Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR002014S
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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. 00:23 Hello, friend. I'm John Carter. 00:25 Welcome today to the Carter Report. 00:27 Today we're talking about the man 00:30 who wrote His own life story before He was born. 00:34 That's a bit amazing, isn't it? 00:37 That a man could write the details of His life 00:40 not after, but before He was born. 00:45 Was there such a person? 00:47 Absolutely. 00:49 And listen to what I'm going to say, 00:50 this is pretty important. 00:52 Here in America, 00:54 we read a great deal and hear a great deal 00:57 about faith-based organizations 01:01 in contrast to scientific organizations, 01:06 they say you belong to a church. 01:07 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 01:09 Well, you belong to a faith-based organization. 01:13 And people think that faith is not based upon truth, 01:16 but it's based upon what you want it to be. 01:20 Now with many people, that's true. 01:25 But it's not what Jesus taught. 01:27 Jesus, our Lord said, 01:30 "You shall know the truth, 01:34 and the truth shall make you free." 01:38 Faith, my friend, 01:39 is simply another word for belief 01:43 but there is no efficacy in faith, 01:47 unless it is based upon the truth, 01:52 unless it is based upon the great facts of history. 01:57 Now today, 01:58 we're not just talking about an airy fairy faith. 02:02 We are talking about the great facts of history. 02:05 I've got a statement here that I like very much, 02:07 I put it up now and then because it, 02:10 it sort of fits in with the theme of my talk today 02:14 and other talks. 02:15 I've used this with my Russian friends 02:17 and my communist friends many times. 02:19 If genuine prophecy exists, 02:22 then the big issues of our times are solved. 02:27 If a man could write his own life story before he was born, 02:31 that would have to be a genuine prophecy, 02:33 don't you think, brother, sister? 02:36 If genuine prophecy exists, 02:38 that's the big question 02:40 and we're going to prove that it does today. 02:42 Not from faith, but from the facts of history. 02:48 And what are the big issues of the aid? 02:50 Well, most folks who've got these big issues today, 02:55 who am I? 02:57 What am I? 02:58 Am I an animal? 02:59 Am I a cosmic accident? 03:03 Am I a machine? 03:05 Where did I come from? 03:07 Why am I, what is the purpose, is there any meaning in life? 03:10 What is the purpose of existence? 03:13 And of course, where are you going? 03:18 Now if genuine prophecy exists, 03:20 then the main issues of life 03:22 and the main issues of our age are met. 03:26 Because of this genuine prophecy, 03:27 I can know who I am, 03:29 why I am here, 03:31 where I came from and where I am going. 03:35 Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, 03:40 and the truth shall make you free." 03:43 He didn't say you're gonna know about faith, 03:45 and that faith is going, 03:47 that belief is going to make you free. 03:48 Jesus said, "You'll know the truth, 03:51 you'll know the facts, 03:52 you will have the evidence 03:54 and the truth will make you free." 03:57 Now this is a continuation of the talk I started 04:00 a little while ago on the man who wrote His own life story 04:04 before He was born. 04:05 And the great premise of this talk is this 04:08 that Jesus existed before He was born. 04:13 And through the Old Testament prophets, 04:15 He predicted the great events of His life. 04:18 Did you hear this? 04:20 Through the prophets, the Old Testament prophets, 04:22 He predicted the great events of His life. 04:26 And now we're going to come to prophecy number five, 04:32 because we dealt with one, two, three, four 04:34 in the first part of the talk. 04:37 It was predicted in the Old Testament, 04:39 it was predicted by the Spirit of Christ 04:42 that the Messiah would be, here it is, 04:45 amazing predictions number five, 04:48 He would be betrayed by a friend. 04:53 And there is a text I'm going to turn in the, 04:57 in the Bible to a text that is about 3,000 years old, 05:02 how old did I say, 3,000 years old. 05:05 And I'm going to come to Psalm 41. 05:08 And let me see verse, verse 9. 05:12 Here it is. 05:13 Here is the messianic prophecy, 05:16 Psalms 41:9. 05:20 "Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, 05:26 who ate my bread, 05:28 has lifted up his heel against me." 05:32 It was predicted 1,000 years before Christ was born 05:38 that His confidant, His familiar friend, 05:42 the person that He shared so many aspects of His life, 05:47 the person with whom He broke bread, 05:49 this person would betray Him. 05:54 History tells me that Jesus had a special friend. 