KNOX IN THE FIELD OF CONFLICT.--A.D. 1547.


"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." This crimson adage
is a striking truth. "If ye burn any more," quaintly said one who had
observed the effects of the martyrdom of Wishart on the public mind,
"burn them in your cellar, for the smoke infects all upon whom it is
blown."

John Knox was then a young man preparing for service in the priesthood
of Rome. He had met Wishart and felt the glow of his warm heart and the
power of his inspiring fellowship. He was a man of eminent natural
abilities to which was added a liberal education. He was recognized as
one who would be a mighty champion on whatever side he took his stand.
God was rich in mercy to Scotland when He caused the Gospel to shine
into the heart of Knox, giving him "the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." His towering intellect,
through the study of the Word of God, caught the morning glory of the
Reformation, like a mountain that catches the first rays of the rising
sun. He broke all the bonds that bound him to Papacy, and entered into
the liberty of the children of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When Knox received his first call to become a pastor, he was overwhelmed
with anxiety at the awful responsibility of preaching the Gospel. He
stood in amazement, but dared not refuse. His humility and
self-abasement prepared him, through the grace of the Lord Jesus, for
heights of power and honor seldom reached by ministers. From that
crucial day he devoted all the energies of body and soul to the
preaching of the Word of God. His public services covered a quarter of a
century.