Basic HTML Version
56
From Here to Forever
stronger than you, and will overcome you.
So saying, he withdrew
and not one of his adversaries attempted to prevent him.
Wycliffe’s work was almost done, but once more he was to bear
witness for the gospel. He was summoned for trial before the papal
tribunal at Rome, which had so often shed the blood of the saints. A
shock of palsy made it impossible for him to perform the journey.
But though his voice was not to be heard at Rome, he could speak by
[58]
letter. The Reformer wrote the pope a letter, which, while respectful
and Christian in spirit, was a keen rebuke to the pomp and pride of
the papal see.
Wycliffe presented to the pope and his cardinals the meekness
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 accom-
plish his ruin, and it seemed certain that a few months at most would
bring him to the stake. But his courage was unshaken.
The man who for a whole lifetime had stood boldly in defense
of the truth was not to fall a victim of the hatred of its foes. The
Lord had been his protector; and now, when his enemies felt sure
of their prey, God’s hand removed him beyond their reach. In his
church at Lutterworth, as he was about to dispense the communion,
he fell stricken with palsy, and in a short time yielded up his life.
Herald of a New Era
God had put the word of truth in Wycliffe’s mouth. His life was
protected and his labors prolonged until a foundation was laid for
the Reformation. There was none who went before Wycliffe from
whose work he could shape his system of reform. He was the herald
of a new era. Yet in the truth which he presented there was a unity
and completeness which reformers who followed did not exceed and
which some did not reach. So firm and true was the framework, that
it needed not to be reconstructed by those who came after him.
The great movement that Wycliffe inaugurated to set free the
nations so long bound to Rome had its spring in the Bible. Here
5
So saying, he withdrew and not one of his adversaries attempted to prevent him.