Walking with Others like Lewis
Imitating their Faith (Hebrews 11)
There is power in being present in a particular place. When I was privileged to stand in the land in Israel and walk the roads and see the places that Jesus and Moses and David lived I was changed.
Similarly, in England I got a deeper appreciation for the way God used and continues to use people to bring about His purposes. There is something life changing to step out of the regular paths of life and walk in the spaces of others. The perspective changes. Seeing the world through another lens or worldview broadens and widens the mind. No one sets out to change history but roots in the Risen Lord Jesus changes everything!
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Hebrew 13:7
Today I realized part of London’s heritage was deeply Christian. There were men and women who died in this city because they believed faith in Christ alone was the path to salvation. There were Christians who gave up their fortunes and lives to serve others who were in need. Their faith compelled them to love and good deeds not because they were somehow more kind or civic minded than others. But because they understood just how much they were loved and forgiven by the God who gave them life.
The tour around London was certainly a walk to remember
Here are some of the people who changed the world by faithfully loving Jesus that Ben Virgo from Christian Heritage London challenged us to consider as we walked the London streets:
John Wycliffe (1320-84) Through Faith Alone [St. Paul’s Cathedral]
John Wycliffe was master of Balliol College at Oxford and a brilliant theologian and lecturer. At this time is was common for the clergy to not even know God and many had immoral lifestyles. Wycliffe actually read the Bible and his studies of the Scriptures led him to the conviction that priests and friars ought to live in poverty. He was arrested and eventually he was called to answer for his teachings before the bishop at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The trial ended up in a heated argument and Wycliffe escaped. He continued to teach that if the Bible was the only authority in matters of faith, then everyone should be able to read and study it. Wycliffe’s secretary helped him as he translated and printed the Bible from the Latin Vulgate to English. Though banished it was still circulated secretly throughout Europe. Jan Huss, the father of the Reformation had a copy and he was instrumental in the faith of John Wesley.
John Wesley (1703-91) By Grace Alone [St. Paul’s Cathedral]
John Wesley was the founder of the Methodist church and was possibly had a greater influence upon England’s social and spiritual life than any other person of the eighteenth century. At Oxford University he was a leader of a group of Christian activists called the ‘Holy Club’, and shortly after graduation he made a brief missionary journey to Georgia. But despite his intentions to serve God as a Christian minister, Wesley felt his life to be devoid of spiritual power. He returned home and after reading Luther’s preface to Romans he understood for the first time that the gospel is not about anything we do but everything that Jesus did. George Whitefield suggested that he begin open air evangelism preaching and
the net result of his work was a mighty wave of conversions—in all levels of society. The changed lives of the converts made a powerful impact upon British society through a decrease in both crime and drunkenness and the practical application of Christian charity to relieve poverty and suffering. When he died he was one of the most loved people in England because he told people they didn’t have to try harder. Jesus paid it all!
Charles Wesley (1708-88) Put Grace Alone to music!
Charles was the younger brother of John Wesley and while their stories are similar and entertwined
The fame of Charles Wesley, consists not so much on his preaching on his hymns. Altogether, he wrote some 7,270 such compositions, making him the most prolific by far of all English hymnwriters.
Paul’s Cross
At the northeast corner of St. Paul’s is a covered outdoor pulpit called Paul’s Cross. This was used for proclamations and topical sermons on events of the day – sort of like Trafalgar Square or Speaker’s corner in Hyde Park. It seems to have been open to use by any of the clergy who wanted to hold forth on some issue of general interest. Wycliffe Bibles were burned here as well as Tyndale’s New Testaments. While Old St Paul’s Cathedral has completely disappeared, the outline of Paul’s Cross may still be seen outside the northeast end of the present building.
William Tyndale (1495-1536) According to Scripture Alone
William Tyndale, considered the Father of the English Reformation, was a gifted scholar in languages at Oxford when he discovered Erasmus’s Greek New Testament. This discovery redirected his life; he became proficient in his knowledge of the Bible and began to give lectures. Before long he met opposition from the religious authorities and due to persecution had to spend the rest of his life outside of England where he translated the New Testament and the Pentateuch into English. He is responsible for inventing many new words that we use today including scapegoat, zealous, beautiful, fisherman, landlady, seashore, stumbling block, taskmaster, Jehovah, Passover, atonement, modesty, mediocrity, industrious, long-suffering, peacemakers, and phrases including “let there be light”, “pondered all these things in her heart”, and “he wept bitterly”. The first New Testaments were smuggled back into England and within four years, 15,000 copies were circulating all over Great Britain. Eventually, Tyndale was trapped by a spy and was strangled and burned, his last words being a prayer, ‘Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.’
George Whitefield (1714-70) In Christ Alone [St. Helen’s Bishopgate & St. Mary LeBow Church]
George Whitefield was a student at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he came into contact with the ‘Holy Club’ and subsequently experienced spiritual conversion. He was ordained and soon gained the reputation of being a gifted preacher. He preached his first sermon in St. Mary leBow Church (where the opening scene of Chariot’s of Fire was filmed) and St. Helen’s. He was soon asked to stop because they were jealous of the popularity and crowds. He moved to open air as an evangelist, a practice which he continued for the remainder of his life. He was clear with the gospel that it is all about what Christ alone did and there is not a thing we can do to fix it. Even Ben Franklin heard him as he preached to over 30,000 without a microphone.
