KACS Radio Network

Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. John 17:17.

In the early 1400s a bright young lecturer at the University of Prague discovered the writings of the English Reformer John Wycliffe. As John Huss pored over the Scriptures, he became personally convinced that the church in Bohemia badly needed a reformation. Several years after taking priest’s orders he was appointed rector of the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. The founders of this chapel advocated the preaching of the Scriptures in the language of the people. Although Huss was of humble birth and was left fatherless at a young age, he had an insatiable desire for knowledge. He had an unusually bright mind and outstanding communication skills. He was admitted to the university as a charity case, but soon distinguished himself as one of the University of Prague’s scholars.

After completing his college course, he entered the priesthood and soon became attached to the court of the king. He was also made a professor of the university where he had received his education. He became a powerful preacher renowned throughout Europe. When he began to preach that many of the church’s beliefs could not be reconciled with Scripture, it sent shock waves throughout the church in Europe.

Standing on the authority of Scripture alone, he boldly called for reform in the life and beliefs of fellow church members. Huss staunchly defended his position that "the precepts of Scripture, conveyed through the understanding, are to rule the conscience; in other words, that God speaking in the Bible, and not the church speaking through the priesthood, is the one infallible guide” (The Great Controversy, p. 102).

Huss’s preaching led to violent opposition from the Roman Church. In 1415 he was burned at the stake in Prague, martyred for his faith.

Even in death John Huss had the absolute confidence that the truth that he believed, preached, and was willing to die for would one day triumph. God is calling us in our day to be passionate about obeying His truth in our age of moral decay. There are some things that are not worth compromising. The price is just too high.