Participants: John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001713A
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00:01 The Carter Report presents "Living Victoriously",
00:06 Secrets of Success 00:07 from Prime Minister Daniel of Babylon City 00:10 with your host John Carter. 00:25 I'm going to dedicate this program today 00:28 to my atheist friends. 00:30 The topic today is 00:32 "Living Victoriously" part seven. 00:36 We're going to talk about, antichrist is coming 00:41 but there's victory ahead. 00:44 I want you to have a look at this. 00:47 This was given to me some years ago 00:49 when I was running meetings, lectures 00:51 in the old Soviet Union 00:53 or it was just on the verge of collapsing. 00:58 A colonel came to me. 01:00 He came to this meeting, lots of other meetings like it. 01:04 This colonel was just no ordinary Soviet colonel. 01:09 He was actually in charge of teaching atheism, 01:14 aggressive atheism to the troops 01:17 of the old Soviet Union. 01:20 Can you believe that? 01:22 The colonel in charge of atheistic propaganda. 01:28 And after coming to this meeting 01:29 and lots of other meetings, he gave me this crucifix 01:34 that he had personally made. 01:38 He gave it to me to put on my tie. 01:41 I think it goes on something like this. 01:45 I've kept it ever since as a wonderful memento 01:49 because the colonel said to me, 01:54 "I was born and bred in atheism." 01:59 He said, "We were brought up to believe there was no Jesus, 02:03 there was no God. 02:04 And everything about the Bible, and God, and Christianity, 02:08 it's all hocus pocus." 02:10 He said this to me through a Russian translator. 02:14 But he said, 02:17 "I've seen there's another side to the story." 02:21 He said, "I have become totally convinced, 02:26 not by faith but by the evidence 02:32 that the Bible is true." 02:33 And he said, 02:36 "I've given my life to God and to Christ." 02:40 He said, "I want you to take this." 02:42 He said, "I had this fashioned, 02:47 Christ on the cross. 02:49 I want you to keep it as a token of another atheist 02:54 who came in out of the darkness, 02:57 out of the cold and came in to the light." 03:03 Wonderful story. 03:05 I want to say this to all my atheist friends 03:08 who might very much appreciate. 03:10 I like atheists for a number of reasons. 03:13 But one of the reasons I like atheists 03:15 is because they're talking about God all the time. 03:22 So I like atheists. 03:23 Atheists say to me, 03:25 like Richard Dawkins has said on many occasions. 03:28 I could never believe what you believe 03:30 or what other people, Christians believe 03:33 because it's simply, "You've got faith. 03:35 We've got science. 03:37 We have the evidence." 03:39 I'd like to tell people this. 03:42 "We do not believe in faith in face. 03:46 We don't believe in faith in face, 03:49 we believe in faith, in truth. 03:54 And Jesus said, remember this, Jesus said, 03:57 "You will know the truth 04:00 and the truth will make you free." 04:03 You see. 04:04 Now I want you to take a copy of the Old Testament. 04:07 I want you to come to the Jewish prophet, 04:09 Daniel 7:1. 04:13 And I want my atheist friends, please, to indulge me. 04:18 And simply sit back today 04:20 and listen with a little bit of patience, please. 04:24 I want you to indulge me and look at the evidence, 04:29 not at the faith. 04:31 "In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, 04:35 Daniel had a dream, 04:36 visions of his head while on his bed. 04:40 Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts." 04:46 History tells us that this Daniel was 04:49 a Jewish prophet from Jerusalem 04:52 who was a captive of war. 04:55 He was a refugee in the city of Babylon. 04:59 And the Bible says, he had visions from God. 05:03 Now my atheist friend will say, "But that's absolute..." 05:07 As my Irish friends say, "That's a lot of hooey." 05:12 But I'm simply asking you to look at the evidence today, 05:16 not to believe unless you are convinced. 05:19 Consider the evidence like the colonel did, 05:23 you be the judge because the question is this. 05:29 Who can tell the future? 05:32 You can't. 05:34 And I certainly cannot tell the future. 05:36 Who can tell the future? 05:39 We're going to turn to Isaiah 46:9 and 10. 