Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR002013S
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00:01 COVID-19 delayed the teaching of this message
00:04 for the Manila programs. 00:05 However, a pandemic cannot stop God's truth 00:09 from marching forward. 00:10 John Carter brings us 00:11 the incredible teaching of the man 00:13 who wrote His own life story before He was born. 00:16 From his studio in Los Angeles, California, 00:19 here is John Carter. 00:22 Of course, it's quite impossible, 00:27 absolutely impossible for a person 00:29 to tell his own life story before he is born, 00:34 would you not agree? 00:36 But that's what we're going to talk about today. 00:38 The man who wrote His own life story 00:40 before He was born, 00:42 and a very warm welcome to you, my friends around the world. 00:48 What do you think about political correctness? 00:51 Do you like it? 00:53 Well, sometimes it's not so bad if it's done in the attitude 00:56 that you're just trying to be nice to people. 01:00 And niceness to people is good. 01:04 However, if political correctness means 01:09 that all ideas are of equal worth, 01:14 it's an abomination because it's one big lie. 01:19 I don't believe in political correctness 01:22 as it is taught today, 01:25 in Hollywood or anywhere else 01:28 on the face of the earth. 01:31 I'm locked up at home most of the time now 01:33 because of this COVID-19. 01:36 So on the weekend, 01:38 I was watching a bit of television, 01:40 you do get desperate, don't you? 01:44 And there was a man who said, "I believe in God." 01:47 Oh, that's interesting. 01:49 He said, "I believe in God. 01:51 I believe in all gods. 01:53 I believe in Buddha, I believe in the Lord, 01:57 I believe in Christ." 02:00 That sounds good, doesn't it? 02:03 But that which proves too much proves nothing at all. 02:09 And if you believe in all gods, 02:11 it means that there is really no God at all. 02:15 We're going to talk today about the man 02:17 who wrote His own life story before He was born. 02:22 And this course is impossible, but it really happened. 02:28 So today, my friends around the world, 02:30 I want to welcome you to the Carter Report, 02:33 because we've got some amazing things 02:37 to share with you today 02:39 and I hope you're doing okay. 02:43 I heard a young preacher say he was asked the question, 02:46 "Why do you believe in the resurrection?" 02:49 And he said, with great confidence, 02:51 "I believe in the resurrection 02:53 because of my faith." 02:57 I don't. 02:59 I believe in the resurrection, not because of my faith, 03:03 but because it actually happened. 03:06 And because it actually happened, 03:08 I put my faith in and faith is simply trust or belief. 03:13 So today we're not just talking about blind faith. 03:17 I don't believe in blind faith 03:21 in believing just what I want to believe. 03:25 That's why Jesus said, "You'll know the truth, 03:28 and the truth will make you free." 03:31 So today we're talking about the man 03:33 who wrote His own life story before He was born. 03:38 Intriguing, isn't it? 03:40 Quite amazing, isn't it? 03:41 The man who wrote His own life story, 03:44 not after He was born 03:45 but before He was born. 03:50 The world has seen some remarkable characters 03:53 and people who've made a profound impression 03:57 upon the world for good and some for bad. 04:01 I want you to notice 04:02 some of the candidates for greatness. 04:06 I guess if we're looking for great people 04:09 who've made a great impression, you've got to include Moses, 04:13 he's the man who led the children of Israel 04:15 out of the land of Egypt through the Red Sea. 04:19 The Bible says, 04:20 and who gave to the world from the hand of God 04:24 the Ten Commandments. 04:25 Remember, the movie with Charlton Heston. 04:30 You know what Charlton Heston's real name was? 04:35 John Carter. 04:36 You don't believe it? 04:38 Well, go and check it out. 04:39 Then of course, there was Elijah. 04:42 He was a mighty prophet 04:44 because he brought down fire from God out of heaven, 04:49 had to be a great person, don't you think? 04:53 Could you leave out Peter? 04:56 I don't think you could leave out Peter 04:59 who was called the big fisherman. 