November 20, 2021

… since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart…But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing… for we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 2 Corinthians 4:1,3,5,6,8-11

As we move rapidly through the stream of time, God is ever faithful in raising leaders who are obedient to His call. A huge “game-changer” in the mid-fifteenth century was the entrance of the printing press. As Luther’s Bible was lighting Germany, William Tyndale’s was doing the same in England. Wycliffe’s Bible translation was the century before, and only a few had been in a financial position to procure the costly manuscript copies. But now, Tyndale had access to the newly published Greek and Latin version of the New Testament which corrected errors from the old Latin version Wycliffe had to work from. Tyndale was called to complete what Wycliffe had begun.

William Tyndale was born about 1494 in the English county of Gloucestershire. He was a diligent student, and, having personally received the gospel from the Greek Testament of Erasmus, became a fearless preacher which excited the ire of Rome. He was told by one papal leader that “the church had given the Bible and the church alone could explain it” to which Tyndale replied, “Do you know who taught the eagles to find their prey? Well, that same God teaches His hungry children to find their Father in His Word. Far from having given us the Scriptures, it is you who have hidden them from us; it is you who burn those who teach them, and if you could, you would burn the Scriptures themselves.”

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6