Participants: Pr. John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001614A
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00:13 The topic today is
00:16 The Last International Sign Before Armageddon. 00:23 I guess you know the same as I do 00:24 that many world leaders, 00:26 perhaps most world leaders 00:28 believe that we're facing a crisis with out parallel. 00:33 In the history of the human race, 00:36 in fact, some American leaders said only very recently 00:39 that America is facing a crisis equivalent to the days 00:46 just before the Second World War. 00:49 And so today, we're gonna talk a little bit about 00:52 The Last International Sign Before Armageddon. 00:56 What is Armageddon? 00:58 Armageddon refers not to a specific place 01:02 in the Middle East, 01:04 but to Earth's last battle 01:07 between the forces of good and evil. 01:11 Armageddon is the great climax 01:14 to the struggle between righteousness and evil. 01:20 I want you to take your Bibles if you don't mind, 01:22 and turn with me to the apocalypse, 01:24 to the Book of Revelation. 01:25 Would you come over here with me to Revelation 16:13-14, 01:31 and I am reading today, 01:32 from the New King James version. 01:35 Revelation 16: 01:39 14-15, 01:45 the Bible says... Have you got it? 01:47 Revelation 16:13-14, 01:51 "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 01:56 coming out of the mouth of the dragon, 01:58 out of the mouth of the beast, 02:00 out of the mouth of false prophet. 02:04 For they are sprits of demons, performing signs, 02:09 which go out to the kings 02:11 of the earth and of the whole world, 02:13 to gather them to the battle of that great day 02:17 of God Almighty." 02:20 The Bible teaches, I want you to think about this, 02:23 the Bible teaches 02:26 that evil sprits are going to have a part 02:29 in the last great battle. 02:32 The Bible teaches that sinister forces from beneath, 02:37 occult forces will play their part 02:41 in the great battle of Armageddon. 02:43 And we're gonna have a lecture later on in this series 02:46 entitled The Sinister World of the Occult. 02:49 I want you to notice another text in the same page, 02:52 Revelation 16:15-16 please. 02:57 The Bible says, "Behold, 02:59 I am coming as a thief," unexpected, 03:02 "blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, 03:05 lest he walk naked and they see his shame. 03:09 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, 03:14 Armageddon." 03:18 The Hebrew word indicates a great place of warfare, 03:24 in fact, it seems to be synonymous 03:26 with The Great Mountain of Slaughter. 03:29 So the Bible teaches that before the end of the world, 03:33 the world is convulsed in this tremendous struggle 03:38 between the forces of right and the forces of wrong. 03:44 The battle of Armageddon takes place, 03:46 the Bible teaches, 03:48 just before the harvest. 03:52 And I like you to turn in your bibles to a text 03:54 that talks about the last great harvest, 03:57 and that is Revelation 14:14 and onwards. 04:03 Revelation 14:14 and onwards, 04:10 the Bible says, "Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, 04:14 and on the cloud one sat like the son of man, 04:17 having on his head a golden crown, 04:19 in His hand a sharp sickle, 04:21 and another angel came out of the temple, 04:23 crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, 04:27 'Thrust in your sickle and reap, 04:30 for the time has come for your to reap, 04:32 for the harvest of the earth is ripe.' 04:35 So He who sat on the cloud 04:37 thrust in his sickle on the earth, 04:40 and the earth was reaped." 04:43 When I was a young man growing up in Australia, 04:48 I worked in the outback, 04:52 and on one occasion, 04:53 I worked on a sheep and wheat farm. 04:58 I still think that's about as close 05:00 the Heaven as you can get. 05:03 Out on the outback where the air is so clear 05:06 and there are so few people, 05:07 but so many millions of sheep. 05:12 The end of the year was the time of the harvest. 05:14 Christmas is at the end of the year, 05:17 of course, and at the end of the year 05:20 down-under is the midst of summer. 05:24 I can still see the tremendous harvesters lined up 05:29 going through the fields. 05:32 The harvest is the time 05:34 when the wheat is separated from the chaff. 