Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001919A
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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 John Carter gives us all Reasons to Believe. 00:37 A great welcome to each of you here today 00:39 in our California Studio, 00:42 and a terrific welcome 00:43 to our viewers around the world, 00:45 especially our new viewers on the CW Network, 00:50 112 new stations across the great land 00:54 of the United States of America. 00:57 Today, my friends, I want you to do, 01:00 if we did a couple of weeks ago, last week too, 01:02 I want you to try to think outside the box. 01:08 We all get ourselves in little boxes. 01:11 Sometimes there are boxes 01:13 that belong to political parties, 01:16 and sometimes there're boxes that belong to churches. 01:21 And when you sit inside those boxes, 01:23 is really hard to think. 01:25 And I want you today to step outside the box. 01:29 If you want to be happy, 01:32 who doesn't want to be happy, 01:34 but if you want to be happy, 01:37 you've got to be able to answer three questions, 01:40 three big questions. 01:42 Number one... 01:44 Maybe four questions. 01:47 Number one, where did I come from? 01:51 Where did I come from? 01:52 Am I simply the product of a creature 01:56 that crawled out of the slime? 01:58 Where did I come from? 02:00 Number two, why am I here? 02:03 Has been said that the greatest sickness 02:05 of our times is not cancer, it is not heart disease, 02:09 it is meaninglessness. 02:12 Why am I here? 02:14 Number three is, where am I going, 02:16 what is my future? 02:19 And there's another great question 02:21 that I need to ask an answer. 02:23 And that is this, who am I? 02:26 Or what am I? 02:29 I used to tell the people in Russia, 02:31 to these tremendous crowds of atheists, 02:33 you know, you're not an animal, 02:35 and you're not a machine, 02:37 you're special 02:38 because you're a child of God, you see. 02:41 These are the great questions. 02:43 We're gonna talk about that a bit today. 02:46 Richard Dawkins is the most famous atheist in the world. 02:51 Dr. Richard Dawkins, 02:54 from possibly the greatest university in the world, 02:57 Oxford University. 03:00 He's written a number of books, let me mention too. 03:03 One is "The God Delusion." 03:05 If you believe in God, then you are deluded, 03:08 you are a crazy person. 03:10 And the other book is called "The Blind Watchmaker." 03:15 Everything that appears in this world 03:19 only appears to be designed. 03:22 It was not designed. 03:24 It was made by the blind watchmaker. 03:28 That's his philosophy. 03:30 The Blind Watchmaker is the process of evolution. 03:35 Millions believe in him. 03:37 And I would suggest to you today 03:39 they believe in Him not because of evidence 03:41 but because of blind faith. 03:44 Dawkins says this, 03:46 "Faith is based on myths and lies." 03:49 Sometimes it is. 03:51 And he says, "Science is based on facts." 03:55 And sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. 04:01 My response is this, Christianity and belief in God, 04:05 when rightly understood are based on facts, 04:08 and I believe this. 04:10 If I didn't have reasons to believe, 04:13 I wouldn't believe. 04:15 And too often the evolutionary theory 04:18 is first propounded we believe, 04:20 by Charles Darwin is based on blind faith. 04:24 Let me give you one classical example, 04:27 the geologic column. 04:30 Now I want you... Can't go into this. 04:32 Here we have the geologic column, 04:35 it is a fact that it exists. 04:38 And so, down the bottom 04:39 in the evolutionary time frame 04:42 and scheme of things, you have very simple creatures, 04:45 and on the top, 04:47 you have very complex creatures, 04:48 and at the very top of this, 04:50 you have the apex, which is man. 04:52 And the evolutionary theory teaches 04:54 that the simple became more complex 04:58 over vast periods of time, 05:01 and therefore, between each of the strata, 05:04 between each of the species, 05:06 you have intermediates. 05:10 And so all of the strata's actually blend 05:15 from A to B to C to D. 05:19 This is believed by Richard Dawkins 05:21 and believed by millions 05:22 and the problem is, it is a lie. 05:26 Who agrees with me? 05:29 Two of the greatest paleontologists 05:33 in the history of paleontology, 05:36 two fervent evolutionists, 05:41 Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, 05:45 they said, "It doesn't exist. 