Participants: John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001613A
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00:13 Today, I'm going to take you into the Valley of the Kings
00:17 and show you where they discovered 00:19 King Tutankhamun. 00:21 The topic today is a terrific topic, 00:25 the Search for Immortality. 00:29 The reason the ancient Egyptians 00:31 built the pyramids and their fantastic tombs 00:35 was because they had a burning desire in their souls 00:40 to live forever. 00:42 You can read this in the ancient writings. 00:45 One of the greatest discoveries was made by one of my relatives 00:49 Howard Carter. 00:52 Well, he is one of my relatives, 00:54 but then so are you too. 00:58 Howard Carter discovered 00:59 the great pharaoh Tutankhamun or King Tut, as we call him. 01:06 Howard Carter came from England 01:08 and he worked in the British Museum. 01:10 And then he was sent out to Egypt 01:13 to do some exploration. 01:15 He discovered, if my memory is serving me correctly today, 01:18 he discovered the tomb of Tuthmose I 01:22 and also the tomb of Tuthmose III. 01:27 I showed you one of those tombs today, 01:30 but also, he discovered 01:33 the most sensational tomb of them all, 01:36 because the tomb was largely intact. 01:38 That was the tomb of Tutankhamun. 01:42 He was sponsored by an English man 01:45 whose name was Lord Carnarvon. 01:49 Howard Carter dug for years in this valley here. 01:54 I know it's too hard, almost too hard to believe, 01:57 but he and his workmen uncovered, by hand, 02:01 200,000 tons of dirt and rubble. 02:06 Wow. 02:09 And they came to the last season 02:10 and Lord Carnarvon said 02:12 "We haven't discovered anything, 02:14 I can't afford this anymore." 02:16 And Howard Carter said 02:19 "Look, I'll pay for the last season 02:21 if you'll simply allow me to dig." 02:24 And there was one small area of about 30 feet across 02:30 and they hadn't dug there. 02:32 And so Howard Carter said "Let's dig in this spot." 02:39 As soon as they started to dig, they came upon a stair, 02:44 a stair, they uncovered the stair 02:47 and there was a staircase. 02:49 And they went down, dug down, and there was a door. 02:54 So Howard Carter sent a message 02:56 back to England to Lord Carnarvon, 02:58 he said "Come, I think we've made the discovery, 03:01 I think we have found pharaoh Tutankhamun." 03:04 And so Lord Carnarvon took a few weeks to come out, 03:08 they guarded the tomb every day. 03:10 They just wouldn't let anybody near this tomb. 03:14 This is an amazing story. 03:18 I have read books about it but it was also told to me 03:21 by a man who was actually there. 03:25 Very, very old man 03:26 he told me the story more than 40 years ago. 03:30 Old Peter the Coptic Christian, 03:31 he was Howard Carter's timekeeper. 03:34 He was an old, old man. 03:37 He told me, they went down the staircase 03:44 and they made a little hole in the door, 03:48 you know what happened? 03:50 Hot air came out, almost 3,500 yeas old. 03:56 And then he got a torch and he looked in. 04:00 And Lord Carnarvon and his daughter 04:02 were standing there and some other professors. 04:05 And Lord Carnarvon said, he said 04:09 "What do you see?" 04:12 He said "Wonderful things. 04:15 Wonderful things." 04:16 And took down the door and they discovered the glory 04:20 and the riches of King Tut's tomb. 04:24 An amazing, amazing story. 04:27 They discovered of course 04:29 the King Tut's and rest of the pharaohs 04:30 were searching for immortality and eternal youth. 04:34 Aren't we all? 04:39 That's why they built the pyramids. 04:43 I was there not very long ago with Randy Younker 04:45 in the Valley of the Kings. 04:47 Now I must be a bit of a romantic, 04:51 'cause as I was walking through the Valley of the Kings 04:55 with Professor Younker from Andrews University, 04:58 who is an outstanding scholar and archeologist, 05:02 he said to me, "Can you feel this place? 05:07 This is where 05:10 some of the greatest events in history took place." 05:14 I have gone many times in to the tomb of King Tut. 05:19 And I've paid the guards to let me go by myself. 05:23 You know why? 05:26 He's buried there. 05:29 And recently, they've put him in a glass sarcophagus. 05:34 And I've sat this close to him. 05:38 And I've thought of the glory of this ancient place 05:44 and how their search 05:49 for eternal life failed. 05:52 But one person got it. 05:55 I want you to know, today, this, 05:57 there is life after death and the Bible tells me 06:03 Moses is in heaven, he's not in the Cairo Museum. 06:07 I want you to come in your Bible over here 06:09 to Matthew 17:1-3, 06:12 come in the scriptures, the Holy Scriptures. 06:15 Matthew 17:1-3, and I'm going to read it you 06:21 "Now after six days 06:23 Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, 06:25 led them up on a high mountain by themselves, 06:28 and He was transfigured before them, 06:31 His face shone like the sun, 06:35 and His clothes became white as the light. 06:38 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, 06:43 talking with Him." 06:46 So the Bible tells me that Moses escaped the world. 