Participants:
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW022249S
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00:15 ♪♪[music ends]♪♪
00:19 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written. 00:20 I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. 00:23 Up until the 16th century the Bible was not a book 00:27 that you could have owned. 00:29 It wasn't available in local languages. 00:31 It was written in Latin. And owing to printing 00:34 being a labor-intensive and time-consuming business, 00:39 Bibles weren't printed in any real number. 00:42 Even when the moveable type printing press came to be, 00:44 thanks to a German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg, 00:48 printing was still a slow and extremely expensive enterprise. 00:53 But the Reformation began, and it grew. 00:56 And while we tend to think of the Reformation 00:58 in terms of Germany and Luther and his partner in ministry, 01:01 Melanchthon, and the city of Wittenberg, 01:04 the Reformation grew and spread: 01:06 Switzerland, under Ulrich Zwingli in the north 01:09 and John Calvin in the south, 01:11 France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia-- 01:15 all impacted strongly by the Reformation. 01:19 The Reformation gained momentum early in Great Britain. 01:23 Years before Luther, John Wycliffe translated the Bible 01:27 into English in the 1300s. 01:28 He was known as "the Morning Star of the Reformation." 01:33 Wycliffe was really the sign that the Word of God 01:36 simply couldn't be stopped. 01:38 Later, the Reformation was kicked into high gear 01:40 in Britain when the Bible was translated into English again. 01:44 ♪[soft piano music]♪ 01:45 Dr. Michael Hasel is a university professor, 01:48 a noted archaeologist, 01:50 and the director of the Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum 01:54 on the campus of Southern Adventist University, 01:57 just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. 02:00 Dr. Hasel and I discussed an exhibit of rare books 02:02 that told the story of the rise of the Reformation 02:06 and the advancement of the Reformation, 02:07 which brought the light of the Bible, 02:10 the teachings of Scripture to the world, broadly, 02:14 for the first time in hundreds of years. 02:18 Dr. Hasel and I discussed the English Reformation, 02:20 which was as influential as what was taking place 02:23 in Wittenberg, Germany, 550 miles to the east. 02:28 ♪[music fades]♪ 02:29 >>Dr. Michael Hasel: You know, the English Reformation 02:31 was happening almost at the same time 02:33 as Luther was working in Germany. 02:36 In fact, many of these people communicated with each other 02:39 and knew each other. 02:40 Tyndale, for one, went to Wittenberg 02:42 to talk to Luther at one point 02:44 about his translation of the Bible and so forth, 02:47 and he was one that began the work of translating in England. 02:52 >>John: How was society affected by the Bible 02:54 becoming so much more readily accessible? 02:57 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, like in Germany, 02:59 the Bible had a tremendous impact in England as well. 03:02 When Tyndale was finally caught in Belgium and executed 03:07 by Henry VIII, the last prayer that he prayed was, 03:12 "Lord, please open the eyes of the monarch." 03:15 And for the first time the king's eyes in England 03:18 were opened, and he considered the Protestant Reformation 03:21 as a viable, uh, reaction to things that were going on 03:25 in his household, and, you know, there were a lot 03:27 of other aspects that were going on, 03:28 but he sent this response that we have here 03:32 to the pope in 1536. 03:34 That was only two years after Luther finished translating 03:37 the entire Bible in Germany. 03:39 Now, before Tyndale was killed, 03:42 he had completed the entire New Testament translation. 03:45 He had also done part of the Old Testament 03:48 but wasn't able to complete that. 03:50 And so it was Coverdale, Myles Coverdale, 03:52 that finished the Old Testament and was able to publish it. 03:55 And that's what we have here is one page 03:57 of the famous Coverdale Bible published in 1535, 04:00 the year after Luther's Bible was published. 04:02 >>John: This page itself dates back to 1535? 