05:50 There are no intermediates." 05:53 And therefore, Stephen Jay Gould said this, 05:59 "The evolutionary theory 06:01 in all reality is dead, 06:06 because it is not true." 06:09 This is one of the biggest lies, 06:11 and most people don't know it. 06:14 Most people don't know it. 06:17 They have a faith in a theory which is based on lies. 06:21 My topic today is Reasons to Believe. 06:26 Some of the reasons that Dawkins espouses 06:28 are less than convincing. 06:30 Example, Christians have done bad things. 06:32 Yes. 06:34 The Inquisition in the Dark Ages. Yes. 06:36 But the people who did these things, 06:38 Richard Dawkins, were not Christians, 06:40 but also atheists, like Richard Dawkins, 06:43 have done dreadful things. 06:45 In Russia, militant strong, 06:50 hardcore atheist, murdered 70 million people. 06:53 Richard Dawkins, in Cambodia, 06:56 a little country 3 million people. 06:58 Nobody has been held account, 07:00 nobody has been held accountable. 07:01 In China, 14 million innocent people, 07:04 they were killed by militant atheists. 07:07 Therefore, if Christians have done bad things, 07:11 and if that makes Christianity wrong, 07:14 then atheism is doubly wrong. 07:18 Because they have butchered people 07:21 by the tens and hundreds of millions. 07:25 Let me answer the claims of the atheists 07:27 in a completely different way, 07:29 one which is verifiable from history. 07:32 I'm not a scientist, 07:33 but I know a little bit about it. 07:35 I know enough to know that one and one equals two. 07:41 I refuse to be put into a box and told you can't think, 07:47 I refuse to have this. 07:49 I want you to take your Bible 07:50 and come with me to Isaiah 46:9-10, 07:53 and I want the atheist who is watching the program 07:56 to please give me the courtesy 07:58 and listen to the arguments, 08:01 because you'll hear arguments 08:03 that led hundreds of thousands of atheists 08:06 in Communist Russia to Christ. 08:08 I know I was there, I ran the meetings. 08:12 Isaiah 46:9-10. 08:16 The Bible says, "Remember the former things of old, 08:19 for I am God, and there is no other. 08:21 I am God, and there is none like Me, 08:23 declaring the end from the beginning, 08:27 declaring the end from the beginning, 08:30 and from ancient times things that are not yet done, 08:33 saying, 'My counsel shall stand, 08:36 and I will do all My pleasure.'" 08:38 The Bible, listen to me, look at me. 08:41 The Bible claims to have the unique capacity 08:47 to see into the future. 08:51 If this is true, if it is true, 08:57 and all the arguments have to cease. 09:00 One great friend of mine said, "If genuine prophecy exists, 09:04 then the main issues of life are met." 09:08 What was he talking about? 09:10 If there is genuine prophecy, genuine, verifiable, 09:16 please give me a hearing. 09:17 Don't be bigoted. 09:20 Get out of the box. 09:23 If there is genuine prophecy, then there is God. 09:28 And if there is God, I know where I came from, 09:32 I know why I'm here, 09:34 I know where I'm going, I have hope. 09:37 I'm not like poor Richard Dawkins. 09:43 Now, let me say this, 09:46 there's no such thing as total proof for anything. 09:49 Oh, you say, "Yes. Oh, yes." 09:51 No, no, no. 09:54 Philosophically, there's no such thing 09:57 as total proof. 09:59 You can't even prove, 10:00 you're sitting here in the studio. 10:04 Philosophically, you're trusting your brain. 10:07 Is your brain infallible? No, of course, it's not. 10:09 So we don't go by total proof, we go by evidence. 10:16 Evidence! 10:18 What is the relationship between faith and evidence? 10:21 There was a big gathering 10:23 of Christian youth leaders here 10:25 in the United States of America. 10:27 And the leading young person, the young people's leader, 10:32 was asked the question, 10:33 "Why do you believe in the resurrection of Christ?" 10:37 And he gave a classical response 10:38 to monstrous applause. 10:42 Why do you believe in the resurrection of Christ? 10:44 He said, very piously, "Because of my faith." 10:49 I can't think of a dumber answer. 10:53 I want you to know, 10:54 I do not believe in the resurrection of Christ 10:57 because of my faith. 11:00 I believe in the resurrection of Christ, listen to me, 11:04 because it happened. 11:08 Because it happened. 11:10 I believe in the resurrection because of the facts. 