. 01:15 But nonetheless we know that the Lord inhabits 01:20 the presence of 2 or 3. What do you say? 01:23 Amen! And tonight we know that the Lord is going to be here. 01:26 He has been. Camp Meeting began yesterday. 01:29 Today has been a wonderful blessing 01:30 with the various messages from our presenters. 01:32 Shelley Quinn spoke today. Pastor John Carter also 01:36 this morning. And tonight he's going to bring another message 01:39 to us entitled Good, Glad, and Merry Tidings. 01:44 You know, no matter how bad the world gets 01:46 the gospel is always good news. What do you say? Amen! 01:49 And tonight we're going to be blessed by that wonderful 01:51 message. If you are within the driving vicinity of southern IL, 01:55 maybe Carbondale or closer or even if you're in Kentucky 01:58 tomorrow's going to be a wonderful day filled with 02:01 spiritual food that God is preparing even now to bless 02:05 our hearts and we encourage you to come 02:07 to the biggest little city in the world. 02:09 At least I believe that. That's why a New Yorker 02:11 is living in southern Illinois. 02:14 Tonight we're going to be blessed by two of my favorite 02:17 singers. You know, I've gotten to know them 02:19 not only as singers but individuals... people whose 02:21 hearts are genuine. They love the Lord 02:24 and they have surely dedicated their lives. 02:26 They could have been making millions in the secular world 02:29 but they have dedicated their lives to uplifting the name of 02:32 Jesus. And the reason is clear. 02:34 The song they are singing communicates what they believe 02:37 in their lives: Great is Thy Faithfulness. 02:42 Reggie and Ladye, come and bless us at this time. 02:47 Great is Thy faithfulness 02:54 O God my Father. 03:03 There is no shadow 03:06 of turning with Thee. 03:09 Thou changest not, 03:13 Thy compassions... they fail not. 03:19 As Thou hast been 03:22 Thou forever will be. 03:31 Great is Thy faithfulness! 03:36 Great is Thy faithfulness! 03:41 Morning by morning 03:47 new mercies I see. 03:55 And all I have needed 03:59 Thy hand hath 04:03 provided. 04:09 So great is Thy 04:14 faithfulness 04:19 Lord 04:21 unto 04:26 me. 04:38 Summer and winter 04:43 and springtime and harvest. 04:49 And sun, moon, and stars 04:54 in their courses above 05:00 join with all nature 05:05 in manifold witness 05:11 to Thy great faithfulness, 05:17 mercy, and love. 05:22 Great is Thy faithfulness! 05:27 Great is Thy faithfulness! 05:32 Morning by morning 05:37 new mercies I see. 05:43 All I have needed 05:47 Thy hand hath 05:50 provided. 05:53 Great is Thy faithfulness 05:58 Lord unto me. 06:03 Great is Thy faithfulness! 06:08 Great is Thy faithfulness! 06:13 Morning by morning 06:18 new mercies I see. 06:23 And all I have needed 06:28 Thy hand hath provided. 06:34 Great is Thy faithfulness! 06:39 Great is Thy faithfulness! 06:44 Great is Thy 06:47 faithfulness 06:55 Lord 06:57 unto 07:01 me. 07:16 Amen! 07:26 Reggie and Ladye Love. 07:29 What beautiful music, dear friends. Amen! Um-hmm. 07:32 And now nice to see you tonight. 07:36 The topic is... Well thank you. Somebody said 07:38 it's good to see me. Thank you... that's nice. 07:40 That's nice. The topic tonight is 07:44 Good, Glad, and Merry Tidings 07:49 that makes a man's heart to sing for joy 07:52 and his feet to dance. 07:53 Do you know who said that? 07:56 Tyndale, the great British reformer, 07:59 who was one of the people who gave us our Bible. 08:03 And he was referring to the book of Romans. 08:07 It was the book of Romans that got the church 08:11 out of the Dark Ages and gave birth to the great 08:16 Protestant Reformation. 08:18 I would suggest to you tonight, my dear friend, 08:23 if there had been no book of Romans 08:27 there would have been no Reformation 08:29 and there would have been no America, 08:33 no freedom, and none of the great democracies. 08:38 And therefore Tyndale when he read this book he said 08:41 "it is good, glad, and merry tidings. " 08:47 It was written in the days of Rome 08:52 and the Roman Empire: 08:55 the world superpower. 08:58 And God sent a message to the church in Rome 09:02 and I would suggest to you, my friend, 09:05 it is the most ignored book in the Bible. 09:13 I'll say it again: it is the most ignored 09:17 book in the Bible by Christians 09:21 and Seventh-day Adventist Christians... 09:27 and yet this is the key to the preaching of the gospel 09:33 and the salvation of souls in the last days. 09:39 He sent this message to the Roman church. 09:44 It was a city, my friend, of many contrasts. 09:49 Rome was powerful, wealthy, 09:52 obsessed with sex and sports. 09:56 They had slaves and they practiced corrupt practices. 10:02 They had corrupt rulers and they had a huge financial debt. 10:07 What does it sound like? 10:10 They had handouts and entertainment. 