It Is Written

The Third Man

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

Home

Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW001372A


00:00 ♪ [It Is Written theme] ♪
00:06 >: It has stood the test of time.
00:11 God's book, the Bible;
00:16 still relevant in today's complex world.
00:21 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe.
00:34 [thunder/rain, music]
00:42 JB: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
00:44 Thanks for joining me. He's been called the leader of
00:47 the Swiss Reformation. Which is quite a title
00:50 to bestow upon somebody, considering the Swiss
00:53 Reformation influenced the world.
00:56 He was born on New Year's Day in 1494.
01:00 Now, that's just a few weeks after the birth
01:02 of Martin Luther. And he was born
01:05 in the village of Wildhaus, a stunningly picturesque alpine
01:09 village in the northeast of Switzerland, over near
01:12 the border with Lichtenstein. Earlier this morning I came here
01:16 from Geneva, the city influenced by William Farel
01:19 and John Calvin. I've come to Zurich.
01:23 This is the city set on fire for the reformation by
01:27 Huldrych Zwingli.
01:30 The Huldrych Zwingli story had to be a remarkable story.
01:34 John Calvin influenced religious thought to the extent
01:36 that today there's a branch of theological understanding
01:40 named after him, Calvinism.
01:42 There's no Zwinglianism today. But this man
01:46 was called the third man of the Reformation, Martin Luther and
01:50 John Calvin being the other two. Now, that's heady company.
01:55 So who was Huldrych Zwingli and why is what he did
01:58 hundreds of years ago important to us today?
02:03 When Zwingli lived in Zurich, he was one of about
02:05 six or seven thousand people who lived here.
02:08 And what brought him here was really interesting.
02:11 He was a bright child, so bright that his
02:14 father sent him away from that picturesque little village to
02:16 attend a prestigious school in Bairn.
02:19 In fact, it was one of the most prestigious schools
02:22 in all of Switzerland. This boy was a capable writer,
02:26 a good speaker, and an excellent musician,
02:29 and so in that school he attracted some
02:32 unwanted attention. The monks wanted to get hold of
02:35 him and put him in a monastery. Now, when his father found out,
02:39 he was appalled. He considered the monks
02:42 to be worthless, good for nothing, and idle.
02:46 No son of his was ever going to become a monk.
02:49 So Dad sent for Huldrych, retrieved him,
02:52 and brought him home. [pensive melody]
03:02 But before long he was gone again, this time to study
03:05 in Basal. It was while he was studying in Basel that a teacher
03:10 who had read the Bible suggested to him that it was
03:14 the death of Jesus that was the sinner's only hope.
03:18 Now, this started a change in Zwingli that would
03:21 change him and result in changing the world.
03:26 From Basel he was called to minister as a priest in a
03:28 small alpine village near his childhood home. And then
03:32 from there he was called to Einsiedeln, notable then as it
03:37 is now as being the home of the Black Madonna.
03:41 In Zwingli's day, thousands of pilgrims every year
03:44 would come to Einsiedeln to venerate that image. They had
03:48 been told that by coming to the shrine they could receive a
03:52 plenary indulgence for sins. Now, this bothered Zwingli no
03:57 end when he saw how people related to the image of
04:00 the Black Madonna. Now, if you're wondering
04:03 what that is, I'll tell you. An indulgence is the
04:07 extra-sacramental remission of the temporal punishment due in
04:12 God's justice to sin that has been forgiven, which remission
04:17 is granted by the church in the exercise of the
04:20 "power of the keys" through the application of
04:23 the superabundant merits of Christ and of the saints, and
04:26 for some just and reasonable motive. A plenary indulgence is
04:32 the remission of the entire temporal punishment due to sin,
04:36 so that no further expiation is required in Purgatory.
04:41 Now, will you find that in the Bible?
04:43 No, you won't.
04:47 But by now Zwingli had been studying the Bible.
