Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001933A
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00:02 I'm John Carter in Moscow.
00:04 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 In this message, John Carter explains 00:31 why there is hope for the worst of sinners. 00:37 Just so glad to see you here today. 00:40 I want to send special greetings 00:42 to the Sabbath Grace Fellowship Church 00:46 in Pennsylvania. 00:48 Want to thank you so much for your partnership 00:50 in the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. 00:53 We appreciate your support tremendously at this time 00:57 because we're planning to go to the great city of Manila 01:00 for a great city wide campaign 01:02 in the Philippine International Convention Center, 01:05 this great theater, best part of Manila. 01:09 We're going to be starting there in March, 01:11 and we just need your prayers. 01:13 We need your support. 01:15 Has anybody here, I don't know if anybody has... 01:18 Anybody here said this, 01:21 "God could never, never save me 01:24 because of all the wicked things I've done." 01:28 God could never ever save so and so 01:32 because of all the wicked things he does. 01:35 Now, the topic today is hope, not just for the worst, 01:40 but for the very worst of sinners. 01:44 And today, we're gonna talk about 01:47 the most wicked man in the Bible, 01:49 or let's say, let's make it little broader, 01:52 the most wicked man or woman in the Bible. 01:56 Now there are a number of candidates. 02:00 Would you say just off the top of your head 02:04 that Judas is the most wicked man in the Bible? 02:08 Now, Judas did something incredibly evil. 02:13 He betrayed the Lord of Glory. 02:18 I don't think he was the most wicked man in the Bible. 02:21 I think Judas was sort of just a very ordinary person. 02:26 But as somebody has pointed out, 02:28 the greatest crimes in history have been committed 02:31 by very ordinary persons. 02:34 Most of the Nazis and the Germans 02:36 have sent the Jews to the Holocaust 02:40 were our neighbors. 02:43 People who went to church, 02:45 Roman Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, 02:49 other denominations, very ordinary sort of people. 02:53 I think Judas who did a terrible crime 02:56 was an ordinary man. 02:59 What about Eve? 03:02 Or she's the most wicked person in the Bible? 03:07 I don't think Eve in itself was a very wicked person at all. 03:12 I think she was innocents abroad. 03:15 And her big sin was to believe the devil's lies. 03:21 She caused havoc, of course, 03:23 but I don't think she was 03:24 the most wicked person in the Bible. 03:26 I don't think Adam was the most wicked person in the Bible. 03:32 Adam, as you know, was very, very inexperienced. 03:36 Until Eve had sinned, 03:37 there was no such thing as sin in the garden. 03:43 But Adam committed a tremendous sin 03:46 and brought havoc upon the human race. 03:48 And we're in the midst of this today. 03:51 But I don't think Adam... 03:54 I don't think he was the most wicked person in the Bible. 03:57 I'll tell you who was a wicked person 03:59 who's mentioned in the Bible. 04:00 He's a Caesar and that's Nero. 04:04 Nero who lived in the days of the Apostle Paul, 04:08 he murdered his own mother 04:11 because he saw her as a threat. 04:14 He started the fire of Rome. 04:19 But when you think about it, 04:21 you can't expect too much of Nero. 04:24 He was a depraved and deluded pagan. 04:27 He didn't make any perfection of God or Christianity. 04:34 The ancient history encyclopedia 04:36 says this about Nero. 04:38 He reigned from 54 to 68 AD. 04:43 And then it says, he was self indulgent. 04:46 He was cruel and violent, 04:49 as well as a cross dressing exhibitionist. 04:54 He had his mother stabbed to death. 04:56 He saw her as a threat. 04:59 He had his first wife murdered, 05:02 and he kicked his second wife to death. 05:05 Now, he was indeed 05:08 very wicked, wicked man. 05:09 He started the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD 05:14 that lasted for six days. 05:17 And the Christians were blamed for the fire, 05:20 especially the Apostle Paul. 05:24 When the crowd came after him, 05:27 he tried to commit suicide, 05:30 but he was such a pathetic character, 05:34 that he couldn't stick the knife in himself. 