05:58 They trusted him so much, 06:00 they made him the treasurer of the organization. 06:03 He was in charge of the money. 06:06 And his name was, 06:09 and has today a note of infamy about it. 06:12 His name was Judas Iscariot. 06:17 And the Bible tells me the New Testament, 06:21 which is an independent book to the Old Testament. 06:25 The record of the New Testament says 06:27 that this special friend of Jesus 06:30 went and betrayed his Lord. 06:34 The prophecy came to pass in the act of treachery 06:39 by the disciple of Christ, whose name was Judas, 06:43 the prophecy was fulfilled. 06:46 Look at prophecy number six 06:48 because it's very similar to this prophecy. 06:50 Number six, prophecy given long before Christ was born. 06:56 Prophecy number six, 06:58 He would be sold for not 20 pieces 07:00 but for 30 pieces of silver. 07:05 And I'm going to show you the prophecy. 07:06 We're gonna go to the prophecies 07:08 out of the Old Testament, 07:10 and it goes back hundreds and hundreds of years 07:12 before Christ was born. 07:14 It is a prophecy found in Zechariah 11:13. 07:18 Would you kindly look at this text 07:20 and think about it, brother, sister. 07:23 "The Lord said to me, 'Throw it to the potter' 07:28 that princely price they set on me. 07:30 So I took the thirty pieces of silver 07:34 and throw them into the house of the Lord for the potter." 07:38 What an amazing, amazing text, what happened? 07:43 Well, Judas went along to the Jewish priests, 07:46 and they were hungry for the blood of Christ, 07:48 because he was a national threat to their security. 07:53 And he said, "I'm, I want to do a deal with you. 07:58 I'm prepared to sell this man to you, 08:02 and what will you give me?" 08:03 And they said, "What about thirty pieces?" 08:05 Judas said, "Done." 08:08 And then later on when Christ was captured 08:10 and when he was being tortured, 08:13 Judas became filled with remorse. 08:17 Judas took the 30 pieces of silver, 08:20 and he ran into the temple 08:22 and he flung down the 30 pieces of silver, 08:27 as was predicted by the ancient prophet. 08:31 Amazing. 08:32 Here's evidence that there's a God. 08:34 And prophecy came to pass. 08:36 And the priest said, 08:37 "What are we gonna do with this money 08:39 because we can't put this into the treasury 08:41 because this is, this is blood money." 08:45 And somebody said, "We know what we'll do, 08:47 we'll buy that potter's field with it, 08:49 and we'll use it as a burial place 08:52 for strangers." 08:54 You couldn't make this stuff up, my friend, 08:56 you couldn't make it up. 08:58 Every word of the prophecy came to pass, here is proof, 09:01 here is absolute evidence 09:03 that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, 09:06 and that He is the Savior of the world. 09:10 Every word of the ancient prediction 09:14 came to pass. 09:16 Prophesy number seven, the most amazing prophecy, 09:21 I think, in the Bible, 09:24 given about 1,000 years 09:27 before Christ was born in Bethlehem. 09:30 And the prophecy says 09:32 that the Messiah would be crucified. 09:35 Can you believe this? 09:37 It was predicted 09:38 that the Messiah would be crucified. 09:40 And in those days prophecy was unknown. 09:44 They didn't crucify people back there, 1000 BC. 09:50 Let me show you the text. 09:52 Text is found Psalm 22:16. 09:57 These words were written, don't forget this place. 10:01 These words were written 10:02 1,000 years before Christ was born, 10:04 but Christ inspired this prophecy. 10:07 He's a man who wrote His own life story 10:09 before He was born. 10:11 Notice it. 10:12 "For dogs have surrounded Me. 10:15 The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. 10:18 They pierced My hands and My feet." 10:23 I say to the skeptic, 10:25 what are you gonna do with that? 10:28 When these words were written, crucifixion was unknown. 10:34 But the Bible says 10:35 that they would get the Messiah, 10:37 and they would pierce His hands and His feet. 10:41 This is an amazingly apt description 10:46 of the barbaric practice of crucifying a person. 10:51 It was predicted 10:53 that the Jewish leaders would betray Christ, 10:56 that they would pass Him over to the Gentiles 10:59 and that He would be crucified. 11:03 If I had nothing else but that text 11:06 and the history of Christ, 11:08 I would be forced to believe there's a God in heaven 11:11 and that the Bible is true, and that Jesus is the Messiah. 