04:06 >>Dr. Hasel: It's a first edition page; that's correct. 04:08 And the Coverdale Bible was not the best translation 04:12 into the English language. 04:13 And later on there was the Great Bible; 04:16 there was the Bishops' Bible. 04:17 There were other Bibles that came along. 04:19 Just a couple of years later in 1537, we have this Bible here, 04:24 known as the Thomas Matthew Bible. 04:26 But Matthews knew what had happened to Tyndale, 04:30 and so Matthews is not his real name; 04:32 he used a pseudonym to publish this Bible. 04:34 His real name was John Rogers. 04:36 He says, "I'm not going to take the risk 04:38 of having my life taken." He knew the risk was there. 04:41 He knew that while Henry VIII was leaning 04:43 more towards Protestantism as time went on, 04:47 things could change very rapidly. 04:48 The political dynamics could change. 04:50 He knew that the first daughter of Henry VIII, Princess Mary, 04:54 could be the next queen eventually, 04:56 and she was a staunch Catholic. 04:58 She was the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, 05:00 who was the daughter of the king and the queen of Spain. 05:02 So they were staunch Catholics. 05:03 And this was all a very, very important element 05:06 in the back of his mind. 05:08 But he produced this Bible; it's a beautiful Bible, 1537. 05:12 The sad thing was that as things progressed, 05:15 his fears were actually realized. 05:18 Henry VIII died; his son King Edward VI came to the throne. 05:22 He was a young, young boy. And he was not, uh, very well. 05:27 He was known to be a sickly individual. 05:29 He didn't live a very long time. 05:31 But he lived long enough to publish this very fine work, 05:34 entitled "Arguments Against the Pope's Supremacy." 05:37 You can still look this up online today 05:39 and read through it. It's, has very cogent arguments, um, 05:43 about, um, the authority of Scripture and allowing Scripture 05:47 to really be the basis for faith. 05:50 He published this, and on his death bed, 05:52 he changed his will and pronounced his cousin, 05:56 Lady Jane, as the heir to the throne of England 06:00 as the next queen, knowing that his half-sister Mary would turn 06:04 everything around and make it Catholic again. 06:06 Lady Jane came to the throne, and a few, uh, days later 06:10 Mary comes down from the north with her armies. 06:13 The Privy Council switches sides, 06:15 and it's the shortest reign in history of any queen of England. 06:18 Uh, Lady Jane only lasts for nine days. 06:21 And Mary is inaugurated as queen in Westminster Abbey. 06:27 And the first thing that Mary does, once she is queen, 06:31 is put to death John Rogers-- or Thomas Matthews-- 06:34 who had translated this Bible. 06:36 And that begins a series of persecutions during her reign 06:40 that would continue for the next five years or so. 06:43 She became known, of course, as Bloody Mary. 06:46 >>John: A couple of things come to mind here. 06:48 One, there's a tendency to forget our history. 06:51 Two, it's easy to forget just what a big deal this was. 06:55 >>Dr. Hasel: Mm. 06:56 >>John: This is how we got the Bible. 06:58 Without the Tyndales, uh, and the Rogers of the world 07:02 willing to almost, you know, to stick their neck out, 07:05 put their life on the line, uh, things would look 07:07 very different today. >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. 07:08 >>John: I mean, one could argue the Bible would eventually 07:10 bubble to the surface, but you know what I mean. 07:12 These people paved the way for people like us 07:15 to have faith in God 07:16 by delivering the Bible to us. >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. 07:18 >>John: It wasn't readily available. 07:19 It speaks to that sacrifice and the importance of the Bible. 07:24 How do you not value the Bible 07:25 when you consider what people have done to preserve it 07:27 and deliver it to us today? >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. 07:29 >>John: It was a... fascinating time. 07:34 People were being put to death for their faith in God. 07:36 The authorities did not want the Bible to be circulated. 07:40 Monarchs were ascending the throne and executing the people 07:43 who didn't agree with them on religious matters. 