05:02 The Roman Catholic says he was the first pope. 05:06 Now you might not believe that, I don't. 05:08 But I do believe that Peter was a great personality, 05:14 shaped the history of the world. 05:16 But possibly an even greater character 05:20 was the Apostle Paul 05:23 who gave us the book of Romans 05:25 that gave us Western civilization, 05:28 there would be no Western civilization, 05:32 except for the great Paul 05:35 of the New Testament. 05:39 Very great character person, 05:41 I've loved for many years 05:44 is Abraham Lincoln. 05:48 One of the greatest characters, 05:50 the great emancipator of the slaves, 05:54 a man of great character. 05:56 So I put Lincoln up very high 05:59 on the list of being a great person. 06:03 But then I move on from Abraham Lincoln 06:07 and I come to one of my favorite characters 06:10 in the history of humanity. 06:13 And that is Winston Spencer Churchill, 06:19 the man who said in the face of the Nazis, 06:22 "Never give up, never give up, never give up." 06:27 Can't you hear him? 06:29 I respect Winston Churchill, 06:32 I wish we had a few Churchills today. 06:36 And then, of course, 06:38 there are other great characters too. 06:42 I'm a little biased, of course, because of my background, 06:47 but I have great respect for Mother Teresa, 06:51 a firm Roman Catholic Christian, 06:55 who was venerated as a saint in the land of India. 06:59 I don't have to believe everything she believed 07:04 but I respect her, Mother Teresa. 07:10 And now my prejudice does come through 07:14 when I say 07:17 Queen Elizabeth II. 07:22 During the Second World War, 07:23 she worked in the army working on army trucks. 07:28 She gave a great speech recently, 07:31 and she took some of the words of Winston Churchill. 07:35 "Never give up, never despair." 07:40 So I respect some of these people. 07:43 But listen, these people are not the greatest 07:48 in the history of the human race, 07:50 because there was somebody else 07:52 who was greater than all of them put together. 07:57 That was a little baby 07:59 that was born down in the barn 08:02 at the back of Motel 6 08:05 about 2,000 years ago, 08:09 the man whom they nailed to the cross, 08:13 the man whom we believe was raised from the dead, 08:17 His name is Jesus. 08:21 And as Richard Dawkins, 08:23 the world's most famous atheist says, 08:27 Jesus was a real person 08:30 and a real personality. 08:33 And here it is, before He came to this earth, 08:37 are you listening to me? 08:39 Before He was born, He wrote through the prophets, 08:43 the story of His own life. 08:46 He's the man who wrote His own life story 08:49 before He was born. 08:51 And I'm going to give you a text or two 08:54 out of the book of books. 08:56 We're gonna start 08:58 with these words of Christ Jesus. 09:01 John 17:3, "And this is eternal life." 09:05 You want eternal life? 09:07 Then listen, 09:08 "That they may know You, the only true God, 09:12 and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." 09:17 Then there's another verse that comes after it. 09:20 I want you to notice this verse. 09:23 Here it is. 09:24 John 17:5. 09:27 "And now, O Father, 09:29 glorify Me together with Yourself," 09:32 now look, listen to this, 09:33 "with the glory which I had with You 09:38 before the world began." 09:42 Before the world began, 09:46 Jesus Christ existed 09:50 in His preincarnate form with His father, 09:55 billions and billions of years ago. 09:59 He lived before He was born. 10:03 And through the ancient Hebrew prophets, 10:07 He wrote His own life story before He was born. 10:12 If this is true, 10:14 this is tremendous proof for Christ and for God. 10:20 And there's a great statement 10:21 that I like to read to my skeptical friends. 10:25 And I've got many, many friends who are skeptical, 10:28 and here it is. 10:30 I want you to notice this. 10:31 If genuine prophecy exists, 10:35 then the big issues of our times are solved. 10:39 If there is, I say, if there is genuine prophecy, 10:43 if a man could write his own life story 10:46 before he was born, 10:47 if there is genuine prophecy, 10:50 this answers the big questions of our age. 10:54 The great questions 10:56 that thinking people are asking for instance, 11:00 where did I come from? 11:03 Who am I? 11:06 What am I doing here? 11:08 And where am I going? 