Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR002015S
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00:01 How long does it take to be saved?
00:02 John Carter was going to give the answers 00:04 to this powerful question at the Manila programs. 00:07 Now, because of a global pandemic, 00:10 John Carter now teaches from his studio in Los Angeles. 00:13 This important presentation is about the three prodigals, 00:17 the Pharisees, and how and why God loves bad people. 00:21 Here is John Carter. 00:25 Without a doubt, 00:27 one of the greatest cities in the world is St. Petersburg. 00:30 Just a marvelous place. 00:32 I've been there on number of occasions. 00:34 On one occasion, we went there 00:36 to run a great evangelistic campaign 00:38 in this vast palace of sport. 00:41 The people in St. Petersburg are very special people. 00:47 Inside the city of St. Petersburg 00:49 is the Winter Palace, 00:51 the fabulous palace of the Tsars, 00:56 and a part of the great Winter Palace 00:59 is the hermitage. 01:01 Now, that's some place. 01:05 I just love the Hermitage, 01:08 all the Hermitage 01:10 as it is called by some people. 01:15 I love it because it's the place 01:18 where they have this 01:19 magnificent painting by Rembrandt. 01:24 Beverley and I was shown through this 01:26 tremendous place, Hermitage, by the curator, 01:29 that's when we are running 01:31 these meetings in St. Petersburg, 01:33 in the palace of sport. 01:35 I'm just amazed by this painting. 01:38 Every time I look at it, I sort of get goosebumps, 01:41 this great painting by Rembrandt. 01:45 I think if my memory is working well today, 01:49 I think it was Kenneth Clark, 01:54 the great art critic who said it was probably... 01:57 Let me read you 01:58 what Kenneth Clark said about it. 02:01 Here, Kenneth Clark, "A picture 02:03 which those who have seen the original in St. Petersburg 02:08 may be forgiven for claiming 02:11 as the greatest picture ever painted." 02:16 Did you hear that? That seems extreme, doesn't it? 02:21 The greatest picture ever painted, 02:25 because it is about the greatest subject. 02:29 I just want you to have a look at this painting, please. 02:31 It's, because it is magnificent painting. 02:37 The painting is the return of the prodigal son. 02:41 And here is the old father. 02:43 And the father represents God 02:45 who takes the prodigal back into his household. 02:49 It's amazing because if you look at the hands 02:51 of the old father, one is the hand of a man 02:55 and the other is the hand of a woman. 02:58 It represents strongness and the tenderness of God. 03:04 It's just an amazing painting. 03:07 And then if you look over here... 03:08 Oh, there's Rembrandt himself, 03:10 somehow he got into the painting. 03:12 How did he get into it? 03:14 I guess he put himself there. 03:15 Here you've got 03:17 the original Rembrandt and there, 03:20 you've got the Rembrandt 03:21 who puts himself but also too, 03:24 you're going to see as we go along today, 03:26 you've got the elder brother, 03:28 who represents the harsh, severe religionist. 03:33 Just an amazing painting. 03:36 I'm going to read a text to you. 03:38 Today, the topic is, 03:39 "How long does it take to be saved?" 03:41 And who wants to go to heaven? 03:42 I hope we all want to go to heaven, 03:44 but who wants to go to heaven? 03:46 And how do you get to heaven? 03:48 I'm going to turn over here to a text 03:49 in the Bible to Luke 15:1, 2, 03:54 dear hearts and gentle people. 03:57 Luke 15:1, 2, 04:03 and this is a tremendous text. 04:07 "Then all the text collectors 04:09 and the sinners drew near to him, 04:11 they hear him." 04:13 These are the baddies. 04:15 And the Pharisees, they're the goodies. 04:18 They are the super religious people. 04:21 "The Pharisees and the scribes complain saying, 04:25 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'" 04:30 And Jesus say, "You're dead right. 04:34 This man does receive sinners, and He does eat with them." 04:39 Now let's talk a bit shall we, about the Pharisees? 04:43 Because they were Christ's bitterest enemies, 04:46 the Pharisees, the super, super religious people. 04:50 They were an elite, 04:54 powerful group of religious leaders. 04:58 They were the strict defenders of tradition and orthodoxy. 