It Is Written

Upon This Rock

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Series Code: IIW

00:09 ♪[Theme music]♪
00:19 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written.
00:21 I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me in Poland.
00:26 It's a fascinating country
00:28 with a vibrant and a turbulent history.
00:31 It has gone to war with Prussia, and with Russia, more than once.
00:36 Poland was invaded in the 13th century by the Mongols,
00:41 and by the Swedes in the 17th century.
00:44 Even Austria controlled part of Poland at one time.
00:47 A million Poles died in World War I.
00:52 World War II was especially hard on Poland.
00:56 World War II began in 1939 following the invasion of Poland
01:00 by Nazi Germany.
01:02 Six million Poles died during World War II.
01:07 And Poland was a Communist country from 1945 to 1989.
01:14 Today, Poland is a beautiful country and culturally rich.
01:19 Warsaw's international airport is named after
01:22 the Polish pianist and composer Frederick Chopin.
01:26 The first woman to win a Nobel Prize,
01:29 the only woman to win two, and the only person to win
01:32 a Nobel Prize in two different sciences--
01:35 in her case, in physics and chemistry--
01:38 was Poland's Maria Sklodowska, better known as Marie Curie.
01:45 Nicolaus Copernicus, the mathematician and astronomer
01:49 who set a cat among the scientific pigeons
01:51 when he claimed the sun, and not the earth,
01:54 was the center of the universe, was Polish.
01:57 He advanced the idea that the earth rotated around the sun,
02:01 and not the sun around the earth.
02:04 But perhaps Poland's favorite and most famous son
02:08 is Karol Wojtyla, who was born here in 1920
02:12 in the town of Wadowice in the south of Poland,
02:15 about an hour from the border with the Czech Republic.
02:18 His father served in the Polish army.
02:21 His mother died before he was 9 years old.
02:23 He had a sister who died before he was born.
02:25 His older brother went on to become a physician.
02:29 Karol became a priest in 1946, a bishop in 1958,
02:34 an archbishop in 1964, and a cardinal in 1967.
02:41 He was the archbishop of Krakow from 1964 until 1978.
02:47 In 1978, the white smoke billowing from the chimney
02:51 on top of the Sistine Chapel
02:54 indicated the College of Cardinals had elected him pope.
02:59 He succeeded Pope John Paul I,
03:01 who spent only 33 days in office.
03:04 British author David Yallop's book, "In God's Name,"
03:07 sold 6 million copies, and was subtitled,
03:10 "An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I."
03:15 There was enough mystery about the death of John Paul I
03:19 that claims like that don't come as a surprise.
03:22 But Yallop's journalism has been strongly opposed.
03:26 And that's not a surprise, either.
03:29 John Paul II led the Roman Catholic Church
03:32 for 27 years, until 2005.
03:36 They love him here in Poland.
03:38 Tourists flock here to the home where the pope grew up.
03:42 He was raised in this home right behind me.
03:45 And years later, it's easy to underestimate
03:48 just how popular he was.
03:51 The first non-Italian pope in more than 450 years
03:55 visited 129 countries during his reign.
03:59 Five million people attended an open-air church service
04:02 he conducted in Manila in the Philippines in 1995.
04:07 As a teenager, I made my own pilgrimage to see and hear
04:11 Pope John Paul II.
04:14 Five days before his 61st birthday, while he was greeting
04:18 a crowd in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City,
04:21 he was shot four times by a 23-year-old Turkish man.
04:26 Just two years later,
04:28 the pope met with that same would-be assassin in prison,
04:32 calling him "my brother... whom I have sincerely forgiven."
04:38 The gunman served 20 years of a life sentence in Italy
04:41 before being released and deported to Turkey,
04:44 where he served more prison time on other charges.
04:48 In 2014, he returned to the Vatican
04:52 and visited John Paul II's tomb.
04:55 As not only a church leader but also a head of state,
04:59 John Paul II had a major political impact on the world.