10:15 They had sexual perversions and they were continually at war. 10:21 And the reason they had to be at war was to keep 10:26 the dumb people on side. 10:30 This was the great Roman Empire! 10:35 And God sent a man whose name was Paul, 10:38 and He inspired the writing of what some have said 10:42 is the greatest book that has ever been written. 10:45 Martin Luther said this is "the chief part of the New Testament 10:50 and the purest gospel. " 10:53 And once again, Tyndale said: 10:55 "It's good, glad, and merry tidings 10:58 that makes a man's heart to sing for joy and his feet to dance. " 11:02 I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the book 11:05 of Romans. I'm going to try to do something tonight 11:09 and I said "God help me" to take you through the... 11:13 the most profound book that has ever been written 11:17 in the history of the human race by the greatest of scholars 11:21 and the greatest of preachers. 11:24 Romans chapter 1 verses 1 to 7. 11:27 Romans 1 and verses 1 down to 7. 11:31 "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle 11:36 and set apart for the gospel of God... " 11:40 The gospel which means good news. 11:43 "He promised beforehand through His prophets 11:47 in the holy scriptures regarding His Son. " 11:50 Look at me. 11:52 The gospel is not about you or me. 11:57 The gospel concerns you and me. 12:01 If there is no gospel, then eventually there will be 12:05 no you or me. But the Bible tells me 12:09 that the gospel is not about you and me. 12:12 It is the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ. 12:15 Amen! And so that's what we need to realize tonight. 12:19 The gospel is not about us because there is really 12:23 no good news about John Carter at all... 12:27 because he's a sinner 12:30 and he needs the continual out- pouring of the grace of God. 12:36 And so the gospel concerns me in the sense 12:41 that I need it, but the gospel is not about me. 12:45 The Bible says: "Regarding His Son, who in His human nature 12:51 was a descendant of David and who through the spirit of 12:54 holiness... " the Bible says... "was declared with power 12:58 to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead 13:01 Jesus Christ our Lord. 13:06 Through Him and for His name's sake we receive grace 13:09 and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles 13:13 to the obedience that comes from faith. 13:16 And you also are among those who are called 13:20 to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome 13:24 who are loved by God and called to be saints... " 13:29 And so this book starts with this magnificent introduction 13:35 and it says the gospel is about the Lord Jesus Christ. 13:41 Now who wrote it? I mentioned it was Paul. 13:45 Paul the Pharisee. Some scholars have said 13:49 that besides our Lord - our blessed Lord - 13:52 Paul was the greatest person who ever walked 13:54 the face of the earth. Paul was a Jew. 13:59 He had the mind of a great jurist or a lawyer. 14:04 And there was a woman by the name of Phoebe, 14:08 and she came from a little town in Greece outside Corinth. 14:12 And we understand from the writings of Paul 14:16 that she carried this book as a scroll 14:19 under her cloak, and she carried it to Rome. 14:23 And as she carried it to Rome she carried the future 14:27 of the world and the future of the church. 14:32 And thus it is called by Tyndale, the great scholar, 14:36 "good, glad, and merry tidings. " 14:39 Now let me just give a tiny aside here. 14:46 We live in an age of sound bites. 14:49 I live in Los Angeles. Been there for 27 years or something. 14:55 We live in the age of Hollywood; we live in the age of clichés 15:01 and one liners. 15:04 And so we elect presidents today 15:06 not because of the wealth of their argumentation 15:11 but because of their witticisms 15:13 and because they can say a few very good one liners 15:17 and they ring in our minds. 15:21 And the book of Romans is really not written for those people. 15:26 It is a book that explores the mind of God 15:31 and the human condition. 15:33 I have a saying that I've been saying now all of my life 15:36 as a pastor, and people say: "Why do you say it? " 15:41 I'll tell you what I say. I say to people everywhere: 15:45 in Russia, in El Salvador, in China 15:49 I say to you tonight: read your Bible every day. Amen! 15:54 It is the Word of God... 15:56 it is the Word of God that saves us. 15:59 But we live, my friend... I know it. I live 16:03 in the most permissive and the most superficial society 16:08 that has ever walked the face of planet earth. 