05:03 They were the most pious people 05:06 that you'd ever meet in all your life. 05:08 They taught that salvation came by keeping the law of God. 05:13 It sounds good, doesn't it? 05:16 And therefore they invented hundreds of manmade laws, 05:20 and they despised the ordinary people. 05:24 And they became Christ's bitterest enemies. 05:28 They hated him. 05:30 And they said, "This man receives sinners 05:33 and goes to eat with them." 05:34 Jesus said, "Absolutely." 05:37 Let me give you just a little bit of history. 05:40 Many, many years before Christ, 05:42 a couple of hundred years before Christ, 05:43 there was a man 05:45 by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes. 05:49 And he tried to Hellenize the Jews. 05:52 What am I talking about? 05:53 He tried to force a Greek customs 05:57 upon the Jewish people 06:00 and get rid of their Jewish religion. 06:04 So he tried to abolish the Sabbath. 06:08 He invaded Jerusalem 06:10 and made war against the Jews and killed thousands of Jews. 06:16 He abolished the Sabbath circumcision. 06:19 And some say that he even set up an altar, 06:23 one of these pagan altars in the temple of Jehovah. 06:28 Some say he went even further, 06:30 and he sacrificed a pig 06:34 on the altar in the temple 06:37 in Jerusalem. 06:41 But the Jews are fighters, they came out fighting. 06:45 And they were led by a zealot 06:48 whose name was Judas Maccabeus. 06:51 Try to put that down in the molecules of your mind, 06:55 brother, sister. 06:57 Judas Maccabeus, he was a tremendous fighter. 07:02 And after a number of years with some other Jewish people, 07:07 thousands of them, 07:08 they drove out the hated Antiochus Epiphanes. 07:14 Now the Jews said this. 07:17 This is what they thought. 07:19 And you can understand their thinking. 07:21 "Bad things happen when we broke the law." 07:26 That's why Antiochus Epiphanes came 07:28 and ravaged the temple. 07:30 "Bad things happen when we broke the law, 07:33 therefore good things happen 07:36 when we keep the law." 07:40 The Pharisees said, "Well, if we keep the law of God, 07:45 and if we're super pious, and we follow the scriptures, 07:49 and if we have all these rules 07:51 to make sure that we keep the scriptures, 07:54 God is going to bless us." 07:57 The Pharisees were the separatists. 08:00 They stayed away from ordinary people. 08:03 And they hated Jesus because Jesus said, 08:08 "This man receives sinners." 08:10 Well, they actually said it, but Jesus said, "You're right. 08:13 It's true." 08:15 This man, the Christ, He receives sinners, 08:19 and He goes to eat with them. 08:23 And therefore, the leaders of the Jewish religion, 08:28 the defenders of Orthodoxy, 08:30 the most pious people in the land, 08:33 they hated Christ, 08:35 because He received sinners. 08:39 And to show that the Pharisees on this occasion 08:44 were absolutely right, Jesus told three stories. 08:49 And one of those stories was about the three prodigals 08:55 that features the prodigal son. 08:59 Now, the first story that Jesus told which explained 09:03 his relationship to lost men 09:06 and women is the story of the lost sheep. 09:10 And you can read it 09:12 in the Bible in Luke 09:15 15:3, 4. 09:21 And I want you to notice it today. 09:25 "So he spoke this parable to them, saying: 09:29 'What man of you, having hundred sheep, 09:33 if he loses one of them, 09:35 does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, 09:39 and go after the one 09:41 which is lost until he finds it?'" 09:45 So Jesus is talking here about a silly sheep 09:48 that through its own fault wanders away 09:51 from the fold 09:52 and goes out into the wilderness 09:54 and its life is in jeopardy 09:58 and sheep can be my friend, 10:00 silly creatures, I know it because 10:03 I have worked on sheep farms in Australia. 10:07 Sheep are not as smart as the goats. 10:10 Goats seem to be far more intelligent, 10:13 but sheep are silly creatures. 10:16 And God uses sheep 10:18 as an illustration to represent you and me. 10:23 And so this is a silly sheep 10:25 and he wanders away 10:27 from the father's house or from the shepherd. 10:31 And Jesus goes on, and He explains the story. 10:36 Verses 5 to 7. 10:39 Luke 15:5-7. 10:42 Listen. 