Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001255
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00:07 It has stood the test of time.
00:11 God's book, the Bible. 00:17 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:21 It Is Written...sharing hope around the globe. 00:37 I'm John Bradshaw, and this is It Is Written. 00:40 Thanks for joining me today. 00:42 This is Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the site of the 00:44 Battle of Gettysburg, the most famous battle of the 00:47 American Civil War. 00:49 Today, the old battlefields of Gettysburg look a whole 00:52 lot like they did a century and a half ago. 00:54 A lot of effort has been taken to keeping the 00:57 Gettysburg battlefields in condition as original as 01:01 possible. 01:02 The American Civil War lasted four years, from 1861 to 01:06 1865. 01:08 Thousands of people perished during the American Civil 01:11 War, 700,000 is the number that is often quoted today 01:16 and several thousand individuals died here at 01:19 Gettysburg. 01:20 Today, we refer to the war as the American Civil War. 01:23 But down through time, it has been called a number of 01:26 different things. 01:27 It was called the war between the states. 01:29 The South referred to it as the war of succession. 01:32 Immediately after the war, the North called it the war 01:35 of rebellion. 01:37 There's a lot of controversy over what actually brought 01:40 about the start of the American Civil War, but the 01:42 facts are these. 01:43 Eleven southern states declared their succession 01:46 from the United States and began to call themselves the 01:50 Confederated States of America or, The Confederacy. 01:53 The remaining 25 states remained loyal to the United 01:57 States Government, and they became known as The Union. 02:00 After this split, really, fighting was simply 02:05 inevitable. 02:06 One fact most people will agree on is that slavery was 02:10 a central issue in the Civil War. 02:13 The controversy became so intense, so hot, that it 02:17 brought about the end of some political parties, including 02:19 the Wigs and the No Nothing party. 02:21 And it caused the Democratic party to be split in two, 02:24 between the North and the South. 02:27 But the violence wasn't contained only to the 02:30 battlefield. 02:31 In fact, on the floor of the US Senate, a South Carolina 02:36 Congressman by the name of Preston Brooks, violently 02:39 assaulted a Republican politician by the name of 02:43 Charles Sumner. 02:44 He beat him so badly that he beat him almost to death. 02:48 The reason for this violent assault is that Sumner 02:51 insulted Southern slave owners and one of Brooks' own 02:55 relatives as referring to them as pimps for slavery. 03:00 At the start of the Civil War, there were 9 million 03:02 people living in the American South. 03:04 Four million of them were slaves, almost 50% of the 03:08 population. 03:10 Slavery was a dark episode in the history of the United 03:14 States. 03:15 Slavery has existed for thousands of years. 03:19 The Bible not only mentions slavery but it provides 03:23 guidelines as to how slaves should be treated. 03:28 And if a man smite his servant, his slave, or his 03:31 maid with a rod and he die under his hand, he shall be 03:35 surely punished and if he smite out his manservant's 03:38 tooth, or his maidservant's tooth, he shall let him go 03:42 free for his tooth's sake. 03:44 That's Exodus 21: 26, 27. 03:47 Now let's not be confused by this and think that because 03:50 the Bible says that that God somehow approves of slavery. 03:55 God certainly does not. 03:57 In fact, it says this in Acts 17:24-26. 04:03 God that made the world and all things therein seeing 04:07 that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in 04:10 temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with 04:13 men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he 04:15 giveth life to all, and breath and all things, and 04:19 hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell 04:24 on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times 04:27 before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. 04:31 In fact, it was Jesus who said in Luke 6:27-31, love 04:34 your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them 04:39 that curse you and pray for them which despitefully use 04:42 you and unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer 04:46 also the other. 