11:15 And let me tell you 11:16 just a little bit of personal history. 11:19 Many years ago when I was a boy, 11:21 and my hair wasn't this color or this long, 11:27 I studied under the great German archaeologist, 11:31 Dr. Siegfried Horn. 11:34 One of the greatest archaeologists in the history 11:37 of, of archaeology, 11:40 an absolute scholar 11:42 and in his own way, a great scientist 11:45 because he was interested 11:46 not just in talking airy fairy nonsense, 11:50 he was interested in the facts. 11:52 I'm interested in the facts, my friend, 11:55 and we don't have alternative facts. 11:57 You can't say I've got my facts 11:59 and you've got your facts, no, no, no. 12:01 You can have your opinion. 12:02 It may be right, it may be wrong, 12:04 but you can't have your facts. 12:06 There's only one set of facts. 12:08 And that's why Jesus said you will know the truth, 12:10 you'll know the facts, 12:12 and the facts will set you free. 12:14 That is why I believe in a faith 12:16 that is based upon not just what I want to believe, 12:21 not make-believe religion, 12:22 I want a faith that is based upon the facts of history. 12:27 And here's a statement from my great old teacher, 12:32 Dr. Siegfried Horn, the great German archaeologist. 12:38 "Crucifixion, crucifixion as a mode of execution 12:43 was inflicted throughout the Roman Empire 12:45 on the lowest classes of people, slaves, 12:48 who were considered chattels anyway, 12:51 common criminals, and unruly foreign subjects. 12:56 It was considered an effective deterrent 12:59 for which reason 13:00 crucifixions were usually carried out in public squares, 13:05 in order that the greatest number of people 13:09 could witness them and be scared to death. 13:13 The victims were usually first flogged 13:16 in such a cruel way that some were half dead 13:21 when the actual crucifixion began. 13:25 They were nailed to the crosses stark naked, 13:28 and the legs were bent sideways, 13:30 as shown by the skeleton of a crucified man 13:34 that was found in a tomb near Jerusalem in 1968. 13:38 Now remember, remember this is from Dr. Siegfried Horn. 13:42 Often the rough and heartless legionnaires 13:45 even drove a big nail 13:47 through the private parts of the victims, 13:52 as Seneca tells us. 13:54 Affixed to the cross for hours, yes, 13:58 sometimes for days, before they died, 14:02 they could not care for their bodily needs, 14:04 and were the objects of mockery and indignities 14:09 from passersby. 14:11 Crucifixion in the Roman world was the most shameful, 14:16 and the most dishonorable death any person could experience. 14:21 Now let this sink down into your minds, 14:24 and in the name of God, think about it. 14:30 Christ through the Old Testament prophets 14:33 predicted the details of His life and His death. 14:36 He predicted in the book of Psalms, 14:41 that His hands would be pierced 14:44 and His feet would be pierced. 14:48 It was predicted 1,000 years before it happened, 14:52 that the Messiah would be crucified. 14:57 Horror of horrors 15:00 because who was this man hanging on the cross? 15:04 That is the question you've got to think of. 15:08 Do you have the courage to think about it? 15:11 I ask you, my friend, do you have the courage? 15:15 Shall we think about the identity of this man 15:19 who is being crucified? 15:21 The Bible tells me that He was the Messiah, 15:24 who had, wait for it, He had created the universe. 15:29 Say, I can't believe this. 15:30 Whether you believe it or not, it doesn't alter the truth. 15:34 You can't have your facts 15:36 and I have a different set of facts. 15:38 We need to have the facts. 15:39 And the facts, as proven by Bible prophecy, 15:43 tell us that this Man who was nailed to the cross 15:48 was more than just a human being. 15:53 The Bible says that He was the one 15:55 who created the universe out of nothing. 15:58 He is the great I am, the Lord God Almighty, 16:03 the Promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, 16:07 and He was hung to a cross. 16:13 Incomprehensible, why was He hung on a cross? 16:17 He was hung on the cross, my friend, 16:21 because He was bearing 16:23 the sin of the world. 16:27 As I would say to the communists 16:29 and the atheists 16:30 by the hundreds of thousands, in the former Soviet Union, 16:34 behold your God, what a God He is, 16:38 how much He loves you, 16:40 how much He loves you. 16:44 Amazing predictions. 16:46 Here we go, number eight. 