It Is Written

The Roman Road

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

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Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW001287A


00:01 ♪ [Dramatic Historical Music] ♪
00:08 It has stood the test of time.
00:13 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 [Lightning sounds]
00:43 ♪ [Peaceful Melody] ♪
00:50 JB: I'm John Bradshaw and this is It Is Written.
00:53 Thanks for joining me today.
00:55 The old saying is that all roads lead to Rome, and it's certainly
00:59 true of this one.
01:00 This is Via Appia, the Appian Way,
01:03 built more than 300 years before the birth of Jesus and
01:06 the most famous of all the roads that lead to Rome.
01:10 It was along this very road, from lands as far away as
01:13 Britain, northern Europe, Africa and the Middle East, that the
01:17 conquering legions of the world's greatest empire returned
01:20 in triumph to Rome, the center of western civilization.
01:28 It was roads like this one that enabled Rome to transform
01:30 her legions quickly to various trouble spots in her empire
01:34 and throughout the world.
01:36 In time, this road was extended all the way to Brindisi,
01:40 the port city in Italy's southeast.
01:43 It was along this road, following the final defeat of
01:46 the slave rebellion led by Spartacus, that 6,000 slaves
01:52 were crucified.
01:53 Their bodies left to be stripped bare from Capua all the way to
01:59 the gates of the city of Rome.
02:01 And it was along this very road that the messengers of the
02:04 Christian gospel brought the good news of salvation to the
02:08 sprawling, spectacular city that was the city of Rome.
02:13 The queen of ancient cities.
02:16 ♪ [Brooding Drone] ♪
02:23 Of all things fairest, sang the poet, first among
02:26 cities and home of the gods is golden Rome.
02:31 This Roman road leads all the way to the heart of golden Rome.
02:37 What was Rome, anciently?
02:40 The Old Testament book of Daniel prophesies about this power,
02:44 comparing it twice to the strength of iron.
02:48 This power ruled the world when Jesus was born.
02:52 It was a Roman magistrate who sent Jesus to His death.
02:55 It was on a Roman cross that Jesus died.
02:59 And in later years, Rome had a heavy influence on Christianity,
03:03 as both persecutor and protector.
03:07 Roman heresies would eventually pollute the witness of the
03:10 Christian faith, and the effect of these teachings extends to
03:14 this time in which we live and is still felt today.
03:20 ♪ [Pensive Melody] ♪
03:25 I'm on the Palatine Hill in Rome,
03:28 one of the seven famous hills on which the city of Rome
03:31 was founded, and it was at the base of this very hill
03:35 where everything began for the Roman empire.
03:40 The story has it that a woman named Rhea Silvia, the daughter
03:43 of the king of the nearby city of Alba Longa, had twin sons
03:47 named Romulus and Remus.
03:50 Rhea's uncle, Amulius, seized power and intending to kill the
03:54 twin boys placed them in a small basket and set it on the Tiber
03:58 River, hoping the boys would never be heard from again: a
04:01 story that sounds a lot like the story of Moses.
04:04 Legend has it that this basket washed up at the base of this
04:08 hill and was found by a she-wolf who nursed the infant boys.
04:15 The boys were rescued and raised by a man and his wife.
04:18 Eventually they killed Amulius.
04:20 They put their grandfather on Alba Longa's throne.
04:24 Romulus killed Remus and established a city
04:27 here on this very hill, the original city of Rome.
04:32 Romulus, after whom Rome is named,
04:35 was the first of seven kings who ruled the original
04:38 Roman community.
04:40 A number of Rome's earliest monuments, such as the Kyrie,
04:44 or senate house, and the Circus Maximus,
04:47 were built during the time of these kings.
04:50 The last of these rulers was an Etruscan named
04:53 Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, otherwise known as
04:56 Tarquin the Proud.
04:58 He was not a nice man.
05:01 He usurped the kingdom through his girlfriend, Tulia, daughter
05:04 of King Servius Tulius, who was then Rome's monarch.