04:47 And him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take your 04:50 coat also. 04:52 Give to every man that asketh of thee, and of him that 04:55 taketh away thy goods, ask them not again. 04:58 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also 05:02 to them likewise. 05:04 Unfortunately, many people during the Civil War didn't 05:07 see it that way. 05:08 What's tragic is that religious slave holders 05:12 professed Christians used the slavery guidelines found in 05:16 the book of Exodus to say that God actually supported 05:19 slavery. 05:21 President Abraham Lincoln saw this for what it really was. 05:24 In a letter that he wrote to Reverend Dr. Ide, dated May 05:28 30, 1864, he said this: "Those professedly holy men 05:33 of the South met in semblance of prayer and devotion and in 05:39 the name of Him who said 'as you would all men should do 05:42 unto you, do ye even so unto them', appealed to the 05:46 Christian world to aid them in doing to a whole race of 05:51 men as they would have no man do unto themselves. 05:55 To my thinking they contemned and insulted God and his 05:59 church, far more than did Satan when he tempted the 06:04 Saviour with the Kingdoms of the Earth." 06:07 We can thank God that slavery has been abolished. 06:09 Mauritania was the last country in the world to 06:11 abolish slavery and did so in 1981. 06:15 However, because sin is what sin is, slavery still exists. 06:19 They say that because of human trafficking, there are 06:21 more slaves in the world now than at any other time in 06:25 human history. 06:26 I'm here in Gettysburg, in a store, a shop, that houses 06:29 many Civil War artifacts, including implements that we 06:32 used in slavery. 06:35 These two items here that you see are collars worn around 06:39 the necks of slaves. 06:41 They are genuine and they were used. 06:43 The protruding spikes are there to discourage slaves 06:48 from trying to escape. 06:49 If they tried to escape, the spikes would get caught in 06:51 underbrush or growth or branches or so on and would 06:56 lead to the slaves being recaptured which, of course, 07:00 would not be pretty. 07:04 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of 07:06 men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek 07:09 God. 07:11 They are all gone aside, they are all together become 07:14 filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 07:19 Psalms 14:2-3. 07:30 KJV [Music] It's time for 07:41 today's Bible question. 07:43 A friend of mine says we need to keep the 10 commandments 07:46 in order to go to heaven. 07:49 But my preacher says that the law was nailed to the cross 07:52 and because of Jesus, we no longer need to keep the law. 07:57 He said something about the law being an old covenant and 07:59 now since the cross, all we need is grace. 08:03 Now wouldn't that be a funny thing! 08:05 Jesus telling people that it's okay to disobey him now. 08:09 Can you imagine that? 08:10 Jesus saying it's okay to commit adultery? 08:13 It's okay to steal. 08:14 It's okay to kill because we are under a new covenant. 08:18 If grace is a ticket for people to live spiritually 08:21 irresponsible lives, than grace is something we could 08:24 do without. 08:26 Let's be clear. 08:27 Salvation is given by grace through faith. 08:30 It's free. 08:31 It's a gift. 08:32 We cannot earn it by our obedience or anything else. 08:37 The gift of salvation is not conferred based upon our 08:39 performance. 08:41 But let's balance that. 08:42 Look on the other side of the coin. 08:45 What about once a person has come to Jesus and has 08:47 received salvation. 08:49 How should they live then? 08:51 Jesus said this in John 14:15. 08:53 If you love me, keep my commandments. 08:58 Saved people will obey God which isn't to say they will 09:01 never make mistakes, but their life is one 09:04 characterized by obedience and growing in obedience. 09:08 Love for God brings obedience into a person's life. 09:12 Revelation 14:12 describes the saved when it says: "Here 09:15 are they that keep the commandments of God and the 09:18 faith of Jesus. 09:20 It isn't that their commandment keeping earned 09:22 them salvation but because Jesus had come into their 09:25 lives, their lives became lives of obedience, lives of 09:29 honoring God. 09:31 When you love someone, you want to please that someone 09:33 and it pleases God that we obey him, that we keep his 09:37 commandments. 