16:14 And we wonder... I was talking to Pastor Lomacang 16:17 and we said: "America this year has turned a corner. " 16:24 And there's only one thing that will save the church, 16:27 and there's only one thing that will save America 16:31 and that is a return to the God of her fathers - 16:35 Amen - and a return to the Word of God 16:38 and a return to the study of the scriptures. Amen! 16:43 So I'm not here tonight to entertain you, my friends, 16:46 or to tell you easy things 16:48 or smooth things or to tickle your ears 16:52 or to make you say: "Wasn't that a wonderful message? " 16:55 I'm not here for this reason. 16:57 I'm here to bear testimony to the power of the Word of God. 17:02 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Amen! 17:05 When the church was lost in the wilderness - the Christian 17:09 church... When the church - the Christian church in the 17:12 Middle Ages - was sunk in the bog 17:16 in the pit of sin God sent a man. 17:22 God always has His man at the right time in the right place. 17:29 And God sent a man, and he was a godly, fervent 17:34 Roman Catholic priest. His name was Martin Luther. 17:39 And Martin Luther came preaching basically 17:43 the book of Romans 17:48 which is the clearest exposition of the way a person 17:53 can and must be saved. 17:57 And the fruitage of the Protestant Reformation... 18:00 I told you this this morning, I will tell it to you again. 18:04 I am completely unapologetic. 18:08 When people ask me "What is your religion? " 18:11 I say: "By the grace of God first and foremost 18:14 I am a Christian. I follow Christ. " 18:20 And secondly I say - and I'm not apologetic - 18:23 "I am a Protestant Christian. " 18:26 "What do you mean? " "Well I believe in sola Christus, only 18:29 Christ. I believe in sola scriptura. " 18:32 This is the authority of the church... not some board 18:37 and not some committee but the Word of God. 18:40 Do you hear what I'm saying? Amen! 18:42 Sola gratia = only grace. Sola fide. 18:45 That was the battle cry of the Protestant Reformers. 18:51 What was the fruitage of that? 18:54 We have forgotten it today largely in this fair and 18:57 wonderful land. But everything that is great about America 19:03 goes back to the preaching of the Protestant Reformers. 19:07 Praise God! Hallelujah! It's the truth. 19:11 And as the Russians would say: "Eku pravda. " 19:15 It is the truth. 19:19 The Reformation... freedom. What a beautiful word: freedom! 19:25 Freedom of religion; freedom of speech. 19:28 Freedom to preach. Democracy; prosperity; 19:32 a new world. 19:35 It goes back to the Protestant Reformation. 19:40 I recognize tonight that I'm al- most attempting the impossible. 19:45 That I am certainly swimming against the current because 19:51 I want to give you a synopsis 19:55 of the first eight chapters of the book of Romans 20:00 because therein is the power of God. 20:03 Did you know this? John Wesley was a young man. 20:08 He came to America to convert the Americans. 20:12 He was an Anglican priest. 20:15 5'2"... eyes of blue. 20:18 His hair came down to his shoulders 20:23 and he also wore a wig. 20:27 We would not let him into some of our churches. 20:30 John Wesley: a flame in the hand of Almighty God. 20:36 He preached 42,000 sermons. 20:38 Traveled 360,000 miles on the back of a horse. 20:43 But before this happened he was a lost soul. 20:47 And he came back from America and he said: 20:49 "Who is going to convert me? " 20:52 And one night he went down to a little church 20:56 at Aldersgate Lane when there was snow in the air 20:59 in the city of London and he heard an unlettered 21:04 layman without a Ph.D. or a D.D. 21:08 read Martin Luther's preface to the book of Romans. 21:11 Do you know the story? You ought to know it. 21:15 And as this man was reading Martin Luther's preface 21:19 to the book of Romans, John Wesley, the reverend 21:23 John Wesley, dean of Oxford University, got up and he said: 21:27 "Stop the meeting! " he said 21:30 as the brother was reading Martin Luther's preface to the 21:34 book of Romans: "I felt my heart strangely warmed 21:40 and I felt that I did indeed trust in Christ. 21:43 And an assurance was given me that He'd taken away my sin 21:47 and saved me from the law of sin and death. " 21:49 Listen my friend: John Wesley that night 21:52 got a revelation from the throne of God. 21:55 The only way that you can be saved, 21:59 the only way that we can be saved 22:01 is by getting a revelation from the throne of God. 22:07 May it happen to us tonight. 22:09 You know one of the biggest problems in the world today? 22:12 Religion. There's too much religion 22:16 but there's not enough of Christ. Amen! 22:19 And religion will never get a person home to the kingdom 22:22 of God. What we need tonight 22:27 is a John Wesley experience. 22:30 Look at Roman 1. Now we're going to go fast. 22:33 This is attempting the impossible. 