Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001922A
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00:02 I'm John Carter in Moscow. In Havana, Cuba.
00:07 Now in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. 00:10 I'm John Carter in Petra. 00:13 Right here in Communist China. 00:16 Reporting from India. 00:18 Hi, I'm John Carter in the Solomon Islands. 00:21 I'm John Carter in Soweto. 00:24 From El Salvador. 00:26 I'm John Carter in Sydney, Australia. 00:29 Pastor Carter ponders If This Were My Last Sermon. 00:37 Welcome back. 00:38 Today, I'm talking about something 00:40 very close to my heart. 00:42 What would I say if this were my last sermon? 00:46 I talked a little bit 00:47 in the first part of the program, 00:49 about the brevity of life and the uncertainty of life. 00:53 Talked about all that stuff. 00:56 And I'm talking today about those things 00:58 that I would say to you, 01:00 my friends and my family, 01:04 if I knew that I wasn't going to be around 01:07 next week to talk to you. 01:10 And so the topic is, If This Were My Sermon. 01:16 I don't think I'd get too much into science. 01:18 I like science immensely. 01:20 And I love listening to people 01:23 like the great professor from Oxford University, 01:27 the great mathematics professor, 01:29 I love all that stuff. 01:33 But if this were my last talk, 01:34 I wouldn't have too much time to talk 01:36 about the anthropic principle, any of that stuff. 01:40 I would assume that you are wise enough 01:43 to believe that there is a God 01:46 and He loves you. 01:49 And I tell you this, this is what I'd say to you. 01:51 I'd say that God loved you so much 01:57 that God gave His Son, 02:00 Jesus Christ, 02:04 and He went to the cross to pay for our sins. 02:07 That's what'd I tell you. 02:09 I'd show you this text over here, in Romans 4:5-8. 02:14 I want you to turn up to this text. 02:15 Romans 4:5-8. 02:19 To your hearts in general, people. 02:21 Romans 4:5-8. 02:23 An amazing statement, it shouldn't be there, 02:26 some people would say. 02:28 "But to him who does not work..." 02:30 Oh, goodness me, that's a problem straightaway. 02:33 The person that doesn't work, 02:35 but I believe in lots of work. 02:38 I don't like, especially, lazy people, do you? 02:41 No. 02:42 The Bible says, if you don't work, 02:44 you shouldn't eat. 02:46 A lot of people would be starving to death, you know? 02:50 So it says here now, "To him who does not work," 02:53 for salvation, 02:55 "but believes on him who justifies," who? 03:00 It justifies, says, "The ungodly, justified, 03:05 declares the ungodly, righteous, 03:08 his faith is accounted for righteousness." 03:11 Keep reading. 03:12 "Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man 03:15 to whom God imputes righteousness 03:17 apart from works." 03:19 We can't be saved by our works. 03:21 "Blessed are those 03:22 whose lawless deeds are forgiven 03:25 and whose sins are covered. 03:27 Blessed said is the man 03:28 to whom the Lord shall not impute sin." 03:34 I'll tell you this, I'd say, "Look, 03:39 ask God for the capacity to seek truth. 03:44 Ask God for a divine revelation." 03:47 You know who are the hardest people 03:49 to preach to? 03:50 Would you like to know? 03:53 Church people. 03:55 I preached to the KGB, until occasions, 03:58 preached to thousands officers of the KGB. 04:01 I've spoken in Russia to millions of atheists. 04:05 They're great audiences, they're the best. 04:09 The hardest people to preach 04:12 to are pharisaical people 04:17 who think that they don't need salvation, 04:21 and they think they're better than others, 04:23 and they're full of gall, 04:25 and their criticizing others. 04:28 They're really hard to preach to. 04:31 But this text says 04:34 that Christ died for the ungodly. 04:37 The Bible teaches this. This is the tremendous truth. 