11:10 These are the big questions. 11:14 And I've talked about this to vast audiences 11:17 around the world, 11:19 and to hundreds of thousands of communists and atheists 11:23 in the old Soviet Union. 11:25 If genuine prophecy exists. 11:28 I want you to notice these prophecies 11:32 inspired by Christ. 11:36 Some of them, 1,000 years before He was born. 11:40 Are you with me 11:42 and are you listening, my friend? 11:45 Prophecy number one, 11:48 it was predicted where He would be born, 11:53 the place of His birth. 11:57 And if you take 11:58 the ancient Hebrew Christian scriptures 12:03 and turn to Micah 5:2, 12:10 you get these words. 12:12 Micah 5:2, 12:15 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 12:20 though you are little among the thousands of Judah, 12:25 yet out of you shall come forth to Me, 12:28 the One to be Ruler in Israel, 12:32 whose goings forth are from of old, 12:35 from everlasting." 12:36 It talks here about a person coming to this earth 12:41 who had lived from time eternal, 12:46 billions of years ago and he comes to this earth 12:51 and he's going to be born in a little town 12:55 by the name of Bethlehem Ephrathah. 13:00 Now listen to the facts. 13:04 Jesus was born, 13:08 not in the place where His parents lived. 13:11 His parents lived in a little town 13:14 up north in Israel by the name of Nazareth. 13:20 But the Bible said He'd be born in this little town 13:23 by the name of Bethlehem, which is down south. 13:28 Now history tells me 13:30 that the Romans decreed a census, 13:34 and this census said 13:36 that every person had to go back to his hometown. 13:40 And the hometown of His parents was not Nazareth, 13:45 but the little town of Bethlehem. 13:49 And so Mary, pregnant with Christ, 13:53 and Joseph traveled down 13:57 that long, bumpy road. 14:00 They travel down, I guess, on the back of a camel. 14:05 Oh, no, don't think... not a camel. 14:09 They would do this later, 14:10 perhaps when they went down to Egypt. 14:13 But they travel on the back of a donkey. 14:16 Though there are camels over there in Israel too 14:19 but most likely they traveled on the back of a donkey. 14:25 And when they got to Bethlehem 14:27 which is the place 14:28 that was predicted in the Bible, 14:32 Jesus was born not in a palace, 14:37 not at the White House, not in Buckingham Palace. 14:42 No, He was born in a shed 14:45 at the back of Motel 6. 14:48 At Motel 6 or the inn 14:51 didn't have room for the Son of God, 14:54 the Creator of the universe. 14:55 Isn't this amazing? 14:58 The blindness of the world. 15:02 And so, through the prophets, 15:05 Christ predicted the place of His birth. 15:08 Prophecy number two. 15:11 Prophecy number two. 15:14 The miracle of His conception, 15:18 and I use the word miracle. 15:22 If you turn to the prophet Isaiah Chapter 7, 15:26 and I turn to these texts 15:28 because I believe that this is here we find truth 15:32 and on truth, we can build our faith. 15:37 We don't build faith on faith 15:40 or fiction or supposition, 15:44 we build faith on truth. 15:47 Isaiah 7:14 says, 15:51 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign, 15:55 behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, 15:59 and shall call His name Immanuel." 16:03 And this means "God with us" 16:05 is referring to the coming of the Messiah, 16:10 God with us. 16:13 Now, you know the story. 16:16 If you know the Bible at least, 16:20 you know the story 16:23 that Mary becomes pregnant 16:26 and Joseph, her husband, being a good man says, 16:28 I don't want to disgrace her. 16:29 So he's just going to put her away. 16:32 But he's told by an angel from God, "No, no, no, 16:36 that which is conceived in her womb 16:39 is of the Holy Spirit." 16:41 Because the ancient prophet 700 years before Christ said, 16:46 "The virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, 16:49 and shall give His name, call His name Immanuel." 16:54 The Bible teaches 16:56 that Christ was conceived in the womb, 17:01 not by a man, 17:03 but by the Almighty Spirit of God. 17:08 Now some folks will say to me, 17:10 "But, John Carter, you know, 17:11 this is absolutely absurd. 17:16 This can't happen." 