06:50 The Bible tells me Moses is in heaven. 06:53 I want you to come over here 06:55 to Hebrews 11:24 and onwards. 07:01 Book of Hebrews 07:07 and onwards. 07:11 And here, Moses is actually called by name, 07:15 it says "By faith Moses, when he became of age, 07:22 refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 07:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction 07:27 with the people of God 07:29 than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 07:32 esteeming the reproach of Christ 07:35 greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, 07:40 for he looked to the reward." 07:43 Folks, I've had some amazing experiences, 07:48 but nothing has moved me more than going with Dr. Hawass 07:53 and Dr. Randy Younker into the royal mummy room. 07:58 I've looked down into the faces of people like this, 08:01 Rameses the Great. 08:04 You'll have heard of Rameses the Great, 08:07 this is Seqenenre, the great liberator of Egypt, 08:11 and I have looked into the face, 08:13 I have looked into the face of Thutmose III 08:18 and as I walked and there is Hatshepsut, 08:21 and as I walked around and I looked at these mummies. 08:26 Listen to this and never forget it, 08:29 if Moses had not made the right decision, 08:34 Moses would have been there with this man, 08:38 maybe in the place of this man. 08:42 There he is, you know, people have said to me, 08:45 "Can you really believe these Bible stories?" 08:49 Absolutely, it's absolutely true. 08:52 You can stake your life on it. 08:55 But the Bible says that Moses made the right decision, 08:59 he choose Christ. 09:01 This man turned his back on Christ. 09:06 And there you see him today. 09:10 He is a blackened mummy in the Cairo Museum. 09:13 But the Bible tells me 09:15 that Moses the prince of Egypt is now a prince in heaven. 09:20 Amen. 09:22 So I want you to know this, there is life after death. 09:27 There is an eternal home for God's children, 09:30 the Bible teaches that. 09:32 I want you to know this, 09:34 there is an eternal home for God's children. 09:37 And I want you to come to a text. 09:38 I want you to come over here 09:40 to John 14:1-3, in the Bible. 09:45 John 14. 09:48 And I think most of you will know this text. 09:52 John 14:1-3 Jesus said, 09:56 "Let not your heart be troubled, 09:59 you believe in God, believe also in Me. 10:02 In My Father's house are many mansions, 10:05 if it were not so, I would have told you. 10:08 I go to prepare a place for you. 10:10 And if I go and prepare a place for you, 10:12 I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, 10:16 that where I am, there you may be also." 10:21 Folks, there is a heaven, you know. 10:26 The Bible says there is a place prepared for God's children 10:31 and Moses has already gotten there 10:34 because he made the right choice. 10:36 Now if you come over to another text, 10:38 if you come over here to Corinthians, 10:40 come over here with me to 2 Corinthians 5:1, 10:45 2 Corinthians 5:1, 10:51 the Bible says, 10:52 "For we know that if our earthly house, 10:57 this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, 11:00 a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 11:07 Now when you go into the Great Pyramid, 11:11 pyramids of Cheops 11:13 which has been standing there for more than 4,500 years, 11:19 Great Pyramid was built 2,650 BC, 11:22 you go into that tomb... 11:24 And I showed you, you can actually see 11:25 the sarcophagus of the mighty king. 11:28 But these people got nothing, they got nothing. 11:32 But the Bible says, if a person puts his faith in God, 11:38 if a person really puts... 11:40 Just think about this. 11:42 If a person puts his faith in Christ, 11:45 one day he is going to have a place with God in paradise. 11:52 Pretty amazing, isn't that? Pretty amazing. 11:55 The Egyptians never got it. 11:56 The Bible teaches... 11:58 This is the next great truth. 12:00 The Bible teaches that heaven is real. 12:04 We're not talking here about pie in the sky, the sweet pie. 12:08 The Bible teaches that heaven is a real place, 12:12 and it's a million times better than anything 12:15 old King Tut had my friend, you know. 12:20 We all like beautiful things, we all like... 12:23 Most people, they sort of love money. 12:25 That's a very sad thing 12:26 if you just love money, very sad. 12:29 But these people had more money then you could poke a stick at. 12:35 But Moses turned his back on it and Moses went home to glory. 12:40 Amen. Does that teach you something? 12:42 Heaven is real. 12:43 Would you come over here to Revelation 21:1-5. 12:47 And this text actually gives you a description 12:51 of what heaven is going to be like 12:54 and it's a million times better than Egypt, 12:58 but I like Egypt too. 13:00 But this is a million times better. 13:02 You got it? 13:03 "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, 13:06 " God is going to not just do this over a little bit, 13:10 He's going to make a new heaven and a new earth. 13:12 I spoke about this when I spoke on astronomy. 