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Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001821A
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00:01 Welcome to a new Carter Report series,
00:03 The Game Changers. 00:05 These rare individuals appear once in a lifetime. 00:09 Like a blazing meteor across the night sky, 00:12 they change the course of history. 00:15 They show us the way forward. 00:18 Welcome to The Game Changers. 00:26 I'm so glad that you're here today. 00:29 This is the Lady Game Changers continued. 00:34 We're going to talk about those remarkable women 00:37 who changed the course of history. 00:41 Now, none of these ladies 00:43 were really political or powerful. 00:46 I had in my original notes 00:48 that they weren't wealthy, 00:50 well, some of them were. 00:52 But they weren't well connected. 00:54 During a time when women were treated shame, 01:00 as second class citizens, 01:03 they outshone most of the men. 01:08 We're going to discover today 01:10 that when the men ran to the hills, 01:14 they ran to the cross, amazing. 01:19 During the time when Christ lived, 01:21 the word of a woman didn't count. 01:24 That's why the disciples, 01:26 when they heard the reports of the women, 01:27 they said, "It's nonsense, it's foolishness." 01:31 But Jesus changed all that 01:33 because He was the great liberator. 01:36 The first lady game changer 01:38 in today's presentation is Mary, 01:42 the peasant girl who became the mother of Christ, 01:46 the greatest person in the history of the world. 01:50 And I want you to take your Bibles 01:51 and come with me to Matthew 1:18-24. 01:57 We're going to turn to the New Testament 02:00 to Matthew 1: 02:02 18-24, 02:08 got it? 02:11 Says, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ 02:13 was as follows, 02:15 after his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, 02:18 before they came together, 02:20 she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 02:24 Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, 02:28 not wanting to make her public example 02:32 was minded to put her away secretly. 02:35 But while he thought about these things, 02:38 behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him 02:40 in a dream saying, 'Joseph, son of David, 02:45 don't be afraid to take you Mary, 02:48 your wife, 02:49 for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 02:55 And she will bring forth a Son, 02:58 and you shall call his name Jesus, 03:01 for He should save His people from their sins.' 03:05 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled 03:07 which was spoken by the Lord 03:10 through the prophet saying: 03:12 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, 03:15 and bear a Son, 03:18 and they should call His name Immanuel,' 03:22 which is translated, 'God with us.' 03:26 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, 03:28 did as the angel of the Lord commanded him 03:31 and took to him his wife, 03:33 but did not know her 03:35 till she had brought forth her first born son, 03:38 and he called his name Jesus." 03:43 Now this Mary, 03:45 I'm told in scripture, had no wealth, 03:49 and no earthly power, 03:51 and no political influence. 03:56 I've seen pictures in recent times 03:59 like you have of refugees at the border. 04:04 You've seen pictures of poor, young, 04:10 oppressed, peasant girls. 04:16 Mary was a bit like that. 04:19 Did you know that Mary and her son Jesus 04:24 were refugees? 04:31 Mary didn't belong to a British royal family. 04:35 She didn't look anything like Princess Kate. 04:40 Now I think Princess Kate is very beautiful. 04:45 In a chariot, not a chariot but in a carriage. 04:50 I've seen her in this golden carriage. 04:52 And you say, "My! 04:55 Isn't she just absolutely beautiful?" 04:59 But Mary didn't look like Princess Kate. 05:03 Mary wasn't European. 05:06 Did you know this? 05:07 Mary was not a European like I am with fair skin 05:14 and blue eyes, Mary was a Semite. 05:19 She belonged to a minority group. 05:23 Mary was a Jew, 05:28 more closely related to the Arabs 05:31 racially than to me. 05:33 You say, "No, this can't be true. 05:35 Jesus was obviously something like a European." 