Participants: John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001627A
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00:04 The Carter Report presents Plain Talk with John Carter.
00:17 Welcome back to Plain Talk. 00:19 Our television program is seen around the world 00:21 and thousands of people sending their questions. 00:25 Today we are answering these questions 00:28 with some plain talk. 00:31 Allen Deleon is your spokesman and the first question is, 00:35 here it comes. 00:37 What is the unpardonable sin? 00:40 Well, that's the sin that God cannot forgive, 00:42 that's why it's called the unpardonable sin. 00:44 How do you know if you've committed the unpardonable sin? 00:47 Please take your Bible, 00:49 come over here to Matthew 12:31, 00:53 dear hearts and gentle people, 00:55 Matthew 12:31 is we think about the unpardonable sin, 01:01 Matthew 12. 01:03 Welcome today, 01:04 ladies and Gentlemen to Plain Talk. 01:06 Matthew Chapter 12, what did I say, 31? 01:11 "Therefore I say to you, 01:12 every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men." 01:15 Well, somebody got to say hallelujah, 01:17 that's good news. 01:19 "Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, 01:23 but the blasphemy against the Spirit 01:26 shall not be forgiven men." 01:29 The Bible says God will forgive every sin. 01:32 Every sin that is confessed and forsaken. 01:36 That means that God will forgive murder, 01:40 adultery, lying, 01:42 cheating, stealing, every sin. 01:46 Now listen to this, every sin that you confess to God, 01:50 every sin you repent off to God, 01:53 every sin that you repudiate. 01:57 But the unpardonable sin is unpardonable, 02:01 because it isn't confessed to God. 02:04 It's not confessed to God. 02:06 And the reason it isn't confessed to God 02:10 because it's the sin against the Holy Spirit, 02:14 Jesus said. 02:15 If you sin against the Holy Spirit, 02:17 Jesus said, you never, never going to get forgiveness. 02:22 Now who is the Holy Spirit? 02:24 He is the third person of the Godhead. 02:28 There's the Father, the Son and there is the Holy Spirit, 02:32 and the Holy Spirit is the person 02:35 who comes from God and who... 02:37 No, wait for this. 02:39 He comes and he talks to our minds, 02:44 he talks to our souls. 02:46 So if I'd been sinning against God. 02:50 All of a sudden, 02:51 I feel something inside that is stirring, 02:55 it is stirring, what is it? 02:57 It's conscience. 02:58 So he works through the conscience. 03:01 Now if I'm wise, I will go to God and I'll say, 03:05 "God, I've sinned against heaven 03:08 and I've sinned against you. 03:10 I'm no longer worthy to be known as your son." 03:14 If you read in Luke Chapter 15, 03:18 but there is an alternative that I can do 03:20 and many people do it. 03:21 I say, God, no, not now 03:27 and I hardened my heart. 03:31 Every time I say no to God, 03:34 it makes it easier to say no to God the next time. 03:39 Now, look at these hands, 03:41 they're not very callused, are they? 03:44 When I was a boy, I used to drive a big bulldozer 03:46 up in North Queensland, 03:48 and I had some calluses on my hands 03:50 because if you're driving a huge big bulldozer 03:53 and you're pulling the levers, 03:54 your hands get a little callused. 03:58 But if I were to go back to doing that work again, 04:01 I would build up calluses. 04:03 And as I build up the calluses, 04:06 my hands loose their sensitivity. 04:12 When I say no to God, my friends, 04:16 my heart starts to build up calluses 04:21 and I lose my spiritual sensitivity, 04:26 so that God can be speaking 04:28 in my ear like thunder 04:34 and I don't hear him. 04:37 So when God comes and talks to me, 04:39 the first time it sounds like a thunder. 04:44 It seems as though I'm right there at Mount Sinai. 04:50 When I say no, 04:53 I build up a little callus. 04:55 I say no and the callus gets thicker. 04:59 And if I keep saying no to God, 05:02 the time will come 05:05 when I'll build up so many spiritual calluses 05:10 that God will speak with a voice of thunder 05:14 but I won't hear Him. 05:18 When Beverley and I were first married, 05:20 we were sent to a town in Australia 05:23 by the name of Wagga Wagga. 05:27 That's all right, Americans got funny names too, 05:29 but anyhow, we are sent to a town 05:32 by the name of Wagga Wagga. 05:34 You know why? 05:36 Well, I helped a man by the name 05:38 of George Bernard Shaw, 05:39 a great evangelist run an evangelistic campaign. 