Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR002108S
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00:01 Welcome to the Carter Report.
00:03 With the world becoming crazier every day, 00:06 a sane person would ask, what can we really believe? 00:10 Is there something solid and stable we can hold on to? 00:13 Is there anything we can teach our children 00:16 and grandchildren with certainty? 00:18 What is the greatest threat 00:20 facing the survival of our home, 00:22 our nation and our civilization? 00:25 Here's John Carter with the ultimate guide 00:28 to stability and sanity. 00:34 Why do you believe our society 00:37 and our entire civilization 00:39 is in jeopardy? 00:42 Wayne Hackett, 00:44 thank you for asking that question. 00:47 Wayne is part of the Carter Report team. 00:50 What a wonderful team member 00:52 and his beautiful wife, Marilyn. 00:55 And so thank you for being a part of our team 00:57 and thank you, my friends, 00:58 for being a part of our team around the world. 01:03 Welcome, my friends, to our home. 01:06 We're celebrating this week. Beverley's birthday. 01:09 We're just a tiny little crew here. 01:10 I've got our son, David here, he's on the camera. 01:14 Beverley's there taking care of me. 01:18 And you are our family, so welcome today. 01:20 And the question is, 01:22 why do I think society is in jeopardy? 01:24 Do I really think this? I absolutely do. 01:28 I think society is facing a tremendous crisis 01:32 because it's a crisis over what is truth. 01:37 A lot of people say, 01:39 you got your truth, I got my truth. 01:40 Who cares? 01:42 Everybody can have his own truth. 01:43 I don't believe this. 01:44 Remember Jesus said, 01:46 "You will know the truth 01:47 and the truth will make you free." 01:50 There is such a thing as truth. 01:55 You need to answer these questions. 01:57 This is terribly important. Where did I come from? 02:00 Why am I here? Where am I going? 02:02 A lot of people say, well, everybody, 02:04 well, we just, we don't know. 02:08 But there is a book that tells us 02:09 where we came from. 02:10 It tells us why we are here. 02:12 And it tells us where we are going. 02:14 There's another tremendously important question. 02:16 Who am I? 02:19 Am I simply just the product of time 02:22 plus matter plus chance? 02:25 Am I second cousin to a monkey? 02:30 Or am I a soul made in the image of God? 02:34 So, Wayne, your question is tremendously important 02:38 and pertinent. 02:40 Do I think society today is in chaos and in jeopardy? 02:45 I suggest, 02:47 I don't want to offend any person. 02:50 I'm not trying to offend anybody. 02:51 I'm simply trying to be an obedient 02:54 to my calling to tell the truth. 02:57 I believe in the truth. 03:01 But look at how the world regards human sexuality. 03:05 Well, not the whole world, 03:07 but many people in the world regard human sexuality, 03:11 which gets to the very core of a person's being. 03:16 Today we've got pansexual. 03:19 I'm not criticizing any of these people. 03:21 We have omnisexuals, 03:25 and lesbians, 03:27 and asexuals, 03:30 and aromantics, 03:34 and bisexuals, 03:37 and transsexuals, 03:41 and polysexuals, 03:43 and heterosexuals, 03:45 and homosexuals, 03:48 and LGBTIQ. 03:53 I want to say this before we go any further today, 03:56 because some people are going to get mad with me, 04:01 but I believe that God loves everybody. 04:06 I believe the God loves everybody, 04:09 whoever you are, whatever the color of your skin 04:14 and whatever your sexuality. 04:17 I believe in John 3:16 says, 04:19 that tells us that "God so loved the world 04:22 that He gave His only Son. 04:24 So that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, 04:26 but have everlasting life." 04:28 I believe in a God of love, 04:32 but I also believe in truth 04:35 because God is the great originator of truth. 04:40 And I would say that the people who disagree with me 04:43 on these questions of morality, I would say this to them. 04:47 You can disagree with me. 04:49 You can dislike me, 04:50 but I will love you 04:52 because God loves you. 04:56 And I want to say 04:57 something else to you, my friend, 04:59 if you will consider me your friend. 05:02 I will say this to you. 05:04 I believe in freedom of speech. 05:08 You certainly have it. 05:10 I noticed particularly today with the extremes in America, 05:14 with the extreme left wing and the extreme right wing, 05:18 all of those people believe very much 05:20 in freedom of speech, 05:21 very strong in freedom of speech 05:24 for themselves, 05:27 but not for you, 05:29 not for me. 05:31 I believe in freedom of religion. 05:32 I believe that I have the right... 