22:36 Verses 16 and onwards he says: 22:38 "I am not ashamed of the gospel... " the good news... 22:41 "because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone 22:45 who believes. First for the Jew, then for the Gentile 22:48 saying the gospel of righteous- ness from God is revealed. 22:52 A righteousness that is by faith from first to last. 22:57 Just as it is written the righteous will live by faith. " 23:02 When Martin Luther read about the righteousness of God 23:05 do you know what he said? The German scholar? 23:11 Dr. Luther said when he read in the Bible about the 23:14 righteousness of God he said: "I hate it! " 23:18 "I hate it! " Why? Because Martin Luther was thinking. 23:23 When he confessed his sins to the old confessor 23:27 he said: "Martin, but you must love God? " 23:30 He said: "I don't love God... I hate Him. " 23:33 He said: "Martin, you can't... 23:35 You're a priest... you can't hate God. " 23:38 He said: "I hate Him because He hates me. " 23:42 He said: "God is righteous and I am a sinner. " 23:46 Think it through. He said: "God demands 23:51 total and absolute righteousness. 23:55 I can't go to heaven if I'm almost good enough. 24:01 I can't go to heaven with 99% of righteousness. 24:07 I can't go to heaven if I'm like Jesus 99.9%. " 24:13 So he said: "I worked on. " That's what Mother Teresa did. 24:17 "I worked on; I worked on. " 24:20 And the old priest said to him: "Martin, Martin, 24:23 Martin, you must love God? " He said: "I hate Him. " 24:28 The righteousness of God. If you don't understand 24:33 the gospel then you too will hate it and you will hate God 24:38 because God demands perfection. 24:42 God doesn't take 95%. 24:45 God wants absolute, total sinless perfection 24:50 from every one of us. 24:52 And we're sinners and none of us have got it. 24:59 Then Martin Luther, as he studied the book of Romans 25:03 God gave him a revelation and he discovered 25:08 that when the Bible talks about the righteousness of God 25:10 it means the righteousness that proceeds from God 25:16 as a free gift and because of Calvary 25:21 is credited to the sinner. 25:25 Not because he deserves it but because of the merit of Christ. 25:30 Amen! 25:33 That's the righteousness of God. 25:37 Now there has been a debate in the church for many years 25:41 over the wrath of God. 25:45 And most people... many people have come to the conclusion 25:48 that God is like a teddy bear. 25:51 He's kind; He's loving; He's considerate. 25:55 He's very, very, very tolerant. 25:59 But Paul talks about the wrath of God because God has wrath. 26:04 Look at Romans 1 verse 18. 26:07 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven 26:10 against all the godlessness and wickedness of men 26:13 who suppress the truth by their wickedness. " 26:16 Now he's talking here to the people in Rome. 26:19 He's talking to the pagans and he says to the people 26:23 in Rome: "the wrath of God is going to be revealed. " 26:29 I am here to testify tonight that a righteous God 26:33 has got righteous wrath. 26:36 And it's a holy wrath. 26:39 But don't think that God is Santa Claus. 26:42 Don't think God is a namby-pamby. 26:47 Don't think God is a big teddy bear. 26:50 God is a righteous God 26:54 and God demands righteousness. 26:57 Now read on what he says: 27:01 Verse 24: "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires 27:06 of their hearts to sexual impurity 27:09 for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 27:12 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie 27:15 and worshiped and served created things 27:19 rather than the Creator who is forever praised. Amen. 27:24 Because of this, 27:29 God gave them over to shameful lusts. 27:33 Even their women exchanged natural relations 27:38 for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also 27:43 abandoned natural relations with women 27:46 and were inflamed with lust for one another. 27:50 Men committed indecent acts with other men 27:56 and received in themselves the due penalty 28:02 of their perversion. " 28:05 So in Romans chapter 1 he looks at America. 28:11 Um-hmm. And he looks at Australia. 28:14 And he looks at Europe and he says: 28:19 "the wrath of God. " 28:23 Now you can mock God. 28:28 You can say: "I'm going to do what I want to do. 28:34 I am a free moral agent. " But the Bible says 28:39 "the wrath of God. " 28:44 The wrath of God is an indication 28:49 of the righteousness of God. 28:53 So Romans 1 says the Gentile world, the world of the pagan 28:58 Romans, is lost and under the wrath of God. 29:05 Then in Romans 2 he turns to the people who go to church. 29:10 Did you know there are two types of sinners? 