The Day that Bishop Ridley and Bishop Latimer were Burned at the Stake

Bishop Ridley and Bishop Latimer at the stake

This is from the blog Tudor Chronicles:

When Queen Mary I ascended the throne she instantly took to bringing England back in line with the Roman Catholic Church. One of the first acts she performed as she began to reconnect with Rome was to order the arrests of Bishop Hugh Latimer, Bishop Nicholas Ridley and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. These three men were influential during the reign of her brother, King Edward VI, and were figureheads for the Protestant religion.

After spending time in the Tower of London the three were moved to the Oxford Bocardo Prison on charges of heresy in September 1555 where they would be examined by the Lord’s Commissioner in Oxford’s Divinity School. Ridley was questioned in particularly regarding his opinion on whether he believed the Pope was the heir to the authority of Peter as the foundation of the Church. Ridley replied that the Church was not built on one man and therefore Ridley could not honour the Pope as he was seeking glory for Rome and not God.

Ridley and Latimer also both confessed that they could not accept mass as a sacrifice of Christ with Latimer stating; “Christ made one oblation and sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and that a perfect sacrifice; neither needeth there to be, nor can there be, any other propitiatory sacrifice.”

Ridley and Latimer were both sentenced to be burned at the stake outside Balliol College, Oxford on 16th October 1555. Ridley openly prayed as he was being tied to the stake saying “Oh, heavenly Father, I give unto thee most hearty thanks that thou hast called me to be a professor of thee, even unto death. I beseech thee, Lord God, have mercy on this realm of England, and deliver it from all her enemies.”

In order to speed up their deaths Ridley’s brother gave the men gunpowder to wear around their necks, however the flames failed to come up higher than Ridley’s waist, it was reported that Ridley repeatedly said, “Lord have mercy upon me! I cannot burn…Let the fire come unto me, I cannot burn.”

Latimer would die a lot quicker than Ridley and tried to comfort Ridley as he approached his own death by saying, “Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out.”

Ridley and Latimer were decreed martyrs and are commemorated by a Martyr’s statue in Oxford alongside Cranmer.

The Martyr’s statue in Oxford

John Foxe described Ridley and Latimer’s burning in his Book of Martyrs, he wrote;

“Dr. Ridley, the night before execution, was very facetious, had himself shaved, and called his supper a marriage feast; he remarked upon seeing Mrs. Irish (the keeper’s wife) weep, ‘though my breakfast will be somewhat sharp, my supper will be more pleasant and sweet.’

The place of death was on the north side of the town opposite Baliol College:- Dr. Ridley was dressed in a black gown furred, and Mr. Latimer had a long shroud on, hanging down to his feet. Dr. Ridley as he passed Bocardo, looked up to see Dr. Cranmer, but the latter was then engaged in disputation with a friar. When they came to the stake, Dr. Ridley embraced Latimer fervently, and bid him be of good heart. He then knelt by the stake, and after earnestly praying together, they had a short private conversation. Dr. Smith then preached a short sermon against the martyrs, who would have answered him, but were prevented by Dr. Marshal, the vice-chancellor. Dr. Ridley then took off his gown and tippet, and gave them to his brother-in-law, Mr. Shipside. He gave away also many trifles to his weeping friends, and the populace were anxious to get even a fragment of his garments. Mr. Latimer gave nothing, and from the poverty of his garb, was soon stripped to his shroud, and stood venerable and erect, fearless of death.