05:38 You listening? 05:39 I believe that I have the right 05:41 to publicly preach the Word of God 05:45 even if it offends some people, 05:49 because Jesus said, "You will know the truth 05:53 and the truth will set you free." 05:55 And the world is in a mess 05:56 because people have gotten away from the truth. 05:58 That's it. 06:01 Is there a different viewpoint that you believe is valid? 06:06 I noticed that people who have extreme viewpoints, 06:10 in my opinion, from the left and the right, 06:15 who believe they have the right to teach those ideas, 06:18 even to my grandchildren 06:22 and your children, 06:24 they're pushing all the time to get these views 06:27 into our public schools in Australia 06:30 and other places around the world. 06:35 They believe they've got the right 06:38 to dominate the ideas 06:42 that are taught to our children. 06:44 I believe that I have the right to teach 06:49 what I believe is the truth 06:51 even though I will offend some of them 06:55 whom I am determined to love 06:57 in spite of the fact that they may not love me. 07:02 Then what alternative worldview do I offer to you? 07:05 Here it is. 07:07 The worldview that has worked very well 07:09 for thousands of years. 07:14 The worldview that this book 07:15 that we call the scriptures is true. 07:21 It worked very well for thousands of years 07:23 when people believed in right and wrong. 07:26 And we believed that we were children of God, 07:29 not children of some creature 07:33 that came down from the trees. 07:36 You see, I don't believe my ancestors 07:39 came down from the trees. 07:40 I believe I came from the hand of God. 07:46 Now I'm not asking you to believe this 07:48 without evidence, 07:50 but today I am proposing to give you some evidence 07:54 why I believe that the alternative viewpoint 07:57 that comes from this book, 07:59 the ancient Hebrew Christian scriptures, 08:01 the Bible, is true, valid. 08:06 These viewpoints are certainly worth 08:09 our most serious contemplation and consideration. 08:13 Will you simply give me a hearing? 08:14 That's all I'm saying today. 08:16 Can we not simply talk about these things? 08:19 Can we stop shouting each other down? 08:22 And can we simply consider 08:24 that there may be an alternative, 08:28 there could be a different viewpoint 08:30 to the one that you and I 08:31 may be holding at this moment. 08:35 Can you give us some real reasons to believe 08:39 some evidence that the Bible is not a fairy tale? 08:45 You may be surprised, but there are many reasons. 08:50 I was talking to a young man the other day 08:52 who's going off to university. 08:53 And, we were working together in my yard. 08:57 I said, "Do you believe in God?" 08:59 No. 09:00 He said, "I don't believe in God. 09:01 He doesn't exist." Oh, He doesn't exist. 09:03 So I said, "Who made all this around us here?" 09:04 Oh, he said, "Well, it made itself." 09:06 No. He said, "Science made it." 09:12 I said to him, calling him by his name, 09:15 because he's a fine young man. 09:17 I said, "Science tells us how things work. 09:22 It may even tell us 09:25 how old things are, you know? 09:27 It may even tell us 09:29 some of those things on occasions, 09:31 but science doesn't tell us why." 09:34 He said, "No, it doesn't, does it?" 09:36 No, I said, "It doesn't tell us why." 09:40 But there is a book that tells us why. 09:42 There's a book that tells us where we came from, 09:45 why we're here, where we're going. 09:46 And most importantly, it tells us who we are. 09:50 Now, I can give you 09:53 if you will listen to me, if you will be patient with me, 09:57 if together we can be intellectually 09:58 and morally honest, 10:01 I can give you tremendous reasons 10:03 why this book is the real deal and authentic. 10:07 I can give you real reasons. 10:09 I can give you historical reasons. 10:10 I can give you heaps of arguments that, 10:12 no, not arguments. 10:14 I can give you the facts from archeology. 10:15 Don't have time to do that now, 10:19 but today I am going to give you some facts 10:22 from an unusual source 10:25 that you'll find intriguing and interesting. 10:30 The prophecies make the Bible different 10:33 from other so-called holy books. 10:36 What can you tell us about the prophecies 10:38 of the Bible? 10:41 Well, this may surprise you, 10:44 but this book, the Bible, 10:46 which has been the foundation of Western civilization. 10:52 People say, "Is that so?" Yes, it is so. 10:55 Today, we're dealing with a tremendous amount 10:58 of ignorance in the world, 11:00 especially in the universities. 11:05 This book claims to have the capacity 11:09 to tell the future. 