04:41 God, the righteous judge, became a man 04:44 in the person of Christ and became my substitute. 04:47 One of the greatest preachers 04:49 I've ever heard was HMS Richards, 04:51 great American Adventist preacher. 04:54 He was a great preacher, 04:55 not only because he was a great speaker, 04:59 he was a great preacher 05:00 because he understood the gospel 05:03 when most people don't understand the gospel. 05:06 Most people are talking about the gospel all the time, 05:09 but they have no idea about what the gospel is. 05:12 He tells the story when he was a boy, 05:15 I think, in Colorado, he said, 05:17 he was always teasing his little brother, 05:19 and his little brother was almost driven to distraction. 05:22 And his mother said, "Harold, please stop it." 05:24 "Yes, Mommy." 05:26 But he'd been teasing away, again. 05:28 "Harold, please stop it." 05:29 "Yeah, I will, Mommy," Teasing away again. 05:32 You know why? 05:34 Because of the sin that was in his heart. 05:38 His mother said to him, "Harold, 05:39 if you ever do it again, 05:40 I'm not going to beat you 05:42 because beating you doesn't do any good. 05:44 You're going to beat me." 05:46 Do you know the story? One of the great stories. 05:49 The words were hardly out of his mouth when he said, 05:52 "I won't do it again," when his brother was screaming. 05:55 His mother said, "Harold, come on now." 05:58 Took him into the bedroom. 06:00 His young mother 06:02 bared her back before her son, 06:07 and said, "Go down the back of the creek, 06:09 down to the creek, and get one of those big thick reeds, 06:16 and come back and beat me." 06:17 He said, "I couldn't do that, mother." 06:19 She's sending him back three times. 06:21 After a while, he came back with a big rod. 06:24 She bared her lily-white back 06:28 and bent over the bed and said, "Harold, beat me. 06:34 Harold beat me. 06:36 Harold beat me." 06:38 And he cried too, 06:40 but... 06:44 then he broke down and wept. 06:47 And she put her arm around him 06:50 and told him the story 06:54 that the innocent was beaten 06:57 by the guilty, for the guilty. 07:02 She told him the story of the cross. 07:05 That's when HMS Richards was born again. 07:09 That's why he became a great preacher. 07:12 Unless you've been to the cross of Christ, 07:15 you have not become a Christian. 07:21 That's what the Bible teaches. 07:22 Paul had to have a revelation on the road to Damascus. 07:25 He had a revelation that came from God. 07:28 The Bible teaches that God took his own medicine. 07:33 This is where the people who teach that dreadful idea 07:37 of the moral influence theory, which is so prevalent here, 07:41 this terrible heresy, in Southern California. 07:44 This is where they don't understand a thing. 07:47 They're super-religious, 07:50 but they don't understand 07:52 that God took his own medicine. 07:56 God, the righteous charger, 07:59 was condemned for my sins. 08:05 And if I believe in Him, 08:07 He justifies the ungodly. 08:09 That, my friend, is the gospel. 08:12 It is revealed by the Spirit of God, 08:17 and the people who are often the last 08:20 to understand the gospel 08:24 are the supercilious in the church pews. 08:28 This is the truth. 08:30 I know, I've been around, 08:31 pastored so many churches. 08:34 If you say to me, 08:36 "What sort of audience would you like?" 08:37 Just for your own enjoyment and satisfaction, 08:43 I would say to you, "Give me a bunch of communists 08:47 and atheists any day." 08:49 That ought to tell you something 08:51 because I've seen atheists and communists 08:54 weeping before the Lord. 08:56 And as they saw the truth 08:58 of Christ on the cross, 09:00 they were melted to tears, including members of the KGB. 09:04 So, I would say to you this, 09:06 there is salvation for you if you will humbly 09:08 believe and accept it. 09:10 You know what our biggest problem is? 09:11 The more religious we get, the prouder we get. 09:18 The more religious we get, 09:20 quite often, the more obnoxious we get. 09:26 The Pharisees and the Sadducees were super-religious people, 09:31 and they could agree on only one thing, 09:35 that they wanted to put Christ on the cross. 