Dr. Ridley being unclothed to his shirt, the smith placed an iron chain about their waists, and Dr. Ridley bid him fasten it securely; his brother having tied a bag of gunpowder about his neck, gave some also to Mr. Latimer. Dr. Ridley then requested of Lord Williams, of Fame, to advocate with the queen the cause of some poor men to whom he had, when bishop, granted leases, but which the present bishop refused to confirm. A lighted fagot was now laid at Dr. Ridley’s feet, which caused Mr. Latimer to say, ‘Be of good cheer, Ridley; and play the man. We shall this day, by God’s grace, light up such a candle in England, as, I trust, will never be put out.’ When Dr. Ridley saw the flame approaching him, he exclaimed, ‘Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit!’ and repeated often, ‘Lord receive my spirit!’ Mr. Latimer, too, ceased not to say, ‘O Father of heaven receive my soul!’ Embracing the flame, he bathed his hands in it, and soon died, apparently with little pain; but Dr. Ridley, by the ill-adjustment of the fagots, which were green, and placed too high above the furze was burnt much downwards. At this time, piteously entreating for more fire to come to him, his brother-in-law imprudently heaped the fagots up over him, which caused the fire more fiercely to burn his limbs, whence he literally leaped up and down under the fagots, exclaiming that he could not burn; indeed, his dreadful extremity was but too plain, for after his legs were quite consumed, he showed his body and shirt unsinged by the flame. Crying upon God for mercy, a man with a bill pulled the fagots down, and when the flames arose, he bent himself towards that side; at length the gunpowder was ignited, and then he ceased to move, burning on the other side, and falling down at Mr. Latimer’s feet over the chain that had hitherto supported him.

Every eye shed tears at the afflicting sight of these sufferers, who were among the most the most distinguished persons of their time in dignity, piety, and public estimation. They suffered October 16, 1555.”

Christian History

Holy Spirit’s stirrings #1 – prophecies for UK’s critical time

This is from the blog Richard's Watch:

You may know of my fascination with timing of ‘God-incidents’ – events that suggest the Lord is putting pieces into His ‘invisible jigsaw’. They may indicate He’s up to something!

So let me tell you more about last Saturday, the day of Trooping the Colour and when Nina had in intense power surge from Holy Spirit and saw “This is MY country”.

Fridays to Sundays I’m ‘cyber silent’, or digitally incommunicado, and so the short post on the prophetic picture Robert English received had been set for auto-publication on Sat 11th June. However, that morning’s news warranted the insertion of a quick update. This was soon followed by issuing a quick ‘news flash’ about what was happening to Nina.

Furthermore, additional material was incoming last Saturday as though confirming what we had learned and for which I thank Suzanne Payne and Michael Marcell. So I ran off hard-copies to peruse at leisure over the weekend.

First, an encouraging follow-up to Robert’s picture as published on Prophetic Releasers for UK Revival’s Facebook page the previous day (Friday):

Prophetic Vision (to do with the EU also the UK GB).

‘I saw complete and utter darkness, over the EU, that was so thick like a smog that you could not see at all. I could hear the thunder and see the lighting hitting the EU hard, coming down (I saw people running for cover).

‘I looked across the channel and I saw the UK GB – it was calm and quiet. I saw the Lion waking up from a deep deep sleep, waking up chains were broken, and roaring and roaring and roaring, the ground is shacking underneath as a result.

‘For evil men stand down as a result from public office and can’t do anything, wise leaders take over the UK GB.’

That email was accompanied by a prophetic word dated 9 June (Thursday) from Veronika West of Ignite Ireland Ministries. This related not only to the above closing line from Robert but also to my hopeful wish of 26 May in closing Is the Lord exposing rotten politics? UK, USA – next EU?:

‘Wouldn’t now be a good time for all the rotten dirty laundry of crumbling EU finances to be exposed in full glare of continent-wide publicity? Maybe it would make messrs Cameron & Osborne do a volte-face, an abrupt U-turn, over the EU…?’

Seven days later Veronika received this mighty word from the Lord (click title to read on Facebook).:

A WORD FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM

Then the king said, “HANG HIM ON IT!” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The the king’s wrath subsided”….

Queen Esther (Edwin Long,1878)

‘Early hours of this morning I heard these words, “DAUGHTER ARISE, WATCH FOR NOW A NEW ORDER OF ESTHER’S SHALL RISE UP IN POWER AND AUTHORITY FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS AND SHE SHALL UNCOVER, EXPOSE AND DESTROY THE HAMAN SPIRIT THAT IS OPERATING IN THE LAND”!

‘Immediately the Holy Spirit quickened to me Esther 3..!
“So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”
Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”

So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”

‘And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!”

‘So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

‘Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”

‘As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”

‘Then the king said, “HANG HIM ON IT”!

“So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided”!

