Wednesday: The Morning Star of the Reformation
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 24th of April 2024
Read Psalms 19:7-11, Psalms 119:140, Psalms 119:162, and Jeremiah 15:16. What similar attitudes did David and Jeremiah have toward the Word of God that were, really, the cornerstone of the Reformation?
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Each of the Reformers “rejoiced” in God’s Word. They “delighted” in doing God’s will. They “loved” His law. One of the most significant foundational truths of the Reformation was the joy that studying the Scriptures brought. Bible study was not a laborious task. It was not a legalistic exercise. It was not a rigid requirement but a delight. As they studied the Scriptures, they were transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“The character of Wycliffe is a testimony to the educating, transforming power of the Holy Scriptures. It was the Bible that made him what he was. The effort to grasp the great truths of revelation imparts freshness and vigor to all the faculties. It expands the mind, sharpens the perceptions, and ripens the judgment. The study of the Bible will ennoble every thought, feeling, and aspiration as no other study can. It gives stability of purpose, patience, courage, and fortitude; it refines the character and sanctifies the soul. An earnest, reverent study of the Scriptures, bringing the mind of the student in direct contact with the infinite mind, would give to the world men of stronger and more active intellect, as well as of nobler principle, than has ever resulted from the ablest training that human philosophy affords.”—The Great Controversy, p. 94.
Read 2 Timothy 2:1-3. What counsel did the apostle Paul give to Timothy regarding sharing the Word of God?
The truth of God’s Word and the joy of salvation in Christ so filled the hearts of the Reformers that they had to share it. John Wycliffe spent his life translating the Word of God into English for two reasons alone: the living Christ changed Him through the Word, and the love of Christ motivated him to share what he had learned with others.
Before Wycliffe, very little of the Bible existed in English. Though he died before Rome got to him, the papacy, undeterred, dug up his remains, burned them, and threw his ashes into a river. But just as those ashes were dispersed by the water, so God’s Word, the water of life, spread far and wide as a result of His work. Thus God used Wycliffe, the “Morning Star of the Reformation.”
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Before there was a full-blown Reformation in the church, and before there was a group called “Protestants” in the world, first there had to be reformation and change in individual hearts and minds. A protest internally against the way one had been seeing things and living life.
How did that begin for Wycliffe and the others? It came, each time, through picking up the Bible and becoming aware of the active word stirring something inside, because there in God’s Word they were meeting God himself.
That is my own testimony, too. I was full of so much worldly philosophy and self-help reading. It had been a long time since I’d read the Bible introduced to me in childhood. About 7-8 years ago, my Mom and Sister said they wanted to finish reading the Bible through for a New Year’s resolution. I thought I’d try it too…. out of curiosity. By the time I’d finished the Old Testament, like Wycliffe I had turned from all the other books and just want more and more Scripture.
It is so refreshing … all the world’s stuff stokes and strokes ego. (The Holy Spirit also revealed to Jan Hus, “He needed a sturdier foundation than was built from the straw and sticks of men’s opinion — no matter how highly regarded those men were.”)
Reading the Bible is life-giving….the gospel story opens the only way to a truly intimate relationship and hope for change. When Jesus asked if the disciples would leave Him because of His challenging sayings, I know how Peter felt when he replied that they were not ready to abandon Him because “who else has the words of life?” (John 6:68-69)
Here I am at 5:50 AM, reading about the Morning Star of the Reformation. May the same Spirit revive Wycliffe's "purpose, patience, courage, and fortitude" in me and all those who read today's study.
Men like John Wycliffe are giants on whose shoulders we gratefully stand. They did the heavy lifting,yet we sometimes find it so difficult to just share the Word they faithfully preserved for those who would come behind them. I've found that once I get into studying the Scripture, I don't want to stop. It's no wonder the enemy devises all kinds of strategies to keep us from opening that Word. Thankfully, we are not ignorant of his devices (II Corinthians 2:11).Let's all leave a legacy of keeping God's Word alive and sharing His Truth with the next generation, in Jesus's Name. 🙏🏾
We need more Wycliffe's in this world. Our church is asleep. World is soon to end. We must pray for each other.
We are to take our time ,read the word and share out what we've learnt so that the gospel may be speed all through the 4 corners of the world and beyond.
After the Black Death had killed about half the population of Europe (1347-1352), sparing neither common people nor priests and nobles, more people longed for spiritual solutions that the priests and friars, who had been powerless to stop the plague, could not offer. A pall of darkness still hung over Europe, and numerous begging friars impoverished the people who had trouble getting enough to eat while the friars ate at lavish tables.
The plague had interrupted John Wycliffe's education at Oxford. He would have been 24 or so by the time the plague ended. As a scholar, Wycliffe had access to the Bible and could read and study it for himself. He began to see the discrepancies between the teachings of the Bible and the church which he served. As he began to share with those around him the light that illuminated his own soul, he began his work as the "Morning Star of the Reformation." You can read the inspiring story of Wycliffe we read in Love Under Fire. *
In reading the story, I am impressed that John Wycliffe was much like Joseph or Daniel of OT times. God elevated him to positions where he could influence nations, and He protected him from the wrath of the official church. I wondered why we hear so much more about the sometimes irascible Luther than about Wycliffe.* (Martin Luther seems to inspire new movies every few years.) Wycliffe's life reminds us of what God can do with someone wholly committed to serve Him. Even his enemies could find no fault in him.
We are so blessed to have the Bible freely available to us in any translation we choose! Are we treasuring it like the people who first read it in their own language?
Let us read, study and hide it in our hearts to prepare for the storm soon to break over us - more dangerous than the times of Wycliffe and Luther. It is as much a matter of life and death now as it was hundreds of years ago.
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*We read the book on our tablets in the Kindle version. You can buy your own digital or hard copy at Amazon.com or your local Adventist Book Center. Or you can read it in the EGW app or online. [See The Great Controversy Resources]
But the fact is that "The Law" can only do two things: 1. it can only justify or 2. it can only condemn. It has absolutley no power to actually "Convert" anyone at all. The power to convert comes from the "Author of the law" God Himself, and He only does this by way of our faith in what He did via His Son Jesus at Calvary 2,000 plus or minus years ago at Calvary. And that is why the Reformer, Martin Luther's thrust of "Righteousness by Faith," which is also a New Testament concept by the Apostle Paul too, became the concept that even Ellen G. White said that this concept would be what would go on to reform God's people until Jesus would come in the Clouds of Glory to take His Throne on this earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
I think your view of the Law of God may be a bit shortsighted. He promises to write it in our hearts, and when we have it written in our hearts, it becomes the "joy and rejoicing" of our hearts. (Jer. 15:16) That's what the Reformers experienced. And Jesus experienced this: "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart."
The Law is the basis of the New Covenant. (Jer 31:33)
The problem comes in our attitude toward the Law: If we try to earn salvation by any kind of works, including strictly keeping the Law, we will earn only condemnation. But if we allow the Holy Spirit to write it in our hearts, it becomes a transforming power in our lives.
King David wrote that "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 19:7 Do you suppose he didn't understand it correctly?
The Law of God leads us to conversion.
Well said Inge. I enjoy your weekly comments on the lesson study.It sharpens me and I use it sharpen my church brethren. Blessings!
The law of the Lord is perfect for converting the soul Psa 19:7