<![CDATA[LIVINGSTONE FELLOWSHIP - Character Study]]>

<![CDATA[LIVINGSTONE FELLOWSHIP - Character Study]]>Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:47:24 +0200Weebly<![CDATA[What Would David Livingstone Say to Us Today]]>Thu, 17 Mar 2022 10:21:32 GMThttps://www.livingstonefellowship.co.za/character-study/what-would-david-livingstone-say-to-us-today

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On 17 March 1841, Dr. David Livingstone sighted Table Mountain as his ship edged into Table Bay to begin one of the most incredible careers of the best friend Africa ever had.

An Example of Excellence
Dr. David Livingstone is an example of excellence. His life, legacy and literature continue to speak to us today. The challenge of David Livingstone is most relevant to our times.

If Dr. David Livingstone was here today, what would he say to us?
We do not need to guess. We have his writings and published statements available. We can know exactly what David Livingstone would say to us today. It is what he said to the people of his generation:
"The Salvation of men ought to be the chief desire and aim of every Christian!"
"All men have the right to hear God's Word. No nation ought to hoard the Gospel like a miser!"
"Can the love of Christ not carry the missionary where the slave trade carries the trader?"
"If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all!"
"We must be uncommon Christians, i.e. imminently holy and devoted servants of the Most High. Let us seek that selfishness be extirpated, pride banished, unbelief driven from the mind. Every idol dethroned and everything hostile to holiness and opposed to the Divine will crucified; that holiness to the Lord may be engraved on the heart and evermore characterise our whole conduct."
"We have still a debt of gratitude to Jesus… and there is no greater privilege on earth, than after having our own chains broken off, to go forth and proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of prison to them that are bound."

A Vision of Victory
Dr. David Livingstone was inspired by an optimistic view of the future. Like most of the missionaries of the 19th century, Livingstone held to the Eschatology of victory:
"Discoveries and inventions are culminative… filling the earth with the glory of the Lord. All nations will sing His glory and bow before Him… our work and its fruit are culminative. We work towards a new state of things. Future missionaries will be rewarded by conversions for every sermon. We are their pioneers and helpers… let them not forget the watchmen of the night, who worked when all was gloom and no evidence of success in the way of conversions cheers our path. They will doubtless have more light than we. But we serve our Master earnestly, and proclaim the same Gospel as they will do."

"A quiet audience today. The seed is being sown, the least of all seeds now, but it will grow into a mighty tree. It is as if it were a small stone cut out of a mountain, but it will fill the whole earth." Daniel 2:34-45

"We work for a glorious future which we are not destined to see, the Golden Age which has not yet been, but will yet be. We are only morning stars shining in the dark, but the glorious morn will break – the good time coming yet."

An Understanding of History
"The dominion has been given by the power of commerce and population unto the people of the saints of the Most High. This is an everlasting Kingdom, a little stone cut out of the mountain, without hands, which will cover the whole earth. For this time we work."

"By different agencies, the Great Ruler is bringing all things into a focus. Jesus is gathering all things to Himself and He is daily becoming more and more the centre of the world's hopes and of the world's fears."

A Harvest of Souls
Today there are over 500 million people in Africa who claim to be Christians. This includes: 150 million Protestants, 50 million Anglicans, 140 million Charismatics, 60 million Pentecostals and 100 million Independents. David Livingstone ploughed in stony ground and sowed the Gospel seed that has produced this great harvest.

"All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the Kingdom is the Lord's and He rules over the nations." Psalm 22:27-28

David Livingstone Changed my Life!
The life and legacy of David Livingstone changed my life. As a new Christian, I imbibed many of the pre-suppositions and tendencies of churches in the 1970s. I read The Late Great Planet Earth and There is a New World Coming, Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth and other date-setting, end-times, rapture fever publications. I was Saved. I loved the Lord. I was enthusiastically involved in Evangelism. But my understanding of Biblical doctrine was actually quite shallow.

End Times Obsession
I imbibed the prevailing prejudice against Calvinism and was convinced that we were living in the last days. Therefore I could not at that time consider marriage, or children. There was not enough time! I could not allow myself to be distracted by such worldly matters as family and raising children. I needed to devote the last few days on earth to snatching souls from the fire. The rapture was coming, surely before the end of that year! I was completely closed to the idea of Theological training. What is the point? The Lord will have come before I can finish my studies! Better to stay in the field winning souls in these last few days remaining.

The Puritan Hope
Then I read The Puritan Hope – Revival and the Interpretation of Prophecy, by Iain Murray, published by Banner of Truth. This book informed me that all of the pioneer missionaries of the 19th century missionary movement were Calvinist and post-millennial! I had no idea what post-millennialism was, but when I read that the Father of Modern Missions, William Carey, and the best friend Africa ever had, the great missionary pioneer Dr. David Livingstone, were both Reformed and post-millennial, I determined to read up more on these matters.

Sanitised and Censored
Earlier I had read a thin, modern biography on David Livingstone. It did not seem too extraordinary, because, like many modern books, it had been sanitised. All controversial, or politically incorrect, details had been omitted. The modern censored version of Livingstone's life did not mention the ravages of the Islamic slave trade, which David Livingstone confronted, documented and fought against. It left out his Calvinist convictions and post-millennial eschatology of victory. The modern biographies left out the fact that David Livingstone carried a six-barrelled revolver and a double-barrelled rifle. His violent confrontations with Islamic slave traders and bold initiatives to set thousands of captives free were also apparently deemed too controversial to include in these modern sanitised, abridged versions of Livingstone's life!

Back to Original Sources
However, I have always been a bookworm and had a love for history. Finding most of the books available in the average book shop today to be quite shallow and predictable, I have developed a preference for scouring through second hand bookshops finding rare old first editions of these missionaries and pioneers.

Livingstone's Travels in Mozambique
I was reading Livingstone's Missionary Travels as I was following in much of his footsteps in Tete Province of Mozambique in the Zambezi Valley in 1989. That was when I and the medical team I was leading were captured by Russian forces and imprisoned in SNASP security prison in Machava, Maputo. What I learned from the writings and from the exemplary life and extraordinary legacy of David Livingstone transformed my life and ministry.

What Did I Learn from Livingstone?
I learned from David Livingstone the importance of discipline. He was disciplined in reading and in exercise. He was self-controlled. Livingstone abstained from alcohol for life. He was temperate, duty orientated and hard working.

Work Ethic
Livingstone's work ethic is a rebuke to us all. From age 10 he worked 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, walking an average of 34km a day, much of this in a crawling, or stooping position, amongst and under the machinery, or balancing over it. Imagine the tremendous physical training this was for his later transcontinental expeditions throughout Africa. This he did in the steamed heat and humidity considered essential for the production of thread.

Hunger for Knowledge
David used his first week's wages to purchase a book on Latin. Less than 10% of the children who worked in the cotton mills ever learned to read or write. David not only learned to read and write, he taught himself Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Each night, after work, he would attend a night school, 8pm to 10pm. Then at home, he would study, often until midnight. Each morning began at 5:30am and his workday at 6am.

Disciplined Study
When he was studying Medicine and Theology, he would walk from Blantyre to Glasgow, refusing every offer of a ride on horse carts passing by. He preferred the four-hour walk, often in the snow, in order to strengthen his muscles for his chosen career in Missions.

Overcoming His Disadvantaged Background
Livingstone never accepted charity. Although being brought up in the poorest of circumstances, where a family of seven were forced to live in a single room, 10 feet by 14 feet, without any electricity, plumbing, or running water. He worked and saved up to put himself through both Medical school and Theological College. David was the first worker from the cotton mills to receive a university education. And nobody gave it to him. He earned it and passed with high honours, receiving his Doctorate from the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, November 1840, and ordained as a Congregational Minister, 20 November 1840. Against all odds he achieved far more than any would have thought humanly possible for someone born into such a poverty stricken and disadvantaged background. He did not wait for someone else to open up Africa, to invent 4WD vehicles, to build the roads and bridges. He drew the first maps of the Zambezi. He did not have an attitude of entitlement. David Livingstone had a Protestant work ethic.