05:42 We stayed in the house, not on the railway track, 05:46 but right next to it. 05:49 And at midnight the Southern Aurora came through. 05:52 In those days there were steam trains, 05:53 they are the best trains. 05:55 You know, blowing lots of steam, 05:57 making lots of noise and the Southern Aurora 05:59 would come thundering through Wagga. 06:01 When it came thundering through Wagga, 06:04 we thought it came through our bedroom. 06:07 We both jumped up so fast, we hid ourselves, 06:10 we bumped into each other in the middle. 06:13 The train was about 100 yards away, 06:15 where you now came roaring through 06:17 and blowing this tremendous whistle. 06:19 You know, 06:21 we were the only people in Wagga who woke up. 06:24 You know why? 06:28 They had build up calluses to the Southern Aurora train. 06:32 The next night we woke up too, and the next night we woke up 06:36 and the next night we almost didn't wake up 06:38 but we woke up a bit. 06:40 But the next night in the week or so time, 06:42 the train would come through, 06:45 we didn't even know if it's coming through. 06:48 You know why? 06:49 We had become desensitized. 06:54 Now, let me tell you something very important. 06:58 You don't get a suntan sitting inside a refrigerator, do you? 07:02 You don't get a suntan sitting inside a refrigerator. 07:05 You get a suntan sitting out in the sun. 07:09 But sitting out in the sun is a great place 07:12 to get a suntan but it is also dangerous. 07:16 When you go to a place 07:18 where the sun shine of God's love 07:21 is streaming forth, it's pleasant 07:24 and it's wonderful but it is also dangerous, 07:29 because you are being exposed 07:32 to the rays of God's Holy Spirit. 07:36 Now, if you are sitting in a meeting like this 07:39 and somebody one of us, 07:41 and we are committing a sin against God. 07:46 Say somebody is fornicating, that's very common today. 07:52 As the text of the Bible are read, 07:54 there will be a voice that is speaking to my heart. 08:00 It will worry me in my stomach. 08:02 When I get to bed at night, I'll find it hard to sleep. 08:06 Southern Aurora will be pounding down. 08:11 And if I keep saying no to God, 08:12 the time will come when God will speak 08:15 the voice of the Southern Aurora but I won't hear, 08:20 not because God is not speaking, 08:21 but because I've closed my mind. 08:25 Therefore, the unpardonable sin 08:28 is the sin that I do not confess, 08:32 because I've closed my mind. 08:34 Will God torment sinners forever? 08:38 Well, that's what the pope says. 08:41 So if you believe the pope, I guess you would say yes. 08:44 Now that's what the great churches teach, 08:47 the Catholic Church teaches 08:48 that God is going to torment sinners forever. 08:51 The great Protestant Churches, 08:52 my beloved friends in the Baptist Church say yes, 08:56 God is going to burn sinners for all eternity. 08:59 I want you to think about this. 09:01 I want you to think about it 09:02 'cause we can throw these statements away, 09:04 you know just like glib statements. 09:06 Have you ever put your finger 09:08 over a flame of fire by mistake? 09:12 Ever done it? 09:13 I have, you know, even a candle. 09:17 Your finger, you smell, you smell the burning flesh. 09:23 Could you imagine if for one second, 09:25 your whole body was immersed in fire? 09:29 Flame, not for a minute but for an hour, 09:34 inconceivable torture for a day, 09:38 for a day, for a week, for a year. 09:44 People tell me that God is going to work 09:47 a trillion miracles to keep the body of the damned. 09:52 He's going to work these miracles 09:54 and keep the bodies or the souls 09:56 so sensitive that He can torture them 09:59 for trillions of years. 10:02 That's why, Ingersoll said, 10:04 if there is a God then he became a great skeptic. 10:07 He said, if there is a God, that he is the devil. 10:11 I do not believe that God is a torturer. 10:13 I believe that the doctrine of eternal torment 10:17 is based upon misunderstanding of the text of the Bible. 10:22 And let me give you a text that should help you. 10:24 Come over here to Jude 7. 10:27 That's one book before the Book of Revelation. 10:31 One book, Revelation is the last book in the Bible. 10:34 If you come to Jude and Jesus said, 10:37 "It is written man shall not live by bread alone 10:40 but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." 