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Series Code: V
Program Code: V000012
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00:30 After the Synod of 1532 the church of the Alps had a period
00:34 of comparative peace. 00:36 This was a time of great spiritual prosperity, 00:39 but their quickened zeal brought with it a revival of the 00:43 persecutors malignity. 00:45 The martyrdoms of faithful Waldensians continued to testify 00:49 against Rome until her inquisitors, the nuncio of the 00:53 Pope, and the ambassadors of Spain and France, united in 00:57 urging upon King Faleibert the purgation of his dominions. 01:02 He was finally unable to withstand these powerful 01:06 solicitations, and the tempest again burst upon Turin, 01:10 the plain of Piedmont, and on to the Waldensian Alps; 01:14 wherever it was known that there were boudoir congregations. 01:19 In 1655, with persecution again at its height, a number of 01:25 Waldenses hid themselves in the cave in the mountains. 01:28 Upon being discovered they were taken to the top of 01:32 Monte Castelluzzou and flung over the precipice. 01:35 Monte Castelluzzo was the site of many atrocities. 01:40 How often in days of old was the confessor hurled down its awful 01:45 steep and dashed on the rocks at its foot. 01:48 And there, co-mingled in one hideous heap, growing ever the 01:53 bigger and ghastlier, as another, and yet another victim 01:57 was added to it, lay the mangled bodies of pastor and peasant, 02:02 of mother and child. 02:05 It was the tragedies connected with this mountain which called 02:09 forth Milton's well-known sonnet: 02:48 Many gave their lives for the truths of God. 02:54 We can only imagine what it was like to have lived in those days 02:58 when persecution raged against God's truth. 03:02 What was it like for those people taken up on that mount? 03:07 History revealed that these people faced death with peace 03:11 and courage, and the hope of everlasting life. 03:42 The martyr's blood on the rocks has been repeated throughout the 03:47 history of this world. 03:49 There was blood on another rock. 03:52 When Jesus died on the cross He became "the Lamb of God 03:57 which taketh away the sin of the world", and all those that have 04:02 died martyrs deaths can look to that Lamb for eternal life. 04:07 The Lamb in the midst of the throne, as it had been slain, 04:13 is the focus of the entire Bible. 04:16 The Waldenses martyrs had their eyes upon that Lamb when they 04:20 faced death. 04:25 In God's great book of records 1685 is a date recorded 04:32 in infamy. 04:33 King Louis XIV was nearing the grave. 04:37 His life was full of sin and corruption. 04:40 In order to appease his conscience, he inquired of his 04:44 Catholic confessor what good deed he might do to atone for 04:49 his many sins. 04:51 The answer was ready; he must extricate Protestantism 04:56 in France. 04:58 Louis did as he was commanded. 05:01 He bowed before the shaven crowns of the priests 05:04 and the Pope of Rome, wishing companionship in the bloody war 05:09 of purging France from Protestantism. 05:12 King Louis sent an ambassador to the Duke of Savoy 05:16 with the request that he deal with the Waldenses as he himself 05:20 was now dealing with the Huguenots. 05:23 The Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus, was young and 05:27 naturally humane. 05:29 Having respect for the Waldenses, and their loyalty 05:32 to his rule, he ignored the request of France's king. 05:36 Louis again wrote to the Duke of Savoy threatening to do it for 05:41 him with an army of 14,000 men, and to keep the valleys 05:46 for his pains. 05:48 This was enough! 05:50 A treaty was immediately arranged between the Duke and 05:53 the French king, in which Louis promised an armed force to aid 05:58 the Duke in forcing the Waldenses into subservience 06:01 to Rome under pain of extermination. 06:05 On the 31st day of January 1686 the following edict 06:13 was proclaimed in the valley: 08:29 This was war to the knife. 08:32 Omessa o morte': Go to mass or you die. 08:38 Three times the victims sent humble supplications for mercy 08:42 to Teren, but received no answer. 08:45 On Good Friday of 1686, when the people were gathered in the 08:52 Church of Angronia, Pastor Arnaud prayed. 08:56 "My prayer is this: Lord Jesus thou hast suffered 09:09 and died for us. 09:12 Oh give us the grace to suffer and die for thee. 09:22 He who is faithful to the end shall be saved. 09:32 Repeat after me: 'I can do all things through Christ 09:40 who strengtheneth me. '" 09:42 The fatal order was given on April 22, 1686. 09:50 In one month the valley was depopulated. 09:54 Two armies, the French under General Catane', 09:58 and the Piedmonts under Gabrielle of Savoy, 10:02 moved in concert against the martyred people. 10:05 Some were burned alive, some flayed, many hung in trees, 10:11 others were thrown from precipices, which yet others 10:14 were as targets for the soldiers. 10:17 The larger part of their population did not survive. 10:22 Forty-two men, and a few women and children retired 10:27 to the heights of one mountain, and an equal number to another. 10:30 They dwelt in caves and fed on wild herbs 10:34 and the meat of wolves. 