[Theme Music] It has stood the test 00:00:02.16\00:00:08.46 of time. 00:00:08.46\00:00:10.46 God4s book, the bible still relevant in today4s 00:00:11.76\00:00:18.33 complex world. 00:00:18.33\00:00:20.80 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe. 00:00:21.93\00:00:29.50 Thanks for joining me today. 00:00:36.66\00:00:37.86 In May of 2012 I had a very interesting experience. 00:00:37.86\00:00:42.40 I was here, in Paris, France, to conduct some Bible lectures 00:00:42.40\00:00:46.10 around the city and it was while I was here 00:00:46.10\00:00:48.73 that the French presidential elections were being held. 00:00:48.73\00:00:52.16 The President of France at the time was Nicolas Sarkozy 00:00:52.16\00:00:55.56 and he was being challenged for the presidency 00:00:55.56\00:00:57.70 by François Hollande. 00:00:57.70\00:00:59.63 A week or two before the elections, Sarcozy 00:00:59.63\00:01:02.56 was trailing Messier Hollande by about 13 points 00:01:02.56\00:01:05.63 in the opinion polls. 00:01:05.63\00:01:06.76 But just before the elections, that gap had narrowed 00:01:06.76\00:01:11.06 to about six percent. 00:01:11.06\00:01:13.46 It was clear this was going to be a close race. 00:01:13.46\00:01:16.83 Now, unlike some parts of the world, progress reports 00:01:16.83\00:01:20.03 on election results are not given throughout Election Day 00:01:20.03\00:01:23.53 here in France. 00:01:23.53\00:01:25.13 That means you don4t get to find out how the election 00:01:25.13\00:01:27.13 is going until you find out how the election has gone. 00:01:27.13\00:01:31.46 But that doesn't4t supports of presidential candidates 00:01:31.46\00:01:34.33 making preparations for big victory celebrations. 00:01:34.33\00:01:38.26 The Election Day was a Sunday and that Sunday morning 00:01:38.26\00:01:40.60 I was here, in the Place de la Bastille and I noticed that 00:01:40.60\00:01:44.10 the supporters of Messier Hollande were making plans 00:01:44.10\00:01:46.53 for a big victory celebration. 00:01:46.53\00:01:49.60 That night, France had elected itself a new president. 00:01:49.60\00:01:53.66 The scenes of jubilation here at the Place de la Bastille 00:01:56.23\00:01:59.90 were incredible. 00:01:59.90\00:02:01.30 The music blared. 00:02:01.30\00:02:03.33 The people cheered and shouted and chanted. 00:02:03.33\00:02:06.53 They waived their flags in the air. 00:02:06.53\00:02:09.16 I came down to witness what was going on and found myself 00:02:09.16\00:02:11.93 jammed into a massive humanity right here about 50 00:02:11.93\00:02:15.43 yards behind me. 00:02:15.43\00:02:16.66 There were tens of thousands of people jammed 00:02:16.66\00:02:19.40 into this place. 00:02:19.40\00:02:20.40 People were clambering all over the monument, something 00:02:20.40\00:02:23.13 you just don4t see everyday. 00:02:23.13\00:02:25.70 But, the fact that people were celebrating an election 00:02:25.70\00:02:28.66 result here, at the Place de la Bastille, is itself 00:02:28.66\00:02:33.53 extremely significant. 00:02:33.53\00:02:35.50 About 230 years ago, the Bastille or the Bastille 00:02:35.50\00:02:40.63 prison was stormed. 00:02:40.63\00:02:43.26 Revolutionaries made their way into that prison located, 00:02:43.26\00:02:47.00 it was located right behind me, and the revolution 00:02:47.00\00:02:50.26 was not so much born, but propelled into prominence. 00:02:50.26\00:02:54.73 Now, there could be no going back for France. 00:02:54.73\00:02:58.10 The Revolution was full on. 00:02:58.10\00:03:00.46 The French Revolution: One of the most incredible 00:03:00.46\00:03:06.00 revolutions in the last several hundred years. 00:03:06.00\00:03:08.73 It was a time of tremendous turmoil, a time of terrible 00:03:08.73\00:03:19.16 bloodshed and cruelty and a time when God 00:03:19.16\00:03:23.86 was told in no uncertain terms that he was not welcome 00:03:23.86\00:03:28.66 in France. 00:03:28.66\00:03:30.46 Many people don4t realize what some of the most 00:03:30.46\00:03:32.70 remarkable things were that happened in association 00:03:32.70\00:03:35.46 with The French Revolution. 00:03:35.46\00:03:37.10 On yes, we have heard about the guillotines, but what 00:03:37.10\00:03:39.76 about the story behind the story. 00:03:39.76\00:03:43.13 Today we are going to take a look at this landmark period 00:03:43.13\00:03:46.73 in human history. 