Participants: Pr. John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001227
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00:07 It has stood the test of time.
00:12 God's book, the Bible. 00:17 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:22 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe. 00:36 [Accordion music in the background] 00:54 I'm John Bradshaw. 00:56 Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. 00:58 Have you ever noticed how many idioms or figures of 01:02 speech that we use today in the English language come to 01:05 us straight out of the Bible? 01:08 I'll give you a for-instance. 01:10 The writing is on the wall. 01:13 Now, we use that to express the idea that the end of 01:15 something or the demise of something is assured and is 01:20 imminent. 01:21 It's kind of a portend of doom. 01:25 When Team A scored that touchdown and went ahead by 01:27 10 points, the writing was on the wall for Team B. 01:31 When Company A released that product and it failed to gain 01:35 any ground in the marketplace, the writing was 01:37 on the wall for Company A. 01:39 It's over. 01:41 It's done. 01:42 Things aren't going to work out, something is doomed. 01:46 The idea comes straight from Daniel, chapter 5. 01:49 In Daniel 5 Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, had a feast, 01:52 a great big riotous, drunken feast. 01:56 He invited a whole lot of important people together, 01:59 and while he was partying, a mysterious hand appeared from 02:02 out of nowhere and wrote some words on a wall. 02:06 Those words, when interpreted, were a message 02:09 to the king that his kingdom was over, that he was done as 02:12 king. 02:14 In other words, the writing was on the wall, and for 02:17 Babylon things were history. 02:20 There's all kinds of other figures of speech, idioms, 02:23 expressions that we use commonly today that you can 02:25 find in the Bible. 02:27 "The salt of the earth." 02:28 Straight out of the Bible. 02:30 "Pride goes before a fall", that's another one. 02:34 "The leopard can't change its spots" -- you read about that 02:37 in Jeremiah, chapter 13. 02:39 Now, here's another commonly used figure of speech and 02:43 expression that I want you to think about. 02:45 "Your goose is cooked." 02:48 Now, when we say that, what we mean is, it's all over for 02:51 you. 02:52 You are done. 02:53 History. 02:54 The phrase so well known in the English language that it 02:57 appeared in a number one hit song in 1957, the Everly 02:59 Brothers' song "Wake Up, Little Suzy." 03:02 "We fell asleep, our goose is cooked, our reputation is 03:06 shot." 03:07 We're in big trouble. 03:09 Our goose is cooked. 03:11 Now, you might be wondering, what chapter and verse or 03:14 what book of the Bible do you read your goose is cooked? 03:17 Well, you don't. 03:18 It's not in the Bible. 03:20 But it does have biblical implications. 03:23 [Music in the background] JB: I'm glad you've joined me 03:27 today. 03:28 I'm in Prague in the Czech Republic. 03:30 This is a beautiful city that oozes history. 03:32 And much of the history here in Prague is centered on 03:34 Prague's religious past. 03:37 John Huss is Prague's most famous son. 03:40 He was born around the year 1370, and he died in the year 03:44 1415 at the hands of the state and the ruling church. 03:48 John Huss was one of the early key figures of the 03:51 Protestant Reformation. 03:53 Many churches and church groups today had their roots 03:57 in the protestant reformation or, in fact, called 03:59 themselves Protestant. 04:03 [Music in the background] So what was the Protestant 04:08 Reformation? 04:09 What is a Protestant? 04:11 And how did the Protestant Reformation come about? 04:14 There were three primary things that were being fought 04:18 against. 04:20 One was simony, which meant that you paid to get a 04:23 particular position. 04:24 So if I wanted to be, let's say, a canon in the 04:28 cathedral, or even the archbishop, I would have to 04:31 pay a large amount of money. 04:34 But that was okay because that was an investment in a 04:38 job that brought with it lots and lots of money. 04:42 So you might have to pay a small fortune but you 04:45 recuperated that in a relatively small number of 04:48 years. 