04:49 And the more he studied the Bible,
04:51 the more he saw the clear distinction between the light of
04:54 the Bible and the errors and the heresies of his church.
04:59 He began to see the Bible as the only infallible guide,
05:03 and he wasn't afraid to say so.
05:06 He saw the people trafficking in indulgences,
05:09 and he declared that indulgences were nothing more
05:12 than superstition. He declared to the people,
05:16 "Can unprofitable works, long pilgrimages, offerings,
05:20 images, the invocation of the virgin and the saints,
05:23 secure for you the grace of God?"
05:26 Of course, there were some people who were not
05:29 happy to be told that their long journey to Einsiedeln was all
05:32 for nothing. And there were more than a few who couldn't
05:35 understand what he could possibly mean, that salvation
05:39 could come by grace, freely, as a gift from God.
05:45 For some people it was easier to listen to a priest
05:47 and trust to a pope than to receive salvation freely
05:52 from Jesus. Now, his church wasn't
05:56 very impressed with what he was doing. They had a choice:
05:59 kick him out and deal with the trouble that that would cause,
06:04 or hold him in as part of the fold and work with him
06:08 over time. They chose option B, which
06:12 gave Huldrych Zwingli more time to let the light of the Word of
06:17 God shine. That light began to shine brightly, but letting that
06:21 light shine would ultimately cost him his life.
06:25 I'll have more in just a moment.
06:27 ♪ [inspirational theme] ♪ Announcer: You are watching
06:29 the weekly It Is Written program with Pastor John Bradshaw.
06:33 But did you know that there's a daily program, too? "Every Word"
06:36 is a one-minute Bible-based daily devotional presented by
06:40 Pastor John Bradshaw and designed especially for
06:43 busy people like you. Look for "Every Word"
06:46 on selected networks, or watch it online every day
06:48 on our website, ItIsWritten.com. Receive a daily spiritual boost.
06:53 Watch "Every Word." You'll be glad you did.
06:56 ♪[inspirational theme ring out]♪ ♪ [Every Word Theme] ♪
07:06 JB: One of the biggest headaches the Apostle Paul
07:09 encountered was dealing with people who promoted ideas
07:11 that they thought were important but were really
07:13 nothing more than tradition. Traditions can be good.
07:16 Celebrating the fourth of July for your national holiday,
07:19 for example. Brides wear white.
07:21 Your annual summer vacation at the beach.
07:24 Traditions. But in Christianity
07:26 some traditions aren't so good, when they run counter
07:29 to God's will. Here's what Paul wrote
07:31 in Colossians 2:8: "Beware lest anyone cheat
07:34 you through philosophy and empty deceit,
07:37 according to the tradition of men, according to the
07:39 basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."
07:43 Why do you do what you do? Is it because of what
07:46 the Bible says, or is it simply a tradition?
07:49 If your religious traditions contradict the Bible,
07:52 then you've got some real problems.
07:55 Let's live today by Every Word. [Catchy Theme rings out]
07:59 ♪[string ensemble - Adagio]♪ JB: This is It Is Written.
08:01 I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me
08:03 today in Zurich, Switzerland. It was from
08:06 here that the world was profoundly influenced by a man
08:10 that the world has largely forgotten. This man said,
08:15 "The Word of God cannot fail. It is bright.
08:19 It teaches itself, it discloses itself.
08:22 It illumines the soul with all salvation and grace,
08:26 comforts it in God, humbles it so that it loses
08:30 and even forfeits itself and embraces God."
08:37 If you're accustomed to the Bible being always
08:39 available, and if you're familiar with the thought of
08:40 salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, this might not
08:45 seem to you to be a big deal. But in Europe in those days
08:50 there was essentially only one church, and it's taught
08:54 that salvation came through the church.
08:58 ♪ [Mysterious melody] ♪ It taught that there was
09:00 benefit in pilgrimages, in giving offerings,
09:02 in bowing before images. The people who accepted
09:06 these teachings were held by them.