10:36 The remaining 12 to 13,000 in the valley were driven 10:41 like cattle to the prisons of Turin 30 miles away 10:44 Over a thousand babies were torn from their mothers arms 10:49 and dispersed in convents or Catholic families. 10:53 Many of the adults were presented to King Louis XIV 10:57 for the galleys at Marseille. 10:59 Thousands died in the prisons of Turin, where they were heaped 11:04 one upon another, fed on black bread and foul water, 11:08 and made to sleep on bare bricks, on the earth or wet 11:11 straw, eaten up by vermin, and left all night without a light. 11:16 Even when the sick were dying, they were melted by the heat in 11:20 summer, and frozen by the cold in winter, while the priests 11:24 and nuns sought by every infamous means to convert them. 11:29 Eventually an order came, obtained by the entreaties 11:34 of the faithful Swiss, to liberate the survivors and send 11:38 them over the mountains to a refuge in Switzerland. 11:41 After indescribable suffering, the Waldensian survivors were 11:46 released to climb the mountains to Switzerland 11:49 in the dead of winter. 11:51 Anything was better than the filth and disease that they 11:55 experienced in Turin, and all were impatient to leave those 11:59 terrible prisons. 12:01 The order was read to them at five o'clock 12:04 on a winter's evening. 12:05 Weak and sick, they prepared to leave at night, dressed as they 12:10 were in rags 12:13 Leaving immediately, they walked ten or twelve miles that night. 12:17 The bitter cold of the winter took its toll. 12:21 The dawns early light revealed the mountainside strewn with 12:25 frozen corpses. 12:27 The Waldensian martyrs loved not their lives unto the death. 12:32 They died as overcomers and will receive the overcomers reward. 12:38 On that snowy mountain they were covered with a mantle of snow 12:43 and ice, white and deadly, but in the earth made new 12:48 they will be clothed with a garment of light, 12:52 clean and white, the robes of Christ's righteousness. 12:57 As Jesus died a martyrs death, so did great numbers 13:02 of Waldenses, but they died in faith, 13:05 claiming the promises of God. 13:08 Hundreds died from exposure to freezing temperatures, 13:15 being poorly clothed, and in a weakened condition. 13:20 Three thousand reached Switzerland, but they were 13:25 walking skeletons; weary, footsore, and famished. 13:30 They were received with pity, love, admiration, 13:35 and generosity. 13:36 Shoes were given them immediately, and woolen garments 13:40 to protect them from the cold. 13:42 They were taken joyfully to the homes of their friends. 13:46 The Waldensian survivors were thankful for their deliverance, 13:50 but they were also saddened that they were exiles 13:55 from their own land. 14:12 The valleys were left desolate, the churches destroyed, 14:16 the houses burned, the mountains strewn with corpses. 14:21 For three and one-half years, from April 22, 1686 to 1689, 14:29 the valleys of the Piedmont had no Bible read, heard no Psalms 14:34 sung, and had no prayer of their pure faith raised to God. 14:39 No voices rang with joyful hymns of praise. 14:50 A thrilling story of dedication and courage is seen in the 14:53 glorious return of the Waldenses to their home 14:56 in the Piedmont valleys. 14:58 Henre Arnaud, a Waldensian pastor, who was pastoring in the 15:03 valleys at the time of the 1686 persecution, at 40 years of age, 15:09 led 900 Waldensian men over Lake Lamone. 15:14 After ten days of fatigue, war, and pain on the mountains of 15:18 Savoy, they reached the borders of their valleys. 15:22 Upon arriving at the first town, they took down the door of a 15:28 church to make a pulpit outside for Arnaud to preach from. 15:32 But their enemy, the Duke of Savoy, rallied on by the 15:36 Pope of Rome, came against the Waldensian soldiers, and drove 15:40 them back into the mountains; an army of 20,000 against 900. 15:46 The Waldensian soldiers defended themselves on a mountain during 15:50 the whole winter. 15:51 In the providence of God, they found a crop of ungathered corn 15:56 covered by snow. 15:57 They were aided by the fogs, winds, rains, and snows, which, 16:03 an enemy officer said, "seemed to be at their command. " 16:07 For months they resisted the attacks of the enemy, retreating 16:12 from their barricades, fighting inch by inch, but at last driven 16:16 to the very summit of La Belle Seeglia. 16:19 Hope seemed lost. 16:21 There, led by one of their captains, aided as often by a 16:27 fog which hid them from their enemies, they escaped along the 16:30 edge of a precipice. 16:33 Eventually a coalition, including Germany, 16:38 Great Britain, Holland, and Spain, was formed to check the 16:43 ambition of France. 16:44 Three days were given to Victor Amadeus, to choose to which 16:49 side he would join himself. 16:50 Leaguers or the King of France. 16:54 Amadeus chose to join with the coalition, 16:57 and to break with King Louis. 16:59 In this case, to whom could he so well commit the keys of the 17:05 Alps than to the Vaudois, a people who had been so loyal, 17:10 and faithful to their sovereign, 17:12 ever ready to rally round the throne of their prince. 17:16 The moment the hand of persecution was withdrawn 17:19 the Waldenses accepted the peace offered them. 17:23 Their towns and lands were restored. 