Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001731A
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00:01 I'm John Carter in Moscow...
00:02 I'm now in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. 00:04 I'm John Carter in Petra... 00:06 Reporting from India... 00:08 In Columbia... 00:09 I'm John Carter. 00:11 Today, on the Carter Report, 00:13 John Carter talks about The Star Maker. 00:21 I couldn't be an atheist. 00:24 You know why? 00:26 I just don't have enough faith. 00:29 I really couldn't be an atheist because to be an atheist, 00:32 you've got to have 00:34 an extraordinary amount of faith. 00:37 Now let me just give you one little bit of evidence 00:41 why I couldn't be an atheist. 00:44 Astronomers have discovered in recent times 00:48 that the universe, 00:49 about 95% of it is composed of dark stuff. 00:56 So when we put pictures on the screen today 00:58 that show the stars, 01:00 that's not the dark stuff, that's the bright stuff. 01:04 And the bright stuff is only about 01:06 5% of the entire universe. 01:10 The dark stuff is made up of two parts. 01:13 This is important if you don't know this. 01:15 And then you see why I couldn't be an atheist, 01:18 why I don't have enough faith. 01:21 This dark matter, 01:24 that stuff that actually has a gravitational pull, 01:27 so it's actual stuff 01:30 but nobody knows what it is. 01:32 Nobody can see it, we know it's there. 01:35 And then there is another sort of stuff 01:37 that is called dark energy. 01:41 This dark energy 01:44 lives on the... 01:47 on the expanding face of the universe. 01:52 This dark energy 01:56 controls the expansion rate of the universe. 02:01 I want you to think about this. 02:03 We know it's a fact 02:06 that the universe is expanding out like this, 02:11 almost at the speed of light. 02:14 So this shows you 02:16 without getting into this theological dimension 02:18 that this universe cannot last forever. 02:23 It's a temporary thing. 02:26 The universe is exploding up, 02:28 one day the universe will expand 02:30 so far out that the stars, 02:34 we won't be able to see the stars. 02:37 That which determines 02:39 the expansion rate of the universe, 02:42 that determines our existence on the planet. 02:46 Did you hear this? 02:48 The expansion rate of the universe 02:51 determines whether we shall live 02:55 or whether we shall die. 02:59 The expansion rate of the universe, 03:02 like a lot of other things in the cosmos 03:04 is fine tuned... 03:09 to such an extreme amount 03:12 that I'm going to use this illustration 03:14 that I don't understand. 03:16 I want you to think of the whole 03:19 of the United States of America. 03:22 It's a big place, 03:24 about three million square miles. 03:27 And we're going to cover it with dimes. 03:32 Not to a foot, not to six feet but to the moon. 03:39 Is that a lot of dimes? 03:41 United States of America covered with dimes 03:44 that reach up to the moon. 03:50 Do it a million times. 03:53 A million United States of America 03:57 covered with dimes 03:59 that reach up to the very... 04:02 Almost touching the moon, hundreds of thousands of miles. 04:07 How many dimes? How many dimes? 04:11 It's only incomprehensible, 04:14 can't figure out a trillionth and trillionth. 04:17 One dime has got an "x" on it, only one dime. 04:22 So you're going to be blindfolded 04:25 and on a dark night you're told to walk out 04:28 and there is a million United State 04:30 dimes up to the moon and on the first go, 04:34 you pick out the dime with the mark on it. 04:41 What chances there are of that? 04:44 One in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, 04:46 trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, 04:49 that's how fine tuned the dark energy is 04:54 that is driving the expansion of the universe 04:57 that determines whether there will be 04:59 life on planet earth. 05:03 So... 05:06 I believe in a divine watchmaker. 05:11 I don't have enough faith to be an atheist. 05:16 I don't have enough faith 05:19 to be an atheist. 05:21 Stephen Hawking, 05:24 millions of people quote him and they say now, 05:26 "He's given us the secrets of the universe 05:29 and he's shown that we don't need God." 05:30 He says this in his famous book, 05:34 A Brief History of Time, page 127, 05:38 "It would be very difficult to explain 05:43 why the Universe should have begun in just this way, 05:48 except as an act of a God 05:53 who intended to create beings like us." 06:01 The topic today is... 06:03 And I present it before you write down, 06:06 the topic today is 06:09 The Star Maker 06:13 or The Universe Maker. 06:19 The most important statement 06:21 that has ever been made in time and eternity 06:24 is Genesis 1:1. 06:28 Notice it in the Bible, Genesis 1:1, 06:32 "In the beginning 06:34 God created heavens and the earth." 