05:08 First, she killed her husband, then killed her father by
05:12 driving her chariot over him in the streets of Rome
05:14 during a parade.
05:16 Soon she married her lover, Tarquinius, and made him
05:19 king of Rome.
05:21 Things really went from bad to worse.
05:23 A reign of terror followed, eventually resulting in the
05:25 monarchy being overthrown and the world's first republic being
05:29 established in the year 509 B.C.
05:34 The Roman forum was the center of commercial and civil life
05:38 during the centuries of the Roman republic.
05:41 People would gather here to buy and sell, to hold elections,
05:45 to listen to speeches, and to watch the triumphal
05:48 processions of great conquerors over hundreds of years.
05:53 It was here that you could hear
05:54 Roman luminaries, such as Cicero,
05:58 one of Rome's greatest orators; the statesman Cato the elder,
06:03 even Julius Caesar.
06:05 Not far from here, in the senate house,
06:08 Julius Caesar was assassinated by Brutus
06:11 and his co-conspirators.
06:13 And it was here, in 27 B.C., on this very spot where Caesar's
06:19 nephew Octavian took the name of Augustus and was acclaimed by
06:23 the senate and people of Rome as the state's first emperor.
06:29 From here you could see the great temple of Jupiter, who was
06:33 the supreme god of the Roman people, crowning the summit
06:36 of the Capitoline Hill.
06:40 It was here in 390 B.C.
06:42 that the city of Rome was secretly infiltrated by a group
06:45 of Gaelic soldiers, who sacked the city and destroyed
06:49 much of it.
06:50 Now, the presence of the enemy was betrayed
06:52 by a flock of geese.
06:54 They reacted when the invaders came in here.
06:58 Now, for some reason the Roman dogs did not react.
07:02 They didn't bark.
07:05 Rome never forgave its dogs.
07:08 The procession commemorating this event for years afterwards
07:11 featured nine crucified dogs and a goose wearing
07:16 a garland of flowers.
07:22 Now, I don't know if you could say today that
07:24 all roads lead to Rome, but when you come to the Bible
07:28 you see that Rome plays an extremely significant role
07:32 as the Bible unfolds.
07:34 I'll be back with more in just a moment.
07:41 >: You are watching the weekly It Is Written program with
07:43 Pastor John Bradshaw, but did you know that
07:46 there's a daily program, too?
07:48 Every Word is a one-minute Bible-based
07:50 daily devotional presented by Pastor John Bradshaw
07:54 and designed especially for busy people like you.
07:57 Look for Every Word on selected networks, or watch it online
08:00 every day on our website, ItIsWritten.com.
08:04 Receive a daily spiritual boost.
08:06 Watch Every Word.
08:07 You'll be glad you did.
08:12 [bright rythmic melody]
08:19 JB: Thanks for joining me.
08:19 Peter and John were told by religious leaders
08:22 to no longer speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
08:25 This wasn't a suggestion but an order
08:26 from the very people responsible for the death of Jesus.
08:29 Here's what they said in response:
08:31 "Whether it be right in the sight of God to listen to
08:33 you more than God, you judge."
08:35 That's Acts 4:19.
08:37 Now that's the right question: What's right
08:39 in the sight of God?
08:41 We know what you're saying, but ultimately we're going
08:43 to be led by what God says.
08:44 Now, I'm not advocating belligerence
08:47 in the name of Jesus.
08:48 There's already too many people who justify bad behavior by
08:50 appearing to God's will.
08:53 But that question should guide us.
08:55 What's the right thing to do in God's sight?
08:57 Not in the sight of friends or family or even authorities.
09:00 Today, ask that same question and follow God's leading
09:04 in your life.
09:05 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written.
09:07 Let's live today by every word.
09:13 ♪ [Haunting Melody] ♪ I'm John Bradshaw,
09:22 and this is It Is Written.
09:24 Thanks for joining me today.
09:26 When you read the Bible, the kingdom of Rome
09:29 and the city of Rome are hugely influential.
