TWICE-BORN MEN
REMARKABLE CONVERSIONS OF WELL-KNOWN MEN
IN DIFFERENT AGES AND IN VARIED RANKS OF LIFE
Compiled by HY. PICKERING
A Famous Oxford Martyr
HUGH LATIMER, the martyr, who rose from a ploughboy to be Bishop of Worcester, was born near Leicester, and with Ridley, was burned at the stake at Oxford, in 1555.
As mentioned in former record, Bilney watched his opportunity, and after hearing Latimer preach, he was stirred to cry to him as he passed out of the church: “Prithee, father Latimer, may I confess to thee.”
Not knowing what was before him, Latimer beckoned Bilney into a quiet room, and there listened to the most wonderful “confession” he had ever heard. Bilney told of his struggles after salvation, his purchase of the Latin Testament, his finding the text, then with tears in his eyes exclaimed: “There it stood, the very word I wanted. It seemed to be written in letters of light : ‘ This is a faithful saving, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ (1 Tim 1:15). 0 Father Latimer, I went to the priests and they pointed me to broken cisterns that held no water and only mocked my thirst! I bore the load of my sins until my soul was crushed beneath the burden! And then I saw that ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief;’ and now, being justified by faith, I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
Latimer had experienced for years the same soul-hunger, and to the astonishment of Bilney, he rose and knelt beside him, seeking guidance from his penitent! Bilney draws from his pocket the sacred Volume, it opens at the passage that Bilney had read to himself over and over again: ‘ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.’ The Word illumines the soul of Hugh Latimer, and Bilney sees that the desire of his heart has been granted him. And from that hour Bilney and Latimer lived only that they might unfold to all kinds and conditions of men the unsearchable riches of Christ.