05:38 I have seen literally mountains of wheat 05:44 and vast piles of chaff. 05:47 The Bible teaches that the harvest is the time 05:51 in the history of the world 05:54 when the wheat is separated from the chaff. 06:00 And this had takes place, the Bible says, 06:04 about the same time as the battle of Armageddon. 06:10 Right at the very end of time, just before Christ returns, 06:14 the Battle of Armageddon, 06:15 and this is followed by the harvest 06:19 or the time of separation, 06:22 which is also called in the scriptures 06:26 the return of Christ. 06:30 I have a conviction that burns in my soul 06:36 that we're living at the time of the harvest. 06:41 I would to like to present to you, 06:44 my friends, today, 06:46 and to the marvelous television audience, 06:50 seven great signs, 06:55 seven great signs of the apocalypse. 06:58 And sign number one, gonna put this up here. 07:02 It says, following seven great signs from the Bible 07:06 that tell us we're living in the last days 07:08 just before Armageddon. 07:11 And sign number one, 07:13 the Bible calls the birth pains 07:18 or the birth pangs. 07:20 And the women here 07:22 will understand what I am talking. 07:24 Can you say Amen to that, ladies? 07:26 Amen. 07:27 Come over here to Mathew 24:7 and onwards. 07:32 We men got off pretty light, didn't we? 07:35 Matthew 24:7 and onwards, 07:40 "For nation will rise against nation," 07:42 this is Jesus talking, "and kingdom against kingdom, 07:45 there will be famines, pestilences, 07:47 and earthquakes in various places, 07:50 all these are the beginning 07:54 of sorrows." 07:56 If you read this in the original language, 07:59 when it is says the beginning of sorrows, 08:02 it is talking about the birth pangs 08:07 that are associated with childbirth. 08:10 The Bible teaches that before the new world is born 08:15 there going to be birth pangs. 08:19 The Bible spoke about wars, 08:21 and you know what's birth pangs, ladies, 08:25 they become more intense 08:28 and they come closer and closer. 08:35 My God, the audience listening here today, 08:37 especially the ladies. 08:39 The Bible spoke about wars, always had them, 08:42 there's gonna be more. 08:43 Pestilences, Famines, and earthquakes, 08:48 and even though we've had them before, 08:50 they're going to come like birth pangs. 08:55 They're going to come, more and more, 08:58 and this is going to bring forth a new world. 09:01 Sign number two, Revelation 11:18-19, 09:06 the Destroyers of the earth. 09:08 Revelation 11:18-19, 09:13 the Bible says, "The nations were angry, 09:16 and your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, 09:20 that they should be judged, 09:22 and that you should reward your servants, 09:24 the prophets, and the saints." 09:27 Then it says, 09:29 and the next part of the text is quite amazing, 09:33 it says "Those who fear your name, small and great, 09:36 and should destroy those," what does it say? 09:40 "Who destroy the earth, 09:44 then the temple of God was opened in heaven, 09:46 and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple, 09:50 and there were lightings, noises thundering, 09:53 and earthquake, great hail." 09:55 This was talking about the very end time. 09:59 But the bible says this, listen carefully, 10:02 this was written in the days of swords, 10:06 and bows, and arrows, 10:09 but the Bible says, 10:12 that in the time of the harvest 10:15 people on the earths would have the capacity 10:18 to destroy the earth, 10:21 such as we have today with nuclear, biological, 10:26 and chemical weapons in danger of being used in terrorism. 10:35 The capacity to destroy the earth 10:38 is one of the great signs that we are living 10:41 in the days of Armageddon. 10:43 Would you notice the third sign? 10:45 We call it the great tribulation, Matthew 24, 10:50 we're is in the Matthew 24:21 says, 10:56 "For then shall be great tribulation, 10:58 such as has not been since the begging of the world 11:02 until this time, no, never shall be." 11:06 And then verse 30 11:08 and 31 says, 11:12 no, verse 20, 29, 11:15 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days 11:18 the sun will be darkened, 11:20 and the moon will not give its light, 11:21 the stars will fall from heaven, 11:23 and then powers of the heavens will be shaken. 