17:18 Hey, are you kidding me? 17:22 Don't you realize that the God who made the stars 17:25 is the God of the impossible? 17:28 Are you listening to me? 17:30 He is the God of the impossible. 17:33 God can do amazing things, 17:35 and God can do impossible things. 17:39 And the Bible tells me that the Almighty God, 17:41 the spirit of the Almighty God, 17:43 the God who made a trillion trillion stars, planets. 17:48 This Almighty God, 17:50 through His Spirit came upon Mary 17:54 and Jesus was conceived 17:57 of the Holy Spirit. 18:01 Christ predicted this, 18:02 He wrote His own life story before He was born, 18:05 He inspired the prophets. 18:09 Prophesy number three, inspired by the Messiah, 18:14 long, long, long before He came into this world. 18:20 Listen carefully, 18:21 the year of His coming out to preach, 18:24 His preaching, His baptism, 18:27 and His death were prophesied in the Holy Scriptures. 18:32 At least 600 BC. 18:35 Now listen carefully to this. 18:37 In the prophet Daniel, 18:38 I'm not gonna take time because we don't have time. 18:41 I always seem to have too much material. 18:43 So my guy said, 18:44 "You got to cut out some of the material, 18:46 you're talking too much." 18:48 So, but in Daniel Chapter 9, there is a remarkable prophecy. 18:53 Please listen. 18:55 This remarkable prophecy was given by God to a prophet 18:59 by the name of Daniel, 19:00 who was living in the great city of Babylon. 19:03 And the Bible said Jerusalem would get destroyed, 19:06 it was, it was destroyed. 19:08 But then the Bible says, after Jerusalem was destroyed, 19:12 there would commit a decree, 19:13 to restore and to build Jerusalem. 19:16 And the Bible said, 19:17 there would be a period of time 19:19 483 years after the decree, 19:23 to restore and to build Jerusalem. 19:25 That decree was given by the Persian in, 19:29 Persian Emperor in 457 BC. 19:33 This is a fact, not just telling you something, 19:35 this is a fact. 19:37 And the Bible says, in this prophecy, 19:39 even read it yourself in Daniel 9, 19:41 there will be 483 years 19:44 and then you would have the coming of the Messiah. 19:50 You think of this. 19:52 You can work out the dates, 19:53 it teaches that the Messiah would appear in the year 27 AD. 19:59 You say, I can't believe, yes, you can believe this. 20:02 I'm going to turn over here to Luke Chapter 3, 20:04 because this is an independent commentary 20:09 on the prophecy of Daniel. 20:11 I'm going to read Luke Chapter 3, 20:14 and I'm going to take it right out of the Bible 20:16 and I want you folks to listen. 20:18 Luke 3:1 says, 20:20 "Now in the fifteenth year 20:21 of the reign of Tiberius Caesar," 20:24 you know, when that happened, 20:25 what date that was, according to Jewish reckoning, 20:29 that was 27 AD. 20:31 "The fifteenth year 20:32 of the reign of Tiberius Caesar." 20:34 It says, "Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, 20:38 Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, 20:41 his brother Philip Tetrarch of Iturea 20:44 and the region of Trachonitis, 20:45 and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene." 20:50 Here we have some great historical facts, 20:54 brother, sister, 20:56 we're talking here, not just faith, 20:58 we're talking about the facts, 21:01 talking about the 15th year 21:02 of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, 21:04 and that is 27 AD. 21:07 And I'm going to read now verse 23. 21:10 And it actually talks about the coming of Christ 21:15 to be baptized 21:16 and to start His messianic role in the world. 21:20 Luke 3:23, says, let me see, verse 23. 21:26 Here it is. 21:27 "Now Jesus Himself began His ministry 21:31 at about thirty years of age, 21:34 being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph," 21:39 and then it gives His genealogy but the text tells me 21:43 that Jesus 21:45 when He was about 30 years of age, 21:50 in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, 21:54 Jesus was baptized, 21:57 and the Spirit of God came upon Him 21:59 and He went forth to preach the kingdom of heaven 22:01 is at hand. 22:03 Now have a look over here again. 22:06 483 years it says 22:10 in Daniel Chapter 9, 22:12 you had the 483 years 22:15 on to 457 BC, 22:18 the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus, have you got it. 22:23 And this brings you through to the year 27 AD, 22:27 which is the 15th year 22:29 of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. 