05:44 Book of Isaiah 46:9 and 10. 05:50 Isaiah, the prophet says, 05:51 "Remember the former things of old, 05:54 for I am God and there is no other. 05:56 I am God, there's none like me. 06:01 Declaring the end from the beginning, 06:04 and from ancient times things that are not yet done, 06:08 saying, 06:09 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." 06:15 'The Bible is not like any other book in the world, 06:19 my atheist friend, because the Bible, 06:23 unlike any other book in the world, 06:24 claims to have the ability to tell the future. 06:30 Now today we're going to notice a prophecy 06:32 that goes back 2,500 years. 06:36 If what I tell you is true, 06:40 then atheism is wrong 06:44 because there is a God in heaven. 06:46 But just hold on for a moment. 06:51 The Bible teaches that God made time. 06:56 God is not in time. 06:59 Time is in God. 07:01 All scientists believe today, 07:03 and I believe in the point of creation 07:07 that is called by scientists The Big Bang. 07:10 Some Christian friends, and they're wrong, 07:14 don't like the term "The Big Bang". 07:16 They say, "This is some... No, no, no. 07:18 It's got nothing to do with atheism. 07:20 It's talking about the time when there was a big bang." 07:25 We now know for certainty that before the Big Bang, 07:29 there was no such thing as time. 07:35 Time came into being 07:38 when the universe came into being, 07:41 when we believe the universe was created. 07:44 I want you to come over here to an interesting passage 07:47 in Exodus 3:1 to 3. 07:52 This goes back to a book 07:54 that's about 3,500 years old, Exodus 3. 07:58 "Now, Moses was tending the flock of Jethro 08:01 his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. 08:05 He led the flock to the back of the desert, 08:07 came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 08:11 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him 08:13 in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. 08:18 So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, 08:23 but the bush was not consumed. 08:26 Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside 08:29 and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." 08:36 'So here is Moses, the prince from Egypt, 08:40 one of the most sophisticated people 08:42 in the history of the world. 08:44 And he sees a bush. 08:47 And the bush is blazing and it's not consumed. 08:51 And then he hears a voice. 08:54 The voice says, "Moses! 09:00 Moses!" 09:03 He's like, "It's God." 09:06 The voice said, "Take the shoes off your feet 09:09 because the place on which you stand 09:11 is holy ground." 09:14 And then he talks to the being in the flaming bush 09:19 because the being claims to be God. 09:23 And then the being reveals himself 09:25 and actually tells his name. 09:28 As you notice in verse 13 and 14, 13 and 14, 09:34 "Then Moses said to God, 09:36 'Indeed when I come to the children of Israel 09:39 and say to them, 09:41 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' 09:43 and they say to me, 'What is his name?' 09:48 What shall I say to them?' 09:50 God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' 09:57 And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 10:01 'I AM has sent me to you."' 10:06 What does it mean? 10:08 It means 10:10 that God has had no beginning 10:14 and no ending. 10:17 And as far as God is concerned, 10:20 the future is as today. 10:25 And that is why the Bible is the book of God 10:30 claims to have the ability to see into the future. 10:36 Don't turn off the television set, 10:39 please indulge me now and look at the evidence 10:43 that the Bible tells of future. 10:45 Daniel 7:2 and 3, 10:48 "Daniel spoke saying, 'I saw in my vision by night, 10:52 behold, the four winds of heaven 10:54 were stirring up the great sea. 10:55 And four great beasts came up from the sea, 10:58 each different from the other.'" 11:01 As Daniel is dreaming in the vision, 11:05 he sees the sea lashed into fury 11:09 and then he sees four beasts 11:13 that come up out of the foaming waters. 11:17 Listen. 11:20 This vision given 2,500 years ago 11:25 claims to tell the history of the world. 11:30 Don't turn me off, indulge me. 11:34 Simply, look at the evidence. 11:40 The future fate of nations are likened by these beasts. 