17:26 Their churches were reopened for protestant worship. 17:30 Their brethren, still in prison at Turin, were liberated. 17:34 Their countrymen in Germany had passports to return 17:37 to their homes. 17:39 Thus, after a dreary interval of three and one-half years, 17:43 the valleys were again peopled with their ancient race, 17:47 and resounded with their ancient songs of praise. 17:50 Though the Waldenses were given back their land, 17:55 as well as certain privileges, they were shut up in their 17:59 mountains without civil rights. 18:01 They were the pariors and outcasts of Italy. 18:05 A Waldensian could not exercise a learned profession, or take a 18:10 regular course of study in the Universities of Italy, 18:14 or worship according to his faith outside of the valleys. 18:18 It was not until 1848 that the Waldenses were finally given 18:24 their full civil rights and liberties. 18:26 The years of persecution, and diplomatic negotiations with the 18:31 Italian government had taken their toll. 18:33 Much of their ancient apostolic heritage had been lost. 18:38 Many of their beliefs were compromised. 18:41 Total dependence upon the word of God gave way to the 18:45 traditions of men, and their missionary zeal for the pure, 18:50 unadulterated gospel truth was gone. 18:58 The Waldenses were caught up in a surge of ecumenism, 19:01 which swept through Italy, and various parts of Europe, 19:05 during the mid 1800's. 19:06 At the very time this celebration of coming together 19:10 in liberty and brotherly love was occurring, the whole world 19:14 was experiencing a great awakening to the second coming 19:17 of Christ, and a call to keep God's Ten Commandments, 19:21 especially the fourth commandment, 19:23 the seventh-day Sabbath. 19:27 While the remnant of the Waldenses were laying down the 19:30 banner, compromising their ancient apostolic faith, 19:33 God was raising another people. 19:36 Through the great awakening of the Advent movement, many were 19:41 coming together to proclaim the second coming of Christ, 19:44 and to continue the unbroken chain of entering into that 19:48 rest, keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, and honoring all 19:53 of His commandments. 20:16 The remnant people of God are to endure persecutions, 20:20 as did the Waldenses. 20:22 They are to give the warning message against the power 20:26 represented by the Beast of Revelation 13. 21:09 The influence of Papal Rome in the countries that once 21:13 acknowledged her dominion is still far from being destroyed, 21:17 and prophecy foretells a restoration of her power. 21:21 We have seen this being fulfilled today in the fall 21:24 of Soviet communism, and the resurgence of Catholic dominance 21:29 under Pope John Paul II. 21:31 The Baltic States, Poland, and Ukraine, have broken away from 21:36 communist rule and are returning to the teachings of Papal Rome. 21:58 Roman Catholicism has never before received the acceptance 22:02 of the Protestant world as it has today. 22:05 Protestants are no longer protesting. 22:08 Protestantism is changing, and is forming a confederacy with 22:14 the man of sin, the Papacy, under the Pope of Rome. 22:18 At the close of this world's history, there will be a final 22:23 attack on God's people. 22:25 The remnant church will stand united in the truth against the 22:29 flood of error that Satan will cast against them. 22:33 They will keep the commandments of God and cherish 22:37 His Seventh-day Sabbath. 22:39 The book of Revelation tells of two women. 22:43 Chapter 12 portrays a pure and holy woman, 22:48 symbolizing the people of God. 22:50 Chapter 17 depicts a corrupt woman, 22:54 representing a false religious system. 22:58 This woman is arrayed in purple and scarlet, decked with gold, 23:03 and precious stones, and pearls, and has a golden cup in her hand 23:07 full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. 23:12 No other power could be so truly declared "drunken with the blood 23:18 of the saints" as that power which has so cruelly persecuted 23:24 The history of the Waldenses is a prime example of how this 23:29 apostate system destroys all those that do not conform 23:34 to her dogmas. 23:35 Today Protestant America is no longer protesting against the 23:41 errors of Roman Catholicism. 23:44 The church is again uniting with the secular governments. 23:57 What does the future hold for God's people? 24:01 The persecutions and atrocities of the past are forgotten. 24:05 Can we remain silent at this time in history? 24:10 Great and solemn events are taking place all about us. 24:15 Before us is the prospect of war, the risk of imprisonment, 24:21 the loss of property, and even life itself, to defend the law 24:27 of God, which is being made void by the laws of men. 24:32 The persecutions visited for many centuries upon this 24:38 God fearing people were endured by them with a patience and 24:43 Constancy that honored their redeemer. 24:46 Scattered over many lands, they planted the seeds of the 24:50 Reformation that began in the time of Wycliffe, grew broad and 24:55 deep in the days of Luther, and is to be carried forward to the 25:00 close of time by those who also are willing to suffer all things 25:06 for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17