29:14 There are respectable sinners 29:19 like me 29:22 and disrespectable sinners 29:25 like we read in Romans 1. 29:30 Romans 2: he talks and turns to the respectable sinners. 29:38 Chapter 2 verse 1: "You therefore have no excuse... 29:41 you who pass judgment on someone else. 29:43 For whatever point you judge the other you are condemning 29:47 yourself because you who pass judgment do the same thing. 29:54 Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things 29:58 is based on truth. " Verse 12: 30:02 "All who sin apart from the law... " 30:05 the people outside the church... 30:08 "will also perish apart from the law. 30:12 And those who sin under the law... " those in the church... 30:15 "will be judged by the law. " 30:19 And then verse 17: "Now you, if you call yourself a Jew, 30:24 if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God, 30:29 if you know His will and approve of what is superior 30:33 because you are instructed by the law... " 30:36 And he goes on to say this... look at me. 30:38 Romans 1... the pagan world is lost. 30:44 The world of Hollywood is under the wrath of God. 30:50 Hmm. You say: "No, no, no, no, no. 30:53 We... Makes us uncomfortable. " 30:55 Then let me make you more uncomfortable. 30:59 The Gentile, the pagan world, with all its depravity 31:04 and its perversions, I want every person to know... 31:07 I want the world to know that we believe 31:10 it is wrong and the Bible says "under the wrath of God. " 31:16 Then in Romans chapter 2 God turns to the respectable 31:21 sinners - the Jews, the churchy people - 31:24 and He says: "You put on a great show 31:29 but really you're no better 31:33 because in your hearts you are just as corrupt. " 31:39 You can read it in Romans chapter 2. 31:43 Shall we notice another verse? 31:46 Verse 25: "Circumcision has value if you observe the law 31:51 but if you break the law you have become as though 31:54 you had not been circumcised. " 32:00 So number one, Romans 1: the Gentile world is lost. 32:06 I meet people who come to me all the time 32:09 and they say to me: "Why do you do evangelism? " 32:12 I say: "I don't do a lot of it. 32:14 I can't afford to do it; I don't have the money. " 32:17 I'm a pastor, but I believe that people without Christ are lost. 32:24 That's what I believe. People say: "Oh, no, no. 32:27 You're so naive. These people are saved 32:31 because they're in darkness. 32:35 If they're in darkness and if they're saved, 32:38 then let's keep them in darkness. " 32:42 This is the logic. 32:45 So Romans 1: the Gentiles are lost 32:50 and in Romans 2 the Jews are lost 32:55 because every person has broken the law of God. 33:00 Then you come to Romans 3 and you have the great therefore. 33:05 Romans 3 and verse 9. Look at the texts. 33:11 "What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? 33:16 Not at all. We have already made the charge 33:20 that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. " 33:27 My friend: what chance is there for us? 33:33 The pagans are lost and the churchy people are lost. 33:39 Romans chapter 3: Paul has got the whole world 33:44 in the prisonhouse of sin. 33:49 And the law is the jailor and he turns the key. 33:54 And the whole world is under the wrath of Almighty God. 34:01 You say: "Martin Luther taught this? " Yes. 34:04 This is what made America. 34:08 This is what made freedom 34:11 when people came to understand the gospel. 34:14 Look in verse 11. 34:18 "There is no one who under- stands, no one who seeks God. 34:22 All have turned away. They have together become worthless. 34:25 There is no one who does good... not even one. " 34:29 And then you know... If you come down to verse 20 it says: 34:32 "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight 34:37 by observing the law. Rather through the law 34:40 we become conscious of sin. " 34:43 Amen. Now look at me. 34:48 You can't be saved by keeping the law. 34:53 You know why you can't be saved by keeping the law, 34:55 my friend? Because we've all broken it. 35:01 We've all broken the law. 35:04 We are all sinners. 35:07 The Bible says: "By the deeds of the law 35:10 no person is going to be saved. " 35:16 Then what a dilemma! The Gentiles are lost 35:19 and the people... the religious people are lost also. 35:25 And you can't be saved by your obedience to the law of God. 35:32 When I was a young minister I lived in North Queensland, 35:35 Australia, and they used to grow sugar. They still do. 35:40 But many years ago - 40 years ago - 35:42 they used to cut the sugar cane by hand. 35:46 And when a sugar cane farmer came in from a day slugging it 35:51 out out there in the hot sun 35:54 with all the sap from the sugar cane, every person was covered 35:59 in black because they used to burn the stuff first. 36:04 And so he'd be covered in black. 