04:49 But still we know from Simon Magus in The Acts that we 04:53 don't buy offices. 04:55 We can't buy positions of grace. 04:58 Secondly, once you had the position, for many people 05:02 they weren't satisfied with simply one position. 05:06 So you had what was called pluralism. 05:10 You bought place X and you bought place Y, and maybe 05:15 bought place Z, and you acquired income from all 05:18 three places. 05:21 Which was fine except it posed a third problem, was 05:26 that most of us can't tri-locate or even bi-locate. 05:30 So you had to employ some other priest to do your job 05:34 in the place you weren't serving. 05:38 And what tended to happen very often was you employed 05:41 some rather poor priest, paid him only a pittance of what 05:46 you were receiving, which led, of course, to a problem 05:50 of great clerical unhappiness. 05:53 So these were the three things that became the light 05:56 motif that were of the clerical reform movement 05:59 here. 06:00 There were various preachers, including Huss who would 06:05 attack these. 06:07 And so that was one of the great questions of the Reform 06:10 was the morals of the clergy. 06:12 We're looking at a time that has more spiritual variety 06:14 than perhaps any time since Christianity is formed, 06:20 within this monotheistic tradition. 06:23 You have, it's the most popular book that's 06:26 published, is the Bible. 06:28 In the 14th century, the second most popular are books 06:31 of hours. 06:32 Books that tell you how to pray. 06:34 Books that are designed to allow you to pray and make 06:39 your own spiritual connection with God. 06:43 And it's because of this kind of desire, you have an 06:45 authority within the church that's really fallen apart, 06:49 an authority that is laughable, an authority that 06:52 really does not have authority. 06:54 And you don't know who the authority is for the 06:56 sacraments that you are told are crucial to salvation. 07:00 Instead, you are trying to find your own link to the 07:03 divine. 07:05 You are trying to find your own personal connection with 07:07 your Savior. 07:09 So there is such an explosion of different ways of devotion 07:12 at this time that simply cannot be contained or 07:16 controlled by a fractured church. 07:19 About 600 years ago there lived in this city, the city 07:23 of Prague in the Czech Republic, a man by the name 07:26 of John Huss. 07:28 John Huss was born in Bohemia, and he went on to 07:31 become a tremendously popular preacher. 07:34 Now, in that day, that meant one of two things: either you 07:37 had ingratiated yourself with the church and with church 07:40 leaders and with the people by compromising certain 07:44 standards, or you had dared to boldly proclaim the Word 07:48 of God. 07:50 And that's what John Huss did. 07:53 In a day when the Bible was hardly even taught at all, in 07:57 a day when the corrupt practices of the church had 07:59 made it very unpopular with many people, John Huss was 08:03 very forthright in condemning the abuses of the clergy and 08:07 in holding up the Word of God as God's rule of faith and 08:11 practice for the believer. 08:14 Now, I'm calling him John Huss, but his name was 08:16 actually Jan Hus, and that word Huss in the Czech 08:22 language means goose. 08:23 Now, John Huss had some fun with this, and he would very 08:26 often sign his communications or refer to himself to his 08:29 friends as "the goose." 08:32 John Huss, Jan Hus, the goose. 08:37 John Huss created a huge controversy in his day 08:42 through his writings and through his sermons. 08:46 How well do you think that went down with the leaders of 08:48 the establishment church? 08:50 Not very well at all. 08:53 John Huss, as a matter of fact, ended up being burned 08:57 at the stake. 09:00 It is said that when the execution was about to light 09:03 the funeral pyre, he said, "Now we will cook the goose." 09:11 Which explains where we get that figure of speech from, 09:15 "Now your goose is cooked." 09:18 It is said that that's exactly where it came from. 09:22 Well, what was it about what John Huss said that made 09:25 people so excitable? 09:27 Maybe that's the wrong word. 09:29 What was it about what John Huss said that got people so 09:31 riled up, so wildly offended, so bitterly opposed to what 09:36 he was doing? 