00:03:46.73\00:03:48.00 We are going to see that it is very closely related 00:03:48.00\00:03:50.60 to the Bible and we are going to find out that people 00:03:50.60\00:03:53.53 ought to be very careful what they ask for. 00:03:53.53\00:03:56.10 You know that Bible verse that essentially says you 00:03:56.10\00:03:59.53 reap what you sow? 00:03:59.53\00:04:00.63 That principle was graphically demonstrated 00:04:00.63\00:04:04.13 during the French Revolution. 00:04:04.13\00:04:05.63 The French people reaped what they had sown. 00:04:05.63\00:04:10.30 What they had sown was a rejection of God and what 00:04:10.30\00:04:15.00 they reaped was chaos, bloodshed at a terrible time 00:04:15.00\00:04:20.00 of intense misery. 00:04:20.00\00:04:25.60 [Music] Let's go back, way back. 00:04:25.60\00:04:31.00 During the middle Ages, the medieval church kept 00:04:31.00\00:04:33.80 the Bible from the people and the people believed 00:04:33.80\00:04:36.30 what they were told to believe by a church 00:04:36.30\00:04:38.30 whose leaders did not do a very good job of modeling 00:04:38.30\00:04:41.60 Biblical Christianity. 00:04:41.60\00:04:43.26 Rather than making God directly accessible 00:04:43.26\00:04:46.50 to the people, the church made God accessible to the people 00:04:46.50\00:04:50.03 through the church. 00:04:50.03\00:04:51.30 That is, through the traditions and the sacraments 00:04:51.30\00:04:54.30 of the church. 00:04:54.30\00:04:55.30 The priests were said to be God's representatives 00:04:55.30\00:04:57.56 here on earth. 00:04:57.56\00:04:58.56 Forgiveness was to be obtained by going to God through 00:04:58.56\00:05:01.56 the priests of the church. 00:05:01.56\00:05:03.03 The people were not encouraged to read the Bible. 00:05:03.03\00:05:06.20 As a matter of fact, those who had the Bible or found 00:05:06.20\00:05:10.06 to have the Bible or many times even suspected of having 00:05:10.06\00:05:13.20 the Bible or parts of the Bible, were often sentenced 00:05:13.20\00:05:16.66 to death. 00:05:16.66\00:05:17.66 Now, regarding salvation and forgiveness, the people 00:05:17.66\00:05:21.23 were told that they could even purchase forgiveness 00:05:21.23\00:05:24.16 of their sins, that salvation could come from forgiveness 00:05:24.16\00:05:26.93 of sins that was obtained for a price. 00:05:26.93\00:05:29.96 In spite of the fact that the Bible said, Jesus said 00:05:29.96\00:05:34.70 whoever is thirsty; he can come and drink of the water 00:05:34.70\00:05:37.40 of life freely. 00:05:37.40\00:05:39.46 Jesus said, come to me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden 00:05:39.46\00:05:43.13 and I will give you rest. 00:05:43.13\00:05:45.70 We are told that we have an advocate with the Father 00:05:45.70\00:05:47.70 and that that is Jesus Christ, the righteous. 00:05:47.70\00:05:50.16 And when Paul wrote to Timothy, he told them 00:05:50.16\00:05:52.16 that there is one Mediator between God and men, 00:05:52.16\00:05:55.30 the Man, Christ Jesus. 00:05:55.30\00:05:57.60 This manmade, tradition-based religion could not satisfy 00:05:57.60\00:06:02.66 the longings of the human heart. 00:06:02.66\00:06:05.56 But then, light was found. 00:06:05.56\00:06:06.93 People discovered that God had said salvation came 00:06:06.93\00:06:10.50 freely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 00:06:10.50\00:06:14.93 When that sort of light was found, it could not be kept 00:06:14.93\00:06:17.66 hidden. 00:06:17.66\00:06:18.66 It was shared. 00:06:18.66\00:06:19.66 It was shared with others. 00:06:19.66\00:06:20.66 And the Protestant Reformation was born. 00:06:20.66\00:06:24.30 There were many others, of course, but through Hus 00:06:29.03\00:06:31.13 in Bohemia and later Luther, in Germany and then Calvin 00:06:31.13\00:06:34.86 and Zwingli, and Wesley in England and Knox in Scotland, 00:06:34.86\00:06:39.00 the Reformation took off and thousands and thousands 00:06:39.00\00:06:42.63 of people were introduced to salvation by grace through 00:06:42.63\00:06:45.93 faith in Jesus Christ and not through a church, a priest 00:06:45.93\00:06:51.13 or a pope. 00:06:51.13\00:06:52.13 But what about France? 00:06:52.13\00:06:55.83 The Reformation struggled to take hold in France 00:06:55.83\00:06:58.70 and as long as the Reformation struggled to get off the ground, 00:06:58.70\00:07:02.90 the people were stuck in tradition. 