09:33 No, you're not going to find Rome in Genesis, Exodus,
09:36 Leviticus or Numbers or so forth.
09:38 You won't read about many Roman generals in 1 Kings or 2 Kings;
09:42 but go a little further into the Bible and Rome begins
09:46 to make its appearance.
09:47 And when it does, it's a whale of an appearance.
09:52 In Daniel chapter 2 there's the remarkable prophecy of the image
09:56 of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
09:58 Woken one night by an impressive dream, Nebuchadnezzar asked his
10:03 wise men to tell him what the dream was and what it meant.
10:08 In fact, he told them that if they couldn't do it he'd
10:10 have them all killed.
10:13 Why was he so exercised over a dream?
10:16 Well, it's because he believed the gods communicated with him
10:19 through dreams.
10:20 Ancient kings believed that routinely.
10:23 Ultimately, young Daniel, a captive in Babylon,
10:26 came to Nebuchadnezzar and explained the dream.
10:30 The head of gold of the image?
10:31 That was Babylon.
10:34 The chest and arms of silver, that was Medo-Persia, the next
10:38 world-ruling kingdom to come onto the world stage.
10:42 In fact, in Daniel chapter 5 that kingdom is mentioned
10:45 by name.
10:46 The midsection of brass, Greece. Alexander the Great
10:51 led the Greek armies to conquer the world.
10:54 And then the legs of iron, that's Rome,
10:58 and the long legs equate to a long Roman reign.
11:02 From 168 B.C.
11:04 to 476 A.D.
11:07 Rome ruled.
11:08 That's a long time.
11:10 In Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the legs of iron represented
11:14 the kingdom of Rome.
11:16 But notice what happens next.
11:18 Daniel said that the kingdom of Rome would be divided into
11:21 feet and toes, partly of clay and partly of iron.
11:25 Daniel said this in Daniel 2 verse 41.
11:31 "Whereas you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and
11:34 partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided.
11:38 Yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw
11:43 the iron mixed with ceramic clay."
11:47 Now, what Daniel tells us is that the iron,
11:50 representing Rome, would be present in the
11:53 feet and the toes down to the end of time; meaning that the
11:57 effect of the Roman empire would be felt all the way down to the
12:02 time of the return of Jesus.
12:04 That's a very biblical idea.
12:07 Keep in mind that at its apex the empire of Rome
12:12 was a colossus.
12:14 ♪ [Miltitary Anthem] ♪
12:18 Emperor Trajan was voted by the senate as Optimus Princeps,
12:23 the best emperor.
12:25 This magnificent structure is Trajan's Column,
12:29 built to memorialize Trajan's military conquests.
12:33 It was built in 113 A.D.
12:37 It's 1900 years old.
12:41 During Trajan's time the empire stretched in one direction all
12:45 the way to Hadrian's Wall, England's border with Scotland.
12:48 And in the other, to the Caspian Sea
12:51 and the Persian Gulf.
12:53 This was a massive kingdom.
12:56 Now, you'd expect that something that powerful, that influential,
13:00 would leave its mark.
13:01 The Greeks, who ruled before the Romans, certainly left theirs in
13:05 philosophy, in architecture, in a great many ways.
13:10 So, how would Rome leave its mark?
13:13 Now, keep in mind, the Romans were essentially heathens,
13:17 but they were a religious bunch.
13:19 The fact is they worshipped a great many gods.
13:24 They built temples to gods, they dedicated some of
13:27 the spoils of wars to gods, they prayed
13:31 and offered sacrifices, sometimes human sacrifices.
13:36 Not often, evidently, but at times they did just that.
13:40 So, imagine Roman soldiers coming face to face with the
13:44 message of salvation through Jesus.
13:48 When Jesus was born in Israel, Israel was occupied by
13:53 the government of Rome.
13:54 That was a Roman cross on which Jesus died.
13:58 Roman soldiers heard John the Baptist preach.
14:01 They heard John the Baptist say that the Messiah
14:04 was soon to come.