05:40 No, he was a Semite. 05:44 The great angel, Gabriel, 05:47 visited her with some astounding news. 05:51 She would become pregnant without a man's help, 05:54 and she'd bear a son, 05:56 and He would be the Jewish Messiah, amazing. 06:00 Luke 1:34, 35 says, 06:05 "Then Mary said to the angel, 06:07 'How can this be, since I do not know a man?' 06:12 And the angel answered and said to her, 06:14 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, 06:17 and the power of the highest will overshadow you, 06:21 therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born 06:26 will be called the Son of God.'" 06:28 Now the skeptic says it's absolutely impossible, 06:31 this idea of the virgin birth. 06:34 But I want to say to everybody today that the great God, 06:38 who made the stars and the whole of the universe 06:42 can do a few things 06:44 that you and I cannot understand. 06:47 And so God said, "I'm going to do it." 06:51 And she didn't question, 06:53 and she didn't doubt the word of the Lord. 06:56 Look at Luke 1:38, Luke 1:38, 07:01 "Then Mary said, 'Behold the manservant of the Lord! 07:06 Let it be to me according to your word.' 07:09 And the angel departed from her.'" 07:11 She didn't have a lot of money. 07:13 You know what she had? 07:15 She had a lot of faith, 07:19 and she had a lot of faith in the great God 07:21 who made the stars. 07:23 She was given, my friends, the greatest honor. 07:28 The greatest honor 07:29 is not to be the president of the United States 07:31 because you may be here today and gone tomorrow, 07:34 or the king or the queen of Great Britain. 07:36 That's not the greatest honor. 07:38 Now I was brought up to believe in royalty. 07:44 I was brought up to believe in marching soldiers, 07:48 and their big hats, 07:50 and really swinging their arms. 07:53 I was brought up to believe in marching bands 07:57 and all of that stuff... 08:02 but Mary wasn't. 08:05 Mary was a peasant girl. 08:08 But she was not an ignorant girl, 08:10 Mary was an educated girl 08:14 because she knew the scriptures. 08:17 She breaks forth into a hymn of praise. 08:20 Luke 1:46-49, 08:23 Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, 08:27 and my spirit is rejoiced in God, my Savior. 08:30 For he has regarded 08:32 the lowly state of His maidservant...'" 08:36 Just think of this, how beautiful. 08:39 "For behold, henceforth 08:40 all generations will call me blessed. 08:44 For he who is mighty has done great things for me. 08:47 Holy is his name." 08:49 She was poor 08:52 but she was not uneducated. 08:56 She had a marvelous grasp of scripture. 09:02 Her baby was born in a barn 09:07 in a little town by the name of Bethlehem 09:12 in a shed behind a very, very cheap motel, 09:16 and they couldn't get into the motel. 09:20 I want the women here to think of this young peasant girl, 09:24 she's having a baby, no doctors, no nurses. 09:31 What were all the priests doing? 09:32 What were all the great religious leaders doing? 09:37 Totally oblivious to the greatest event 09:40 in the history of the world. 09:41 What does that tell you? 09:43 And when she takes this little baby in her arms, 09:47 maybe nine pounds 09:48 and she kisses this baby, 09:53 she kisses the face of Almighty God. 09:58 Can you believe it? 10:02 She brings Him up, and she has Him for 30 years. 10:07 The Bible tells us, 10:08 "She had other sons and daughters." 10:10 Mark 6:3 says, 10:15 "Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, 10:19 and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? 10:23 And are not His sisters here with us? 10:26 So they were offended at Him." 10:29 So he had brothers and sisters. 10:33 Were these the children of Joseph by another marriage? 10:37 We are not told in scripture. 10:40 1 Corinthians 9:5 says, 10:44 "Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, 10:48 as do also the other apostles, 10:51 the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?" 10:55 And so Jesus had brothers and sisters. 11:00 Did Mary have grandchildren? 11:03 Probably. 11:05 Was she a perpetual virgin 11:07 as is taught by the great Roman Catholic Church? 11:11 And that is why they call her still the Blessed Virgin Mary, 11:15 is this taught in the Bible? 