09:40 He was nailed to the cross by the super-religious. 09:46 So if this were my last sermon, I'd say to you, 09:48 beware of false religion. 09:51 Beware of the counterfeit. 09:53 Beware of the superficial. 09:55 Beware of the fraud. 09:57 Beware of the big-talker. 10:04 There is salvation for you and me 10:05 if we will humbly believe it. 10:07 Believe now, 10:08 He would have died for one last lonely soul. 10:14 Here's another truth I'd say if this were my last sermon. 10:16 I've been trying to get in everything 10:18 that I thought was so important. 10:21 There's forgiveness for all who will come in penitence 10:24 to the Saviour, no matter how terrible the sin. 10:29 That's a bit amazing. Isaiah 55:6-7. 10:32 Come with me to Isaiah 55:6-7. 10:37 And don't read the text to tell somebody else 10:40 what a bad person they are. 10:43 Read the text so that God will help us to see 10:46 how we need the power of Christ. 10:48 Isaiah 55:6-7, 10:50 "Seek the Lord while He may be found." 10:53 This means He's not always going to be found. 10:56 "Call upon Him while He is near. 11:00 Let the wicked forsake His way 11:02 and the unrighteous man his thoughts." 11:04 It starts up here, in the head, 11:06 the dirty thoughts. 11:10 "The unrighteous man, his thoughts. 11:12 Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him. 11:16 And to our God, for He will," what does it say? 11:19 "Abundantly pardon." 11:20 How amazing. That's amazing grace. 11:23 It doesn't matter how bad your life has been, 11:28 if you and I will believe in Christ, 11:32 there's salvation for us. 11:35 There's forgiveness for every person. 11:38 One of the greatest texts is Luke 15:1-2. 11:42 It's almost a bit hard to believe. 11:44 You see, you got to have a revelation from God 11:45 to understand this. 11:47 There are some people, listen to me, look at me. 11:49 There are some people. 11:50 I meet them all the time. 11:52 And they're professional religionists. 11:54 I've had them up to here. 11:56 Professional religionists who are always, 11:58 always, always, always talking religion, 12:01 but they've got no love in their souls. 12:04 Now here's a great text, 12:07 "Then all the tax collectors and the sinners 12:09 drew near to hear Him," they liked him. 12:12 "And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, 12:16 "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." 12:22 And, for once, Jesus said to the Pharisees, 12:24 "You're right. 12:27 Wrong on most stuff, you guys, 12:29 but you're right here because this Man 12:32 does receive sinners." 12:33 That's the great heresy. 12:36 The church is for great sinners. 12:40 The church is a hospital, 12:43 where people get well, not a museum 12:46 where people... 12:50 are preserved. 12:54 And then Jesus gave three stories to prove it, 12:56 The Story of the Lost Sheep, you know, 99, 12:59 say, He goes after the 1 lost sheep. 13:03 That's what God does. 13:04 When He finds it, He doesn't kick it, 13:06 he kisses it. 13:07 Then there's The Lost Coin, lost in the house of God. 13:11 The woman searches diligently, 13:13 God searches diligently. 13:15 Then there's The Lost Boy, 13:16 you know the story of The Lost Boy. 13:21 He's an ungrateful young scoundrel. 13:24 He can't wait until the old man's dead, 13:26 before he wants the money. 13:29 I personally resent that. 13:33 And so his father gives it to him. 13:37 And the boy goes into a far country. 13:39 That's where you go when you turn from God, 13:41 it's a far country, it's a smelly country, 13:44 it's a dirty country. 