Hebrews 13:7-8 says we are to remember our faithful forefathers. On Reformation Sunday, we remember the many who paid with their lives for believing and preaching Jesus. Today, God is still working to save His people from apostasy. Besides Martin Luther, there were other reformers before him. The 16^th century Reformation actually began 150 years earlier, and it began in England (not Germany) with John Wycliffe. Thus, Wycliffe is called the “morning star of the Reformation.” At that time, the Roman church was very powerful and taught corrupt doctrines. The Roman church actually began well. The Epistle of Paul to the Romans is about salvation. Romans 1:17 says that the just shall live by faith alone. However, as time went by, the Roman church preached another gospel, e.g. praying to Mary and the saints, salvation by good works, by following church traditions and through the church, selling indulgences (i.e. forgiveness tickets), teaching the false doctrine of transubstantiation (i.e. the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper became the physical flesh and blood of Jesus Christ), etc. The Roman church became hungry for political power. There was a time when the pope was more powerful than the king.

God blessed Wycliffe (born 1320s) with a brilliant mind and a silver tongue. An orator, he could write well too. More importantly, he was born again. As an Oxford professor, he shared the gospel with students from all over the world. The pope and the king hated him but the people loved him. Wycliffe gave his life to translate the bible from Latin into the people’s language: English. At that time, the printing press was not invented yet. The bible had to be hand copied and thus was very expensive, costing 5,000 chickens (estimated to be worth S$30,000) a copy.

Wycliffe also organized bands of preachers (called the Lollards) to preach and teach the Word of God. It was so effective in turning people to the truth that the Roman church confiscated and burned Wycliffe’s bibles as well as the preachers of the bible. Wycliffe died in 1384. The Roman Catholic Church hated him so much that they dug up and burnt his bones 40 years later, and cast the ashes into the river. This accursed act became the emblem of the work that Wycliffe was doing - spreading the truth of the gospel throughout the world.

The Reformation started in the 14^th century with John Wycliffe. It took off in the 16^th century (aided by the invention of the printing press in the 15^th century) with Luther nailing his 95 theses on the castle door of Wittenburg on 31 October 1517. The impact of the Reformation was great, spreading worldwide.

The Word of God can never be bound. Thank God for Wycliffe and the other reformers for their courageous faith that today we have and know the truth.