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The Great Controversy 1888
most of all men unto that law of the gospel. For the greatness among
Christ’s disciples did not consist in worldly dignity or honors, but in
the near and exact following of Christ in his life and manners.... Christ
for the time of his pilgrimage here was a most poor man, abjecting
and casting off all worldly rule and honor.
“No faithful man ought to follow either the pope himself, or any
of the holy men, but in such points as he hath followed the Lord Jesus
Christ. For Peter and the sons of Zebedee, by desiring worldly honor,
contrary to the following of Christ’s steps, did offend, and therefore in
those errors they are not to be followed.
“The pope ought to leave unto the secular power all temporal
dominion and rule, and thereunto effectually move and exhort his
whole clergy; for so did Christ, and especially by his apostles.
“If I have erred in any of these points, I will most humbly submit
myself unto correction even by death, if necessity so require. If I could
labor according to my will and desire in mine own person, I would
surely present myself before the bishop of Rome. But the Lord hath
otherwise visited me to the contrary, and hath taught me to obey God
rather than men.”
In closing he said: “Let us pray unto our God, that he will so stir
up our pope, Urban the Sixth, as he began, that he with his clergy
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may follow the Lord Jesus Christ in life and manners, and that they
may teach the people effectually, and that they likewise may faithfully
follow them in the same.”
Thus Wycliffe presented to the pope and his cardinals the meek-
ness and humility of Christ, exhibiting not only to themselves but
to all Christendom the contrast between them and the Master whose
representatives they professed to be.
Wycliffe fully expected that his life would be the price of his
fidelity. The king, the pope, and the bishops were united to accomplish
his ruin, and it seemed certain that a few months at most would bring
him to the stake. But his courage was unshaken. “Why do you talk of
seeking the crown of martyrdom afar?” he said. “Preach the gospel
of Christ to haughty prelates, and martyrdom will not fail you. What!
I should live and be silent? ... Never! Let the blow fall. I await its
coming.”
But God’s providence still shielded his servant. The man who for a
whole lifetime had stood boldly in defense of the truth, in daily peril of