00:07:02.90\00:07:05.06 They were kept from the freeing truths of the Bible. 00:07:05.06\00:07:08.36 They were kept in darkness and ignorance and superstition. 00:07:08.36\00:07:11.96 Now, God did raise up a people who would take hold 00:07:11.96\00:07:15.40 of the Word of God here in France. 00:07:15.40\00:07:17.40 There were the Albigenses and the Huguenots, 00:07:17.40\00:07:20.96 a Bible-believing people who loved the Word of God. 00:07:20.96\00:07:25.30 There were, at times, some people who sided with the 00:07:25.30\00:07:27.30 Protestants, even some in high places. 00:07:27.30\00:07:29.96 But generally, the Huguenots were relentlessly persecuted 00:07:29.96\00:07:32.83 and as many as 200,000 of them were hounded right 00:07:32.83\00:07:36.50 out of France. 00:07:36.50\00:07:38.03 But as bad as that was, that was nothing compared 00:07:38.03\00:07:40.83 to what would happen in 1572. 00:07:40.83\00:07:43.30 It was in 1572 that the St. 00:07:43.30\00:07:46.93 Bartholomew's Day Massacre took place. 00:07:46.93\00:07:49.40 At the behest of the ruling church, several thousand 00:07:49.40\00:07:54.26 Huguenot Protestants were murdered in one night. 00:07:54.26\00:07:57.96 Within a month, 25,000 Protestants were murdered 00:07:57.96\00:08:02.40 here in Paris, and tens of thousands of others 00:08:02.40\00:08:05.70 were killed in other parts of France. 00:08:05.70\00:08:08.66 The signal to stop the massacre was the tolling 00:08:08.66\00:08:12.00 of church bells here in Paris. 00:08:12.00\00:08:14.53 [Music] The news of the massacre was received 00:08:19.23\00:08:21.23 with joy in the Vatican. 00:08:21.23\00:08:23.56 In fact, there are three frescos in the Vatican 00:08:23.56\00:08:25.90 that detail the massacre. 00:08:25.90\00:08:27.03 The event is forever commemorated there. 00:08:27.03\00:08:32.43 France simply would not let the light shine. 00:08:32.43\00:08:35.00 The people were kept in the dark. 00:08:35.00\00:08:37.46 The darkness was not only welcomed, but preserved, even 00:08:37.46\00:08:41.63 defended, and good things do not tend to happen when 00:08:41.63\00:08:45.30 people are kept in the dark. 00:08:45.30\00:08:46.90 The very large underclass in French society was forced 00:08:46.90\00:08:52.00 to bare the financial burden for the nation. 00:08:52.00\00:08:54.80 The nobility was not taxed but the lower class people; 00:08:54.80\00:08:58.66 the poor people were heavily taxed and contemptibly 00:08:58.66\00:09:02.33 treated. 00:09:02.33\00:09:03.93 If you are familiar with Victor Hugo's book Les Miserables, 00:09:03.93\00:09:06.56 you understand that the central protagonist in that book 00:09:06.56\00:09:09.43 was a gentleman named Jean Valjean, who was sentenced 00:09:09.43\00:09:12.36 to 7 years in squalor's prison for simply stealing a loaf 00:09:12.36\00:09:16.16 of bread. 00:09:16.16\00:09:17.16 Then, because of various infractions, his seven-year 00:09:17.16\00:09:19.40 prison sentence grew into a 19-year prison sentence. 00:09:19.40\00:09:22.73 Now, I understand that Les Miserables is not a documentary, 00:09:22.73\00:09:27.63 it's a work of fiction, but it does represent how 00:09:27.63\00:09:31.06 French society operated at that time. 00:09:31.06\00:09:35.36 The French people started to develop intense resentment 00:09:35.36\00:09:38.63 and bitterness. 00:09:38.63\00:09:39.83 As a matter of fact, deep hatred for the ruling class. 00:09:39.83\00:09:43.76 There came a time when the king realized that 00:09:43.76\00:09:46.36 the poorer people needed to have representation 00:09:46.36\00:09:49.36 in the affairs of the state. 00:09:49.36\00:09:50.53 But when the underclass was given that representation, 00:09:50.53\00:09:55.60 they simply wanted more, and more, and more power. 00:09:55.60\00:09:59.33 An absolute tidal wave of anger was let loose across 00:10:02.03\00:10:07.10 France and the French Revolution was born. 00:10:07.10\00:10:12.43 [Music] 00:10:12.43\00:10:17.43 This is an incredible piece of architecture and it 00:10:28.90\00:10:32.00 also represents an incredible amount of arrogance on the part 00:10:32.00\00:10:35.96 of its builder. 00:10:35.96\00:10:36.96 It's the Palace of Versailles. 00:10:36.96\00:10:39.20 It was built by the Sun King, Luis XIV who was the King 00:10:39.20\00:10:42.86 of France for around 60 years. 