The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 93

even by death, if necessity so require; and if I could labor according to
my will or desire in mine own person, I would surely present myself
before the bishop of Rome; but the Lord hath otherwise visited me to the
contrary, and hath taught me rather to obey God than men.”
In closing he said: “Let us pray unto our God, that He will so stir
up our Pope Urban VI, as he began, that he with his clergy may follow
the Lord Jesus Christ in life and manners; and that they may teach the
people effectually, and that they, likewise, may faithfully follow them in
the same.”—John Foxe, Acts and Monuments, vol. 3, pp. 49, 50.
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

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