09:38 Look in the Bible. 09:40 It does not teach us that grace means we are free to 09:43 run off and sin. 09:44 It's because of grace that we don't want to do that because 09:48 we know it hurts God. 09:51 If you have a question that you would like answered, go 09:53 to our website: itiswritten.com and click on 09:56 the "Questions" tab. 09:57 Submit your question and in a future program, we might be 10:00 able to answer your Bible question. 10:06 Eyes for India is giving sight to the blind and you 10:10 can be a part of this amazing work that God is doing. 10:13 15 million blind people live in India, more than any other 10:17 country in the world. 10:18 And many of the blind in India could see again, if 10:21 only they could have simple cataract surgery. 10:25 It Is Written is making that happen. 10:27 Would you support Eyes for India? 10:30 For just $75 you'll be giving the gift of sight to someone 10:35 who desperately wants to see. 10:36 Here is all you need to do. 10:38 Call 1.800.253.3000 to donate and support Eyes for India. 10:46 Or, you can write to It Is Written, Box O, Thousand 10:49 Oaks, California, 91359. 10:52 You'll also find Eyes for India online at 10:55 itiswritten.com. 11:01 You can't really have the discussion about slavery in 11:03 the United States of America without mentioning the name 11:06 Frederick Douglas. 11:07 Frederick Douglas was born a slave in Talbot County, 11:10 Maryland in 1818. 11:13 Now because slave mothers weren't allowed to raise 11:15 their own children, he never did know the exact date of 11:18 his birthday. 11:19 When he was about 12 years old, his owners' wife began 11:23 to teach him the alphabet, despite the fact it was 11:26 illegal to teach slaves how to read. 11:29 Frederick Douglas would describe her as a kind woman. 11:31 She said that she treated him the way one human being ought 11:35 to treat another. 11:37 Now, when the slave master found out what was going on, 11:39 he strongly disapproved. 11:41 He said this must not happen. 11:43 Frederick must not learn how to read because should a 11:45 slave learn to read, why then a slave would want to learn 11:48 to write. 11:49 And should a slave learn how to right, then a slave would 11:53 be wanting his own freedom. 11:56 Later, Douglas described these words as the first 11:59 decidedly antislavery lecture that he would ever hear. 12:04 In spite of his owner's discouragement, Frederick 12:07 Douglas did learn to read. 12:09 He learned from white children living in his 12:11 neighborhood and by looking at the written materials 12:14 owned by the men with whom he worked and then Douglas 12:18 escaped. 12:19 He fled to New York and he became an advocate for the 12:21 abolitionist movement and once a free man, Frederick 12:26 Douglas had some very interesting things to say 12:29 about slavery. 12:31 "From my earliest recollection, I date the 12:35 entertainment of a deep conviction that slavery would 12:38 not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace. 12:42 And in the darkest hours of my career in slavery, this 12:46 living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not 12:49 from me but remained like ministering angels to cheer 12:54 me through the gloom. 12:56 It was as though Frederick Douglas, even though he had 12:58 been raised to believe that he was nothing more than 13:01 cattle, always suspected that slavery was wrong. 13:04 It was something it seems in the back of his mind that 13:07 always told him that that was the case. 13:09 And do you think that Douglas' case was unique or 13:12 did the other slaves feel the same way? 13:14 Of course they did. 13:16 They had the reminders around them all of the time as to 13:18 what their true condition really was. 13:20 They were owned by somebody else. 13:23 They often had irons weighing them down. 13:25 They often felt whips cutting into their backs and they 13:28 heard the cruel words of their masters. 13:30 They recognized that they were slaves because those 13:33 reminders were around them all of the time. 13:36 Their lives told them what they really were. 13:40 But you might be surprised to know that there are many 13:42 people today who don't realize that they are in 13:45 bondage. 13:46 In fact, you might be one of them. 13:50 Find out more in just a moment. 