09:38 What was it that led a church to condemn him? 09:41 What was it that led an emperor to deceive him, to 09:44 lie to him? 09:46 When John Huss went to his trial in Constance, Germany, 09:51 the emperor pledged to protect him. 09:54 But he reneged on that promise. 09:56 What would drive a man to do that? 09:58 What was it that led the establishment church to 10:00 demand that John Huss recant his teachings and turn his 10:04 back on the very things that he'd been saying? 10:08 What was it that led this peace-loving man to be burned 10:13 at the stake? 10:15 What could a person do to lead people to treat him like 10:18 that? 10:21 Wycliffe, as I mentioned, is kind of what will end up as, 10:23 I believe, the catalyst for what gets Hus in trouble. 10:27 You have a Wycliffe party that forms at the university, 10:30 that they take these writings from England, there is an 10:32 exchange between England and Bohemia. 10:35 Bohemia will give England a queen, and in return you will 10:39 have an exchange of scholars and books, and Wycliffe-ite 10:42 ideas will arrive in Bohemia, and the scholars here will 10:47 kind of fall on two sides. 10:49 And many of the Czech scholars will embrace 10:51 Wycliffe, and find it as something interesting to 10:53 debate. 10:54 They won't take every idea of Wycliffe; for example, 10:57 Wycliffe will deny transubstantiation, something 11:01 that is shocking. 11:02 And it's one of those last things that Wycliffe will 11:04 really write against. 11:06 Well, Hus is a firm believer in the Eucharist. 11:08 Hus and most of his contemporaries will defend 11:11 the Eucharist and it will become a major part of 11:16 religious devotion in Bohemia going forward. 11:19 But there are other issues where Wycliffe will challenge 11:22 authority. 11:23 He will state that the sinful authority is no longer an 11:27 authority. 11:28 So if you have sinful priests, a sinful pope, you 11:31 have a schism in the church where you have three popes at 11:35 the time that Hus is doing much of his preaching. 11:39 And so he can point to a lot of these issues, and there's 11:42 obvious issues with authority, there's obvious 11:45 problems that are going on throughout Europe. 11:48 And Hus will point those out, and he will become kind of 11:52 the focal point for a lot of the conservative movement, 11:56 and lot of those people who are trying to maintain their 11:59 positions, often purchased through simony, or many of 12:05 his ardent critics were actually former friends of 12:08 his. 12:09 Where authorities will come down on them, they will 12:13 buckle under the pressure and in turn give up Hus as sort 12:17 of the sacrificial lamb for these arguments. 12:20 And so he really is wrapped up within these arguments and 12:23 is accused of things that he never promotes. 12:27 He's accused of ideas of Wycliffe that his party wants 12:32 to discuss and wants to really debate, while the 12:35 papacy, whichever one at the time, because it changes, 12:37 wants burned. 12:39 And so they are supporting this discussion of, well, 12:42 let's discuss these ideas. 12:43 The papacy is really trying to stop with the spread of 12:45 Wycliffe's ideas. 12:46 So Hus is put into the position of leader, the most 12:51 visible figure, because of the Bethlehem chapel, of 12:54 those who are supporting the discussion of these ideas. 12:58 John Wycliffe's greatest contribution to the 12:59 Protestant reformation was when he translated the Word 13:03 of God into the common language of the people. 13:05 Until that time, people simply couldn't access the 13:08 Word of God. 13:09 But all of that changed. 13:12 This was back before the printing press had been 13:13 invented. 13:14 The Scriptures had to be copied out laboriously by 13:17 hand. 13:18 But as they were, lives were changed as now people had 13:22 access to the Word of God. 13:24 The Bible was again in the hands of the people. 13:29 There was no law preventing people, forbidding people 13:33 from owning the Bible when Wycliffe translated the Word 13:35 of God. 13:37 But all of that did change, and the penalties were 13:40 severe. 13:41 However, now the Bible was able to do its work. 13:47 John Wycliffe untiringly preached the key doctrines of 13:50 the reformation. 