09:09 Huldrych Zwingli wanted people to be liberated to know God
09:13 for themselves. [hopeful piano melody]
09:21 In 1518 or 1519, Zwingli came here to Zurich,
09:25 Switzerland to work as a priest. Zurich has changed
09:29 just a little bit since Zwingli's day.
09:33 There have been people living here for 2,000 years,
09:35 and today there are 1.8 million people
09:38 in metropolitan Zurich. Zurich is the wealthiest city
09:43 in Europe. It's often described
09:45 as having the best quality of life in the world,
09:48 and much of what you've heard about Swiss banks--Zurich.
09:53 It's a beautiful city, an expensive city,
09:57 a city rich in culture and big in sport.
10:00 Soccer's governing body, FIFA, has its headquarters here.
10:04 And Zurich is a city that was one of the most
10:06 important centers of the Protestant reformation.
10:10 While what happens in Zurich today affects the
10:12 economies of the world, what happened here 500 years ago
10:17 shaked history [church bells] Now, there's no need to think
10:20 that Huldrych Zwingli was a man who didn't have any faults.
10:24 His detractors would have had no difficulty
10:26 finding some faults to point to. As a young priest,
10:31 he had relationships that didn't really mesh with the church's
10:36 expectations when it came to the conduct of priests. In fact,
10:39 he and a number of others petitioned the bishop to allow
10:43 priests to marry. Interestingly, the bishop had plenty of
10:47 incentive to refuse the request. You see, back in Zwingli's day,
10:52 if a priest wanted to keep a mistress, he could as long as he
10:56 paid a sum of money to the bishop. If that mistress were to
11:01 have a baby, no problem, as long as that same sum of money was
11:05 paid again to the bishop. When immorality
11:09 is a cottage industry, there's really very little
11:12 incentive to get rid of it. Theologically, he had his
11:17 issues too. He believed strongly in infant baptism, and he
11:22 disputed hotly with anybody who would disagree with him.
11:26 There was a debate held on the subject in Zurich
11:29 and it was decided that anybody who refused to have their
11:32 infants baptized should be kicked out of town.
11:36 Later, the town council upped the ante a little bit.
11:40 A law was passed that stated that anyone refusing to have
11:43 their infants baptized, or anybody who would baptize an
11:47 adult, should be put to death. Some Anabaptists came to town
11:53 and they disregarded that law. A man named Felix Manz baptized
11:58 adults. He was arrested, he was put on trial, and he was
12:04 sentenced to death. Sentenced to death for baptizing somebody by
12:10 immersion. Well, then they had to decide what penalty to levy
12:14 against him, or at least how to carry out the death sentence.
12:17 Back in those good ol' days, people normally were sentenced
12:22 to death by being burned at the stake. But they said for Manz,
12:26 something different; because his crime involved baptizing by
12:31 immersion, they decided that he would be bound hand and foot,
12:35 put in a boat, taken out here in Lake Zurich, and drowned.
12:42 [music]
12:45 But in general Zwingli stood very much on the Bible.
12:49 And in an era when the Bible was ignored, that's significant.
12:53 Instead of preaching the mass, Zwingli began preaching from the
12:57 Bible, taking Bible passages and proclaiming them
13:01 and applying Bible truths to the lives of the people.
13:05 He experienced a deeper conversion, and not long after
13:09 coming to the Grossmunster cathedral, it was filled to
13:13 overflowing with crowds of people who came out to hear of
13:17 the saving grace of God. And the church leadership wasn't happy.
13:23 People were regularly burned at the stake for following the
13:26 Bible rather than the church. It was about this time that Luther
13:31 appeared at the [Deardadvonce], and it was only the
13:35 providence of God that got him out of there alive.