11:11 It claims to be a book of genuine prophecy. 11:15 And as one great philosopher said, 11:18 if genuine prophecy exists, 11:21 then the main issues of our age are met. 11:24 I can show you prophecies 11:26 as I've shown to millions of people 11:28 in Russia and Ukraine. 11:29 In those days, they still had a brain left. 11:32 They studied and they read, 11:34 they were not superficial people, 11:36 they'd gone through terrible persecution. 11:38 Persecution makes people strong. 11:41 Western society on the whole has made us 11:43 a race of weaklings, 11:45 but I can show you prophecies, amazing prophecies 11:48 that at least to those people and millions of other people 11:51 around the world are absolute evidence 11:54 that the Bible is true. 11:56 Let me give you a few examples, 12:01 if I may. 12:03 Daniel 9:25, 12:06 this was written 12:08 about 2,500 years ago. 12:12 It was written in the city of Babylon 12:15 by a young prisoner of war. 12:18 Daniel 9:25 says, 12:23 here it is. 12:25 "Know and understand this: 12:26 From the issuing of the decree to restore 12:29 and rebuild Jerusalem 12:32 until the Anointed One, 12:33 the ruler comes there will be 12:36 seven sevens and sixty-two sevens." 12:41 Well, you say, that's gobbly goop. 12:43 No, it's not. Come on. 12:45 Let's use the stuff up here. 12:47 Let's use the little... 12:49 Let's use the little gray cells, 12:52 shall we? 12:56 Here it talks about the coming of the Messiah. 12:58 That is the Christ. 13:00 It says, from the decree to restore 13:03 and to rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, 13:07 the Anointed One comes, 13:10 there will be 69 sevens. 13:13 You can read it yourself. Go, get a Bible. 13:17 Sixty-nine sevens or 483 years. 13:23 Now, Jerusalem had been overthrown 13:25 by the Babylonians, you know that. 13:28 Then there came this Persian king 13:31 by the name of Artaxerxes Longimanus. 13:34 How would you like to have a name like that? 13:36 Sure it beats John Carter. 13:38 Artaxerxes Longimanus, 13:41 and in the year 457 BC, 13:43 he made a decree that Jerusalem should be completely restored. 13:47 If you add 483 years onto those 400 13:51 and back to 457 BC, 13:53 it brings you through to 27 AD. 13:55 You say, "No, it doesn't." Yes, it does. 13:58 You say, "Well, can you prove?" 14:00 Yes. I can prove it to you. 14:04 It's a fact from 483 years added on to 457 BC 14:09 brings us through to 27 AD, 14:11 and you've got to recognize there's no year zero in the BC, 14:16 you go from one BC to one AD. 14:18 So it brings you through to 27AD. 14:20 So what happened in 27 AD, you ask me? 14:23 Luke, who was a doctor in his book in Chapter 3, 14:26 he says that Jesus appeared 14:29 in his public role in the land of Israel in 27 AD. 14:35 He writes down the dates. 14:36 He says, 14:37 the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, 14:41 27 AD, 14:43 that's when Jesus started His preaching, got baptized. 14:46 Went out preaching, He said, 14:48 "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, 14:51 and the time is fulfilled." 14:54 Think of it. 14:56 Five hundred years previous, it had been predicted 14:59 that the Messiah would appear in 27 AD. 15:03 Jesus appeared in 27 AD. 15:07 The prophecy came to pass. 15:09 Hey, there must be a God. 15:12 The Bible must be true. What do you think? 15:17 That was a long, long time ago. 15:20 Is this truth stable? 15:22 Something that won't change over time? 15:27 Of course, it was very long ago, 15:29 but we've got history. 15:34 We know ancient history. 15:35 We know about the Caesars. 15:37 We know about the Babylonians. 15:39 We know about the Assyrians. 15:41 We've got the cuneiform tablets. 15:43 We've got the scrolls. 15:45 I bless my soul. 15:49 These facts can be proven 15:51 according to the ancient writings. 15:55 Jesus was a real person. 15:57 Even Richard Dawkins, 15:59 the most famous atheist in the world 16:02 has made a confession. 16:05 Richard Dawkins, who has written the book, 16:08 The God Delusion, which is a delusion. 16:13 Richard Dawkins has come out and said, 16:15 "Yes, I confess Jesus was a real person of history." 16:20 Thank you, Richard. 16:23 There was a Jesus. 16:25 He started His preaching in 27 AD 16:28 according to the Word of God, 16:30 and according to the prophecy of Daniel Chapter 9. 16:35 When the atheists heard these things 16:37 in Russia and Ukraine, 16:38 they said, "Thank God there is a God. 16:42 I know where I came from. I know why I'm here. 16:44 I know where we're going." 16:46 Today, we are talking about the facts, 16:50 not fairy tales. 16:54 Are there other prophecies in Daniel 9 16:57 that go beyond human explanation? 