11:13 I know, there're no facts. Well, you just don't know. 11:16 He was seen by hundreds of witnesses. 11:19 They wrote it down in books. 11:21 The books have come down 11:23 to our day and age in a fair court, 11:27 the jury would come out and say, 11:29 "Yes, he rose because of the facts." 11:33 Now, one of the great debates 11:36 between Dr. Dawkins and Dr. John Lennox, 11:39 the great mathematician from Oxford University, 11:43 Dawkins was phooeying 11:46 the great mathematical professor 11:49 because he said, "You got faith. 11:52 I've got science." 11:55 The great professor whom I love very much 11:57 said to Professor Dawkins, 12:01 "Do you trust your wife?" 12:04 Dawkins said, "Yes, of course, 12:06 I trust my," the old professor, 12:08 the mathematician said to him, "Do you trust your wife? 12:11 Why do you trust your wife?" 12:13 Oh, he said, "Because of... 12:14 I know her, how she acts, what she does." 12:20 He said, "You trust her because of the evidence," 12:24 is that Sir Richard?" 12:25 He said, "Yes. 12:27 I trust her because of the evidence." 12:28 Dr. Lennox said, "Thank you, Richard, very much." 12:33 That's what we're talking about. 12:37 We are not talking about a blind faith. 12:40 Listen to me. 12:42 A blind faith is closely related 12:46 to stupidity. 12:50 I must have a faith that rests upon evidence. 12:55 Now I'm going to show you something that I've shared 12:57 with thousands of atheists around the world. 13:00 I think I can say, truthfully, 13:04 that I've probably spoken to more atheists 13:07 in meetings than any other person alive. 13:11 I spoke to millions of them in Russia. 13:16 Daniel 7 was written 2500 years ago in Babylon, 13:21 by a Jewish prophet. 13:23 Babylon is what we call today, Mesopotamia or Iraq. 13:29 This chapter refutes all Richard Dawkins' 13:32 criticisms of Christ and His followers 13:35 because Richard is confused concerning 13:39 the nature of the church. 13:43 I now challenge skeptics, infidels and atheists 13:46 to look at the facts of history 13:48 and to think outside of the box. 13:53 I presented these truths to millions of atheists 13:55 and unbelievers in Russia and Ukraine. 13:57 I've seen thousands, tens of thousands say, 14:03 I now believe. 14:05 I want you to come to Daniel 7:1-3, 14:09 and to think outside of the box please. 14:12 Daniel 7, "In the first year of Belshazzar," 14:16 an historical character, "king of Babylon, 14:20 Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. 14:24 Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts. 14:28 Daniel spoke, saying, 'I saw in my vision by night, 14:31 and behold, 14:32 the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea 14:34 and four great beasts came up from the sea, 14:37 each different from the other.'" 14:38 The atheist will say, "How silly! 14:45 How silly!" 14:47 But the most effective way to communicate truth 14:51 is through pictures, 14:54 and stories, and parables. 15:00 And that's what the Bible does in the prophecies. 15:04 So hive sea, the Mediterranean, 15:07 lashed into fury 15:08 and full great beast come up out of the sea. 15:12 Now in Bible prophecy, 15:14 dear hearts and gentle people, 15:17 in Bible Prophecy, a beast represents a nation. 15:22 Daniel 7:17, and then 7:23, 15:29 the Bible says, this is not ambiguous, 15:32 a child of four or five can understand this. 15:36 "Those great beasts 15:38 which are four, are four kings, 15:40 which arise out of the earth." 15:43 And then the next verse says, 23, 15:47 "The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, 15:51 which shall be different from all the other kingdoms, 15:55 and shall devour the whole earth, 15:57 trample it down and break it in pieces." 16:01 Now, in the Bible prophecies, 16:04 the sea represents the peoples of the earth, 16:07 Revelation 17, we're not gonna go into that. 16:11 And a beast coming up out of the sea 16:15 represents a great nation that arises 16:19 from the turmoil 16:22 of all the nations in the world. 16:25 So a beast represents 16:29 a king or a kingdom, 16:32 and Richard Dawkins could understand this. 16:36 This is plain, it is logical. 16:40 Now, if you look at Daniel 7:4, 16:44 you have the four beasts. 16:47 Look at this because you just may discover 16:51 something you never knew before. 16:54 Daniel 7:4, says, 16:57 "The first was like a lion, 17:00 and had eagle's wings. 