Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001732A
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00:01 I'm John Carter in Moscow...
00:02 I'm now in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. 00:04 I'm John Carter in Petra... 00:06 Reporting from India... 00:08 In Columbia... 00:09 I'm John Carter. 00:11 Today on the Carter Report, 00:13 John Carter talks about The Star Maker. 00:21 Welcome back. 00:23 Today, we're talking about the star maker. 00:26 We're talking about how Yahweh, Elohim, 00:29 the Almighty God was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 00:35 in the person of Jesus. 00:37 The great question is this, 00:39 "Why did the incarnation happen?" 00:42 Why was it necessary for God to come down to this earth 00:47 and walk around as a human being? 00:50 I've got three reasons here, 00:51 I'm sure there are many reasons, 00:52 but here are three. 00:54 Here's the first one. 00:56 To show us what God is like. 01:01 Did you know that many people in the world really hate God? 01:05 They're mad with God. 01:07 People say, "He just, if He exists 01:10 that He's got to be just a terrible person, 01:12 because why does He allow this to happen? 01:14 Why does He allow cancer, why does He? 01:18 And so, God became a man firstly to show us 01:21 what God is like. 01:23 I want you to come over in the Bible to 1 John 4:16, 01:29 dear hearts and gentle people, 1 John 4:16. 01:35 This is quite an amazing passage. 01:38 The Bible says, "And we have known 01:41 and believed the love that God has for us. 01:47 God is love, 01:50 he who abides in love abides in God, 01:55 and God in him." 01:56 The Bible says, 02:00 God is a very nice person. 02:03 I want you to think of the nicest person you know. 02:07 And there are lots of nice people in this world. 02:09 I want you to think of somebody you sort of look up to 02:13 and you sort of idolize that person. 02:16 Well, that person is just a dim reflection 02:21 of what God is like. 02:23 God is good, God is kind, 02:27 and the Bible says God is love. 02:29 This means His greatest characteristic 02:32 is that He's just a loving kind person. 02:38 Some of you here will know this poem, it's a great poem, 02:41 I'm going to read all the verses 02:44 because it just sort of tears with my heart, you know it, 02:47 written by Frederick Lehman. 02:50 The love of God... 02:51 You know it. 02:53 Is greater far 02:55 Than tongue or pen can ever tell, 02:58 It goes beyond the highest star, 03:02 Reaches to the lowest hell, 03:04 The guilty pair, Adam and Eve 03:07 Bowed down with care, 03:09 God gave His Son to win, 03:12 His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from his sin. 03:18 Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! 03:24 How measureless and strong! 03:28 It shall forevermore endure 03:31 The saints' and angels' song. 03:35 I like these words. 03:36 When hoary time shall pass away, 03:42 And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall, 03:46 When men who hear refused to pray, 03:50 On rocks and hills and mountains call, 03:54 God's love so sure, shall still endure, 03:59 All measureless and strong, Redeeming grace to Adam's race 04:04 Saints' and angels' song. 04:08 Could we with ink the ocean fill, 04:12 That's tough. 04:14 And were this skies of parchment made, 04:17 That's even tougher. 04:20 Were every stalk on earth a quill 04:24 And every man a scribe by trade, 04:28 To write the love of God above 04:31 Would drain the ocean dry, 04:34 Nor could the scroll contain the whole, 04:39 Though stretched sky to sky. 04:45 The universe is incomprehensible, 04:49 but so then is the love of the star maker. 04:56 Now, I know you love your children, 04:59 I love my children. 05:00 I've got three children, I love them all. 05:04 We've got grandchildren now. 05:06 Can I tell you something? 05:08 Have you ever seen a grandmother's love? 05:13 Is there anything stronger than a grandmother's love? 05:16 Yes, there is. 05:18 Love of God is greater afar. 05:22 There was a man who was scarred, blind, 05:26 seen walking with a beautiful young woman. 05:28 She was a beautiful girl. 05:31 But he was a wreck of a human being. 05:36 She held him tight. 