11:26 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 11:29 and then all the tribes of the earth will morn, 11:31 and they will see the Son of Man 11:32 coming on the clouds heaven 11:34 with power and great glory, and he will send his angles 11:37 with a great sound of a trumpet, 11:39 and they will gather together his elect from the four winds 11:42 from one end of heaven to the other." 11:46 Did you notice this 11:50 that the great tribulation precedes the coming of Christ? 11:58 Can't see how people can be confused on this. 12:01 The Bible talks about this vast tribulation 12:04 and then it says, after this 12:07 the sign of the Son on Man will appear in the heavens, 12:09 and then Christ will return with power and great glory. 12:15 So before the return of Christ 12:20 and before Armageddon, 12:22 there will be a tremendous time of trouble. 12:26 Just as it was before the destruction of Jerusalem 12:30 in 70 A.D., Jesus said. 12:34 In those days in journalism, 12:36 did you know, you can read this in Josephus, 12:39 there was terrorism, 12:40 there was a total collapse of morality, 12:43 and collapse of society into anarchy. 12:51 Could I give you 12:52 a possible scenario, 12:57 could you imagine what would have happened in America 13:01 and in the world if we had a total meltdown 13:05 of the world economy? 13:08 And riding in the streets, 13:12 and the police utterly impotent to do any thing about it. 13:18 Would you look at this, "Could this be the last days?" 13:22 as one political commentator said like 13:25 before the fall of the Roman Empire 13:27 that you and the other countries in Europe 13:31 and Latin America are worse off than America. 13:35 Look at this, the US federal debt, 13:38 19 trillion dollars. 13:41 US unfunded liabilities, 13:43 a hundred and two trillion dollars. 13:47 That's more than all the money in the world. 13:49 The US workforce is hundred and fifty one million people. 13:55 The official unemployment 13:56 is seven million nine hundred and forty-four thousand. 14:01 The actual unemployment 14:03 is fifteen million five hundred and fifty five. 14:07 The medium income which keeps 14:10 so many people in a state 14:12 of grinding poverty is thirty thousand dollars. 14:18 Prison inmates almost two million. 14:22 Convicted felons 14:24 six million and six hundred and seventy eight. 14:28 Food stamp recipients 14:30 forty four millions five hundred thousand. 14:35 The total receiving 14:37 handouts and benefits from the government 14:39 are hundred and sixty one million. 14:44 You know this? 14:45 The next point is even more dire, 14:50 currency and credit derivatives, 14:54 four hundred and forty four trillion. 14:59 You think the government is going to tell you this? 15:02 You think the politicians are going to tell you this? 15:10 But we are standing-- 15:12 on the brink 15:14 of the abyss. 15:18 Jesus said 15:20 "Time a trouble search as never was-- 15:23 since there was a nation." 15:26 Sign number four, an increase in knowledge. 15:32 I've got a text, want to quote it to you. 15:34 Daniel 12, 15:36 "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, 15:39 and seal the book until the time of the end, 15:42 " there is an end-- 15:45 "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." 15:50 Have you ever, ever wondered 15:55 why the world went along on the back of a camel 16:00 or a donkey or a snail 16:05 for thousand of years 16:07 and then within the burst of just a few years 16:11 we have this explosion of knowledge? 16:14 It is a sign-- 16:17 to the world. 16:20 Have you heard this story, 16:22 Melbourne and Sydney, 16:26 about 500 or 600 miles apart? 16:29 Now I hope you folks are gonna get this, 16:31 not going to let me down. 16:35 This happened years ago, 16:37 but a lady rang up the-- airline agent 16:42 and said, "Look, 16:44 how long will it take me to fly from Sydney to Melbourne?" 16:47 The agent didn't know and said, "Madam, just a minute." 16:51 And the lady said, 16:52 "Thank you very much," and hang up. 17:01 But wherever you look 17:03 things are getting faster, and faster, and faster. 17:09 Why is it so? 17:11 Why is it that merely 200 years ago 17:14 we were living now better than the people it lived 17:18 5,000 years ago, 17:20 and then all of the sudden 17:21 this tremendous over whelming burst of knowledge. 17:27 It is an omen, 17:29 it is the sign. 17:31 Sign number five, 17:34 the emergences of sinister occult forces. 