11:45 Because in the Bible prophecy, 11:47 a beast is symbolic of a great world power. 11:50 Look at verse 17 of the same chapter. 11:53 It says, "Those great beasts, which are four, 11:56 are four kings which arise out of the earth." 12:00 Verse 23, "Thus he said: 12:03 'The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, 12:06 which shall be different from all other kingdoms, 12:09 and shall devour the whole earth, 12:11 trample it, break it in pieces.'" 12:16 Now, this is not strange. We have cartoons today. 12:22 America is symbolized by the eagle. 12:25 Russia by the bear, and so forth. 12:28 God in the scriptures, in the prophecies 12:31 is the great cartoonist 12:33 who sees the end from the beginning. 12:37 And He portrays the nations of the world 12:40 as ravenous beasts which is exactly what they are. 12:45 Now look at Daniel 7:4 to 7. 12:48 Here it gets interesting. 12:51 "The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. 12:54 I watched till its wings were plucked off, 12:58 it was lifted up from the earth 12:59 and made to stand on two feet like a man, 13:02 and a man's heart was given to it. 13:04 And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. 13:08 It was raised up on one side, 13:10 and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. 13:13 And they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh!' 13:19 After this I looked, 13:21 and there was another, like a leopard, 13:22 which had on his back four wings like a bird. 13:26 The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 13:31 After this I saw in the night vision, 13:33 and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, 13:36 exceedingly strong. 13:38 It had huge iron teeth, 13:39 it was devouring, breaking in pieces, 13:42 and trampling the residue with its feet. 13:45 It was different from all the beasts 13:48 that were before it, and it had ten horns." 13:52 Now listen very carefully. 13:55 This prophecy is given 13:57 hundreds of years before Christ. 14:01 And here you have these four great animals 14:07 that represent, indeed, the kingdoms 14:11 and the powers of the world, starting with the lion. 14:16 And in Bible prophecy, 14:18 every commentator agrees with me, 14:21 the lion is symbolic 14:23 of the kingdom of the Babylonians 14:26 that ruled the world 14:28 from around 605 to 538 B.C. 14:34 I have been to Babylon on more occasions 14:37 than I can remember. 14:39 On one occasion, I was placed under arrest by Saddam Hussein. 14:45 I know that part of the world. 14:47 And when you go to ancient Babylon as I have done, 14:52 you will see that the great symbol 14:55 of the Babylonians was the lion. 14:59 And so we start, here is a starting point. 15:02 We've got to nail that down. 15:05 The starting point of the prophecy is the lion 15:08 which is the kingdom of the Babylonians. 15:11 This is not theology. 15:16 Babylon is followed by the bear. 15:19 Because we're not talking about the modern bear 15:22 which is Russia, 15:23 we're talking about the bear 15:25 that goes back thousands of years. 15:27 And the rapacious bear symbolizes the great power 15:32 that came after Babylon 15:34 and that is the power of Medo-Persia. 15:40 This is not speculation, this is history. 15:45 And after the bear came the leopard. 15:49 And after Medo-Persia came Greece 15:53 led by the soldiers 15:56 of Alexander the Great. 16:01 And this leopard which is tremendously fast, 16:05 this leopard has four wings, and he has four heads 16:10 that are symbolic of the breakup 16:12 of the empire of Alexander the Great, 16:15 into the kingdoms of Cassander, 16:19 Lysimachus, Seleucus and Ptolemy. 16:24 And this was written down long before Alexander was born. 16:31 But then after Greece came another power 16:35 and that was the great monster or the dragon. 16:39 So you have in history, my dear atheist friend, 16:44 you have Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece under Alexander, 16:50 the break up of the Grecian empire 16:52 into the four states or the four parts 16:56 of the old empire. 16:57 And then you have after Greece, the iron monarchy of Rome, 17:03 the Rome of the Caesars. 17:07 This is the power 17:08 that destroyed the city of Jerusalem, 17:12 and that crushed the world, 17:14 and that put Jesus Christ on the cross. 