10:45 "And when he has found it, 10:47 he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 10:51 And when he comes home, 10:52 he calls together his friends 10:54 and neighbors saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, 10:56 I have found my sheep that was lost.'" 11:00 Then verse 7, "I say to you, 11:04 that likewise 11:06 there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner 11:10 who repents than over ninety-nine 11:13 just persons who need no repentance." 11:16 Now, what is the story? 11:18 Just listen to the story. 11:21 Here is a sheep. The sheep represents you. 11:24 The sheep represents me in my lostness. 11:28 We wander away from God. 11:30 Now what does God do? 11:32 What does the shepherd do? 11:33 The Bible tells us, 11:35 the shepherd goes and looks for the sheep. 11:37 And when he finds it, he doesn't kick it. 11:41 No, the shepherd picks it up and holds it in his arms 11:45 and he kisses it 11:46 and he carries it home, and the sheep is saved. 11:51 And Jesus says, 11:53 "There is joy in the presence of God 11:56 over this one lost sinner, 11:58 this one lost sheep than over the 99 just persons 12:02 who don't need any repentance." 12:04 Who are the 99 just persons? 12:07 Would somebody tell me? 12:09 Well, they're the Pharisees. 12:13 They're the Pharisees. 12:16 Did they need repentance? Absolutely. 12:18 Did they think they need repentance? 12:20 No, absolutely. 12:21 They had nothing of which to repent, 12:24 and therefore they were cold and austere, 12:28 and self righteous, 12:30 and unbearably 12:34 frigid and cold. 12:39 But Jesus here is talking about 12:41 the one lost sheep lost through its own fault, 12:45 a silly sheep that has wandered far from the fold. 12:49 And that represents every one of us. 12:52 That's the first story 12:54 that Jesus told this man receives sinners 12:58 because this man the Messiah loves you 13:02 and He loves me. 13:03 This is the good news of the gospel. 13:07 Now, the second story is the story of the lost coin. 13:11 And here it is in Luke 13:13 15:8-10. 13:18 "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, 13:23 if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, 13:27 sweep the house 13:29 and search carefully until she finds it? 13:32 And when she is found it, 13:34 she calls her friends and neighbors together, 13:37 saying, 'Rejoice with me, 13:40 I found the piece which I lost.' 13:43 Likewise, I say to you, 13:46 there is joy in the presence of the angels of God 13:50 over one sinner who repents.'" 13:54 Now, the coin, of course, obviously, 13:58 is different to the sheep. 14:01 The sheep was lost because of its own foolishness, 14:05 its own individual choice. 14:08 But a coin is lost not because 14:11 of its own individual fault, 14:13 but because of the fault of the person in the house. 14:19 And the coin represents the sinner 14:22 who is lost in the house of God, 14:24 may be lost in the church. 14:28 It's no fault of the coin, 14:30 but the coin is of tremendous value to God. 14:34 And Jesus tells a story where the woman goes out 14:38 and she searches 14:40 and she looks and she looks until she finds the lost coin. 14:44 And when she finds the lost coin, 14:47 the house is filled with joy. 14:49 And Jesus said, that's how it is with God. 14:55 "There's rejoicing in the presence 14:57 of the angels of God 14:59 over one sinner who repents." 15:03 God... Listen, listen to me. 15:07 Jesus said, the Pharisees, "Yes, you're right." 15:11 The Pharisees are right 15:12 for the first time in their lives, 15:14 this man receives sinners. 15:15 That's what the Pharisees said. 15:16 Jesus said, yes. 15:18 And I'm going to prove that the Pharisees are right. 15:21 He tells the story of the lost sheep. 15:23 You and I are the lost sheep. 15:25 Then he tells the story of the lost coin, 15:27 you and I are the lost coin. 15:30 And the message is that God loves you. 15:34 God cares for you. 15:38 It doesn't matter what you've done. 15:40 Nothing you have done 15:41 in the past can ever change 15:43 God's attitude towards you, because God loves you. 15:49 This man receives sinners. 15:53 But now we come to the third story. 15:56 And this is the greatest story 15:58 I believe that has ever been told. 16:02 Luke 15:11. 16:08 This is the story of the three prodigals. 16:12 You say, "No, there's only one prodigal." 16:14 No, no, no, no, no. 16:15 You gotta follow me through on this. 16:17 The Bible tells me there are three prodigals. 