14:06 In fact, they were deeply moved by what they heard John say.
14:11 We read this in the Gospel of Luke:
14:14 "Likewise, the soldiers asked him, saying,
14:17 'And what shall we do?' So he said to them,
14:20 'Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be
14:25 content with your wages.'"
14:28 When you understand the times a little bit, it isn't difficult
14:30 to appreciate what was going on there.
14:33 Discontent among Roman soldiers regarding their pay was common
14:37 in those days, and here were men who were simply
14:40 looking for a better way.
14:42 And then there's the story where Jesus heals the servant
14:45 of the centurion.
14:47 We read about that in the Gospel of Matthew.
14:51 "Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to
14:54 him, pleading with him, saying, 'Lord, my servant is
14:58 lying at home, paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.'
15:03 And Jesus said to him, 'I will come and heal him.'
15:07 The centurion answered and said, 'Lord, I'm not worthy that you
15:11 should come under my roof, but only speak a word
15:14 and my servant will be healed.
15:16 For I also am a man under authority,
15:19 having soldiers under me, and I say to this one,
15:23 Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes,
15:26 and to my servant, do this, and he does it.'
15:30 When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said
15:34 to those who followed, 'Assuredly I say to you,
15:38 I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.'"
15:43 Matthew 8:5-10.
15:49 [water gurgling] This is one of the most profound
15:51 of the miracle stories of Jesus.
15:54 Here was a man representative of many.
15:57 He was looking for something more than his faith and than
15:59 his culture offered him.
16:02 And the fact is, Jesus pointed out that this man demonstrated
16:06 more faith in Jesus than anybody living in Israel at that time.
16:12 He had more faith than the people who were supposed
16:16 to be looking for the return of the Messiah.
16:19 This man had been walking the Roman road, but he
16:22 was powerfully impacted by the person of Jesus.
16:26 So, how much more would Christianity affect Rome,
16:30 and how much would Rome affect Christianity?
16:38 Perhaps the ultimate encounter between Jesus and the Romans
16:41 took place in the judgment hall of a governor named
16:45 Pontius Pilate.
16:47 Pontius Pilate was impressed by Jesus; so impressed,
16:50 the Bible says that he wanted to set Jesus free.
16:54 In spite of the accusations made against Jesus, Pilate believed
16:57 that Jesus was innocent.
16:59 In fact, he received a message from his wife who had had a
17:03 dream about Jesus, and the message for Pilate was:
17:06 Have nothing to do with this just man.
17:09 Jesus tried to impress upon Pilate the importance of
17:12 following God and being honest about Bible truth.
17:17 But Pilate seemed mystified by what Jesus had to say,
17:20 even asking Jesus at one point: What is truth?
17:24 See, even Pontius Pilate had the opportunity to repent.
17:27 I wonder how things might have been different, had he done so.
17:32 The Apostle Paul went to Rome.
17:35 He was imprisoned there, and died there.
17:37 In a moment, we'll go to the Mamertine Prison, the very
17:42 place Paul was kept in Rome as a prisoner.
17:46 I'll be right back.
17:50 ♪ [Dreamy Melody] ♪
17:59 ♪ [Epic and rythmic music] ♪ >: "Babylon Rising" is a dynamic
18:02 book by Pastor John Bradshaw that describes the significance
18:06 of Babylon in Bible prophecy.
18:08 Right now this powerful book is available free
18:11 from It Is Written.
18:12 Just call 1 (800) 253-3000; ask for the book
18:15 "Babylon Rising."
18:17 Or, write to It Is Written, Box O,
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18:26 Please note, this free book is limited to the supply on hand.
18:29 For even faster access, you can download a free electronic
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18:34 from our website.
18:35 It Is Written is a faith-based outreach made possible
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18:39 Thank you for your continued support.
18:41 Our toll-free number is 1 (800) 253-3000,
18:44 and our web address ItIsWritten.com.
18:52 JB: When you get a little further into the New Testament,
18:54 you see how profoundly the Christian gospel affected
18:58 Roman society.