‘I PROPHESY GOD IS ABOUT TO MOVE IN AN UNEXPECTED AND AN UNPRECEDENTED WAY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

‘I SEE A DIVINE MOVE OF GOD IN THIS HOUR IN THE NATION OF BRITAIN, IT IS A MOVE OF SIGNS, WONDERS AND MIRACLES, IT IS A DIVINE MOVE OF GOD THAT COMES TO UNVEIL AND REVEAL THAT WHICH HAS BEEN PREPARED AND EMPOWERED IN THE SECRET PLACE.

‘WATCH! FOR NOW A NEW ORDER OF ESTHERS WILL RISE UP IN THE LAND AND WITH THE POWER AND INFLUENCE OF THE KING’S FAVOUR AND AUTHORITY SHE SHALL UNCOVER, EXPOSE AND DESTROY THE HAMAN SPIRIT THAT IS OPERATING OVER THE NATION.

‘GET READY, I SEE HEAVEN RELEASING A NEW BATTLE PLAN AND A NEW STRATEGY TO THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD IN THIS HOUR, A BATTLE PLAN THAT WILL THWART AND DERAIL THE PLANS AND PURPOSES OF THE ENEMY IN THE LAND. THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH AND REVELATION IS COMING NOW TO REVEAL, REVEAL, REVEAL!!

‘I SEE A MIGHTY WIND OF AWAKENING THAT IS NOW BLOWING ACROSS THE UNITED KINGDOM, THIS IS A CONFRONTATIONAL WIND THAT COMES TO AWAKEN THE WARRIORS OF GOD TO WAR IN A NEW WAY.

‘I SEE ANGELS DESCENDING UPON THE NATION IN THIS VERY HOUR and I hear the Spirit say, “FEAR NOT, See, I am sending Angels before you to protect you and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you”!

‘I SEE A FRESH ANOINTING BEING POURED OUT UPON THOSE THAT ARE STANDING ON THE WATCHMAN’S WALL AND I SEE A NEW MANDATE BEING GIVEN TO THOSE THAT ARE READY, WAITING, WATCHING AND LISTENING FOR HEAVEN’S COMMAND. I SEE MANY ARE NOW RECEIVING A PROPHETIC MANDATE TO KEEP WATCH OVER THE EKKLESIA IN THIS HOUR TO ENSURE THE ETERNAL PURPOSES OF GOD ARE FULFILLED AND COME TO PASS IN THE NATION OF BRITAIN.’

In that communication received Saturday I learn that, “The Lord spoke to us recently in our prayer group and said,

"This is the Church's finest hour."

A City with Broken Down Walls
Christian History
Vision of spiritual battle for Britan's birthright

Repentance Comes First

This is from the blog Singing and Slaying:

When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me (Hos 5:13-15).

When the Lord rebukes Israel through the prophet Hosea, Israel recognizes that she is sick (Hosea 5:13). She can see that something is wrong. But instead of turning to the Lord who can heal her she turns to Assyria. Israel flees to man and the strength of man to cure her disease. Yet the Lord says that Assyria cannot heal her and cannot make her whole again (Hosea 5:13).

Israel was under political oppression. Their enemies were closing in. But their enemies were not the problem. Their sin was. Instead of getting to the root of the problem, their covenant disobedience, they focused on the symptoms of the problem. They thought the disease would be cured if they just had a bigger army. They thought the answer was in an alliance with other nations. The problem however, was their disobedient heart, not their lack of chariots.

The Lord says in Hosea 5:15 that he wants Israel to acknowledge their offense or their guilt.  The answer for Israel is not more chariots or horses. The answer is not getting in bed with Assyria. The answer is repentance. Here is what Israel refuses to do. They are willing to try to fix things. They are not willing to repent and confess that they are wrong.

