Participants:
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW022248S
|
00:15 ♪[music ends]♪♪
00:19 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written. 00:21 I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. 00:24 The Bible, the Word of God, the Good Book, Scripture, 00:28 Holy Writ, it's the bestselling book of all time. 00:32 It's said that about 100 million Bibles are sold 00:35 or given away every year. 00:37 It would be easy to take the Bible for granted. 00:40 You can buy one for next to nothing. 00:42 You can download it to your device. 00:44 You can listen to the Bible. 00:45 In most countries the Bible is ubiquitous; it's everywhere. 00:50 But not very long ago, really, the Bible wasn't accessible. 00:54 In fact, you could be, maybe would be, 00:58 put to death for possessing even a fragment of Scripture. 01:02 So how did we get from there to here? 01:06 We go back about half a millennium to the year 1517, 01:10 a time when a young priest, approaching his mid-30s, 01:13 felt that he had to do something to moderate 01:16 the teachings of the established church. 01:19 The issue Martin Luther found especially galling 01:21 was indulgences, where the church claimed that 01:25 for a sum of money or by doing some noteworthy act, 01:28 a person could obtain forgiveness of sin. 01:32 Of course, there's nothing correct about that, 01:35 and Luther was witnessing the great amount of damage that 01:38 this false teaching and others connected to it were doing. 01:43 I met recently with Dr. Michael Hasel. 01:45 He's an archaeologist, a university professor, 01:48 a Bible historian, and the curator of the Lynn H. Wood 01:51 Archaeological Museum just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. 01:56 Together we looked at a collection of rare Bibles 01:58 and other Christian books, which combine to tell the story 02:03 of the Reformation and help us understand how the Bible 02:06 came to be widely available today. 02:09 >>Dr. Michael Hasel: In October 31, 1517, Martin Luther 02:13 walked up to the doors of the Wittenberg Castle Church 02:17 and nailed the 95 Theses on the doors of that church. 02:21 The 95 Theses were 95 statements that Luther made, 02:25 arguments that he made concerning purgatory, 02:28 the sale of indulgences, 02:30 something that the Catholic Church was promoting 02:32 at that time in their history, particularly for the building 02:36 of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome 02:38 and for the advancement, eventually, also of the Crusades 02:41 and the financing of the Crusades. 02:43 >>John: Now, this one act of Martin Luther is widely credited 02:46 with starting, initiating the Protestant Reformation. 02:49 What was it about those two subjects in particular 02:52 you mention that generated so much heat, ultimately light? 02:57 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, I think, first of all, maybe Luther 02:59 wasn't intending to start something that big. 03:02 He placed these on the doors because this was the place 03:05 where discussions got started on university campuses. 03:08 But we also know that that same day he sent a copy of that 03:12 to the archbishop of Mainz in Germany, 03:14 who had sponsored a gentleman by the name of Johann Tetzel, 03:17 sending him out to all the various, uh, 03:19 countryside villages selling these indulgences. 03:22 >>John: So Tetzel was commissioned by the archbishop 03:25 of Mainz, who was raising money for the building 03:28 of what's now St. Peter's. 03:30 Tetzel came to town and was capitalizing on the naivety 03:34 and the ignorance of the poor people, who would give money, 03:37 receive a piece of paper saying that they had absolution 03:41 or something very similar to that. 03:43 They'd go home with their piece of paper thinking, 03:45 "We're good to go." They weren't. 03:47 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. Tetzel had a very famous saying. 03:49 It says, "When the coin in the coffer rings, 03:52 the soul from purgatory springs." 03:54 It's a great translation of the German. 03:56 He talked about the fires of hell and the burning of hell, 03:59 and he used that kind of intimidation to really get 04:01 people to think about buying an indulgence. 