17:39 I want you to see the text, 17:42 the text is found in Revelation, 17:44 "Then the sixth angel 17:46 poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, 17:50 and its water was dried up, 17:52 so that the way of the kings 17:54 from the east might be prepared. 17:57 And I saw three unclean sprits like frogs 18:02 coming out the mouth of the dragon." 18:04 One day I'll talked about this. 18:06 He have the counterfeit trinity. 18:09 "The dragon out of the mouth of the beast, 18:11 and out of the mouth of the false prophet, 18:13 they are the spirit of demons, 18:17 performing signs, 18:19 which go out to the kings of the earth 18:21 and of the whole world, 18:23 to gather them to the battle 18:25 of that great day of God Almighty." 18:26 "Behold, I am coming as a thief," 18:29 Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, 18:32 lest he walk naked and they see his shame. 18:35 And they gathered them together 18:37 to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." 18:39 The Bible says, 18:41 I want you to think about this very carefully, 18:44 the last great battle, the climax of the ages, 18:48 which is a part of this unfolding scenario 18:52 of the great tribulation. 18:57 In this, 18:59 the very heart of this vortex of destruction is demonism. 19:05 I don't have time 19:06 to talk to you about it now, 19:09 but demonism is also tied up 19:11 was the practice of people seeking the dead, 19:17 believing that the dead are not the dead 19:20 but the dead can talk to them. 19:24 In my study of the Apocalypse, the book of revelation, 19:27 and we're not going to talk about it now, 19:29 but there's a scenario 19:31 of the bottom most pit being opened. 19:36 And out of the bottomless the pit, 19:38 this is in Revelation, 19:39 I think Chapter 8, don't look it up now, 19:42 but you have creatures that come up 19:45 out of the bottomless pit like scorpions. 19:51 It is a harvest day-- 19:55 pictorial of the emergences 19:59 of demons that take over the earth. 20:05 As I've watched the forces of ISIS, 20:11 using little children 20:14 and murdering innocent people, chopping off their heads, 20:17 raping the women, burnings the towns, 20:23 I believe-- 20:24 I've seen and you have seen 20:27 the work of demons. 20:30 This is beyond evil, this is beyond humanity, 20:35 not even, pardon may I say this, 20:38 not even the Nazis did this. 20:42 Demonism. 20:44 Sign number six, 20:47 you see arising of a power that is called in scripture-- 20:51 the antichrist. 20:52 You read about him in Daniel 7: 25, 20:55 2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation 13, 20:58 also Mathew 24. 21:00 Daniel 7:25 says, 21:02 "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, 21:05 shall persecute the saints of the Most High, 21:07 and shall-- 21:08 intend to change times and law. 21:11 Then the saints shall be given into his hand 21:13 for a time and time and half a time." 21:15 Listen carefully, gonna talk about this 21:18 in one of this series. 21:19 You know why? 21:20 Because the Bible says, 21:22 it's got be preached. 21:25 The Bible talks in the last days 21:27 of a counterfeit Christ arising in the world 21:33 and because the people of the rest of knowledge. 21:41 And almost brain and soul dead, 21:45 they are deceived by a super personality 21:50 at the head of a tremendous organization 21:53 that deceives the whole world 21:55 into getting the mark of the beast. 22:00 Now assume, 22:01 we shall reveal his identity, 22:06 the rise of the antichrist. 22:07 And sign number seven, here it is, 22:10 number seven 22:12 is the triumphs of the Gospel of Christ. 22:15 And the text is Mathew 24:14, 22:18 Jesus said "And the gospel, 22:20 this gospel of the kingdom 22:22 will be preached in all the world 22:24 as a witness to all the nations, 22:26 and then the end will come." 22:28 This gospel, what is the gospel? 22:30 Listen carefully. 22:33 The gospel is not about us, 22:38 it's about Christ, 22:39 it's a story that God became a man 22:42 in the person of Christ, 22:45 lived among us, died for us on the cross. 22:48 And the Bible says, in spite of the powers of darkness 22:53 the gospel will be preached in the all world. 