17:02 Yes, there are. 17:04 When I first read these prophecies, 17:05 I was completely blown away. 17:09 It talks about the city of Jerusalem being destroyed 17:12 because the people back there had murdered the Messiah. 17:15 It actually talks about it right here 17:17 in Daniel Chapter 9. 17:19 It talks about the destruction of the city 17:21 and the destruction of the temple, 17:23 which was in Jerusalem. 17:25 It also says that 17:28 there'd be a certain type of person 17:30 who would destroy the temple. 17:32 It says the people of the prince who will come, 17:35 will destroy the city and the sanctuary. 17:39 It says the people of the prince. 17:41 The prince was Titus. 17:43 Titus was in charge of the destruction of Jerusalem 17:47 and the temple, 17:48 but he wanted to save the temple 17:49 because he said, 17:51 it's the temple of Almighty God. 17:54 And he rushed down to the temple site 17:56 where the Roman soldiers were filled with rage 17:59 against the Jews 18:00 and wanted to destroy the temple. 18:02 And he said, "I forbid you to destroy the temple," 18:06 but they wouldn't listen. 18:08 Wouldn't listen. 18:09 Wouldn't listen to their prince. 18:11 They wouldn't listen to the man 18:12 who was eventually to become the Caesar. 18:15 And they burnt the temple down exactly as the prophecy said. 18:19 The people of the prince who shall come 18:22 shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. 18:28 All of this was written hundreds of years 18:30 before it came to pass. 18:33 I don't want you to believe it, my friend, 18:35 because I'm telling it to you. 18:36 I want you to believe it because I'm giving you facts. 18:39 Jesus said, 18:40 "You will know the truth 18:42 and the truth will make you free." 18:45 And when you have the truth and when you are free, 18:48 you will be happy 18:49 because you will know who you are. 18:52 You want to know who you are. 18:54 You're not second cousin to a monkey. 18:57 You didn't come down from the trees. 18:59 You're a child of God and Jesus, 19:03 the created God came to this earth 19:05 because He loves you. 19:08 You are precious, you are important. 19:13 It would help 19:14 if there were more prophecies about Christ, 19:18 then we'd have more confidence in what you are saying? 19:23 The Bible is full of prophecies 19:25 about the coming of the Messiah. 19:28 It was predicted a thousand years 19:30 before Christ was born, 19:32 that the Messiah would be crucified. 19:37 And in those days, crucifixion had not been invented. 19:41 In the days of the Book of Psalms, 19:43 it says here, I'm going to read it to you. 19:46 Here we go. 19:48 Psalm 22:16 says, 19:51 "Dogs have surrounded me, 19:53 band of evil man has encircled me. 19:56 They've pierced my hands 19:59 and my feet." 20:03 This is talking about crucifixion. 20:05 When these words were written, they didn't crucify people. 20:08 Christ was crucified. 20:11 Then the prophecies tell us other things, 20:13 he'd be betrayed by a friend. 20:17 They would gamble over his cloak. 20:20 It was predicted 20:21 that he would be raised from the dead. 20:24 And He was raised from the dead. 20:25 Hundreds of people saw Jesus. 20:29 These are facts. 20:31 We're talking here about prophecy 20:34 and we're talking about the facts of history. 20:39 I believe not because of blind faith. 20:42 I believe, my friend, because 20:46 of overwhelming evidence. 20:51 You've been to Russia and Ukraine 49 times. 20:55 What impressed you the most? 20:59 Yeah, I've been to Russia 49 times, 21:01 Russia and Ukraine. 21:03 I was working in there the other day. 21:04 I think actually it's 50 times. 21:09 I've been blessed to go to those places. 21:12 What impressed me the most? 21:13 I went there during the heyday of communism and atheism. 21:18 Life without God is very bleak 21:22 and dreary and lonely. 21:25 A man came up to me once in Moscow, 21:27 when communism was falling 21:30 and he raised his hands, he could speak English. 21:33 He said, "This is a hell that we have created." 21:37 Terrible depression, terrible alcoholism. 21:41 Why do we have so many suicides today 21:43 in the Western world? 21:45 Why are so many young people taking their lives? 21:48 Life without God. 21:50 Why so much violence? 21:52 Life without God. 21:54 Why so much domestic violence? 21:56 Life without God. 21:58 Why so many mental problems? 22:01 Life without God. 22:05 As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said, 22:08 the great Russian patriot of the 20th century. 22:11 He said, "We have rejected God, 22:15 and all these things have come upon us." 22:18 Seventy million people murdered 22:24 in Russia and Ukraine. 