04:04 And Luther was incensed that the church was teaching that 04:08 by the sale of an indulgence you could buy your way 04:12 into heaven somehow. 04:13 >>John: The church really pushed back. 04:15 How'd they push back and, and why? 04:17 >>Dr. Hasel: One of the reasons they had to push back 04:19 was the 95 Theses that were nailed here were taken down 04:22 by some of the students, 04:24 and they were taken to a printing press, 04:25 and they were printed. 04:26 What you see here is the first edition of that printing 04:31 in Latin in 1517. 04:33 So this was sent like a pamphlet, it's a small, 04:36 little booklet, and they were sent all over Germany. 04:38 And this began the wave, if you will, of concern 04:43 over the sale of indulgences that caused that response 04:46 by the Catholic Church. 04:47 >>John: What were some of these statements? 04:49 And I don't mean verbatim necessarily, but what were 04:51 some of the types of things Luther was saying in here? 04:54 >>Dr. Hasel: One of the things he was, uh, criticizing, 04:57 I think, somewhat carefully but also very straightforward, 05:01 was that the pope's own reputation would be 05:03 at stake here, that the pope needed to take 05:06 maybe a different position than selling indulgences 05:09 and taking advantage of the poor, who were giving money 05:12 for something that biblically wasn't, uh, really feasible, 05:16 and that he could, out of his own coffers, 05:19 pay for a big church himself rather than on the backs 05:22 of the poor peasants that Luther was ministering to 05:25 on a daily basis. 05:26 So that was one of the issues there were. 05:28 But at the core of this was also the issue of salvation. 05:32 How does one go about getting salvation? 05:34 Is it through a piece of paper that you buy? 05:36 Or is it through faith? 05:38 And he spoke on going through tribulation 05:41 and that tribulation actually was a better way to get, 05:46 through grace, to heaven than buying a piece of paper 05:50 from the pope. 05:51 >>John: Okay. In response, let's take a look here, 05:53 because the church was livid. 05:56 >>Dr. Hasel: They were livid. 05:57 Eventually what happened was that Luther received 06:00 a document, probably a scroll, with a huge stamp impressed 06:04 in red, uh, wax, and this was in Latin, called a bulla, 06:10 and here you can see bulla Leonis. 06:13 Leo X was the reigning pope at that time, 06:16 and he issued this in Rome, 06:18 excommunicating Luther from the church. 06:21 >>John: Okay. He criticized the church. 06:22 He took a position against some of the teachings and practices 06:24 of the church. He got the boot. 06:27 This is obviously not the original thing, 06:28 but this is a, a, a printed copy of what Leo wrote 06:32 telling Luther he was gone. 06:33 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. We're told--at least, Luther's account 06:36 is that he threw that manuscript in the fire. 06:39 That's what he thought of it. 06:40 But the pope then printed these, 06:43 just as Luther's friends had printed the 95 Theses, 06:46 and a war started going back and forth in the printed press, 06:50 in the printed documents and in the artwork as well. 06:54 >>John: Today, Luther might have tweeted and some-- 06:57 or posted something on Instagram, 06:59 and then this back-and-forth war would have begun. 07:01 >>Dr. Hasel: Mm-hmm. 07:02 >>John: Speaking of back and forth, 07:03 this is a fascinating document to me-- 07:05 written by Johann von Eck. 07:07 Von Eck was a very learned church man who-- 07:10 I don't want to call him an attack dog for the church, 07:13 but he kind of was. 07:14 It indicates this wasn't small; it was really big. 07:16 People on both sides were printing, publishing books 07:19 and getting them out there. 07:20 Speak about what Eck was all about. 07:22 >>Dr. Hasel: Eck was one of the main antagonists and one 07:24 of the major, uh, scholars that the Catholic Church 07:27 used to debate with Luther. 07:30 And he was sent in 1519; there was a famous debate 07:34 that took place between Eck and Luther at Leipzig, 07:38 where they, uh, hashed out some of these issues. 07:41 And subsequently Eck published this book, the "Enchiridion." 