17:02 I watched till its wings were plucked off 17:05 and was lifted up from the earth 17:07 and made to stand on two feet like a man, 17:11 and a man's heart was given to it." 17:14 Listen carefully. 17:16 When this prophecy was given, 17:21 Daniel was living in Babylon. 17:25 And Babylon had a symbol 17:28 because I had been to Babylon on many occasions. 17:32 I've walked around the ruins, 17:34 many, many occasions. 17:35 These pictures on the screen of the ruins of Babylon, 17:39 I took myself. 17:41 In the ruins of Babylon, 17:45 you will see the winged lion 17:48 because as the lion is the king of beast. 17:51 So Babylon was the king of kingdoms. 17:54 And people, "I know all that." No not. 17:56 Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. 17:59 And so the prophecy starts with Babylon, 18:02 which is the lion. 18:04 Now we read on the next verse, verse 5, 18:07 Daniel 7:5, 18:10 "And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. 18:15 It was raised up on one side, 18:17 and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. 18:21 And they said thus to it, 18:23 'Arise, devour much flesh.'" 18:28 History tells me 18:31 that Babylon was overthrown. 18:34 Every nation in the world has a certain amount of time. 18:39 No nation goes forever. 18:45 Nations have got a probationary period. 18:49 And after Babylon came the great power 18:53 of the bear, 18:54 which was after Babylon came the great power 18:58 of the bear which was Medo-Persia, 19:01 a Jew monarchy. 19:04 Babylon was overthrown by Cyrus the Great. 19:07 I've been to Babylon. 19:09 I've been to the places 19:11 where the prophecy came to pass. 19:16 I've made a life study of this, 19:19 travelling through the Middle East 19:21 with an open Bible 19:23 and hopefully with an open mind. 19:27 Did you know the worst thing 19:29 that a person can have is a closed mind? 19:33 Somebody said, 19:34 it's almost impossible to get someone see a truth 19:38 when his salary depends upon he is not seeing it. 19:43 Did you hear this? 19:45 It's almost impossible to get somebody 19:48 to see a truth when his salary 19:50 depends upon he is not seeing it. 19:55 Whether he be a Republican or a Democrat 19:59 or an Independent or a Calathumpian. 20:05 The human mind is a very strange thing 20:08 and doesn't like new thoughts. 20:11 But the bear is Medo-Persia, that's a fact. 20:16 Daniel 7:6. 20:19 When I gave these lectures before the KGB 20:23 and before vast audiences of the university professors, 20:28 nobody ever came to me 20:29 and said, "No, you got it wrong." 20:32 They said, "No, it's true." 20:34 Why we've been told all these lies? 20:37 And so they said to me, 20:38 "Why we've been told all these lies?" 20:42 Verse 6, "After this," after Medo-Persia, 20:45 "I looked and there was another, 20:46 like a leopard, 20:48 which had on its back four wings of a bird. 20:51 The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it." 20:56 After Babylon came Medo-Persia, 21:00 and after Medo-Persia came Greece, 21:05 likened to the leopard. 21:09 The leopard represented the armies 21:13 of Alexander the Great, 21:16 and the four wings on its back represented 21:19 the division that came after the death of Alexander. 21:25 His empire, his authority was divided 21:29 among his four warring generals 21:32 that you all know about Cassander, 21:33 Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy. 21:38 And so Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. 21:43 No atheist has ever come to me and said, 21:46 "This is wrong." 21:48 And I've spoken to millions of atheists, 21:51 probably more than any person living. 21:54 Daniel 7:7. 21:57 "After this," after Greece, 22:00 "I saw in the night visions and behold, 22:04 a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, 22:08 exceedingly strong. 22:10 It had huge iron teeth, 22:12 it was devouring, breaking in pieces, 22:15 and trampling the residue with its feet. 22:17 It was different from all the beasts 22:20 that were before it, 22:21 and it had ten horns." 22:24 Now listen to me, 22:26 history tells me what this power was. 22:29 After Babylon came Medo-Persia, 22:34 after Medo-Persia came Greece, 22:37 and after Greece came the great dragon, 22:43 the iron monarchy of Rome. 22:46 This is the Rome of the Caesars. 22:49 The atheist cannot deny this. 22:53 You may phooey it, but you can't deny it. 22:57 Therefore, you need to put aside prejudice, 23:00 and think outside the box. 23:02 This is the Roman Empire. 