Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001448A
01:32 [hopeful anthem]
01:51 I'm John Bradshaw, and this is It Is Written. 01:54 Thanks for joining me today. This is Gettysburg, 01:57 Pennsylvania, the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, the 02:00 most famous battle of the American Civil War. 02:03 Today, the old battlefields of Gettysburg look a whole 02:07 lot like they did a century and a half ago. 02:09 A lot of effort has been taken to keeping the 02:11 Gettysburg battlefields in condition as original as 02:15 possible. The American Civil War lasted 02:18 four years, from 1861 to 1865. 02:22 Thousands of people perished during the American Civil 02:26 War, 700,000 is the number that is often quoted today 02:30 and several thousand individuals died here at 02:33 Gettysburg. Today, we refer to the war as 02:37 the American Civil War. But down through time, it has 02:39 been called a number of different things. 02:41 It was called the war between the states. 02:44 The South referred to it as the war of succession. 02:46 Immediately after the war, the North called it the war 02:50 of rebellion. There's a lot of controversy 02:53 over what actually brought about the start of the 02:55 American Civil War, but the facts are these. 02:58 Eleven southern states declared their succession 03:01 from the United States and began to call themselves the 03:04 Confederated States of America or, The Confederacy. 03:08 The remaining 25 states remained loyal to the United 03:11 States Government, and they became known as The Union. 03:15 After this split, really, fighting was simply 03:19 inevitable. One fact most people will 03:22 agree on is that slavery was a central issue in the Civil 03:27 War. The controversy became so 03:30 intense, so hot, that it brought about the end of some 03:32 political parties, including the Wigs and the No Nothing 03:35 party. And it caused the Democratic 03:37 party to be split in two, between the North and the 03:40 South. But the violence wasn't 03:43 contained only to the battlefield. 03:46 In fact, on the floor of the US Senate, a South Carolina 03:51 Congressman by the name of Preston Brooks, violently 03:54 assaulted a Republican politician by the name of 03:57 Charles Sumner. He beat him so badly that he 04:00 beat him almost to death. The reason for this violent 04:04 assault is that Sumner insulted Southern slave 04:07 owners and one of Brooks' own relatives as referring to 04:10 them as pimps for slavery. At the start of the Civil 04:15 War, there were 9 million people living in the American 04:18 South. Four million of them were 04:20 slaves, almost 50% of the population. 04:24 Slavery was a dark episode in the history of the United 04:28 States. Slavery has existed for 04:31 thousands of years. The Bible not only mentions 04:36 slavery but it provides guidelines as to how slaves 04:40 should be treated. And if a man smite his 04:43 servant, his slave, or his maid with a rod and he die 04:48 under his hand, he shall be surely punished and if he 04:51 smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's 04:54 tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake. 04:58 That's Exodus 21: 26, 27. Now let's not be confused by 05:04 this and think that because the Bible says that that God 05:07 somehow approves of slavery. God certainly does not. 05:12 In fact, it says this in Acts 17:24-26. 05:18 God that made the world and all things therein seeing 05:21 that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in 05:24 temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with 05:27 men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he 05:30 giveth life to all, and breath and all things, and 05:34 hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell 05:38 on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times 05:41 before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. 05:45 In fact, it was Jesus who said in Luke 6:27-31, love 05:48 your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them 05:53 that curse you and pray for them which despitefully use 05:57 you and unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer 06:00 also the other. And him that taketh away thy 06:03 cloak forbid not to take your coat also. 06:06 Give to every man that asketh of thee, and of him that 06:09 taketh away thy goods, ask them not again. 06:13 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also 06:16 to them likewise. Unfortunately, many people 06:20 during the Civil War didn't see it that way. 06:22 What's tragic is that religious slave holders 06:26 professed Christians used the slavery guidelines found in 06:30 the book of Exodus to say that God actually supported 06:34 slavery. President Abraham Lincoln saw 06:37 this for what it really was. In a letter that he wrote to 06:40 Reverend Dr. Ide, dated May 30, 1864, he said this: 06:46 "Those professedly holy men of the South met in semblance 06:50 of prayer and devotion and in the name of Him who said 'as 06:55 you would all men should do unto you, do ye even so unto 06:58 them', appealed to the Christian world to aid them 07:02 in doing to a whole race of men as they would have no man 07:08 do unto themselves. To my thinking they contemned 07:12 and insulted God and his church, far more than did 07:16 Satan when he tempted the Saviour with the Kingdoms of 07:19 the Earth." We can thank God that slavery 07:22 has been abolished. Mauritania was the last 07:25 country in the world to abolish slavery and did so in 07:27 1981. However, because sin is what 07:31 sin is, slavery still exists. They say that because of 07:34 human trafficking, there are more slaves in the world now 07:37 than at any other time in human history. 