Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR002106S
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00:01 The Carter Report team has answered the call
00:02 to proclaim the Gospel of Christ 00:04 in dangerous places. 00:06 Without fear for their own safety, 00:08 they have traveled to India, 00:10 Russia, Ukraine, Central America, Africa, 00:14 Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. 00:17 They go for the love of God and lost souls. 00:21 John Carter now answers questions 00:23 that reveal the untold story of battles fought and won. 00:28 He tells how God delivered them over and over again. 00:32 For God's glory, 00:33 we present Escape from Death. 00:39 We are aware that El Salvador is a dangerous country 00:42 with gang kidnappings and murders. 00:45 Did you ever feel that your life was in danger? 00:51 To tell you the truth, 00:53 I never felt my life was in danger. 00:56 My Carter Report team, my family came with me. 01:00 And we never felt threatened, 01:02 because of our text that is found in the Bible. 01:06 I want to read this text to you. 01:08 It is a text that my own mother taught me 01:11 many, many years ago. 01:14 I'm not going to tell you how many years ago. 01:16 Here it is. 01:17 This is Psalm 34:7, 01:21 "The angel of the Lord encamps around those 01:25 who fear him, and he delivers them." 01:31 We felt the presence of holy angels. 01:34 There's no doubt about it. 01:35 El Salvador is a dangerous country. 01:39 Thousands and thousands, tens of thousands of people 01:42 have been murdered in El Salvador. 01:44 Absolutely. 01:46 And we went into some dangerous places. 01:49 And we held meetings in a vast auditorium 01:51 or outdoor stadium that seated 60,000 people. 01:55 But we had the protection 01:57 of holy angels. 02:02 Were the meetings in the giant outdoor stadium 02:04 guarded against gang attacks? 02:06 You had around 60,000 people in attendance. 02:09 What security arrangements did you make? 02:14 We had the best security in the universe. 02:17 We had the protection of holy angels. 02:20 Now going to the meetings, 02:21 the police and militia was so concerned for our safety 02:25 that they escorted us. 02:27 We had two truckloads of armed soldiers 02:30 in front of us 02:32 and two truckloads of armed soldiers behind us, 02:34 all with machine guns. 02:36 I've had an exciting life, folks, 02:40 I gotta tell you, 02:41 I love preaching the Word of God. 02:43 And we had police, people on motorbikes 02:47 and we got down to the auditorium, 02:49 or got down to the outdoor stadium. 02:51 And there we had around 60,000 people. 02:55 And to the best of my knowledge, 02:57 we had no security 03:00 except the security that really counts, 03:03 the security of Almighty God. 03:08 We were taken also up into the hills, 03:10 where kidnappings taking place all the time. 03:14 And I spoke there to about 100 pastors, 03:17 the finest pastors I'd met anywhere in the world. 03:19 They all came to the meetings with their Bibles. 03:22 And bless their hearts, they looked like pastors, 03:26 and they had a passion, 03:28 a burning passion in their souls 03:31 to preach the Gospel of Christ and to save lost sinners. 03:37 God bless them. 03:41 You've been to Iraq. 03:43 Why did you go there when we all know it isn't safe? 03:47 Did you ever meet 03:49 President Saddam Hussein? 03:54 Yes, I've been to Iraq on lots of occasions. 03:57 I've gone there because of my interest 03:59 in biblical archaeology. 04:01 You see, I believe there is evidence 04:04 to believe the Bible. 04:08 I don't believe in faith in faith. 04:11 I believe in faith 04:13 in that which is true. 04:17 I don't believe in nonsense. 04:19 I believe in the words of Jesus 04:21 where Jesus said, you'll know the truth, 04:24 and the truth will set you free. 04:27 And I went to Iraq or old Babylonia 04:29 or old Mesopotamia, 04:31 because of my interest in discovering evidences 04:34 to show to unbelievers, 04:37 that the Bible is the Word of God. 04:40 Did I meet the butcher of Baghdad? 