Doctrinal Steel
To achieve what he did, Livingstone was decisive, goal orientated and inflexible. Reformed Theology put doctrinal steel in his backbone. He was a man of integrity. A man of his word. He meant what he said and he said what he meant. He walked many thousands of miles across difficult and dangerous terrain to return his porters to their village.

Holy Spirit Fire
David Livingstone understood the power of prayer. He had Holy Spirit fire in his heart, soul and mind. He prayed and sang the Psalms daily.

Love for God's Creation
He had a great love for God's creation, for nature and for wildlife. His books are filled with intricate sketches and fascinating details on animals and vegetation.

Vision
David Livingstone was inspired by the post-millennial eschatology of victory. He had a Kingdom vision.

Ministering to Body, Mind and Spirit
David Livingstone understood the greatness of the Great Commission. He worked to comprehensively fulfil the Great Commission, ministering to body, mind and spirit. As a doctor, he ministered to the body, as a teacher he ministered to the mind, and as a preacher of the Gospel, he ministered to the spirit. Wherever he went he used his medical knowledge and training, his breadth of reading and learning and his deep faith and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures to enrich and empower the people of Africa.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words
David Livingstone teaches us that actions speak louder than words. He was described as: "A man of resolute courage"; "Fire, water, stonewall would not stop Livingstone in the fulfilment of any recognised duty." Indeed he did not let swamps, rivers, deserts, or mountains prevent him from opening up Africa for the Gospel.

The Great Commission Was His Supreme Ambition
David Livingstone was determined to make a difference. The Great Commission was his supreme ambition. Christ's last command was his first concern. He wrote: "I hope to be permitted to work as long as I live, beyond other men's line of things and plant the seed of the Gospel where others have not planted."

In His Steps
"I am a missionary, heart and soul. God had an only Son, and He was a Missionary and a Physician. A poor, poor imitation of Him I am, or wish to be. In His service I hope to live; in it I wish to die."

Dedication
"I shall open up a path into the interior, or perish."

Faith
"May He bless us and make us blessings even unto death."

Determination
"Shame upon us missionaries if we are to be outdone by slave traders!"

Perseverance
Battling rains, chronic discomfort, rust, mildew and rot, totally drenched and fatigued, and laid low by fever, countless times, Livingstone continued to persevere across the continent. Trials tested the tenacity of the travel-wearied team. Often Livingstone endured excessive and unnecessary suffering and deprivation, hacking through dense jungle on foot, because lack of funds prevented him from affording the "luxury" of a canoe!

Not Sacrifices
"These privations, I beg you to observe, are not sacrifices. I think that word ought never to be mentioned in reference to anything we can do for Him, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes, became poor."

It is a Privilege to Suffer for Christ
The challenge of Livingstone rings out to us today: "Can that be called a sacrifice, which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? …it is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather, it is a privilege!"

Sacrificial Service is More Eloquent than Sermons
David Livingstone emphasized that sacrificial service is more powerful than eloquent sermons. We need to put feet to our Faith.

Exposing the Islamic Slave Trade
Livingstone also alerted the world to the cancerous sore of the Islamic Slave Trade. It was Missionary explorer David Livingstone whose graphic descriptions brought the ravages of the East African slave trade to light. His Missionary Travels and Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambezi exposed the horrors of the slave trade: "Two of the women had been shot the day before for attempting to untie their thongs. One woman had her infants brains knocked out because she could not carry her load and it; and a man was dispatched with an axe because he had broken down with fatigue... those taken out of the country are but a very small section of the sufferers. We never realised the atrocious nature of the traffic until we saw it at the fountain head, 'There truly Satan has his seat.' Besides those actually captured thousands are killed and die of their wounds and famine, driven from their villages by the internecine war waged for slaves with their own clansmen and neighbours, slain by the lust of gain, which is stimulated, be it remembered always, by the slave purchases of Cuba and elsewhere."

Courage to Confront Evil
David Livingstone taught that you cannot be neutral in the battlefields of life. He had the courage to confront evil. His fearless faith fought the good fight of Faith and set many thousands of captives free!
"Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." James 4:7

Patience and Perseverance
David Livingstone is an example of extraordinary patience and perseverance. He overcame every obstacle. Walking across the continent of Africa. He walked from Delgoa Bay (present day Port Elizabeth), up all the way through Graaf Reinet to Kuruman, in what is today the Northern Cape. He walked across what is today Botswana and all the way back across the Cape Colony to Cape Town, to place his family on a ship to return to Britain. He walked from Cape Town across the whole of the Cape Province through what is today Botswana, Zambia and Angola through to the Port of Luanda. He walked from the Atlantic Ocean across the continent of Africa, crossing what is today Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

The Zambezi Expedition
He came back and explored much of the Zambezi River, the Shiri River and the Ruvuma River, walking across much of what is today Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Romans 8:37

Walking Across a Continent
On his third great missionary journey he walked across the whole length of Tanzania, much of Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, the Congo, and Burundi and finally died on his knees in prayer in the province of Luapula in Northern Zambia. In his 30 years of dedicated missionary service in Africa, he walked from coast to coast, across, what are today, 12 vast countries. He walked across a continent that did not yet have roads, bridges, or purified water. "I shall try to hold myself in readiness to go anywhere, provided it be forward!"

The Power of the Printed Page
David Livingstone teaches us the power of the printed page. It was books that he read, such as Practical Christianity by William Wilberforce, which channelled much of his life in dedicated labours to eradicate the slave trade and open up Africa to the Gospel. Livingstone wrote Missionary Travels, the Zambezi Expedition and his Journals, which inspired generations of missionaries to dedicate their lives to winning Africa for Christ.

Mobilising Missionaries
Livingstone's steadfast example inspired Mary Slessor to devote her life to Calabar (present day Nigeria), and Peter Cameron, to launch the Africa Inland Mission. Peter Cameron had returned to Britain in failure after his first Mission. However, when he read the inscription on the tomb of David Livingstone in Westminster Abby: "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring and they shall hear My voice." Cameron was rebuked, inspired and resolved to return to Africa.

Strategic Thinking
Livingstone knew the power of the printed page and of public speaking tours. He also focussed on the universities as strategic for mobilising Reformers and Missionaries to fulfil the Great Commission. Livingstone saw rivers as God's highway to reach Africa for Christ. As all communities need access to water, rivers are a strategic artery which missionaries should utilise to fulfil the Great Commission.

Leadership Training
David Livingstone believed in Leadership training. His vision was to establish Bible Colleges for Africans to be trained as Evangelists, teachers and missionaries, to disciple the nations.

Lessons for Life
The life and legacy of David Livingstone has taught me the importance of discipline, exercise, reading, a Christian work ethic, temperance, self-control, self-denial and to be duty orientated. His Reformed Theology has put doctrinal steel in my backbone. He has taught me the importance of being a man of my word, a person of integrity, and most important a student of God's Word.

Great Commission Vision
The post-millennial Eschatology of Victory of David Livingstone has inspired me that we are not working at uncertainty. The Lord who gave us the Great Commission will ensure that it is fulfilled. His promises and His power are fully sufficient to empower His Church to fulfil His Great Commission, making Disciples of all nations, teaching obedience to all things that He has commanded.

Raising the Standards
David Livingstone's comprehensive vision of fulfilling the Great Commission, ministering to body, mind and spirit has raised the standards of missionary service for all of us. It is a rebuke to religious tourism.

How to Change Your World
Actions speak louder than words. Sacrificial service is more powerful than eloquent sermons. We must put feet to our Faith. We must recognise that we are in a world war of worldviews. Islam is a threat to Faith and freedom. You cannot be neutral. Confront evil. Fight the good fight of Faith! Be bold. Be brave. Be courageous. Be patient and steadfast. Persevere. Overcome every obstacle. Go forward in the Faith. Never forget the power of the printed page. Invest in books. Invest in your mind. Read. Teach your people to love reading. Readers make leaders. A reading Christian is a growing Christian. Do not forget the schools, colleges and universities. They are strategic. We must disciple the next generation to be faithful to God's Word and effective in God's service. Think strategically as to how to reach the nations for Christ. Make your life count for eternity!

In the words of C.T. Studd: "Only one life, it will soon be past. Only what is done for Christ will last!"

As William Carey declared: "Expect great things from God! Attempt great things for God!"

What would David Livingstone say to us today?