05:38 They walked along 05:39 beneath the trees in an avenue in Washington D.C. 05:45 There he was so hideous, she was so beautiful. 05:52 Sometimes people would say, "What does she see in him? 05:57 He's so ugly, he's so scarred." 06:03 But then somebody told the real story. 06:07 Here it is. 06:10 When he was a young man, perfect eyesight, perfect skin. 06:16 There was a fire in his house 06:19 and in the bedroom 06:21 there was his little sister. 06:27 And he beat his way into the bedroom, 06:29 and he picked up his little sister, 06:31 he covered her with love and with blankets, 06:36 and he staggered out through the fire 06:38 and the fire consumed his eyes. 06:46 That's his sister. 06:48 That's his sister who walks with him. 06:51 Is she ashamed of him? 06:52 No. 06:55 She says, "I am not ashamed of him and I love him 07:01 because he was scarred so that I could live." 07:07 Now I want you to know something. 07:11 There is a person who came down from the third heavens, 07:16 Yahweh, Elohim, 07:21 and he walked into the fire 07:25 and he's scarred. 07:29 And the scars tell us that He loves us. 07:34 The greatest truth in the whole world 07:37 is not the truth about the big bang 07:39 or the theory of relativity that I've tried to study. 07:43 It's the truth that He loves us. 07:50 I have here three reasons why He came. 07:52 I've three reasons, 07:54 and there you could add to them, 07:55 we could all add to them. 07:57 He came to show us how to live, 08:02 because what a mess we've made of this world. 08:05 We've turned paradise into hell. 08:09 Human race has made a dreadful mess of things, 08:11 even churches torn apart, people fighting each other. 08:17 In the world, there is so much hatred, lust, cruelty, 08:21 violence, and today there are more people... 08:26 Can you believe it, 08:28 there are more people today in chains as slaves 08:32 than during the time of Wilberforce 08:35 and the slave trade. 08:39 What a mess we've made of it. 08:40 In America, 08:45 from a nation of the Pilgrim Fathers, 08:48 pious people, a good people. 08:51 We turn on television, we see vice, and corruption, 08:56 and meanness, and ugliness. 09:01 He came to show us the way to happiness. 09:05 Now, I want you to come over here to John 10:9, 10. 09:12 Please turn in the text. 09:14 And Jesus said these words, He said, "I am the door. 09:19 If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, 09:23 and will go in and out and find pasture. 09:26 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, 09:32 and to destroy," That's what sin does. 09:36 That's what heroin does. 09:39 That's what hate does. 09:42 He said, "I have come that they may have life, 09:46 that they may have it more abundantly." 09:52 Jesus did not come to take away anything 09:58 that is worthwhile from us. 10:03 He came to give us something. 10:07 He came to show us how to live. 10:09 I would suggest to you sometime that you do this, 10:12 but this will be difficult. 10:14 Read through slowly Matthew 5, 6 and 7. 10:18 And you'll find there what Christ really taught. 10:21 Ninety five percent of people who go to church 10:24 haven't got a clue what Christ is all about. 10:27 They are religious. 10:32 He came to show us the way of love, of peace, grace, 10:37 forgiveness, and reconciliation. 10:40 He said some words that burn in my soul. 10:44 These are the hardest words I know anywhere in print. 10:48 They came from the mouth of the star maker. 10:51 He said. 10:53 "Love your enemies" almost too hard to believe. 10:57 "Love your enemies, forgive your enemies," 11:02 you say, no, I can't do it. 11:04 You know, why we don't do it? 11:06 Because we don't know the star maker. 11:09 He said, "Love your enemies." 11:11 See Him before the Jewish Sanhedrin 11:15 when they beat Him up, and they spat in His face. 11:19 Has that ever happened to you? 11:22 Nothing's happened to us, 11:24 that we should be so wildly indignant 11:28 for our own dignity. 11:30 See Him before Pilate, this evil man, 11:37 who turned the Roman soldiers loose on Him. 11:43 And He said, "Love your enemies," 11:47 and He did. 11:50 He came to show us 11:51 that love is better than hate. 11:58 So if you want to learn to live, 12:00 then read His teachings, 12:01 Matthew 5-7. 