13:15 "For the first heaven 13:16 and the first earth were passed away, 13:18 and there was no more sea. 13:19 I John saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, 13:22 coming down out of heaven from God, 13:24 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 13:28 And I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, 13:30 Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, 13:33 He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, 13:36 God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 13:39 God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 13:43 There shall be no more death." Hear this? 13:45 No more death, "Nor sorrow, nor crying, 13:49 nor shall there be any more pain, 13:51 for the former things have passed away. 13:53 Then He who sat on the throne said, 13:55 Behold, I make all things new. 13:58 And He said to me, 14:00 Write, for these words are true and faithful." 14:04 What a place, what a glorious place, 14:08 better than anything 14:09 that human mind can conceive or realize. 14:13 Come over to Revelation 22, pretty much on the same page, 14:17 Revelation 22. 14:18 It says "And He showed me a pure river of water of life, 14:24 clear as crystal," better than the Nile, 14:27 "proceeding from the throne of God 14:29 and of the Lamb. 14:31 In the middle of its street, 14:32 and on either side of the river, 14:34 was there the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, 14:37 each tree yielded its fruit every month, 14:39 the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 14:42 And there shall be no more curse, 14:44 but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, 14:47 and His servants shall serve Him. 14:50 They shall see His face; 14:52 and His name shall be on their foreheads. 14:55 There shall be no night there. 14:57 They need no lamp, nor light of the sun, 15:00 for the Lord God gives them light, 15:02 and they shall reign for ever and ever." 15:07 Amen. 15:08 Can you think about this? 15:10 You know, just let your imagination think about this, 15:14 the glory of this place. 15:19 The Bible says 15:21 "It is going to be indescribably glorious." 15:26 Amen. 15:30 And I don't know about you folks, 15:33 but I sort of love the county. 15:36 Did you know 15:37 that heaven in the Bible 15:38 is called a country? 15:44 And some people said to me, you know, 15:46 aren't people gonna sit on rosy-tinted clouds 15:49 and twang guitars and play harps 15:53 and all this stuff, 15:54 you don't read about this in Bible. 15:56 The Bible says 15:57 that God prepared for His people 16:01 a wonderful place and it's a country. 16:06 The Bible also says, it has a great city. 16:11 Did you know this? 16:14 A trillion times better than New York or Los Angeles 16:19 and all of these and Moscow 16:22 and we've been to all of these places, 16:25 but God is going to have a place 16:28 that is indescribably better than anything 16:33 King Tut could have wanted or dreamed about. 16:41 And this is true. 16:44 And so people who come to know God 16:47 and believe in Christ and in the Bible, 16:49 they become the happiest people in the world. 16:54 The Bible teaches that God will create 16:58 a new heaven and a new earth. 17:02 Would you come to 2 Peter 3:8-13, 17:07 2 Peter 3:8 17:14 and onwards. 17:17 Its says "But, beloved, be not forget this one thing, 17:21 that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, 17:25 and a thousand years as one day. 17:27 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, 17:30 as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, 17:34 not willing that any should perish, 17:36 but that all should come to repentance. 17:37 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, 17:41 in which the heavens will pass away 17:43 with a great noise, 17:44 and the elements will melt with fervent heat, 17:47 both the earth and the works that are in it 17:49 will be burned up. 17:51 Therefore since all these things 17:52 will be dissolved, 17:54 what manner of persons ought you to be 17:55 in holy conduct and Godliness, 17:58 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, 18:02 because of which the heavens will be dissolved, 18:04 being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 18:10 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, 18:13 look for new heavens and a new earth, 18:17 in which righteousness dwells." 18:22 Folks, in this wonderful new world 18:26 that is described here by the ancient prophets, 18:31 they'll be no gangs, no shootings, 18:36 hear this? 18:38 No murders, no thefts, 18:41 no cheating, no politicians. 18:45 I mean it's gonna be good, isn't it? 18:46 No politicians, no doctors, you wont need a doctor, 18:53 you wont need a doctor, 18:54 you won't need Obamacare, folks. 18:58 No partings, no sickness, no death, no funerals. 19:04 No suffering, no end, and after a million years, 19:11 it'll just be the beginning. 19:14 Amen. 19:17 And folks I'm very confident about this today. 19:19 I'm very sure about this. 19:22 And you know why? 19:24 This is all true, all what I'm telling you today, 19:27 all this stuff about living forever is true 19:31 because Jesus Christ is alive. 