07:41 I'm here in Gettysburg, in a store, a shop, that houses 07:44 many Civil War artifacts, including implements that we 07:47 used in slavery. These two items here that you 07:51 see are collars worn around the necks of slaves. 07:55 They are genuine and they were used. 07:58 The protruding spikes are there to discourage slaves 08:02 from trying to escape. If they tried to escape, the 08:05 spikes would get caught in underbrush or growth or 08:08 branches or so on and would lead to the slaves being 08:12 recaptured which, of course, would not be pretty. 08:18 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of 08:20 men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek 08:24 God. They are all gone aside, they 08:27 are all together become filthy: there is none that 08:31 doeth good, no, not one. 08:39 [Music] 08:50 We hear it all the time─ God is all-powerful! 08:52 God is love! Yet in the back of our minds, 08:55 there lurks a question. If God is so powerful and 08:58 so loving, why is there so much suffering? 09:01 If there's a devil behind all this, where did he come from? 09:03 Now these are valid questions and the Bible addresses them 09:07 all. If you'd like to see what the 09:09 Bible says on this subject, let me send you a booklet called 09:11 “Why Does God Allow Suffering?” It is absolutely free. 09:14 Just call 1 (800) 253-3000 and ask for "Why Does God 09:19 Allow Suffering." If the line's busy, 09:21 do keep on trying. Or write to: It Is Written, 09:24 P.O. Box 6, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 37401, 09:29 and we'll mail a free copy to your address in North America. 09:32 It Is Written is a faith-based ministry supported by people 09:34 like you. Your help makes it possible for 09:37 us to share God's good news with the world. 09:40 Your tax-deductible gift can be sent to the address on your 09:42 screen, or you can support us online at ItIsWritten.com. 09:47 Thank you for your continued prayerful support. 09:49 Our toll-free number is 1 (800) 253-3000, and 09:53 our web address is ItIsWritten.com. 09:58 [fanfare] 10:13 It's time for today's Bible question. 10:16 A friend of mine says we need to keep the 10 commandments 10:19 in order to go to heaven. But my preacher says that the 10:22 law was nailed to the cross and because of Jesus, we no 10:26 longer need to keep the law. He said something about the 10:30 law being an old covenant and now since the cross, all we 10:33 need is grace. Now wouldn't that be a funny 10:37 thing! Jesus telling people that 10:39 it's okay to disobey him now. Can you imagine that? 10:43 Jesus saying it's okay to commit adultery? 10:45 It's okay to steal. It's okay to kill because we 10:48 are under a new covenant. If grace is a ticket for 10:52 people to live spiritually irresponsible lives, than 10:55 grace is something we could do without. 10:58 Let's be clear. Salvation is given by grace 11:02 through faith. It's free. 11:04 It's a gift. We cannot earn it by our 11:06 obedience or anything else. The gift of salvation is not 11:10 conferred based upon our performance. 11:13 But let's balance that. Look on the other side of the 11:16 coin. What about once a person has 11:18 come to Jesus and has received salvation. 11:21 How should they live then? Jesus said this in John 11:25 14:15. If you love me, keep my 11:29 commandments. Saved people will obey God 11:33 which isn't to say they will never make mistakes, but 11:35 their life is one characterized by obedience 11:38 and growing in obedience. Love for God brings obedience 11:42 into a person's life. Revelation 14:12 describes 11:46 the saved when it says: "Here are they that keep the 11:49 commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 11:52 It isn't that their commandment keeping earned 11:54 them salvation but because Jesus had come into their 11:58 lives, their lives became lives of obedience, lives of 12:02 honoring God. When you love someone, you 12:04 want to please that someone and it pleases God that we 12:07 obey him, that we keep his commandments. 12:11 Look in the Bible. It does not teach us that 12:14 grace means we are free to run off and sin. 12:17 It's because of grace that we don't want to do that because 12:20 we know it hurts God. If you have a question that 12:24 you would like answered, go to our website: 12:26 itiswritten.com and click on the "Questions" tab. 12:30 Submit your question and in a future program, we might be 12:33 able to answer your Bible question. 12:37 [fanfare] 12:44 You can't really have the discussion about slavery in 12:46 the United States of America without mentioning the name 12:49 Frederick Douglas. Frederick Douglas was born 12:52 a slave in Talbot County, Maryland in 1818. 