Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001801A
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00:01 The Carter Report presents,
00:03 Mission and Message, 00:05 a new look at the church and its future. 00:08 Is the church an endangered species, 00:11 or is a time of explosive growth just ahead? 00:16 Now, here's John Carter. 00:21 Sometime back I was in Hong Kong. 00:24 I had the privilege of speaking to the pastors from inland, 00:28 mainland China. 00:31 I was totally astounded. 00:34 Tremendous faith, they told me amazing stories, 00:38 they told me what happened 00:39 when the communists came in there. 00:41 One old pastor told me 00:43 because he was caught preaching this dreadful sin, 00:46 he was thrown into prison five years. 00:50 He slept on a concrete bed, he was beaten up every day, 00:55 he was fed pigs' food. 00:57 Then after ten years, 00:59 he was let out 01:00 and put in a rehabilitation center. 01:04 I said, "Was it better?" He said, "It was worse." 01:07 The beatings became worse. 01:10 "What happened to the church?" I said. 01:11 He said, "Well, everybody, 01:14 most of the folk seems to just give up, 01:16 we lost all of our hospitals," listen to this, 01:18 "We lost virtually all of our institutions." 01:23 As the communists came in the front door 01:26 the people went out the back door 01:28 and said, "Yeah, we believe in communism too." 01:32 The lights went out, 01:35 but then after years of oppression somebody said, 01:38 "Hey, did you know something's going on over there, 01:42 there's a little light over there, 01:44 now there's a little light over there, 01:47 now there is a blaze of light, there are more Christians today 01:52 than ever before in the great land of China. 01:58 You see, you can't kill the church. 02:01 I want you to know this, you can't kill the church. 02:05 And the Economist magazine 02:07 that I read religiously once a week 02:09 predicts that very shortly, 02:12 there will be more than a million Protestants. 02:19 Now how many Christians 02:20 including Catholics and everybody else, 02:22 I don't know, 02:23 but well over 02:26 a hundred million Protestants in China. 02:32 More going to church 02:35 than the United States of America. 02:40 China will become the most Christian country, 02:45 so I want to tell you, the church went from nothing 02:48 and it's booming. 02:50 You can't kill the church, don't forget it. 02:53 I've got two presentations 02:55 to share with you today and next week. 02:58 Summed up in two words, Mission and Message, 03:05 and in the Western world where the church is dying, 03:09 it's because they've given up on Mission and Message. 03:14 Now today's topic is, The Mission. 03:20 We are at a dangerous time in the history of the church. 03:27 Now I speak as one who is loyal to 03:30 and who loves the church. 03:33 I'm not speaking out 03:34 because I just want to speak out 03:37 and cause a bit of trouble, 03:40 I'm speaking out 03:41 because while I believe in unity, 03:45 I do not believe in uniformity. 03:48 That's the great spirit of America. 03:51 You see, I do not believe in uniformity, 03:54 the mark of the beast is uniformity, 03:58 because it is not unity with God or God's people. 04:02 The mark of the beast is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, you see. 04:08 Now why is this a dangerous hour? 04:10 Come with me to 1 Thessalonians 5: 04:14 1-3, 04:17 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, 04:21 and I'm going to read it to you here out of the Word, 04:26 I want you to hear it out of the Word. 04:29 "But considering the times and seasons, 04:31 brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 04:35 For you yourselves know perfectly 04:36 that the day of the Lord so comes as" what? 04:39 "Thief in the night. 04:41 For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' 04:44 then sudden destruction comes upon them, 04:49 as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. 04:52 They shall not escape." 04:55 I want you to know today, 04:56 we are in the midnight of civilization 05:00 and the world is asleep, 05:02 Jesus said in Matthew 25, 05:07 that in the last days the church 05:12 would be asleep. 05:14 And so this is a time of peril. 05:18 It is dangerous, it's a dangerous hour 05:20 because in many places 05:22 the church has ceased to move as an army. 05:26 Instead it has become a social club 05:28 or a retirement village. 05:33 This is so in the Western world 05:37 especially North America, 05:41 Australia, New Zealand 05:45 and Europe. 05:50 But, you know, it's quite amazing 05:53 an article in the Venerable Review magazine. 05:59 Our flagship magazine 06:02 declared that the church in North America... 06:06 This is almost ex cathedra, this is the Review, 06:10 the Review says, "The church in North America 06:13 is an endangered species." 06:19 If that is true, 06:21 it is true of much of the church 06:23 in the Western world, 06:24 but Jesus said nothing can destroy the church. 06:30 Now come over here to Matthew 16:18 and 19. 06:33 And as we head along today, 06:35 we're going to talk about the nature of the church. 