13:39 The Bishop of Constance sent deputies to Zurich to order
13:42 Zwingli to stop preaching the Bible. They said he was teaching
13:46 people to disobey the church, and was therefore
13:50 endangering society. Zwingli was able to
13:53 point to the effect that of teaching had on the lives of
13:56 people who heard him, saying that Christianity
14:00 is the best safeguard of general security.
14:04 He was a man who wasn't easily scared. He said he feared the
14:08 representatives of the bishop as much as a cliff fears the
14:12 waves that crash at its feet.
14:16 He was a brave man, Zwingli. In 1520 the
14:19 Plague struck Zurich while he was away on vacation. But
14:23 instead of staying away, he returned to Zurich to do what he
14:26 could to help administer. One in four people
14:30 in Zurich--some say as many as one in three--died
14:34 from the plague. Zwingli got sick himself and came
14:37 close to death. But he survived.
14:41 God's hand was over this servant who still had so much
14:43 left to do.
14:45 Now, you'd think, wouldn't you, that with Luther and Zwingli
14:48 being contemporaries, with them both believing in the Bible,
14:52 both of them refugees from a broken system, both men loving
14:56 God, you'd think that because they had all this in common,
14:59 that because really they were in the crosshairs of the most
15:03 powerful church on the planet, you'd think that Zwingli and
15:08 Luther would get on like a house on fire.
15:11 Well, if you thought that, you'd be wrong.
15:14 And what was the interesting event that started
15:17 the Reformation in Switzerland, and what did it
15:21 have to do with sausages? I'll tell you in just a moment.
15:26 ♪ [tender music] ♪ Planning for your
15:29 financial future is a vital aspect of Christian stewardship.
15:32 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free planned
15:35 giving and estate services. For information on
15:38 how we can help you, please call 1 (800) 992-2219.
15:43 call today, or visit our special website
15:46 www.HisLegacy.com
15:56 [quiet melody]
16:10 Zurich, Switzerland is the beautiful city where
16:13 Protestant reformer Huldrych Zwingli ministered in the early
16:16 16th century. Called here
16:19 to serve as a priest, he led the congregations at this
16:22 cathedral, the Grossmunster. People came here
16:25 and heard him lift up the Bible. And people had never
16:28 heard such things before. This was light shining
16:33 in the darkness. But what got the Reformation
16:36 started in Switzerland in the first place is interesting.
16:42 Many say it was the affair of the sausages.
16:46 The church taught at that time that meat
16:48 should not be eaten during Lent.
16:51 Now, Lent is a period of about six weeks leading up to Easter.
16:55 And there were many churches that maintained that
16:57 people should fast during Lent. Well, at that time,
17:01 Zwingli's church, also his employer,
17:03 the Roman Catholic church, was firm.
17:06 No meat during Lent. Well, during one Lenten period,
17:11 Zwingli was invited to the home of a printer in Zurich named
17:15 Froschauer for a sausage supper. There were a number of people at
17:19 Froschauer's home, Zwingli among them.
17:22 Zwingli didn't eat any of the forbidden sausages,
17:25 but Froschauer did. And when Froschauer
17:29 was arrested, arrested for eating sausages,
17:34 Zwingli defended him. Well, there you have it.
17:38 The battle was now on. And all because of a sausage.
17:45 Now, you'd think that Zwingli and Luther would
17:47 have been each other's biggest supporters, Luther in German,
17:50 Zwingli in Switzerland. Zurich and Wittenberg
17:54 or about 450 miles apart. And the two first met
17:58 in October of 1529. Both men were almost
18:02 36 years old, and they met at a council
18:05 called by a German prince who was a strong supporter
18:09 of the Reformation. Philip was hopeful that Zwingli
18:13 and Luther could iron out their theological differences.
18:18 And for the most part the two reformists found
18:20 that they were in total harmony with each other,
18:24 even though they developed in their understanding
18:26 of the Bible independent of each other.
18:29 They were taught by the best teacher of all,
18:31 the Holy Spirit. Martin Luther had funded
18:35 his opposition to indulges. So too had Zwingli.