We are all this way. God in his mercy disciplines us. He gives us consequences for our sins. It might be a broken relationship, the loss of a job, a child that is in rebellion, a rebuke from a parent or friend, a note in book reminding us that our worship is out of line, etc. But like Israel we are not interested in repentance. We are interested in alleviating the consequences of our sins. We want to remove the embarrassment of our sin, but not the sin itself.  So we try to fix things. We try to cover things up.  Instead of repenting of our sin of selfishness, we try to be more generous. Instead confessing that we have harmed our children with our anger, we try to be kinder. Instead of admitting that our worship is not in accord with the Scriptures, we run another outreach program. We do everything but the one thing necessary, admit we are wrong, confess our sins, repent, and turn to Christ. But the gospel does not begin with you getting your life together. It begins with repentance.

Messengers and Negotiators

This is from the blog Homeward Bound:

For the most part things used to be simpler in the olden days. God would choose a man, equip that man for service, give him a message, and that man would faithfully deliver the message he was given even if it meant prison or death for having delivered it. More often than not, it did.

Being called of God was neither a way to grow rich nor was it a way to grow famous. It was a calling, one that was to be carried out diligently by the individual who was chosen for the task at hand. Faithfulness, obedience, humility, and boldness were indispensable, and the men chosen to speak on behalf of the Almighty possessed these things to overflowing.

In some rare cases, individuals chose to attempt and skirt their duty. As I said it was rare, but it did happen. Even back then there were men who attempted to flee from their responsibility, but eventually, whether voluntary or compulsory, they carried out their mandate and delivered their messages dutifully.

It goes without saying that one does not try to run away from umbrella drinks and endless days in the sun. One does not attempt to flee prosperity and blessing, one does not attempt to bypass a life of ease and leisure. Whenever we see men within the Word of God attempting to skirt their duties, we must always keep in mind that their duty, whatever that duty might have entailed was always difficult, treacherous, and would likely cause personal distress of some kind or another.

All one need do is read the lives of the prophets and study what they went through to realize just how difficult a task and calling these men had on their lives. Rarely lauded, frequently derided, these men became the repository for the rebellious heart’s lashing out against the will of God, the physical manifestation of the cringing of the teeth and the shaking of the fist. If those rebuked and corrected by the mouthpieces of God could not lash out at God Himself, they would lash out at the next best thing; the messenger He had sent to speak on His behalf.

Nowadays men aspire to more than just being messengers. Nowadays the selfsame virtues that were indispensable to the servants of old are mocked, looked down upon, and wholly rejected as antiquated practices which can be interpreted as intolerant. Boldness is seen as aggression, faithfulness is seen as zealotry, obedience is seen as shortsightedness, and humility is seen as fear of success.

For many in the limelight today, being a simple messenger is construed as an offense. It is too lowly an office; it is too humble a calling. It is too insignificant as far as their egos are concerned.  As such, they take it upon themselves to become negotiators, assuming they know the mind of God, and feeling as though they are within their rights to negotiate on behalf of God. They give leeway where God gives no leeway, and they are overly gracious toward those whom God commands to repent and turn from their wicked ways. The messenger is still derided to this day. The negotiator is praised and embraced by the world, because given enough time they know they can whittle the negotiator down to agreeing to the proposition of men entering heaven laden down with sin.

What those praising the negotiators don’t seem to realize is that they are not negotiating on behalf of anyone other than themselves. They come neither in the authority or with the permission of God. Their promises are just as empty and hollow as their hearts, and though they promise heaven, they can do nothing in the way of making good on that promise.

Even so, many within the household of faith today prefer the career of the negotiator to the calling of the messenger.

A messenger is a lowly, thankless job, but a negotiator has the power to wheel and deal, to speak words that have profound impact on the lives of others, and those without understanding, those whose pride has blinded them to the need for humility, revel in the notion of possessing power, even if said power is an illusion.

It takes but a passing glance to realize that there are far more negotiators in the church today than there are messengers. Though some of them have not the temerity to outright say “Thus says the Lord”, they nevertheless insinuate it, and only backtrack when called out for their supposed message of open and unrepentant promiscuity being A-Okay with God.

Until the masses realize that the negotiators are negotiating without sanction or authority, they will gravitate to them, elevating them to prominence ever so joyfully because they offer them an easier path than that of the cross of Christ. Love for sin has compelled many to search for an alternative, while conveniently forgetting that no man can serve two masters.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.

The Spirit of a Prophet
Killing the Prophets
Wearing a Rough Garment