16:22 "Then he said: 16:24 'A certain man had two sons.'" 16:29 The certain man is an old man. 16:31 He's a wealthy old man. 16:34 And he's got two sons. 16:37 And verse 12, the next verse tells me this. 16:41 Now Jesus is telling this story. 16:44 Verse 12, "And the younger of them said to his father, 16:49 'Father, give me..." 16:52 Hey, that's the cry of the human heart. 16:55 Give me, give me, give me more. 16:57 Give me more. 16:59 "'Give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' 17:02 So he divided them his livelihood.'" 17:05 This young scoundrel because he is a scoundrel, 17:10 can't wait until his father is dead. 17:14 But he is saying, 17:15 give me, give me, give me, give me, 17:18 that is the cry of the lost sinful heart. 17:22 Give me, give me, give me, give me. 17:24 And so the old father who represents God gives him 17:30 what he would have got when he had died. 17:34 Now listen carefully. 17:35 Got to get this. You got to get this. 17:39 The word prodigal means extravagant, 17:43 abundant, and generous. 17:47 Just remember this. 17:49 Extravagant, wasteful even, wasteful even. 17:54 And this boy we're going to discover is the prodigal 18:00 because he is so wasteful. 18:04 This boy who says, give me, give me, give me, 18:08 that's the cry of a lost soul. 18:12 Now, verses 13 and 14. 18:17 In the scriptures, it says, 18:19 "Not many days after this, 18:23 the younger son gathered all together 18:27 journeyed to a far country." 18:30 Don't forget that, friend. 18:32 You listening to me? 18:34 He journeyed to the far country. 18:36 When you get away from God, you're going to a far country, 18:40 and it's not going to be good for you. 18:42 He goes to the far country. 18:45 "And there wasted 18:46 his possessions with prodigal living." 18:49 Extravagant, abundant, wasteful, prodigal living. 18:54 "But when he had spent all, 18:58 there arose a severe famine in that land. 19:02 He began to be in want." 19:08 Listen to me. 19:11 When you get away from the father's house 19:15 is not really good. 19:18 When you get away from the father's house, 19:21 you end up in a far, far country. 19:25 It's a lonely place. 19:28 And this young guy is extravagant 19:32 with his father's money, 19:37 and he spends it. 19:39 And if you can believe 19:40 the report of the elder brother, 19:42 he spends it on prostitutes and harlots. 19:47 So he spends, and he spends, and he spends. 19:51 This is a picture of you and me 19:54 when we get away from God. 19:57 And I'm talking to every person today. 20:00 I'm talking to every person who's watching this program. 20:02 We're broadcasting here from Los Angeles. 20:06 But I'm talking to every one of you. 20:08 When we get away from the father's house, 20:12 and we get into that far country, 20:14 it's not good. 20:15 It's a place of loneliness. 20:18 It's a place of wantonness. 20:21 It's a place of immorality. 20:23 And eventually, it is a place of hunger. 20:26 And it is a place of shame. 20:31 And we're going to talk about that now. 20:33 We're going to look at verse 15 and 16, 20:38 15 and 16 of Luke Chapter 20:42 15:15, 16. 20:46 So this boy, this waster, 20:49 this prodigal has wasted everything. 20:51 Verse 15 and 16. 20:53 So, "Then he went and joined himself 20:56 to a citizen of that country. 20:58 He sent him into his fields to feed swine." 21:03 It's pretty bad for a Jewish boy. 21:05 Because Jewish people 21:07 don't like pigs, don't eat pigs. 21:09 But here is a Jewish boy 21:11 and now he's down in the big pan. 21:13 So he went down, down, down, down, down. 21:17 "And he would gladly have filled his stomach 21:19 with the pods that the swine ate, 21:22 no one gave him anything." 21:24 Hey, no one gave him anything. 21:28 This is a boy, a long way from home. 21:31 He's hungry. He's dirty. 21:34 He's filthy. 21:36 He's a prodigal boy. 21:38 He's wasted everything. 21:39 Here is this boy who came from a great household. 21:43 He had a great father, 21:45 had a great family, had lots of servants. 21:50 He was riding high. 21:53 And now because of his foolishness, 21:57 he's down low in the far country. 22:01 Now remember the story of the lost sheep. 22:04 Silly sheep that wanders away. 22:07 Jesus goes and finds the sheep. 22:09 Then there's the lost coin, 22:11 it's lost because of the foolishness of others. 