Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR002031S
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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 "Holiness," the big let down, and hearts strangely warmed. 00:33 Now here is John Carter with today's message. 00:39 Hello, friend. 00:40 I'm John Carter. 00:42 Welcome today to the Carter Report. 00:45 I'm here in the great city of Los Angeles. 00:48 And I'm glad to welcome you 00:50 a part of our worldwide audience. 00:53 Today is a tremendous topic. 00:56 You know, 00:58 we live many people tell us in a post truth era, 01:03 where lots of people 01:04 don't even believe in the concept of truth. 01:07 Today, we are talking about 01:11 ultimate truth and ultimate reality. 01:14 We believe that facts are important. 01:16 You can have your facts and I can have my facts. 01:19 No, the facts are the facts. 01:22 And today we're talking about the truth, 01:26 the truth of how a person can be saved. 01:29 We're talking about the true gospel, 01:31 and more than that 01:33 we're going to talk today about the gospel 01:36 which is as false as sin. 01:40 And so I'm glad today to welcome you 01:41 wherever you are in Australia, 01:43 across this great land 01:45 of the United States of America, 01:46 in the Philippines right around the world. 01:49 Welcome today. 01:52 The year was 1992. 01:57 I was in Russia. 01:59 I'd run a big campaign in Moscow the year before, 02:03 big campaign preaching the truths of God. 02:06 But now I was in the city of Nizhny Novgorod. 02:09 I met with a group of believers. 02:11 I was about the first foreigner ever to come to this city, 02:15 because this city had been declared by Stalin 02:18 to be a closed city. 02:21 People were just isolated there, 02:23 you couldn't go in and you couldn't go out. 02:26 I met with the remnants of the Christian Church there. 02:30 Those folks after the reign of communism 02:33 for more than 70 years, 02:35 they were tremendously poor 02:37 and they were very, very hungry. 02:41 I preached to this great congregation of people, 02:44 we did something different. 02:46 Instead of taking up an offering, 02:48 we put offering in the baskets, we put money in the baskets. 02:52 And we said to the believers, 02:55 "We know that you're going through a really tough time, 02:57 we want you to take out what you need." 03:00 They were sort of amazed. 03:02 And then as I preached the story of Christ 03:05 and the love of God, 03:07 something amazing happened. 03:11 I never experienced this before, 03:12 never felt it in America, never felt it in Australia. 03:17 But there I was with this group of believers 03:20 who had survived the Communist Holocaust, 03:25 the middle of winter, 03:26 and I was, it was cold, but all of a sudden, 03:30 I was immersed in warmth. 03:33 Quite amazing. 03:35 I felt the warmth. 03:38 This was repeated in various cities 03:41 in the old Soviet Union. 03:43 When I met with these suffering believers, 03:46 I felt an amazing warmth. 03:50 I felt an amazing love. 03:53 I'd never felt so much amazing love in all my life. 04:00 I felt, I believe the presence of God, 04:04 an amazing experience. 04:06 Have you ever had that experience? 04:09 My topic today is a very important one, 04:11 one which is often misunderstood. 04:14 My topic is holiness. 04:17 Holiness, the big let down, and hearts strangely warmed. 04:24 What am I talking about this big let down? 04:28 Well, we're going to talk about that as we move along today, 04:30 so just hold on. 04:33 Holiness is not pious frigidity. 04:36 Have you met some people who go to church 04:38 and they are cold as an iceberg. 04:42 We're not talking about playing church today. 04:44 That's a game that some people play. 04:46 It's called playing church. 04:49 But we're talking today about 04:50 how God quietly melts 04:54 the ice of frigid hearts. 04:58 I'm going to start with a couple of text. 05:00 I'm going to come over here firstly to the Book of Hebrews. 05:06 And if you can, I'd like you to get a Bible. 05:09 And I'd like you to follow these texts, 05:11 because I don't want you to believe it 05:14 because I'm saying it. 05:15 I want you to believe it 05:17 because you're totally convinced. 05:20 I'm going to turn 05:21 to Hebrews 12:13-14. 05:28 Hebrews Chapter 12 and verse... 05:34 Let me see, 13. 05:36 The Bible says, 05:37 "Make straight paths for your feet, 05:40 so that what is lame may not be dislocated, 05:43 but rather be healed." 05:45 If this book is not healing you spiritually, 05:48 it's because you're reading it the wrong way. 05:51 And then verse 14 says, "Pursue peace with all people, 05:56 and holiness 05:59 without which no one will see the Lord." 06:01 The Bible says, 06:02 "If you don't have genuine holiness, 06:04 you're not going to see God." 06:07 This is a pretty strong talk. 06:08 So this means no lying, no cheating, no stealing, 06:12 none of that sort of stuff. 