06:38 The very first words of 06:42 the Jewish Christian Bible. 06:45 Listen to this. 06:48 Almost impossible to comprehend what I'm saying now. 06:51 Our universe, we know, 06:53 I've been saying this now for a few years. 06:55 Our universe is composed of 200 billion galaxies. 07:00 When I first started as a young man 07:02 to talk on this subject on the stars, 07:05 I told the people there were 500,000 galaxies, 07:10 500,000... 07:11 Then after a few years, I found million, 07:14 now they say, "No, it's not a million, 07:15 it's not a billion, 200 billion." 07:18 But just a few days ago, 07:20 NASA released a tremendous statement. 07:23 They said, "The universe is 10 times bigger than 07:29 we thought it was." 07:31 And so the universe now is not 200 billion galaxies 07:35 but 2 trillion galaxies. 07:42 I present to you the star maker. 07:46 In each galaxy, 07:48 there are around 2 trillion galaxies. 07:52 In each galaxy, 07:54 there are around 200 billion stars. 08:00 The question is... 08:02 I'll say it once again, I don't have enough faith 08:04 to be an atheist, I just couldn't do this. 08:07 Who made this wondrous, incomprehensible vast universe 08:11 that came into being in a millisecond 08:14 of light and energy? 08:16 It is now... 08:17 Listen, my atheistic friend, 08:20 it is now a scientific fact 08:23 that the universe came into existence 08:25 in blinding flash of light and energy. 08:28 There was nothing and then the universe was created. 08:34 Most scientists until relatively recently, 08:38 Einstein for instance believed 08:40 in the steady state of the universe. 08:42 It had always been there, infinite time, infinite matter, 08:45 therefore evolution could work, but it's not true. 08:50 Others have believed in the oscillating theory 08:52 of the universe in, out, in... 08:54 No, no, no. 08:56 It is a scientific fact that the universe 08:58 came into being 09:00 in a blinding flash of light and energy. 09:03 And the question is, who is the star maker, 09:07 who is the universe maker. 09:10 Come with me to John 1:1-3 09:14 and I'm glad that you've joined us today, 09:17 John 1:1-3, the Bible says, 09:20 "In the beginning was the Word, 09:24 and the Word was with God, 09:26 and the Word was God. 09:30 He was in the beginning with God. 09:32 All things were made through Him," this is Christ, 09:35 "and without Him nothing was made that was made. 09:39 He was in the world, and the world," all the cosmos, 09:43 "was made through Him, 09:46 and the world did not know Him." 09:49 The Bible teaches 09:52 that the universe was created by the Logos. 09:59 And the Logos is another word in the Bible for Christ. 10:05 Listen to this, my dear atheistic friend. 10:09 I want to please with all of us to be intellectual, 10:13 morally honest as we contemplate this. 10:17 Atheism teaches that the universe 10:19 started with chaos. 10:22 Richard Dawkins says it, 10:24 meaninglessness without mind or thought. 10:29 The Bible teaches, the universe started with intelligence, 10:36 with the Logos. 10:39 I'm going to put up here so you can notice it 10:42 what atheism teaches. 10:45 You've got to be honest. 10:48 "Nothing produced everything, 10:51 non-life produced life, 10:53 randomness produced fine tuning, 10:57 chaos produced information, 11:00 unconsciousness produced consciousness, 11:04 non-reason produced reason." 11:07 I would suggest to you that this idea 11:11 is the basis 11:14 of all the discontent in the world today, 11:17 and the meaninglessness. 11:22 I would call this today... 11:25 with all apologies, 11:27 this today is the new insanity 11:33 that is disguised as sophistication. 11:36 I don't have enough faith to believe it. 11:41 Now, I want you to come over here to Colossians 1:15-17 11:46 to the words of the Apostle Paul. 11:50 And speaking of Christ 11:53 in Colossians 1:15-17, 11:59 he says, 12:01 "He is the image of" the very, the very essence, 12:05 "of the invisible God, the firstborn," or the leader, 12:09 "over all creation. 12:11 For by Him all things were created 12:13 that are in heaven and that are on earth, 12:17 visible and invisible," dark energy, 12:20 dark matter, "thrones, dominions, 12:24 principalities or powers. 12:26 All things were created through Him and for Him. 12:31 And He is before all things, 12:35 and in Him all things consist." 12:40 The Bible teaches my friend that Christ is the star maker. 12:46 Before the creation of the universe, 12:49 Christ, the Logos existed. 12:53 This... 12:55 mighty God. 12:57 Come with me now over here to John 8:56-59 13:04 in the scriptures, 13:06 John 8:56 and onwards 13:13 which records a conversation 13:16 that Christ had with the religious leaders 13:20 of His day. 13:22 He said, "'Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, 13:26 and he saw it and was glad.' 13:29 Then the Jews said to Him, 13:31 'You are not yet fifty years old, 13:33 have you seen Abraham?' 