11:16 No, it's not. 11:18 If you look at Matthew 1:24, 25, 11:21 it says, "Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, 11:24 did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, 11:27 and took to him his wife, 11:29 and did not know her," or have relationships with her, 11:32 "till she had brought forth her firstborn Son, 11:37 And he called His name Jesus." 11:40 Mary was not a perpetual virgin. 11:45 Was say she sinless? 11:49 The Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception 11:53 says that, "Immediately after her conception, 11:57 she was made free of all her hereditary defilement." 12:01 Thus she was totally sinless. 12:04 Is this taught in the Bible? 12:05 No, it is contradicted by every text in the Bible. 12:10 Mary was a sinner, 12:13 saved by grace, 12:16 and Jesus was a savior. 12:20 We don't pray to Mary 'cause Mary can't save us. 12:25 We follow the Bible, we don't follow the church. 12:29 When Jesus was crucified 12:32 and the men ran for the hills, 12:36 Mary is there at the cross. 12:39 Jesus mentions her in His dying breath to John, 12:45 John was there. 12:48 Jesus loved His mother and she loved Him. 12:51 She is there at Pentecost when the spirit is poured out, 12:55 then nothing else in scripture, history is silent. 13:01 The pope says 13:02 that she was assumed into heaven, 13:05 this is called the Doctrine of the Assumption, 13:10 but it is a pious myth not taught in the Bible. 13:16 It is just another man made tradition. 13:18 Mary is sleeping with the rest of the saints 13:22 are waiting the resurrection, 13:24 but one day I'd tell you 13:26 on the authority of the Word of God, 13:30 Mary will be with her Son in glory. 13:37 Mary had the greatest honor 13:41 that was ever given to a human being. 13:46 Our second great lady is another Mary. 13:50 And she is a bit of a mystery woman. 13:54 And this part of my talk 13:55 may have just a little bit of controversy, 13:57 and I'm glad about that. 14:00 Mary Magdalene was the woman possessed by seven demons, 14:07 who became Christ's friend and disciple. 14:13 Luke 8:1-3, 14:17 we read about this lady. 14:20 Luke 8, the woman with a pass. 14:26 "Now it came to pass afterward, 14:28 that He went through every city and village, 14:31 preaching and bringing the glad tidings 14:33 of the kingdom of God. 14:35 And the twelve were with Him, 14:37 and certain woman who had been healed 14:40 of evil spirits and infirmities, 14:45 Mary called Magdalene," 14:46 she came from a town by the name of Magdala, 14:50 "out of whom had come seven demons, 14:52 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, 14:54 Herod's steward and Susanna, and many others 14:59 who provided for Him from their sustenance." 15:02 But every time the women are mentioned, 15:05 it is invariably Mary Magdalene. 15:10 Note this well. 15:12 It's quite extraordinary. 15:15 Mary Magdalene is mentioned 12 times in the gospels, 15:19 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John 15:21 more than most of the apostles. 15:26 She had hit bottom. 15:29 Her life was a disaster. 15:34 Now this is the scenario. 15:37 It says Jesus cast seven demons out of her. 15:42 But Jesus on one other occasion spoke about a person, 15:46 who had one demon, and the demon was cast out, 15:49 and Jesus said, 15:50 "When the house was vacant and empty, 15:52 seven of the demons came back in." 15:56 This may have happened to Mary. 15:59 She may have had a demon cast out by the Lord, 16:02 but she lapsed back into sin. 16:06 And seven demons came into her. 16:10 She was much worse off. 16:13 She was probably afflicted with physical, and nervous, 16:18 maybe even mental problems 16:22 because of the demonism. 16:26 Hers was a hopeless case, 16:29 we would say today. 16:31 Many years ago, 16:33 Dr. John Hammond and I 16:34 was summoned to go to a home in Australia 16:38 in a little town by the name of Woy Woy. 16:41 This lady was coming to my meetings. 16:44 And one night she stayed behind after the meeting and she said, 16:49 "I have a terrible problem, I need for you to come." 16:52 I said, "What is it?" 16:54 She said, "Every time I get into bed at night, 16:58 a demon gets in with me." 17:02 Dr. Hammond and I will come. 17:05 When we walk through the front door 17:07 of this home in Australia, 17:09 our hair stood up. 17:12 We felt we were in the presence of demons. 