13:51 He preached that salvation was by faith in Jesus Christ. 13:55 And he taught that the holy Scriptures were the 14:00 authority, not the voice of the church. 14:03 The power of the state church was broken in the lives of 14:05 those people who trusted in Jesus and not in their works 14:08 for salvation, and those who trusted in the authority of 14:11 the Bible rather than in the authority of church teachers. 14:15 It was very obvious in John Wycliffe's day that the Word 14:20 of God and the traditions of the church were in very 14:23 serious conflict. 14:25 John Wycliffe was a Protestant. 14:27 He protested against what he saw as the errors and the 14:30 abuses of the church, and he would not comply with 14:34 doctrines and dogmas and teachings that he perceived 14:37 to be out of line with what the Bible taught. 14:40 If men like John Wycliffe had not done what they had done, 14:44 it's hard to imagine that today we would enjoy the 14:47 spiritual freedoms that we now enjoy. 14:50 John Wycliffe taught that rather than the church 14:54 speaking through a pope or the church speaking through a 14:58 priest, true spiritual authority came wn God spoke 15:01 through the holy Bible. 15:05 And Wycliffe taught that the true interpreter of the holy 15:08 Scriptures was the Holy Spirit, rather than a church 15:13 leader. 15:15 Those Protestant principles are as important today as 15:19 they were in John Wycliffe's day. 15:22 Now, try as it might, the church was not able to secure 15:26 the demise, the execution of John Wycliffe. 15:31 However, 40 years after he died, at the Council of 15:35 Constance, it was decreed that John Wycliffe's bones 15:39 should be exhumed and publically burned. 15:44 In a moment, the Protestant Reformation takes the world 15:47 by storm, and the world would never be the same again. 15:52 I'll be right back. 15:56 In Matthew 4:4 the Word of God says "It is written 'Man 16:00 shall not live by bread alone but by every word that 16:03 proceeds out of the mouth of God'." 16:06 Every Word is a one minute Bible-based daily devotional 16:08 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed 16:11 especially for busy people like you. 16:14 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch it 16:17 on-line everyday on our website itiswritten.com. 16:21 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 16:23 Watch Every Word. 16:24 You'll be glad you did. 16:29 It Is Written is dedicated to sharing the gospel around the 16:31 world. 16:34 Our dream is to impact the world for God. 16:36 Our television program is only one aspect of how we try 16:39 to accomplish that. 16:40 To discover more about It is Written, I invite you to 16:44 visit our website itiswritten.com and browse 16:47 the dozens of pages that describe what we do and how 16:49 we do it. 16:50 Let's get to know each other a little better. 16:52 Visit our website itiswritten.com today. 17:03 It Is Written is sharing the good news of the gospel 17:05 around the world. 17:08 Part of our mission is to bring the Word of God to some 17:10 of the most remote places on earth. 17:13 Right now we are providing audio Bibles to the people of 17:15 Papua New Guinea. 17:17 We call this audio Bible the Godpod. 17:20 Through this solar powered mp3 player, people can hear 17:23 God's 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John 18:26 Hus, an early Protestant reformer who, along with John 18:28 Wycliffe and others, laid the foundation for the Protestant 18:31 Reformation, that great movement that pitted preacher 18:34 against pope, the Word of God against the traditions of the 18:37 early church. 18:39 [Noises from crowds] Now, Martin Luther is the name 18:42 that you hear most often associated with the 18:43 Protestant Reformation. 18:45 As a younger man studying at university, Martin Luther 18:48 came across a Bible. 18:50 And as he read that Bible he was filled with awe. 18:53 He was also filled with a sense of conviction. 18:55 He recognized in a very stark way his own personal 19:01 sinfulness. 19:02 And so Martin Luther made the decision that he would study 19:05 for the priesthood. 