Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
This Memorial Day Weekend with the recent weeks of unrest we have experienced in this nation.
Yet, it is because of turmoil, unrest, war that we have this time.
To remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice: their life.
They gave blood, sweat, tears, time, and gave their last breath.
Some gave it out on the battlefield of a foreign nation others on the streets of America.
Some in a hospital room after fighting a disease or injury caused because of their service.
Some isolated and alone taking their own life because of the trauma they suffered.
Memorial Day is also a time to Reflect on the past as we look to the future.
What lessons can we learn from the past?
Memorial Stones (Pointing to the Past Works of God)
Remembering those who Paid the Cost
Polycarp
The kindly, old bishop entered the arena under armed guard.
The stands were filled with an angry mob; their shouts filled the air.
Suddenly, a voice from heaven spoke to the bishop, saying, “Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.”
Despite the noise from the crowd, many of those who stood nearby also heard the heavenly voice.
Once inside the arena, the soldiers quickly brought Polycarp before the Roman proconsul.
Polycarp, the well-known Bishop of Smyrna, was the last living link with the twelve apostles, as he had studied under John.
As soon as the crowd learned that this famous bishop had been arrested, a great cheer went up.
The proconsul tried to get Polycarp to deny Jesus Christ: “Swear by the fortune of Caesar.
Take the oath and I will release you.
Curse Christ!”
The bishop stood firm.
“Eighty-six years have I served the Lord Jesus Christ, and He never once wronged me.
How can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?”
The proconsul threatened, “I have wild beasts ready, and I will throw you to them if you do not change your mind.”
“Let them come, for my purpose is unchangeable,” replied Polycarp.
“If the wild beasts don’t scare you, then I will burn you with fire,” said the proconsul.
“You threaten me with a fire which will burn for an hour and then will go out, but you are ignorant of the fire of the future judgment of God reserved for the everlasting torment of the ungodly.
But why do you delay?
Bring on the beasts, or the fire, or whatever you choose; you shall not move me to deny Christ, my Lord and Savior.”
When the proconsul saw that Polycarp would not recant, he sent the herald to proclaim three times in the middle of the stadium, “Polycarp has professed himself a Christian.”
As soon as they heard these words, the whole multitude of Gentiles and Jews furiously demanded that he be burned alive.
Immediately dry wood was brought out and heaped in the center of the arena for a bonfire.
When they were about to nail him to the stake, Polycarp said, “Leave me as I am; He who gives me strength to endure the fire will enable me to remain still within the fire.”
They agreed to this and simply tied his hands behind his back with a rope.
In his final prayer, he prayed, “O Father, I thank You, that You have called me to this day and hour and have counted me worthy to receive my place among the number of the holy martyrs.
Amen.”
As soon as he uttered the word, “Amen,” the officers lit the fire.
The flames rose high above his body, but miraculously, he was not burned.
Those who watched said, “He was in the midst of the fire, not as burning flesh but as gold and silver refined in a furnace.
And we smelled such a sweet aroma as of incense or some other precious spice.”
Since the fire did not hurt him, the executioner was ordered to stab him with a sword.
As soon as he did, so much blood flowed from the wound that it put out the fire
Tyndale (1536)
“It would be wrong to translate God’s holy Word into English,” the Doctor of Divinity said sternly.
“Only a language like Latin or Greek is able to fully convey God’s truth.
English is a vulgar language — fine for plowmen and shopkeepers, but hardly suitable for the Bible.”
William Tyndale’s eyes blazed.
He was a highly educated man, fluent in several languages, including Greek and Hebrew.
“Not only can an accurate English translation be done, it should be done.
The Scriptures of God are being hidden from the people’s eyes.
The only way that poor people can read and see the simple, plain Word of God is if it is turned into their mother tongue, English.”
In the early 1500s, only scholars could read God’s Word.
The only legal Bible was in Latin, which most of the common people could not understand.
Since they could not read God’s Word for themselves, they had to rely upon what others told them it said.
It was illegal to own an English Bible or even memorize Scripture in English.
In fact, in 1519, seven Christians were burned at the stake in Coventry, England, for teaching their children the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments in English!
Before long, the two men were arguing heatedly.
Tyndale quoted Scriptures, the doctor quoted man-made traditions and church rules.
Finally, the Doctor of Divinity shouted, “It would be better to be without God’s laws than without the Pope’s.”
Tyndale courageously replied, “I defy the Pope and all his laws!
In fact, if God spares my life, I intend to make it possible for a common farmer, a plowman, to know more of the Scripture than you do!”
Within a year of Tyndale’s conversation with the Doctor of Divinity, he decided it was no longer safe for him to stay in England, so he traveled to Germany.
There he lived under an assumed name while he worked to finish his translation.
When spies from England found him in Germany, he escaped to Belgium, where he printed thousands of his New Testaments.
In 1526, Tyndale’s English New Testament began trickling into England.
The Scriptures, now referred to as the “pirate edition,” were made smaller than conventional books.
This size was easier to smuggle into bales of cotton and containers of wheat being shipped into England.
As copies poured into England, they were eagerly bought and read by all sorts of ordinary people, who often sat up all night reading them or hearing them read.
When the Bishop of London discovered the New Testaments, he bought as many as he could on the black market, paying full price for them.
He declared, “I intend to burn and destroy them all.”
The merchant who had smuggled them into England gave the money to Tyndale, who then printed three times as many in a revised version.
The Bishop of London had unknowingly become Tyndale’s foremost financial supporter!
When Tyndale heard the Bibles were thrown into the fire, he said, “I expected they would burn the New Testaments.
I expect they want to burn me too!
This may yet happen, if it is God’s will.
Even so, I know I did my duty in translating the New Testament.”
Within the next ten years, Tyndale’s New Testament was widely distributed throughout England.
Bible truths were now available to everyone, and many people discovered they could have a personal relationship with God based on His Word.
At the same time, anyone caught with this illegal book faced severe persecution.
Prisons were overflowing and thousands of Christians were executed.
Weekly, reports of the persecutions would come to Tyndale, who remained in exile in Europe and continued his translation of the Old Testament.
Two of Tyndale’s close friends were burned at the stake.
Even church officials, once persecutors, became martyrs after finding truth in Tyndale’s work.
In the spring of 1535, a man named Henry Phillips arrived in Antwerp, where Tyndale had been hiding.
In hopes of a reward, Phillips took it on himself to betray Tyndale.
He befriended Tyndale, noting that he was “simple and inexpert in the wily subtleties of this world.”
Before Tyndale knew what was happening, Phillips had set an ambush for him.
Tyndale spent the next eighteen months in prison near Brussels, Belgium.
With the help of Miles Coverdale, he was able to complete part of the Old Testament.
During his stay in prison, his powerful preaching and the sincerity of his life greatly influenced those around him.
The jailer, the jailer’s daughter, and others of his household accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior.
On October 6, 1536, Tyndale was taken from his dungeon and strangled.
Then his body was burned.
His last words were a fervent prayer: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”
God honored Tyndale’s prayer.
Within three years, the King of England gave instructions that a copy of the “Great Bible” completed by Tyndale’s co-worker, Coverdale, including Tyndale’s New Testament be placed in every church in England!
Tyndale’s translation was so accurate that 75 years later, when the King James Version of the Bible was published, it was based largely upon Tyndale’s work.
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