05:37 He had to have assistance to kill himself. 05:41 A pathetic, evil, wicked man 05:46 was the Nero of the New Testament. 05:50 But I think the most wicked man in the Bible is the man 05:54 who was mentioned in 1 Kings Chapter 21. 06:00 And I want you to take your Bibles, 06:02 1 Kings 21:25 06:09 and 26. 06:11 In the Bible look at the text, 1 Kings verse 25 and 26. 06:16 "But there was no one like Ahab... 06:22 who sold himself to do wickedness 06:24 in the sight of the Lord." 06:27 Notice why? 06:29 "Because Jezebel his wife stirred him up." 06:34 I guess he wasn't the first or the last. 06:38 "And he behaved very abominably in following idols, 06:43 according to all that the Amorites had done, 06:46 whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel." 06:51 So he was a very, very bad man. 06:56 You know the story 06:58 of a good man the righteous man 07:00 that had the vineyard, don't you? 07:02 His name was Naboth. 07:04 You can read that in 1 Kings Chapter 21. 07:07 "Ahab went to Naboth and said, 'I want your vineyard.' 07:12 He said, 'I'll give you a better one 07:15 or else I'll pay you a good price." 07:17 And Naboth said, "I can't do it, 07:20 because this is a part of my sacred inheritance." 07:24 I'll tell you what a wretched person Ahab was. 07:28 He went home, and the Bible says, 07:30 he turned his face 07:32 to the wall and he sulked. 07:37 Boo, he's crying away. 07:40 And his wife Jezebel comes in and says, 07:43 "What's wrong, sweetie pie. 07:48 What's wrong, darling? 07:51 What's the problem?" 07:53 He says, "Naboth won't give me the vineyard." 07:55 She says, "Leave it to me." 07:58 She said, "I'll get you the vineyard." 08:01 And she did. 08:03 She had a plot, 08:04 Naboth was accused of high crimes, 08:08 and blasphemies, and rebellion, 08:11 and they set him on high 08:12 and they found him guilty, and he was murdered. 08:16 Then Jezebel goes and sees 08:21 Ahab and she says, 08:22 "I told you so, go get it." 08:26 I think if there is a despicable character, 08:30 it is a man who is manipulated by his wife 08:34 and who sobs to get something. 08:38 Generally speaking, men should not be sobers. 08:43 It's appropriate on occasions for a man to weep 08:47 for a very good reason. 08:49 Jesus wept, but a man who was weeping all the time, 08:53 especially to manipulate people 08:59 is a very, very bad man. 09:02 Not only bad, but a very, very weak man. 09:07 Have you met some of them? 09:09 Well, I have. 09:13 This man Ahab with the help 09:15 of his sweet little wife Jezebel 09:19 set up the worship of Baal 09:21 and carried out the persecution 09:23 of the prophets of Yahweh Elohim. 09:28 You can read this in 1 Kings Chapter 16, 09:31 now come back 09:39 down to 33. 09:42 "Now Ahab the son of Omri 09:45 did evil in the sight of the Lord..." 09:48 All those who were before him, so this is a bad man 09:52 because the people who preceded him were bad too. 09:56 "And it came to pass, 09:57 as though it had been a trivial thing for him 10:00 to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, 10:04 that he took his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, 10:10 king of the Sidonians, and he went and served Baal 10:14 and worshiped him. 10:16 Then he set up an altar for Baal 10:18 in the temple of Baal, 10:20 which he had built in Samaria. 10:24 And Ahab made a wooden image. 10:27 Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger 10:31 than all the kings of Israel who were before him." 10:36 And so, at least up to that time, 10:38 he is the worst man in the Bible. 10:43 Let's talk a little bit, shall we about Baal? 10:47 Who was Baal? 10:49 The word means Lord. 10:52 He was the God of the Canaanites. 10:54 He had a consort whose name was Asherah, 10:58 who was the great prostitute. 11:01 And during the times of Ahab, 11:04 and he was the leader of the people of God 11:07 for crying out loud. 11:10 He's the leader of the church. 11:13 And so he leads all the Israel in the prostitution 11:18 of their own souls, 11:20 and in the worship of Baal and Asherah. 11:24 During the times of Ahab, Baal worship became 11:28 the national religion of Israel. 11:31 He built a temple to Baal in Samaria. 11:35 The word Baal, as I mentioned, means Lord. 11:39 And He was god of the storms, god of the rain, 11:43 god of fertility, and god of justice. 