07:46 As the church began to lose ground, 07:48 it was recognized that something had to be done 07:50 to preserve its power. 07:52 The church began to push back, and it all affected 07:56 how people would relate to the Bible even today. 08:00 I'll be right back. 08:01 ♪[music swells and ends]♪♪ 08:11 >>Announcer: Call now for today's free offer, 08:13 "From Script to Scripture." 08:14 Enjoy the rest of the conversation 08:16 between John Bradshaw and Dr. Michael Hasel, 08:19 including faith-building stories we couldn't fit 08:21 into today's program. 08:23 A rare opportunity to turn the pages of history, 08:26 see books that changed the world 08:27 and learn insights that will grow your faith in God. 08:31 Call 800-253-3000 08:33 for the free DVD, 08:34 800-253-3000 08:37 or visit iiwoffer.com. 08:41 >>John Bradshaw: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written. 08:44 When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door 08:47 of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, 08:50 it was a case of an obscure priest 08:52 in a nothing-sort-of-a-town speaking out about what 08:55 he believed was inconsistent with genuine faith in God. 08:59 But people noticed what Luther wrote, 09:01 and his 95 points of protest were distributed far and wide. 09:06 As providence would have it, the printing press 09:09 had been invented just in time for the Reformation 09:12 to really kick off. 09:14 What began in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517, 09:19 today a city of about 50,000 people, 09:21 50 miles or so from Berlin, quickly spread as others 09:26 took up the cause of sharing the Bible and teaching salvation 09:29 through faith in Jesus Christ. 09:32 The teachings of the reformers were radically different 09:35 to what the ruling Catholic Church had been teaching. 09:38 Understandably, the church was not favorably disposed 09:42 to what Luther and others were proclaiming. 09:45 So the church fought back, 09:48 and the Counter- Reformation was born. 09:52 >>Dr. Michael Hasel: Well, the Counter-Reformation 09:53 was the response by the church to Protestantism 09:56 and to the threat of splitting the church, uh, apart. 10:01 Um, they saw this as real, and they met in Italy 10:05 at the Council of Trent in Trento 10:07 for a series of many years, uh, from 1545 to 1563. 10:12 This was a multi-year event. 10:14 But there they really formulated their response. 10:16 And this was where the church had, uh, 10:18 a possibility actually to respond even positively 10:22 to the Reformation, to maybe, uh, reform themselves 10:25 from within, which really 10:26 originally was Luther's intent. >>John: Right. 10:28 >>Dr. Hasel: He wasn't intending to leave the church. 10:30 He was a, a very faithful Catholic who wanted to stay 10:34 within the church, but felt it needed to have some reformation 10:37 from within. But they, they didn't. 10:40 They took a very, very hard line on many of the things 10:43 that were criticized by Luther. 10:45 Here we have the canon, uh, of the Council of Trent. 10:48 This is the basic declarations that came out 10:52 after the council stopped meeting in 1563. 10:55 This is a first edition published in 1564. 10:59 And here we have a complete reaffirmation again 11:04 of many of the doctrines 11:05 that the Protestants had brought into question. 11:09 >>John: It would've been really difficult for the church of Rome 11:14 to have reformed, as Luther said, 11:17 because they would have had to have said, 11:19 "We were wrong about this. We were wrong about that. 11:23 We see new light here." 11:25 That would've been very difficult, wouldn't it? 11:28 >>Dr. Hasel: Yes, absolutely. 11:30 And so what happened as a result, really, 11:31 was that they just sunk their heels in even deeper. 11:35 And one of the things that came out of the Council of Trent 11:38 actually had to do with the Bible 11:40 and the authority of Scripture. What is Scripture? 11:44 You see, the Protestants had taken the position that, uh, 11:50 the Bible produces the church. 11:53 The Catholics had always taken the position that the church 11:56 produced the Bible. These are very different understandings. 