36:06 And so when he'd come in from work 36:09 he was not allowed... the women did not let them come 36:12 into the house until they were clean. 36:16 And firstly, the farmer would go and look in a mirror 36:21 and then he would wash. The mirror did not make him clean. 36:27 The mirror is the law of God. 36:32 It is the bath that made him clean. 36:37 Now read on. We come now to a passage that some would say 36:43 is the high point of scripture. 36:46 I know it's difficult, 36:49 but the most important things are difficult to attain. 36:53 Look at Romans chapter 3 verse 21 and onwards 36:58 my friends. "But now a righteousness from God 37:05 apart from law... " Look at me. 37:09 Do you believe this? 37:11 "But now a righteousness from God apart from law... " 37:18 You say: "This is hardly a practical subject. " 37:24 I was the pastor of a very large church in Australia. 37:30 One young man could not get this into his mind. 37:35 He believed that he had to become perfect 37:40 before he could be saved. 37:44 I tried to show him the scriptures and he said: 37:48 "No, no. It is too easy. " 37:53 Do you know what he did? He committed suicide 37:58 because there's no hope. 38:01 I knew three who committed suicide 38:05 because they said: "We have tried so hard 38:08 and we want to be perfect and we won't be saved 38:13 or get through the close of probation until we're perfect. " 38:18 Three young men gassed themselves. 38:23 So don't say to me: "This is of no consequence. " 38:33 What I'm telling you is not natural religion. 38:38 It's impossible to understand. 38:40 You can be a minister and go to the seminary 38:44 and not understand this. Think it through. 38:48 If I can't be saved until I am personally perfect, 38:55 tell me... is that good news? 38:58 No. Goodness! Try harder? 39:06 Notice this. Ask God for an understanding. 39:11 "But now a righteousness from God 39:15 apart from law has been made known 39:20 to which the law and the prophets testify. " 39:23 Now the Bible teaches it in other words. 39:27 The law and the prophets: they all attest to it. 39:29 "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus 39:34 Christ to all who believe. 39:39 There is no difference for all have sinned 39:43 and fall short... " continue to fall short... 39:48 "of the glory of God 39:50 and are justified freely by His grace 39:54 through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 39:58 God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement. " 40:02 What does it mean? 40:05 The hardest verses in the Bible 40:09 and probably the most important verses. 40:13 "But now a righteousness from God... " 40:18 Apart from my success in keeping the law of God. 40:22 "has been revealed 40:26 for all have sinned. " Romans 1: the Gentiles. 40:31 Romans 2: the Jews. 40:34 "All have sinned. " We've all sinned... 40:36 every Seventh-day Adventist. Every Baptist. 40:39 Every Roman Catholic. Every one of us... 40:41 we've all sinned. And the Bible says 40:44 we fall short of the glory of God. 40:46 That means we continue to fall short. 40:49 You... "I can't believe this. This goes against everything 40:54 I have believed. " I've got to come to the place 40:58 where I'm as sinless as God is. " 41:03 It says all continue to fall short 41:08 of the glory of God. 41:11 And the Bible says: "They are justified 41:16 freely by His grace through the redemption that is found 41:20 in Christ Jesus. " What on earth does it mean? 41:25 Justified! I'll tell you what the Bible teaches, 41:30 what Martin Luther taught. 41:32 Justification does not make me righteous. 41:41 Justification does not make me righteous. Amen! 41:46 Justification is a declaration from the judge 41:51 that because of Christ... 41:55 because of Christ I stand in the sight of a holy God 42:01 sinless. Holy as the angels. 42:06 Completely perfect from top down to my shoes. 42:12 I am declared as righteous as God 42:19 because of Christ... not because of me. Amen! That's right. 42:24 Um-hmm. This young man said to me: "Pastor Carter, 42:29 I can't believe it. Can't believe it. " 42:31 I said: "You can't believe it because you don't want to 42:34 hear good news? " This is good news. 42:37 It doesn't depend upon you. 42:39 It doesn't depend upon your actions. 42:42 It doesn't depend upon your prayers. 42:44 It doesn't depend upon your works. 42:46 It depends upon what Christ has already done for you 42:49 on the cross. Amen! 42:52 Have you heard of that wonderful lady: Mother Teresa 42:56 whom we all respect? 42:59 All love? Worked so much for the suffering in the world. 43:05 Did you know that after her death 43:08 her letters that she wrote to her Jesuit priest... 43:11 Friend, she was trained by the Jesuits 43:14 and her letters have been published. 