06:14 The Bible says, "Without holiness, 06:16 no person is going to see the Lord." 06:19 And one of the most amazing texts of all 06:23 is Matthew 5:20. 06:27 The words of Christ, the most holy person, 06:30 Matthew 5:20, says, 06:37 "For I say to you, 06:39 that unless your righteousness 06:41 exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, 06:45 you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." 06:48 Now, this is an extraordinary statement. 06:52 Jesus said, He said this to His disciples, 06:56 "Unless you are more holy 06:58 than the scribes and the Pharisees, 07:01 you are never going to enter the kingdom of God." 07:05 And in the eyes 07:07 of the vast majority of people back there, 07:09 these people were the very essence of holiness 07:15 and righteousness. 07:17 They were the big leaders of the church, 07:20 the remnant church of their day. 07:23 And Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness, 07:27 unless your holiness is greater than the scribes 07:32 and the Pharisees, 07:33 you're not going to be saved." 07:36 So what was Jesus? 07:38 What was He talking about? 07:42 Let's talk a little bit about what God is like? 07:45 What is God like? What is your God like? 07:50 Well, my friend, the Bible teaches 07:51 that God is a holy God. 07:54 I want you to hear this. 07:56 God is a holy God. 07:59 God is not a fraud. 08:01 God is not a sham. 08:03 God is not a fake. 08:06 God is a holy and a righteous God. 08:11 And the Bible says, 08:12 "He is a holy God, who was full of love, 08:16 and warmth, and compassion." 08:18 Are you listening to me? 08:21 I was preaching to another great crowd. 08:25 I think it was. 08:27 I've had this happen only on three or four occasions. 08:30 But I was preaching to a great crowd 08:33 over in Siberia. 08:34 And as I was talking to the people 08:36 and pouring out my soul 08:38 and trying to preach the Gospel of Christ, 08:41 once again, 08:42 it seemed as though I was immersed 08:45 in a sea of tranquility and a sea of love. 08:51 When I went to Ukraine 08:54 and spoke to tremendous crowd there 08:56 in the great city of Kiev. 08:59 One night, as I was appealing to that vast audience, 09:03 people who had been atheists and communists, once again, 09:06 it came upon me, 09:07 it was as though a mantle of warmth 09:10 had been dropped upon me. 09:12 I think it was God. 09:14 On one occasion, I was up in Papua New Guinea, 09:18 in the great city of Port Moresby 09:20 with my magnificent team. 09:22 I've got just the greatest team 09:24 that you'd find anywhere in the world, 09:26 so dedicated and so full of love. 09:29 And one night there 09:30 we had a supernatural experience, 09:33 because a great white dove 09:34 not found in that part of the world. 09:37 When I was preaching on the Holy Spirit, 09:39 he came in across the audience, 09:42 the people were, 09:43 were amazed and dazed at the power of God. 09:46 And as I was preaching to those people, 09:48 once again, the mantle came upon me. 09:51 How can you describe this? 09:53 This has never happened to me in Australia. 09:55 It has never happened to me anywhere in America. 09:58 It happened there in Papua New Guinea, 10:01 and I felt relaxed. 10:05 All the tension was gone. 10:08 No worry, no worry, 10:11 just immersed 10:13 in warmth and love 10:19 because God was there. 10:23 Now let me give you something which is pretty important. 10:27 Have people had understood these texts 10:29 that talk about the call to holiness, 10:32 without holiness no one shall see the Lord. 10:34 Unless your righteousness 10:36 is better than the righteousness 10:37 of the scribes and the Pharisees, 10:39 you're not going to make it. 10:41 So have had people understood these passages, 10:45 the call to holiness. 10:47 Let's talk a little bit today about the theology 10:50 of our beloved Roman Catholic friends. 10:55 I was brought up with a Roman Catholic father, 10:57 so I love Roman Catholics. 11:01 The Roman Catholic Church, now, I don't want to lose you. 11:04 But the Roman Catholic Church talks about 11:06 infused righteousness. 11:10 And they say that when God justifies a person, 11:13 He infuses the soul with His righteousness. 11:18 And God gives it to us a little bit by a little bit. 11:22 We get a little bit more every day, 11:25 and each day we are getting better and better. 11:30 And each day we are getting closer to God. 11:33 And finally, after a lifetime, 11:36 and maybe after we've gone through purgatory also, 11:40 I have got enough of God's perfection 11:43 and I can see the face of God. 11:47 You say, "No, no, no, no, nobody." 11:48 Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. 