16:48 It was predicted 16:50 that the Messiah would become the substitute 16:54 for the sins of the human race. 16:58 And this was predicted 16:59 in the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah, 17:04 and I'm going to turn to this prophet. 17:06 There's no writing quite like the writings of, of Isaiah. 17:12 They're absolutely splendid and magnificent. 17:16 Isaiah 53:5, 6. 17:20 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, 17:23 He was bruised for our iniquities. 17:26 The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, 17:29 by His stripes we are healed. 17:32 All we like sheep have gone astray, 17:34 we've turned every wonder His own way. 17:36 And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." 17:39 The Bible teaches that the sin of the human race 17:45 would be laid upon Christ, your sin and mine. 17:49 How much does He love you? 17:51 With His own blood. 17:53 With His own suffering. 17:54 With His own pain. 17:56 What is God like? 17:59 God is like this man hanging on the cross 18:01 because Christ was a revelation of God. 18:06 Over in London, many, many years ago, 18:11 18th century I think, or the 19th century, 18:16 they had a sludge vessel, 18:17 they would take all the sewage of that great, 18:20 magnificent city of London 18:23 and every day they'd bring the sewage 18:25 and they'd put it on this boat. 18:29 Pretty filthy. 18:31 The sludge of London. 18:34 The boat would go out into the British channel, 18:36 the North Sea, 18:38 and there it would drop its cargo 18:41 down into the blackness of the, of the ocean, 18:46 taken away. 18:48 And the Bible tells me that on the cross, 18:50 the sludge of the world was placed upon Christ, 18:54 your sin and mine. 18:55 Our problem is we have no comprehension, 18:58 no understanding of the depth of human depravity 19:02 that Christ did because Christ had, 19:04 He was sinless and innocent 19:06 and yet the sin of the world 19:08 was laid upon Christ. 19:12 So what is this God like? 19:14 Infinitely better than you can believe 19:17 or comprehend or realize, 19:21 and He loves you. 19:23 Christ is the man who wrote His own life story 19:26 before He was born. 19:27 Therefore, believe in Him. 19:29 Prophecy number nine, here we come. 19:32 Prediction number nine, 19:35 it was predicted not one of his bones would be broken. 19:38 Amazing. 19:39 Here is the text, I want to show it to you. 19:42 I'm gonna put it here, prediction, Psalms 34:20, 19:46 "He guards all his bones. 19:48 Not one of them is broken." 19:50 It is predicted that not one of the bones of Christ 19:53 would be broken. 19:55 But late in the day on the Friday, 19:57 the Romans came to break the legs of the criminals, 20:02 crucified on either side of Christ. 20:07 They came and they broke their legs, 20:09 but when they came to Christ, 20:10 they discovered He was dead already. 20:14 So, they got a sword and pierced His side, 20:17 blood and water came out. 20:20 But they didn't break His bones, 20:23 because it is written 20:25 that none of His bones would be broken. 20:28 Here is undeniable evidence that Christ is the Messiah, 20:31 the Savior of the world, your Savior. 20:35 And here is undeniable evidence this God, 20:38 He made you, and He loves you. 20:40 Therefore, believe in this God 20:42 who believes in you and do it today. 20:45 It was predicted, prophecy number 10, 20:49 that He would be raised from the dead. 20:52 Prophesy number 10, His resurrection. 20:57 And here is the ancient prophecy. 21:00 Psalms 16:10, 11. 21:04 Psalms 16:10, 11. 21:09 "For You will not leave my Sheol," the grave. 21:14 "Nor will You allow Your Holy One 21:17 to see corruption. 21:19 You will show me the path of life. 21:23 In Your presence is fullness of joy, 21:26 at your right hand 21:28 are pleasures forevermore." 21:32 So, it is predicted 21:34 that His body would not see decay 21:37 and that He would not be left in the grave. 21:43 Listen very carefully. 21:48 The Romans seal the tomb, going to keep Him in there. 21:55 You're going to keep Him in there? 21:57 Who are you kidding? 21:59 So they seal up the tomb. 22:01 But on the Sunday morning, 22:04 a mighty angel comes down from heaven, 22:07 and just throws away the stone. 22:12 And Jesus, the Son of God, 22:17 the human divine Son of God walks out of the tomb 22:21 and He says, "I am the resurrection 22:24 and the life." 22:25 So much for the Roman soldiers. 22:28 So much for the Jewish high priests. 22:32 Death could not keep Him in the tomb. 22:37 He's the man who wrote His own life story 22:39 before He was born. 22:41 In the Old Testament, 22:43 the Spirit of Christ inspired the prophets, 22:45 and they wrote down all these prophecies. 