Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001341
00:02 [Theme Music] It has stood the test
00:08 of time. 00:11 God4s book, the bible still relevant in today4s 00:18 complex world. 00:21 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe. 00:36 Thanks for joining me today. 00:37 In May of 2012 I had a very interesting experience. 00:42 I was here, in Paris, France, to conduct some Bible lectures 00:46 around the city and it was while I was here 00:48 that the French presidential elections were being held. 00:52 The President of France at the time was Nicolas Sarkozy 00:55 and he was being challenged for the presidency 00:57 by François Hollande. 00:59 A week or two before the elections, Sarcozy 01:02 was trailing Messier Hollande by about 13 points 01:05 in the opinion polls. 01:06 But just before the elections, that gap had narrowed 01:11 to about six percent. 01:13 It was clear this was going to be a close race. 01:16 Now, unlike some parts of the world, progress reports 01:20 on election results are not given throughout Election Day 01:23 here in France. 01:25 That means you don4t get to find out how the election 01:27 is going until you find out how the election has gone. 01:31 But that doesn't4t supports of presidential candidates 01:34 making preparations for big victory celebrations. 01:38 The Election Day was a Sunday and that Sunday morning 01:40 I was here, in the Place de la Bastille and I noticed that 01:44 the supporters of Messier Hollande were making plans 01:46 for a big victory celebration. 01:49 That night, France had elected itself a new president. 01:56 The scenes of jubilation here at the Place de la Bastille 01:59 were incredible. 02:01 The music blared. 02:03 The people cheered and shouted and chanted. 02:06 They waived their flags in the air. 02:09 I came down to witness what was going on and found myself 02:11 jammed into a massive humanity right here about 50 02:15 yards behind me. 02:16 There were tens of thousands of people jammed 02:19 into this place. 02:20 People were clambering all over the monument, something 02:23 you just don4t see everyday. 02:25 But, the fact that people were celebrating an election 02:28 result here, at the Place de la Bastille, is itself 02:33 extremely significant. 02:35 About 230 years ago, the Bastille or the Bastille 02:40 prison was stormed. 02:43 Revolutionaries made their way into that prison located, 02:47 it was located right behind me, and the revolution 02:50 was not so much born, but propelled into prominence. 02:54 Now, there could be no going back for France. 02:58 The Revolution was full on. 03:00 The French Revolution: One of the most incredible 03:06 revolutions in the last several hundred years. 03:08 It was a time of tremendous turmoil, a time of terrible 03:19 bloodshed and cruelty and a time when God 03:23 was told in no uncertain terms that he was not welcome 03:28 in France. 03:30 Many people don4t realize what some of the most 03:32 remarkable things were that happened in association 03:35 with The French Revolution. 03:37 On yes, we have heard about the guillotines, but what 03:39 about the story behind the story. 03:43 Today we are going to take a look at this landmark period 03:46 in human history. 03:48 We are going to see that it is very closely related 03:50 to the Bible and we are going to find out that people 03:53 ought to be very careful what they ask for. 03:56 You know that Bible verse that essentially says you 03:59 reap what you sow? 04:00 That principle was graphically demonstrated 04:04 during the French Revolution. 04:05 The French people reaped what they had sown. 04:10 What they had sown was a rejection of God and what 04:15 they reaped was chaos, bloodshed at a terrible time 04:20 of intense misery. 04:25 [Music] Let's go back, way back. 04:31 During the middle Ages, the medieval church kept 04:33 the Bible from the people and the people believed 04:36 what they were told to believe by a church 04:38 whose leaders did not do a very good job of modeling 04:41 Biblical Christianity. 04:43 Rather than making God directly accessible 04:46 to the people, the church made God accessible to the people 04:50 through the church. 04:51 That is, through the traditions and the sacraments 04:54 of the church. 04:55 The priests were said to be God's representatives 04:57 here on earth. 04:58 Forgiveness was to be obtained by going to God through 05:01 the priests of the church. 05:03 The people were not encouraged to read the Bible. 05:06 As a matter of fact, those who had the Bible or found 05:10 to have the Bible or many times even suspected of having 05:13 the Bible or parts of the Bible, were often sentenced 05:16 to death. 05:17 Now, regarding salvation and forgiveness, the people 05:21 were told that they could even purchase forgiveness 05:24 of their sins, that salvation could come from forgiveness 05:26 of sins that was obtained for a price. 05:29 In spite of the fact that the Bible said, Jesus said 05:34 whoever is thirsty; he can come and drink of the water 05:37 of life freely. 