"I beg to direct your attention to Africa. I know that in a few years I shall be cut off from that country, which is now open. Do not let it be shut again! I go back to Africa to try to make an open path for commerce and Christianity. Will you carry out the work which I have begun? I leave it with you!"

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: 'Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me!'" Isaiah 6:8

Africa for Christ!

Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship

Email: mission@frontline.org.za
Website: www.frontlinemissionsa.org

Download this article as a tract here.

See also:

The Family, Faith and Upbringing of David Livingstone
To view the PowerPoint of The Family, Faith and Upbringing of David Livingstone, click here.

]]><![CDATA[From the Ends of the Earth]]>Mon, 15 Feb 2021 09:04:52 GMThttps://www.livingstonefellowship.co.za/character-study/from-the-ends-of-the-earth

From the Ends of the Earth
“Listen to Me, you islands; hear this you distant nations… you are My servant Israel.. to restore the tribes of Jacob.. I will make you a light for the gentiles, that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:1-6

To the Ends of the Earth
“The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness…” Psalm 24:1

Our Creator, and Redeemer, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the eternal Judge is “The God of all the earth…” Isaiah 54:5

“The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” 1 Corinthians 10:26

“The whole earth is full of His Glory…” Isaiah 6:3

It is the earnest prayer of all believers: “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Your Glory above all the earth.” Psalm 108:5

Our Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Matthew 6:10

The Lord’s Word is to be proclaimed “to the end of the world...” Isaiah 62:11

“The heavens declare the Glory of God.. there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4. By ship, by aircraft, by vehicle, by bicycle, by foot, by radio broadcasts and through literature the Word of God has been proclaimed to the end of the earth.

The Lord Jesus promised His disciples: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5

Before His Ascension our Lord Jesus Christ declared: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

The Apostle Paul declared that their words had indeed gone out to the ends of the world (Romans 10:18).

The Blessings of Abraham
It is the most inspiring drama imaginable. How God has led and guided and protected the children of Abraham. How God has spoken to, and through, the descendants of Abraham. How God has guided His people, made them into a great nation, blessed them, made their name great and made them a blessing to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3).

“Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” Genesis 18:18

The Angel of the Lord declared to Abraham: “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gates of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:17-18

Indeed history testifies how God has blessed and multiplied the descendants of Abraham and they, more than any other, have possessed the gates of their enemies.
In the history of the Church it is clear that all the nations of the earth have been blessed by the faithful children of Abraham, who have proclaimed God’s Word to the ends of the earth.

The Apostles of Christ
Paul was the first to proclaim the Gospel in Europe. John Mark established the Church in Egypt. Matthew proclaimed the Gospel in Ethiopia. Thomas established churches throughout Babylonia and India. Nathaniel preached the Gospel in India and Armenia. Philip proclaimed the Gospel throughout Gaul and Asia Minor. Simon the Zealot preached the Word of God throughout Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia. Andrew proclaimed the Gospel throughout Greece and all the way to Scotland.

Called and Commissioned
Almighty God restated His Divine call and commission to Abraham’s son, Isaac: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My Laws.” Genesis 26:4-5

Throughout the centuries Isaac’s sons have faithfully contended for the Faith, preserved and translated God’s Word, reformed the church and proclaimed God’s Word to the ends of the earth.

Patrick – Missionary to Ireland and Columba – Missionary to Scotland
In the 5 th Century, Patrick succeeded in establishing over 300 congregations and baptising 120 000 people in Ireland. In the 6 th Century, Colomba and his missionaries mobilised the effective evangelisation of Scotland from their mission base at Iona. Colomba and his men undertook missionary outreaches as far afield as France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

Boniface – The Apostle to the Germans
In the 8th Century, Boniface left Wessex to labour as a missionary to the Germans. Through his bold, courageous and persistent labours, Boniface succeeded in bringing to Christ multitudes in Frisia, Thuringia and Hesse. Boniface was undoubtedly one of the most successful missionaries of the first millenium. He not only converted multitudes of individuals, but he discipled an entire nation.

In a dramatic confrontation with the pagans of Hesse, Boniface chopped down the sacred oak of Donar in Geismar. The huge oak was a shrine to the pagan god Thor. Boniface used the wood from this felled oak to build a chapel in Fritzlar. Boniface destroyed idols, baptized heathen, established churches and mission centres, opposed corrupt and immoral clerics, decisively dealt with heresy and worked tirelessly to reform the church. He established a vast network of schools and mission stations.

Boniface declared: “Let us die for the holy laws of our fathers. Let us not be dumb dogs, silent spectators, hirelings who flee from the wolf, but faithful shepherds, watchful for the flock of Christ. Let us preach the whole counsel of God to the high and to the low, to the rich and to the poor, to every rank and age, whether in season or out of season, as far as God gives us strength.”

Boniface hungered and thirsted for the Pentecostal power of the Holy Spirit. He disciplined his life to faithfully follow the example and teachings of Christ, and he eagerly embraced the suffering that comes from preaching and living the Gospel.

King Alfred’s Fight for Faith and Freedom
King Alfred the Great of Wessex lived through tumultuous times and is recognised as one of the most intelligent, devout, industrious and effective of all medieval monarchs. Alfred was soldier and scholar, lawmaker and educator, author and reformer. For most of Alfred’s 30 years reign he was a soldier king leading his people in a desperate war for survival against great odds as the Danish Vikings overwhelmed most of the British Isles. Alfred personally commanded in 54 pitched battles. In just the first 5 months of 870AD, Alfred fought 9 pitched battles against the Danes.

As Winston Churchill commented on the strategic victory of Alfred at the Battle of Ashdown in 874: “If the West Saxons had been beaten, all England would have been sunk into heathen anarchy. Since they were victorious, the hope still burned for a civilized Christian existence in this Island.”

To beat these sea faring Danes, Alfred contracted Frisian seamen to build a fleet superior to any that had previously been seen. Alfred has justly been called “The father of the English Navy.”

The Common Law
King Alfred was determined to build this nation upon the Law of God. The Dooms of King Alfred began with The Ten Commandments, the Laws of Moses, the Golden Rule of Christ and other Biblical principles from the Sermon on the Mount. Alfred succeeded in instilling such a great respect for law and order in the kingdom that it was said that a traveler might hang a valuable jewel on a bush by the roadside and no one would dare touch it.

Winning the Vikings for Christ
Through virtue and valour, tactics and tenacity, King Alfred fought the Viking invaders to a standstill and then worked to bring them to Christ.
Winston Churchill marveled that Alfred should have: “wished to convert these savage foes… this sublime power to rise above the whole force of circumstances, to remain unbiased by the extremes of victory or defeat, to persevere in the teeth of disaster, to greet returning fortune with a cool eye, to have faith in men after repeated betrayals, raises Alfred far above the turmoil of barbaric wars to his pinnacle of deathless victory.”

King Alfred stands out as the model king, the perfect knight, a dedicated Christian, a Protestant before the Reformation, a soldier and scholar, lawmaker and educator, author and Reformer. He successfully fought against spiritual decay within the English church as well as against the Danish invaders, creating the first English Navy, authoring English literature, ensuring the survival of Christianity in England and beginning the great process of converting the bloodthirsty Vikings to Christianity.

The Morning Star of The Reformation
Professor John Wycliffe was the Morning Star of the Reformation. When Oxford was the greatest university in the world, John Wycliffe was its greatest professor. Wycliffe championed the independence of England from papal control and supported King Edward III’s refusal to pay taxes to the pope. Then Wycliffe attacked the corruptions, superstitions and abuses of the friars and monks. He exposed their supposed powers to forgive sins as fraudulent.
“Who can forgive sins?” Wycliffe taught: “God alone!”

He exposed indulgences, purgatory and transubstantiation as unBiblical heresies.

Wycliffe translated the New Testament from Latin into English and mobilized lay preachers (Lollards) to travel throughout the land to read these handwritten Bibles, preach in the market places and sing the Scriptures – in English.

Wycliffe’s writings and example inspired Jan Hus the Reformer of Prague and the great Saxon Reformer, Dr. Martin Luther.