11:51 This was believed by that wonderful person, 11:53 that tremendous missionary, 11:57 whom we appreciate and respect 11:59 and admire Mother Teresa. 12:03 Mother Teresa went through her life 12:05 with this concept of infused righteousness, 12:10 where God makes us every day a little bit better and better. 12:15 And so, I'm getting better and better. 12:18 And finally, I am sinless. 12:21 And Jesus takes me home to the Father's house. 12:26 That's called infused righteousness. 12:31 Now, I've known lots of folks who believe this. 12:35 You go back to the days of Martin Luther, 12:36 when he started out 12:38 because he was a Catholic priest. 12:39 He believed this. 12:40 I've even known lots of folks in my own church 12:43 who have believed this. 12:45 I was brought up with a theology, 12:48 I was brought up in Australia, 12:49 and I was brought up in the church, 12:51 and I was brought up to believe this. 12:55 I just didn't want to die anyway along the road 12:57 because I wasn't good enough. 13:00 And so my theology 13:02 was one of getting more like God 13:04 and getting better and better every day. 13:08 And at last, I would be sinless, 13:11 and I would get through the judgment, 13:14 and I would be saved. 13:17 Lots of people, 13:19 millions of people believe this. 13:22 I was the pastor of a great church in Sydney, 13:25 the Wahroonga Church many years ago. 13:27 Now, 13:28 I was preaching on this topic one day 13:30 before this wonderful congregation, 13:32 this marvelous church, 13:34 this powerhouse of apostolic Christianity. 13:40 One morning at 3 o'clock in the morning, 13:42 there was a knocking on my door, 13:44 an anxious knocking. 13:47 I brought the young man in, 13:49 I said, "What?" He said, "I can't sleep." 13:52 I said, "Well, 13:53 you knocking on my door, 13:54 of course, you want better sleep, 13:56 you're not gonna on my door three in the morning. 13:57 He said, "You don't understand." 13:59 He said, "I'm not good enough to be saved." 14:03 And he said, "I'm praying, I'm praying, 14:05 I'm up all hours of the day and the night 14:08 and I'm praying that I will become holy, 14:12 and I will become righteous and I will become sinless." 14:17 And he said, 14:19 "I haven't attained to this yet. 14:21 And unless I do, 14:23 I am going to be lost." 14:28 I have met many people like that young man, 14:31 that young man became so discouraged 14:34 by the doctrine of infused righteousness. 14:38 I talked to him, I poured out my soul, 14:42 but apparently to no avail. 14:45 Because sometime later, 14:47 he went out and took his own life, 14:51 because he could not live 14:52 with the concept of an angry God 14:54 who demands of us sinners 14:57 a state of sinlessness before we can be saved. 15:03 That, of course, 15:05 is the theology of our friends in the Roman Catholic Church, 15:09 not all by any means. 15:13 You see, they teach that justification. 15:17 Now, listen to this. 15:19 They teach that justification makes me righteous. 15:24 You say that sounds pretty good. 15:26 No, my friend, it's the devil's lie. 15:30 Did you hear what I'm saying, my friend? 15:32 I'm talking today from the Bible. 15:34 They believe that 15:36 justification is the work of God 15:38 that makes me righteous. 15:43 But I'm here today to tell you that 15:44 when God justifies the sinner, 15:47 the word does not mean to make righteous, 15:51 it means to declare righteous, 15:55 because of the merits of Christ 15:57 who died for us on the cross. 16:01 Let this sink down 16:03 into the molecules of your mind, my friend. 16:08 And so, 16:09 it has been taught, 16:11 it has been taught 16:12 that God is going to have a final generation. 16:17 And that final generation is going to become 16:19 exactly the same as Jesus in sinlessness. 16:25 And then Jesus is going to come back 16:28 because at last, we're good enough. 16:31 Now I'm going to quote from a great church leader, 16:34 a great theologian, a great church historian, 16:38 and I'm quoting his book, Prophets in Conflict. 16:40 And I'm quoting the great scholar, 16:42 Dr. George Knight. 16:45 This book is published by Pacific Press. 16:48 Listen to this. 16:49 "Andreason..." 16:51 Now this could be said of many churches. 16:53 "Andreason, 16:55 Adventism's most influential theologian in the 1940s 17:00 and the early 1950s, 17:03 held that the responsibility of the last generation 17:06 of Seventh-day Adventists 17:09 was to vindicate God 17:10 through living a perfect or sinless life. 17:13 They had to become just as sinless as Jesus. 17:19 You say, "Nobody believes it." 17:20 Well, I was brought up on this. 17:23 I've been a pastor for about 58 years, 17:26 so I know a little bit about this. 17:29 I have a practical relationship. 