13:55 In Matthew 4:4, the Word of God says, It is written, man 13:59 shall not live by bread alone but by every word that 14:03 proceeds from the mouth of God. 14:05 Every word is a one minute Bible-based daily devotional 14:08 presented by pastor John Bradshaw and designed 14:11 especially for busy people like you. 14:15 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch it 14:17 on-line everyday on our website, itiswritten.com. 14:21 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 14:24 Watch Every Word. 14:25 You'll be glad you did. 14:26 Here's a sample. 14:36 Back in 1988 Presidential Candidate George 14:39 H W Bush addressed a large audience at his party's 14:42 National Convention and said, "Read my lips, no new taxes." 14:49 That was a promise, and he meant it. 14:52 But promises can be hard to keep, and even politicians 14:55 find that on occasions their promises can be harder to 14:57 keep than they thought when they made them. 15:00 Later, President Bush wanted to reduce the budget deficit 15:03 and so some taxes were raised - and the one-term President 15:07 Bush wasn't reelected - the broken promise, many way, was 15:10 a a key factor in his defeat. 15:13 Many people make promises to God and find they can't keep 15:16 them. 15:17 "I'll do better, I won't do that again, I'll never commit 15:20 that sin .... 15:21 Ever again..." 15:22 - all promises that sound good but are actually doomed 15:25 to fail. 15:26 In Philippians 3:9 Paul wrote, "and be found in Him, 15:30 not having my own righteousness, which is from 15:33 the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the 15:37 righteousness which is from God by faith." 15:40 Philippians 3:9, NKJV Our righteousness doesn't come 15:42 from us trying to do better. 15:44 Paul knew the righteousness he needed was Christ's 15:47 righteousness, the only righteousness that can open 15:50 the gates of heaven to us. 15:52 And Paul makes clear that the only way he could get that 15:54 righteousness was through faith, and not by trying 15:58 harder. 15:59 I'm not saying there's no effort involved in being a 16:01 Christian, because there certainly is. 16:03 But the greatest effort we can make in our Christian 16:05 experience is the effort to surrender to God, and allow 16:10 Him to make our heart His own. 16:12 If we can learn to yield to God, to surrender, He'll give 16:15 us His righteousness - the only kind of righteousness 16:17 that will do us any good. 16:19 You can make promises to God, but it's better to believe 16:22 God's promises to you. 16:24 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written. 16:26 Let's live today by Every Word. 16:29 Frederick Douglas has said that the pathway from slavery 16:33 to freedom is knowledge. 16:35 And he was absolutely right. 16:38 You know, there are so many people in this world today 16:40 who are slaves but they are unaware of their true 16:42 condition. 16:44 They are born into bondage and unless the truth reaches 16:48 them, they will never be free. 16:51 Well, what kind of slaves am I talking about? 16:53 Jesus said this in John 8:34 to 36, Most assuredly I say 17:00 to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 17:04 And a slave does not abide in the house forever but a son 17:09 abides forever. 17:10 Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free 17:14 indeed. 17:16 Whoever commits sin is the servant or the slave of sin. 17:22 If we have sinned then we have become slaves and the 17:24 Bible says that all have sinned and have come short of 17:28 the glory of God. 17:30 But, here is the thing. 17:31 While most people would recognize I have made a 17:33 mistake or two, most people would not go that step 17:35 further and say that as a sinner, I have become 17:38 enslaved, I am in bondage, I am in chains. 17:42 As a sinner, I am the servant or the slave of sin. 17:47 And the most dangerous thing about this is that people 17:49 might be born into a world of sin and think that they are 17:53 okay. 17:54 Yes, I stumble. 17:55 Yes, I do this. 17:56 Yes, I err. 17:57 I am faulty. 17:58 But I am okay. 18:00 When perhaps they are anything but okay. 18:04 We have been talking about the social climate in the 18:08 1800's that brought about the conditions whereby people 18:10 accepted slavery and I know many people that I have 18:14 spoken to have shaken their head and they have said, "how 18:16 could people accept such an atrocity as though it's 18:19 okay." 18:21 Well, I'll tell you this during the 1860's, the 18:24 churches of the South signed a document stating their 18:29 support for slavery. 