William Tyndale and The Battle for The Bible
The man, whom God used to translate the Bible into English, from the original languages, was William Tyndale. Tyndale was a gifted scholar and linguist, a graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Prevented by law from translating the Bible into English in England, Tyndale sailed for Germany in 1524, never to return to his homeland. In Hamburg, Cologne, and Worms, Tyndale worked to translate, and to print, the Bible in English. The first printed edition of the English New Testament needed to be smuggled into England. Most of these were discovered and destroyed, by order of the Bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall.
Yet Tyndale persevered to produce a better translation. Finally he was betrayed, arrested and imprisoned for 500 days in a cold, dark and damp dungeon. On 6 October 1536 he was burned at the stake. His last reported words were: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”

The Lord did indeed answer the dying prayer of Tyndale in a most remarkable way. Within two years, by order of King Henry VIII, every parish church in England was required to have a copy of the English Bible available to its parishioners.

Not only can William Tyndale be described as the father of the English Bible, but in a real sense the foremost influence on the shaping of the English language itself. Because Tyndale’s translation was the very first from the original Hebrew and Greek into the English language, Tyndale went back to the original Saxon. He rescued English from the French and Latin words and trends, which were swamping the English language at that time.

Tyndale’s translation of the Bible established English as an extension of the Biblical Hebrew and Greek worldview. The clarity, simplicity and poetic beauty which Tyndale brought to the English language through his translation served as a linguistic rallying point for the development of the English language. And so, every person in the world who writes, speaks, or even thinks, in English is, to a large extent, indebted to the Reformer and Bible translator William Tyndale.

It is also extraordinary while English was one of the minor languages of Europe in the early 16 th Century, with less than 3 million speaking it, today it has become a truly worldwide language with over 2 billion people communicating in English.

Thomas Cranmer – Reformer and Martyr
The first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, began the work of transforming the Roman Church in England into the Protestant Church of England. This he accomplished through his Book of Homilies, the Book of Common Prayer and The 42 Articles, which were later revised into The 39 Articles. Under Queen Elizabeth, these became the official foundational statement of the Church of England worldwide. By Thomas Cranmer’s immense learning, ecclesiastical authority and hard work, he dominated the Reformation in England, rescued the church from Rome and propelled England into the Protestant camp.
Amongst his last words, before being burned at the stake in Oxford, Thomas Cranmer declared: “As for the Pope, I refuse him as Christ’s enemy and anti-Christ, with all his false doctrines!”

Faith and Courage
On 16 October 1555, two Protestant bishops were burned at the stake in Oxford. The Bishop of London, Nicolas Ridley, respected as one of the finest theologians in England, and the Bishop of Worcester, Hugh Latimer, one of the most powerful preachers of his day, were chained to a stake surrounded by firewood piled high at its base. As the flames began to rise, Bishop Latimer declared: “Be of good cheer, Master Ridley and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s Grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out!”

Candles Burn in Africa
Indeed, more than 450 years later we can rejoice that the Protestant Faith of Bishops’ Ridley and Latimer burns brightly in Africa. Every Sunday there are more than 2 million Anglicans gathered in church in Sudan alone. Millions more in Uganda and Kenya. Nigeria has 18 million Anglicans gathered in church every Sunday. There are now vastly more Anglicans who are faithful to The 39 Articles, and follow The Prayer Book order of service set out by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, in Africa, than in all North America and Great Britain combined.

The Counter-productive Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation persecutions and oppression under Mary Tudor were counter-productive. The fanatical obsession of Bloody Mary to return England to Catholicism spectacularly backfired. As Foxe’s Book of Martyrs recorded, neither of the hundreds of prominent executions of Protestant leaders, nor all the cruelties, torments, tortures and oppression unleashed under Bloody Mary were sufficient to crush the Protestant Reformation in England. By attempting to exterminate the Reformation, Bloody Mary only succeeded in entrenching it, convincing the vast majority of Englishmen in their resolution and determination never again to succumb to such tyranny, superstition, intolerance and error.

The Rise of England as a World Power
Under Queen Elizabeth I’s 45 years reign England was united, strengthened and entrenched as a Protestant nation. It prospered and flourished until it defeated the great military super power of the age, Spain. Elizabeth encouraged English enterprise and commerce, establishing a consistent legal code. Her reign was noted for the English Renaissance, an outpouring of poetry and drama led by William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and Christopher Marlowe.

The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 marked a great watershed in world history. It signaled the decline of Catholic Spain and Portugal and the rise of Protestant England and Holland. Before 1588 the world powers were Spain and Portugal. These Roman Catholic empires dominated the seas and the overseas possessions of Europe. Only after the English defeated the Spanish Armada did the possibility arise of Protestant missionaries crossing the seas. As the Dutch and British grew in military and naval strength, they were able to challenge the Catholic dominance of the seas and the new continents. Foreign missions now became a distinct possibility. By the Grace of God, the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 saved the Protestant Reformation in England from Spanish invasion, oppression and the inquisition.

It was during the reign of Elizabeth that North America was first claimed for the Protestant cause, with Sir Walter Raleigh’s naming of Virginia after the virgin Queen of England and pioneering the first English settlement in what was to become the United States of America.

A Golden Age
Under Queen Elizabeth, England flourished spiritually, militarily and economically. The Elizabethan years saw some of the greatest soldiers, explorers, scientists, philosophers and poets ever produced. Under Elizabeth Parliament flourished and the Protestant Reformation became entrenched in the Church of England and through the Puritan movement. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is life changing, history making and nation transforming!

The Father of Modern Missions
In 1793, the modern missionary movement was launched by William Carey. In just 100 years Bible translations multiplied from 60 to 537 and mission organisations from 7 to 100. Protestant missionaries were sent to the ends of the earth. Whole tribes were converted and nations discipled. The world went from being 25% evangelised to 51% evangelised. Within a century, by 1900, the number of professing Christians had more than doubled from 215 million in 1800 to 520 million by 1900.

A Sermon that Changed the World
On 31 May 1792, in Northhampton, William Carey preached one of the most influential sermons in history. His text was Isaiah 54:2-3 and his challenge: “Expect great things from God! Attempt great things for God!” inspired the formation of The Particular (Calvinist) Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathens.

Teaching Nations and Translating the Bible
William Carey and his co-workers started over 100 Christian schools for over 8000 Indian children of all casts. He launched the first Christian college in Asia, Serampore College, which continues to this day. Carey succeeded in translating the entire Bible into six languages and the New Testament and Gospels into 29 other languages!

Transforming India
William Carey successfully fought against Sati (widow burning), child sacrifice, child prostitution, slavery and other social evils. Carey established the first newspaper ever printed in an Oriental language, and the first savings banks. He introduced the steam engine to India and pioneered the idea of lending libraries. Carey founded that the Agric-horticultural Society in the 1820’s (30 years before the Royal Agricultural Society was established in England!). 50 years before the government made its first attempt at Forest Conservation, Carey was already pioneering Forestry Conservation in India.

Against all Odds
Despite being brought up in abject poverty, and never having had the benefit of High School, through his insatiable thirst for knowledge and wide reading, Carey taught himself Latin by age 12. He went on to master, on his own, Greek, Hebrew, French and Dutch. He eventually became Professor of oriental languages, Bengali, Sanskrit and Marathi, at the prestigious Fort William College in Calcutta, where the civil servants were trained. William Carey certainly lived his challenge to expect great things from God and to attempt great things for God! As William Carey time and again stated: “God’s cause will triumph!”
It is interesting to note that, in the 200 years since William Carey launched the modern missionary movement, English speakers have made up 85% of Protestant missionaries worldwide.

Opening up Africa for the Gospel
Scottish missionary David Livingstone became the best friend Africa has ever had. Livingstone was a great missionary pioneer pathfinder. Three themes dominated his life: Evangelisation, Exploration and Emancipation.

He listed, Member of Parliament William Wilberforce’s book, Practical Christianity, as one of the most influential books he ever read. Livingstone determined, at his conversion at age 12, to devote his life to the alleviation of human misery. To this end he trained as a medical doctor and went out under the London Missionary Society. Initially Livingstone had been planning to go to China, but he was redirected to Africa by Robert Moffat’s inspiring description of “The smoke of a thousand villages that have not yet heard the Gospel of Christ.”

Livingstone walked across Africa, from coast to coast. “I shall open up a path to the interior or perish!”