07:45 And this went through 91 printings. 07:48 It was probably the most widely printed book 07:50 in the 16th century during the time of Luther, 07:54 attacking his positions on the Protestant Reformation 07:57 and his hopeful reforms that the church would take. 08:01 >>John: We're not at the printing of the Bible yet. 08:03 The Bible as a book, as a document, 08:05 hasn't stepped onto center stage, 08:07 but we're getting close, aren't we? 08:08 >>Dr. Hasel: We're getting close. 08:09 And this would lead towards that event. 08:12 >>John: Soon, the Bible would take center stage. 08:16 People would be able to access Scripture for the first time 08:19 in hundreds of years. 08:21 And the world would never be the same. 08:24 Back in a moment. 08:25 ♪[music swells and ends]♪♪ 08:35 >>Announcer: Call now for today's free offer, 08:36 "From Script to Scripture." 08:38 Enjoy the rest of the conversation 08:40 between John Bradshaw and Dr. Michael Hasel, 08:43 including faith-building stories we couldn't fit 08:45 into today's program. 08:47 A rare opportunity to turn the pages of history, 08:50 see books that changed the world, 08:52 and learn insights that will grow your faith in God. 08:54 Call 800-253-3000 for the free DVD, 08:59 800-253-3000 09:01 or visit iiwoffer.com. 09:05 >>John Bradshaw: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written. 09:08 At a time when the Bible wasn't available 09:11 in any meaningful way, when people couldn't read John 3:16, 09:16 when the stories of David and Goliath, 09:18 and Daniel in the lions' den, and the feeding of the 5,000 09:21 simply couldn't be known and read, 09:25 a German priest named Martin Luther, 09:27 frustrated by the inaccurate teachings of the church 09:30 of which he was a part, wrote out 95 points expressing 09:34 where he felt the established church was wrong. 09:38 They became known as Luther's 95 Theses. 09:41 The writing of these statements sparked 09:43 the Protestant Reformation and led directly to the printing 09:47 and the wide distribution of the Bible. 09:51 Dr. Michael Hasel and I looked together at a collection 09:53 of rare books that tell the story of the genesis 09:57 of the distribution of the Bible. 10:00 So just a few years after Luther nails the 95 Theses 10:04 to the door of the Castle Church, he's standing in front 10:07 of an, an august body, maybe the most august body of people 10:11 ever assembled, and he's defending his faith, 10:14 and this document tells us about this, so explain this one. 10:18 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, this is his account of what happened 10:20 at the Diet of Worms. Worms is a city in southern Germany. 10:23 Luther was summoned there by the emperor, Charles V, 10:27 and by the Roman prelates that were there, and, uh, 10:31 he basically was called to give account of his writings 10:36 and to denounce them, to recant from what he had written. 10:41 And so all of Europe was focused on this event. 10:44 People came from the surrounding villages 10:46 as Luther was making his way from Wittenberg 10:49 down to southern Germany. 10:50 They were greeting him along the way. 10:52 He had become a sensation already by that point in time. 10:54 This was four years later. 10:56 And he has been offered free passage by the emperor. 11:00 In other words, no one was going to try any foul play. 11:03 At least, that was the emperor's promise. 11:06 And Luther arrives there, and on the first day he stands 11:10 in front of this august assembly, 11:13 and when he is asked to recant, 11:17 he loses his determination in that moment. 11:21 And he asks for time. And he is given a day. 11:26 And he goes back into his room, and he pleads with the Lord, 11:30 and he is upset with himself, and he is chastising the devil 11:33 for making him weak at that moment and not allowing him 11:36 to say what he wants to say and what he needs to say. 11:39 And the next day he comes out, 11:40 and he makes his declaration before all of those individuals. 11:45 >>John: Ending, apparently, with those famous words, 11:47 "Here I stand. I can do no other." 