05:39 Jesus said, come to me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden 05:43 and I will give you rest. 05:45 We are told that we have an advocate with the Father 05:47 and that that is Jesus Christ, the righteous. 05:50 And when Paul wrote to Timothy, he told them 05:52 that there is one Mediator between God and men, 05:55 the Man, Christ Jesus. 05:57 This manmade, tradition-based religion could not satisfy 06:02 the longings of the human heart. 06:05 But then, light was found. 06:06 People discovered that God had said salvation came 06:10 freely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 06:14 When that sort of light was found, it could not be kept 06:17 hidden. 06:18 It was shared. 06:19 It was shared with others. 06:20 And the Protestant Reformation was born. 06:29 There were many others, of course, but through Hus 06:31 in Bohemia and later Luther, in Germany and then Calvin 06:34 and Zwingli, and Wesley in England and Knox in Scotland, 06:39 the Reformation took off and thousands and thousands 06:42 of people were introduced to salvation by grace through 06:45 faith in Jesus Christ and not through a church, a priest 06:51 or a pope. 06:52 But what about France? 06:55 The Reformation struggled to take hold in France 06:58 and as long as the Reformation struggled to get off the ground, 07:02 the people were stuck in tradition. 07:05 They were kept from the freeing truths of the Bible. 07:08 They were kept in darkness and ignorance and superstition. 07:11 Now, God did raise up a people who would take hold 07:15 of the Word of God here in France. 07:17 There were the Albigenses and the Huguenots, 07:20 a Bible-believing people who loved the Word of God. 07:25 There were, at times, some people who sided with the 07:27 Protestants, even some in high places. 07:29 But generally, the Huguenots were relentlessly persecuted 07:32 and as many as 200,000 of them were hounded right 07:36 out of France. 07:38 But as bad as that was, that was nothing compared 07:40 to what would happen in 1572. 07:43 It was in 1572 that the St. 07:46 Bartholomew's Day Massacre took place. 07:49 At the behest of the ruling church, several thousand 07:54 Huguenot Protestants were murdered in one night. 07:57 Within a month, 25,000 Protestants were murdered 08:02 here in Paris, and tens of thousands of others 08:05 were killed in other parts of France. 08:08 The signal to stop the massacre was the tolling 08:12 of church bells here in Paris. 08:19 [Music] The news of the massacre was received 08:21 with joy in the Vatican. 08:23 In fact, there are three frescos in the Vatican 08:25 that detail the massacre. 08:27 The event is forever commemorated there. 08:32 France simply would not let the light shine. 08:35 The people were kept in the dark. 08:37 The darkness was not only welcomed, but preserved, even 08:41 defended, and good things do not tend to happen when 08:45 people are kept in the dark. 08:46 The very large underclass in French society was forced 08:52 to bare the financial burden for the nation. 08:54 The nobility was not taxed but the lower class people; 08:58 the poor people were heavily taxed and contemptibly 09:02 treated. 09:03 If you are familiar with Victor Hugo's book Les Miserables, 09:06 you understand that the central protagonist in that book 09:09 was a gentleman named Jean Valjean, who was sentenced 09:12 to 7 years in squalor's prison for simply stealing a loaf 09:16 of bread. 09:17 Then, because of various infractions, his seven-year 09:19 prison sentence grew into a 19-year prison sentence. 09:22 Now, I understand that Les Miserables is not a documentary, 09:27 it's a work of fiction, but it does represent how 09:31 French society operated at that time. 09:35 The French people started to develop intense resentment 09:38 and bitterness. 09:39 As a matter of fact, deep hatred for the ruling class. 09:43 There came a time when the king realized that 09:46 the poorer people needed to have representation 09:49 in the affairs of the state. 09:50 But when the underclass was given that representation, 09:55 they simply wanted more, and more, and more power. 10:02 An absolute tidal wave of anger was let loose across 10:07 France and the French Revolution was born. 10:12 [Music] 10:28 This is an incredible piece of architecture and it 10:32 also represents an incredible amount of arrogance on the part 10:35 of its builder. 10:36 It's the Palace of Versailles. 10:39 It was built by the Sun King, Luis XIV who was the King 10:42 of France for around 60 years. 10:47 During that time, France about went bankrupt. 10:50 Louis had several wars he was fighting, but he also spent 10:54 piles of money on excesses like this. 10:57 You can imagine how that went over with the people. 11:01 They resented what the wealthy class was doing while they 11:04 suffered so badly. 11:05 It was actually Luis XIV who sowed the seeds 11:09 of the Revolution. 11:15 [Music] Now consider the factors that went into this. 11:28 You had a group of people who were starved of the Word 11:30 of God and, therefore, had no real conception of the true 11:34 character of God. 11:36 And this same group of people had been pushed down, 11:39 manipulated by the State, persecuted, really. 