12:00 >>John: Sure. 12:01 >>Dr. Hasel: And so one sees the Bible as the inspired 12:03 Word of God that then inspires Christians 12:06 to become Christian, to gather together, 12:09 to begin to fellowship together, to work together. 12:12 The other sees the authority primarily as the church. 12:15 And so that was reaffirmed here as well, 12:17 and so what they decided there, too, 12:19 was that the apocryphal books, 12:21 these books between the new and old, the Old and New Testament, 12:24 that had been in the Bibles all through the centuries 12:27 since Jerome had translated into the Latin The Vulgate, 12:31 that was always there, 12:33 but that was always given with a caveat ahead of time, 12:36 a kind of declaration that these books are not at the same level 12:39 doctrinally as the other books of the Bible. 12:42 >>John: And we're talking about books like Wisdom, Tobit, 12:45 Judith, First and Second Maccabees, 12:47 and so forth. Yep. >>Dr. Hasel: Exactly. Exactly. 12:49 They had been in those Protestant Bibles, 12:51 but they were always, you know, in between, 12:53 and they were not regarded the same. 12:55 The Council of Trent changed all that. 12:57 It put them at the same level canonically 12:59 as the rest of Scripture. 13:01 And in a sense they needed to do that 13:02 because it was some of those books that were fairly obscure 13:06 and were not necessarily originally part of canon 13:09 that helped support some of their traditions. 13:10 >>John: Such as purgatory. 13:11 >>Dr. Hasel: Correct. 13:13 >>John: So talk to me about this "Spiritual Exercises" 13:14 and the role of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, 13:18 and Ignatius Loyola. 13:19 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, "The Spiritual Exercises" 13:21 were probably his most important book. 13:23 It's a tiny, little book, but, uh, he believed 13:26 that through meditation, through these spiritual exercises 13:30 that really emptied oneself and focused on God, 13:34 one could come closer to God, and one could really develop 13:38 the kind of, uh, discipline to, to really go through 13:42 and become a, a very good Catholic 13:44 and a very good, uh, defender of the faith. 13:46 >>John: Well, where's the harm in spiritual disciplines 13:48 and spiritual exercises? 13:49 That--I think Protestants agree with that 13:51 sort of thing as well. 13:52 >>Dr. Hasel: We do, absolutely. >>John: Yeah. 13:53 >>Dr. Hasel: But we don't want to empty our mind; 13:54 we want to dwell on Scripture and allow Scripture to be 13:57 the impetus for, for those inspirational thoughts. 14:01 >>John: Very significant difference. 14:02 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. >>John: Very significant. 14:04 So where did the Counter-Reformation go? 14:05 Did, did it, did it peter out? 14:08 Did it, did it triumph? Is it active today? 14:10 What, what does this indicate to us? 14:12 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, it, it was, 14:13 it continues to be a movement today. 14:15 It has shifted today in the sense that, uh, 14:19 with the Vatican II, another council 14:21 like that, in the 1960s-- >>John: Sure. 14:23 >>Dr. Hasel: ...the decision was made not to attack Protestantism 14:26 directly, not to attack Protestantism doctrinally, 14:30 but to engage in worship like the Protestants 14:34 and to kind of join in with that movement 14:37 in a more ecumenical way. 14:39 And so there's been a shift in that sense. 14:42 But I think the determination is still the same. 14:46 And the word "heresy" is still used in Catholic publications 14:49 today to, to describe anything outside of the Catholic faith. 14:53 So what we have here, the Douay-Rheims version 14:57 of the Bible, was a Catholic translation of The Vulgate 15:01 into English to counteract the Protestant Bibles of that time-- 15:06 before the King James Bible, of course, but--the Great Bible, 15:09 the Bishops' Bible, the Coverdale Bible, 15:11 those Bibles that we've already talked about before. 15:13 And this was a counteraction on their part to influence 15:18 and to change, uh, that. 15:20 This was, uh, printed in 1582, so it came sometime later, 15:25 but it was very important, and it was published and translated 15:29 just across from the English Channel in France. 