11:49 >>Dr. Hasel: "So help me God." >>John: "So help me God." 11:51 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. >>John: And that's, that's this. 11:54 You know, we shouldn't rush past the fact that 11:58 a theological dispute between the Roman Catholic Church, 12:04 the dominant ruling church of Europe at that time, 12:08 and an upstart made the news. 12:11 It was the biggest thing anybody was talking about. 12:13 What does that tell us about the role of Rome back then? 12:16 Just how big and influential was the church? 12:19 >>Dr. Hasel: The church was very influential. 12:21 The church actually inaugurated kings and, uh, crowned kings, 12:27 and so Charles V wanted to remain in good stead 12:30 with the church. 12:32 Charles V was only 21 years of age as he sat on the throne 12:35 there at the church in Worms, Germany. 12:38 And Charles was very anxious to resolve this, this problem. 12:42 Um, what is interesting, though, 12:45 is that when Luther took that stand, and he says, 12:48 "Unless I am convicted by reason and by Scripture, 12:54 I must stay true to my conscience." 12:55 When, when Luther said those words, 12:57 it, it shook all of Christianity. 12:59 And it, it put a line in the sand. 13:03 Luther, in that moment, became the figurehead, if you will, 13:06 of the Protestant Reformation. 13:08 >>John: So, for someone to stand up 13:09 in a picky denomination today and say, 13:13 "Unless you can convince me by reason and the Scriptures," 13:17 well, we'd expect nothing less than that 13:20 from 90 percent of, of people who preach. 13:23 That was revolutionary then. 13:25 >>Dr. Hasel: It was revolutionary. 13:25 >>John: Why? >>Dr. Hasel: Because he was 13:26 going against the tradition of the church. 13:29 He was going against dogmas 13:31 that had come in for centuries already 13:33 and had become entrenched in the church. 13:35 The whole concept of purgatory and the sale of indulgences 13:39 was not only a doctrinal issue; it was a financial issue. 13:43 It was a huge, huge issue for the church. 13:45 What's interesting in this document as well is that 13:48 if you look at the inside cover, Luther is depicted 13:51 opposite of the emperor Charles V. 13:54 They're both standing. 13:55 Luther in his simple monkish robes 13:58 with a dove on his shoulder, opposite of him is the emperor. 14:02 And the emperor is outfitted in medieval armor 14:05 from head to foot, holding a sword in one hand 14:08 and the globe with the cross on the other. 14:10 He is the one in charge, and he's a warrior king. 14:13 So, even in Luther's account, this standoff was not only 14:19 a religious standoff, it was a civil standoff, 14:22 and it was a standoff proclaiming 14:25 the conscientious right of individuals to believe, 14:28 based on the Bible, what they were convicted of 14:31 in their hearts. 14:32 >>John: We can't forget this. 14:34 Basically we accept that today as a given. 14:38 But several hundred years ago, it was not a given. 14:40 Luther was boldly going where few had ever gone before 14:44 in defending his right to believe 14:46 what he wanted to believe based on how he read the Scriptures. 14:49 It was revolutionary for that time. 14:51 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. 14:52 Of course, Luther had been whisked off on the way back 14:54 from that, that Diet of Worms. He was whisked off 14:57 and thought at first probably he was, he was kidnapped. 15:01 He was kidnapped by Frederick the Elector, 15:03 his very good friend and his benefactor, 15:06 who sponsored him to be a professor at the University 15:09 of Wittenberg, and he placed him in safety 15:11 in the Wartburg Castle. 15:12 So Luther arrives in the Wartburg Castle, 15:15 kind of on house arrest for his own protection. 15:17 Nobody knows where he is. Many people think he's dead. 15:21 And Luther, for a time there, is wrestling. 15:23 He has a respite from all the crises around him. 15:27 And then he says, "I must begin to write. 15:30 "I must begin to write. I must do something. 15:33 Who will stand on the wall to defend Christianity now?" 15:37 And God puts in his heart that the most powerful thing 15:40 that he can do after writing his, his, uh, account here 15:44 is to translate the Scriptures into the German vernacular. 