17:22 This is not speculation. 17:25 A person who knows little of prophecy or history 17:28 will say, "You are simply making it up." 17:31 You cannot make up Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. 17:38 And you may see in a few moments 17:39 why the colonel became a Christian. 17:44 Now look at Daniel 7:7 again. 17:48 Verse 7, 17:50 "After this, I saw in the night visions, 17:52 and behold, a fourth beast," 17:53 Rome, "Dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. 17:57 It had huge iron teeth. 17:59 It was devouring, breaking in pieces, 18:01 and trampling the residue with its feet. 18:04 It was different from all the beasts 18:07 that were before it and it had ten horns." 18:12 And notice this, this beast, the Roman beast is different. 18:18 He has ten horns. 18:21 And notice verse 24 of the same chapter. 18:26 "The ten horns are ten kings 18:29 who shall arise from this kingdom. 18:33 And another shall rise after them. 18:37 He shall be different from the first ones, 18:40 and shall subdue three kings." 18:43 The Bible says 18:47 the ten horns are ten kings. 18:54 Now, the Roman Empire, my friend, 18:58 was not followed by another great world empire 19:02 as we would have expected. 19:05 But the Roman Empire broke up into the kingdoms 19:10 and the states of Europe. 19:15 My atheist friend, if you are still listening, 19:20 indulge me. 19:21 Let me ask you the question. 19:23 How did a Jew in Babylon 19:27 about 500 years B.C. 19:31 predict Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Alexander, 19:35 the break up of the Grecian empire, 19:38 the coming of the great iron monarchy of Rome, 19:42 and the break up of the Roman Empire 19:45 into the kingdoms and the states of Europe? 19:47 How did he know? 19:50 That's why the Soviet colonel said to me, 19:54 "I have come to believe not because of blind faith 19:59 but because of the overwhelming facts 20:03 of history." 20:04 You see, Jesus said, "You'll know the truth." 20:08 Now let me say a few words about atheism 20:10 and I say it in Christian charity. 20:16 Atheism is not science. 20:19 Whatever you're told, atheism is not science. 20:22 Some of the best people I've known are atheists. 20:25 But atheism is not science. 20:28 Science cannot prove there is no God. 20:34 No scientist who is worth his salt will say 20:39 that he can prove there is no God. 20:42 Atheism is intellectually barren. 20:49 Atheism is a philosophy of naturalism. 20:54 It is a religion of faith. 20:57 Atheism is not based on proof. 21:03 How can you prove there is no God? 21:06 Have you been everywhere on the universe? 21:10 It's not based on proof or facts. 21:13 Atheism is not scientific, young people. 21:18 And remember, many scientists believe in God. 21:21 The man who wrote the language of God, 21:24 one of the greatest scientists of our age is a believer. 21:30 Atheism is a religion that people choose to believe 21:34 often for very emotional reasons. 21:39 But true belief in God is based on evidence and facts. 21:45 I do not believe in blind faith, 21:49 I want you to hear this. 21:51 When I was running lectures in St. Petersburg, 21:55 and Moscow, and Gorky, we had tremendous crowds, 21:59 millions of people. 22:01 On one occasion, 22:03 I had the KGB leaders come to the meetings. 22:06 I remember saying 22:08 that the KGB chief wanted to talk to me. 22:11 They don't usually want to talk to a person like me 22:15 to pass the time of day, 22:17 usually to pull out your fingernails or something. 22:21 But they brought the KGB general round to the back. 22:25 I met with him and his colonels. 22:27 Later on, I spoke on two occasions 22:30 to all of the people in training to be KGB officers. 22:35 And he said to me, "Don't forget us 22:38 because we atheists too have souls." 22:44 He said, "We're empty in here also." 22:48 But he said we are coming to your meetings 22:50 because they're not like religious meetings. 22:54 He said, "We're coming to your meetings 22:56 because you show us evidence why we should believe." 23:03 And if we cannot give you evidence 23:06 why you should believe, you know what you ought to do, 23:09 don't you? 23:10 Don't believe. 23:13 But Jesus said you'll know the truth. 