John Knox - 1514 - 1572 A.D. “John Knox’s gospel is my gospel; that which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again.” - C.H. Spurgeon Martyn Loyd Jones called him the first Early Life John Knox was born around the year 1514 in Haddington, Scotland, Went to University of St. Andrews (1529) Reformation We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. Galatians 2:15-16 What word does Protestantism come from? By March 1543 Knox was committed to the Christian gospel and spent two years in study. He then became a body gaurd for George Wishart who in 1545 was martyred by Cardinal Beaton. He started preaching for protestant rebellion who assasinated Cardinal Beaton “I have never once feared the devil, but I tremble every time I enter the pulpit.” John Knox The castle is besieged and John Knox is taken as a galley slave rowing a ship for almost two years. Knox then spends 12 years in England and Europe before returning to Scotland with his wife and two kids. If Martin Luther was the hammer of the Reformation and John Calvin the pen, John Knox was the trumpet. As the walls of Jericho came crashing to the ground with the blast of Israelite trumpets, Knox was strongly convinced that it would be the authoritative proclamation of Scripture that would bring down the false religious battlements of this world. (Stevan Lawson) 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account In Scotland Knox furthers the reformation. “My life is in the custody of Him whose glory I seek. Therefore I cannot so fear their boast nor tyranny, that I will cease from doing my duty when of His mercy He offereth me the occasion. I desire the hand or weapon of no man to defend me.” - John Knox One of his greatest opponents states that “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Europe.” Mary Queen of Scots GALATIANS 2:17 - 21 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. “God chooses the weak of this world to fufill his plans because one, its him who gets the glory and two, because everyone is weak.” Kris Esco Magruder