04:42 No, I didn't. 04:44 But after we got there, he placed, 04:47 placed us under house arrest or hotel arrest, 04:51 and told us we could not leave 04:53 until we gave up our videotape 04:55 and I said, "No, no, no." 05:00 And so, his soldiers came for us at midnight, 05:04 and we were taken through the back lanes of Baghdad, 05:08 and taken to a place 05:09 where we were interrogated and threatened. 05:12 And they said, 05:13 "You've got to give us your video 05:14 or else you never gonna leave this country." 05:16 I said, "Well, I don't mind it here." 05:18 Looks like I'll be staying here for a while. 05:20 We did not surrender. 05:22 And God looked after us. 05:23 And God preserved us from the dangers of the land 05:27 of Saddam Hussein. 05:32 You and the Carter Report team went to India, 05:35 a nation of more than a billion souls. 05:37 Hinduism is the official religion, 05:40 but there are many Muslims. 05:42 This nation barely tolerates Christians. 05:45 What happened? 05:50 Yes, by the grace of God, we went to India, 05:52 and we love the Indian people, 05:54 some of the nicest people on the face of the earth 05:57 are found in India. 05:59 It is a land of more than a billion souls. 06:04 And these people are hungry for the Word of God. 06:10 We saw tens of thousands come into an outdoor stadium, 06:13 it was a cricket stadium, 06:15 because the people in India 06:17 love to play the old English game of cricket, 06:20 and they probably some of the best in the world. 06:24 And so we had coming to the meetings 06:27 tens of thousands of Muslims 06:29 and tens of thousands of Hindus. 06:32 And we're told that these people have got 06:34 no interest at all in Christ, 06:36 and no interest in the Word of God. 06:40 I saw, we saw 06:42 the mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God 06:45 in the land of India. 06:48 One night, when I was preaching, 06:49 I started to pray. 06:51 And something amazing happened. 06:53 I've never seen it quite like this before. 06:57 The Spirit of God came in, 06:59 my friend, and took over the meeting. 07:02 And the people, Hindus and Muslims 07:05 started to raise their hands and pray, pray to God. 07:10 And this was an appeal to accept Jesus Christ. 07:15 And then we had an altar call. 07:17 And we saw, now this is God's honest truth, 07:20 because people said this could never happen. 07:22 Tens of thousands of Hindus and Muslims 07:26 came down the front with their hands raised, 07:30 believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. 07:34 I believe in evangelism. 07:37 I believe that God is not dead. 07:39 And I believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ 07:42 is the power of God unto salvation. 07:45 Hallelujah, praise His name. 07:50 Is it true 07:52 that your evangelistic campaign in India 07:54 ran longer than 07:56 those of any other religious organization 07:59 before or since? 08:01 With massive crowds 08:03 for nearly two weeks? 08:08 For the glory of God, we say, "Yes, it is true." 08:12 But not only for the glory of God, 08:14 we say, my friend, for the greater glory of God, 08:17 because it was the power of Jesus Christ 08:20 that was being magnified. 08:22 This didn't happen because we went there. 08:25 It happened because God went there, 08:27 and God worked miracles. 08:31 But after we had been preaching there 08:32 for around two weeks, 08:35 the powers of persecuting religion 08:41 came against us. 08:43 And we were told, you got to close down, 08:46 you got to get out of here. 08:48 And the government said, 08:50 we're going to follow this religion. 08:51 And even though you've got a permit to do this, 08:54 we're going to close you down. 08:58 And because we were not prepared 09:00 to put the risks, 09:01 put at risk the lives of the people 09:04 who were in the meetings, 09:07 we quietly left. 09:10 But the work went on, 09:13 even better than if we had stayed. 