19:00 Many historians believe that Paul was kept as a prisoner in
19:02 the Mamertine Prison in Rome during his trial before
19:06 Emperor Nero.
19:08 By the time Paul got to Rome, Christianity had penetrated
19:12 much of the Mediterranean basin.
19:14 The effect that the Christian message had on Roman society
19:18 was revolutionary.
19:20 The Bible tells us how the Apostle Paul was brought
19:23 to the city of Rome.
19:25 First, he was arrested by his own people,
19:27 then delivered to the Romans, and eventually he was brought
19:30 across the Mediterranean to Rome for trial
19:34 before the emperor.
19:36 The Bible doesn't describe Paul's arraignment before Nero
19:40 or his eventual martyrdom in what was then
19:42 the world's capitol city.
19:45 But the Bible does say the apostle's message
19:48 reached directly into the emperor's court.
19:51 We read this in the book of Philippians, possibly written by
19:54 Paul from this very prison.
19:57 "All the saints greet you, but especially those
20:01 who are of Caesar's household."
20:04 Philippians 4:22.
20:07 So there were Christians in the household of Emperor
20:11 Nero himself.
20:13 The Christian gospel was shaking the Roman empire
20:16 to its very heart.
20:18 No doubt it was from the Mamertine Prison that the
20:20 Apostle Paul penned these poignant words:
20:24 "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering,
20:28 and the time of my departure is at hand.
20:32 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
20:36 I have kept the faith.
20:38 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which
20:42 the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day.
20:48 And not to me only, but also to all who have
20:52 loved his appearing."
20:53 2 Timothy chapter 4, 6-8.
20:58 ♪ [Sounds of the city] ♪
21:02 The famous Roman Coliseum could hold as many as 80,000 people.
21:07 Over a period of a couple hundred years,
21:09 thousands of Christians met their final,
21:13 gruesome fate here in this arena.
21:17 Some of them were fed to wild animals,
21:19 some were crucified, some of them were rolled in
21:23 pitch and burned alive during evening festivities.
21:28 But there was something that the persecuting Romans
21:30 just couldn't figure out about these Christians.
21:34 One early Christian leader, Tertullian, wrote to Emperor
21:36 Decius during a time of some of the most intense persecution
21:40 suffered by the Christians.
21:42 Here's what he said: "The oftener we are mown down
21:47 by you, the more in number we grow.
21:50 The blood of Christians is seed."
21:56 The more the Romans tried to wipe out Christianity,
21:59 the more Christianity flourished.
22:02 And the Romans didn't persecute the Christians because the
22:05 Christians worshipped Jesus.
22:07 People all over the empire had their various gods
22:10 that they worshipped.
22:11 It didn't bother the Romans a bit.
22:13 But what the Christians wouldn't do is, they wouldn't add the
22:15 worship of Jesus to the worship of the Roman state.
22:20 In obedience to the commandment of God, they refused to take
22:23 that seemingly innocuous pinch of incense and place it upon
22:27 Caesar's altar.
22:29 Writing about this, one recent historian had this to say:
22:34 "Rome could accept their version of a supreme god
22:37 whom others called Jupiter or Saul.
22:40 It could also accept Christ, together with other heroes
22:43 and divinities.
22:45 But what was preposterous was that Christians' arrogant
22:49 insistence that no gods had ever walked the earth until
22:54 an obscure Jewish teacher, who was executed
22:56 during the reign of Tiberius."
23:00 You see, what the Romans had going on is they were mixing
23:03 truth together with untruth.
23:05 Truth and error.
23:07 They really didn't mind if the Christians wanted to believe
23:09 in Jesus.
23:11 What they weren't impressed with was the Christians' believing
23:14 in Jesus alone.
23:16 And that attitude of combining truth and error
23:19 would be the attitude, the pattern moving forward.
23:24 You see, over time Satan managed to figure some things out.
23:27 He came to realize that he was never going to be able to crush
23:30 Christianity altogether.