00:10:42.86\00:10:47.00 During that time, France about went bankrupt. 00:10:47.00\00:10:50.73 Louis had several wars he was fighting, but he also spent 00:10:50.73\00:10:54.36 piles of money on excesses like this. 00:10:54.36\00:10:57.53 You can imagine how that went over with the people. 00:10:57.53\00:11:01.53 They resented what the wealthy class was doing while they 00:11:01.53\00:11:04.36 suffered so badly. 00:11:04.36\00:11:05.46 It was actually Luis XIV who sowed the seeds 00:11:05.46\00:11:09.93 of the Revolution. 00:11:09.93\00:11:15.90 [Music] Now consider the factors that went into this. 00:11:15.90\00:11:24.90 You had a group of people who were starved of the Word 00:11:28.06\00:11:30.76 of God and, therefore, had no real conception of the true 00:11:30.76\00:11:34.43 character of God. 00:11:34.43\00:11:36.06 And this same group of people had been pushed down, 00:11:36.06\00:11:39.06 manipulated by the State, persecuted, really. 00:11:39.06\00:11:43.10 When this group of people rose up, they really rose up 00:11:43.10\00:11:46.93 and what was going to happen wasn't going to be pretty. 00:11:46.93\00:11:51.53 In Matthew 4:4 the Word of God says "It is written 'Man 00:11:53.63\00:11:57.46 shall not live by bread alone but by every word 00:11:57.46\00:12:00.80 that proceeds out of the mouth of God'." Every Word is a one 00:12:00.80\00:12:04.50 minute Bible-based daily devotional presented 00:12:04.50\00:12:07.50 by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed especially for busy 00:12:07.50\00:12:10.53 people like you. 00:12:10.53\00:12:11.70 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch 00:12:11.70\00:12:15.03 it on-line everyday on our website itiswritten.com. 00:12:15.03\00:12:19.36 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 00:12:19.36\00:12:21.36 Watch Every Word. 00:12:21.36\00:12:22.73 You'll be glad you did. 00:12:22.73\00:12:23.46 Here's a sample: 00:12:23.46\00:12:26.46 What a great example Jacob gave us. 00:12:34.46\00:12:37.10 He'd made plenty of mistakes but late one night he wrestled 00:12:37.10\00:12:39.66 with God and said to God in Genesis 32:26, "I will not 00:12:39.66\00:12:43.33 let you go unless you bless me." 00:12:43.33\00:12:44.20 Now there's the right attitude. 00:12:44.20\00:12:47.46 "Lord, I must have your blessing and I'm going 00:12:47.46\00:12:49.96 to hang on to you until I get it." 00:12:49.96\00:12:52.10 You can pray that way: "Lord, I must be delivered, I have 00:12:52.10\00:12:54.70 to know your will, I have to have your power in my life." 00:12:54.70\00:12:58.23 Jacob showed us what to do when you fall. 00:12:58.23\00:13:00.13 Instead of running FROM God he ran TO God. 00:13:00.13\00:13:03.63 Instead of giving up he took hold of God believing that 00:13:03.63\00:13:06.76 God was willing and able to bless. 00:13:06.76\00:13:09.50 Don't let your falls and failures keep you 00:13:09.50\00:13:11.60 away from God. 00:13:11.60\00:13:12.43 Be like Jacob - knowing he had made mistakes he took 00:13:12.43\00:13:15.83 hold of God, and wouldn't let go until God had blessed him. 00:13:15.83\00:13:19.03 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written. 00:13:19.03\00:13:22.53 Let's live today by Every Word. 00:13:22.53\00:13:26.86 I live in a country where people are free to believe 00:13:27.93\00:13:30.10 whatever they want to believe about God. 00:13:30.10\00:13:32.10 And I like it that way. 00:13:32.10\00:13:33.60 I like not being forced to believe something about God 00:13:33.60\00:13:37.03 that I might not necessarily choose to believe on my own. 00:13:37.03\00:13:40.03 I have noticed in recent years, atheists have started 00:13:40.03\00:13:44.20 to speak with a louder voice. 00:13:44.20\00:13:46.56 To be honest, in some cases, I sympathize with atheists 00:13:46.56\00:13:50.63 because the God that many atheists don't believe 00:13:50.63\00:13:53.20 in is a God that I don't believe in. 00:13:53.20\00:13:56.76 The argument from some atheists goes like this: 00:13:56.76\00:13:59.26 Because some of the things that Christians believe 00:13:59.26\00:14:02.96 are just so silly, therefore, I don't believe in God. 00:14:02.96\00:14:07.26 Or, because the way many Christians act is just so silly 00:14:07.26\00:14:12.00 or repugnant, therefore, I don't want to have anything 00:14:12.00\00:14:15.16 to do with God. 00:14:15.16\00:14:17.20 But history shows us that atheism isn't a great path 00:14:17.20\00:14:21.13 for people to follow, either as individuals or as nations. 