09:15 Now, we saw 09:17 hundreds and hundreds of wonderful Hindu people, 09:20 Muslim people baptized in India. 09:23 But after the persecution came, 09:27 and the meetings were closed down, 09:29 the Indian people went out on the streets 09:31 of Visakhapatnam. 09:33 And they sat down and they protested that 09:37 they were not allowed 09:38 to publicly attend these meetings. 09:41 But God opened doors for us. 09:44 And we opened an office in India. 09:46 This is Drew, 09:48 and we have a little staff over there today. 09:50 And we are preaching the Word of God 09:52 to millions of people on India TV, 09:57 even in the capital of New Delhi, in Visakhapatnam, 10:02 right across the whole Indian nation 10:04 on satellite. 10:05 We've seen the power of God. 10:08 And I want you to know when people talk about 10:11 defeat in God's Word, it doesn't exist, 10:14 because the work of God goes ahead, 10:16 and Jesus Christ is Lord. 10:23 During 1995, 10:26 the Carter Report team traveled to Kiev, Ukraine, 10:29 and conducted an evangelistic campaign 10:32 that had a national and international impact. 10:36 What happened before you arrived? 10:42 Well, before we got there, 10:44 and we'd already booked this great auditorium, 10:47 best auditorium in the whole of Ukraine. 10:50 It seated about 12,000 people. 10:53 So a big auditorium, 10:54 a huge palace of some famous place. 10:58 But before we got there, 11:00 and we'd already put out the advertising, 11:02 we're advertising on television, 11:03 advertising on radio, 11:05 and the big guns were sounding. 11:08 We put out 11:09 hundreds of thousands of color brochures. 11:13 We take this seriously, folks. 11:16 The leader of the state church said this, 11:21 "John Carter will only preach in Ukraine 11:24 in this city 11:26 over my dead body." 11:31 What I'm going to tell you, 11:32 I wish, I wish I wasn't telling this story. 11:36 I wish it never happened. 11:39 But just before we got there, 11:41 the leader of the state church dropped dead. 11:46 And rioting took place, 11:50 because his priests tried to have him buried 11:53 inside the state cathedral. 11:55 And the government said, 11:56 "No, he's not worthy 11:58 to be buried in the state cathedral. 12:00 Bury him outside the front on the sidewalk." 12:05 And that's where he's buried. 12:07 And when you go to Kiev, 12:10 you can actually see where he's buried. 12:12 He is out there. 12:13 He's buried outside the cathedral. 12:16 And so there was fighting. 12:19 They went out and they fought the militia 12:21 with wooden crosses, 12:22 the militia shot them down. 12:24 And there was blood in the streets. 12:26 And so we opened the meetings 12:28 at a time of tremendous tension. 12:31 But we opened with this absolute certainty 12:34 that God was with us. 12:36 And by the grace of God, the Word of God would prevail, 12:39 and it did. 12:43 How did the death of a Ukrainian religious leader 12:46 influence your meetings? 12:49 Was your life threatened? 12:53 I've had my life threatened on many occasions. 12:58 But it was threatened on one occasion in Kiev, 13:01 when the leader of, 13:03 one of the leaders of the government in charge 13:06 or religious affairs told me, 13:09 "If you don't stop these meetings, 13:11 if you don't close down these meetings, 13:13 for which you have official permission, 13:17 official permission, 13:18 you've got the documents signed, 13:20 we know this, but if you don't sign, 13:23 close down these meetings, 13:24 something bad is going to happen to you. 13:27 And we will not guarantee your safety." 13:32 I told the leader of that department of religion 13:35 of the Kiev government, 13:37 "By the grace of God, 13:38 we will not close down these meetings, 13:41 because we have permission for these meetings. 13:45 And more important than your permission, 13:48 we have the blessing of the Holy Spirit. 13:50 And we have hundreds of thousands of people 13:53 who were coming to the meetings." 