23:05 How did Daniel know is the question. 23:09 And the Bible tells us 23:11 this is the great power of Rome 23:14 that ruled the world, 23:16 conquered the then known-world, 23:18 destroyed the city of Jerusalem 23:22 that crucified the Christ that carried away 23:26 the seven golden candlesticks. 23:30 In fact, in one of the great prophecies concerning Rome, 23:34 it was said, listen to me, in Daniel 9, 23:36 "The people of the prince 23:39 who shall come shall destroy the city 23:41 and the sanctuary." 23:42 It's Daniel 9. 23:44 It doesn't say the prince would destroy the sanctuary. 23:47 The people of the prince, the Roman soldiers, 23:50 the prince was Titus. 23:53 And surely some of you 23:54 have been to the arch of Titus in Rome, 23:58 where you see the seven golden candlesticks 24:01 that were taken out of the temple. 24:04 Every word of it was predicted. 24:07 Really? Yes. 24:09 The people of the prince, 24:11 Titus said to his soldiers, 24:13 spare, spare, in the name of everything holy, 24:17 spare the Jewish temple. 24:21 But they were so infuriated 24:23 of the obstinacy of these people. 24:28 That one Roman soldier 24:30 took a flaming torch and he threw it right in there. 24:35 And in a moment, the whole temple was on fire, 24:38 and the Jews stood on the hills and they cried out, 24:40 Ichabod, Ichabod, Ichabod, the glorious departed. 24:44 The people of the prince, 24:46 the prince tried to save the temple, 24:51 the Roman soldiers destroyed it, 24:52 according to Bible prophecy. 24:57 Now you can understand why General Vladimir, 25:00 one of the leaders of the KGB, 25:03 came to all my meetings, 25:05 entertained me and my team. 25:08 Listen to all of this. 25:09 And he said, here are some young men from the KGB 25:13 that I spoke to. 25:17 In training, he said, 25:20 "What I like about your meetings, 25:22 they are not just about faith, they're about facts." 25:27 And I said to General Vladimir, "I would have you," 25:31 these are KGB officers. 25:33 How would you like to be in the room with this guy 25:36 by yourself? 25:39 These same men had come down to our church 25:42 before I'd gotten there, 25:44 and had destroyed it 25:46 and thrown our members into prison. 25:48 But there's one thing they could not lock up, 25:52 they could not lock up the Word of God. 25:55 And so I'm going to tell you, very, very soon, 26:00 more amazing truths to come soon. 26:03 Stay with us, as we talk about reasons to believe. 26:25 Hello, friend. 26:26 I'm John Carter. 26:27 Behind me is the great city of Manila, 26:31 the capital of the Philippines. 26:34 Did you know, this is quite amazing. 26:35 There are more people living in this area 26:38 than in New York City. 26:40 And Christ died for these people. 26:42 We came here, oh, long time ago back in 1984. 26:48 What's that, 34, 35 years ago, 26:51 and we came here with a team of young people 26:54 and we came to the PICC. 26:57 It is our intent to come here, 26:59 hire the biggest hall that's available, 27:01 the greatest outdoor stadium, whatever it takes. 27:06 You've got more than 20 million souls out here. 27:11 And I say it again. 27:12 These are people for whom Christ died. 27:15 I'm asking you to pray 27:16 for the people of the Philippines. 27:18 Please pray for the people here in Metro Manila. 27:22 And please write to me John Carter, 27:25 P.O. Box 1900, 27:27 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 27:30 In Australia, write to me at Terrigal, 27:33 at the address that is now showing 27:35 on the screen. 27:38 We're back in Manila, 27:40 and we're back with a message from God, 27:43 that message is, Christ died for you. 27:48 And Christ is coming again soon. 27:54 Please support us. 27:55 Write to me today, P.O. Box 1900, 27:58 Thousand Oaks, California. 28:00 And also write to me at Terrigal in Australia. 28:04 Thank you for your support. 28:06 And God bless you. 28:22 For a copy of today's program, 28:25 please contact us at P.O. Box 1900, 28:28 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 28:32 Or in Australia, contact us at P.O. Box 861, 28:37 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 28:42 This program is made possible 28:43 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:46 We thank you for your continued support. 28:49 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2019-07-05