12:03 And here is the third reason He came. 12:05 And I would suggest 12:07 this could be the most important. 12:10 He came to slay the dragon of sin. 12:15 Sin had infested the universe. 12:21 There was a being who became tremendously proud, 12:25 the fallen angel, Lucifer. 12:30 He had poisoned all the springs of life, 12:35 and he got a foothold in this world. 12:38 And Jesus, the star maker, the great, I AM, 12:42 the eternal Son of God 12:44 came to slay the dreadful dragon of sin, 12:49 the dragon being Lucifer himself. 12:52 I want you to come to these remarkable words. 12:55 These words are not believed by all Christians today. 13:00 1 John 4:9, 10. 13:04 Those who believe the heresy of the moral influence theory 13:09 do not believe these words. 13:11 1 John 4:9, 10 13:18 in the Word of God, 1 John 4:9, 10, 13:24 "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, 13:27 that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, 13:30 that we might live through Him. 13:32 In this is love, not that we loved God, 13:35 but that He loved us 13:37 and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 13:43 This word propitiation 13:46 is at the root of many theological controversies, 13:51 especially in Southern California. 13:56 Because they say the word is so nauseous, 14:02 it is so objectionable 14:05 that we cannot believe that Christ was a propitiation, 14:11 because a propitiation is a pagan concept. 14:17 And so, this is why it is rejected 14:20 by the moral influence theologians 14:23 and that theory incidentally 14:25 is considered by every church to be the greatest of heresies. 14:30 Then what does it mean to be a propitiation? 14:34 It means this. 14:36 That God is a righteous Son of holy God. 14:41 After all, He is the star maker, 14:43 He is a righteous and a holy God. 14:47 And when we sinned against Him 14:49 and kicked Him in the face as it were. 14:56 The Bible says that because God is totally love, 15:00 He is also a holy God. 15:04 And God cannot just say to the human race, 15:06 "Well, that's fine, just forget it." 15:09 God cannot forgive sin without an atonement 15:14 or a propitiation. 15:21 When Christ took our sins upon Him 15:25 and hung on the cross, 15:27 it was God hanging on the cross 15:30 and being punished for my sin. 15:35 The holiness of God demanded a propitiation 15:39 and an atoning sacrifice. 15:43 And God didn't just say to His Son, 15:46 "You're the third person, 15:47 you go and clean up the dirty mess." 15:51 God said, "I will come down in the person of My Son. 15:56 And I will bear the wrath of God 15:59 because of transgression." 16:04 Of course, this viewpoint I'm teaching today 16:06 has been accepted in history by all the learned theologians, 16:12 only repudiated by, pardon my saying it, 16:16 the great heretics. 16:20 When I was a little boy 16:21 and I would get sick with an upset tummy, 16:25 my mother would get out the castor oil. 16:30 I'm sure they don't have that abominable treatment 16:33 here in these enlightened United States. 16:37 But when I was brought up in Australia, 16:39 that oil was the cure for every sickness under the sun. 16:46 And my mother would get out this stuff, 16:48 but you know what she would do? 16:51 She would take it herself. 16:55 And that's the expression 16:57 he or she took his or her own medicine. 17:02 We say He took His own medicine, 17:05 that means He took that upon Himself 17:08 which was awful and nauseating. 17:12 And can you understand this 17:14 that when God in Christ hung upon the cross, 17:18 He was taking His own medicine. 17:22 His own medicine said, 17:25 "You must drink the poison that kills," 17:29 so He said, "I will drink it." 17:32 He said to the human race, 17:34 "You are going to drink the cup of poison." 17:38 And the human race drank the cup of poison 17:41 in the person of Christ 17:45 and on the cross. 17:47 This is the doctrine that is called the atonement. 17:50 And without the atonement, there is no Christianity. 17:54 I want you to turn to Isaiah 53:3-6, 17:57 we must not become superficial believers. 18:02 We must believe the texts of the Bible. 