17:31 I've met so many, many people 17:33 who were brought up on this theology. 17:37 And then Dr. Knight quotes the theologian, Andreason. 17:42 "Men are to follow His example, 17:46 and prove that what God did in Christ, 17:49 He can do in every human who submits to Him. 17:53 The world is awaiting this demonstration. 17:56 When it has been accomplished, the end will come. 18:00 God will have fulfilled his plan." 18:02 So God cannot come and take us home to glory 18:07 until we attained to this sin, this perfectionism. 18:12 What a burden for people to carry 18:16 that Jesus can't come back 18:18 until we are all absolutely as sinless in the flesh, 18:23 as Jesus was. 18:27 I want you to think about it. 18:29 Do you believe it, my friend? 18:31 Because that is not the teaching 18:33 of the Bible. 18:36 Let me talk to you just a little bit 18:38 about the Pharisees. 18:40 The Pharisees, 18:42 some of you have been listening to me for a long time. 18:44 You know, I've talked about the Pharisees 18:47 that originated in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, 18:50 he was a pagan king, 18:51 who came into the Jewish temple 18:53 and offered up a sacrifice 18:55 actually a pig, he desecrated the temple. 19:01 The Maccabees fought him, a group of Jews, 19:03 they fought him 19:04 and they actually beat this pagan king 19:07 who came down like a wolf on the fold of Syria. 19:11 But there came a group of people 19:12 who got around the Maccabees and they said, 19:15 "We're not gonna let this ever happen again." 19:18 And they were people 19:19 who separated themselves from the world. 19:22 They said, "We're not going to be a part of this apostasy, " 19:26 that happened in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes 19:29 and they became known as the Pharisees. 19:34 The people who wanted to be separate from the world. 19:37 They had this theology, 19:39 bad things happen when we broke the law, 19:42 therefore good things will happen 19:44 when we keep the law. 19:47 And they believed this. 19:48 I want you to listen to me, 19:50 they actually believed that 19:51 when Israel became sinless, 19:53 and they kept the law of God perfectly, 19:56 then the Messiah would come 19:58 and the kingdom of God would come upon the world. 20:02 And so the Pharisees believed in righteousness 20:06 through keeping the law, 20:09 of course, with God's help. 20:12 So who were they? 20:14 Well, they were the defenders of the faith. 20:16 It's good to defend the faith. 20:18 They were zealous for truth. They were outwardly pious. 20:23 They were like two men in Brisbane 20:24 that I saw falling on their knees 20:27 to make a public display. 20:30 Later I discovered 20:31 they were defrauding innocent people. 20:34 So signs of outward piety are sometimes just that, 20:39 but God demands holiness inside. 20:43 Are you listening to me? 20:45 Almighty God requires holiness inside. 20:50 There's a story, Moody, 20:52 the great evangelist told the story of a farmer 20:56 who had a well 20:58 and the well was full of poison. 21:00 And they told the farmer, 21:01 "Your well has got poison inside." 21:04 Moody tells the story how the farmer... 21:07 It's true. 21:08 Moody said it, he said, 21:10 "He got some whitewash and he whitewashed the pump." 21:15 Pumping up the poison. 21:18 If you got a well with poison, my friend, 21:21 it's no good whitewashing the pump. 21:23 You got to get inside and you got to clean it out. 21:27 You listening to me? 21:30 A lot of people today, a lot of politicians, 21:32 they're whitewashing the pump. 21:34 A lot of preachers are whitewashing the pump. 21:37 But we need more than this. 21:40 We need holiness inside, 21:42 we need the warmth 21:43 and the love of God inside, you see. 21:46 Now I want you to notice a text. 21:48 I want you to come over here with me 21:49 to the Book of Philippians, dear hearts and gentle people. 21:53 Come over here to Philippians Chapter 3. 21:55 And I'm going to read you this text 21:57 that was written by one of the greatest 21:58 of all the Pharisees who found Christ. 22:02 He said, "Though I also might have confidence in the flesh." 22:05 Hey, I'm a big guy in the church. 22:08 "If anyone else thinks 22:09 he may have confidence in the flesh, 22:11 I more so, circumcised the eighth day, 22:15 of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, 22:20 a Hebrew of the Hebrews." Well now, what a pedigree? 22:24 "Concerning the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, 22:29 persecuting the church, 22:31 concerning the righteousness 22:33 which is in the law, blameless." 22:35 He was a man who kept the law of God 22:38 in His estimation perfectly. 