The enemy is at the gates As I write, a Roman Catholic Cardinal has, after almost five centuries engaged in a vespers service in the very chapel at Hampton Court where Henry VIII worshipped. The same Henry who, in the wonderful providence of God, dismissed Cardinal Wolsey from office as his advisor and confidant and repudiated the Pope of Rome and all his ways. Some would say that this was merely in a fit of pique because he desired a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, however, as we study the life of our subject, William Tyndale, we shall see that he had more than a little influence in this breach with Papal authority, by the grace of Him who turneth the heart of Kings; whithersoever He will (see Proverbs 21:1).
This then is surely a fitting time to remind ourselves of the goodness of God in raising up such a one as William Tyndale, now that we appear to have come to a period in our contemporary history when, once more, the darkness of ignorance, superstition and false religion threatens to envelop us again.
That the Authorised Version of the Bible, referred to by some as the King James Bible, has been that great work which has had more influence upon the religious life of this nation than any other translation of the Word of God, is surely a matter beyond dispute. This nation owes much to the work of this one man who, in his service for Christ and in the strength of His grace, brought back to this nation the pure Word of God and so laid the foundation for the prosperity of its people all over the British Empire.
It is also a generally accepted fact that 80 % (some would claim 90%) of the King James Bible rests on the original translating work of William Tyndale from 1525 – 1535.
When we began to look at the life of Tyndale in Part 1, it was remarked that in terms of the recognition of his undoubted graces and abilities he was – and still is – surprisingly unacknowledged as the one man who possibly played the most
important part in the spiritual life and heritage of the English speaking peoples.
It has been suggested that this repression, even denial, of the importance of his contribution to this nation – and others – was due to his attachment to Martin Luther. Like Luther, Tyndale impresses the reader of his written works with his obvious disregard for the praise and plaudits of men and he fearlessly declared the whole counsel of God to Kings, prelates and the common man alike. He did not
bow to the traditions of the professing Church; but emphasised that Christianity is the freedom and liberty of the individual from the traditions and lordship of prescribed religion in his access to his Redeemer and Creator.
True Christianity has always been perceived as a threat to the political and religious powers – the rulers and Kings of the earth. In his works The Practise of Prelates and The Obedience of the Christian Man, he put Christ and His laws before a desire for fame and honour. In short, like Luther, he would not toe the party line. As with John the Baptist who, 2000 years before, reproved Herod, Tyndale reproved King Henry VIII for his divorces and adulteries and exposed the corruptions of the professing Church.
In Part 2 of our account of the life of Tyndale, we last left him as having been furnished with extra funds to continue with the work of further revision of his translation of the New Testament. These funds came about by a merchant friend of Tyndale, ostensibly providing help to Bishop Tunstall to buy all of Tyndale’s translated Scriptures coming from the presses of Europe, which Tunstall in a great display promptly burnt. This, in turn, gave Tyndale more money to continue with his major work of revision and Old Testament translation.
We learn from Foxe that while he was sailing to Hamburg to print the translation of Deuteronomy, there was a great storm at sea and Tyndale lost ‘both money, his copies and time’. With Coverdale – with whom he was now working – he had to begin all over again – the Pentateuch being completed between Easter and December and printed in January, 1530 in Antwerp.
Tyndale was prodigious in his labours and in 1531 also translated Jonah and a revised Genesis. The great work of the year 1534 was a completely revised New Testament, with further slight revision in 1535. This was in addition to his previously published polemical works, already mentioned: The Obedience of the Christian Man and The Practise of Prelates and further work on the Old Testament.
It cannot be otherwise. The Holy Scriptures are holy because their Author is holy. They are the “oracles of God.” An oracle is something that is spoken. Every word from the mouth of Him who cannot lie must be absolutely pure. The God of Truth has spoken. How unthinkable that His Word be tinged with falsehood! God has graciously revealed Himself. How dreadful the consequences if that divine revelation was marred with inaccuracies! J. C. Ryle put it succinctly: “Once admit the principle that the writers of the Bible could make mistakes and were not in all things guided by the Spirit, then I know not where I am. I see nothing certain, nothing solid, nothing trustworthy in the foundations of my faith. A fog has descended on the Book of God, and enveloped every chapter in uncertainty!”
‘But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea.’
Jonah 1:4
In Mark chapter 4 we see Christ stilling the storm that had terrified the apostles. Here we find Him sending a great wind into the sea. It is strange to see the Lord on the one hand stilling a fierce storm and on the other sending one. But as the hymn writer has noted, the wind and waves obey Him.