22:57 I've had some amazing experiences, 22:59 none more amazing than this, 23:00 that a number of years ago 23:01 I preached in a vast auditorium, 23:03 in the heart of Kiev, 23:06 and-- 23:07 I was preaching and speaking on the very same spot 23:11 where this man had predicted the demise of Christ, 23:14 Khrushchev. 23:16 Khrushchev had said 23:18 from that very pulpit, at the very spot, 23:20 he said, within a life time, 23:22 the name of Christ 23:24 will be blotted out of the heavens 23:25 and we'll all be atheist's and communists. 23:28 I spoke to an audience of thousands and thousands, 23:31 would you believe this? 23:32 See, you can't kill us, 23:34 you can't kill the Gospel. 23:36 But Khrushchev is gone 23:38 and of course, he was a disciple of Nietzsche. 23:43 And Nietzsche was the man who gave birth to the Nazis, 23:48 he was a great German philosopher. 23:49 He has influenced 23:53 thinking people in the universities 23:57 even in America 23:58 more than any other person in history. 24:01 Nietzsche. 24:04 Nietzsche said 24:06 on one occasion when he was lecturing, 24:08 he wrote up on the university black board, 24:10 'God is dead, 24:13 ' signed, Nietzsche. 24:14 God is dead. Signed, Nietzsche. 24:17 But a few years later 24:19 Nietzsche died, 24:21 and one of the students crept in and wrote up 24:24 'Nietzsche is dead,' signed God. 24:28 You see, you see, 24:33 even as I speak, 24:35 in spite of all the forces of evil in the world, 24:39 the Gospel of Christ is going to the world 24:42 and you can't stop it because god is behind it. 24:46 Now the next great event 24:49 we believe in the history of this world 24:53 will be the coming of Christ. 24:55 The stone, we went through this some weeks ago, 24:58 the stone is going to strike the image, 25:01 and the kingdoms of this world 25:03 are going to become the kingdoms of our Lord, 25:06 and of his Christ, 25:08 and he will reign for ever and ever. 25:10 Amen. Amen. 25:13 Now listen, 25:16 before this happens, 25:20 God sends to the wondering masses 25:26 an amazing three fold message, 25:32 that message constitutes 25:36 the last international sign before Armageddon 25:40 and the harvest. 25:46 Most people know nothing about it, 25:51 it is a matter of life and death, 25:54 it is the subject 25:57 of our next program, 26:00 The last International Sign 26:04 Before Armageddon. 26:16 Hello friend, 26:17 I'm John Carter in Havana, Cuba. 26:20 I'm standing here in Revolutionary Square. 26:25 This great square is dedicated 26:27 to the great communist revolution under Fidel 26:30 that came to this country back 50, 60 years ago. 26:35 This place is still undergoing a revolution. 26:39 We've come to check out the reality of the situation. 26:43 Freedom of speech is not allowed here still, 26:47 preaching the gospel out of doors 26:49 is not allowed here still. 26:51 Whatever you hear about reconciliation, 26:54 nothing has really changed. 26:57 We've been told we cannot run public campaigns in Cuba 27:03 in any part of this world. 27:05 We can run meetings in Churches, that's allowed. 27:09 So what are we gonna do? 27:11 We're going to support the people of God 27:12 in this part of the world. 27:14 We're going to step through those doors 27:16 as God opens those doors. 27:19 We're not going to come and cause a commotion 27:23 and cause trouble to the people of God. 27:26 We will work diligently and as wise as serpents 27:32 and as harmless as doves. 27:35 Stand with us in the preaching of the gospel, 27:38 wherever it is, stand with us. 27:40 Write to me, Post Office Box 1900, 27:43 Thousand Oaks, California, 91358. 27:45 In Australia, write to me at the address 27:48 which is now appearing on the screen, 27:50 at Terrigal. 27:51 And let us go forward 27:53 for a mighty spiritual revolution 27:56 as we take the Gospel of Christ 28:00 to the lust around the world as God opens the doors. 28:04 This is John Carter, in Revolutionary Square, 28:08 in Havana, Cuba saying to you, 28:11 God bless you and thank you for your support. 28:17 For a copy of today's program, 28:20 please contact us at P.O. Box 1900, 28:23 Thousand Oaks, California, 91358. 28:27 Or in Australia, contact us at P.O. Box 861, 28:32 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 28:37 This program is made possible 28:39 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:42 We thank you for your continued support. 28:45 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2016-06-16