13:47 He spends his money in riotous living. 13:50 The elder brother said he was with prostitutes. 13:53 But you can't believe the elder brother, 13:56 He's a Pharisee and a liar. 13:59 So you can't believe, 14:00 you can't believe what any Pharisee says. 14:02 Pharisees, by nature, are liars. 14:07 Are you listening to this? 14:09 Finding it a bit hard to take? 14:11 There's worse to come. 14:14 So the boy is feeding the pigs, 14:16 the Jewish boy feeding the pigs. 14:19 That's as low as a Jewish boy can get. 14:25 Then look at Luke 15:20. 14:27 The Bible tells us, the boy comes to himself, 14:30 he has a spiritual awakening. 14:34 What about you? Let me ask you this. 14:36 Have you had a spiritual awakening? 14:39 You can't be saved without a spiritual awakening. 14:43 People say, "No, I don't know." 14:44 You know what the genius of John Wesley's preaching was? 14:48 It was personal religion. 14:50 Unless you have a personal relationship 14:54 with Christ, you're damned. 14:56 People today are "Oh." 14:59 We're reading a book put out by a great theologian, 15:02 they're the ones that I'm most skeptical of. 15:05 And he said, "Everybody is saved 15:07 unless he willingly rejects." 15:12 As they say in Ireland, "What a lot of hooey." 15:17 You're not saved because you don't reject, 15:21 you're saved because you do accept. 15:25 You've got to accept it, you've got to accept, 15:27 not in just a case of, 15:28 "Oh, I'm in ignorance, I never knew." 15:31 I mean, how the devil has got some people 15:33 by the throat and by their ears. 15:37 And, anyhow, this young guy repents, 15:40 he comes to himself. 15:41 If I want to be saved, I've got to realize 15:45 I'm as smelly as the pigs, 15:48 spiritually. 15:50 You see, the gospel gets rid of the Pharisee-ism in us, 15:54 the person who's proud, 15:58 he doesn't know Christ, 16:00 his master is the devil. 16:02 That's the truth. 16:04 But this young guy comes to himself. 16:07 "And he arose and came to his father. 16:11 But when he was still a great way off, 16:13 his father saw him and had compassion, 16:16 and ran, and fell on his neck, 16:18 and kissed him." 16:21 Goodness me. 16:24 He falls on his neck, and the boys stinks, 16:28 and he kisses him. 16:30 That's what God is like. 16:31 Not like the pretentious Pharisees, 16:33 full of a hypocrisy and deceit, 16:35 who make young people feel uncomfortable in church. 16:39 "Oh, you shouldn't be here, in church." 16:41 In my day, if a young person had long hair down to here, 16:45 "We don't want them in church." 16:48 If a person had a beard, 16:49 "Oh, we don't want them in church, 16:51 they look like hippies." 16:53 Never coming to the place 16:54 they won't ordain you unless you've got a beard. 16:56 I mean, isn't this silliness? 16:59 Isn't this silliness? Yeah. 17:02 Now the boy came to himself. 17:06 This was taught to me by a great theologian, 17:09 "Man is far worse than he ever feared to think, 17:12 but God is far better than He ever did hope." 17:17 It's saying, 17:18 "God's a lot better than we understand, 17:22 and we're a lot worse." 17:26 None of us realize how sinful and deprived we are. 17:30 "Not me." "Yes, you." 17:34 If you don't believe that, 17:35 that's because you're suffering from a spiritual lunacy. 17:40 But one glimpse of the cross of Christ, 17:44 and we see two things, 17:47 that God is far better, 17:49 and man is far worse. 17:53 When I was a boy, a little boy, 17:55 I went to the Brisbane Town Hall, 17:57 many, many years ago. 17:59 My mother took me along, and I went 18:01 because she was bigger than I was. 18:03 I went there to hear an American preacher. 18:05 I didn't know it on that occasion. 18:07 His name was Clifford Reeves. 18:10 Maybe so, his family members 18:13 could be listening to the program. 18:16 He preached the gospel of Christ. 18:20 I went along with my mother. 