05:04 He was responsible for regime change
05:07 in several different countries and has been credited
05:10 with bringing about the demise of European Communism
05:14 in the early 1990s.
05:16 His support for Poland's Solidarity movement,
05:19 led by Lech Walesa,
05:21 weakened Communism in Poland and throughout Europe.
05:25 When President George W. Bush presented John Paul II
05:28 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
05:30 he said that John Paul's "principled stand for peace
05:34 and freedom has inspired millions and helped to topple
05:39 Communism and tyranny."
05:41 He met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989,
05:45 shortly before the fall of Communism.
05:48 Gorbachev said later, "The collapse of the Iron Curtain
05:52 would have been impossible without John Paul II."
05:56 As pope, Poland's favorite son was considered to be
06:00 the successor of St Peter.
06:02 And while he was loved and respected by many people
06:05 all around the world during his reign,
06:08 500 or so years ago,
06:10 he might have been viewed rather differently.
06:13 I'll tell you why in just a moment.
06:16 >>John: Go deep into the prophecies
06:19 of the book of Revelation with this week's free offer.
06:22 It's called "The Fall of Babylon."
06:25 Now, here's how you can get it.
06:27 Visit us online at www.itiswritten.com,
06:31 or call us on 800-253-3000.
06:36 It's absolutely free,
06:37 and you will be blessed by this resource,
06:40 which will grow your understanding of God's Word.
06:42 "The Fall of Babylon."
06:43 Call 800-253-3000.
06:46 ♪[Indian instrumental music]♪
06:51 >>John: Today I'd like to ask you to help It Is Written
06:53 open the eyes of the blind.
06:56 India has more blind people than any country on earth.
06:59 But simple cataract surgery can make the difference
07:02 between seeing and not seeing for many people.
07:05 Eyes for India is a project that's providing
07:08 cataract surgery for people in desperate need
07:10 of the gift of sight.
07:12 Please help today. Call 800-253-3000.
07:17 You can also donate online at itiswritten.com.
07:21 Please call 800-253-3000,
07:24 or write to P O Box 6, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401,
07:30 or visit itiswritten.com.
07:34 ♪[Music]♪
07:38 >>John Bradshaw: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written.
07:41 I'm John Bradshaw.
07:42 Before he became Pope John Paul II,
07:45 Karol Wojtyla was the archbishop here in Krakow, Poland,
07:50 for 14 years.
07:52 Krakow was the capital of the kingdom of Poland for 500 years.
07:56 The place is beautiful.
07:58 It's overflowing with history.
08:01 The historic center of the city is now
08:03 an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
08:06 The parks surrounding the old town follow the paths
08:10 of the city walls that surrounded old Krakow
08:14 in medieval times.
08:16 Wawel Castle was built in the 14th century, the 1300s.
08:22 For hundreds of years, it was the residence of Polish kings.
08:27 Beside Wawel Castle stands Wawel Cathedral.
08:31 About three dozen Polish kings and queens
08:34 have been crowned here,
08:35 and a number of Polish monarchs are buried here.
08:39 The first cathedral constructed on this site
08:42 was built in the 11th century.
08:45 The one there now has been standing for about 700 years.
08:50 Wawel Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Krakow.
08:54 It's where John Paul II served as archbishop for 14 years.
09:02 Before World War II began in 1939,
09:06 between 60,000 and 80,000 Jews lived in Krakow.
09:10 When the Krakow Ghetto was formed, 15,000 people
09:14 were pressed into an area designed to accommodate 3,000.
09:19 There are still some small sections of the wall
09:21 built around the Krakow Ghetto standing today,
09:25 a grim reminder of a tragic past.
09:29 The plaque on the old ghetto wall reads:
09:32 "Here they lived, suffered, and perished
09:36 at the hands of Hitler's executioners."
09:40 The vast majority of Krakow's Jews
09:43 perished in the Holocaust.
09:46 Auschwitz is only an hour west of here.
09:55 Just across the Vistula River from Krakow's old town
10:00 are two museums, housed in what used to be an enamelware factory
10:05 operated by a man named Oskar Schindler.