17:16 She told me that the curtain, 17:20 she said, "Look at the curtain rods at night time" 17:24 and she had all these beautiful little children. 17:26 They were sitting in one part of the living room, 17:30 and I was sitting there terrified. 17:32 She said, "The curtain rods come out, 17:34 and they flow around the room and they chase us." 17:40 She told me how she turned away from Christ. 17:42 She'd been a believer, 17:44 and she turned away from Christ, 17:46 and she went along to seances. 17:48 If you go along to a seance, 17:50 you're putting your soul in the hands of the devil. 17:55 And the devil had possessed her. 17:58 And when we knelt down to pray for her, 18:00 she would go into a trance. 18:03 And Dr. Hammond and I 18:04 spent much of the night there praying for her 18:07 that the spirits would leave her, 18:09 and we could feel their presence. 18:14 So don't scoff about demon possession 18:18 because it happens. 18:21 Then Mary Magdalene met Jesus 18:24 and her life was totally changed. 18:28 She lived at least for a while 18:30 in the fishing village of Magdala, 18:35 a fishing town that was rich and corrupt, 18:38 not far, notice this, not far from Bethany. 18:44 Then there is some controversy 18:45 concerning the Marys of the New Testament. 18:47 Every Bible scholar will tell you this. 18:51 Now some believe, including me, 18:55 that she's the woman of Luke 7:36 and onwards. 19:00 Please turn to Luke 7. 19:05 Luke 19:12 and onwards. 19:15 "That one of the Pharisees asked Him they eat with him. 19:19 And He went to the Pharisee's house, 19:20 sat down to eat. 19:23 Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner," 19:28 means a prostitute, 19:30 "and she knew that Jesus sat on the table 19:33 in the Pharisee's house, 19:35 brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 19:40 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping, 19:42 and she began to wash his feet with her tears, 19:46 and wiped them with a hair of her head, 19:49 and she kissed His feet 19:51 and anointed them with fragrant oil. 19:56 Then He turned to the woman," 19:57 because she is terribly criticized by the Pharisee, 20:02 the righteous person, 20:06 "turned to the woman, said to Simon, the Pharisee, 20:09 'Do you see this woman? 20:11 I entered your house, 20:12 you gave Me no water for My feet, 20:14 but she is washed my feet with her tears, 20:17 wiped them with the hair of her head.'" 20:20 Pharisee wouldn't do this, he was too righteous, too good. 20:25 "You gave me no kiss 20:27 but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet 20:29 since the time I came in. 20:31 You did not anoint my head, with tears, with oil, 20:35 but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 20:39 Therefore I say to you, her sins, 20:43 which are many are forgiven, for she loved much. 20:46 But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. 20:49 Then He said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.'" 20:53 So here is a woman 20:55 that comes into the house of Simon, the Pharisee, 20:59 it is the town of Bethany, 21:02 and she comes with a flask 21:04 of extremely expensive oil. 21:11 Now some believe 21:15 that Christ cast out the demons from this woman, 21:19 and she showed her gratitude and joined His team 21:23 as recorded a few verses down the road 21:27 in Luke 8. 21:30 Listen carefully 21:33 because I'm going to have folks write to me on this. 21:37 The story of a woman anointing Jesus with expensive perfume 21:42 is recorded four times in the gospels. 21:46 And I have put up the four references, Luke 7, 21:50 we've read it. 21:51 You can take notes. 21:53 Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 12, 21:58 and they all have remarkable similarities. 22:04 But they vary a little bit because the Bible is written 22:09 through the eyes of different personalities. 22:14 And so the anointing is mentioned four times. 22:18 Many similarities, happens in Bethany, 22:22 in the home of Simon, 22:25 this Pharisaical humbug, 22:29 and the perfume is very expensive. 22:33 It happens in Bethany, 22:34 the home of Lazarus, Mary, Martha, 22:38 and Simon the Pharisee. 