15:48 He based his work off of Erasmus of Rotterdam, 15:51 who had just brought together, some years earlier, 15:53 the Greek texts. 15:55 This is a very rare, uh, book here because it's also 15:58 a third edition. Luther used the second edition 16:01 for his translation of the New Testament. 16:03 The third edition was used by Tyndale, 16:06 by the translators of the King James Version, 16:09 by the translators of all the other Protestant versions, 16:11 including the French version. 16:13 But, uh, the earlier version was used by Luther to translate 16:16 the September Testament, which came out in September of 1522 16:21 and for the first time really, um, put the best language skills 16:26 together in translating from the original Greek 16:30 the German Bible. 16:31 And this is for Germans today still the standard text. 16:35 The Luther Bible is what the King James Bible 16:38 is often for the English-speaking world. 16:41 >>John: So what did Luther translating the Bible 16:44 do in the day? What was the reaction? 16:47 How did that shift or alter or challenge or change society? 16:51 What did it do for Christians? 16:52 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, in 1229, 16:54 there was the Council of Toulouse that met. 16:56 Um, it wasn't a ecumenical, full council of the church, 17:00 it was more of a local council, but it had outlawed 17:02 the translation of the Bible into the vernacular languages 17:06 of Europe. >>John: It was illegal. 17:07 >>Dr. Hasel: It was illegal-- French, German, English. 17:10 The Bible was supposed to stay in Latin as a vulgate, um, 17:15 and as Jerome had translated it in 383. 17:19 And so, for Luther to do what he did was illegal. 17:22 Uh, it was, uh, daring. It was incredibly, uh, bold. 17:27 But he believed that it was the Bible that would transform 17:31 the hearts of people, 17:33 and that without it, uh, Europe would stay in darkness, 17:36 just as he as a monk had been in darkness before he began 17:40 to read and understand Scripture. 17:42 >>John: On his way to the diet or before he got to the diet, 17:44 he was promised safe passage by the church. 17:48 Let's, let's be really frank about what that means. 17:50 The church said, "We won't kill you." 17:53 >>Dr. Hasel: Correct. 17:54 >>John: Which tells us something about the day 17:55 in which Luther lived. 17:56 This was a time when the church was very powerful 17:58 and where the church routinely did kill people 18:01 to defend itself and to defend its belief system and so forth. 18:04 >>Dr. Hasel: They would go to war, you know, 18:06 against various, uh, entities. 18:07 So Luther was in a very, very serious situation. 18:11 This simple monk in Germany began to turn things 18:14 upside down. 18:15 >>John: Turn things upside down he did. 18:19 What he started then reaches down to our day today. 18:24 It's why you can freely hold a Bible in your hand. 18:27 But Luther wasn't done. In fact, he was going to get 18:30 even more pointed in what he was saying. 18:33 I'll be back with that in just a moment. 18:35 ♪[music swells and ends]♪♪ 18:44 >>Announcer: Call now for today's free offer, 18:46 "From Script to Scripture." 18:48 Enjoy the rest of the conversation 18:49 between John Bradshaw and Dr. Michael Hasel, 18:52 including faith-building stories we couldn't fit 18:54 into today's program. 18:56 A rare opportunity to turn the pages of history, 18:59 see books that changed the world, 19:01 and learn insights that will grow your faith in God. 19:04 Call 800-253-3000 for the free DVD, 19:08 800-253-3000 19:10 or visit iiwoffer.com. 19:15 >>John Bradshaw: The prophet Daniel writes authoritatively 19:17 about the rise and fall of kingdoms, the fate of nations, 19:21 and the soon return of Jesus. 19:24 Join me for "Kingdom Come." 19:27 We'll witness the rise and fall of global powers. 19:30 We'll understand symbols found in the writings of the prophets. 19:34 And we'll learn how Bible prophecy applies 19:37 to our current reality. 19:40 Waiting for the world to get better seems futile. 19:43 We exist in the midst of global confusion, 19:46 in a world wrestling with the devastating effects 19:49 of sickness, war, and death. 19:52 Yet God encourages us: The dream is certain. 19:57 The interpretation can be trusted. 