13:55 If God is for us, 13:57 who can be against us. 14:01 Did your meetings go ahead? 14:03 What were the results? 14:08 Yes, the meetings did go ahead. 14:11 I went down to the auditorium. 14:13 The meetings were due to start, 14:14 we had multiple sessions as we always do. 14:17 Went down there about half past one, 14:19 because the first meeting started at 3 o'clock. 14:22 I couldn't even get in the street. 14:26 I couldn't get in the street. 14:27 People say, "Oh, John Carter, 14:28 we don't believe these stories." 14:30 But we can show you pictures. 14:34 We're told that in the gospels 14:36 if Jesus could not do many mighty miracles 14:39 in certain places, 14:41 because of the unbelief of the people, 14:45 the religious people had so little faith 14:47 that God cannot work miracles. 14:50 If evangelism is not working in your church, my friend, 14:54 maybe it's because of your unbelief. 14:57 But when I got down there to the great Palace of Sport 15:00 with my team about 1 o'clock. 15:03 We couldn't get near the place 15:04 because there were 100,000 people standing outside 15:08 trying to get in. 15:10 You say, 100,000? Yes, at least 100,000. 15:13 My great friend Bob Ludwig got out his camera, 15:17 he took a picture. 15:18 Couldn't see where the crowd ended. 15:21 The government declared a state of emergency. 15:25 Closed down the railway stations 15:27 to stop the people coming. 15:29 They came in ever increasing crowds. 15:33 We saw tens of thousands of people in the meetings 15:37 and coming to a knowledge of God. 15:42 Do you ever have trouble paying 15:44 for this inspiring kind of evangelism? 15:50 Well, I always have trouble paying for things. 15:52 Trouble is my second name. 15:55 But I believe in the power of God. 15:57 I have faith in this great God who believes in us. 16:01 But let me just get back to the meetings a little bit. 16:04 The meetings went every night for three weeks, 16:06 multiple sessions. 16:08 Then the government said, 16:09 "You're only allowed to baptize 100." 16:11 I said, "Thank you very much. 16:12 But we're taking our orders from a higher power." 16:15 "No, you've got to take your orders from us. 16:16 We tell you, you're gonna need to baptize 100." 16:18 I said, "No, no, 16:20 we will baptize the people whom God has called." 16:23 And we baptized three and about, 16:25 by the power of God, glory be to God alone. 16:28 We saw baptized in the Dnieper River 16:30 in the freezing waters of the Dnieper River. 16:33 We saw 3,550 souls baptized. 16:39 Glory be to God. 16:40 In spite of the powers of darkness, 16:42 in spite of persecution, in spite of threats, 16:46 in spite of, 16:48 of everything the devil was throwing. 16:52 They said, "Do we ever have trouble paying for these?" 16:55 Now, we don't have trouble paying for these things. 16:57 Because God moves upon the hearts of God's people. 17:00 We've got friends like Danny Shelton, 17:02 and he supports us. 17:04 He says, 17:05 "Support this campaign 17:07 because God is with these people." 17:09 And 3ABN comes with us. 17:11 And they've got faith because we believe in Jesus. 17:15 We believe in the gospel. 17:18 We believe in God. 17:20 We believe in the commandments of God. 17:23 And we believe in evangelism. 17:26 And we believe in you. 17:29 People send money. 17:32 And for standing with us in the greatest work 17:34 in all the world, 17:36 and being our faith partners, 17:39 I say thank you 17:41 in Jesus' name. 17:45 What about in America? 17:48 Have you been in dangerous situations 17:50 during your 35 years in the USA? 17:55 Well, I just love the United States of America. 17:59 Lived there for 35 years. 18:02 I say, God bless America. 18:04 Now I was born and bred in Australia. 18:07 And I like to tell my friends. 18:11 I've got an Australian passport. 18:13 But I've also got an American passport. 18:16 I love both countries. 