06:40 Matthew 16:18 and 19. 06:46 Matthew 16:18 and 19, 06:51 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, 06:54 and on this rock I will build My church, 06:58 and the gates of hell, 07:00 Hades shall not prevail against it, 07:02 nothing can defeat the church. 07:05 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, 07:08 whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, 07:11 whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 07:13 Therefore nothing, ISIS, 07:20 indifference of lazy church members. 07:24 Nothing can destroy the church. 07:29 Now, let me say this, even though the Review says 07:32 the church in North America is an endangered species. 07:37 God's true church is not an endangered species. 07:41 Church organizations may be an endangered species, 07:46 but not the church whose names 07:48 or whose church members are written in heaven. 07:51 Now, an outstanding author is Dr. George Knight, 07:57 he is the most prolific Adventists writer 08:00 since Ellen White, 08:03 provocative, interesting 08:07 and his writings are truth filled. 08:09 He says, "One of the more interesting words 08:13 in Romans 11:5 is "remnant". 08:16 The Old Testament pictures the remnant of Israel 08:19 as those Israelites who had remained faithful to God. 08:24 There was so to speak and Israel was in Israel. 08:27 Oh, these are heresy, an Israel within Israel. 08:32 We can say the same of the church 08:35 down through the ages. 08:36 There's always been what Martin Luther called 08:39 the visible and the invisible church. 08:43 Are you listening? 08:46 Those who hold membership in the organization 08:48 represent the visible church. 08:52 The invisible church consists of those who have 08:55 a living by faith connection with God. 08:59 It is the invisible church that makes up God's remnant 09:03 at any given time." 09:05 And the gates of hell will not prevail against that church. 09:10 Now the church in North America may be an endangered species, 09:16 says the Review, 09:18 but they are not talking about the invisible church 09:22 which goes through to glory. 09:24 You see, and I want you to know this, 09:26 otherwise you may get rather discouraged. 09:30 The gates of hell shall never prevail against God's children. 09:34 I say to the skeptics. 09:38 Remember Russia, millions put to death, 09:43 church is still there, the old comos are gone, 09:47 the atheists are gone, 09:48 remember China, remember Cambodia 09:52 and Pol Pot that devil. 09:56 Millions put to death, 09:59 but the church has survived Stalin and Lenin, 10:06 because the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 10:11 Now David Moberg has suggested 10:13 that there are five stages 10:16 in the experience of the church. 10:20 The first one is this, 10:23 incipient organization getting going. 10:27 Number two, formal organization. 10:31 Number three, maximum efficiency. 10:36 Number four, institutionalism. 10:42 Number five is disintegration. 10:49 Now, George Knight, outstanding scholar, 10:53 a good man, retired professor of history 10:55 at Andrews University 10:57 and loyal member of the church, 11:01 suggests that in many ways we are at stage four. 11:09 The next step of course is disintegration. 11:15 So you can see, I'm not too much 11:18 into political correctness, 11:20 I believe we should preach the truth. 11:24 And let the words of God flow where they will. 11:28 Therefore, how can the church avoid disaster, 11:32 a visible church, 11:34 and fulfill God's grand and glorious purpose? 11:39 Now, I would remind you of this. 11:44 This is hard for some of us to take in 11:48 because it causes us to use the molecules 11:52 between the ears. 11:54 We are not Calvinists who believe in predestination. 11:58 I gave a talk like this 12:01 with the invitation of Elder Neil Wilson, 12:03 the president of the General Conference. 12:05 I spoke to the General Conference Committee 12:07 years ago now, 12:09 and I said, "We are not Calvinists, 12:10 we do not believe in predestination." 12:14 Many of my friends do when it comes to the church. 12:19 Oh, we are going to triumph gloriously. 12:26 We believe that we have the capacity 12:28 through freedom of choice anchored in God's grace 12:31 to influence our destiny in a real sense, 12:35 the fate of the church. 12:38 And the God is in our hands. 12:42 Here is an inconvenient truth. 12:46 Remember, it was the decisions and actions of the people, 12:53 the priests and the prelates 12:56 that transform the Christian church 12:59 into the persecuting papacy. 13:03 Oh! No. 13:04 God wouldn't let that happen. 13:06 I have people say, people have said to me, 13:08 "No, God will never let that happen." 13:13 Don't you know anything about church history? 13:17 Don't you know anything about the history of Israel, 13:21 the God who saved the people, later destroyed them. 13:29 I ask again the question, 13:32 how can our church avoid disaster 13:35 and fulfill God's grand and glorious purpose? 13:38 I planed to deal with two vital aspects 13:42 of spiritual success. 13:46 Number one, The Mission. 13:49 Number two, The Message. 