10:08 Steven Spielberg's Academy Award winning movie "Schindler's List"
10:12 was filmed here in Krakow.
10:15 The 1,100 Jews saved by Schindler
10:17 worked in this very building.
10:24 ♪[Music]♪
10:26 Karol Wojtyla became the archbishop of Krakow
10:28 32 years after World War II ended.
10:32 He died in 2005.
10:34 His funeral at St. Peter's in the Vatican City
10:37 was an enormous affair.
10:39 It was attended by kings and queens,
10:41 by more than 70 heads of state,
10:44 including the President of the United States
10:46 and two former presidents.
10:49 The people of Krakow are immensely proud of him,
10:53 especially that now he's known as
10:55 St. Pope John Paul II.
10:58 He was canonized in 2014.
11:02 Now, the Catholic Church doesn't canonize someone
11:04 without what they call "a verifiable miracle"
11:07 having occurred, attributable to the person canonized.
11:11 In 2011, a Costa Rican woman with a brain aneurysm
11:15 was reading a magazine with John Paul II's photo
11:19 on the front cover,
11:20 when he appeared to her in a vision.
11:23 She says she was healed.
11:25 Doctors seem to agree.
11:27 The church says there's no medical rationale
11:31 for the lady's healing, or for the healing of the French nun
11:35 who was healed of Parkinson's in 2005
11:38 after praying for John Paul's intercession.
11:41 Fifty two of the first 55 popes have been declared saints
11:47 by Rome.
11:50 When the Reformation began 500 years ago,
11:53 Martin Luther began speaking out against the papacy
11:57 and its teachings.
11:59 Now, even though there have been some unsavory popes
12:03 down through the years, some who bought their way into power,
12:07 some who sold indulgences,
12:09 allowing people to buy their way into heaven,
12:12 some criticized for not doing more to speak out
12:15 against the Holocaust, others who were famously immoral,
12:19 Martin Luther's beef wasn't really with individual popes.
12:25 Martin Luther and other reformers had an issue
12:28 with the papacy as an institution.
12:32 Well, what would Luther say about the papacy today,
12:35 especially with popular popes winning hearts
12:38 and making friends all around the world?
12:42 Well, Martin Luther did not believe that the papacy
12:44 was instituted by Jesus.
12:47 The Roman church teaches that Peter was the first pope;
12:50 that the current pope is the successor of Peter,
12:54 and that all popes after Peter have the same authority
12:58 that Peter had.
12:59 This is something called "apostolic succession."
13:03 Luther knew that there's nothing in the Bible
13:05 that suggests Peter was ever a pope.
13:08 There's nothing that suggests Peter's authority
13:11 was passed along to each subsequent bishop of Rome.
13:14 Luther knew Jesus didn't ever appoint Peter
13:17 as the leader of the church.
13:20 In the Jerusalem Council that you read about in Acts 15,
13:23 the authority figure was James, not Peter.
13:27 If Peter was the bishop of Rome,
13:30 it's unlikely he'd have referred to Rome as Babylon
13:33 in 1 Peter 5:13: "The church that is at Babylon,
13:38 elected together with you, saluteth you;
13:41 and so doth Marcus my son."
13:44 In Old Testament times,
13:46 Babylon was the persecuting idolatrous city-state.
13:51 In the New Testament book of Revelation,
13:53 written by John, a contemporary of Peter,
13:56 Babylon represents Rome:
13:59 "And on her forehead a name was written:
14:02 Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots
14:06 and of the abominations of the earth."
14:08 Revelation 17, verse 5.
14:11 Keep in mind: John is referencing Rome here,
14:15 in an uncomplimentary way.
14:18 When John said "Babylon," his readers said,
14:22 "Yes, we know who you mean. You're talking about Rome."
14:28 So when Peter was writing about Babylon,
14:30 he definitely was not bragging.
14:32 He wasn't saying that he was the head of the Roman church.