18:17 And both countries have been so good to me. 18:21 I've been so blessed to be brought up in Australia, 18:25 in a place that once upon a time 18:27 was a God fearing nation, 18:29 no longer but used to be. 18:31 I was taught up to believe in God in Australia, 18:33 then I went to America. 18:37 And I've got so many marvelous 18:39 and wonderful American friends. 18:42 Yeah, I've been to a few dangerous places in America. 18:45 But I've never felt as though I was in a situation of danger, 18:50 because I felt the presence of God. 18:54 I know when I was preaching in the great Shrine Auditorium, 18:57 downtown Los Angeles, 19:00 a very nice little auditorium that seats 6,600 people. 19:04 Packed four times over for the opening lecture. 19:08 People tell me it doesn't work. 19:10 Hey, it works in America, it works in Siberia, 19:12 it works in India, 19:13 it works anywhere where people are prepared 19:15 to work with the Holy Spirit. 19:16 Don't forget it. 19:19 One night, I received a bullet 19:22 that was sent to me along with the offering. 19:26 Now, of course, I didn't have anything to do 19:27 with the offering. 19:29 But the usher said, "Hey, this is for you." 19:31 Somebody sent me a bullet 19:33 because they thought I was criticizing them. 19:35 Because I was talking about the pharaohs 19:38 as some crazy things happened downtown Los Angeles, 19:42 I can tell you, 19:44 and I can tell you other stories. 19:46 But God has been good to me. 19:48 America has been good to me. 19:49 Australia has been good to me. 19:52 And I'm so glad, 19:53 I'm just so glad that I have been called by God 19:57 to preach the Gospel of Christ. 20:04 Who pays the bills? 20:06 Over the years, 20:07 these national campaigns have cost millions of dollars? 20:11 Are you supported by big corporations? 20:15 Does the church organization 20:17 finance these outreaches? 20:22 No, we're not supported by any big corporations. 20:25 We're not supported by the church organization. 20:29 But we are supported by God Himself. 20:32 That makes the difference. 20:34 But let me go back a little bit to the campaign in Kiev. 20:37 What happened there? 20:39 In spite of the tremendous opposition, 20:41 the people continue to come. 20:44 I've never seen crowd. 20:46 Well, I have, I've seen tremendous crowds 20:48 right around the world. 20:50 This is a worldwide phenomenon. 20:53 But we saw tremendous crowds. 20:55 We saw tremendous opposition. 20:59 My life was threatened. 21:01 I was told, if you don't close down the meetings, 21:04 we're going to close you down. 21:05 We had all of these, these threats. 21:08 But we were not afraid because we are conscious 21:11 of the presence of holy angels. 21:13 You hear what I'm saying. 21:16 Then after we had run every night of the week, 21:18 for three weeks, 21:20 multiple sessions every night. 21:22 We had a tremendous baptism in the frigid waters 21:25 of the Dnieper River. 21:27 And we saw in spite of active persecution, 21:31 3,550 souls baptized 21:37 into the Lord Jesus Christ. 21:39 What do you say, my friend? 21:41 I say, 21:42 "Glory be to God. 21:44 Glory be to the Father, and the Son, 21:47 and to the Holy Spirit. 21:49 Amen." 21:53 What would you say to a young man or woman 21:56 who feels called to the ministry? 22:01 I would say this, keep your eyes on Christ. 22:06 And remember, the work of the ministry 22:08 is not just a job, 22:09 many people I think, or some people 22:11 join the ministry, get into the ministry 22:13 because they think it is a safe job. 22:17 I pity those people. 22:19 The call to the ministry 22:21 is just that it is a call to work for God. 22:25 It is not a safe job. 22:26 It is not sitting behind some desk, 22:29 like I'm doing today. 22:31 I don't belong here, 22:32 sitting behind this desk in my house. 22:35 I have a calling from God. 22:37 And if you've got a calling from God, 22:39 you need to be obedient to that calling. 22:42 And remember this, 22:44 that the will of God will never take you 22:47 where the grace of God cannot keep you. 22:49 Did you get that? 22:51 The will of God will never take you 22:52 where the grace of God cannot keep you. 22:56 And if you are called by God, 22:57 you will have a call to preach the Gospel of Christ. 