13:53 And if your church 13:56 is a dying church, 14:01 it is because it is failing 14:04 with a mission and the message. 14:11 So we're gonna talk about mission and message. 14:15 What is the mission of the church? 14:18 Now, there are many humanistic ideas 14:21 but only one true divinely inspired answer. 14:26 The mission of God's church 14:28 is to proclaim the message of God 14:32 and win the lost to Christ. 14:37 That is, "Oh, no, no, no, that's not the mission, 14:40 and we may have started out that way but that's not." 14:43 If you do not have that mission, 14:46 you can be sure of one thing, 14:48 you are going to die spiritually. 14:53 The Mission and the Message. 14:55 The mission is, turn with me to Matthew 28:16-20. 15:01 Matthew 28:16 and onwards, here it is, 15:05 "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, 15:08 to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 15:12 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, 15:14 but some doubted." 15:17 And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, 15:19 "'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'" 15:23 Hallelujah. 15:24 All authority is given to Jesus, 15:26 you get this folks? 15:28 People say, it can't be done, 15:30 that's because you haven't got the authority, you see. 15:33 All authority, verse 19 15:35 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, 15:38 baptizing them in the name of the Father 15:41 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 15:44 teaching them to observe all things 15:46 that I have commanded you, 15:47 and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' 15:50 Amen." 15:52 Now that's the mission of the church. 15:55 We don't need to have a committee 15:57 to discuss the mission of the church, 16:00 these are the words of Jesus. 16:04 These are the words of Christ. 16:07 These are the person who was called in the Bible, 16:11 the creator of the universe, the great I am, 16:15 the almighty God, the Lord our Righteousness, 16:19 Yahweh, Elohim, praise His name, 16:23 the judge of men, women, children and angels, 16:27 the alpha and the omega, 16:30 our Lord and our only Savior Jesus said it. 16:34 People say, "Well, we got to have a committee meeting 16:37 to find out what ambition is." 16:40 Ever thought of reading the Bible, 16:42 ever thought of going to Jesus, 16:45 ever thought of the Protestants, 16:47 Protestant foundation, Solus Christus, only Christ, 16:51 Sola scriptura, only scripture. 16:54 You don't need a committee 16:56 to tell you what you ought to do with the mission. 17:00 The mission is the salvation of the lost. 17:03 This is the greatest and the grandest enterprise 17:06 ever committed into the hands of human beings. 17:10 It is about politics and far superior the politics. 17:15 It is about politics, nationality, race, and gender. 17:23 But, there are certain negative factors 17:28 at war against the mission of the church. 17:32 They must be identified 17:33 and by the grace of God neutralized, 17:36 the Bible says, "Not by might, not by any power of man, 17:40 not by the might of man, but by the Holy Spirit." 17:44 That's the only way it can be done. 17:47 But I want to identify the negative factors 17:51 that destroy the mission of the church, 17:54 and why across this great land as the Review said, 18:00 "The visible church is an endangered species." 18:04 I wonder if they knew I was going to use that. 18:08 Number one, 18:10 legalism, legalism. 18:16 The attitude that somehow 18:17 we are saved by our works of righteousness. 18:20 This is the sin of the Galatian church. 18:24 Please look at Galatians 3:10-14, 18:28 Galatians 3: 18:31 10-14, 18:36 this was the sin of the church in Galatia. 18:41 I fear it is the sin of many churches today. 18:47 We will start at verse 10, 18:49 "For as many as are of the works 18:53 of the law under the curse..." 18:57 Who wants to join a church is under the curse. 19:01 "For it is written, 'Cursed is everyone 19:03 who does not continue in all things 19:05 which are written in the book of the law, to do them.' 19:07 But that no one is justified 19:09 by the law in the sight of God is evident, 19:11 for 'the just shall live by faith.' 19:13 Yet the law is not of faith, 19:14 but the man who does them shall live by them.' 19:16 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law 19:20 having become a curse for us, for it is written, 19:23 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.'" 19:25 This is the cross, that "The blessings of Abraham 19:28 might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus 19:30 that we might receive 19:32 the promise of the Spirit through faith." 19:36 My friend, Oh, Jerusalem 19:39 believed in salvation by law keeping 19:42 and ended up crucifying the one who gave the law, 19:46 the Lord Jesus. 19:47 They were sincere, they were good people 19:52 in the very worst sense of the term. 19:55 There's nothing wrong with God's law 19:57 but reliance on the law for righteousness 20:00 brings the curse. 20:03 It makes in the words of George Knight, angry saints. 20:09 Who wants to go to a church with angry saints? 20:13 I'd rather go fishing. 