22:41 He was a perfect person 22:43 who believed that you could only be saved 22:45 by attaining unto righteousness through obedience to the law. 22:50 But while he was believing this theological concept, 22:53 he was killing people, 22:55 he was murdering people 22:56 and so many people 22:58 who are super religious are talking religious jargon, 23:01 well, they are guilty of killing people. 23:06 This is the great delusion. 23:09 And later on God gave to the Apostle Paul or to Saul, 23:12 a supernatural revelation of the Gospel of Christ. 23:17 And he discovered, we are not saved by the law, 23:21 we're saved by Christ. 23:25 Righteousness by obedience, 23:29 but whatever happened to love. 23:33 My own upbringing, do this, do that. 23:37 A big emphasis on man-made rules. 23:40 I was brought up on it. 23:42 Big on little things, little on big things, 23:46 and this always leads to a big letdown. 23:51 Why do so many people leave the church, 23:54 especially young people, it's because of lack of gospel. 23:59 Man-made rules. Authoritarianism. 24:03 Do this, do this, do this, do this. 24:05 Do, do, do, cock-a-doodle-doo. 24:08 Little Pope's authoritarian bullies. 24:15 And we see this in parts of the church 24:16 universal around the world. 24:19 Most modern day Pharisees 24:21 who believe in salvation through their obedience 24:23 with the help of God are either very depressed 24:26 or deluded and proud, 24:28 very depressed 24:29 because they know they're not making it. 24:31 They're honest, 24:33 and they know that they're falling short, 24:35 but some people absolutely deluded 24:39 and they think 24:40 they are in themselves righteous and holy. 24:43 Have you met them? 24:46 They're not good to be around. 24:48 They don't attract people. 24:51 I was asked to be the night speaker 24:52 at a great conference in Minneapolis. 24:55 This was 100 years 24:56 after the great famous 1888 Minneapolis Conference. 25:01 So in 1988, 25:02 I was preaching there in Minneapolis. 25:05 But as I went into the meeting, 25:08 there are some people standing up the door 25:10 out in the snow, it was cold. 25:13 And they cried out to me and they said, 25:15 "Don't you go preaching that heresy 25:17 that people can be saved by grace 25:19 and through the blood of Jesus, 25:21 you've got to become sinless." 25:24 They said, "We don't want any cheap grace. 25:26 You've got to become sinless." 25:27 I said, "Like you." 25:29 They said, "Sure, like us." 25:35 And today, we're talking about 25:36 getting right with God. 25:39 We're talking about holiness. We're talking about wholeness. 25:43 We're talking about the warmth of the love of God 25:47 that gets inside a person's soul 25:50 and that melts the ice. 25:55 This will save your soul. 25:59 Talking great truths. 26:02 Not fake news, we're talking the truth of God. 26:06 And we'll be back in a moment. 26:09 Stay with us, please. 26:23 The Carter Report is now streaming 26:25 on demand for you. 26:27 Now you can have the teachings of John Carter anytime, 26:31 day or night. 26:32 By streaming the Carter Report, 26:35 there is more content for you to choose from, 26:38 and it's easy. 26:40 If you are new to streaming, 26:42 all you need to do is purchase a streaming device. 26:45 It doesn't really matter which one, 26:47 you can buy a Roku, 26:48 Amazon Fire or Apple TV from any major retailer. 26:53 You or a family member 26:56 can plug the device into your TV 26:58 and sign in to your internet connection. 27:00 Do a search for the Carter Report 27:02 and download the app to your device. 27:05 From then on, 27:06 your device and the Carter Report app 27:09 can provide you with hundreds of on demand programs. 27:13 You can also take the Carter Report with you 27:15 wherever you go. 27:17 The official free Carter Report mobile app 27:19 can be downloaded to your phone or tablet. 27:22 Go to the App Store or Google Play Store 27:25 and download the app. 27:27 Additionally, you can find Carter Report programs 27:30 on your favorite podcast. 27:33 You can also watch us on Vimeo or YouTube. 27:37 Type the Carter Report in the search box. 27:41 You can watch 27:42 hundreds of uninterrupted John Carter teachings 27:45 whenever you want, for as many hours as you want. 27:49 Travel with John Carter as he circles the globe 27:51 to bring the gospel to millions of people. 27:54 Watch the Carter Classics from over 50 years of ministry 27:58 and gain knowledge from stimulating interviews 28:00 with Christian leaders. 28:03 You now have multiple ways to watch the Carter Report. 28:06 And once you start streaming, 28:08 you'll find comfort in having these teachings 28:10 readily available to you 28:11 whenever and wherever you want for free. 28:16 Welcome to the inspirational world of John Carter. 28:25 For a copy of today's program, 28:27 please contact us at P.O. 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Revised 2020-10-17