TGIF
Today’s message was inspired by a text I received from Carl Romey 2 days ago on a man named William Tyndale. The story Carl sent me came from Holy Spirit TV. I have also added some additional information that I borrowed from an article I found online written by Melvyn Bragg in December 2017.
William Tyndale (1494-1536) was an English scholar who is best known for his English translation of the Bible. Tyndale was deeply influenced by Martin Luther and the Reformation movement. He was particularly disturbed by the fact that the common man was unable to read the Bible for himself.
Tyndale’s English translation of the New Testament is one of the most important books ever written. The accident of history that made English the language of two great empires—the British and American—has meant it is his Bible that has carried Luther’s message around the world. His New Testament formed more than 93 per cent of the King James Bible of 1611. And yet Tyndale, who was burned alive in Antwerp, Belgium in 1536, gained little credit until recently.
Born in 1494 into a wealthy West Country wool family, educated at Oxford, and possibly Cambridge, from an early age Tyndale dedicated his life to providing the English with a Bible in their own tongue, a radical idea in a Catholic country where an educated priesthood enjoyed an effective monopoly on access to the book which was only available in Latin. Germany, Italy and France had published translated Bibles, yet England continued to hold out. Henry VIII and his advisers, especially Cardinal Thomas Wolseley, saw the Latin Vulgate as a way of controlling information and knowledge.
Galatians 6:9 – Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Tyndale preached on the streets of Bristol. He harangued bishops and divines. On one occasion a bishop asserted that should there be a choice between following the laws of the Pope or the laws of God then he would follow the Pope. An enraged Tyndale replied: “Ere long I will teach a ploughboy to know the Bible as well as Thee.” He meant it.
Tyndale sought permission from the church to produce an English language Bible but was turned down. However, he would not be stopped. With the support of some British, he traveled to Hamburg Germany in 1524 to complete the translation of the New Testament into English, then have 6,000 copies printed in Germany and smuggled back into Britain.
Philippians 4:13 – I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
The church in Britain tried their best to eliminate the copies he had brought and to find him, but he continued to evade them and print more copies as they destroyed the ones the church could find. Tyndale then hid in Antwerp to begin his translation of the Old Testament.
However, he was captured before he could complete the Old Testament translation. He was jailed for 18 months and then brought to trial for heresey – for believing, among other things, in the forgiveness of sins and that the mercy offered in the gospel was enough for salvation. In August, 1536, he was condemned and burned alive at the stake in Belgium. As he burnt to death, Tyndale reportedly said “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes”.
James 1:12 – Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Tyndale’s prayer was answered three years later when King Henry VIII required every parish church in England to make a copy of the English Bible available to its parishioners. Today, Tyndale’s prayer is fully answered, not only are the King’s eyes opened, but the Bible has become a universal instrument.
Tyndale was recognized in 1611 when the scholars who came together to produce the King James Bible drew significantly from Tyndale, a well as later translations that descended from his. In 2002, Tyndale was named number 26 in the BBC poll of the Greatest Britons, but in heaven his ranking is surely much higher than that.
Today it is hard to imagine the world without an English Bible, but without Tyndale who knows when it would have happened? Without the courage and genius of men like Tyndale, who challenged the status quo and were willing to die for doing so, it might never have been possible.
Tyndale shows us an example of following God’s Word that He has planted on your heart. Don’t believe that you are too insignificant to accomplish anything that God asks of you. Listen to your heart, listen to God speaking to you, and commit yourself to serving Him as best as you can for as long as you can.
Colossians 3:23-24 – Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
In the end, you will receive the ultimate reward.
2 Timothy 4:7 – I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.