William Tyndale

A man with genuine faith once stood without regard for his life and said, “I defy the pope, and all his laws;” and added, “If God spared him life, ere many years he would cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture than he did.” So William Tyndale begun the English Reformation that changed the very flavor of Christianity in the

William Tyndale, reformer and Bible translator

west. He was a man raised up in the farming counties of Wales but as a child was taught in Oxford and Cambridge. He was sincerely looking for truth and life that cannot be denied in its righteousness and holiness. But all that he could see among the clergy in his country are men clad in rich, velvety suit whose mouth calls evil good and good as evil. They twisted the very meaning of the Scriptures that could very well saved the souls of their countrymen.

They controlled the ways of the people because they controlled what the people could read and learn. This was the very time when God sent one of His workers whom He molded in the crucibles of the academically inclined „Oxbridge“ centers. He took pains to learn well his Greek, Hebrew and Latin so that he could translate the New Testament into his native tongue. Tyndale foresaw the need of his countrymen for the Word of God so that they can verify for themselves the truth, whether what is being preached to them is right or wrong. He saw that the only way to turn the laity who have no means to study the Scriptures in the original tongues is to actually translate it into their very tongue. He could find no other means to set his people free from the tyranny of lies and deceit coming from the tongues of the messengers of a false religion. The Scriptures when read and readily accepted by believers will become the radiant light and the source of hope that it is. Sadly, most take for granted the readily available translations in various tongues that has flooded our generation. We indeed have the Scriptures but we do not have the same power and the same authority through which those who have gone before us stood with it. We are like lame ducks sitting by the wayside while the prince of darkness shoots dart of lies.

The key to powerful witness

Where then is the power of conviction so that we too can stand like Tyndale did? The problems of their generation though it seems to have disappeared has also continued to beset us. We have the translations but we do not have the power. When I inquired of the Lord why there is so much darkness in spite of the prevalence of available Bibles in the market and among households, the only answer He gave me is Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success“ and in John 5:39 Jesus reiterated this by wording it this way, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me“ in my vocabulary this reads you read the Scriptures for in them you find life. It is not owning the book that will free us from our platitudes but devouring it so that its content becomes life to us.

Persecution will only fan the flames of truth, though Tyndale died, the truth spread abroad even more fiercely.

Has it ever crossed your mind why prophets in the scriptures were first commanded to eat the scrolls before they are sent to proclaim the message? Life comes by living the truth. True messengers don’t just proclaim, they live the Word, breath His presence and pour out the new wine of revelation to His people.Tyndale’s witness is not only in translating the Bible; it is in establishing ordinary people like you to become a formidable fortress of truth. He saw that lies could not be fought by rigging the Pope and the clergy with accusations but in demonstrating the power of truth which he did by dying for it. Truth cannot die and it will prevail even when the vessel that contained it expired. This is the paradox that satan has to deal with Jesus Christ; he thought that by killing the Master, he could stop the power of the cross and win the epic battle between light and darkness. In contrast, he lost it by neglecting to understand that a seed is more powerful when sown than when it is kept in storage. Those who gave their lives for the witness of the Lord did not die in vain because their lives continue to exert the message of God, those who come to Him, come not by their own righteousness but because He called them to Himself. Those who are alive are alive for the sake of His Kingdom.

“For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.“ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

We return to an earlier question, if Jesus died for people, what are the priests and pastors doing? Aren’t they called to be fishers of men too like Him? Aren’t they commissioned to plant His Kingdom in every place where they have set their feet upon? Yet we miss the whole point if we only think of our leaders, if we continue to think of them as the greater people. Jesus has called everyone to go as far as they can with Him, like He did to Wycliffe and Tyndale who stood against lies, hypocricy and mixture, He has called you to stand for purity, holiness and truth so that you can abide in Him. As He has said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing“ (John 15:4-5). Unless one really yearns to work with the Lord and for the Lord, he cannot do much in this world. Too much analysis can paralyse our minds just as a computer will lock up because of too much task to be done at once. One can only do His will apportioned each time and season.

There is a progressive revelation of His will and those who catch this will run with the vision that God has given them but those who don’t will even have their eyes gouged by the searing fire of confusion. The righteous will run with the vision and they shall run and not be weary because God is their strength and sustenance. He shall be their fuel, their eyes and their plan; above all He shall be the light of the dawn that increases daily in their hearts and minds so that they can know and understand His will. Because it is He who wills and works in us. To be salt and light is to grow as oaks of righteousness, firm, grounded in truth and alive exuding purity, holiness and marvelous works that could only be heavenly in nature. (A personal note from the author: Edison has written two books, The Surpassing Peace of God and the Restorers of the breach that deal in depth about disasters, lawlessness, and terrorism and how such can be repelled. Send your request to his email: edmacusi@gmail.com and he will send it to you free.)