18:22 My mother had been searching, and searching, and searching. 18:24 She said, when she heard the Word of God 18:28 preached by this American preacher, 18:32 something stirred in her soul. 18:35 I'm here today because of that American preacher, 18:38 through my mother. 18:40 Then they had a big choir, I loved big choirs. 18:45 There's a big choir, here I am, a little boy, this high. 18:48 And I still remember the choir singing, 18:51 "Sing them over again to me, 18:55 wonderful words of life." 18:58 Yeah. 19:00 And then they sing another song. 19:03 This is a great song. 19:04 It's about receiving the sinful men. 19:08 Yeah, Christ receives the sinful men. 19:14 So if you're a sinful man, 19:17 Christ will receive you. 19:19 If you come to Him 19:21 and stop all the religious nonsense 19:26 and come as a penitent. 19:27 That's why Martin Luther said, 19:28 "A Christian is always a sinner, 19:30 always a penitent, always right with God, 19:33 not a willful sinner." 19:35 But he knows he's not what he could be, 19:37 or should be, or would be. 19:40 The worst job you can have is to be 19:43 the pastor of a church 19:45 that's filled with people who think they're righteous. 19:49 Oh, goodness. 19:51 I'd rather be with the prodigal in the pigpen, 19:55 far better. 19:58 Christ receives the sinful men. 20:01 And here's the next great truth I tell you. 20:04 Heaven will be far better than we can imagine. 20:09 No tiredness, I have that now, sometimes. 20:13 No pain, no anxiety, 20:17 no heartaches, no headaches. 20:19 I don't know what it is to have a headache. 20:21 No sin, no guilt, no wars, 20:23 no fighting, no lawsuits, no illnesses. 20:28 And it's called a country. 20:29 I like that, Hebrews, 11:16. 20:32 Hebrews 11. 20:34 "But now they desire a better, 20:37 a heavenly country. 20:40 Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God 20:43 for He has prepared a city for them." 20:45 But that city is going to be 20:47 the city of a country. 20:52 I'd like to go to heaven because it's a country. 20:57 Some of my happiest days, my dear friends, 21:01 were spent riding my Harley-Davidson, 21:04 it's a limited design. 21:06 You don't think I could ride a Harley? 21:08 You just don't know what life is in this old guy. 21:12 Sitting on a Harley, 21:15 and you feel it's travelling, 21:17 travelling alone, you know, 21:20 and the wind is blowing in your face. 21:24 Sometimes, out on those country roads, 21:26 I would disturb some birds and they'd fly, 21:29 and sometimes, they'd hit me in the face, 21:31 feel of the soft feathers. 21:34 This is the country where I rode the Harley, 21:38 that's the actual place. 21:40 That's in New South Wales, 21:44 my happiest days, some of them. 21:46 Stopping to eat the ripe nectarines 21:49 hanging over the fence. 21:51 Had to pay for them? No, falling off on the ground. 21:56 Personally, I don't care too much 21:57 for the streets of gold 22:00 or the gates of pearl. 22:03 I will settle any day for a home in the country, 22:05 with a dog, a cow, and a horse, 22:10 and a Harley. 22:14 You say, "There's not gonna be any Harleys in heaven." 22:16 How do you know? 22:18 What do you know about it? You know? 22:20 I think if I were to say to the Lord, 22:22 "I'd be very happy with a Harley," 22:24 I think I'd get a Harley, yeah. 22:28 Here's the last truth 22:31 I'd say if this were my last sermon. 22:33 Jesus is real 22:35 and far better than the best person you know. 22:37 Think of the best person you know, 22:39 He's a million times better. 22:41 He's a million times kinder, stronger, 22:42 more loving and affectionate, more reliable. 22:49 And He's preparing a mansion for you in glory, 22:52 and your name is on the door. 22:53 He said it in John 14:1-3, 22:57 He said it, 22:59 "Let not your heart be troubled. 23:00 You believe in God, believe also in Me. 23:03 In my Father's house are many mansions. 