12:56 Now because slave mothers weren't allowed to raise 12:58 their own children, he never did know the exact date of 13:01 his birthday. When he was about 12 years 13:04 old, his owners' wife began to teach him the alphabet, 13:08 despite the fact it was illegal to teach slaves how 13:11 to read. Frederick Douglas would 13:13 describe her as a kind woman. She said that she treated him 13:17 the way one human being ought to treat another. 13:20 Now, when the slave master found out what was going on, 13:22 he strongly disapproved. He said this must not happen. 13:26 Frederick must not learn how to read because should a 13:29 slave learn to read, why then a slave would want to learn 13:32 to write. And should a slave learn how 13:34 to right, then a slave would be wanting his own freedom. 13:39 Later, Douglas described these words as the first 13:43 decidedly antislavery lecture that he would ever hear. 13:48 In spite of his owner's discouragement, Frederick 13:50 Douglas did learn to read. He learned from white 13:53 children living in his neighborhood and by looking 13:56 at the written materials owned by the men with whom he 13:58 worked and then Douglas escaped. 14:02 He fled to New York and he became an advocate for the 14:05 abolitionist movement and once a free man, Frederick 14:09 Douglas had some very interesting things to say 14:12 about slavery. "From my earliest 14:16 recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep 14:19 conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me 14:23 within its foul embrace. And in the darkest hours of 14:27 my career in slavery, this living word of faith and 14:31 spirit of hope departed not from me but remained like 14:35 ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom. 14:40 It was as though Frederick Douglas, even though he had 14:42 been raised to believe that he was nothing more than 14:44 cattle, always suspected that slavery was wrong. 14:47 It was something it seems in the back of his mind that 14:50 always told him that that was the case. 14:52 And do you think that Douglas' case was unique or 14:55 did the other slaves feel the same way? 14:58 Of course they did. They had the reminders around 15:00 them all of the time as to what their true condition 15:02 really was. They were owned by somebody 15:05 else. They often had irons weighing 15:07 them down. They often felt whips cutting 15:10 into their backs and they heard the cruel words of 15:12 their masters. They recognized that they 15:15 were slaves because those reminders were around them 15:18 all of the time. Their lives told them what 15:21 they really were. But you might be surprised to 15:25 know that there are many people today who don't 15:27 realize that they are in bondage. 15:29 In fact, you might be one of them. 15:33 Find out more in just a moment. 15:38 [Music] Every word is a one minute 15:39 Bible-based daily devotional presented by pastor John 15:42 Bradshaw and designed especially for busy people 15:45 like you. Look for Every Word on selected 15:48 networks or watch it on-line everyday on our website, 15:51 itiswritten.com. 15:55 [upbeat music] 16:03 Back in 1988 Presidential Candidate George H W Bush 16:06 addressed a large audience at his party's National Convention 16:10 and said, "Read my lips, no new taxes." 16:15 That was a promise, and he meant it. 16:18 But promises can be hard to keep, and even politicians find 16:21 that on occasions their promises can be harder to keep than they 16:24 thought when they made them. Later, President Bush wanted to 16:28 reduce the budget deficit and so some taxes were raised - 16:31 and the one-term President Bush wasn't reelected - the broken 16:35 promise, many say, was a a key factor in his defeat. 16:38 Many people make promises to God and find they can't keep them. 16:42 "I'll do better, I won't do that again, I'll never commit 16:45 that sin .... Ever again..." 16:47 - all promises that sound good but are actually doomed to fail. 16:52 In Philippians 3:9 Paul wrote, "and be found in Him, not having 16:57 my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is 17:00 through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God 17:04 by faith." Our righteousness doesn't come 17:08 from us trying to do better. Paul knew the righteousness 17:11 he needed was Christ's righteousness, the only 17:14 righteousness that can open the gates of heaven to us. 17:18 And Paul makes clear that the only way he could get that 17:20 righteousness was through faith, and not by trying harder. 17:24 I'm not saying there's no effort involved in being a Christian, 17:27 because there certainly is. But the greatest effort we can 17:30 make in our Christian experience is the effort to surrender to 17:34 God, and allow Him to make our heart His own. 17:37 If we can learn to yield to God, to surrender, He'll give us His 17:41 righteousness - the only kind of righteousness that will do us 17:44 any good. You can make promises to God, 17:46 but it's better to believe God's promises to you. 17:50 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written. 17:51 Let's live today by Every Word. 17:55 [Music] Planning for your 17:58 financial future is a vital aspect of Christian Stewardship. 18:02 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free planned 18:05 giving and estate services. For information on how we can 18:08 help you, please call 1.800.992.2219. 