20:00 Jesus is coming back soon. 20:02 The best is yet to come. 20:05 Don't miss "Kingdom Come" as we explore the book of Daniel. 20:10 "Kingdom Come" 20:11 on It Is Written TV. 20:15 >>John Bradshaw: It's easy to forget today 20:17 that several hundred years ago 20:19 people were not able to access the Bible. 20:23 But that changed, thanks to the work of Martin Luther 20:25 and others like him who risked their lives, 20:28 and often gave their lives, to put the Word of God 20:31 into the hands of people. 20:32 I joined Dr. Michael Hasel recently at the Lynn H. Wood 20:36 Archaeological Museum just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, 20:40 where an exhibit of some very rare books told the story 20:43 of the Reformation, of Luther's fierce battle with his church, 20:47 and how that led to the advancement of the Word of God. 20:51 So tell me about this document here, 20:53 Luther's attack on purgatory. 20:55 >>Dr. Hasel: Yes. So this is published in 1530. 20:58 This is now quite some time after his 95 Theses in 1517. 21:02 And Luther in this small, uh, booklet, pamphlet again, 21:07 does not mince any words. 21:08 He becomes even more direct than he was in the 95 Theses. 21:11 This is now published in German. 21:13 By this time Luther is publishing in German. 21:15 He's no longer publishing in Latin 21:17 and addressing his concerns to the church. 21:19 He's moved beyond that; he's now addressing the people. 21:22 And in this particular book he is going through, 21:24 point by point, exposing the false claims 21:29 of the church as regards to the doctrine of purgatory, 21:31 this in-between state between heaven and hell, 21:33 which is not really supported in Scripture. 21:36 And he is, uh, beginning--this says, 21:39 [speaks in German] "the first chapter," 21:42 and then each section that comes after that is, 21:45 [speaks in German] "the second lie," "the third lie," 21:49 "the fourth lie." I mean, 21:51 he is not using politically correct language. 21:53 He is basically saying, these are lies that have been 21:55 perpetuated for centuries by the church, and the Bible, 22:00 in the book of Galatians, teaches a whole 'nother way 22:02 of salvation, which is through Jesus Christ. 22:04 >>John: What did this do to the average believers? 22:08 I mean, so, so Germany, the German states were Catholic. 22:11 What happened as a result of, of this ministry? 22:14 >>Dr. Hasel: The princes began to take a stand, 22:16 and the princes actually at one point came 22:20 at the Diet of Speyer, they came to the emperor, 22:23 and there they were told to sign a document to basically go back 22:28 to Catholicism, and they stood one by one 22:32 in that particular location, and they said, 22:34 "We want to read to you the document that we have written 22:37 that expresses our beliefs based on Scripture." 22:40 And in the most forthright and daring way, 22:43 they stood up before the emperor and said, 22:46 "We, we will, we will not go back. 22:49 This is what we believe, and this is why we believe it." 22:51 And the emperor had no choice; 22:53 because it was all of them together, the emperor 22:56 had no choice but to accept their declaration, 22:58 um, or lose his, his kingdom because these were the leaders 23:03 of his kingdom. 23:04 >>John: So this was not a battle of personalities, 23:06 even though there were some large personalities involved. 23:09 This was a matter of people saying, 23:11 "We want to believe what the Bible says." 23:14 This wasn't anti-Catholicism or hatred of the pope 23:17 or anything like that. 23:19 This was a matter of people saying this is God's truth, 23:24 and we want to advance with the Bible. 23:26 Is, is that accurate? 23:27 >>Dr. Hasel: That's how it began. It began 23:28 with Luther reading Scripture and realizing, 23:30 hey, there is, there are things here in Scripture 23:33 that don't correspond to what I've been taught as a theologian 23:38 and as a monk and as a learned person in the church. 23:42 This is teaching me something different. 23:43 What do I do with this? 23:45 As a result of that, with time, Luther, however, became 23:49 more and more convicted that the pope was the antichrist, 23:53 and he came out boldly, even more boldly as time went on, 23:57 on that particular element. 