10:43 Jude verse 7, you got it, 10:46 my audience, and you folks watching on television. 10:50 Listen up. 10:52 "As Sodom and Gomorrah, 10:53 and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, 10:57 having given themselves over to sexual immorality 11:02 and gone after strange flesh, sexual version, 11:06 and set forth..." 11:08 as what, say it to me, 11:10 "as an example, suffering the vengeance..." 11:13 of what, "eternal fire." 11:15 Well, I've been to that area, I've been down to Numirah, 11:20 been down to the southern part of the Dead Sea. 11:23 I have actually felt in these hands, 11:26 the ashes of the great fires 11:29 that destroyed that civilization. 11:31 I picked out little pieces of human bone 11:35 but those places are not burning today. 11:39 Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with eternal fire, 11:42 with hellfire, with fire that burnt for ever 11:46 and ever and ever, 11:48 while there was anything there to burn. 11:52 But when everything that could be burned was burned, 11:57 the fire went out. 12:00 And that's how it's going to be, 12:01 God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth. 12:04 The punishment of the wicked will take place upon the earth. 12:09 It's going to burn with fire, hellfire. 12:12 God is going to bring judgment upon America, 12:15 going to bring judgment upon Australia. 12:17 There is a judgment day coming. 12:19 God is just. 12:21 Justice cannot sleep forever, don't forget it. 12:24 There's going to be a judgment day, 12:25 there's going to be hell, 12:27 there's going to be fire. 12:29 But after the fire has done the cleansing, 12:31 the fire is going to go out. 12:34 And sin and sinners will be no more, 12:38 because God is a just God but He is also a loving God. 12:44 God is not a terrorist. 12:48 Where do you disagree 12:49 with the teachings of Pope Francis? 12:53 Lot of people have been obliviously 12:55 influenced by Pope Francis 12:57 because he is a very charismatic person, 13:01 seems to be such a nice person. 13:03 But we are not talking about nice people. 13:06 We don't join churches 'cause we like... 13:09 or some people do, but that's not really good reason 13:11 to join a church or I like the pastor. 13:14 I like the way, the curl in his hair 13:16 and all the rest in. 13:17 You don't go to a church because you like the pastor. 13:22 Oh, now the question was where do I disagree 13:25 with the teachings of Pope Francis. 13:26 Well, I'll tell you the main one, 13:28 come over here to Matthew 16:15-19. 13:31 It's in the New Testament. 13:33 Matthew Chapter 16, and folks, 13:35 this is the book that you got to get inside your heart, 13:40 Matthew 16:15 13:44 and onwards, 13:48 Verse 14 said, "So they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, 13:51 who are you, some Elijah, 13:53 others Jeremiah, one of the prophets. 13:55 Jesus said, 'who do people say that I am?' 13:57 And then, verse 15, he said to them, 14:00 'But who do you say that I am? 14:03 Simon Peter, you got the text, he answered and said, 14:06 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' 14:09 ' That was a great testimony. 14:13 Who are you, Christ, you are the Son of living God 14:18 and Peter got it right, Peter got it right. 14:21 Verse 17, "Jesus answered and said to him, 14:24 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, 14:26 for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, 14:29 but My Father who is in heaven. 14:31 And I say to you that you are Peter, 14:34 and on this rock I will build my church, 14:37 and the gates of Hades or hell shall not prevail against it." 14:41 Let me tell you where I disagree with the pope, 14:45 where I believe that pope is dead wrong. 14:49 The pope believes that he is Peter, 14:53 when he is made the pope, 14:54 they say to him in Latin, "You are Peter." 14:58 The Pope believe if they sit in the chair of Saint Peter, 15:03 and they believe that Peter was first pope. 15:07 I don't believe that. 15:09 There is no evidence at all, 15:12 no evidence at all that Peter was a pope. 15:16 And if he was, it makes it more difficult for the pope, 15:19 because Peter was a married man. 15:23 So if Peter was the first pope, first pope was married. 15:29 Okay, I say to you that you're Peter, 15:34 and on this rock I will build my church. 