20:15 There's nothing wrong with God's law. 20:18 I've seen churches torn apart by legalism, 20:22 an unhealthy obsessive 20:26 focus on eating and drinking. 20:32 And the observance of man made 20:33 rules and regulations. 20:39 Would you come over here, you've got very quiet. 20:41 Would you come over here 20:43 to Galatians 5:13-15, 20:50 Galatians... 20:51 5:13, 20:57 Galatians 5: 20:59 13-15. 21:05 "But you, brethren, have been called to liberty, 21:08 only do not use liberty 21:10 as an opportunity for the flesh, 21:11 but through love serve one another. 21:13 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, 21:16 even in this: 21:17 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 21:20 But if you bite and devour one another...'" 21:23 There're people in the church who are cannibals. 21:26 "Beware lest you be consumed by one another!" 21:30 I say then, "Walk in the spirit 21:32 and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." 21:40 Legalism tears our heart 21:44 out of the Bible, out of the church. 21:47 Legalism lets the air out of the tires. 21:52 It pokes a hole in the hot air balloon, 21:58 you know the saying, 22:00 "Many are called and few are frozen." 22:04 You've heard it. 22:06 You've heard of the frozen chosen. 22:11 Oh, we need to magnify the blood of Jesus 22:14 and talk about His grace, His mercy, 22:17 His redeeming love. 22:19 "Amazing grace how sweet the sound 22:22 that saved a wretch like me." 22:25 Listen, you don't sit 22:29 in a refrigerator to get a suntan. 22:35 You don't sit in a refrigerator to get warm. 22:41 I fear that some churches are like refrigerators. 22:47 Who would want to join a church 22:50 where you're going to be frozen? 22:55 The gospel is a warm flame. 23:03 And where the fire is warm and you're cold, 23:06 you want to go, legalism. 23:09 Number two, great hindrance to the gospel. 23:14 Liberalism, the great enemy of mission. 23:18 The liberal say that no one needs saving. 23:22 Why do evangelism? No one needs it. 23:25 Jesus was just a good Man, Jesus did not die for our sins. 23:29 He just showed us an example 23:32 that sin is merely ignorant that our main duty 23:35 is to copy Jesus and do good works, 23:40 that the Bible is full of mistakes 23:42 that men and women evolved through the animals. 23:46 That traditional marriage is out of date, 23:50 that Bible preaching and evangelism 23:52 are unnecessary and offensive. 24:00 we don't want it in our church. 24:05 Talking about my church, my denomination, 24:09 there are legalists on the right 24:11 and liberals on the left, 24:15 nothing new. 24:18 When Jesus came there 24:19 with the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 24:22 The far right and the far left, 24:24 both in their own way 24:26 make war against the mission of the church. 24:29 And the legalists and the liberals 24:31 on both side of the church are as bad as each other. 24:36 What they need, what we need 24:39 is the blood of Christ, an amazing grace. 24:45 I've seen Satan's warfare 24:46 against the mission of the church. 24:50 I've also seen God's hand revealed. 24:53 When man closes a door, God opens a window. 24:55 I'm going to tell you something, 24:57 don't you tell anybody. 24:59 When I came to this part of the world, 25:03 our meetings were closed down by liberals in the church 25:08 who didn't believe in the Bible. 25:13 They thought they had closed this down, 25:16 but God opened up a door in Russia, 25:20 where we saw millions come to the meetings, you see. 25:26 Hundreds of thousands 25:27 come to Christ. 25:33 So I want to tell you this, 25:35 we don't want liberalism and we don't want legalism. 25:40 What we want is the cross of Christ 25:45 and the love of God in our hearts. 25:47 Today we're talking about the mission of the church, 25:50 more amazing truths just moments away. 26:12 The antichrist is in the temple of God. 26:17 I'll read you the actual words 26:20 of the great Roman Catholic Church. 26:24 More than a billion people pray to the dead. 26:30 The Bible talks very plainly about 26:32 good angels and bad angels. 26:38 Why on earth were you and I born? 26:46 This DVD series from John Carter 26:48 will be yours with a gift of $50 US or $70 Australian. 26:53 Write to us at the address on the screen. 26:55 Shipping is free in the US and Australia. 26:57 This is carterreport.org, 26:59 your home for inspirational teaching. 27:12 1.3 billion people live in India. 27:23 Two hundred million of these are Dalits. 27:27 Dalits formerly called untouchables 27:30 are the lowest members of the caste system. 27:34 One hundred percent of your gift 27:36 will go to fund projects for Dalit girls 27:39 as an alternative to slavery and prostitution. 27:43 Your gift of $600 will educate, clothe and feed one Dalit girl 27:49 between 5 and 15 years of age for one year. 27:56 Go to carterreport.org or to the address on the screen 28:00 to send your gift of $600 28:03 and change the life of one Indian Dalit girl 28:06 for one full year. 28:15 For a copy of today's program, 28:17 please contact us at P.O. 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Revised 2018-03-22