18:05 Isaiah 53:3-6, 18:09 "He is despised and rejected by men, 18:13 a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: 18:15 and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him, 18:18 He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 18:21 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, 18:24 yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." 18:28 Now, listen to this, 18:29 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, 18:32 He was bruised for our iniquities. 18:35 The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, 18:38 and by His stripes we are healed. 18:42 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, 18:45 every one, to his own way..." 18:47 Don't forget these words. 18:48 "And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." 18:53 The iniquity of all the world, 18:55 from the first sinner to the last sinner, 18:58 it was laid upon Christ. 19:01 And in Christ, God took His own medicine. 19:08 And that's why He came down, that's the main reason. 19:11 I've told you this story before, 19:13 because Russia has made such an impact upon my life, 19:16 because I've gone there 19:17 preaching the gospel for so many years, 50 times. 19:23 But during the days of the Gulag Archipelago, 19:26 when the communists, the atheists, I remind you, 19:30 the atheists were murdering 19:32 and killing tens of millions of people, don't forget it. 19:37 In Russia, the atheists murdered millions 19:40 and even of their own. 19:43 And on one occasion, in one of the Gulags, 19:45 there was a group, 19:46 a vast group of atheists and some believers. 19:49 And some of those believers were the Baptists. 19:54 And these Baptist Christians would say to the guards 19:57 when they were beating up an atheist, 19:59 who was polluting the air with cursing, and swearing, 20:04 and blasphemy of God, they would say, 20:06 "Don't beat him, beat me. 20:11 Because when you beat me, guard, I will not curse God, 20:15 but I will praise God, 20:17 and the world would be a better place 20:19 because of my beating." 20:24 And the Russians called them, they are born fools. 20:30 Born fools, God became, 20:34 and I say this with great reverence, 20:36 He became the born fool. 20:39 He was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 20:42 and He was born to bear our sins, 20:47 and He didn't have to. 20:50 He became the propitiation. 20:53 The question I ask you is this. 20:55 Here it is. 20:56 Who is the man hanging on the cross? 21:01 Who is the man? 21:03 The man hanging on the cross is the star maker. 21:10 How can we ever hope 21:11 to understand that with our peanut minds. 21:16 With our tiny little minds 21:18 that are being destroyed by our society. 21:24 Hanging on the cross, 21:26 taking His own medicine was the star maker. 21:30 Therefore, there are decisions we should make today. 21:34 Number one, believe in the star maker. 21:38 Believe how big, strong, and loving He is. 21:42 One night at Avondale, no money, long hours, 21:45 falling behind in my studies, sick and tired, just a boy, 21:49 but praying to God beneath the stars, 21:52 and hearing the voice of God say from the stars, 21:56 "I will take care of you." 21:59 Believe in the star maker 22:01 and accept His death for our sins. 22:03 1 John 1:5-9, 22:08 I want you to notice these words. 22:11 "This is the message which we have heard from Him 22:14 and declare to you, 22:15 that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 22:19 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, 22:21 and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 22:26 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, 22:28 we have fellowship with one another, 22:30 and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son 22:33 cleanses us from all sin. 22:35 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, 22:39 and the truth is not in us. 22:40 If we confess our sins, He is faithful 22:44 and just to forgive us our sins 22:47 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 22:51 You see. 22:53 Therefore, believe in the star maker. 22:58 Accept His death for our sins. 23:02 Let me read you statement from Philip Yancey 23:06 and what's so amazing about grace. 