15:37 What did he just say? 15:38 He said, You are the Christ, Son of the living God. 15:44 The true church is not build upon Peter 15:47 but upon Peter's confession 15:50 that Christ was the Son of God. 15:55 The church is built upon the rock 15:59 and not Peter because Peter was not a rock. 16:03 Peter was a tumbling stone 16:06 and he denied the Lord with cursing and swearing. 16:09 And more than this Peter is asleep in the grave 16:13 awaiting the resurrection. 16:15 The true church is build upon the living Christ, 16:20 the false church is build upon a dead man. 16:23 Don't forget it. 16:25 Now come over here, 16:26 I want to show you a text, another text. 16:27 Come over here, 1 Corinthians 10:4. 16:30 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 1 Corinthians 10:4. 16:34 I love the Bible, don't you? 16:36 Yeah. 16:37 You are really good audience, you really are. 16:40 1 Corinthians... 16:42 and we have a great television audience, 16:43 We just got a great television audience. 16:45 1 Corinthians 10:4, 16:47 " And all drank the same spiritual drink. 16:50 For they drank of that spiritual 16:51 Rock that followed them..." 16:53 Now what does it say, dear hearts? 16:56 Come on, that rock, that rock was who? 16:59 That rock was Peter. 17:01 No, no, no, no. 17:03 That rock was Christ, Christ is the rock. 17:06 The church is not built upon Saint Peter, 17:10 the church is built upon Christ, 17:12 He is the rock. 17:15 Now Peter doesn't save, Jesus saves. 17:19 And so the pope says, he is the successor of Peter. 17:23 I don't believe that for a moment, 17:25 even if he was, 17:27 it wouldn't be a compliment, because Peter is a dead man. 17:32 I want to belong to a church that is built upon Christ. 17:37 So that's where I disagree with the good pope. 17:41 I also disagree on these subjects. 17:43 Sola Scriptura, I don't believe 17:47 in the authority of church councils, 17:51 including my own church. 17:55 I don't believe, I'm talking spiritually now, 17:58 I'm talking about the doctrine. 18:00 I do not believe 18:02 in the authority of church council. 18:05 I believe in the authority of Holy Scripture. 18:09 That's what Martin Luther talks, 18:10 solo scriptura, Solus Christus, 18:12 only Christ, Sola gratia, only grace, 18:15 Sola Fide, only faith. 18:18 That's why I'm a Protestant, you see, I'm a Protestant. 18:23 I disagree with the pope on the gospel. 18:27 Do I need to be perfect to be saved? 18:30 Do I need to be perfect to be saved? 18:33 Yes, you do. 18:35 One hundred percent perfect. 18:39 Oh, wow, no, no, no good, 18:42 you're shaking heads that means thinking out, 18:43 I told you big heresy. 18:45 I told you the truth. 18:48 Yeah, God demands absolute, complete perfection, 18:54 a 100 percent obedience, don't get disturbed, 18:59 don't get...listen, 19:01 I'm telling you the truth. 19:04 God demands a 100 percent obedience, 19:07 a 100 percent love, 19:10 all the way through 19:11 from the moment of conception until now. 19:14 The only problem is none of us have got it. 19:18 Now you're not gonna understand the good news 19:23 until you understand the bad news. 19:25 And the bad news tells me that I'm a sinner 19:27 and I'm not good in myself. 19:30 Come over here to Romans 3:10. 19:33 Now, it seems to me most folks don't understand this gospel. 19:36 Romans 3:10, that's because they don't read, 19:40 that's because they don't study the Bible, 19:42 that's because they're ignorant of scripture. 19:44 You know, just a lot of religion. 19:46 Romans 3:10 "As it is written:" 19:49 what does it say? 19:50 'There is none righteous, no, not one..." 19:54 Listen. 19:55 Somebody comes to you and says 19:59 "I am sinless," 20:01 well that person is a liar. 20:04 That's what the Bible says. 20:06 There is no person righteous, not one. 20:10 The Bible tells us, we have all sinned and we fall short. 20:15 Come over here to verse 23, 20:18 "For all have sinned... " 20:19 that's past tense, 20:21 "and fall short of the glory of God..." 20:24 that's present perfect continuous. 20:27 The Bible says, I fall short of the glory of God. 20:30 It's like this, there is an abyss here, 20:33 you see, and I jump over the abyss 20:36 and I miss it by this much 20:40 and I fall down into hell. 20:44 Doesn't matter if I miss it by this or this, 20:46 I've missed it. 20:47 The Bible says, 20:48 "We fall short of glory of God." 20:50 That means we continue to fall short 20:53 of the glory of God. 20:55 That means there are no perfect people in themselves. 