18:39 In fact, before Luther had. [dramatic theme swells]
18:46 Both men believed in salvation by grace
18:48 through faith, and not through the church.
18:51 The Bible says that in Ephesians 2, verse 8:
18:54 "For by grace are ye saved through faith,
18:58 and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
19:02 Both men believed faith in God didn't require sacraments
19:07 such as those offered by the church. Jesus said,
19:10 "Whoever comes to me, I will by no means cast out"
19:14 (John 6:37). Hebrews says we should
19:18 come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16).
19:23 Both men believed faith in God would be revealed in a
19:27 changed life. Paul wrote to Titus
19:30 that God's grace teaches us that denying ungodliness
19:34 and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
19:37 righteously and godly in this present world (Titus 2:12).
19:43 Both men agreed the Bible was to be the foundation of a
19:47 believer's faith. Paul wrote that all scripture is given by
19:52 inspiration of God (II Timothy 3:16).
19:56 Both men agreed that priests should be allowed to
19:59 marry. If you believe the Bible, you find no prohibition against
20:02 that of any kind. In the Old Testament, the priests were
20:07 allowed to marry. God said, "It's good that the man should
20:10 not be alone." In fact, the only place you find priests being
20:14 forbidden to marry is paganism. Both men believed confession of
20:19 sins should not be made to a priest, but should be made
20:22 directly to God. The Bible says there is one mediator between
20:26 God and man, the man Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:5).
20:33 Both men rejected the concept of the mass as a sacrifice.
20:38 But when they came to the council at Hesse,
20:41 it was discovered that the men had one
20:43 major disagreement. In fact, this was an insurmountable
20:48 obstacle for them. They disagreed
20:52 over the communion service. Luther taught that the
20:55 bread and the wine used in the communion service were the
20:59 actual body and the actual blood of Jesus.
21:03 Zwingli took the more biblical position, that the
21:06 bread and the wine or the juice are merely representative of or
21:10 symbols of Jesus' body and Jesus' blood.
21:14 It seems there was no way the two men could find
21:17 common ground on this subject no matter how hard anybody tried.
21:23 Luther came to the place that he felt that Zwingli was a fanatic.
21:27 You see, Luther believed that whatever wasn't forbidden in
21:30 scripture was allowed. Zwingli thought Luther
21:34 wasn't taking the Reformation far enough.
21:36 Zwingli believed that whatever was not expressly
21:40 commanded in scripture shouldn't be tolerated.
21:44 Now, really, it's no surprise that
21:46 these men would have disagreements. It had only been
21:49 about this long since both men had come out of a life entirely
21:54 without the Bible. So if one or the other or both should be
21:57 wrong about something, we shouldn't be surprised
22:00 at all. Zwingli tried to be kind toward
22:04 Luther. It seems Zwingli was more kind than Luther could
22:08 manage to be. When news came to Luther
22:11 that Zwingli had died out on a battlefield, all Luther was
22:15 able to say was, "Those who take the sword
22:20 shall die by the sword."
22:24 There was no love lost there. ♪ [pastoral melody] ♪
22:31 Well, let's consider Zwingli. He was a giant because
22:34 he brought light at a time people didn't have the light.
22:38 He insisted people could know Jesus personally,
22:41 that they could find forgiveness personally, and that the church
22:45 shouldn't control a person's conscience. Perfect?
22:49 No, he wasn't perfect. But God uses imperfect people,
22:54 like Peter, and James and John, who were so imperfect
22:57 Jesus referred to them as the Sons of Thunder.
23:02 In 1529 a Protestant missionary
23:05 was burned at the stake for preaching the gospel in a
23:08 Catholic canton. In retaliation,
23:11 Zurich boycotted that canton. But then in 1531 war broke out,
23:17 and at Kappel 8,000 Catholic soldiers warred against 1,500
23:22 Protestant soldiers. The result was never
23:24 really in question, and Huldrych Zwingli was among
23:27 those who lost their lives that day.