23:03 The most important work in all the world, 23:06 my friend, are you listening to me? 23:08 The most important work in all the world, 23:11 according to Holy Scripture 23:14 is the preaching of the gospel to lost souls. 23:17 Lost souls? Yes. 23:20 I believe people are lost until they come to Christ, 23:23 and repent. 23:27 And if God puts His Holy Spirit upon you, 23:31 and if you have a calling from God, 23:34 you will have a burden resting upon you 23:38 to go and preach the gospel. 23:41 Make sure that 23:42 this calling is from God. 23:48 People today are sometimes afraid 23:50 to speak up for their faith. 23:52 Is there a future for public evangelism? 23:57 I see a fantastic future, because I believe in the Bible, 24:02 I believe in Jesus. 24:04 Jesus said, 24:05 "This gospel of the kingdom 24:07 shall be preached in the whole world 24:09 as a witness to all nations, 24:11 and then the end is going to come." 24:14 Then when I turned to Revelation 14:6 24:17 and onwards, it says, 24:18 "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven." 24:23 That, my friend, 24:25 describes a worldwide 24:28 public proclamation. 24:31 This is not something that's going to finish 24:33 in obscurity. 24:34 This is going to finish in, listen to me, 24:37 in a blaze of glory. 24:40 And I believe we're going to see 24:42 millions and millions and millions of people 24:46 from India, 24:47 and Africa, and America, and Asia, 24:51 and Australia, and from Russia, and from Ukraine, 24:55 all around the world. 24:57 I believe they're going to come to a knowledge 24:59 of Christ and salvation. 25:01 And I believe that God is going to raise a people, 25:06 and He's going to put His Spirit inside them, 25:08 and they're going to get a fire in their bellies. 25:14 Are you listening to me? 25:17 The greatest days 25:18 for the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, 25:20 and the greatest days for public evangelism 25:25 are still to come. 25:28 I believe it. 25:31 Not my opinion, 25:33 it is taught in the Word of God. 25:37 Amen. 25:41 You can now stay in touch with the Carter Report 25:44 by using the mobile app. 25:46 The latest Carter Report programs 25:48 will be at the top. 25:49 Select one and press watch. 25:53 Scroll up through the topics, find a topic you like, 25:57 and then scroll to the left to select a program to play, 26:00 tap on that program to watch. 26:03 Now you can enjoy hundreds of Carter Report programs 26:07 on your phone or tablet. 26:11 In each program Pastor Carter will teach you 26:13 more about your walk with Christ. 26:17 We have six channels. 26:18 Our most recent is Focus on Prophecy. 26:21 We also have Carter Classics, Ask John Carter A Question, 26:26 The Carter Report In Action, The Living Word, 26:29 and Carter Report Espanol. 26:32 You may wanna search for something specific. 26:35 On the top of the screen is a magnifying glass icon, 26:38 tap it and type the subject you're looking for. 26:41 Then tap on the lesson. 26:45 You'll see three menu bars in the upper left-hand corner. 26:49 Tap the bars to open a menu of additional items to select. 26:53 If you'd like to partner with us, 26:55 you can find our donation page. 27:01 An arrow in the upper left-hand screen 27:04 will take you back 27:05 to the screen you were at before. 27:07 Like anything new worth finding, 27:09 it takes a bit of exploration. 27:11 You'll tap and swipe your finger across, 27:14 above and below topics, programs, arrows, and icons. 27:19 Eventually, you'll be very familiar 27:21 with the Carter Report mobile app. 27:24 All from your favorite chair, 27:26 enjoy the Carter Report anytime, anywhere 27:31 on the Carter Report mobile app. 27:45 For a copy of today's program, 27:47 please contact us 27:48 at P.O. 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Revised 2021-07-19