Thus Wycliffe presented to the pope and his cardinals the meekness and humility of Christ , exhibiting not only to themselves but to all Christendom the contrast between them and the Master whose representatives they professed to be . Wycliffe fully expected that his life would be the price of his fidelity . The king , the pope , and the bishops were united to accomplish his ruin , and it seemed certain that a few months at most would bring him to the stake . But his courage was unshaken . " Why do you talk of seeking the crown of martyrdom afar ?" he said . " Preach the gospel of Christ to haughty prelates , and martyrdom will not fail you . What ! I should live and be silent ? . . . Never ! Let the blow fall , I await its coming ." - D ' Aubigne , b . 17 , ch . 8 .
But God ' s providence still shielded His servant . The man who for a whole lifetime had stood boldly in defense of the truth , in daily peril of his life , was not to fall a victim of the hatred of its foes . Wycliffe had never sought to shield himself , but the Lord had been his protector ; and now , when his enemies felt sure of their prey , God ' s hand removed him beyond their reach . In his church at Lutterworth , as he was about to dispense the communion , he fell , stricken with palsy , and in a short time yielded up his life . God had appointed to Wycliffe his work . He had put the word of truth in his mouth , and He set a guard about him that this word might come to the people . His life was protected , and his labors were prolonged , until a foundation was laid for the great work of the Reformation . Wycliffe came from the obscurity of the Dark Ages . There were none who went before him from whose work he could shape his system of reform . Raised up like John the Baptist to accomplish a special mission , he was the herald of a new era . Yet in the system of truth which he presented there was a unity and completeness which Reformers who followed him did not exceed , and which some did not reach , even a hundred years later .
So broad and deep was laid the foundation , so firm and true was the framework , that it needed not to be reconstructed by those who came after him . The great movement that Wycliffe inaugurated , which was to liberate the conscience and the intellect , and set free the nations so long bound to the triumphal car of Rome , had its spring in the Bible . Here was the source of that stream of blessing , which , like the water of life , has flowed down the ages since the fourteenth century . Wycliffe accepted the Holy Scriptures with implicit faith as the inspired revelation of God ' s will , a sufficient rule of faith and practice . He had been educated to regard the Church of Rome as the divine , infallible authority , and to accept with unquestioning reverence the established teachings and customs of a thousand years ; but he turned away from all these to listen to God ' s holy word . This was the authority which he urged the people to acknowledge . Instead of the church speaking through the pope , he declared the only true authority to be the voice of God speaking through His word .
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