23:30 A life that began here in beautiful Wildhaus in the
23:33 Togganburg Valley. I don't know if the cows then wore bells
23:37 around their necks as they do now,
23:39 but if you could hear what I hear now, you'd hear the sound
23:42 of cow bells all around. It's still a beautiful, scenic,
23:47 pristine place. In Zwingli's day it had to have
23:51 been even more so. It was here that a life began,
23:56 that went on to change the world and still affects you
23:59 and me today.
24:03 [interlude]
24:12 ♪ [Dramatic triumphant melody] ♪ I hope you'll get the book
24:15 I'm offering you this week. It's called "Revelation Today."
24:19 It unfolds the end times scenario presented in
24:22 the book of Revelation. This little book is going to
24:25 help you understand what the book of Revelation is
24:27 really all about. It untangles the end time
24:31 prophetic scenario to let you see how the battle between good
24:34 and evil ultimately plays out. Just call or write, and I'll
24:38 send you "Revelation Today." There's no cost, no obligation.
24:42 It's absolutely free. All you need to do is call
24:45 1-800-253-3000, and ask for "Revelation Today." You can call
24:50 24 hours a day. If the line's busy,
24:53 please, just keep on trying. You can also request
24:56 your free copy of "Revelation Today"
24:59 by writing to It Is Written,
25:01 P O Box 6, Chattanooga, TN 37401
25:05 and we'll mail a copy to your address
25:07 in North America. To get it right away
25:10 you can download a free electronic version of the book
25:12 "Revelation Today" from our website
25:15 ItIsWritten.com. Now, It Is Written
25:18 is a faith-based ministry made possible by
25:20 viewers like you. Thank you so much
25:23 for your kind support. Your help makes it possible
25:26 for us to share God's good news with the world.
25:29 Your tax deductible gift can be sent to the address on
25:31 your screen, or you can support us online at ItIsWritten.com.
25:36 Thank you for your continued gracious support.
25:39 Our toll-free number is 1-800-253-3000,
25:44 and our web address is ItIsWritten.com.
25:52 Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven,
25:55 how good you are to send light into this world.
25:58 You raised up people like Huldrych Zwingli
26:00 for a purpose: to advance the light of truth,
26:04 to take the gospel to people in desperate need
26:07 of the light of heaven. And I thank you today that
26:09 you are still in the business of reaching the hearts of men
26:12 and women with your good news. And Father, I want to pray
26:16 now for that man, that woman, that young person who is
26:19 reaching out to you. He or she who knows in his or her heart
26:24 that what is needed in that individual's life
26:27 is Jesus Christ. Friend, I want to
26:28 encourage you, if you've not accepted Jesus as your Savior,
26:32 or if you've been half-hearted in your relationship
26:34 with Christ, reach out to God now,
26:37 and know that he accepts you and pledges through Jesus to save
26:41 you and give you everlasting life.
26:44 Now, Father in heaven, I thank you that you offer
26:45 us eternity, and that before eternity arrives,
26:49 eternity can begin in our hearts,
26:52 while we live our lives connected to you.
26:55 We thank you for that Christ-centered life, that life
26:58 that leans on Jesus. Give us grace
27:01 to live that life, and in this life live
27:04 with joy and hope and confidence for now
27:08 and for the future, for an eternal future.
27:12 We thank you that your spirit has caused light to shine
27:19 in the dark. Let your light shine
27:21 in our hearts now and always,
27:23 I pray and thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.
27:30 ♪ [reflective interlude] ♪
27:45 ♪ [It Is Written Theme] ♪ Thanks for joining me today.
27:49 I look forward to seeing you again next time.
27:50 Until then, remember, it is written,
27:53 man shall not live by bread alone,
27:58 but by every word that proceeds from
27:59


Home

Revised 2015-09-09