23:59 That is one element that really galvanized Protestantism 24:02 as well. Um, we look back at it today and say, 24:05 "Well now, those were daring words to speak." 24:07 And yet, um, this was the conviction that was held 24:12 because of the differences between the teachings, uh, 24:16 regarding salvation that the church was teaching 24:19 and the teachings that Scripture held. 24:21 >>John: Speaking about the teachings of salvation here, 24:24 Luther's "Commentary on Galatians," 24:28 how did this come about, and, and what was the motivation 24:30 for, for Luther writing about Galatians? 24:33 >>Dr. Hasel: Galatians was one of the books 24:35 that really sparked Luther's interest in the whole concept 24:38 of righteousness by faith. 24:40 And he began to lecture on Galatians 24:43 at the University of Wittenberg to his students. 24:45 His students took copious notes of what he had been saying 24:49 and what he was saying in class, and later on they took 24:52 those notes, and they asked Luther permission to print those 24:55 as a commentary, which they did with Luther's supervision. 25:00 And what we see here is the English translation 25:02 of that commentary of Galatians. 25:04 This edition that we have here was printed in 1774, 25:08 two years before the Declaration of Independence 25:10 here in the United States. 25:12 But the original was published in 1575. 25:15 And what is interesting here is that Luther had a very high view 25:20 of this work in particular. 25:22 He says, "If I had my way about it, they would republish 25:26 "only those of my books which have doctrine, 25:29 my Galatians, for instance." 25:31 So he really saw this as one of the important works 25:35 that he had produced in his lifetime. 25:37 >>John: Can you imagine living in a world 25:39 where you could not possess a Bible? 25:42 Where the Word of God wasn't taught and wasn't heard 25:45 by the people? 25:47 Well, that was this world, until Martin Luther came along. 25:51 And it's the world today for a lot of people. 25:53 Even though it's widely available, 25:55 many people don't have the Bible in their possession. 25:58 And, unfortunately, there are people with the Bible 26:02 who are not reading the Bible. 26:03 They're not accessing the promises of God. 26:06 They're not reading the great stories or the accounts 26:09 of the life of Jesus. 26:11 I want to encourage you. Take this book, delivered to us 26:14 at great cost by the shedding of blood, by the loss of life, 26:19 take this book and read what it says. 26:23 Discover the God of its pages. 26:25 Yield your heart to the Savior to whom it points. 26:30 This is the Word of God. 26:32 Make the decision today to bring it into your life 26:35 more and more, and let it guide you from this world 26:40 to the world to come. 26:43 >>John: Thank you for remembering that It Is Written 26:45 exists because of the kindness of people just like you. 26:48 To support this international life-changing ministry, 26:51 please call us now at 800-253-3000. 26:56 You can send your tax-deductible gift 26:57 to the address on your screen, 26:59 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 27:02 Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support. 27:05 Our number again is 800-253-3000, 27:09 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 27:14 Let's pray together now. 27:15 Our Father in heaven, today we thank You for the Bible. 27:18 We thank You for the Word of God, 27:20 and we thank You for Jesus, to whom sacred Scripture points. 27:25 Lord, would you give us grace to hide Your Word in our heart, 27:28 to live by its precepts, and to be guided by Your Holy Spirit, 27:33 of whom Scripture speaks? 27:35 We thank You for this Word. 27:37 Let it be the foundation and fabric of our lives, 27:40 I pray and ask You, in Jesus' name. 27:44 Amen. 27:45 Thanks so much for joining me. 27:46 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time. 27:48 Until then, remember: 27:50 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, 27:54 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" 27:59 ♪[dramatic theme music]♪ 28:22 ♪[music ends]♪♪ |
Revised 2022-07-07