13:35 Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, 13:39 before Abraham was..."' 13:42 Not I was, "I AM." 13:48 And these people were not fools, 13:50 they knew what He was saying. 13:51 "Then they took up stones to throw at Him, 13:53 but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, 13:56 going through the midst of them, 13:58 and so passed by." 14:02 Jesus took 14:05 the unique Hebrew expression 14:09 that refers to almighty God, the star maker. 14:14 And if you compare this expression, 14:17 I AM, that is found in the Gospel of John, 14:19 over here with the passage about the burning bush. 14:22 In Exodus 3:1-6, 14:27 this is the passage about the burning bush 14:32 and how Moses actually meets the Almighty God. 14:35 "Now Moses was tending to the flock of Jethro, 14:38 his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. 14:42 He led the flock to the back of the desert, 14:45 and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 14:49 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him 14:51 in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. 14:55 So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, 15:00 but the bush was not consumed. 15:03 Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside 15:05 and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.' 15:09 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, 15:12 God called to him from the midst of the bush 15:15 and said, 'Moses, Moses.' 15:21 And he said, 'Here I am.' 15:24 Then He said, 'Do not draw near this place. 15:26 Take your sandals off from your feet, 15:28 for the place where you stand is holy ground.' 15:32 Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father, 15:36 the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 15:38 and the God of Jacob.' 15:40 And Moses hid his face, 15:42 for he was afraid to look upon God.'" 15:46 And so, out of the midst of this burning bush 15:50 that burned but is not consumed 15:52 came the voice of the star maker, 15:55 the person who said, "I am the almighty God." 15:58 Now, my friends, if you come down little further 16:01 and if you come down to verse 14, 16:04 "And God said to Moses," 16:05 because God has a conversation with Moses, 16:08 the servant of God. 16:10 "God said to Moses, 'I AM who I AM.' 16:15 And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 16:19 'I AM has sent me to you."' 16:21 This unique expression... 16:24 Not the "I WAS" but the "I AM" 16:28 is the name that is given to the self-existent God. 16:34 This is an awesome truth 16:38 that the God who spoke out of the burning bush 16:40 that was not consumed. 16:42 This person, my friend, was Yahweh, Elohim. 16:47 Now Jewish scholars 16:49 because of their reverence with God 16:51 will never pronounce this name. 16:53 Were not absolutely certain how the name is said. 16:56 This is the tetragrammaton. 16:59 The four letters of the Hebrew language, 17:03 YHWH, Yahweh 17:06 and as you know it's written in this way across here, 17:11 this person is called in the scriptures, the Creator, 17:15 the mighty God, He is the star maker, 17:18 He is the universe maker, He is the great I AM. 17:23 And Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews, 17:27 "Before Abraham was, I AM." 17:31 No wonder they took up stones to stone Him. 17:37 Now, if you come to 2 Timothy 1:9, 17:41 you come to a provocative text in the Bible. 17:44 And this is a good text for those who don't believe, 17:49 those who are unbelievers and those who are atheists. 17:53 2 Timothy 1:9, it says, speaking of Jesus it says, 17:59 "Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, 18:04 not according to our works, 18:06 but according to His own purpose and grace 18:12 which was given to us in Christ Jesus..." 18:20 Scientists didn't believe this until relatively recently, 18:24 "before time began." 18:29 Which makes foolish the question, 18:33 where did God come from, how long has God been there 18:37 because when the universe was created, 18:42 a number of things came into being, my friend. 18:45 This is scientific. 18:47 A number of things came into being 18:50 which had not existed before. 18:54 Time was one of them, and space, and matter, 19:01 these things had never existed before, 19:03 it is a scientific fact 19:06 that there was a 'time", 19:12 when there was no time. 19:14 And the Bible talks about the time 19:17 about Christ Jesus before time began. 19:24 And before time began in a place far away, 19:29 beyond time and space 19:32 and everything that we think is important, 19:36 there was a person who was called the Logos. 19:42 And He is called in scripture, "The great I AM, Yahweh, 19:46 Elohim, El Shaddai, the Almighty God." 19:50 And He spoke with His own mouth 19:54 and the energy was of such consequence 19:58 that where there was nothing, 20:00 all of a sudden there was a universe being born. 20:06 And we now know this universe 20:08 consists of 20:11 two trillion galaxies. 