00:14:21.13\00:14:27.00 Think about the implications of atheism. 00:14:27.00\00:14:29.16 Point 1) If there is no God, if there is no God who 00:14:29.16\00:14:33.06 purposely created this earth, then you and I are just 00:14:33.06\00:14:36.66 the results of a cosmic accident and we don't have any real 00:14:36.66\00:14:39.66 divine purpose to our being here. 00:14:39.66\00:14:41.66 Point 2) If there was no creation, if there is no God, 00:14:41.66\00:14:45.93 then surely there is no after life and then this earth 00:14:45.93\00:14:50.10 is all you have. 00:14:50.10\00:14:51.63 After your life on earth, it's all over. 00:14:51.63\00:14:54.66 Is that an attractive thought; and 00:14:54.66\00:14:57.56 Point 3) What happens to morals? 00:14:57.56\00:14:59.56 If there is no God, there is no absolute source of right 00:14:59.56\00:15:02.46 and wrong. 00:15:02.46\00:15:03.46 There is no final arbiter in these things other than you 00:15:03.46\00:15:06.66 and me. 00:15:06.66\00:15:08.00 Really? 00:15:08.00\00:15:09.40 You and I get to choose what is right and wrong 00:15:09.40\00:15:12.43 about everything? 00:15:12.43\00:15:14.26 It's hard to imagine that that's a good way 00:15:14.26\00:15:16.26 to approach life. 00:15:16.26\00:15:17.56 You know, we have examples of what society would be like 00:15:17.56\00:15:20.93 if there was no God. 00:15:20.93\00:15:22.93 European communism in the 20th Century was largely 00:15:22.93\00:15:26.00 a Godless form of communism, which led to the tyranny 00:15:26.00\00:15:29.76 of the state-controlled Soviet Union and dictatorships 00:15:29.76\00:15:33.16 like that of the Romanian monster, Nicolae Ceausescu, 00:15:33.16\00:15:36.53 who was killed by his own people. 00:15:36.53\00:15:38.80 [Music] And here in France we have 00:15:38.80\00:15:42.66 a chilling example of what happens when a country 00:15:42.66\00:15:46.13 turns its back on God. 00:15:46.13\00:15:48.06 France did that, officially. 00:15:48.06\00:15:50.90 It turned its back on God and declared itself 00:15:50.90\00:15:54.53 to be an atheist state. 00:15:54.53\00:15:57.16 Let's discuss that. 00:15:57.16\00:15:58.56 [Music] The French Revolution 00:15:59.90\00:16:03.46 came about because of a variety of factors. 00:16:03.46\00:16:06.13 The working class had been ground down by the ruling 00:16:06.13\00:16:08.73 class and they came to the place where they decided 00:16:08.73\00:16:11.23 - the working class - that they just weren't going to take 00:16:11.23\00:16:14.13 it any longer. 00:16:14.13\00:16:15.13 And so they rose up. 00:16:15.13\00:16:16.50 They took revenge against the ruling class killing anyone 00:16:16.50\00:16:20.16 who dared to stand in their way. 00:16:20.16\00:16:22.56 A national assembly was formed and this was 00:16:22.56\00:16:25.26 an assembly that gave voice to the people, not simply 00:16:25.26\00:16:28.23 listening to the nobility and the ruling classes. 00:16:28.23\00:16:30.83 Now the poverty and the exploitation being 00:16:30.83\00:16:35.00 experienced by the working class in Paris, France 00:16:35.00\00:16:38.03 at the time was phenomenal. 00:16:38.03\00:16:39.83 When I talk about poverty and exploitation, I mean really, 00:16:39.83\00:16:43.83 it was hard to imagine. 00:16:43.83\00:16:45.13 The difficult circumstances that the poorer classes went 00:16:45.13\00:16:48.80 through were absolutely amazing. 00:16:48.80\00:16:51.53 So, theBastille was 00:16:51.53\00:16:53.46 stormed, as a symbol of the protest of the people. 00:16:53.46\00:16:56.73 The state prison, the Bastille was stormed. 00:16:56.73\00:17:00.10 Now, there was only a few people in there at the time 00:17:00.10\00:17:03.50 as prisoners, seven, as a matter of fact, but they 00:17:03.50\00:17:06.23 were liberated and the governor of the prison was killed. 00:17:06.23\00:17:10.26 To demonstrate how serious they were, the Bastille 00:17:10.26\00:17:13.06 was destroyed. 00:17:13.06\00:17:14.23 Parts of it were taken around France and shown to the citizens 00:17:14.23\00:17:18.26 of France and this was a way for the revolutionaries 00:17:18.26\00:17:21.03 to say to the people of France: We are serious about this. 00:17:21.03\00:17:25.50 The Revolution was in full swing. 