23:15 The truth will make you free. 23:18 I believe in truth. 23:21 And look at Daniel 7:8. 23:25 "I was considering the horns," or the kings of Europe, 23:28 "and there was another horn, a little one, 23:30 coming up among them, 23:31 before whom three of the first horns 23:33 were plucked out by the roots. 23:35 And there, in this horn, 23:36 were eyes like the eyes of a man, 23:39 and a mouth speaking pompous words." 23:45 And this is the famous king 23:46 who arises on the ruins of the Roman Empire. 23:52 And remember this, 23:53 the Roman Empire is still here today. 23:56 The Roman Empire became a divided empire. 24:00 And the old Roman Empire is still here today. 24:02 We've even got buildings in America 24:05 that are exact copies of the Roman buildings. 24:08 The Roman Empire is still here. 24:10 Look at verse 24, "The ten horns are ten kings 24:14 who shall arise from this kingdom. 24:17 And another shall rise after them. 24:20 He shall be different from the first ones, 24:22 and shall subdue three kings." 24:25 Now, here is the question. 24:29 This is very honest question, from my heart to yours. 24:31 How did this Jew, living 2,500 years ago 24:36 know there would be Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece? 24:40 The fourth one would be the most dreadful power, 24:44 and then it would break up into the kingdoms of Europe. 24:48 And then a king would arise in Europe 24:51 and he would rule the world. 24:54 How did he know 24:58 if there is no God? 25:01 Now, I want to tell you that most atheists, 25:06 God bless them, have never heard this evidence. 25:10 So don't be hard on them. 25:12 And Daniel 7:9 and 10, 25:15 "I watched till thrones were put in place, 25:18 and the Ancient of Days was seated, 25:20 His garment was white as snow, 25:22 and the hair of his head like the pure wool. 25:24 His thrown was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire. 25:28 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. 25:33 A thousand thousands ministered to Him, 25:36 ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. 25:41 The court was seated, and the books were opened." 25:51 I believe in God because of evidence. 25:57 And this book says 26:00 that God is still on His throne, 26:05 and we'll be back with more amazing facts 26:09 in a moment. 26:22 Hello, friend. I'm John Carter. 26:24 By the grace of God, I'm going back to Russia. 26:27 I've been to the lands of the old Soviet Union 26:30 47 times. 26:33 That's in the last 25, 26 years. 26:36 We're planning to go to the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 26:40 or the old Russian city of Gorky, 26:43 made famous by the poet Gorky. 26:47 We're going there because 25 years ago, 26:50 we ran a great campaign in Nizhny Novgorod 26:54 and we saw 2,530 souls, 26:58 2,530 Russians, communists, atheists, 27:03 all sorts of unbelief baptized into Christ in the Volga River. 27:08 We're going back because the need is enormous. 27:12 And because the Russians are saying, 27:14 "Please come and help us." 27:16 Freedom is disappearing in Putin's Russia. 27:21 It's almost impossible now to hire an auditorium, 27:24 almost impossible to preach the gospel. 27:27 And so by the grace of God, 27:29 we are applying for special missionary visas. 27:33 Are we going to get them? 27:34 We think so by the grace of God. 27:36 And we're going to advertise, by the grace of God, 27:39 on television and on radio. 27:41 Please write to me. 27:43 I've got to raise $250,000 now. 27:48 Please write to me, John Carter, PO Box 1900, 27:52 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 27:55 In Australia, write to the address 27:58 now appearing on the screen. 28:00 This could be Russia's last opportunity. 28:04 Please write to me. 28:05 I ask you in the name of God, 28:08 write to me today and pray for Russia. 28:11 Thank you, and God bless you. 28:23 For a copy of today's program, 28:25 please contact us at PO Box 1900, 28:29 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 28:33 Or in Australia, contact us at PO Box 861, 28:38 Terrigal, New South Wales, 2260. 28:42 This program is made possible 28:44 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:47 We thank you for your continued support. 28:50 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2017-07-24