Livingstone the Liberator
“Shame upon us missionaries if we are to be outdone by slave traders!” Battling rains, chronic discomfort, rust, mildew and rot, totally drenched and fatigued, laid low by fever and attacked by hostile tribes, yet David Livingstone persevered on foot across the continent.

“Can the love of Christ not carry the missionary where the slave trade carries the trader?”

“These privations, I beg you to observe, are not sacrifices. I think that word ought never to be mentioned in reference to anything we can do for Him, Who though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor.”

Livingstone confronted and exposed the sickening sights of the Islamic slave trade: burned out villages, corpses floating down rivers and long lines of shackled slaves been herded through the bush. Many hundreds of slaves were set free by David Livingstone’s direct intervention. In his public speaking engagements, between missionary tours in Africa, Livingstone regularly spoke of his two primary concerns: to enlighten people of the evils of the Islamic slave trade, and to spread the Christian Gospel amongst the heathen. He dedicated his life to bringing the Christian Faith and Freedom to Africa.

Livingstone was the first to map the great Zambezi River and many other parts of the vast hinterland of Africa. He was the first scientist to make the connection between mosquitoes and malaria and he pioneered the use of quinine as a treatment.

The challenge of David Livingstone rings out to us today: “Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay… it is emphatically no sacrifice! Say rather, it is a privilege!”

The Challenge
In one of his last meetings in England, David Livingstone presented this challenge: “I beg to direct your attention to Africa; I know in a few years I shall be cut off in that country, which is now open; do not let it be shut again! I go back to Africa to try to make an open path for Commerce and Christianity; it is for you to carry out the work, which I have begun. l leave it with you!”

Mission to Calabar
One of the daughters of Abraham whom God sent as a missionary to Africa, in response to the challenge of David Livingstone, was Mary Slessor. Born, the second of seven children, into a poor and troubled home in Scotland, Mary was brought up in abject poverty sleeping on the floor in a one roomed home that had no plumbing, no lighting and hardly any furniture.

Like her great example, David Livingstone, Mary began working at the cotton mill at age 10. The news of the death of David Livingstone in 1874 galvanized Mary Slessor into missions. She left her home in Dundee for missionary training in Edinburgh and was appointed by the United Presbyterian Church as a missionary teacher for Calabar (present day Nigeria).

Courage and Compassion
Red headed Mary confronted the rampant witchcraft, drunkenness, immorality and slave trading in Calabar. She cared for the many abandoned children, treated the sick and fed the starving. She set up schools and interposed herself between the feared witchdoctors and their victims.
Mary is particularly revered in Nigeria as Eko Kpukpro Owa – the mother of all the people. She passionately campaigned against the Nigerian practice of killing twins. Twins were believed to be bewitched and so they were killed in a most cruel manner. Mary rescued these doomed infants and raised them as her own children. At one point Mary moved to the Itu, which were notorious as slave traders, and where cannibalism was still practiced. Because of her tireless and courageous efforts, many schools and churches were established, the killing of twins ceased, slave trading in Calabar was eradicated, drunkenness, killing and witchcraft diminished and most of the people came to embrace the Gospel of Christ.

Cricketer Converts Cannibals in the Congo
As the famous English cricketer turned pioneer missionary to China, India and Africa, C.T. Studd declared: “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

As he suffered malaria and other attacks, C.T. Studd wrote: “Some like to live within sound of church or chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.”

“Only one life, it will soon be passed. Only what’s done for Christ will last!”

China Inland Mission
Hudson Taylor stated that his life was based upon three facts: “There is a living God. He has spoken in the Bible. He means what He says and He will do all that He has promised.”

“The battle is the Lord’s and He will conquer. We may fail, do fail continually, but He never fails.”
“The Will of God will never lead you where the Grace of God cannot keep you.”

Setting the Captives Free
One of the many fruits of William Wilberforce’s life long crusade against slave trade was the rescue of Samuel Ajayi Crowther. Samuel was born in 1807, the year Great Britain abolished the slave trade. At age 13 Samuel Crowther was captured by slave traders and sold to Portuguese traders for transport across the Atlantic. But he was rescued by a British Naval squadron.

“About the 3 rd year of my liberation from the slavery of man, I was convinced of another worse state of slavery, that of sin and satan. I was admitted into the visible Church of Christ here on earth as a soldier to fight manfully under His banner against spiritual enemies.”

Every Tongue and Tribe
Samuel was converted to Christ, received an education, both in Sierra Leone and England and in 1843 was ordained as a minister of the Church of England for service with the Church Missionary Society. One of the first converts Samuel baptized was his own mother – who took the Christian name Hannah. His language, Yoruba, became the first African language to have The Book of Common Prayer translated into it. To this day the Church of England in Nigeria uses Samuel Crowther’s Yoruba translation for their liturgy.

A Legacy of Liberty
In 1864, in an overflowing Canterbury Cathedral, Samuel Ajayi Crowther was ordained as the first African Bishop of the Church of England. His first mission was along the Niger River as a follow up to the anti-slavery expeditions of Wilberforce’s successor, Sir T. Foxwell-Buxton. Of the 145 Europeans on that expedition 130 were struck down with malaria and 40 died. Yet, the expedition succeeded in establishing a mission base at Fourah Bay for training liberated slaves to evangelise West Africa. It was built in the very place where the slave market had once stood. The rafters of the roof were made up almost entirely from the masts of old slave ships captured by the Royal Navy.

With over 120 million people, Nigeria is the largest nation in Africa. Despite having suffered under a succession of Muslim dictators, more than half of the population of Nigeria claim to be Christians.

From the Ends of the Earth
God has certainly made the Saxons a light for the Gentiles to bring Salvation to the ends of the earth. And just as God’s Word has gone out from these British Isles to the very ends of the earth, setting captives free, blessing all the families of the nations of the earth in so many ways, so now from the ends of the earth the Word comes back to these Isles, declaring: “Here are the ancient paths – walk in them. Contend for the Faith once delivered unto the saints. Listen, you Islands, hear this you distant nations… you are My servant Israel to restore the tribes of Jacob…”

A Macedonian Call to Moruland
On my first mission to Sudan I received a Macedonian call from Rev. Kenneth Barringwa. He had tracked me down and with great intensity, he urged me: “You must come to Moruland!”

On my next trip, after having driven a heavily laden diesel truck through the night to the border of Sudan, we charted an aircraft to fly over the rolling hills, rocky mountains and wide expanse of the Nile River to Moruland. We landed with 1 200 Bibles at a remote bush landing strip and were welcomed by an enthusiastic choir of singing and dancing Christians.

We were informed that the battlefront – the nearest Muslim garrison – was a mere 15 miles away. Because their last church gathering has been subjected to aerial bombardment they had constructed a special conference venue in the bush outside of town. I was most impressed with the high standards of civil administration, church structures, community organisation, hygiene and spiritual fevour maintained in this district. The Commissioner explained that the reason for all this was that a Scottish missionary couple – Dr. Kenneth Fraser and his wife Eileen – had come and firmly planted the Gospel in Moruland in 1920.

From Scotland to Moruland
Kenneth Fraser had run away from home at age 14 and joined the British Army. He was converted to Christ while stationed in South Africa during the Anglo Boer War. When his unit was sent to India he met his future wife, Eileen, who was the daughter of an Irish pastor. Eileen had a strong sense of call to pioneer missionary work in Africa and she communicated this vision to Fraser. They returned to Scotland determined to follow in the footsteps of Dr. David Livingstone and so began to study medicine and theology.

No sooner had Kenneth and Eileen married in 1914 then the First World War broke out. Dr. Fraser returned to the Army as a Major and was sent to Turkey where he was involved in some of the fiercest battles. By the end of the War he had been promoted to Major General and was much loved and admired by his men. For her part, Eileen Fraser had enrolled as a nurse and cared for war wounded in France.

After the war, the Frasers completed their training with the Church Missionary Society and travelled up the Nile to Sudan. They were welcomed to Moruland by Chief Yila at Lui on 22 December 1920. The local people had suffered much at the hands of the Arab slave traders and were very suspicious of foreigners. However Dr. Fraser’s medical skills created a sensation and they had to construct a hospital to care for the great number of patients. Soon Dr Fraser built the first school, then the first church. He trained the first teachers, nurses and pastors. He drilled all the people in physical training early each morning. By the time General Doctor Rev. Fraser had passed away in 1935 he had laid solid foundations for continual growth and expansion.