00:17:25.50\00:17:28.06 The country was now being run by the people, not the nobility. 00:17:28.06\00:17:32.50 And before long, a Bill of Rights was drafted. 00:17:32.50\00:17:34.50 [Music] And the Church, 00:17:34.50\00:17:39.70 which had exercised such power in France until this time, 00:17:39.70\00:17:43.80 wasn't going to escape the attention 00:17:43.80\00:17:45.93 of the revolutionaries. 00:17:45.93\00:17:47.73 Its right to collect a tithe, a ten percent on income 00:17:47.73\00:17:52.00 from every citizen in France, was abolished. 00:17:52.00\00:17:55.66 In fact, it wasn't long and the church itself would find 00:17:55.66\00:18:02.83 itself in the cross hairs of the revolutionaries. 00:18:02.83\00:18:04.93 The members of the clergy who remained loyal to the Pope 00:18:04.93\00:18:08.86 rather than to the national assembly, and that was 00:18:08.86\00:18:11.33 the majority, were considered to be traitors and now many 00:18:11.33\00:18:15.46 members of the clergy were themselves persecuted. 00:18:15.46\00:18:20.13 Here is what you had. 00:18:20.13\00:18:21.66 An essentially godless group of people seizing power 00:18:21.66\00:18:24.63 and rebelling against not only the State that had persecuted 00:18:24.63\00:18:28.13 them, but against the Church that had extorted and misused 00:18:28.13\00:18:31.73 them. 00:18:31.73\00:18:32.73 And a group of people with that sort of power 00:18:32.73\00:18:35.20 and with that sort of bitterness, not guided 00:18:35.20\00:18:38.30 by the Holy Spirit or anything remotely resembling 00:18:38.30\00:18:40.80 Christian principles, were committed to revenge 00:18:40.80\00:18:45.40 and destruction, and this morphed into 00:18:45.40\00:18:48.50 a hellish period that became known as the Reign of Terror. 00:18:48.50\00:18:53.53 The Reign of Terror began in 1793 and it lasted for about 00:19:04.06\00:19:07.80 10 months. 00:19:07.80\00:19:09.30 During that time, 20,000 people were executed 00:19:09.30\00:19:12.30 by guillotine, thousands of them here in Paris. 00:19:12.30\00:19:15.83 And tens of thousands of others were executed 00:19:15.83\00:19:17.83 by other means all over France. 00:19:17.83\00:19:20.80 Many of the executions happened right here, 00:19:20.80\00:19:23.60 in a place that is now known as the Place de la Concorde. 00:19:23.60\00:19:27.63 It is a fabulous place now. 00:19:27.63\00:19:30.36 [Music] 00:19:32.20\00:19:34.90 In one direction is the Louvre and the beautiful 00:19:36.53\00:19:38.73 gardens that surround it. 00:19:38.73\00:19:39.73 And the other is the famous Champs-Elysées, a magnificent 00:19:39.73\00:19:44.40 boulevard that leads to the Arc de Triomphe. 00:19:44.40\00:19:47.46 The National Assembly Building is right there. 00:19:47.46\00:19:50.66 There is a stunning Obelisk that was given to France 00:19:50.66\00:19:54.10 by the Nation of Egypt in the 19th Century. 00:19:54.10\00:19:57.50 But before t here was an Obelisk here, there was a 00:19:57.50\00:20:00.50 guillotine and it was kept busy. 00:20:00.50\00:20:03.76 At that time, instead of being the Place de la 00:20:03.76\00:20:11.00 Concorde, or Concorde Square, in other words, Getting along 00:20:11.00\00:20:15.46 with each other Square, it was called the Place de la 00:20:15.46\00:20:19.16 Revolution. 00:20:19.16\00:20:20.16 The executioners started wiping out the nobility. 00:20:20.16\00:20:24.66 King Louis XXI was executed here. 00:20:24.66\00:20:27.56 So was his wife, Marie Antoinette, who incidentally 00:20:27.56\00:20:31.03 probably didn't say, "Let them eat cake", and seems 00:20:31.03\00:20:34.63 to have been executed simply because people didn't like her. 00:20:34.63\00:20:38.00 You know, the guillotines were actually set up right here. 00:20:41.93\00:20:46.43 They were set up right here where this Obelisk now stands. 00:20:46.43\00:20:50.83 And when you think about it, what the revolutionaries were 00:20:50.83\00:20:53.53 really trying to do was execute God. 00:20:53.53\00:20:58.00 They were so fueled by their lack of Christianity, 00:20:58.00\00:21:00.76 so maddened by what they perceived to be the misdeeds 00:21:00.76\00:21:04.10 of the church, that they began this process 00:21:04.10\00:21:06.73 of banishing God from society. 