22:14 But here is a boy who is lost 22:17 and a long, long, long, long way away 22:20 from the father's house by his own choice, 22:24 and through, mark these words, 22:27 through the perversity 22:30 of his own nature. 22:33 This is a picture 22:35 of depraved human nature. 22:40 Listen to me, 22:42 I got a strong word for you today. 22:45 We're not born innocent. 22:48 We're not born sinless. 22:50 We're not born pure, 22:52 but we're born with the blood of Adam coursing 22:57 through our veins 22:59 and this blood has depraved everything we have ever done. 23:05 You read about it in Genesis Chapter 3, 23:07 we don't have time to talk about it today. 23:11 But I want you to know this, 23:13 that even though this boy is down in the big pan, 23:16 and he's gone about as low as he can go, 23:19 there's an old father in the picture. 23:23 That's the amazing thing. 23:26 I've got a word for every person 23:27 watching the telecast today. 23:29 Doesn't matter how far away you are, 23:33 there's always hope to come home. 23:36 Did you hear this? 23:37 Doesn't matter how far you are away from God. 23:40 And some of us have got 23:41 a long, long, long way from God. 23:43 Listen to me, my friend. 23:45 There's always hope. 23:47 And we can always go home because there's a father. 23:51 There is a good shepherd. 23:53 And Jesus said, "This man..." 23:55 No, the Pharisees said it, "This man receives sinners." 24:00 Jesus said, "Yeah, dead right." 24:04 This man receives sinner. 24:06 Jesus put up his hand and said, "Guilty. 24:08 Yes, I do." 24:10 Do you know why the text says this man receives sinners? 24:13 I will tell you. 24:16 Because God loves sinners. 24:20 God loves sinners. 24:22 He loves you just as you are. 24:24 He cares for you. 24:26 He thinks about you. 24:28 The Bible tells me the astounding good news 24:31 that Christ went to the cross 24:33 because this man receives sinners. 24:38 So you may be feeling pretty bad 24:41 about yourself today. 24:44 But I've got good news for you today. 24:48 God loves you. 24:51 Jesus died for you. 24:54 And there's a father looking down the road for you. 24:59 We're gonna talk about that 25:01 in the next segment of our program. 25:04 Remember the text, 25:07 "This man receives sinners 25:11 and goes to eat with them." 25:16 This is the good news of the gospel. 25:19 The good news of Christ. 25:21 Good news for you and me. 25:25 And I'll be back soon. 25:42 The Carter Report 25:43 is now streaming on demand for you. 25:46 Now you can have the teachings of John Carter anytime, 25:50 day or night. 25:51 By streaming the Carter Report, 25:54 there is more content for you to choose from, and it's easy. 25:59 If you are new to streaming, 26:01 all you need to do is purchase a streaming device. 26:04 It doesn't really matter which one, you can buy a Roku, 26:07 Amazon Fire or Apple TV from any major retailer. 26:12 You or a family member can plug the device 26:16 into your TV and sign in to your internet connection. 26:19 Do a search for the Carter Report 26:21 and download the app to your device. 26:24 From then on, your device 26:26 and the Carter Report app can provide you 26:28 with hundreds of on demand programs. 26:32 You can also take the Carter Report with you 26:34 wherever you go. 26:36 The official free Carter Report mobile app 26:38 can be downloaded to your phone or tablet. 26:41 Go to the App Store or Google Play Store 26:44 and download the app. 26:46 Additionally, you can find Carter Report programs 26:49 on your favorite podcast. 26:51 You can also watch us on Vimeo or YouTube. 26:56 Type the Carter Report in the search box. 27:00 You can watch hundreds of uninterrupted 27:02 John Carter teachings whenever you want, 27:05 for as many hours as you want. 27:08 Travel with John Carter 27:09 as he circles the globe to bring the gospel 27:11 to millions of people. 27:13 Watch the Carter Classics from over 50 years of ministry 27:17 and gain knowledge from stimulating interviews 27:19 with Christian leaders. 27:22 You now have multiple ways to watch the Carter Report. 27:25 And once you start streaming, you'll find comfort in having 27:28 these teachings readily available to you 27:30 whenever and wherever you want for free. 27:35 Welcome to the inspirational world 27:38 of John Carter. 27:45 For a copy of today's program, 27:47 please contact us at P.O. 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Revised 2020-07-30