14:36 Besides, Peter was married; popes today don't marry.
14:40 Matthew 8 and verse 14 refers to Peter's mother-in-law.
14:44 Now, the counter to that is when people say,
14:46 "Well, Peter's wife had died,
14:48 so when he was involved in ministry,
14:49 he was no longer married."
14:51 But the Bible doesn't mention that.
14:52 That's conjecture of the worst kind.
14:55 There's nothing in the Bible to indicate that a priest
14:57 or a pastor or a minister or a pope or a bishop
15:00 or an archbishop or a cardinal or anybody else
15:03 should not marry and should be celibate.
15:05 Now, of course, if that's the lifestyle that somebody chooses,
15:09 that's between them and God.
15:11 But there's nothing at all about mandated celibacy in the Bible.
15:17 Five hundred years after the beginning of the Reformation
15:20 in 1517, we have a church declaring people to be saints,
15:27 dispensing God's grace through sacraments,
15:30 claiming the authority to forgive sin,
15:34 selling forgiveness for money,
15:37 and claiming church tradition is as authoritative
15:40 in matters of faith as is the Bible.
15:44 Now, these were things that Martin Luther opposed.
15:47 They sparked the Reformation.
15:50 But 500 years later, the same conditions still exist.
15:55 What would Martin Luther say today?
15:57 What should anyone say?
16:00 Now, didn't Jesus build His church upon Peter?
16:05 Well, Martin Luther didn't think so.
16:07 I'll tell you why in just a moment.
16:09 ♪[Music]♪
16:11 >>Announcer: In Matthew 4:4, the Word of God says,
16:13 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone,
16:16 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
16:20 "Every Word" is a one-minute Bible-based daily devotional
16:24 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw,
16:26 and designed especially for busy people like you.
16:29 Look for "Every Word" on selected networks,
16:32 or watch it online every day on our website,
16:34 itiswritten.com.
16:36 Receive a daily spiritual boost.
16:38 Watch "Every Word." You'll be glad you did.
16:41 Here's a sample.
16:44 ♪["Every Word" theme music]♪
16:50 >>John Bradshaw: I about fell off my chair.
16:52 I was watching a nature documentary
16:54 when a man being interviewed said these exact words.
16:57 He said,
16:58 "It says in the Bible, and other writers have said it, too:
17:02 The paradise is so close that you can't see it."
17:06 Now, that's an interesting thought, except that,
17:08 you're right--it's not in the Bible at all.
17:11 It's like that pop song, "We Are the World,"
17:13 that contains a line that says,
17:14 "As God has shown us by turning stones to bread,"
17:17 except that that's not in the Bible, either.
17:20 Deuteronomy 4:2 says,
17:22 "You shall not add to the word which I command you,
17:24 nor take from it,
17:25 that you may keep the commandments
17:26 of the Lord your God which I command you."
17:29 John says something very similar in the book of Revelation.
17:32 It's a good thing to quote the Bible, but you want to be sure
17:35 it's really the Bible that you're quoting.
17:38 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written.
17:40 Let's live today by every word.
17:42 ♪[Music]♪
17:45 ♪[Music]♪
17:55 >>John Bradshaw: Thanks for joining me today
17:57 on It Is Written.
17:58 [Crowd murmurs indistinctly]
18:00 Krakow, Poland, is home to one of the most renowned
18:04 Christmas markets in all of Europe.
18:07 The market is set up every year in the old town square,
18:11 the largest medieval square of any city in Europe.
18:15 There's plenty to eat,
18:17 plenty to drink,
18:18 plenty to look at.
18:20 ♪[Music]♪
18:26 Karol Wojtyla was the archbishop of Krakow for 14 years
18:30 before becoming Pope John Paul II.
18:33 He was the leader of the world's 1 billion or so Catholics
18:36 for 27 years.
18:38 But did Jesus really establish the papacy?
18:42 Was the church founded upon Peter,
18:46 and was Peter really the first pope?