00:21:06.73\00:21:08.76 What they did was initiate an intentional process 00:21:08.76\00:21:12.33 of de-Christianization, where God was pushed out of society 00:21:12.33\00:21:16.66 and not only was God pushed out of society, but atheism 00:21:16.66\00:21:20.50 was set up as a national religion. 00:21:20.50\00:21:23.10 Think about it. 00:21:23.10\00:21:24.10 In 1793, the world heard an educated, civilized country 00:21:24.10\00:21:29.16 declare in its national assembly that there is no God 00:21:29.16\00:21:32.83 and masses of people rejoiced. 00:21:32.83\00:21:37.13 [Music] But it goes even further and gets even more 00:21:45.10\00:21:47.33 bizarre than that. 00:21:47.33\00:21:49.56 In a ceremony that now seems impossible to believe, 00:21:49.56\00:21:52.23 a woman was brought into France's National Assembly 00:21:52.23\00:21:55.83 building, placed right next to the country's highest 00:21:55.83\00:21:58.80 political leaders, and declared to be the goddess 00:21:58.80\00:22:02.86 of reason and the people were told it was this woman 00:22:02.86\00:22:07.20 that they would worship from now on. 00:22:07.20\00:22:09.43 Then, unbelievably, she was taken here, 00:22:09.43\00:22:18.80 to Notre Dame Cathedral. 00:22:18.80\00:22:21.06 She was elevated before the people and was presented 00:22:21.06\00:22:24.60 as an object of worship, receiving the adoration 00:22:24.60\00:22:28.86 of everyone present. 00:22:28.86\00:22:30.80 The weekly day of rest was set aside and France 00:22:33.23\00:22:36.16 installed every 10th day as a festive day. 00:22:36.16\00:22:40.10 The institutions of the Bible were banned. 00:22:40.10\00:22:42.56 Baptism and communion were strictly prohibited. 00:22:42.56\00:22:46.06 A nation had declared that there was no God. 00:22:46.06\00:22:49.60 France had de-Christianized itself and installed a goddess 00:22:49.60\00:22:53.93 of reason. 00:22:53.93\00:22:55.60 A nation turned its back on God and essentially declared 00:22:55.60\00:22:58.80 itself atheist and look where that got it. 00:22:58.80\00:23:03.83 Having thrown off the restraining power 00:23:03.83\00:23:05.83 of the Holy Spirit, the leaders of this movement 00:23:05.83\00:23:09.23 left to their own devices, filled France 00:23:09.23\00:23:12.90 with blood. 00:23:12.90\00:23:15.20 Godlessness never prospers an individual or a nation. 00:23:15.20\00:23:19.70 History shows us that. 00:23:19.70\00:23:21.30 Nobody can point to a place in the world where Godlessness 00:23:21.30\00:23:24.10 has turned out for the better and led to advancement 00:23:24.10\00:23:26.83 or prosperity. 00:23:26.83\00:23:28.16 And nobody will ever be able to do that, because that sort 00:23:28.16\00:23:31.03 of place has never existed and never will. 00:23:31.03\00:23:35.90 The Bible says, "The fool has said in his heart there 00:23:35.90\00:23:39.33 is no God." Proverbs 14:34 says, "Righteousness exalts 00:23:39.33\00:23:44.40 a nation." Listen to this, from the prophet Isaiah: 00:23:44.40\00:23:48.03 "Oh, that thou hast harkened to my commandments. 00:23:48.03\00:23:51.30 Then had thy peace been as a river and thy righteousness 00:23:51.30\00:23:55.46 as the waves of the sea. 00:23:55.46\00:23:57.60 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked. 00:23:57.60\00:24:02.63 So what happens to a nation when God is left out 00:24:02.63\00:24:05.50 of the picture? 00:24:05.50\00:24:06.96 Well, it can't possibly go in a good direction and history 00:24:06.96\00:24:10.23 shows us that only too clearly. 00:24:10.23\00:24:13.16 But what happens to your life when God is left out 00:24:13.16\00:24:16.76 of the picture. 00:24:16.76\00:24:18.03 In the same way it cannot possibly go the way that God 00:24:18.03\00:24:21.06 wants it to go. 00:24:21.06\00:24:23.16 You know, I suppose it's one thing to look at a nation 00:24:23.16\00:24:26.20 and examine some of the sadder parts of its history but it's 00:24:26.20\00:24:28.96 altogether another thing and most likely a far more 00:24:28.96\00:24:31.90 important thing to examine our own hearts and ask 00:24:31.90\00:24:36.13 ourselves what is going on there. 00:24:36.13\00:24:38.93 Friend, what is going on in your hear today? 00:24:38.93\00:24:41.90 You know, in Philippians 2:14 Paul wrote, and he wrote 00:24:41.90\00:24:44.83 this words, he said: " It is God who works in you both to will 00:24:44.83\00:24:48.80 and to do for his good pleasure." When a nation asks 00:24:48.80\00:24:52.70 God to leave and says we don't want your help 00:24:52.70\00:24:55.03 and we'll do things our own way, a nation will reap what it sows. 00:24:55.03\00:25:00.06 Same thing with a person. 