Through the Fire
The fruit of Dr. Fraser’s ministry in Moruland was impressive. Despite decades of devastation at the hands of the National Islamic Front (NIF) government of Sudan, the resilient Moru believers were standing firm.

The Islamic government of Sudan had repeatedly attacked the villages and farms of Moruland as part of their scorched earth campaign. Widespread destruction and suffering had been caused by aerial bombardments and ground offenses. The systematic burning of crops and looting of livestock led to severe man made famine.

Moru churches, schools and hospitals were attacked by high flying bomber aircraft and rocketed and staffed by low flying helicopter gunships. Captured Moru Christians had been tortured, maimed and murdered. Yet the tenacious Moru Christians were steadfast in resisting the Arabisation and Islamisation policies of the government of Sudan.

On one of my mission trips I arrive to find our venue for our Muslim Evangelism Workshop destroyed. Two helicopter gun ships had rocketed and destroyed the Episcopal church in Kotobi. Yet the pastors still gathered in the burned out wreckage of their church to receive training in how to evangelise their Muslim neighbours.

A Hospital for Moruland
On another occasion I saw further fruit of the legacy of the sacrificial and far sighted work of the Frasers. I had prevailed upon Franklin Graham to send an exploratory team from Samaritans Purse to consider establishing a hospital in Moruland. I explained to the team that Dr. Kenneth Fraser had planted the first hospital in the region at Lui. And as this area had recently been liberated by the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), they could have the opportunity to rehabilitate this historic facility. At that time there was no hospital for the millions of people in Western Equatoria. There was no doubt that thousands of lives could be saved by an efficient hospital in the area.

A Test
To persuade this skeptical team that this was the right location for such a hospital, I told of the magnificent ministry of Kenneth Fraser and how honest the Moru people were. “You could leave your wallet on the road outside the marketplace and someone would bring it to you”.
Well the next day as we were driving out of Kotobi to show the team the newly liberated town of Lui, and Dr. Fraser’s hospital, the team leader challenged me: “Do you really believe what you told us? That you could leave your wallet on the road by the marketplace and someone would bring it to you?!”
“Yes!” I replied.
“Come on” , he extended his hand to me “give me your wallet!” As I reluctantly handed over my wallet, he threw it out of the window onto the road, just as we passed the marketplace. There was much laughter from the others in the vehicle.

My heart sank, it was not that I was so concerned about what was in the wallet, it wasn’t that much money from my perspective, but the fear gripped me that perhaps I had overstated the case and what if some refugee from another tribe was passing by that day?

So much was at stake. Throughout that busy day as we explored the ruins of Lui, which had been under Arab occupation until just the month previously, my mind continually returned to my wallet in Kotobi and I prayer feverently that whoever found it would be honest.

That night when we returned there was no word. I tossed and turned under my mosquito net considering what a terrible testimony it would be if someone had chosen to keep the wallet.

However, by God’s grace the next morning, just before the Sunday service, Canon Reuben came up to me with two boys next to him and held out my wallet: “Is this yours?” he asked. “These two boys here found it outside the marketplace.”

As there was an identity card with my picture in the wallet it hadn’t been hard for them to work out to whom it belonged. As I took the wallet I turned and saw the wide-eyed, shocked expressions of the Samaritans Purse team with their jaws wide open in disbelief. They were impressed.

The Fruit of Integrity
Within the month Samaritans Purse was back in Lui fully committed and restoring Dr. Frasers hospital. SP poured millions of dollars into this project and after 10 years and treating hundreds of thousands of patients, saving thousands of lives, they handed the hospital over to the local church.
I’ve often thought that those two young boys could not have known how important it was that they responded with integrity that day. How many lives and limbs had been saved? How many people blessed and families enriched as a result of the long and productive ministry of Samaritans Purse in that community? Yet I am convinced that had those youngsters stolen that wallet that day, they would have robbed not only me of my wallet, but the entire community of more than 10 years of magnificent health care, with so many other ripple effects to the great benefit of their community.

Let the Earth Hear His Voice
Kenneth Fraser translated the Gospels and the Book of Acts into Moru before his death in 1935. One of his disciples, Canon Ezra Lawiri, dedicated his life to translating the rest of the Bible into Moru. In 1991 Canon Ezra was shot and killed in an ambush with the Arabs on the road to Juba. Amongst his last words were a solemn charge to his deacon Bullen Dolli: “My work on earth is complete. See that the Bible is printed.”
What I found out that the whole Bible was translated into Moru but was still needing sponsorship for printing, I determined that Frontline Fellowship should finance the printing of the first Bibles in the Moru language. By God’s Grace, in the year 2000, I had the privilege of delivering the first shipments of the first complete Bible in the Moru language to Kotobi and Lui.

Bombed In Sudan
On that Sunday morning, while presenting the first copies of the Moru Bible to the community at Jamba, close to where the Bible translator was killed and buried, we were bombed by the NIF government. Eight bombs were dropped in two straefing runs by a Soviet antanov. All landed within a hundred meters of the church. Yet, despite eight bombs landing in an area about the size of a football field, not one of the congregation were killed. I was about the only casualty with a few cracked ribs.

The trees were pockmarked with shrapnel. Fragments of the bombs were found on all sides of the church. Yet not only did the church building remain standing, but soon it was packed full again. Not only did we not lose anyone. We gained many people. There were more people in the church after the bombing than there were before!

The Battle for the Bible
The highlight of this service was as we presented the first Moru Bibles to this community near where the Bible translator lay buried. I reminded them that William Tyndale, who printed the first New Testaments in the English language, had been burned at the stake for that crime.

Here we were, just a few miles from where the Bible translator lay buried, and the Sunday morning that we were presenting the Bible he dedicated his life to translating, we were bombed at church. How much clearer could it be that the Bible is a message of life and death? Some people hate it so much that they are willing to kill to destroy it. Others love the Word of God so much they are willing to give their life to advance it.

Jesus Christ is building His Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

A Mighty Fortress is our God
On one occasion a Frontline Fellowship mission team was in Cuando Cubango province in Angola. This was such a remote section of Angola that the Portuguese called it “the end of the earth”. Well, here our team was, at the end of the earth, and as they drove into this remote village they could hear singing. Although they did not know the words they immediately recognised the tune. The village was singing Ein Festa Burg – A Mighty Fortress is our God - in Ovimbundu. Martin Luther’s great battle hymn of the Reformation was being sung at the ends of the earth in Ovimbundu!

We were then informed that it was 31 October, Reformation Day. The village was celebrating the Reformation. School children had made out posters with sketches of the great Reformers: Dr. Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, William Tyndale, John Knox and John Calvin. The Latin battle cries of the Reformation were boldly displayed on banners: Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus and Soli Deo Gloria.

“All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the Kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over the nations. All … shall bow before Him … a posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. They will come and declare His righteousness, there are people who will be born, that He has done this.” Psalm 22:27-31

Dr. Peter Hammond
Livingstone Fellowship
P.O. Box 74
Newlands, 7725
Cape Town , South Africa
Tel: (021) 689-4480
Fax: (021) 685-5884
Email: info@ReformationSA.org
Website: www.ReformationSA.org

]]><![CDATA[POLYCARP, JOHN and JESUS]]>Mon, 13 May 2019 09:00:52 GMThttps://www.livingstonefellowship.co.za/character-study/polycarp-john-and-jesus

To listen to the audio of this sermon, click here.

The year was A.D. 155. The persecution against Christians had swept across the Roman Empire. It had come to the city of Smyrna. The Pro-Consul of Smyrna, swept up into this persecution, put out the order to arrest Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp. He was to be arrested and brought to the local Coliseum, for execution.

Facing Persecution
Polycarp had been warned to flee, but he had decided not to. He invited his captors in, treated them as friends, prepared them food and served them a meal. Polycarp just asked for one hour to pray before they took him away. The Roman officers overheard his prayers, which actually went on for two hours. They probably began to have second thoughts: "What are we doing arresting an old man like this?" A man well advanced in his eighties.