11:47 They had holy prostitutes, both male and female. 11:53 And the Bible says, 11:54 "They made their sons to pass through the fire." 11:59 Can you think of anything worse 12:02 than a blazing fire in the belly of the beast Baal, 12:06 and their sons, their children are sacrificed. 12:10 Think of the cries of the children. 12:13 And he is the leader of the people of God. 12:18 He was the leader of the nation 12:22 and the leader of the church. 12:26 Of course, 12:28 we are far too sophisticated today 12:30 to have Baal worship. 12:34 And the Bible tells us that he had a meeting 12:36 with the Prophet Elijah, the man of God, 12:39 1 Kings 18:17 12:44 and 18, 12:46 "Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, 12:49 that Ahab said to him, 12:51 'Is that you, O troubler of Israel?' 12:54 " The good people invariably are blamed for the problems 12:59 that come upon the church and the nation. 13:02 "Is that you, O troubler of Israel?' 13:06 And he answered, 'I have not troubled Israel, 13:08 but you and your father's house have, 13:11 in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord 13:14 and have followed the Baals.'" 13:17 So the people have completely given up on God, 13:21 and the worship of God and the keeping 13:23 of the commandments of God, 13:25 and they are worshiping the gods of the Canaanites 13:30 led by their king. 13:32 How many false prophets? Verse 19 gives us a clue. 13:36 Verse 19 says, 13:39 "Now therefore, send and gather all Israel 13:42 to me on Mount Carmel, 13:44 the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, 13:47 and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, 13:49 which eat at Jezebel's table." 13:52 Look at me, let me tell you something. 13:54 Truth has never, never been in the majority. 14:00 Truth is usually a lone voice crying in the wilderness. 14:06 That was the voice of Elijah. 14:08 That was the voice of John the Baptist. 14:11 He was a man standing for God. 14:13 And they were hundreds and hundreds of false priests 14:17 and false prophets. 14:21 And the delightful couple 14:24 who led them all was Ahab and Jezebel. 14:29 Asherah, who is she? 14:32 She is the goddess of the Canaanites. 14:36 I have seen the statues going through the Middle East, 14:41 places like the high place in Petra, 14:43 where you see symbols of Asherah 14:47 which are tied up, of course, with licentiousness, 14:52 and the debasing of the soul, and the debasing of the body. 14:58 And the person who was fighting the prophets of God, 15:01 fighting Elijah, and fighting the truth of God 15:04 and leading Israel down to the very fires of hell. 15:10 His name is Ahab. 15:14 But there's an amazing story. 15:15 And if I had written the Bible, 15:19 which fortunately I didn't, 15:21 but in 1 Kings 21:25 and 29, 15:27 you have this amazing story about Ahab. 15:31 I say it's amazing 15:33 because it goes against our sense of justice, 15:38 because bad people need to be punished. 15:43 "But there was no one like Ahab 15:44 who sold himself to do wickedness 15:46 in the sight of the Lord, 15:48 because Jezebel his wife stirred him up." 15:55 She's just stirring him on, 15:57 but she had a reason, she was a pagan princess. 16:00 He was a child of God. 16:05 And he behaved very abominably in following idols, 16:08 according to all of the Amorites had done, 16:10 whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 16:14 So it was, 16:17 when Ahab heard these words that he, 16:19 "the words of the prophet, 16:21 "when Ahab heard these words, those words, 16:24 that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, 16:29 and fasted and lay in sackcloth, 16:32 and went about mourning." 16:34 Sackcloth is a symbol of repentance. 16:41 "And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 16:45 'See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? 16:50 Because he has humbled himself before Me, 16:52 I will not bring the calamity in his days." 16:55 I will, not gonna do anything to him. 16:59 "In the days of his son 17:00 I will bring the calamity on house." 17:02 But he said, you see, Ahab. 17:08 Ahab has repented. 17:11 Therefore, what I said I was going to do today, 17:14 I'm not going to do. 17:17 Which leads me to the conclusion 17:21 that Ahab had found mercy in the sight of God. 17:27 And that God had saved and forgiven Ahab. 17:33 So my argument is this today, 17:35 and it's to everybody watching the telecast around the world 17:37 and across these great United States. 