18:31 In an open letter to the Christians of the world, the 18:33 leaders of the churches of the confederacy wrote a 18:36 letter in which they said this: "And we testify in the 18:40 sight of God, that the relation of master and slave 18:44 among us, however we may deplore abuses in this as in 18:48 other relations of mankind, is not incompatible with our 18:51 wholly Christianity. 18:53 And that the presence of the Africans of our land is an 18:56 occasion of gratitude on their behalf before God. 19:01 Seeing that thereby Divine providence has brought them 19:04 where missionaries of the cross may freely proclaim to 19:07 them the word of salvation and the work is not 19:10 interrupted by agitating fanaticism. 19:13 The South has done more than any people on earth for the 19:17 Christianization of the African race." 19:20 Now this statement was not made by some obscure group of 19:24 believers. 19:25 This was written and signed by the leaders of the 19:28 Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant, 19:32 Presbyterian, Lutheran and German Reformed Churches just 19:37 to name a few. 19:39 Now in contrast to this, listen to what Frederick 19:41 Douglas had to say about Christian slave-owners. 19:45 I assert most unhesitatingly that the religion of the 19:49 South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, a 19:53 justifier of the most appalling barbarity. 19:56 A sanctifier of the most hateful frauds and a dark 19:59 shelter under which the darkest, grossest and most 20:03 infernal deeds of slaveholders find the 20:06 strongest protection, I should regard being the slave 20:09 of a religious master the greatest calamity that could 20:13 befall me, for all of the slaveholders with whom I have 20:16 ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. 20:21 Now, let me make something abundantly clear. 20:23 I'm not bringing any of this up to be critical of anybody. 20:26 I am not trying to criticize any religious groups and I 20:29 certainly am not trying to throw the South under the 20:33 bus. 20:34 But here's the point. 20:36 Here's what we really have got to understand. 20:39 Without the power of God in our lives, left to ourselves, 20:44 left in a state of being the captives, the slaves of sin, 20:50 all we've got to look forward to is lives of sin and anger 20:54 and malice and lust and ....and slavery. 20:59 I know it's easy to look back on the past and wag our 21:02 finger at those who come before us and criticize them 21:04 for their ignorance, and say "how could they?" 21:06 But the truth is this. 21:09 With a heart of stone. 21:10 Without the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit in 21:12 our lives that's what we are all like. 21:15 The bible says all have sinned and have come short of 21:19 the glory of God. 21:21 But there is a way out. 21:22 No, it's not will-power. 21:24 No amount of will-power is going to break the chains 21:26 that bind you in sin. 21:28 No pledge, no promise, no accountability partner. 21:31 No, that's not what gets the job done. 21:34 There's one way to get out of the shackles of sin and 21:37 that's through Jesus. 21:39 Remember that verse we looked at before, from John 8. 21:42 Therefore, if the Son of God shall make you free, you 21:45 shall be free indeed. 21:46 Isaiah 43:11 says this: "I, even I am the Lord, and 21:52 beside me, there is no other." 21:54 So, what do you do when you find yourself living a life 21:56 where you say "There's no power and I'm stuck in a rut, 21:59 I'm stuck in an old way, I'm stuck someplace I don't want 22:02 to be." 22:03 What do you do? 22:04 There's one thing to do. 22:06 When you find that sin has the mastery over you, call 22:09 out to Jesus. 22:11 You can do that. 22:12 No, God is not some cosmic cop with a big stick looking 22:15 to punish you or looking to send you off to hell, if 22:18 that's what he was all about, he could have done that long 22:21 ago. 22:22 Instead, the Bible says this in John 3, not verse 16, but 22:25 verse 17. 22:26 It says this: For God did not send his Son into the world 22:30 to condemn the world, but that the world through him 22:33 might be saved. 