The Gospel Oak of Addlestone
(Also known as the Wycliffe, Whitefield, and Spurgeon
Tree)
August 2002
Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.
There is an ancient Oak Tree, probably 1000 years old,
in the town of Addlestone, county of Surry, England that once marked the
boundary of Windsor Forest. It is one, perhaps the only remaining tree of
a number of trees scattered throughout England called "Gospel Oaks." This
Crouch Oak, as it is called, hearkens back to a time the preaching of the
Gospel message was either illegal or unpular in the churches, so the
Word of God was preached in the en air. The Gospel Oak of Addlestone has
a long, distinguished history of service to our Savior.
To understand what I mean, I have to take you back to
the late 1300’s. In that day, it was not uncommon to speak to large crowds
in the en. Likewise, in order to be heard, since there were no public
address systems or bull horns, a public speaker would look for a tree with
branches arranged just right so as to act as a sounding board, projecting
the speaker’s voice out to the crowd.
 John Wycliffe (1320-1384) was
a leading professor at Oxford. They tried to silence him because of his
evangelical views. When he would not be silenced, they kicked him out of
Oxford. They thought that would silence him. Instead, he began to preach
the Gospel anywhere he could. He stped at Addlestone and preached the
Gospel to the pele in the area under this Oak Tree. Up until Wycliffe,
the pele only had a Latin Bible, which they could neither read nor
understand. John Wycliffe and his helpers changed all that. So, it is
likely that the pele under that Addlestone Oak heard, for the first
time, the message of Salvation from the new Wycliffe English translation.
They heard verses like these for the first time.
"For God loved so the world, that he gave his one
begotten Son, that each man that believeth in him perish not, but have
everlasting life." John 3:16
"For all men sinned, and have need to the glory of
God." Romans 3:23
"For by grace ye be saved by faith, and this not of
your; for it is the gift of God, not of works, that no man have glory."
Ephesians 2:8-9
"Jesus saith to him, I am way, truth, and life; no
man cometh to the Father but by me." John 14:6
"For the wages of sin is death; the grace of God is
everlasting life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Roman 6:23
"For each man, whosoever shall inwardly call the name
of the Lord, shall be safe." Romans 10:13
(Note: The verses are taken from "Wycliffe’s New Testament: A
Modern-Spelling Edition…" by Terence P. Nobel; Cyright August
2001)
Wycliffe trained laymen to share the message of the
Gospel. He provided them with portions of the Bible and sermon outlines
and sent them out over the English countryside to preach to the pele.
Did John Wycliffe, his English Bible, and the lay preachers (called
Lollards or evangelical men) have an impact on England? One historian,
writing ten years after Wycliffe died wrote: "You cannot travel anywhere
in England, but every two men you meet, one is a Lollard."
Our job is to witness to other’s and trust the Lord for
the results. It will accomplish that which our Lord pleases. We read
in Isaiah 55:11 "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my
mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent
it."
 John Knox (1505-1572) was a fiery Scottish
Gospel preacher. For his dedication to the Word of God and preaching the
Gospel French Catholic soldiers raided his headquarters, the Castle at St.
Andrews, Scotland, captured him and made him a galley slave, chaining him
to an oar for 19 months. After his release, he went to England for five
years and Charles H. Spurgeon writes, John Knox proclaimed the Gospel
under the far-spreading boughs of an ancient oak at Addlestone, in Surrey
during his sojourn in England.
Knox clearly believed that Justification was by faith
and not works. It is evident that he was acquainted with
Galatians 2:16
which says, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law,
but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of
the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Knox
said, "Diverse men have their diverse inions of Justification; yet they
alone, in whom the Holy Spirit worketh true Faith are just before God. The
substance of Justification is, to cleave fast unto God, by Jesus Christ,
and not by our self, nor yet by our works."