17:42 If you think God can't save you, 17:44 I want you to think again. 17:47 Because if God could save a scoundrel, 17:53 and a rotter, 17:55 and a profligate sinner like Ahab. 17:58 If God could save Ahab, 18:02 I think he can save us. 18:07 This is sort of... 18:09 This is sort of amazing. 18:13 When my old father discovered this truth, 18:16 he said, "It isn't right." 18:20 He said, "It isn't right. It isn't right." 18:23 But I said to my father, 18:25 "God's grace is greater than all of our sins." 18:32 And there's a text, I want to read it to you. 18:36 We got to read it over and over and over again, Romans 5:20. 18:41 Romans, the greatest book in the New Testament 18:44 as far as the gospel is concerned, 18:46 and righteousness through faith. 18:48 Romans 5:20, 18:51 "Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound." 18:54 Why does the law exist? 18:57 The law exists so that I will see myself 19:00 as a stinking sinner, 19:03 deserving of the wrath of Almighty God. 19:08 The law of God cannot save me. 19:10 The law of God comes to me with a whip. 19:15 And the whip has got 10 parts to it. 19:19 And each one is freighted with eternity, 19:23 the Ten Commandments. 19:25 The law of God does not save. 19:27 The law of God shows that I am undeserving, 19:33 and I'm on my way to hell. 19:37 So the Bible says, 19:38 "Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. 19:43 But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." 19:52 That's almost too hard to believe 19:53 where sin did abound. 19:56 Put up, here it is, where sin did abound, 19:58 where sin did abound. 20:00 Where the sin of Ahab did abound, 20:02 the grace of God did abound much more. 20:07 When I was a boy, just a little boy, 20:11 I went to the Brisbane Town Hall 20:13 in Queensland. 20:14 I was about four or five years of age. 20:17 I'll never forget it. 20:19 It's after the Second World War, 20:22 and the Australians had invited out an American preacher. 20:27 His name was Clifford Reeves. 20:29 After all those years, 20:31 I can still see, he wore a white suit. 20:35 And he was a good preacher. 20:37 And when you go inside the Brisbane Town Hall, 20:40 there is a tremendous pipe organ 20:42 that goes up to the ceiling. 20:43 It's a beautiful, wonderful place. 20:47 And in front of the great pipes, 20:50 and I've stood under those pipes 20:51 and listened to the boom of those tremendous pipes. 20:55 Listen to the rush of the wind. 20:58 And there was a choir that was singing it. 20:59 It was a big choir, 21:01 seem to be hundreds in my boy's mind, 21:03 and they were singing this song. 21:05 It has stayed with me all these years, 21:08 sing it over and over again. 21:12 Still hear the choir sing it. Sing it over and over again. 21:16 I can still hear the choir. 21:18 Sing it over and over again. 21:20 Christ receives the sinful men. 21:24 Make the message clear and plain, 21:28 Christ receives the sinful men. 21:33 So Paul says, 21:35 "Where sin did abound, grace did much more abound." 21:40 If I'm talking to somebody out here 21:42 in the television world 21:43 and you say, "You got no idea what I've done." 21:46 No, I don't. 21:47 You may say, "I have no chance of being saved." 21:50 No, you don't, 21:53 except for the grace of God. 21:55 And the Bible says, 21:58 "The grace of God when received by faith 22:03 is greater than all my sin." 22:06 Grace has an immeasurable and limitless source. 22:12 It is the love of God. 22:15 Grace does not send love, love sends grace. 22:20 I'm sure you know this. 22:21 You know this wonderful hymnal poem, 22:23 but I wanted to try to break it up 22:25 and explain it in case you missed some points. 22:28 The love of God is greater far 22:31 than tongue or pen can ever tell. 22:34 You can't write about it enough. 22:37 It goes beyond the highest star 22:41 and reaches to the lowest hell. 22:45 The guilty pair, who were they? 22:50 Adam and Eve. 22:51 Bowed down with care, 22:54 God gave His Son to win, 22:57 His erring child He reconciled and pardoned from his sin. 23:02 Now, I believe that Adam and Eve 23:04 are going to be in the kingdom of God 23:06 because God Himself killed those animals 23:09 carried out a sacrifice, and covered their nakedness 23:13 with the skins of animals 23:15 which is a symbol of the blood of Christ. 