18:13 Call today or visit our special website: www.hislegacy.com. 18:24 Frederick Douglas has said that the pathway from slavery 18:27 to freedom is knowledge. And he was absolutely right. 18:31 You know, there are so many people in this world today 18:34 who are slaves but they are unaware of their true 18:36 condition. They are born into bondage 18:40 and unless the truth reaches them, they will never be 18:43 free. Well, what kind of slaves am 18:46 I talking about? Jesus said this in John 8:34 18:50 to 36, Most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin 18:56 is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in 19:00 the house forever but a son abides forever. 19:04 Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free 19:08 indeed. Whoever commits sin is the 19:11 servant or the slave of sin. If we have sinned then we 19:17 have become slaves and the Bible says that all have 19:20 sinned and have come short of the glory of God. 19:23 But, here is the thing. While most people would 19:26 recognize I have made a mistake or two, most people 19:28 would not go that step further and say that as a 19:31 sinner, I have become enslaved, I am in bondage, I 19:34 am in chains. As a sinner, I am the servant 19:38 or the slave of sin. And the most dangerous thing 19:42 about this is that people might be born into a world of 19:44 sin and think that they are okay. 19:47 Yes, I stumble. Yes, I do this. 19:49 Yes, I err. I am faulty. 19:52 But I am okay. When perhaps they are 19:56 anything but okay. We have been talking about 20:00 the social climate in the 1800's that brought about the 20:02 conditions whereby people accepted slavery and I know 20:06 many people that I have spoken to have shaken their 20:09 head and they have said, "how could people accept such an 20:12 atrocity as though it's okay." 20:15 Well, I'll tell you this during the 1860's, the 20:18 churches of the South signed a document stating their 20:22 support for slavery. In an open letter to the 20:25 Christians of the world, the leaders of the churches of 20:28 the confederacy wrote a letter in which they said 20:31 this: "And we testify in the sight of God, that the 20:35 relation of master and slave among us, however we may 20:39 deplore abuses in this as in other relations of mankind, 20:43 is not incompatible with our wholly Christianity. 20:47 And that the presence of the Africans of our land is an 20:50 occasion of gratitude on their behalf before God. 20:54 Seeing that thereby Divine providence has brought them 20:57 where missionaries of the cross may freely proclaim to 21:01 them the word of salvation and the work is not 21:04 interrupted by agitating fanaticism. 21:07 The South has done more than any people on earth for the 21:11 Christianization of the African race." 21:14 Now this statement was not made by some obscure group of 21:17 believers. This was written and signed 21:21 by the leaders of the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, 21:25 Methodist Protestant, Presbyterian, Lutheran and 21:29 German Reformed Churches just to name a few. 21:33 Now in contrast to this, listen to what Frederick 21:35 Douglas had to say about Christian slave-owners. 21:39 I assert most unhesitatingly that the religion of the South 21:43 is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, 21:47 a justifier of the most appalling barbarity. 21:50 A sanctifier of the most hateful frauds and a dark 21:53 shelter under which the darkest, grossest and most 21:57 infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest 21:59 protection, I should regard being the slave of a religious 22:03 master the greatest calamity that could befall me, 22:07 for all of the slaveholders with whom I have ever met, 22:10 religious slaveholders are the worst. 22:15 Now, let me make something abundantly clear. 22:17 I'm not bringing any of this up to be critical of anybody. 22:20 I am not trying to criticize any religious groups and I 22:23 certainly am not trying to throw the South under the 22:27 bus. But here's the point. 22:29 Here's what we really have got to understand. 22:32 Without the power of God in our lives, left to ourselves, 22:38 left in a state of being the captives, the slaves of sin, 22:43 all we've got to look forward to is lives of sin and anger 22:48 and malice and lust and ....and slavery. 22:53 I know it's easy to look back on the past and wag our 22:55 finger at those who come before us and criticize them 22:58 for their ignorance, and say "how could they?" 23:00 But the truth is this. With a heart of stone. 23:04 Without the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit in 23:06 our lives that's what we are all like. 23:09 The bible says all have sinned and have come short of 23:12 the glory of God. But there is a way out. 23:16 No, it's not will-power. No amount of will-power is 23:19 going to break the chains that bind you in sin. 23:21 No pledge, no promise, no accountability partner. 23:25 No, that's not what gets the job done. 23:28 There's one way to get out of the shackles of sin and 23:31 that's through Jesus. Remember that verse we looked 23:34 at before, from John 8. Therefore, if the Son of God 23:37 shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. 