00:25:00.06\00:25:02.10 When a person says I don't think I want God working 00:25:02.10\00:25:05.06 in me both to will and to do of his good pleasure, what can 00:25:05.06\00:25:07.96 God do? 00:25:07.96\00:25:08.96 But friend, today you can say, Lord, whatever 00:25:08.96\00:25:11.06 the circumstances of my life, whatever my strengths 00:25:11.06\00:25:13.63 or weaknesses, whatever my ups and downs, I would like you 00:25:13.63\00:25:17.16 to live your life in me. 00:25:17.16\00:25:20.30 And when we make that request of God, God honors that request, 00:25:20.30\00:25:24.46 and God lives his life in you. 00:25:24.46\00:25:27.16 And then, you reap what you sow, but you've sown good 00:25:27.16\00:25:31.16 things and you will reap everlasting life. 00:25:31.16\00:25:36.20 [Music] 00:25:38.00\00:25:40.73 Revolutions are nothing new but many years ago, 00:25:46.60\00:25:50.23 a revolution occurred in heaven and the sin 00:25:50.23\00:25:52.50 and problems we see in the world today are the result 00:25:52.50\00:25:55.50 of that revolution. 00:25:55.50\00:25:56.50 There is a last-day battle going on. 00:25:56.50\00:25:59.16 A battle to see who will rule the earth in earth's final days. 00:25:59.16\00:26:02.86 I want you to have a study we have prepared on 00:26:02.86\00:26:04.90 this subject, called The Battle for the Throne. 00:26:04.90\00:26:07.76 You will understand the beasts of Bible prophecy, 00:26:07.76\00:26:10.26 what they mean, and what they reveal about earth's last 00:26:10.26\00:26:13.40 days. 00:26:13.40\00:26:14.40 The Battle for the Throne. 00:26:14.40\00:26:16.06 In just a few pages, you will discover what the Bible 00:26:16.06\00:26:18.26 has to say about the beasts of Bible prophecy 00:26:18.26\00:26:21.30 and it is clearly explained. 00:26:21.30\00:26:22.63 You won't be guessing or wondering after you read 00:26:22.63\00:26:25.80 The Battle for the Throne. 00:26:25.80\00:26:27.86 And it's our free gift to you right now. 00:26:27.86\00:26:31.40 This informative and practical booklet 00:26:31.40\00:26:33.40 is available free from It Is Written. 00:26:33.40\00:26:36.46 Just call 1.800.253.3000 and ask for the Battle 00:26:36.46\00:26:40.00 for the Throne. 00:26:40.00\00:26:41.26 You can also request this study by writing to 00:26:41.26\00:26:43.40 It Is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359 00:26:43.40\00:26:49.23 and we will mail a copy to your address 00:26:49.23\00:26:51.50 in North America. 00:26:51.50\00:26:53.03 And be sure to visit our website, itiswritten.com, 00:26:53.03\00:26:56.50 where you will discover many more helpful resources 00:26:56.50\00:26:59.26 on a variety of life-changing topics. 00:26:59.26\00:27:02.53 It Is Written is a faith-based outreach made possible 00:27:02.53\00:27:05.26 by viewers like you. 00:27:05.26\00:27:07.10 Thanks for your letters and emails and thank you 00:27:07.10\00:27:10.10 for your continued financial support. 00:27:10.10\00:27:13.86 Your support enables It is Written to share 00:27:13.86\00:27:14.93 clear Bible truth and impact lives around 00:27:14.93\00:27:18.10 the world. 00:27:18.10\00:27:19.80 Our toll free number is 1.800.253.3000 and our web 00:27:19.80\00:27:24.30 address is itiswritten.com 00:27:24.30\00:27:27.70 Thanks for joining me today. 00:27:27.73\00:27:29.43 Let's pray together. 00:27:29.43\00:27:30.96 Our Father in heaven, thank you for showing us that 00:27:30.96\00:27:34.13 things work better when you are in the center of a nation 00:27:34.13\00:27:39.00 and of an individual. 00:27:39.00\00:27:40.70 Lord, please be the center of our lives that we might reap 00:27:40.70\00:27:43.20 what we sow, having sown the good, having sown Christ, 00:27:43.20\00:27:47.40 that we might reap everlasting life. 00:27:47.40\00:27:50.36 Be honored in our lives. 00:27:50.36\00:27:51.80 We pray and thank you in Jesus' name, amen. 00:27:51.80\00:27:56.16 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 00:27:56.16\00:27:59.93 Until then, remember "It is written, man shall not 00:27:59.93\00:28:03.73 live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds 00:28:03.73\00:28:07.16 from the mouth of God. 00:28:07.16\00:28:09.16