15:32 >>John: Christianity was presented 15:33 with a golden opportunity. 15:35 Here were scholars, teachers, theologians rising up to say, 15:40 "We can do this better." But human nature being what it is, 15:45 it was determined that such an approach would not be adopted. 15:49 But as Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, 15:51 "We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth." 15:55 The Bible would be translated into English 15:57 and go to the world. 15:59 And because it did, we hold the Bible in our hands today. 16:04 We'll look at that in just a moment. 16:06 ♪[music swells and ends]♪♪ 16:16 >>Announcer: Call now for today's free offer, 16:18 "From Script to Scripture." 16:19 Enjoy the rest of the conversation 16:21 between John Bradshaw and Dr. Michael Hasel, 16:24 including faith-building stories we couldn't fit 16:26 into today's program. 16:28 A rare opportunity to turn the pages of history, 16:31 see books that changed the world 16:32 and learn insights that will grow your faith in God. 16:36 Call 800-253-3000 16:38 for the free DVD, 16:40 800-253-3000 16:42 or visit iiwoffer.com. 16:47 >>John Bradshaw: He had it all: extravagant wealth, 16:50 immense power, and wisdom far greater than any person 16:54 before him. He'd seen the glory of God, 16:57 had spoken personally with God, 16:59 and was told by God he could have anything he wanted. 17:02 But as his focus shifted over time, his life collapsed. 17:07 As he contemplated his existence, 17:09 he concluded that all was vanity. 17:12 Don't miss "Great Characters of the Bible: Solomon," 17:16 as we look at the story of the wisest man who ever lived, 17:20 a man who wrote three books of the Bible, 17:22 a man who was revered by monarchs 17:24 and feared by his enemies, 17:26 the man who constructed what may have been 17:28 the most beautiful temple ever built, 17:30 and yet turned away from faithfulness to God. 17:33 But God didn't turn from him. 17:35 The story of Solomon is a tragedy and a victory. 17:39 Don't miss "Great Characters of the Bible: Solomon," 17:42 brought to you by It Is Written TV. 17:47 >>John Bradshaw: I met recently with Dr. Michael Hasel, 17:50 the director of the Lynn H. Wood Archaeological Museum 17:53 in Collegedale, Tennessee. 17:56 We looked together at a collection of rare books 17:58 from the time of the Reformation, 18:01 among them a very early copy of the Bible that guided 18:05 Protestant Christianity for hundreds of years. 18:11 >>Dr. Michael Hasel: So here we're coming 18:12 to the largest object that we have on display, 18:15 the largest Bible and perhaps the most important Bible, 18:18 at least as far as the English language 18:21 and history of Scripture is concerned. 18:22 >>John: The King James Version of the Bible from 1611, 18:26 and so what edition is this? 18:28 How close to original is this particular book itself? 18:30 >>Dr. Hasel: This is a first edition. 18:33 Up to this point in time we had the Coverdale Bible, 18:35 which was Tyndale and Coverdale working together. 18:38 It was an inferior version of the Bible 18:40 in terms of the English language. 18:42 It wasn't really worked out that well. 18:44 Then we have the Great Bible, the Bishops' Bible, 18:46 other Bibles, but finally at the time of King James, 18:49 it was decided that we really needed to have, 18:52 the English-, uh, speaking people needed to have 18:55 a very, very fine translation. 18:58 So they brought, uh, 47 different scholars together-- 19:01 >>John: Mm-hmm. >>Dr. Hasel: ...split them up 19:02 in six different groups 19:03 so that they could work independently of each other, 19:06 so that they wouldn't bias one another, and they worked 19:09 for, uh, quite some time to produce this translation. 19:12 >>John: What is it about the King James that made it 19:14 the standard and makes it really a reliable 19:17 and solid translation? 19:18 >>Dr. Hasel: Well, it had the most support, I think, 19:21 at the time in the English, um, realm of any Bible 19:25 that had come before it. 19:26 The king put his full support behind it. 19:29 It, uh, it, it had the financial backing of the kingdom as well. 19:34 And the product is just absolutely stunning 19:36 and, and beautiful. 