22:41 And look at John 12:3. 22:44 John 12:3, now this is Mary, 22:48 the sister of Martha and Lazarus. 22:51 "Then Mary took a pound 22:53 of very costly oil of spikenard," 22:56 I think this is the same story, 22:59 "and anointed the feet of Jesus, 23:01 and wiped His feet with her hair. 23:03 And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil." 23:07 Now listen, I'm going to tell you some amazing things. 23:13 In one of the gospel, 23:14 we may read it today, we have time. 23:19 The people with hard heart say, 23:21 "This could have been sold for a large sum of money, 23:25 and the money given to the poor." 23:28 They said this perfume was worth 300 denarii, 23:32 which is more than a year's wages. 23:37 So let's bring it into our own society here in America. 23:43 Let's say... 23:46 This is a step in the dark, 23:48 but let's say the average salary in America 23:50 for an individual is $50,000. 23:54 Then this perfume ounce for ounce 23:57 is worth about three times as much as gold is. 24:05 You can't say it's worth its weight in gold. 24:07 No, gold, say, $1,500 an ounce. 24:12 But about 12 ounces of this stuff 24:16 works at about $4,000 an ounce. 24:21 You can understand why the Pharisee, Simon, 24:26 and Judith were hopping mad. 24:30 What an extravagance. 24:32 But Jesus said, "Leave her alone." 24:37 Now this stuff, would you know, 24:39 like to know where it comes from? 24:40 It comes from the Himalayas in India. 24:45 The foothills of the Himalayas up about 10,000 or 12,000 feet. 24:50 It is made out of the spike of this plant. 24:54 It is called spikenard. 25:00 And she poured more than a year's wages. 25:05 Some believe that Mary, 25:07 the sister of Lazarus and Martha, 25:11 is the same lady as Mary of Magdala. 25:15 Here's the scenario. 25:17 She lives in Bethany but she leaves home. 25:24 She's a young person who's gone 25:26 while sick to deaths of organized religion, 25:31 she went to a fishing town. 25:35 She became a prostitute. 25:39 She became filled with demons. 25:43 And she found Jesus. 25:46 Or more accurately, Jesus found her. 25:52 And then she returns to Bethany. 25:57 Now much, much more about the Lady Game Changers 26:03 and Mary, the ex-prostitute, in just a few moments. 26:23 The word began in a village. 26:27 Churches and schools sprang up 26:29 and multiplied reaching into the city. 26:35 Great truths revealed 26:36 to the people of Papua New Guinea, 26:39 changing thousands of lives. 26:43 Our eyes are going to be opened 26:45 to the discovery of amazing truths. 26:49 The greatest truths in the Bible, 26:51 it is the truth that God loves you. 26:55 It has completely changed my life 26:57 and I'm going to be baptized this Sabbath. 26:59 Pastor Carter has put something in my heart 27:02 that I will never forget. 27:03 Thank you, Pastor Carter, for your program. 27:05 It has changed my life completely. 27:07 John Carter's Great Truths Revealed 27:09 was recorded live from Papua New Guinea. 27:12 Experience the miracles in this 21 DVD series 27:15 for a gift of $150 US, or $210 Australian. 27:19 To order, visit our website or call. 27:25 One point three billion people live in India. 27:36 Two hundred million of these are dalits. 27:39 Dalits, formerly called untouchables 27:43 are the lowest members of the caste system. 27:46 One hundred percent of your gift 27:49 will go to fund projects for dalit girls 27:52 as an alternative to slavery and prostitution. 27:56 Your gift of $600 will educate, cloth, 27:59 and feed one dalit girl 28:02 between 5 and 15 years of age for one year. 28:09 Go to cartereport.org or to the address on the screen 28:12 to send your gift of $600 28:15 and change the life of one Indian dalit girl 28:19 for one full year. 28:26 For a copy of today's program, 28:29 please contact us at PO Box 1900, 28:32 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 28:36 Or in Australia, contact us at PO Box 861, 28:41 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 28:46 This program is made possible 28:47 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:50 We thank you for your continued support. 28:53 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2018-10-15