21:01 There are no sinless people 21:04 but the Bible says God demands perfection. 21:08 So what a dilemma? 21:10 Now unless you understand the issues, 21:13 the judicial issues, 21:16 you'll have a superficial view of the character of God 21:20 and the justice of God and Christ. 21:24 So the Bible says, it's unrighteous, 21:26 that's the whole lot. 21:28 Okay, verse 24, Romans 3:24, got it. 21:32 Here we go, "Being justified freely by His grace 21:38 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..." 21:41 Being justified. 21:43 And look here, look at me, 21:47 the word "justify" means to declare righteous. 21:54 It doesn't mean as the Pope teaches to make righteous. 21:58 Because if it means to make righteous, 22:01 I never come to the place 22:03 where I have enough righteousness. 22:04 That's why the pope says I got to go to purgatory. 22:07 Now this is the great issue in the gospel. 22:12 So it says, being justified, declare righteous. 22:17 It means this, if I come to Christ as a sinner 22:23 and come and face at His cross, 22:26 I come as the sinner and I trust fully in Christ 22:32 and rely upon Him, because He died for me. 22:36 God has to judge then declares that I'm righteous. 22:43 Not because I am but because he is. 22:46 And his righteousness is given to me as a free gift. 22:52 You see, that's the gospel, I can't earn it, 22:57 you see, I can't pay for it. 22:59 It's the gift of God because Christ did it for me. 23:06 How long does it take to be saved? 23:08 Oh, how long does it take to be saved? 23:10 You know these are all good questions. 23:13 Come over here to Luke Chapter 17, 23:15 I'll give you an illustration. 23:17 Luke 17:12 and onwards. 23:25 The miracles of Jesus were given 23:28 to teach spiritual truths. 23:31 Now, look at me, hear this. 23:34 The miracles of Jesus were given 23:36 to teach spiritual truths as in nature so in grace. 23:43 Now look at this text. 23:46 Luke 17:12, 23:48 "Then as He entered a certain village, 23:50 there met Him ten men who were lepers, 23:53 who stood afar off." 23:55 Lepers, that represents us. 23:58 And in ourselves, because we are sinners, 24:00 we stand afar off from God. 24:02 You see, we are born lepers. 24:05 This is the hardest truth for a sinner to see 24:08 because leprosy or spiritual leprosy 24:11 makes us blind. 24:13 We are blind to our sinfulness. 24:16 "And they lifted up their voice and said, 24:18 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!' 24:21 ' Mercy, this is grace. 24:23 "So when he saw them, He said to them, 24:25 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' 24:28 And so it was that as they went, 24:30 they were cleansed." 24:32 You see, 24:34 they went and that was an act of believing. 24:39 People say, "Why do you ask people to come down to front 24:41 when you campaigned. 24:42 Why do you do this? 24:44 Because it helps people to believe. 24:48 It's the action that they can do. 24:49 It shows that they're relying and they have faith. 24:53 Now these lepers who represent us. 24:57 As the leper went to Christ in faith, 25:02 he was healed and immediately he had 100 percent perfection. 25:09 100 percent perfection by God's mercy. 25:12 How long did it take? 25:15 As long as it took to believe in Christ. 25:20 Now you come to this meeting today 25:24 and you feel like a leper. 25:26 You know you are not good enough. 25:28 None of us are good enough. 25:31 But the good news is that Christ is good enough. 25:34 And you come to Him and you truly believe. 25:39 And as you truly believe, 25:42 so you are healed of the leprosy of sin. 25:46 And there is another name written down in glory. 25:50 And it's mine as the hymn says, Oh, yes, it's mine. 25:53 God says, I no longer look upon you as a person, 25:57 who's going to hell, 25:59 I look upon you just like I look upon Jesus, 26:02 and you are saved. 26:05 That is the gospel and that is the gospel we teach, 26:10 and that is the gospel we believe 26:13 and that is the gospel that saves our souls. 28:24 For a copy of today's program, please contact us 28:27 at P.O. Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, 28:30 California 91358. 28:34 Or in Australia, contact us at P.O. Box 861, 28:39 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 28:43 This program is made possible 28:45 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:48 We thank you for your continued support. 28:51 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2016-08-22