Thomas Watson [St. Stephen’s Walbrook]
Thomas Watson was a puritan preacher educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was noted for remarkably intense study. He obtained great fame and popularity as a preacher at St. Stephen’s Walbrook and published a book on Romans 8:28. He is known for the statement, “Jesus went more willingly to the cross than most people are willing to go to the throne of grace.” He died praying
The Royal Exchange carries an inscription from Psalm 24: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” It’s Not Yours! – This is the attitude of The Earl of Shaftesbury – Anthony Ashley Cooper (1801-1885) – For God’s Glory alone [Piccadilly Circus]
This one man opened people’s eyes to the oppression of the weakest and poorest among them and led the way to ease their misery. The Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury became a dedicated social reformer, campaigning against the abuse of children working in factories and mines and the scandalous treatment of the insane in lunatic asylums. He also labored to establish schools, to abolish the use of small children as chimney sweeps, and to wipe out child prostitution. He was a vocal opponent of slavery. Cooper’s parents showed no love toward their nine children and often neglected them. A household servant took the boy under her wing and introduced him to faith in Christ. As an Evangelical, he expected the imminent return of Christ and believed that everyone who had not come to know God would be condemned forever. Children who worked long hours, however, had no opportunity to go to school and learn about religion.
The schools then available to these poor, rough children were called Ragged Schools. (The name was intended to let youngsters know they could come without shoes or decent clothes.) In his 84 years, he certainly earned the love and respect of Britain’s lower class. He also had earned the respect–if not always agreement and affection–of Parliament.
Robert Raikes (1735-1811)
He was publisher of the Gloucester Journal and a very influential promoter of the Sunday-school movement (but not the founder). His statue is in the Victoria Embankment Gardens below the Strand
John Newton (1725-1807) [St. Mary Woolnoth]
John Newton, who became one of the leading evangelicals within the Church of England in the late eighteenth century, is best known for his hymn, ‘Amazing Grace’, written in collaboration with the poet William Cowper. Newton was the son of a merchant sea captain, and his early life included sailing with his father, service with the royal navy, desertion and involvement in the West African slave trade.
At one point in his life he was actually the servant of a white slaveholder’s black wife, who humiliated and degraded him. During a violent storm on the North Atlantic during a voyage back to England in 1748, Newton turned to God. However, he continued in the slave trade until 1755. Back in his home city of London he was influenced by Whitefield and Wesley and became a vicar in the Anglican Church.
This one small church changed the world as Newton influenced many world changers including Henry Martin, William Carey, William Pitt, Charles Simeon, Hannah More, Thomas Clarkson, Thomas Scott and William Wilberforce, and he played a significant part in Wilberforce’s campaign to abolish the slave trade.
William Wilberforce (1759-1833)
Wilberforce is best known for his role in the abolition of slavery, though he was involved throughout his life in numerous causes to further the gospel of Christ and the betterment of mankind. Among his goals were the improvement of manners and morals in English society and the evangelization of the upper classes, as Wesley had the working. Christianity was to Wilberforce a straightforwardly biblical religion, to be accepted as the guide and rule of all human life. God’s love for him was the essence; and the morality he urged was always loving conduct.
Charles Spurgeon (1834-92)
The most successful preacher, evangelist and theologian in London in his day, he planted over 200 churches and preached to over 5000 people regularly. He established a college, an orphanage, a rescue mission and more.
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)
Cranmer wrote the Book of Common Prayer, the worship-book of the Church of England, consisting of prayers and readings for various services of the church throughout the year. He was also deeply involved in the reformation in England and was university preacher at Oxford. He became archbishop of Canterbury and brought about genuine change to the church of England as well as securing an official English translation of the Bible. Queen Mary had him burned at the stake in Oxford for treason.
Nicholas Ridley (C1500-55)
Ridley, educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, became chaplain to Cranmer and was also burned at the stake with Cranmer and Latimer.
Hugh Latimer (C.1485-1555)
Latimer was a bold Reformer, a theologian and one of England’s most famous martyrs. But he is also known as one of London’s great popular preachers. Accused of too vigorously promoting the Reformation, Latimer was recalled to London and threatened with excommunication. His famous Sermon on the Plough was given at Paul’s Cross. Latimer was burned along with Nicholas Ridley at Oxford in 1555 during Mary’s reign. His famous quote is, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as shall never be put out”.
Christopher Wren (1632-1723)
After the city of London burned and an Oxford professor named Dr Christopher Wren, skilled in mathematics, astronomy and model-making, was appointed as architect for reconstructing most of London’s churches. Wren designed fifty-one of the churches himself, and others were designed by his surveyors. In each church he emphasized the font, the altar and the pulpit, underscoring the three essential functions of baptism, communion and preaching of the Word of God.In the seventeenth century the preaching of sound doctrine was considered of first importance, a result of the impact of the Reformation.