Amazing Rescues

In church history amazing stories are found. God rescues his servants – sometimes in the nick of time. In his Mystery of Providence John Flavel (c 1627-1691) gives several examples.

• There are the Protestants besieged in Beziers, France, delivered because a drunken drummer went to his quarters at midnight and rang the town alarm-bell, not knowing what he was doing, at just the moment when the Protestants were about to be attacked. 
• There is the spider that weaves its web over the mouth of an oven just after little Pierre Du Moulin (1568-1658) had hidden in there during the 1572 St Bartholomew Day massacre in Paris, creating the impression that no-one had been near that door in a while. 
• Flavel also mentions Pierre Merlin (1503-1633), chaplain to Admiral Coligny, who was sustained for many days at a time by a hen that daily lodged an egg in the place where he had hid himself from his cut-throat pursuers.

We can add these

• A rather offbeat story is that of Bernard Gilpin (1517-1583) who, in the time of Queen Mary, despite his strong Protestant sympathies, was minister of Houghton-le-Spring, in the North East of England. His enemies eventually complained to Bonner the Bishop of London and a royal warrant was secured for his apprehension. He prepared for martyrdon in London, requesting his house-steward to provide him with a long garment suitable for him to wear to the stake. However, on the way to London he fell from his horse and broke his leg. This delayed his journey south and before he got to London, the news came that Mary had died. He at once returned to Houghton-le-Spring, where he continued to labour for years to come.
• The Scottish missionary to the New Hebrides, now Vanuatu, John G Paton (1824-1907) wrote of more than one instance when he was in mortal danger but escaped with his life. Once he woke to find his house surrounded by armed men intent on killing him. He knelt and made his final prayer but went out to reason with them. “At last” he says “some of the Chiefs, who had attended the Worship, rose and said 'Our conduct has been bad; but now we will fight for you, and kill all those who hate you.'" Another time, a man ran at him with an axe but he was defended by a Kaserumini Chief who snatched the spade Paton was working with and defended him. Another time a native called Ian summoned him to his sickbed. As Paton leaned over him, he pulled a dagger and held it to Paton’s heart. Again, he thought his time had come but Ian suddenly wheeled the knife around and thrust it into the sugar cane leaf. “Go, go quickly!” he said. Paton ran for his life the four miles back to the Mission House, “faint, yet praising God for such a deliverance”.
• A more modern example would perhaps be Hassan Dehqani-Tafti (1920-2008) of Iran. In November 1979 two gunmen entered his bedroom. Four shots were fired that narrowly missed him. His wife Margaret preserved the pillowcase with its four bullet holes as a reminder of the deliverance. A fifth shot passed through her hand as she flung herself across her husband's body to protect him.

Persecution and martyrdom

Somewhere near St John's Wood I think it was that some 40 gathered for worship. The meeting was interrupted and 27 were brought before Sir Roger Cholmly. Some women managed to escape but 22 were committed to Newgate and remained there seven weeks. The jail keeper explained to them all they needed to do to be released was to hear mass but this they could not do, so 13 were burnt, seven in Smithfield and six at Brentford (two others died in prison, the other seven survived). The seven who died in Smithfield were called Pond, Estland, Southam, Ricarby, Floyd, Holiday and Roger Holland. They were sent to Newgate, June 16 1558 and executed June 27.

Roger Holland, a merchant-tailor of London, was first an apprentice with one Master Kemption, at the Black Boy in Watling Street, giving himself to dancing, fencing, gaming, banqueting and wanton company. He had received for his master certain money, to the sum of £30 and lost it all at dice. This set him on escaping to the continent.

He shared this with a fellow servant in the house, Elizabeth, a believer. She had recently inherited a legacy and so she gave him £30 to cover the losses on condition that he reformed his way of life and come and hear the gospel preached and read the Bible, calling on God for grace in prayer.

Within six months Holland had become a zealous Christian and was used in the conversion of his father and others when he visited Lancashire. His father gave him £40 to start a business in London. He used this to repay Elizabeth and shortly after the two were married. It was the first year of Queen Mary. He was not martyred until the sixth and final year of her reign. He was among the last to die in Smithfield.

Psalm 129 and Ploughing furrows

In agriculture it is good to get the seed deep into the ground if it is going to flourish and initially people would use hoes to create holes in the ground into which the seed could be scattered. Early on it was realised that a more efficient method is to create a furrow in the ground, an extended hole, a sort of trench. This is done with a plough. Here the psalmist says it is as if the enemies of God's people have been ploughing furrows into the backs of the people. He says that the furrows are long because it has been going on a long time - from the slavery of Egypt to the opposition of the Canannnites and especially the Philistines through to - and we do not know when this psalm was written - the carrying off of the people of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians and then the southern kingdom by the Babylonians.