43:17 Have you heard about this? 43:20 Well you can go online and you can read the letters. 43:23 She says never once in her entire life 43:27 did she have a glimpse of the love of God. 43:31 She said her whole life was filled with fear 43:37 because she felt "I've got to struggle on. " 43:42 The Holy Spirit... "Oh Holy Spirit, make me a little more 43:45 perfect today. " "Oh Holy Spirit, make me 43:48 a little more perfect today. " 43:52 Listen to me. I'll give you a little theology. 43:56 Have you heard of the Council of Trent? 43:59 The Council of Trent was set up by the Jesuits 44:03 to do away with the Protestant Reformation. 44:06 Good for us to know a little history, my beloved friends. 44:09 Um-hmm. The Council of Trent taught this: 44:13 I'm going to say something: 44:15 that a person is saved by Christ alone. 44:21 Good theology? This is the Council of Trent. 44:24 The Jesuits. A person is saved by Christ alone, 44:28 by grace alone, through faith... plus 44:33 the works of the Holy Spirit wrought in the heart. 44:39 You say: "That's what I believe. " 44:43 That is Jesuit theology. 44:46 That's what Martin Luther fought. 44:52 Big doors swing on little hinges. 44:57 Think it through. By faith plus the works 45:02 of the Holy Spirit wrought in my heart. 45:06 How much do you have to have before you're saved then? 45:10 Hence the necessity of the doctrine of purgatory. 45:15 Because Rome knows that a person is never good enough 45:19 in this lifetime. Can you under- stand what I'm telling you? 45:23 And therefore the most sainted person in the church of Rome 45:27 believes that when he dies he's got to go to purgatory 45:31 because he's not good enough yet. 45:34 But after a period of time in purgatory 45:37 the justification will be completed. 45:40 So justification becomes a process. 45:46 But Martin Luther, teaching from the Bible, said: 45:50 "Justification is not a process; it happens in a moment. " 45:56 Amen! It is not a process. 46:00 It is not a work. It is a declaration 46:04 from God that because of Christ 46:08 you are declared righteous, and if you are declared righteous 46:13 you are ready to look the devil in the face 46:17 and you are ready to go home to glory. Amen! 46:23 Do some of you find this hard to believe? 46:30 It was this doctrine that was preached 46:34 that gave birth to America 46:38 and the best countries in the world. 46:41 This is the truth. 46:43 These verses you should memorize over and over again. 46:48 "Justified freely by His grace through the redemption 46:52 that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice 46:57 of atonement. " Or a propitiation. 47:03 Look... let me try to tell you something. 47:07 The Bible talks about the wrath of God. 47:13 God has got holy wrath. 47:17 God has got holy wrath against evil 47:21 and sin and promiscuity. 47:24 God has got holy wrath because that's God. 47:30 That's what God is... God is holy. 47:32 He can't tolerate sin. 47:39 Here was God's problem: how can I save these rebels? 47:45 So God became a man 47:48 and on the cross Christ endured the holy wrath of God. 47:57 When the sin of the world was placed upon Christ 48:03 He panted in agony. He died in six hours 48:08 when a man could live on a cross for a week! 48:15 It was the holy wrath of God against sin that killed Him. 48:22 Why on earth do you think 48:26 that the sinless Son of God 48:28 should cry out the words of dereliction. 48:33 Think about it; ask God: "God help me to understand this. " 48:36 "God, I'm so slow. My mind is so closed. " 48:41 Why do you think Christ, the sinless Son of God, 48:47 cried out and said: "My God, My God, why 48:50 have You forsaken Me? " 48:53 The apostle Paul said: "God made Him who knew no sin 48:57 to be sin for us 48:59 that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. " 49:03 Because He endured the wrath of God 49:07 I don't need to fear the wrath of God. 49:10 And He gives me His righteousness 49:13 not because I deserve it but because of His goodness. 49:19 Amen! 49:22 Now if you and I can get this into our heads 49:26 we're going to be different people. 49:32 I know this is hard to preach: preach the book of Romans. 49:36 It's hard. Let me pick out some other pieces for you. 49:42 Romans 4. So Romans 3 says all are lost. 49:46 But there's a new way... it's through Christ. 49:49 Not by your works. 49:52 And then Romans 4 the Pharisee said 49:56 "This is heresy. " But Paul said: "It can't be heresy 49:59 because this is the way Abraham was saved. " 50:02 Verse 3.. what does the scrip- ture say? "Abraham believed God. 50:08 It was credited to him as righteousness. " 50:12 Verse 5: "However, to the man who does not work 50:16 but trusts God who justifies the wicked... " 50:21 or the ungodly in the King James version... 