19:07 While in a monastery, Martin Luther found a Bible chained 19:09 to the monastery wall. 19:10 He read it again, filled with conviction, filled with a 19:13 sense of his own sinfulness. 19:15 Luther did everything he could to get out from under 19:17 that sense of sinfulness. 19:18 He practiced self-denial, even scourging. 19:21 He fasted often. 19:23 But Luther was left with a very strong sense of 19:26 conviction for sin. 19:29 As a loyal Roman Catholic priest, Martin Luther had the 19:31 opportunity to travel to Rome. 19:35 On the way to Rome, he encountered some things that 19:38 left him conflicted. 19:40 He thought about his own life of self-denial and then 19:45 compared that to the luxurious living of many of 19:47 the priests he encountered. 19:50 And it made him wonder. 19:51 But it was when he got to Rome that he was absolutely 19:54 scandalized. 19:55 He witnessed among the priests and church leaders 19:58 there the sorts of things that left him horrified. 20:01 These were the very people that Martin Luther believed 20:05 ought to be the holiest people of all. 20:09 It was while Martin Luther was in Rome that the great 20:12 turning point of his life came. 20:14 The pope had promised a special indulgence to anyone 20:16 who would walk up Pilot's staircase on their knees. 20:20 Now, Pilot's staircase was the staircase on which Jesus 20:23 walked shortly before he died. 20:26 Now keep something in mind. 20:28 Pilot's staircase was in Jerusalem. 20:31 Martin Luther was in Rome. 20:35 The church's story was that the staircase had been 20:37 transported from Jerusalem to Rome by a special miracle of 20:41 God. 20:43 And now here was Martin Luther climbing this 20:46 staircase on his knees. 20:48 As Luther ascended those stairs, he seems to hear a 20:51 voice speaking to his heart, saying, "The just shall live 20:54 by faith." 20:56 He thought about what he was doing. 20:58 He was trying to earn favor with God by his own works. 21:02 The voice said, "The just shall live by faith." 21:05 Luther got up off his knees and he left Rome a changed 21:11 man. 21:12 Luther saw like never before the great importance of 21:15 exercising faith in Christ for salvation, and the 21:19 tremendous importance of following the Word of God. 21:23 The blinders had been removed. 21:26 Even though he went back to his work as a priest, Martin 21:28 Luther determined that from then on he would only teach 21:32 the truths of the Bible, and he would no longer teach the 21:36 truths and doctrines of the church if they did not square 21:40 with what the Bible said. 21:43 Martin Luther built on the work of those who had come 21:45 before him. 21:46 People like Huss and Jerome and John Wycliffe. 21:50 And there were other Protestants. 21:53 Menno Simons, the Anabaptists, Knox, Zwingli, 21:57 Calvin, John Wesley. 22:00 What these men and women all had in common was that they 22:04 had a resolute belief that the Bible was the Word of 22:07 God, and they believed that salvation was a gift of God 22:10 that came by God's grace and was received by the faith of 22:13 the believer. 22:16 Thanks to the reformists, these bold, faithful ones who 22:20 stood upon the Word of God, and thanks to the 22:23 Reformation, a time in which God's Word became primary 22:27 again, men and women were able to get out from under 22:30 the tyranny of the medieval church, and they could stand 22:34 upon the Word of God and receive Jesus Christ by faith 22:38 and live lives of spiritual freedom. 22:41 The Bible still teaches that salvation is a gift given to 22:43 us by God. 22:45 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is 22:50 faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us 22:53 from all unrighteousness." 22:54 And Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death, but 23:01 the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, 23:05 our Lord." 23:06 The leaders of the Protestant Reformation taught that 23:09 church leaders were not to fleece their flocks, but 23:12 instead they were to feed their flocks. 23:15 And the spirit of the Protestant Reformation taught 23:18 this: the Christian believer doesn't believe what he or 23:21 she believes because that's what he or she is being told 23:24 to believe. 23:25 We don't believe what we believe based on the say-so 23:27 of a priest or a pastor or a theologian or a cleric. 