22:48 I've shown 10 of these prophecies to you. 22:51 I could have shown 100 prophecies to you, 22:53 and these prophecies are undeniable evidence 22:57 that the Bible is true, that there is a God in heaven. 23:00 Are you listening to me? 23:02 There's a God in heaven, and that Jesus is the Messiah. 23:10 There was a great battle many years ago 23:11 between the French and the English, 23:14 Wellington and Napoleon. 23:18 Well, at the end of the day, 23:19 the British defeated the French. 23:23 And they had to send a message back to England 23:25 because England was waiting, what's happened? 23:29 And so, they sent out this message, 23:31 spelt it out, 23:32 "Wellington defeated" 23:37 and then the fog came down. 23:40 And the British in Great Britain 23:42 were in despair. 23:44 Wellington defeated but then the fog lifted 23:48 and the message went out, 23:50 "Wellington defeated Napoleon." 23:55 Made a big difference. 23:57 On the Friday when Jesus died, 24:00 I imagine the message went out around the universe, 24:04 "Jesus, Jesus, 24:09 Jesus defeated." 24:12 But on the Sunday morning, 24:14 Christ walked out of the tomb, it's a fact. 24:18 And the message was fresh from universe to universe. 24:23 "Jesus defeated 24:28 Satan and death." 24:31 So I want you to know this. 24:32 He's alive, He's well, He's all powerful. 24:38 And the Bible tells me He's coming back in power 24:41 and great glory, though this world 24:44 that most people don't believe in Him, 24:46 but they can't get rid of Him. 24:49 He is alive, 24:51 He is King of kings and Lord of lords, 24:55 and He's coming back in power and great glory. 25:00 Judgment, there's a judgment day? 25:03 Yes, there is. 25:05 Is there salvation for God's people? 25:07 Absolutely. 25:08 He's coming back to raise the dead and to capture, 25:13 to lift up His people. 25:15 He's going to lift them up. 25:16 He's going to take the ransoms, the captives from the graves, 25:21 and He's going to take the living saints, 25:23 and they're going to be taken home to glory. 25:27 Is that good news? 25:29 It's great news and this world has got so many problems. 25:32 Jesus said, "I will come again." 25:36 Christ. 25:39 Christ is the man who wrote His own life story 25:43 before He was born 25:45 because He inspired the prophets 25:47 of the Old Testament. 25:49 He is the Son of God, 25:52 He is King of kings and Lord of lords, 25:55 He is your Savior, 25:57 He is my Savior 26:02 and He loves you. 26:04 I ask you today, 26:06 believe in Him, believe in Jesus. 26:09 Do it now, by the act of faith, 26:12 believe in the God who believes in you. 26:21 The Carter Report 26:23 is now streaming on demand for you. 26:26 Now you can have the teachings of John Carter anytime, 26:29 day or night. 26:31 By streaming the Carter Report 26:33 there is more content for you to choose from, and it's easy. 26:38 If you are new to streaming, 26:40 all you need to do is purchase a streaming device. 26:43 It doesn't really matter which one, you can buy a Roku, 26:47 Amazon Fire or Apple TV from any major retailer. 26:52 You or a family member can plug the device into your TV 26:56 and sign into your internet connection. 26:59 Do a search for the Carter Report, 27:01 and download the app to your device. 27:03 From then on, your device and the Carter Report app 27:07 can provide you with hundreds of on-demand programs. 27:11 You can also take the Carter Report with you 27:13 wherever you go. 27:15 The official free Carter Report mobile app 27:17 can be downloaded to your phone or tablet. 27:21 Go to the App Store or Google Play Store 27:23 and download the app. 27:26 Additionally, you can find Carter Report programs 27:29 on your favorite podcast. 27:31 You can also watch us on Vimeo or YouTube. 27:35 Type the Carter Report in the search box. 27:40 You can watch hundreds of uninterrupted 27:41 John Carter teachings 27:43 whenever you want, for as many hours as you want. 27:47 Travel with John Carter as he circles the globe 27:50 to bring the gospel to millions of people. 27:52 Watch the Carter Classics from over 50 years of ministry 27:56 and gain knowledge from stimulating interviews 27:58 with Christian leaders. 28:01 You now have multiple ways to watch the Carter Report. 28:05 And once you start streaming, 28:06 you'll find comfort in having these teachings 28:08 readily available to you, 28:10 whenever and wherever you want for free. 28:15 Welcome to the inspirational world of John Carter. 28:24 For a copy of today's program, 28:26 please contact us at P. 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Revised 2020-07-23