22:27 We turned a beautiful place into a hell. 22:31 Life without God. 22:33 Is there an alternative to the view 22:37 that says that there's nothing, 22:41 that there is no God and every man is his own law. 22:45 Yes, there is. 22:46 Belief in God. 22:48 Belief in Jesus. 22:49 Belief in Scripture. 22:53 Belief in marriage. 22:55 Belief in the Ten Commandments. 22:58 Belief in the holy laws of God. 23:00 Belief in the teachings of the Bible. 23:02 Belief in the beatitudes. 23:05 Belief in the golden rule. 23:09 Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 23:13 I say to you, my friend, there is a better way 23:16 than the way of the chaos 23:18 that we find in the world today. 23:22 It is the way of God. 23:24 It is the way of Christ. 23:26 It is the way of the commandments. 23:28 I say to you, 23:30 believe in the God who believes in you. 23:33 Amen. And God bless you. 23:37 If we base our faith on this evidence, 23:40 will it help us to live a saner 23:43 more stable life? 23:46 Truth is important. 23:49 We don't want to be like the blind man 23:51 who says there's no sun. 23:56 Truth is important because truths gives us 23:59 the ability to see beyond the present. 24:04 Truth gives us the ability 24:06 to see ultimate reality. 24:11 You see the great theologian, 24:14 the Roman Catholic theologian who lived many years ago, 24:17 Saint Augustine was absolutely correct 24:19 when he said, "Our souls were made for God, 24:23 and they cannot rest until they rest in Him." 24:27 Inside us there is a vacuum. 24:30 There is this loneliness. 24:35 You see it everywhere in the world today. 24:36 That's why people are trying this 24:39 and trying this, trying this sexual development, 24:42 trying this development, trying this philosophy. 24:46 People are on a crazy search 24:50 trying to find ultimate reality. 24:53 But ultimate reality is found in the truth of God. 24:59 Our souls were made for God. 25:02 They cannot rest until they rest in Him. 25:04 My friend, I can give you my own personal testimony. 25:08 I was a young teenager, lost and lonely 25:11 until I found that there was a God 25:14 and He came in 25:16 and He filled the hole in my heart. 25:20 I've seen it happen in the lives 25:21 of hundreds of thousands, tens of thousands of atheists, 25:24 unbelievers, communists, Marxists around the world. 25:28 But particularly in Russia and Ukraine 25:30 where the communists were in charge. 25:34 I've seen the depression, the loneliness, 25:39 the hopelessness, the despair. 25:45 But when you find God, you find everything, 25:49 everyone that you need. 25:52 Jesus said, "You'll know the truth. 25:55 My peace I give unto you. 25:57 Not as the world gives do I give it to you, 25:59 I give you a special kind of peace." 26:03 I invite you to have this peace 26:06 by believing in the God who made you. 26:10 You are special. 26:12 You are important. 26:14 You are loved. 26:19 You can now stay in touch with the Carter Report 26:22 by using the mobile app. 26:24 The latest Carter Report programs 26:25 will be at the top. 26:27 Select one and press watch. 26:31 Scroll up through the topics, 26:33 find a topic you like, 26:34 and then scroll to the left to select a program to play. 26:38 Tap on that program to watch. 26:41 Now you can enjoy hundreds of Carter Report programs 26:44 on your phone or tablet. 26:49 In each program Pastor Carter 26:50 will teach you more about your walk with Christ. 26:54 We have six channels. 26:56 Our most recent is Focus on Prophecy. 26:59 We also have Carter Classics, Ask John Carter a Question, 27:03 The Carter Report in Action, The Living Word, 27:07 and Carter Report Espanol. 27:10 You may want to search for something specific. 27:12 On the top of the screen is a magnifying glass icon. 27:16 Tap it and type the subject you're looking for. 27:19 Then tap on the lesson. 27:23 You'll see three menu bars in the upper left-hand corner. 27:26 Tap the bars to open a menu of additional items to select. 27:30 If you'd like to partner with us, 27:32 you can find our Donation page. 27:38 An arrow in the upper left-hand screen 27:41 will take you back to the screen 27:43 you were at before. 27:45 Like anything new worth finding, 27:47 it takes a bit of exploration. 27:49 You'll tap and swipe your finger across, 27:52 above and below topics, 27:53 programs, arrows, and icons. 27:56 Eventually you'll be very familiar 27:59 with the Carter Report mobile app. 28:01 All from your favorite chair, 28:03 enjoy the Carter Report anytime, 28:07 anywhere on the Carter Report mobile app. 28:22 For a copy of today's program, 28:24 please contact us at P.O. 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Revised 2021-07-23