20:16 The person who did this, 20:17 we call him affectionately today, 20:21 the star maker. 20:25 Then there came a day in time 20:29 when the "I AM" became a human being. 20:33 A man whom I got to know many years ago in Texas 20:36 down at nameless valley ranch. 20:39 He was a great US astronaut, 20:42 a man of great courage and decency, 20:46 Colonel James Irwin. 20:49 When he put on a slideshow for us, 20:52 he didn't show pictures of his children, 20:54 he showed pictures of walking around on the moon. 20:58 That's a little bit, you know, 21:00 what are you going to follow that up with? 21:03 But Colonel Irwin made this remark, 21:08 "The most significant achievement of our age 21:11 is not that man stood on the moon," 21:13 like he did. 21:17 Wonderful man. 21:21 "The most significant achievement of our age," 21:23 said Colonel James Irwin, 21:25 "is not that man stood on the moon 21:27 but rather that God in Christ stood upon this earth." 21:31 That's the most amazing thing 21:34 and this is what the colonel said to me 21:37 as we walked around the hills in Texas. 21:41 And he shared his faith in Christ 21:44 and he talked about looking back 21:45 and seeing the earth rise over the moon. 21:52 And he said that his mind came pulsating the words, 21:56 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." 22:00 My friend, I could not possibly be an atheist. 22:04 I don't have enough faith, you see. 22:10 I cannot believe 22:11 that which I consider to be irrational, illogical, 22:16 and pardon my saying it, nonsensical. 22:22 But around 2,000 years ago, 22:24 a young woman accompanied by her husband 22:28 gave birth to a baby boy. 22:32 This happened outside a hospital 22:35 without doctors or nurses. 22:39 It happened in the shed, 22:41 at the back of an overbooked motel 22:43 in a small town by the name of Bethlehem. 22:47 Most women today would have been appalled, 22:51 even terrified by the circumstances. 22:55 But here is a slip of a girl, just a young girl, 22:59 most likely a peasant girl. 23:03 And she is a long way from home, 23:05 and from family, and friends. 23:08 And she is with her husband 23:10 who has been given the honor 23:12 of taking care of the mother of our Lord. 23:17 And one night... 23:20 Can you believe this? 23:22 Because if you can believe this, 23:24 nothing will be impossible to you. 23:28 Amid the lowing of cattle and the bleating of sheep, 23:34 the star maker was born, 23:38 most likely with tears, and crying, 23:41 and maybe with blood. 23:45 Most women today 23:47 would be afraid of the lack of hygiene. 23:49 He was born in a shed at the back... 23:55 of an overbooked motel six. 24:03 The baby was the Lord of the universe, 24:06 the star maker. 24:08 He had many names. 24:12 He was called Almighty God, El Shaddai, 24:17 the Creator, the I AM, 24:22 the word that we say with great reverence, 24:26 the word that the Hebrew scribes will not say. 24:33 When I was in Jerusalem with a Hebrew scribe 24:36 and said the name... 24:39 the man trembled, he said, 24:42 "Do you know what you've said?" 24:47 So what we are talking about? 24:48 We are talking about this person, 24:50 the I AM, Yahweh, 24:54 Elohim, the Lord. 24:58 His parents called Him Jesus. 25:07 And when Mary took this little baby boy, 25:12 maybe eight pounds, 25:15 nestled Him, 25:18 and gave Him His first drink of warm milk. 25:26 She was holding... 25:28 incarnate... 25:33 the Creator of the universe, 25:37 the Logos who would come down... 25:44 to save us. 25:49 This tells me that the star maker 25:53 must be a very nice person. 25:59 We'll be back with more and more amazing truths 26:03 in just a few moments. 26:17 Remember when common sense was common. 26:21 Life had clear choices, right was right. 26:25 Now right is wrong and wrong is right. 26:30 Spiritual vigilantes are riding in to divide 26:32 and conquer towns across America. 26:35 They're taking God's law into their own hands. 26:39 John Carter would like to give you a free copy 26:42 of Spiritual Vigilantes by Danny Shelton. 26:47 Read this book and you can counterattack 26:50 that counterfeit culture created by the PC police. 26:55 Fight the spiritual vigilantes with the truth. 26:58 This is a wakeup call to Christians. 27:02 Copies are limited, 27:03 so call the number on the screen, 27:05 write to us, and order your free copy 27:08 of Spiritual Vigilantes by Danny Shelton. 27:19 Do you sometimes get lost in the crowd? 27:22 Do you feel there is just no love in the room, 27:24 like everybody is against you? 27:26 You're all alone with no one to lean on. 27:28 Do you need a word of encouragement? 27:30 Do you know God? 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Revised 2018-04-16