19:38 Uh, what we have here is really a Bible that, 19:42 like Luther and like the French Bible of Olivétan before, 19:48 really galvanizes and brings together the English language. 19:50 There's three writings that do that for English: 19:54 the King James Version Bible, the Common Book of Prayer, 19:58 and the writings of Shakespeare. 20:00 So, that cannot be overestimated. 20:02 This, this is really an amazing work. 20:04 Now, this was done on a moveable type printing press, 20:07 as we've already discussed with Gutenberg's press in 1455, 20:12 and even though this is almost 200 years later, 20:13 the same process is involved, 20:15 which means that every single letter needs to be placed 20:20 into the, uh, flat part of the press individually 20:24 to make each page, or two pages, whatever the case may be. 20:28 This is a very, very rare Bible, but there's 160, about 160 20:33 of these left in the world in complete condition like this. 20:37 Um, but let me show you something that is even 20:39 much older than 1611 and that really goes back 20:43 to the very beginning of this moveable type technology. 20:47 >>John: Yeah, so important because without it, 20:48 the Bible wouldn't have been distributed as widely as it was. 20:51 >>Dr. Hasel: Exactly. 20:53 So here we come to the father, if you will, 20:56 of all printed Bibles, or the mother of all printed Bibles: 21:00 This is the famous Gutenberg Bible, 21:02 printed in Mainz, Germany, in 1455. 21:06 We only have one leaf, front and back, of this Bible, 21:09 but this is an original leaf. 21:11 This is, of course, The Vulgate, 21:13 the Latin translation of the Bible. 21:16 And of the original 160 to 200 Bibles that were published 21:22 by Gutenberg, of those, 21:24 only 21 complete Gutenberg Bibles still survive today. 21:29 >>John: That's not many. And where are they? 21:31 >>Dr. Hasel: They're all in institutions. 21:33 Nobody privately owns one. They're very expensive. 21:36 They're at the Library of Congress; 21:38 they're at the J. P. Morgan Library in New York, 21:41 uh, various libraries around Europe. 21:43 This is just a breakthrough in technology 21:47 because for the first time, 21:48 rather than handwriting out Bibles, 21:51 which would take a year to a year and a half, 21:54 suddenly you could print one on a moveable type printing press, 21:56 like this one. 21:58 >>John: You know, it's so interesting that this came 22:00 on the scene, you know, just at about the same time as Luther-- 22:03 I mean, a little before--but in preparation for Luther 22:06 to come on and really use this to, to spread the Word of God. 22:10 >>Dr. Hasel: That's right. >>John: Amazing timing. 22:11 >>Dr. Hasel: It's amazing timing. 22:13 And these Bibles, by the way, even when they were printed 22:15 en masse like that at 200 of them, they still cost-- 22:20 in today's dollars, each Bible would have cost $93,000 22:23 in today's currency. So, think about that. 22:27 Who could afford a Bible like that? 22:29 >>John: Right. Very few. >>Dr. Hasel: Very few-- 22:30 institutions again, universities, monasteries, 22:34 churches. And so, just amazing to see something like this here. 22:39 Gutenberg was called, of course-- 22:41 Time magazine called him "the Man of the Millennium." 22:44 We have "the Man of the Century," 22:46 we have "the Man of the Year," 22:47 or "the Person of the Year" today, 22:49 but Gutenberg was called "the Man of the Millennium" 22:51 because this was such a groundbreaking, uh, event 22:54 in history, in the history of communication. 22:56 >>John: Mmm. Yeah, amazing. Changed the world. 22:59 >>Dr. Hasel: Changed the world. 23:00 >>John: It changed the world. 23:03 But the question for us today is, will it change your world? 23:08 In a time of great spiritual darkness 23:10 when the governing church dictated to kings and kingdoms, 23:14 a truly biblical faith simply wasn't known. 23:17 People were taught that they were saved through the church. 23:21 Luther's teaching of salvation by grace alone, 23:24 through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone was revolutionary. 23:30 Luther survived the attempts made on his life, 23:33 but many others were not able to escape 23:35 the wrath of the church. 23:37 Tyndale, the English Bible translator, 23:39 was burnt at the stake. 