19:35 Okay, I want you to see this. 19:37 Jesus rose from the dead. 19:43 People say, "Well, that's just faith," 19:44 No, it's not faith at all. 19:47 I wouldn't believe it 19:49 if it was just an existential leap in the darkness. 19:54 It is not blind faith. 19:57 I believe He is alive because He is. 19:59 Amen. 20:01 And come over here to Matthew 28:1-6. 20:04 Matthew 28:1-6, Matthew 28. 20:08 And I believe in the Bible 20:10 because of the evidence that I have seen, 20:15 not because I feel like it. 20:17 Matthew 28:1-6, 20:20 "Now after the Sabbath," which is interesting, 20:22 "after the Sabbath, 20:23 as the first day of the week began to dawn..." 20:26 Therefore the first day of the week 20:28 is after the Sabbath, 20:30 "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary 20:32 came to see the tomb. 20:34 Behold, there was a great earthquake, 20:36 for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, 20:38 came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it." 20:44 That is to say, see if you can get me off it. 20:47 "His countenance was like lightning, 20:49 his clothing as white as snow 20:51 and the guard shook for fear of him 20:53 became like dead men. 20:56 But the angel answered and said to the women, 20:58 do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus 21:01 who was crucified. 21:03 He is not here, He is risen, as He said. 21:08 Come, see the place where the Lord lay." 21:12 Now in this part of world and all the civilized world, 21:17 where we have courts and juries, 21:21 we have witnesses, 21:24 we believe in the witness system, 21:30 now we have witnesses who say they saw him 21:33 and they weren't frauds. 21:36 There was Mary the ex-prostitute, 21:40 she said I saw him. 21:43 Two people on the road to Emmaus, the 11 disciples, 21:49 a bit later, doubting Thomas, 21:51 Peter more than 500 and Paul... 21:57 This is evidence that would stand up in a court 22:05 that Christ is alive. 22:09 Richard Dawkins in one of his famous debates said 22:12 "I can't believe in any of this Christianity nonsense 22:16 because it is all based on faith." 22:20 He said "Science is based on truth." 22:27 The great professor John Lennox, 22:30 true Christian from Oxford University 22:33 and a great mathematician, 22:34 he said "Oh, is that so, Richard?" 22:37 He said "Do you have faith in your wife?" 22:42 And Richard took the bait, 22:44 the world greatest atheist he said, 22:47 "Of course, I have faith in my wife." 22:50 And Dr. Lennox said, 22:51 "Why do you have faith in your wife?" 22:53 He said, "Because of the evidence, of course." 23:00 Dr. Lennox said "Of course, it's like us. 23:04 We have faith because of the evidence. 23:09 We are not dumb simpletons. 23:13 He who has faith in faith is deluded. 23:20 That's the greatest darkness and the greatest dispersible. 23:23 I just believe. 23:28 We have faith in evidence 23:32 and the evidence says that He is alive." 23:38 Now come to the greatest text in the Bible, John 3:16. 23:43 Most famous text, and the greatest text, 23:47 John 3:16, you know the text. 23:52 "For God so loved the world 23:54 that He gave His only begotten Son 23:56 that whosoever believes in Him 23:59 should not perish but have everlasting life." 24:01 It is the greatest text. 24:03 And I will tell you why it is the greatest text. 24:07 It talks about the greatest person 24:09 "God," He gave the greatest emotion, 24:12 "He loved." 24:16 "The world, " the greatest number, 24:18 "He gave, " the greatest transaction, 24:22 "His only Son, " the greatest gift. 24:27 "Whoever believes, " the greatest opportunity. 24:31 "Believes," the greatest step. 24:34 "Shall not perish," the greatest loss. 24:39 "But have everlasting life," 24:40 which is the greatest salvation. 24:47 So really, it's quite simple. 24:49 I'll try to show you this evidence 24:51 to believe in the Bible 24:52 from just a tiny bit of archeology. 24:56 I usually spend four or five sessions on that, 25:00 went through it very fast. 25:01 But there is a little bit of evidence 25:04 where you can believe that the Bible is true. 25:06 And if the Bible is true, then Moses is alive. 25:11 And if Moses is alive, 25:13 there's hope for us that we will conquer death, 25:17 and we can, not because we are good enough 25:20 and not because we're born in a certain country 25:24 or because we're a certain color, 25:27 but because of Christ. 25:30 You see, because of Christ. 25:35 And the Bible says 25:39 that Moses, the prince of Egypt 25:44 choose Christ 25:48 and today he is not in the Cairo museum 25:51 with Tuthmose or Hatshepsut, he's home in glory. 25:57 Amen. 28:03 For a copy of today's program please contact us 28:06 at PO Box 1900 Thousand Oaks, CA, 91358. 28:13 Or in Australia contact us 28:16 at PO Box 861, Terrigal, New South Wales, 2260. 28:22 This program is made possible 28:24 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:27 We thank you for your continued support. 28:30 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2016-06-09