The Lord never sends a storm without a very good reason. In Jonah’s case it was because he was going in the direction opposite to where the Lord had sent him. He had to learn that he could not deliberately disobey God with impunity. To teach him that lesson, the Lord sent out such a storm into the Mediterranean Sea that no effort made by the most experienced sailors could avail in the unequal struggle between the waves and the helpless vessel being tossed about as a plaything.
These Scripture verses are part of the song of Moses. It is said that this song of Moses will be sung in Heaven and are the directly inspired words given to him by the Holy Ghost; that is from the very lips of Jehovah. As David also said: “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and His word was in my tongue.”
These opening verses give us a sense of the awe with which we should approach this Scripture. Words which are meant to bring the very fear of God into our hearts and minds. Words which speak of God’s majesty and power. These words are spoken by THE WORD – even Christ the great I AM.
“But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
What a rich and exceedingly full promise is this! Just like the Almighty God, and so suitable to the creature; for who could supply all our need, both for body and soul, but He to whom all things belong, whose also is the power, the riches, and the glory? Should not the children of God take encouragement from such a sweet word as this, and believe that all their real need will be supplied? Yes, sure we ought; and no doubt this promise has been precious to many, while others, perhaps, fear to claim it as theirs, or as spoken to them, because of its greatness, or because they think their need to be so different from others. But that which is impossible with men is possible with God, for the need of all nations cannot exceed the fullness there is in Christ.
“Oh, how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.”
Psalm 119:97
A Godly man shows his love to the written Word by diligently reading it. The noble Bereans ‘searched the Scriptures daily’ (Acts 17:11). The Word shows what is truth and what is error. It is the field where the pearl of price is hidden. How we should dig for this pearl!
He shows his love by frequently meditating on it. He has not only a few transient thoughts, but he leaves his mind steeping in the Scriptures. He delights in the Word. ‘Thy Words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart’ (Jer.15:16). Never did a man take such delight in a dish that he loved as the prophet did in the Word.
We ought to be watchful. This concerns not only Ministers of the Word, whose special business it is to watch over themselves and others, to take heed to themselves, and to their doctrine, and to take care of the flock, over which they are placed as overseers, and see to it, that they are fed with wholesome food and are not infected with false doctrine; but this is incumbent on members of Churches also; what is here exhorted to belongs to them, as our Lord said to His disciples; what I say unto you I say unto all, watch (Mark 13:37); against sin and the prevailing vices of the age, Satan and his temptations, false teachers and their pernicious doctrines. We live in ensnaring times, and therefore ought to be on our watch and guard; times of great profaneness and immorality, in which not only the men of the world, but professors of religion, give themselves great liberties and indulge to a vain conversation; and the more wicked the times are, the more cautious should we be, that we are not drawn aside by ill examples; and the more so, as they are set by such that profess the same name we do. Satan is very busy in laying snares in the way of a professing people, in using all devices, and wiles, and stratagems, to decoy them from the paths of truth and righteousness; wherefore we ought to watch and pray, that we enter not into temptation (Matt. 26:41): false teachers are everywhere lying in wait to deceive, and therefore we ought to guard against them, and be careful that our minds are not corrupted by them, from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Cor. 11:3); and that we are not carried away with the error of the wicked (2 Pet. 3:17).
How do we trust in the Lord? We cannot trust in Him till we know Him. Do I trust a man I do not know? It would not do in this metropolis. I must know a man to trust him. So it is spiritually. We must know the Lord deserves our trust before we can put our trust in Him; we must have proved His faithfulness before we can fully rest in Him. In a word, trust implies this: though we cannot see the object of our trust, yet we rely on him from the knowledge we have of his faithfulness. It is like the wife, who has implicit confidence in her husband: he is away from her, but her confidence in his faithfulness fails not. It is the confidence of the child in his parent, at school and separated by many miles. It is the trust of friends divided by distance. Trust does not require sight; it relies upon the object trusted in, from what we knew of him, though present sight and present experience be denied.
The nature of faith is to trust in the dark, when all appearances are against it, to trust that a calm will come, though a storm be overhead; to trust that God will appear, though nothing but evil be felt. There is something filial in this, something heavenly, spiritual. Not the bold presumption of the daring or the despairing fears of the desponding, but something beyond both the one and the other, equally remote from the rashness of presumption and the horror of despair. There is a mingling of holy affection connected with this trust, springing out of a reception of past favours, insuring favours to come and all linked with a simple hanging upon the Lord, because He is what He is. There is a looking to and relying upon the Lord, because we have felt Him to be the Lord, and because we have no other refuge.
The enemy is at the gates