An Offer for Reprieve
The crowd screamed when they saw this famous Christian leader come forward. They wanted his blood. The Pro-Consul, however, offered him a way of reprieve. He said: "Pity your grey hairs old man. Just curse Christ and I will release you." Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, responded: "Eighty-six years I have served Christ and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?"

Compromise Suggested
The Pro-Consul reached for a compromise: "Then just do this old man. Swear by the genius of the Emperor and that will be sufficient." The genius was 'the spirit' of the Emperor. To do this would have been to recognise the pagan idols and the pagan religion of Rome. At that point, Polycarp responded, "If you imagine for a moment that I would do that, then I think you pretend that you do not know who I am. Hear it plainly: I am a Christian!"

“Away with the Atheists!”
There were more entreaties. At one point the Pro-Consul commanded him to say, "Away with the atheists!" referring to the Christians who were considered atheists because they did not worship the Roman gods. Polycarp pointed at the jeering mob in the stands and cried out, "Away with the atheists!'

Wild Beasts
Polycarp was threatened that he would be fed to wild beasts. "Bring them" said Polycarp. "I would change my mind if it meant going from the worse to the better, but not to change from the right to the wrong."

Fire
The Pro-Consul's patience was exhausted: "I will have you burned alive!" Polycarp responded: "You threaten me with a fire that burns for an hour and then is extinguished. But you know nothing about the fire of Eternal Judgment that will burn forever and ever. Bring what you will!"

Singing Praises to God
The fire was prepared. Polycarp was burned to death and he died praying, praising God and singing. As the fire engulfed him, people were converted to Christ in the stands. That was 22 February A.D. 155.

Polycarp Trusted Christ
What is it about a man, in those worst of circumstances that enabled him to behave in such an extraordinary way and make it his greatest moment? He trusted Christ.

God gave grace for Polycarp's unique courage. But there is something of a human explanation for it as well. Polycarp was mentored by a man who knew our Lord Jesus Christ in a most unusual way. Polycarp's mentor was the Apostle John.

Mentored by the Apostle John
Thousands thronged around Jesus, hundreds followed Him, but a dozen became His disciples. And of that Twelve, three were in the inner circle - Peter, James and John. And John was described as "the disciple whom Jesus loved". The relationship of the Lord Jesus with John was unique. John must have passed on something of that close relationship to Polycarp and to others of his disciples. It can be summed up in these words: John trusted Jesus.

True Discipleship
Look at these striking words that the Apostle John was inspired to write in the Gospel of John 2:23-25: "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His Name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." This is the Word of God.

Many Believed in Jesus – But He Did Not Trust Them
In Jerusalem, many people believed in Jesus. But He did not believe in them. They trusted in Jesus, but He did not trust in them. Jesus knew their hearts. He knows all men. He does not need men's testimony about a man - He knows our heart motivations. They believed when they saw the miraculous signs He was doing.

Inverse Reality
When one looks at church history, you see that as the cost of discipleship increases, the numbers decrease. We should not be surprised at this.

More Turn Out for Food than for Teaching
At the first church picnic, over 5,000 people participated. It is well known that if you want a larger attendance, organise a meal. If there is food, then people gather in far greater numbers. So there were 5,000 at the first church picnic. But at the first church sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, there were several hundred.

Prayer Meetings are Not as Popular
For the first church prayer meeting, the prayer meeting in the Upper Room, when our Lord commanded them to pray day and night, until the power from above came down upon them, there were 120 who gathered in the Upper Room for the Pentecost prayer meeting.

Even Fewer are Available for Evangelism
When it came to the first mid-week outreach, the first door-to-door street Evangelism, there were 70 who went out, two by two, to Evangelise, in the highways and the byways.

Daily Discipleship is Even More Rare
When it came to daily discipleship, when the Lord wanted men and women to be with Him day and night to follow Him and to be where He was, there were 12 men and about 4 women.

The Apostle John Trusted Jesus
Of those 12 men, one betrayed Him, one denied Him, one doubted Him and they all forsook Him. Only John went all the way to the Cross and stood, with the women disciples, underneath the Cross and identified with the sufferings of Christ.

Love is Measured by Sacrifice
As the cost of discipleship increases, the numbers decrease. (We see this in our mission. Sometimes we have seen thousands turn up for an event, but much less for Bible teaching, even less for prayer meetings. Very few can be depended upon for evangelistic outreaches and even less for cross-border missions, especially in restricted access areas and war zones.) When we look at John's life, we see that John trusted Jesus.

John Gave Up His Comfortable Lifestyle
John trusted Jesus enough to forsake prosperity. Most of the followers of Jesus were not wealthy people, but John was prosperous. John was a man who worked in a family business owned by his father, Zebedee, in northern Galilee. As they had a second home in Jerusalem, John would sometimes stay at this home. We are told that John had access to the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest. So his family had servants, they had a family business and access to famous and important people. John's family was actually quite well off.

An Encounter with Eternity
But one day, John was captivated by a Man who spoke like no other man had even spoken before. John was drawn to Jesus. While he did not have a complete understanding of all that Jesus was, or all, that He taught, yet John knew that Jesus was different. He sensed the Person and the power of God in this Man.

Called by Jesus
When Jesus said, "Follow Me and I will make you a fisher of men" John decided that this Teacher from Nazareth was worth trusting. Even if it meant giving up everything he owned, he trusted Jesus enough to forsake prosperity, comfort and safety.

Willing to Face Suffering and Death for Christ
He also trusted Jesus enough to risk his life for Him. At the Mount of Crucifixion, at Golgotha, other than the women disciples, only John showed up. All the men had fled. They had abandoned the Lord in fear that their fate would be the same as that of Jesus. John was the only man to stand at the foot of the Cross. He stood there at the risk of his own life. There was every probability that he could be arrested and crucified as Jesus had been.

It is Easy to Follow in Times of Popularity and Success
John had followed Jesus when miracles were performed and when thousands applauded Him. When the Lord was multiplying the loaves and the fishes. When Jesus came in triumph into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the crowds waved palm branches and took off their cloaks to pave the road, crying out: "Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Highest!"

It Is Difficult to Trust in Times of Trial and Tribulation
It was quite another thing, however, to trust Jesus when He was humbled, stripped, whipped, bleeding, dying and "powerless", dying a disgraceful death on the Cross. John trusted Jesus enough to risk his life for Him.

Willing to Die for Christ
One Missionary to Uganda, Alexander McKay, said, "I want to remind the Missionary Committee that within six months they will probably hear that one of us is dead. But when that news comes, do not be downcast, but send someone else immediately to take the vacant place." In fact within a few months, several of the mission team had died of disease, or been murdered and within two years Alexander McKay was the sole surviving member of the original Mission team of eight.

Single Minded Determination
Roland Bingham, a Missionary to Nigeria, vowed: "I will open Africa to the Gospel or die trying."

Sacrificial Service
This kind of single-minded determination and devotion to duty can also be seen in the example of Nate Saint, one of the five missionary martyrs amongst the Auca Indians in Ecuador, South America. He said: "The way I see it, we ought to be willing to die. In the military we were taught that to obtain our objective, we had to be willing to be expendable. Missionaries must face that same expendability... and people who do not know the Lord, they ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives. When the bubble is burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years that they have wasted."

Revealing a Terrible Secret
Several decades ago a denomination in Zaire (present Democratic Republic of Congo), had their 100th anniversary of the coming of Christian missionaries to that part of the country. There were long speeches, music and all sorts of feasting and celebrations. One event overshadowed it all. A very old man, over 100-years old, came before the crowd at the end of the last day. He insisted that he be allowed to speak. He said that he would soon die. There was some information that he had to share, which, if he did not speak, would go with him to the grave.

A Plot to Poison the Missionaries
The man explained that when the first Christian missionaries came over 100 years ago before to this part of central Africa, when it was controlled by Belgium, his people did not know what to think of them. They thought the missionaries strange and their Message unusual. The tribal leaders decided to test the missionaries by slowly poisoning them to death. Over a period of many months and years the missionary children and then their parents died one by one. The old man said: “It was as we watched how they died that we decided we wanted to live as Christians!”