23:18 And once you're under the blood of Christ, 23:19 nothing can touch you, nothing can harm you. 23:24 So the guilty pair, then the next verse says, 23:27 Could we with ink the ocean fill... 23:29 Think about this, the ocean, 23:32 seven or eight miles deep, fill it up with ink. 23:35 Were the skies of parchment made... 23:38 The skies, will turn all the skies into paper 23:43 where every stock on earth a quill, 23:46 you know what a quill, don't you? 23:48 Old English word for pen. 23:50 Every stalk, every blade of grass 23:52 is going to be transformed into a pen, 23:57 and every man has a scribe by trade. 23:59 Every person on the earth has got a quill. 24:02 He's got the pen. 24:04 And every person on the earth, his trade is to write. 24:09 And the ocean has been turned into ink, 24:11 and the sky has been turned into paper. 24:14 Look at the words, 24:16 to write the love of God 24:18 above would drain the ocean dry. 24:22 Nor could the scroll contain the whole 24:25 though stretched from sky to sky. 24:30 Not enough ink. 24:32 Not enough paper. 24:34 Not enough paint. 24:35 There's a person I admire immensely. 24:37 That is Sir Ernest Shackleton, 24:41 British explorer, with Irish roots like me. 24:47 He went down to the Antarctic. 24:49 He took a ship that was called the Endurance. 24:56 And the ice got around the Endurance and crushed it. 25:00 So they had to get out on the ice flow 25:02 and then get on this little 20 foot boat. 25:05 And they sailed with great skill 25:07 to Elephant Island, 25:10 and then Shackleton left them there. 25:12 And with a couple of other men, 25:13 they sailed to South Georgia Island. 25:17 Then they climbed, would you believe it, 25:19 they climbed over a mountain, 25:21 they climbed over a mountain for days. 25:25 And they came down upon a whaling station, 25:28 and they got a rescue party. 25:30 And Shackleton went back for his men 25:33 who were freezing and dying on Elephant Island. 25:36 And when he appeared, his men said, 25:41 "We knew you would come, Brother." 25:46 So God leaves glory, and He comes to this earth, 25:50 dies on the cross. 25:53 And when we look at Him, we say, 25:55 "We knew You would come, Brother." 26:00 That is grace. More very soon. 26:21 Hello, friend. I'm John Carter. 26:24 Behind me is the great city of Manila, 26:28 the capital of the Philippines. 26:30 Did you know, this is quite amazing. 26:32 There are more people living in this area 26:34 than in New York City. 26:36 And Christ died for these people. 26:39 We came here, oh, long time ago back in 1984. 26:45 What's that, 34, 35 years ago, 26:48 and we came here with a team of young people 26:51 and we came to the PICC. 26:54 It is our intent to come here, 26:56 hire the biggest hall that's available, 26:58 the greatest outdoor stadium, whatever it takes. 27:03 You've got more than 20 million souls out here. 27:07 And I say it again. 27:09 These are people for whom Christ died. 27:12 I'm asking you to pray 27:13 for the people of the Philippines. 27:15 Please pray for the people here in Metro Manila. 27:19 And please write to me, 27:20 John Carter, P.O. Box 1900, 27:23 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 27:27 In Australia, write to me at Terrigal, 27:30 at the address that is now showing on the screen. 27:35 We're back in Manila, 27:37 and we're back with a message from God, 27:40 that message is, Christ died for you. 27:45 And Christ is coming again soon. 27:50 Please support us. 27:52 Write to me today, 27:53 P.O. Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California. 27:57 And also write to me at Terrigal in Australia. 28:01 Thank you for your support. 28:03 And God bless you. 28:20 For a copy of today's program, 28:22 please contact us at P.O. Box 1900, 28:25 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 28:29 Or in Australia, contact us at P.O. Box 861, 28:34 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 28:39 This program is made possible 28:41 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:43 We thank you for your continued support. 28:46 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2019-12-12