23:41 John Hus and his ministry partner Jerome 23:43 met the same fate a century earlier. 23:46 Wishart, Latimer, Ridley, Cranmer, considered heretics 23:51 for their stand on the teachings of the Bible, 23:54 lost their lives, as did countless others. 23:57 But nothing could stop the advance of the Bible. 23:59 Millions of copies are now printed every single year. 24:04 So let me ask you: What are you doing about the Bible? 24:10 This great book, this remarkable document, 24:13 which details the love of God, 24:15 it, it tells the plan of salvation. 24:18 It recites the great histories of the people of God 24:20 in antiquity and the early church. 24:23 It's not just ancient wisdom; it's present power. 24:27 David was able to write that it was 24:29 "a lamp to [his] feet and a light to [his] path." 24:31 Paul wrote that the "Scriptures...are able 24:32 to make you wise for salvation." 24:35 Peter wrote of the "exceedingly great and precious promises," 24:39 through which "you may be partakers of the divine nature." 24:44 I want to encourage you to read the Bible. Listen to the Bible. 24:48 Let God's Word get off the pages and into your heart, 24:52 into your mind, molding you and forming you for eternity. 24:57 This is a book that will change your life. 25:02 If you've not been a Bible reader, let's change that today. 25:06 Pick it up and start reading-- 25:08 a few verses a day, a chapter a day, several chapters a day-- 25:12 ♪[soft music]♪ 25:14 and then pause to consider what it is you've been reading. 25:16 Listen for the voice of God. 25:18 Ask God to help you to hear from Him 25:20 as you read what He inspired. 25:22 Now, if your reading has been shallow, 25:25 if you've been a surface reader, 25:27 let's decide right now that through God's help 25:30 you're going to go deeper. 25:32 It might be time to begin memorizing verses 25:35 or passages of the Bible, 25:37 and to start not only reading or hearing the Bible, 25:40 but to start trusting it, 25:42 believing that God can do what He says He can do, 25:46 and believing that God will work with power in your life. 25:51 There is no other book like it. It's the Word of God. 25:56 Allow God's Word into your life, 25:58 and you'll never be the same again. 26:01 ♪[music ends]♪♪ 26:02 >>John: Thank you for remembering that It Is Written 26:04 exists because of the kindness of people just like you. 26:08 To support this international life-changing ministry, 26:11 please call us now at 800-253-3000. 26:15 You can send your tax-deductible gift 26:17 to the address on your screen, 26:18 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 26:22 Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support. 26:25 Our number again is 800-253-3000, 26:29 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 26:33 >>John: Let's pray together now. 26:35 Our Father in heaven, we thank You for the Bible, 26:37 and I'm praying right now 26:39 that You will unleash Your Word in our lives. 26:41 There is somebody right at this moment who is saying, 26:43 "I'm going to pick up that Bible and read it." 26:45 Help her, help him to develop a habit of reading the Bible 26:49 that would never die. 26:50 Somebody right now is experiencing weakness 26:53 and not strength in his experience. 26:56 There's somebody looking for a miracle, 26:57 somebody needing a breakthrough, 26:59 somebody desperately desiring victory, 27:02 and, Lord, it is there in the pages of Scripture. 27:05 Lord, let this not only be ancient wisdom, 27:07 but present power in lives 27:10 across the fruited plain and around the world. 27:13 May we experience the power of Scripture. 27:16 Might we be born again through Your Word, as the Bible says. 27:20 Heavenly Father, through Your Word, 27:22 have Your way in our lives. 27:24 Let it be the bedrock, the foundation of our lives, 27:26 we pray. And we thank You in Jesus' name. 27:30 Say with me now: amen and amen. 27:34 Thank you so much for joining me. 27:36 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time. 27:38 Until then, remember: 27:40 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, 27:44 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" 27:49 ♪[dramatic theme music]♪ 28:25 ♪[music ends]♪♪ |
Revised 2022-08-30