23:08 You can follow it. 23:10 "In 1987, an IRA bomb went off 23:14 in a small town west of Belfast, 23:16 amid a group of Protestants 23:17 who had gathered to honor the war dead on Veteran's Day. 23:21 Eleven people died 23:22 and sixty-three others were wounded. 23:24 What made this act of terrorism stand out 23:26 from so many others was the response 23:29 of one of the wounded, Gordon Wilson, 23:31 a devout Methodist who had emigrated north 23:33 from the Irish Republic to work as a draper. 23:36 The bomb buried Wilson and his 20-year-old daughter 23:40 under five feet of concrete and brick. 23:42 'Daddy, I love you very much,' 23:44 with the last words iMarie spoke, 23:46 grasping her father's hand 23:48 as they waited for the rescuers. 23:50 She suffered severe spinal and brain injuries, 23:53 and died a few hours later at the hospital. 23:56 A newspaper later proclaimed, 23:58 'No one remembers what the politicians 24:00 had to say at that time. 24:02 No one who heard Gordon Wilson 24:04 will ever forget what he confessed... 24:06 His grace towered over 24:07 the miserable justification of the bombers.' 24:10 Speaking from his hospital bed, Wilson said, 24:13 'I have lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge. 24:16 Better talk is not going to bring Marie Wilson 24:19 back to life. 24:20 I shall pray, tonight and every night, 24:22 that God will forgive them.' 24:25 His daughter's last words were words of love, 24:28 and Gordon Wilson determined to live out his life 24:31 on that plane of love. 24:33 'The world wept,' said one report, 24:35 as Wilson gave a similar interview 24:37 over the BBC radio that week. 24:40 After his release from the hospital, 24:43 Gordon Wilson led a crusade 24:45 for Protestant-Catholic reconciliation. 24:48 Protestant extremists who had planned 24:49 to avenge the bombing decided, 24:51 because of the publicity surrounding Wilson, 24:54 that such behavior would be politically foolish. 24:57 Wilson wrote a book about his daughter, 25:00 spoke out against violence, 25:01 and constantly repeated the refrain, 25:03 'Love is the bottom line.' 25:06 He met with the IRA, 25:08 personally forgave them for what they had done, 25:10 and asked them to lay down their arms." 25:13 Is anyone listening? 25:15 "I know you've lost loved ones, just like me,' he told them. 25:18 'Surely, enough is enough. 25:20 Enough blood has been spilled.' 25:23 The Irish Republic ultimately made Wilson 25:26 a member of its Senate. 25:28 When he died in 1995, the Irish Republic, 25:32 Northern Ireland, 25:33 and all of Great Britain honored this ordinary Christian 25:36 who had gained fame for his uncommon spirit of grace 25:41 and forgiveness.'" 25:44 Listen, what made it possible? 25:53 What made it possible? 25:56 The coming of the star maker, who died for us. 26:07 In the series, This I Believe, 26:09 Pastor Carter reveals the heart and soul of the Carter Report. 26:13 I believe in Jesus Christ. 26:17 I believe in the Ten Commandments. 26:23 I believe in the true gospel. 26:28 I believe in the last days. 26:33 I believe in the America that believes in God. 26:40 I believe in heaven. 26:44 I believe in evangelism. 26:50 This I believe. 26:53 The seven DVD series, 26:55 This I Believe 26:56 can be yours with the gift 26:58 of $75 US or $105 Australian. 27:01 Please write to us at the address on the screen, 27:03 or visit our website at cartereport.org. 27:09 The reviews for the John Carter biography are in 27:12 and this is what they say: 27:15 "Anyone who reads this fascinating book 27:16 and is not moved should check if they still have a pulse." 27:22 "I believe this book about God's miracles 27:24 in Russia and Ukraine 27:26 will burn the flame in your heart." 27:29 "This could prove 27:30 to be one of the most important books ever written 27:32 about public evangelism. 27:34 Make sure you get a copy." 27:38 "I believe this book about John Carter's life 27:40 will help readers grasp a vision for their lives." 27:49 For a donation of $100 or more, 27:52 a signed copy of the John Carter biography 27:54 can be yours by writing to us at the address 27:56 on the screen or visit our website. 28:13 For a copy of today's program, please contact us 28:16 at P.O. 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Revised 2018-04-16