22:35 Paul wrote to Timothy, and he said in 1 Timothy 1:15 that 22:39 Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 22:45 The writer of the book of Hebrews said in Hebrews 7 22:47 that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who come 22:51 to God through Him because he lives to make intercession 22:54 for us. 22:56 If you desire a new life, freedom from the old ways, 23:00 freedom from the old habits, if you want that power that 23:03 comes from Jesus Christ, all you need do is ask Jesus to 23:06 come into your life and he will. 23:09 It's as simple as that. 23:10 And then, when you are tempted to put somebody else 23:12 down, when you are tempted to engage injustice or 23:16 oppression, when you are tempted to be drawn into that 23:20 old life again, here's what you do. 23:22 You turn your eyes upon Jesus. 23:24 And the old song says "look full in his wonderful face" 23:28 and when you do, you'll experience a newness in our 23:31 life, a power in your life. 23:34 It's real. 23:35 You can experience it today. 23:37 Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, if anybody is in 23:41 Christ, that person becomes a new creature. 23:45 Old things are past away. 23:46 Behold, all things become new. 23:51 What do you want to be made new in your life today? 23:53 Well, let me put it another way ... 23:55 what are you a slave to? 23:57 What is keeping you down? 23:58 What is holding you back? 24:00 Is there something? 24:02 You can invite Jesus to take that away and replace it with 24:04 the power of his presence today, now, and he will do it 24:08 for you. 24:10 Years after Frederick Douglas found his freedom, he wrote 24:13 these words: I have often been asked how I felt when 24:17 first I found myself on free soil and my readers may share 24:22 the same curiosity. 24:24 There was scarcely anything in my experience about which 24:27 I could not give a more satisfactory answer. 24:31 A new world had opened upon me. 24:33 If life is more than breath and a quick round of blood, I 24:37 lived more in one day than in a year of my slave-life. 24:42 It was a time of joyous excitement, which words can 24:44 but tamely describe in a letter written to a friend 24:48 soon after reaching New York, I said, I felt as one might 24:51 feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions. 24:55 Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be 24:58 depicted but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy 25:04 the skill of pen or pencil. 25:06 Frederick Douglas experienced freedom from slavery and you 25:10 can experience freedom from the slavery of sin through 25:14 Jesus when you accept him into your life. 25:17 Would you do that now? 25:19 Let's pray together. 25:21 Our Father in heaven, we thank you today for freedom 25:24 in Jesus. 25:26 We thank you, Lord, that through Christ, we can true 25:29 freedom, no longer the servants or the slaves of sin 25:33 but the servants only of the God of heaven. 25:36 We thank you for new life. 25:37 We accept it gratefully. 25:40 Lord, let your son Jesus live his life in us and we pray 25:45 with thanks today for freedom in you. 25:48 In Jesus' name, Amen. 26:30 [Music] Today, our free book offer is for one of my very 26:33 favorite books, Steps to Christ. 26:35 Just what you need in your daily walk with Jesus. 26:38 Just call or write and Steps to Christ will be on its way. 26:43 There is no cost or obligation. 26:45 It is our free gift to you. 26:46 Just call 1.800.253.3000 and ask for Steps to Christ. 26:52 Lines are open 24 hours. 26:55 If it's busy when you call, just try again. 26:57 You can also request this free book by writing to It Is 27:00 Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, California, 91359. 27:05 And we will mail a copy to your address in North 27:07 America. 27:08 Please note, this free book is limited to the supply on 27:11 hand, so call soon. 27:12 For immediate access, you can download a free electronic 27:16 version of the book Steps to Christ from our website, 27:18 itiswritten.com. 27:20 It Is Written is a faith-based ministry made 27:23 possible by viewers like you. 27:25 Thank you for your letters and for your continued 27:27 support. 27:31 Thanks for joining me today. 27:32 Look forward to seeing you again next time. 27:34 Until then, remember, It is written, man shall not live 27:38 by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the 27:41 mouth of God. |
Revised 2015-02-06