50:24 "his faith is credited as righteousness. " 50:28 It's credited. Look at me. 50:35 See if God can give us faith tonight. 50:39 Here comes a man into this meeting. 50:44 He's a cheat, he's a liar; he's a thief. 50:51 He never goes to church. 50:54 And as I'm preaching tonight in his poor way, trying to 51:00 open up the book of Romans 51:05 which contains eternity 51:07 and I'm trying to share it in a thimble 51:09 this man sees Christ 51:13 and he says: "Lord, I believe! " 51:17 "I believe; I trust in You. " 51:21 God says: "You are now righteous in My sight. " 51:25 Amen! "You are saved. " 51:28 "You passed from death unto life. " He stands up; 51:33 like John Wesley he says: 51:35 "I felt my heart strangely warmed. " 51:40 Or perhaps somebody else comes in. He is a church elder. 51:46 He's a righteous man. People think he's a righteous man. 51:50 But God knows his heart: that it's a pile of filth. 51:56 Like all of our hearts. 51:58 You say: "This is awful! " 52:02 You know who says: "This is awful? This is not me. " 52:06 You know who says that. That's the Pharisee inside us. 52:09 You don't have to go to the seminary to learn to be 52:12 a Pharisee. We are born Pharisees. 52:16 We are born in a state of sin. 52:19 And here comes this elder Punctilius, always on time. 52:25 Always studying his lesson, 52:28 which he should do, but never never understanding it. 52:33 And he comes into the meeting and a miracle takes place. 52:37 And the light shines into his soul and he sees himself - 52:42 pardon the word - as a stinking sinner. 52:46 Um-hmm. And he falls down and he says: "God be merciful 52:50 to me. " God says: "Done! 52:52 You're saved; you're going home to glory. " 52:58 I'm going to quote Luther again. 53:01 Why do I quote Luther? Because he gave us the Reformation 53:05 and the Reformation gave us freedom. 53:07 Luther said: "A Christian is always a sinner. 53:11 Always a penitent... always right with God. " 53:15 Always a sinner? Put your hand up here tonight 53:18 if you're not a sinner. Of course we're all sinners. 53:23 We may not be willing sinners but we are falling short 53:26 of the glory of God. We're not as we ought to be. 53:32 We've come to another text. I'm going to skip over 53:36 Romans 5... don't have time. 53:39 Romans 6 verse 1 says: 53:42 "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning 53:45 so that grace may increase? By no means. We died to sin; 53:49 how can we live in it any longer? 53:52 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized 53:56 into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. " 54:00 Look at verse 8 and you'll see something tonight 54:02 that you've never seen before. 54:04 "Now if we died with Christ 54:07 we believe that we will also live with Him. " 54:10 What does that mean? Listen: 54:14 when Christ hung on the cross 54:20 I was there. 54:24 No. II Corinthians 5:21 says: 54:29 "If One died for all, then all died. " 54:35 Legally would you like to know the moment of my death? 54:39 Legally? Black Friday... 3 o'clock 54:43 31 AD I died on the cross. 54:50 So I can't be condemned. If I'm a dead man, I can't 54:54 be condemned. Can I? 54:57 The Bible says: "Now as Christ was raised 55:02 walk in newness of life. " 55:08 Let me tell you what breaks the power of sin. 55:16 It is the grace of God in the heart 55:21 and an attitude of gratitude that comes from the heart 55:25 of a saved sinner because of the sheer mercy of God. 55:31 This kills sin in the life. 55:38 How can I enjoy adultery and fornication 55:44 and stealing and all of these malicious vices 55:50 if I know I put Christ on the cross 55:53 and He loves me? 55:59 This truth received by faith is the most liberating truth 56:03 in the world. When Martin Luther discovered this truth 56:08 after a long and painful sojourn 56:11 he was found in the church holding onto a crucifix. 56:17 And as he held into the crucifix, Martin Luther 56:21 cried out: "For me... for me. " 56:24 "For me... for me. " 56:26 When you hold onto the cross 56:30 and cry out: "Lord, for me... for me, " 56:35 you will feel your heart strangely warmed. 56:39 It is this gospel that saves the soul 56:45 and saves the world. Amen! Would you pray with me? 56:52 Our Father, we've tried to do the impossible. 56:55 We've tried to take the most difficult book in the Bible: 56:58 the book of Romans. Take the sea and condense it 57:02 in a thimble. But there are some things that are clear 57:06 and that is how Christ hates sin 57:10 but on the cross He took our place 57:13 and He bore our sin 57:16 so that if we truly believe in Him 57:19 we will not perish but we will have everlasting life. 57:23 Tonight, oh God, we do believe 57:28 and we thank you. |
Revised 2024-09-17