23:33 So he decided that if persecution wouldn't work,
23:36 he'd come at it from another angle.
23:40 In the 4th century A.D., the Emperor Constantine
23:42 claimed to be converted.
23:45 Roman symbols became Christianized.
23:48 The Roman day of the sun, Sunday,
23:52 became the popular day of Christian worship.
23:55 The statue of Jupiter, the Roman supreme god,
23:59 would become the statue of the Apostle Peter,
24:02 now, in St. Peter's Basilica.
24:05 Over time, Rome became a strong Christian center.
24:12 But Rome continued to mix truth with error.
24:15 While today's Roman religion deals a lot with values and
24:18 morals, and that's good, you have today a system where people
24:21 are taught to pray-- which is truth--
24:23 to so-called saints-- which is not truth.
24:27 And in order to get forgiveness from God, believers are
24:30 instructed to confess their sins--which is truth--
24:33 to a priest, an ordinary sinful man--which is error.
24:41 Martin Luther learned this when he found himself
24:44 walking on his knees up Pilate's staircase in Rome,
24:48 along with many other pilgrims.
24:50 He was humbling himself before God: truth--
24:54 while expecting to somehow get merit with God
24:57 by his works--error.
25:01 Luther came to realize that the just shall live by faith,
25:05 which is truth.
25:07 And not by penance and sacraments, which are error.
25:14 When Jesus saw iron in the feet and toes of the image of Daniel
25:17 chapter 2, he saw the influence of Rome extending down
25:21 to the very end of time.
25:23 Put another way, he saw, whether he realized it or not,
25:27 well-intentioned, well-meaning people mixing truths and error
25:33 together down to the last days of earth's history.
25:37 Now, is that something we should be concerned about?
25:39 Well, if you think truth is important, it would be something
25:42 that you should be concerned about.
25:44 You see, Jesus said that if anybody wants pardon for sin,
25:47 they should come straight to Him.
25:50 Well-intentioned people have said, if you want pardon
25:52 for sin, come and see one of our priests.
25:55 But then you might be like Pontius Pilate, who,
25:58 the night before Jesus died, couldn't decide whether or not
26:01 truth was important.
26:03 There are two roads that you can follow: One is the way of Jesus;
26:09 the other is that Roman road, where truth and error are
26:13 blended together.
26:15 Paul walked the Appian Way.
26:18 It led him to the heart of the city of Rome.
26:21 He walked this very road, and it led him to yielding
26:26 his life to the cause of Jesus.
26:29 Jesus walked a road.
26:30 He walked the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Suffering,
26:33 the path of self-denial.
26:35 He was led down that road because of his total commitment
26:39 to his Father's Word and doing His Father's will.
26:42 So, which road are you going to walk?
26:44 You could walk the road of self; you could walk the road
26:47 of doing your own thing.
26:49 Or you could walk that road where Jesus leads the way.
26:52 Will it be for you truth and error, tradition and truth?
26:57 Or will it be all Jesus, and all the Bible?
27:01 God is looking today for people who will stand up and say I'm
27:03 going to follow the Bible.
27:04 I'm going to, by doing that, allow the God of heaven to come
27:07 into my life and make me completely His.
27:11 God will do that for you, if you'll let Him.
27:14 Will you let Him do that today?
27:15 Let's pray together.
27:17 Our Father in heaven, we thank You
27:19 that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
27:22 I thank You that people such as Paul walked this Appian Way;
27:26 others like Him walked these roads, sharing Jesus and
27:30 demonstrating a commitment to the God of heaven.
27:33 Give us grace to walk those same footsteps, that same road.
27:36 The road of commitment, the road of truth,
27:40 the road of Christ.
27:41 We thank You today.
27:43 In Jesus' name, amen.
27:48 Thanks for joining me today.
27:49 I look forward to seeing you again, next time.
27:51 Until then remember: It is written.
27:55 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
27:59 proceeds from the mouth of God.
28:04 ♪ [It Is Written Theme] ♪


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Revised 2015-06-18