11:43 When this group of people rose up, they really rose up 11:46 and what was going to happen wasn't going to be pretty. 11:53 In Matthew 4:4 the Word of God says "It is written 'Man 11:57 shall not live by bread alone but by every word 12:00 that proceeds out of the mouth of God'." Every Word is a one 12:04 minute Bible-based daily devotional presented 12:07 by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed especially for busy 12:10 people like you. 12:11 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch 12:15 it on-line everyday on our website itiswritten.com. 12:19 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 12:21 Watch Every Word. 12:22 You'll be glad you did. 12:23 Here's a sample: 12:34 What a great example Jacob gave us. 12:37 He'd made plenty of mistakes but late one night he wrestled 12:39 with God and said to God in Genesis 32:26, "I will not 12:43 let you go unless you bless me." 12:44 Now there's the right attitude. 12:47 "Lord, I must have your blessing and I'm going 12:49 to hang on to you until I get it." 12:52 You can pray that way: "Lord, I must be delivered, I have 12:54 to know your will, I have to have your power in my life." 12:58 Jacob showed us what to do when you fall. 13:00 Instead of running FROM God he ran TO God. 13:03 Instead of giving up he took hold of God believing that 13:06 God was willing and able to bless. 13:09 Don't let your falls and failures keep you 13:11 away from God. 13:12 Be like Jacob - knowing he had made mistakes he took 13:15 hold of God, and wouldn't let go until God had blessed him. 13:19 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written. 13:22 Let's live today by Every Word. 13:27 I live in a country where people are free to believe 13:30 whatever they want to believe about God. 13:32 And I like it that way. 13:33 I like not being forced to believe something about God 13:37 that I might not necessarily choose to believe on my own. 13:40 I have noticed in recent years, atheists have started 13:44 to speak with a louder voice. 13:46 To be honest, in some cases, I sympathize with atheists 13:50 because the God that many atheists don't believe 13:53 in is a God that I don't believe in. 13:56 The argument from some atheists goes like this: 13:59 Because some of the things that Christians believe 14:02 are just so silly, therefore, I don't believe in God. 14:07 Or, because the way many Christians act is just so silly 14:12 or repugnant, therefore, I don't want to have anything 14:15 to do with God. 14:17 But history shows us that atheism isn't a great path 14:21 for people to follow, either as individuals or as nations. 14:27 Think about the implications of atheism. 14:29 Point 1) If there is no God, if there is no God who 14:33 purposely created this earth, then you and I are just 14:36 the results of a cosmic accident and we don't have any real 14:39 divine purpose to our being here. 14:41 Point 2) If there was no creation, if there is no God, 14:45 then surely there is no after life and then this earth 14:50 is all you have. 14:51 After your life on earth, it's all over. 14:54 Is that an attractive thought; and 14:57 Point 3) What happens to morals? 14:59 If there is no God, there is no absolute source of right 15:02 and wrong. 15:03 There is no final arbiter in these things other than you 15:06 and me. 15:08 Really? 15:09 You and I get to choose what is right and wrong 15:12 about everything? 15:14 It's hard to imagine that that's a good way 15:16 to approach life. 15:17 You know, we have examples of what society would be like 15:20 if there was no God. 15:22 European communism in the 20th Century was largely 15:26 a Godless form of communism, which led to the tyranny 15:29 of the state-controlled Soviet Union and dictatorships 15:33 like that of the Romanian monster, Nicolae Ceausescu, 15:36 who was killed by his own people. 15:38 [Music] And here in France we have 15:42 a chilling example of what happens when a country 15:46 turns its back on God. 15:48 France did that, officially. 15:50 It turned its back on God and declared itself 15:54 to be an atheist state. 15:57 Let's discuss that. 15:59 [Music] The French Revolution 16:03 came about because of a variety of factors. 16:06 The working class had been ground down by the ruling 16:08 class and they came to the place where they decided 16:11 - the working class - that they just weren't going to take 16:14 it any longer. 16:15 And so they rose up. 16:16 They took revenge against the ruling class killing anyone 16:20 who dared to stand in their way. 16:22 A national assembly was formed and this was 16:25 an assembly that gave voice to the people, not simply 16:28 listening to the nobility and the ruling classes. 16:30 Now the poverty and the exploitation being 16:35 experienced by the working class in Paris, France 16:38 at the time was phenomenal. 16:39 When I talk about poverty and exploitation, I mean really, 16:43 it was hard to imagine. 16:45 The difficult circumstances that the poorer classes went 16:48 through were absolutely amazing. 