 Years later, in the mid 1700’s another preacher made a
trip to Addlestone, to preach under the tree. His name was George
Whitefield (1714-1770). Once again, this man was called of God to
preach the Gospel. Whitefield was one of three men used of God to bring
about the Great Awakening, on both sides of the Atlantic. His en air
preaching reached as many as 100,000 in one gathering. It is said that he
had such a powerful voice that it could be heard one mile away. It was on
one of these en air preaching missions that Whitefield preached under
the Addlestone Oak to the crowd.
I can almost hear Whitefield saying, "O sinner, will
you be able to stand in the day of judgment, if Christ be not your
righteousness? No, that alone is the wedding garment in which you must
appear. O Christless sinners, I am distressed for you! The desires of my
soul are enlarged. O that this may be an accepted time! That the Lord may
be your righteousness! For whither would you flee, if death should find
you naked? Indeed there is no hiding yourselves from his presence. The
pitiful fig-leaves of your own righteousness will not cover your
nakedness, when God shall call you to stand before him. Can you bear to
hear the Lord Jesus say to you, ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.’ But thus it must
be, if Christ be not your righteousness. O that you would seek the Lord to
be your righteousness! Who knows but he may be found of you? For in Jesus
Christ there is neither male nor female, bond nor free; even you may be
the children of God, if you believe in Jesus." (Taken from: The Lord
Our Righteousness – Sermon by George Whitefield)
 That brings me to Charles Haddon Spurgeon
(1834-1892). He was the foremost preacher of the 19th century.
Before our modern "mega-churches", Spurgeon's congregation built "The
Metrolitan Tabernacle" in 1861 which seated 4,700. In that same year
Spurgeon preached at London's Crystal Palace to a congregation of more
than 23,000 without micrhone or any other means of amplification. He
used his pularity to advance the preaching of the Gospel. Under his
leadership, 200 Baptist Churches were built in outlying towns around
London. Addlestone happened to be one of those towns. It was announced
that Spurgeon would preach an en air sermon there and the pele
gathered abound the Gospel Oak (today called by the town the Spurgeon
Tree) to hear him preach the Gospel.
I don’t know what he preached that day, but I do know
he preached the Gospel. He may have preached a message similar to How
Can I Obtain Faith? "Remember that word of Christ, it is one of the
most terrible I know of, "if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in
your sins." To die in a ditch, to die in a prison, to die on the gallows,
none of us would desire it; but to die in your sins! O God, it is hell, it
is eternal damnation. May the great Lord save you! But to perish forever
will be your lot as surely as you live, except you believe in Jesus
and that speedily, for soon you will be out of the reach of all hearing.
Receive what God teaches…. He hath set forth Christ to be a pritiation
for sin, receive him as such: since he has said, "Look unto me and be
saved," they look because God bids them look, and they are saved. To
believe in Jesus is a command from God's own mouth, and is, therefore, to
be obeyed, and the more so, because ‘he that believeth not God hath made
him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son;
and this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son."
I do know this, as a result of Spurgeon’s preaching,
was a Baptist church started in Addleston that still stands today. The six
hundred year old Oak of Addlestone faithfully served as a sounding board
for the Gospel for at least three faithful Gospel preachers. May we follow
the example of those Christians who have gone before us and proclaim the
Gospel boldly.
Praise the Lord for all who faithfully proclaim the
Gospel, whether they are preachers or parishioners. Why? First of all, it
is our job! Second, where the Word of God and the Gospel are preached, and
believed, the bondage of sin is broken. But where the Word and the Gospel
are suppressed, there is pression, superstition, immorality, idolatry
and despair. Note what our Lord said, "Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk
in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12
Since the dawn of Christianity, witnessing and
preaching the Gospel has been used of God to set men free. Paul wrote,
"So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you
that are at Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The
just shall live by faith." Romans 1:15-17
May we follow the example of those Christians who have
gone before us and proclaim the Gospel boldly. As Paul wrote to the
Philippian believers, "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the
gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I
may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel."
Philippians
1:27
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