23:33 Instead, we believe what we believe because the Holy 23:37 Spirit has guided us in the Bible to believe what God 23:40 wants us to believe. 23:42 It's remarkable that many people do not value religious 23:45 freedom today, perhaps because they just get used to 23:48 it and get used to living this way; they don't realize 23:50 what it would be like not to have it. 23:53 Whereas there are millions, multiplied millions of people 23:55 around this world who know nothing of religious freedom 23:59 because they have never experienced religious 24:01 freedom. 24:03 Many people don't realize what a high price was paid 24:05 for our religious freedom. 24:07 For one, Jesus died on the cross. 24:10 That's the greatest price that could possibly be paid 24:13 for anything. 24:14 And then during the Middle Ages there were many, many 24:17 millions of people who gave their lives so that they 24:21 could experience religious freedom. 24:23 Instead of being told what to believe, instead of doing 24:25 what the church mandated they do, they stood up and boldly 24:31 declared their faith in the Son of God and their faith in 24:35 the Bible. 24:36 For that they paid the ultimate price. 24:39 They valued salvation that much. 24:43 Well, today many people do have a Bible. 24:46 It is true that the great amount of people don't value 24:52 that Bible enough to read it and to study it and base 24:56 their lives on it. 24:59 If you're a Protestant, what are you protesting? 25:03 What does the Reformation mean to you? 25:07 It happened hundreds of years ago. 25:10 Has it changed your life? 25:12 Does it mean anything in practical terms in your life 25:14 today? 25:16 If you allow it to, the Bible can become the greatest 25:20 priority in your life. 25:23 You'll know God like you have never known him before. 25:26 You will experience true closeness with Jesus, and you 25:28 will experience great spiritual freedom. 25:31 Perhaps the greatest thing that the reformation can do 25:34 for you is to help you value the Word of God, to help you 25:39 value this great gift of salvation, that you can 25:43 experience through faith the great grace of the God of 25:47 heaven. 25:49 And the truth is, you can experience that right now. 25:53 Let me pray for you. 25:55 [Music] Our Father in Heaven, we thank you that through 25:58 Jesus, and then through the faith, the bravery, the 26:01 actions of great men and women down through time, we 26:05 have been given your Word and we have been given the 26:08 freedom to practice our faith in you according to the 26:13 leading of the Holy Spirit. 26:15 Father, I don't know how long we will have that freedom, 26:18 but while we do, help us to treasure it and value it. 26:22 And while we may, while we have the Word of God in our 26:25 hands, I pray that it will become the counselor of our 26:30 lives, the guide of our lives, and will truly be to 26:35 us as the voice of God himself. 26:40 We thank you for these blessings and we pray today 26:42 in Jesus' name. 26:46 Amen. 26:50 [music]Perhaps our program today has impressed you with 26:52 a personal need for deeper Bible study. 26:54 If you desire to listen to God and follow where he 26:56 leads, we've got a wonderful resource that can help you to 26:58 do that in a systemic way, the Discover Bible Guides. 27:01 These Bible Guides are easy to use and can be yours 27:02 absolutely free. 27:03 If you live in North America, we'll send you these 27:11 full-color guides or you can find them on our website 27:14 itiswritten.com. 27:15 Request The Discover Bible Guides by calling our toll 27:19 free number 1 800 253 3000. 27:22 Lines are open 24 hours. 27:24 They may be busy so keep trying. 27:26 You can also request today's offer by writing to It Is 27:29 Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359. 27:34 Thank you for your letters and for your continued 27:36 support. 27:37 Our toll free number is 1 800 253 3000 and our web address 27:43 is itiswritten.com [Music] Thanks for joining me today. 27:48 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 27:50 Until then, remember, "It is written, man shall not live 27:55 by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the 27:59 mouth of God." |
Revised 2015-02-06