23:06 If it were not so, I would have told you. 23:08 I go and prepare a place for you. 23:10 And if I go and prepare a place for you, 23:12 I will come again and receive you to Myself, 23:15 that where I am, there you might be also." 23:21 I believe that. 23:23 I believe there's a mansion, 23:27 and it's got my name on the door. 23:29 I believe that. 23:32 And I believe that my greatest joy 23:36 will be to meet Him. 23:40 And when I was a boy, at college, 23:43 and Beverley was just a young girl, 23:47 because there was a time when we were young, 23:54 I went down with Pastor Heffron 23:57 to the Sydney Showground, 24:00 and I heard a strong young American preacher, 24:03 with the wind blowing in his hair. 24:06 And he was saying from the Bible, 24:08 "The Bible says, the Bible says." 24:11 He was a man's preacher, 24:13 not a sniffling little runt. 24:17 He was a man of God. 24:21 And he had a choir, the choir sang these words... 24:24 Just as I am, without one plea 24:28 But that Thy blood was shed for me 24:32 Hundred and fifty thousand Australians listening. 24:35 And that Thou bid'st me come to thee O Lamb of God, 24:38 I come, I come Just as I am, 24:41 though tossed about With many a conflict, 24:44 many a doubt Fightings within, 24:47 and fears without O Lamb of God, 24:50 I come, I come 24:53 Just as I am, 24:54 Thou wilt receive Wilt welcome, 24:58 pardon, cleanse, relief. 25:04 Because Thy promise, I believe 25:07 O Lamb of God, 25:11 I come 25:14 If this were my last sermon, 25:18 I say to you, 25:21 stop playing with the devil 25:24 because he's got you by the throat. 25:27 Stop playing with manmade religion, 25:29 it's not worth a thing. 25:33 But come to Jesus, 25:37 and Jesus will accept you. 25:40 So if this were my last sermon, 25:43 I would tell you all of these things, 25:48 and I would ask you to meet me, 25:53 I would ask you to meet me 25:57 in the Father's house, 26:01 in the New Jerusalem. 26:07 In Jesus' name, amen. 26:12 And amen. 26:23 Hello, friend. I'm John Carter. 26:26 Behind me is the great city of Manila, 26:30 the capital of the Philippines. 26:32 Did you know, this is quite amazing, 26:34 there are more people living in this area 26:36 than in New York City? 26:38 And Christ died for these people. 26:41 We came here, oh, 26:43 a long time ago back in 1984, 26:47 what's that, 34-35 years ago, 26:50 and we came here with a team of young people, 26:52 and we came to the PICC. 26:56 It is our intent to come here, 26:58 hire the biggest hall that's available, 27:00 the greatest outdoor stadium, whatever it takes. 27:04 You've got more than 20 million souls out here. 27:09 And I say it again. 27:11 These are people for whom Christ died. 27:13 I'm asking you to pray 27:15 for the people of the Philippines. 27:17 Please pray for the people here in Metro Manila. 27:21 And please write to me, 27:22 John Carter, Post Office Box 1900, 27:25 Thousand Oaks, California, 91358. 27:29 In Australia, write to me at Terrigal at the address 27:32 that is now showing on the screen. 27:37 We're back in Manila, 27:39 and we're back with a message from God. 27:42 That message is Christ died for you. 27:47 And Christ is coming again soon. 27:52 Please support us. 27:54 Write to me today, Post Office Box 1900, 27:57 Thousand Oaks, California, 27:59 and also write to me at Terrigal in Australia. 28:03 Thank you for your support. 28:05 And God bless you. 28:22 For a copy of today's program, 28:24 please contact us at PO Box 1900, 28:27 Thousand Oaks, California, 91358. 28:32 Or in Australia, contact us at PO Box 861, 28:37 Terrigal, New South Wales, 2260. 28:41 This program is made possible 28:43 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:46 We thank you for your continued support. 28:49 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2019-07-05