Faithful Unto Death
It was incredible that this story had not been told for 100 years. Those Christian missionaries had died painful, strange deaths. They never knew why they were dying, or what the impact of their lives and deaths would be. Yet through it all, they did not leave. They stayed. They ministered. They planted the Gospel year by year. There are churches in that very area to this day, because these missionaries, like John, trusted Jesus Christ. Even at the risk of their lives, even to martyrdom.

Willing to Remain Anonymous
John trusted Jesus. He trusted Jesus enough to forsake prosperity. He trusted Jesus enough to risk his life for Him. And John trusted Jesus enough to remain anonymous. It is a fascinating fact, that in John's Gospel, he never mentions himself by name. He refers to most of the other disciples. He refers to Peter, to Andrew, to James and to Judas, but he never writes his own name. John refers to himself most often as "the other disciple", or as "the disciple whom Jesus loved". In John's relationship with Jesus, John did not promote himself. The sufficiency of Jesus Christ in his life was an expression of his trust. He trusted Jesus enough to remain anonymous.

The Lord Jesus Trusted John
There is another side to this relationship that is quite different. John trusted Jesus, Yes. And Jesus trusted John.

Jesus trusted John to Write One of His Gospels
The first three Gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels. They cover much of the same content. Many of the same stories, many of the same teachings, many of the same incidents and miracles, are related in different words and sometimes word for word. Much of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are similar.

An Awesome Responsibility
In the later Gospel of John, we read a tremendous amount of new information that we would not have otherwise had. The Lord Jesus wanted more of His story told. He wanted different miracles mentioned. He wanted a new perspective that had not yet been incorporated by the earlier Gospel authors. He chose someone He could trust to do that job. The final lines of John's Gospel say there were many other things that Jesus did and that the world could not contain all the books that could be written if you put all the things Jesus had done as the God of the universe into it.

Eyewitnesses
John had an infinite editing job. He had to edit down enough volumes to fill all the library shelves of the world, to just twenty short chapters. He had to leave out far more than he actually included. He had to get it right. John, in the inner circle of three, had been on the Mount of Transfiguration. He had sat next to Jesus at the Last Supper. He had heard that whisper about Judas. He had information that no one else could give. Jesus chose someone He could trust to get the story straight. To communicate what was most important.

Precious Truths – Unique to John’s Gospel
Because John was trustworthy, we have some of the most beloved and familiar Words in all the Bible:
"…Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!" John 1:29
"…unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.’...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." John 3:3-5
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
"…when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." John 4:23
"… lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" John 4:35
"...those who have done good, to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." John 5:29
"How can you believe, who receive honour from one another and do not seek the honour that comes from the only God?" John 5:44
"…I am the Bread of Life…" John 6:35
"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me..." John 6:37
"This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last Day." John 6:39
"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38
"...Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” John 8:11
"…I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness…" John 8:12
"And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32
"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." John 10:11
"…I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." John 11:25
"…I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." John 15:13
These and many other passages were first written in the Gospel according to St. John.

Jesus Trusted John with His Love
John trusted Jesus and Jesus trusted John. Jesus trusted John not only to write His Gospel, He also trusted John with His love. It is a most extraordinary thing to be described as, "the one whom Jesus loved." To be Jesus' best friend, in our egalitarian age, almost seems inappropriate. It does not seem right that the Lord Jesus could have a best friend. But the fact is, that is what the relationship was.

God is Not Egalitarian
We read that Enoch walked with God and that Enoch pleased God. We read that Enoch was taken up to be with God. That is about all we know about Enoch. What an incredible epitaph! He walked with God and he pleased God.

Abraham was called God's friend.

Moses spoke with God and God spoke to him face-to-face.

David was described as, "A man after My own heart" by God. Imagine being described by God as: a man after God's own heart!

What would it be like to know who is the Lord's best friend on earth today? What do you think would happen? Imagine if we could know: "This is the person whom God loves the most."

Do you know what would happen in 2019 if someone was identified as “Jesus' best friend?” They would be on the cover of Christian magazines. They would probably write a book, or put out a CD, or go on a Best Friend of Jesus Seminar speaking tour. There would be a tremendous potential of ruining that person's life. A real temptation to arrogance. A possibility of treating others in an inappropriate and disparaging way.

It was critically important that our Lord chose someone whom He could trust to be His best friend, with the confidence that that person would never misuse their friendship.

Jesus Trusted John to Care for His Mother
Jesus trusted John with His Gospel. Jesus trusted John with His friendship and Jesus trusted John with His mother. In Chapter 19 of John's Gospel, we read the last gasping breaths of our Lord, whose excruciatingly painful crucifixion allowed very little breath for speaking.

Last Words from the Cross
Jesus, in agony, said few words. Seven phrases from the Cross: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. It is finished! Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit." From the Cross, as well, He gasped out to Mary, "This is your son." Then to John he said, "This is your mother."

His Responsibility for His Mother
These are some of the most powerful, personal and private words recorded of our Lord Jesus. While it is absolutely true that Jesus was and is, the eternal Son of God and while it is true that His primary Mission on earth was the Redemption of His people, yet it is also true that He was a Man. As the eldest son, when His stepfather died, He was responsible for His mother's care. Now crucified, soon to die, His hands nailed to the Cross, He could not (humanly speaking) even touch her. He could not care for her as He should. So His most important human responsibility on earth, He could no longer fulfil.

Commissioned by Christ
Now Theologians struggle with the idea that God would ever need anything, for our very definition of God is that he is all-sufficient. Jesus entrusted John to fulfil the duties that He could not do Himself: take care of His mother. Jesus chose John to care for His mother, Mary. He chose someone He could trust.

To the Ends of the Earth
The Record states how all the followers of Jesus, the Apostles, left Jerusalem. Thomas went as far as India. Peter ended up in Rome. Matthew went all the way to Ethiopia. Simon the Zealot ended up in the present-day Crimea. The Apostles spread out all throughout the Mediterranean area and across the Roman Empire to Britain, to Africa and Asia. They went in the Power of the Spirit of God with the Gospel of Christ. They pioneered the expansion of the Church of Christ. John went to Patmos in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) where he discipled Polycarp.

Do You Trust Jesus?
You have probably been asked many times: Do you trust Jesus? I hope your answer has continued to be a resounding: "Yes I do! I trust Jesus completely. I would trust Him enough to devote my health and to risk my life for Him. I would trust Him that my name is in His hands."

Can Jesus Trust You?
Let me ask you: Does Jesus trust you? Can He trust you? Can He trust you with your family and ministry? With the education of the next generation? With standing up for the Right-to-Life of pre-born babies? To stand for Truth? Can He trust you to do His will? To fulfil His Mission? To be faithful in small matters? To be trustworthy in great matters? To care for His creatures? To protect the environment? To write what He wants written? To do what He wants done? Can Jesus trust you?

Do Not Waste Your Life
In our world today, we need people who will live for Christ. What is needed is people whom Jesus can trust to be faithful, loyal, productive servants and soldiers of Christ.

Are You Willing to Be Entrusted with Hard Assignments?
There is a long list of volunteers who are willing to be 'successes' for Christ, but there is a very short line of people willing to be 'failures' for Christ. It is much easier to trust God in health, wealth and success. But we also need people, like Joni Eareckson, who can trust God in a wheel chair as a paraplegic. We need people who can be trusted by Christ to raise children with medical and educational problems. We need people who can be trusted to show what it is to be a Christian with cancer. We need dedicated disciples who are able to both trust Christ and Christians who can be trusted by Christ. Hard assignments are entrusted to devoted servants of God.

God is Looking for Hearts Fully Committed to Him
In 2 Chronicles 16:9 we read: "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…" His eyes are searching into your church and home, into your heart, looking for hearts that are fully committed to Him.

Searching Hearts and Minds
"I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." Jeremiah 17:10

When God Looks at You – What Does He See?
God can use suffering to alert us, to direct us, to shape us and to unite us. "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight." Proverbs 15:8. The Lord's eyes are searching. He is examining your heart now.
Are you fully committed to Him?

Do you trust Jesus?

Can Jesus trust you?

Dr. Peter Hammond
Livingstone Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Email: mission@frontline.org.za
Website: www.livingstonefellowship.co.za
www.hmsschoolofchristianjournalism.org

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