16:51 So, theBastille was 16:53 stormed, as a symbol of the protest of the people. 16:56 The state prison, the Bastille was stormed. 17:00 Now, there was only a few people in there at the time 17:03 as prisoners, seven, as a matter of fact, but they 17:06 were liberated and the governor of the prison was killed. 17:10 To demonstrate how serious they were, the Bastille 17:13 was destroyed. 17:14 Parts of it were taken around France and shown to the citizens 17:18 of France and this was a way for the revolutionaries 17:21 to say to the people of France: We are serious about this. 17:25 The Revolution was in full swing. 17:28 The country was now being run by the people, not the nobility. 17:32 And before long, a Bill of Rights was drafted. 17:34 [Music] And the Church, 17:39 which had exercised such power in France until this time, 17:43 wasn't going to escape the attention 17:45 of the revolutionaries. 17:47 Its right to collect a tithe, a ten percent on income 17:52 from every citizen in France, was abolished. 17:55 In fact, it wasn't long and the church itself would find 18:02 itself in the cross hairs of the revolutionaries. 18:04 The members of the clergy who remained loyal to the Pope 18:08 rather than to the national assembly, and that was 18:11 the majority, were considered to be traitors and now many 18:15 members of the clergy were themselves persecuted. 18:20 Here is what you had. 18:21 An essentially godless group of people seizing power 18:24 and rebelling against not only the State that had persecuted 18:28 them, but against the Church that had extorted and misused 18:31 them. 18:32 And a group of people with that sort of power 18:35 and with that sort of bitterness, not guided 18:38 by the Holy Spirit or anything remotely resembling 18:40 Christian principles, were committed to revenge 18:45 and destruction, and this morphed into 18:48 a hellish period that became known as the Reign of Terror. 19:04 The Reign of Terror began in 1793 and it lasted for about 19:07 10 months. 19:09 During that time, 20,000 people were executed 19:12 by guillotine, thousands of them here in Paris. 19:15 And tens of thousands of others were executed 19:17 by other means all over France. 19:20 Many of the executions happened right here, 19:23 in a place that is now known as the Place de la Concorde. 19:27 It is a fabulous place now. 19:32 [Music] 19:36 In one direction is the Louvre and the beautiful 19:38 gardens that surround it. 19:39 And the other is the famous Champs-Elysées, a magnificent 19:44 boulevard that leads to the Arc de Triomphe. 19:47 The National Assembly Building is right there. 19:50 There is a stunning Obelisk that was given to France 19:54 by the Nation of Egypt in the 19th Century. 19:57 But before t here was an Obelisk here, there was a 20:00 guillotine and it was kept busy. 20:03 At that time, instead of being the Place de la 20:11 Concorde, or Concorde Square, in other words, Getting along 20:15 with each other Square, it was called the Place de la 20:19 Revolution. 20:20 The executioners started wiping out the nobility. 20:24 King Louis XXI was executed here. 20:27 So was his wife, Marie Antoinette, who incidentally 20:31 probably didn't say, "Let them eat cake", and seems 20:34 to have been executed simply because people didn't like her. 20:41 You know, the guillotines were actually set up right here. 20:46 They were set up right here where this Obelisk now stands. 20:50 And when you think about it, what the revolutionaries were 20:53 really trying to do was execute God. 20:58 They were so fueled by their lack of Christianity, 21:00 so maddened by what they perceived to be the misdeeds 21:04 of the church, that they began this process 21:06 of banishing God from society. 21:08 What they did was initiate an intentional process 21:12 of de-Christianization, where God was pushed out of society 21:16 and not only was God pushed out of society, but atheism 21:20 was set up as a national religion. 21:23 Think about it. 21:24 In 1793, the world heard an educated, civilized country 21:29 declare in its national assembly that there is no God 21:32 and masses of people rejoiced. 21:45 [Music] But it goes even further and gets even more 21:47 bizarre than that. 21:49 In a ceremony that now seems impossible to believe, 21:52 a woman was brought into France's National Assembly 21:55 building, placed right next to the country's highest 21:58 political leaders, and declared to be the goddess 22:02 of reason and the people were told it was this woman 22:07 that they would worship from now on. 22:09 Then, unbelievably, she was taken here, 22:18 to Notre Dame Cathedral. 22:21 She was elevated before the people and was presented 22:24 as an object of worship, receiving the adoration 22:28 of everyone present. 22:33 The weekly day of rest was set aside and France 22:36 installed every 10th day as a festive day. 22:40 The institutions of the Bible were banned. 22:42 Baptism and communion were strictly prohibited. 22:46 A nation had declared that there was no God. 22:49 France had de-Christianized itself and installed a goddess 22:53 of reason. 