18:50 In Matthew 16, the disciples say to Jesus,
18:53 "Some say You're John the Baptist, some say You're Elijah,
18:56 some say Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
18:59 Jesus says, "Who do you say that I am?"
19:02 And Peter says, "You are the Christ,
19:06 the Son of the living God."
19:08 That's verse 16.
19:10 So Jesus says to Peter: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah,
19:15 for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
19:18 but my Father who is in heaven."
19:21 And Jesus then says in verse 18,
19:24 "And I also say to you that you are Peter,
19:27 and on this rock I will build my church,
19:31 and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
19:36 Now, this is straightforward.
19:38 Jesus said, "You are Peter."
19:41 In the Greek, in which this passage was originally written,
19:44 Jesus says, "You are 'petros,'" a "stone."
19:48 And then, referring to Himself,
19:50 Jesus said, "Upon this rock"-- "petra," a large stone,
19:55 maybe a boulder even, "I will build my church;
20:00 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
20:04 Jesus didn't build His church upon Peter, or upon any man.
20:09 He built the church upon Himself.
20:11 Besides, the gates of hell did prevail against Peter.
20:15 Peter denied Jesus three times.
20:18 Jesus was referring to Himself when He referred to a "rock."
20:24 First Corinthians 10, verse 4 says,
20:26 the "Rock that followed them"-- in the wilderness--"was Christ."
20:31 Psalm 18, verse 2 says, "The Lord is my Rock."
20:35 Psalm 89, verse 26 calls God "the Rock of my salvation."
20:41 Jesus called Himself the "chief cornerstone"
20:45 in Matthew 21 and verse 42.
20:49 The church was built upon Jesus, not Peter.
20:52 And that's no disrespect to Peter.
20:54 He was a fine man. He was a great man.
20:57 God worked miracles through him.
20:59 He preached at Pentecost.
21:01 He wrote two books of the Bible.
21:03 He was a great guy.
21:05 But he wasn't a pope, and he wasn't the rock
21:08 upon which Christ built the church.
21:11 Jesus was that rock.
21:12 The church was built upon Jesus Himself.
21:15 A pope is said to be infallible when he speaks "ex-cathedra,"
21:18 something that only happens very occasionally.
21:21 Yet in Galatians 2, verse 11 Paul writes:
21:24 "Now when Peter had come to Antioch,
21:26 I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed."
21:30 Now, the passage would make you think that Peter
21:32 had no more or less authority than any of the other apostles.
21:37 There's nothing to suggest that Peter ever possessed anything
21:41 like infallibility, ever.
21:44 The Reformation began 500 years ago,
21:47 and even though, since that time,
21:49 men like Pope John Paul II of Poland have done a lot
21:52 to make the papacy very popular around the world,
21:56 you'd have to imagine that Martin Luther
21:58 would feel much the same about the papacy today
22:03 as he did half a millennium ago.
22:05 Luther had major problems with statements made by Rome,
22:08 statements such as this one made by Pope Boniface in 1302.
22:14 Boniface wrote:
22:15 "Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define
22:20 that it is absolutely necessary for salvation
22:24 that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff."
22:29 One thing that troubled Luther in his day was that the church
22:32 exerted an enormous amount of influence on the government,
22:35 taking a lot of positions that are not found in the Bible.
22:39 Five hundred years later, you still have the same thing.
22:43 Back then, it was reason to start a reformation.
22:50 So let me ask you who you're building on.
22:53 Who does your faith rest upon?
22:55 In the parable, Jesus spoke about a wise man who built
22:59 his house upon a rock.
23:02 When the rains came, and the floods came up,
23:03 and the wind blew, the house on the rock stood firm.
23:09 He also talked about another house, built on the sand,
23:14 and when the same thing happened, that house fell.
23:18 It wasn't built upon the rock.
23:23 In San Francisco, there's a luxury apartment building
23:26 called the Millennium Tower.
23:29 It's said to be one of the 10 best residential buildings
23:32 in the world.
23:33 It's 58 stories high.