22:34 Christ predicted the time when He would start to preach 22:39 and the time of His baptism. 22:42 Jesus Christ is a man who wrote His own life story 22:46 before He was born. 22:48 Now if this is true, my friend, and it is true, 22:50 if it is true, if genuine prophecy exists, 22:53 then the main issues of our age are met. 22:57 And if this is true what I'm telling you, 23:02 if genuine prophecy exists, 23:03 then there is a God 23:05 and Jesus Christ 23:08 is the predicted Messiah. 23:12 You can believe it not because of blind faith 23:16 but you can believe it 23:18 because it is the truth. 23:23 Jesus Christ is the author 23:25 of the Old Testament prophecies. 23:27 He wrote His own life story before He was born, 23:32 and around the world, 23:33 especially in Russia and Ukraine, 23:35 I've had literally tens of thousands, 23:38 hundreds of thousands of atheists and communists 23:42 and cynics say, 23:43 "We can no longer deny the evidence. 23:47 The Bible is the Word of God 23:48 and Jesus is the Son of God." 23:53 Prophecy number four, here it comes. 23:55 It was predicted in the Old Testament 23:58 that the Messiah would be rejected 24:00 by His own people. 24:02 Now as you all know, Jesus was a Jew. 24:05 And He came to the land of Israel, 24:07 He came to His people who were Jews. 24:10 Isaiah 53:3, 24:13 written 2,700 years ago, said these words. 24:19 Isaiah 53:3, 24:21 "He is despised and rejected by men, 24:25 a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 24:28 And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. 24:32 He was despised, we did not esteem Him." 24:37 Jesus was a Jew. 24:40 Jesus comes through His own people, 24:41 comes to the chosen people, the special people, 24:46 and instead of rolling out the bands and praising God, 24:52 His own people rejected Him. 24:56 The Jewish people, His own people rejected Him 24:59 and handed Him over to the Romans. 25:02 And the Romans took Him 25:04 and they nailed Him on a cross. 25:10 Every word, every single word of the prophecies 25:14 came to pass. 25:17 Listen very carefully, may these sayings, 25:19 may these words sink down 25:21 into the molecules of your minds. 25:25 Jesus Christ is the man who wrote His own life story 25:31 before He was born. 25:34 If this is true, 25:36 then Jesus Christ is the Messiah, 25:39 He is the Son of God, He is the Savior of the world, 25:44 He is your Savior and my Savior too. 25:48 And remember, if genuine prophecy exists, 25:52 then we know who we are, we know why we're here, 25:56 we know where we came from 25:59 and we know where we are going. 26:04 I have more amazing prophecies to share with you. 26:09 I'll be back soon. 26:12 Don't go away. 26:25 You can now find a Carter Report 26:27 anywhere, anytime, on any Android or Apple device. 26:33 Use your cell phone, tablet, 26:36 computer or TV 26:39 to access the many inspirational messages 26:42 from Pastor Carter, 24/7. 26:45 For Apple users, go to the App Store, 26:48 for Android users, go to Google Play 26:51 and download the free Carter Report app. 26:55 The Carter Report also has 26:58 an official YouTube and Vimeo channel. 27:01 Search for the Carter Report 27:03 and find the topic that speaks to you. 27:05 Roku users simply search for the Carter Report 27:08 and download the app free. 27:11 The same on Amazon Fire. 27:13 For Apple TV, 27:14 visit the App Store and download the app. 27:17 Reach out to the Carter Report and experience the hope, 27:21 faith and love of Jesus Christ. 27:29 The Antichrist is in the temple of God. 27:34 I will read you the actual words 27:37 of the great Roman Catholic Church. 27:41 More than a billion people pray to the dead. 27:47 But the Bible talks very plainly 27:48 about good angels and bad angels. 27:55 Why on earth were you and I born? 28:03 This DVD series from John Carter will be yours 28:06 with a gift of $50 US or $70 Australian. 28:10 Write to us at the address on the screen. 28:12 Visit carterreport.org, 28:13 your home for inspirational teaching. 28:30 For a copy of today's program, 28:32 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Revised 2020-07-23