22:55 A nation turned its back on God and essentially declared 22:58 itself atheist and look where that got it. 23:03 Having thrown off the restraining power 23:05 of the Holy Spirit, the leaders of this movement 23:09 left to their own devices, filled France 23:12 with blood. 23:15 Godlessness never prospers an individual or a nation. 23:19 History shows us that. 23:21 Nobody can point to a place in the world where Godlessness 23:24 has turned out for the better and led to advancement 23:26 or prosperity. 23:28 And nobody will ever be able to do that, because that sort 23:31 of place has never existed and never will. 23:35 The Bible says, "The fool has said in his heart there 23:39 is no God." Proverbs 14:34 says, "Righteousness exalts 23:44 a nation." Listen to this, from the prophet Isaiah: 23:48 "Oh, that thou hast harkened to my commandments. 23:51 Then had thy peace been as a river and thy righteousness 23:55 as the waves of the sea. 23:57 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. 24:02 So what happens to a nation when God is left out 24:05 of the picture? 24:06 Well, it can't possibly go in a good direction and history 24:10 shows us that only too clearly. 24:13 But what happens to your life when God is left out 24:16 of the picture. 24:18 In the same way it cannot possibly go the way that God 24:21 wants it to go. 24:23 You know, I suppose it's one thing to look at a nation 24:26 and examine some of the sadder parts of its history but it's 24:28 altogether another thing and most likely a far more 24:31 important thing to examine our own hearts and ask 24:36 ourselves what is going on there. 24:38 Friend, what is going on in your hear today? 24:41 You know, in Philippians 2:14 Paul wrote, and he wrote 24:44 this words, he said: " It is God who works in you both to will 24:48 and to do for his good pleasure." When a nation asks 24:52 God to leave and says we don't want your help 24:55 and we'll do things our own way, a nation will reap what it sows. 25:00 Same thing with a person. 25:02 When a person says I don't think I want God working 25:05 in me both to will and to do of his good pleasure, what can 25:07 God do? 25:08 But friend, today you can say, Lord, whatever 25:11 the circumstances of my life, whatever my strengths 25:13 or weaknesses, whatever my ups and downs, I would like you 25:17 to live your life in me. 25:20 And when we make that request of God, God honors that request, 25:24 and God lives his life in you. 25:27 And then, you reap what you sow, but you've sown good 25:31 things and you will reap everlasting life. 25:38 [Music] 25:46 Revolutions are nothing new but many years ago, 25:50 a revolution occurred in heaven and the sin 25:52 and problems we see in the world today are the result 25:55 of that revolution. 25:56 There is a last-day battle going on. 25:59 A battle to see who will rule the earth in earth's final days. 26:02 I want you to have a study we have prepared on 26:04 this subject, called The Battle for the Throne. 26:07 You will understand the beasts of Bible prophecy, 26:10 what they mean, and what they reveal about earth's last 26:13 days. 26:14 The Battle for the Throne. 26:16 In just a few pages, you will discover what the Bible 26:18 has to say about the beasts of Bible prophecy 26:21 and it is clearly explained. 26:22 You won't be guessing or wondering after you read 26:25 The Battle for the Throne. 26:27 And it's our free gift to you right now. 26:31 This informative and practical booklet 26:33 is available free from It Is Written. 26:36 Just call 1.800.253.3000 and ask for the Battle 26:40 for the Throne. 26:41 You can also request this study by writing to 26:43 It Is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359 26:49 and we will mail a copy to your address 26:51 in North America. 26:53 And be sure to visit our website, itiswritten.com, 26:56 where you will discover many more helpful resources 26:59 on a variety of life-changing topics. 27:02 It Is Written is a faith-based outreach made possible 27:05 by viewers like you. 27:07 Thanks for your letters and emails and thank you 27:10 for your continued financial support. 27:13 Your support enables It is Written to share 27:14 clear Bible truth and impact lives around 27:18 the world. 27:19 Our toll free number is 1.800.253.3000 and our web 27:24 address is itiswritten.com 27:27 Thanks for joining me today. 27:29 Let's pray together. 27:30 Our Father in heaven, thank you for showing us that 27:34 things work better when you are in the center of a nation 27:39 and of an individual. 27:40 Lord, please be the center of our lives that we might reap 27:43 what we sow, having sown the good, having sown Christ, 27:47 that we might reap everlasting life. 27:50 Be honored in our lives. 27:51 We pray and thank you in Jesus' name, amen. 27:56 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 27:59 Until then, remember "It is written, man shall not 28:03 live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds 28:07 from the mouth of God. |
Revised 2015-02-05