23:40 Isaiah 43:11 says this: "I, even I am the Lord, and 23:45 beside me, there is no other." 23:48 So, what do you do when you find yourself living a life 23:50 where you say "There's no power and I'm stuck in a rut, 23:53 I'm stuck in an old way, I'm stuck someplace I don't want 23:56 to be." What do you do? 23:58 There's one thing to do. When you find that sin has 24:01 the mastery over you, call out to Jesus. 24:05 You can do that. No, God is not some cosmic 24:08 cop with a big stick looking to punish you or looking to 24:11 send you off to hell, if that's what he was all about, 24:13 he could have done that long ago. 24:15 Instead, the Bible says this in John 3, not verse 16, but 24:19 verse 17. It says this: For God did not 24:22 send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but 24:25 that the world through him might be saved. 24:29 Paul wrote to Timothy, and he said in 1 Timothy 1:15 that 24:33 Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 24:38 The writer of the book of Hebrews said in Hebrews 7 24:41 that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who come 24:45 to God through Him because he lives to make intercession 24:48 for us. If you desire a new life, 24:52 freedom from the old ways, freedom from the old habits, 24:55 if you want that power that comes from Jesus Christ, all 24:58 you need do is ask Jesus to come into your life and he 25:02 will. It's as simple as that. 25:04 And then, when you are tempted to put somebody else 25:06 down, when you are tempted to engage injustice or 25:10 oppression, when you are tempted to be drawn into that 25:14 old life again, here's what you do. 25:16 You turn your eyes upon Jesus. 25:18 And the old song says "look full in his wonderful face" 25:22 and when you do, you'll experience a newness in our 25:25 life, a power in your life. It's real. 25:28 You can experience it today. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 25:32 5:17, if anybody is in Christ, that person becomes a 25:37 new creature. Old things are passed away. 25:40 Behold, all things become new. 25:44 What do you want to be made new in your life today? 25:47 Well, let me put it another way ... 25:49 what are you a slave to? What is keeping you down? 25:52 What is holding you back? Is there something? 25:55 You can invite Jesus to take that away and replace it with 25:58 the power of his presence today, now, and he will do it 26:02 for you. Years after Frederick Douglas 26:05 found his freedom, he wrote these words: I have often 26:09 been asked how I felt when first I found myself on free 26:13 soil and my readers may share the same curiosity. 26:18 There was scarcely anything in my experience about which 26:21 I could not give a more satisfactory answer. 26:24 A new world had opened upon me. 26:27 If life is more than breath and a quick round of blood, I 26:31 lived more in one day than in a year of my slave-life. 26:35 It was a time of joyous excitement, which words can 26:38 but tamely describe in a letter written to a friend 26:41 soon after reaching New York, I said, I felt as one might 26:45 feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions. 26:48 Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be 26:52 depicted but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy 26:57 the skill of pen or pencil. Frederick Douglas experienced 27:02 freedom from slavery and you can experience freedom from 27:07 the slavery of sin through Jesus when you accept him 27:10 into your life. Would you do that now? 27:13 Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we 27:16 thank you today for freedom in Jesus. 27:20 We thank you, Lord, that through Christ, we can true 27:23 freedom, no longer the servants or the slaves of sin 27:27 but the servants only of the God of heaven. 27:29 We thank you for new life. We accept it gratefully. 27:34 Lord, let your son Jesus live his life in us and we pray 27:39 with thanks today for freedom in you. 27:42 In Jesus' name, Amen. 27:52 [Music] 28:14 We hear it all the time, 'God is all-powerful! 28:17 God is love!' If God is so powerful and so 28:19 loving, why is there so much suffering? 28:22 If you'd like to see what the Bible says on this subject, 28:25 let me send you a booklet called, "Why Does God Allow 28:27 Suffering?' free, just call: 28:30 1 (800) 253-3000 and ask for "Why Does God Allow Suffering." 28:35 If the line's busy, do keep on trying. 28:38 Or write to: It Is Written, P.O. Box 6, Chattanooga, 28:41 Tennessee, 37401, and we'll mail a free copy to 28:45 your address in North America. It Is Written is a faith-based 28:48 ministry; and your support makes it possible for us to share 28:52 God's Good News with the world. Your tax-deductible gift can be 28:56 sent to the address on your screen, or through our website 28:59 at ItIsWritten.com. Thank you for your continued 29:02 prayerful support. Again, our toll-free number is 29:06 (800) 253-3000, and our web address is ItIsWritten.com 29:15 Thanks for joining me today. Look forward to seeing you 29:17 again next time. Until then, remember, 29:19 It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by 29:23 every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 29:27 [Music] |
Revised 2017-01-04