23:35 But in the last few years, the building has sunk 16 inches.
23:40 Which isn't altogether alarming. Buildings do settle.
23:45 But not only has it begun to sink; it's also begun to tilt.
23:51 It's not the Leaning Tower of Pisa by any means,
23:53 but it has a little lean that's noticeable
23:56 if you're living in the building.
23:58 So why is it sinking?
23:59 Well, there are varying theories.
24:02 Some say it's because of a tunnel built nearby
24:04 for a transit center.
24:06 But what we know is the foundations of the building
24:10 go down 80 feet, into sand.
24:14 The rock is 200 feet or so down.
24:18 The building isn't built upon the rock.
24:23 What's your faith built upon?
24:26 Jesus is the Rock of Scripture.
24:29 He's the Savior of the world.
24:31 He died on a cross for the sins of the world,
24:35 and He did that for you.
24:38 Are you building upon this Rock, Jesus?
24:42 Are you basing your life on His Word?
24:45 Are you taking time to allow God's Word to mold you,
24:49 to shape you, to change you?
24:52 Are you allowing God to transform you?
24:56 Jesus is coming back soon.
24:59 In that day we'll see how important it is to build
25:01 upon Jesus, to build upon His Word,
25:06 and to lean your life totally on Him.
25:11 >>John: Go deep into the prophecies
25:13 of the book of Revelation with this week's free offer.
25:16 It's called "The Fall of Babylon."
25:19 Now, here's how you can get it.
25:21 Visit us online at www.itiswritten.com,
25:26 or call us on 800-253-3000.
25:30 It's absolutely free,
25:32 and you will be blessed by this resource,
25:34 which will grow your understanding of God's Word.
25:36 "The Fall of Babylon."
25:37 Call 800-253-3000.
25:40 Thanks for remembering that It Is Written
25:42 is a faith-based ministry.
25:44 And your support makes it possible for us
25:46 to share God's good news with the entire world.
25:50 Your tax-deductible gift can be sent
25:52 to the address on your screen,
25:54 or through our website at itiswritten.com.
25:58 Thank you for your continued prayerful support.
26:00 Again, our toll-free number is 800-253-3000,
26:06 and our web address is www.itiswritten.com.
26:12 >>John Bradshaw: Our Father in heaven, we are thankful today
26:14 for Jesus, the Rock--
26:16 the Rock of Scripture, the Rock of our salvation.
26:20 We thank You for Your Word,
26:21 which shines light on our pathway, to lead us
26:24 away from darkness and fully into Your marvelous light.
26:29 Father in heaven, I want to pray today that,
26:32 that we would open our hearts to You,
26:34 that Your Spirit would take over our lives,
26:36 that we would seek to follow and honor
26:38 and worship and obey Jesus, that Jesus would be everything to us.
26:43 Friend, how is Jesus to you?
26:46 What are you building your life on?
26:47 It might be a tradition.
26:49 It might be a teaching that's not in the Bible.
26:51 It might be the say-so of somebody else.
26:54 It might be pleasure and self-seeking.
26:56 Perhaps you're neglecting this Jesus the Rock.
26:59 Perhaps you're not taking the Bible seriously.
27:01 Are you reading God's Word?
27:05 Are you allowing it to be your strength,
27:07 your source of wisdom and guidance?
27:08 Friend, if it's time now for you to surrender fully to Jesus,
27:12 do so, would you?
27:14 Lift up your heart to Jesus.
27:15 Raise your hand to Jesus.
27:17 Open up your life to Jesus.
27:19 Father in heaven, take our hearts; make them Yours.
27:23 Give us grace to allow Your Spirit to guide us and keep us
27:28 and join us inextricably to Yourself.
27:33 We thank You, and we pray in Jesus' name.
27:37 Amen.
27:39 Thanks for joining me today.
27:40 I'll look forward to seeing you again next time.
27:42 Until then, remember:
27:44 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone,
27:49 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
27:54 ♪[Theme music]♪

Home

Revised 2022-10-05