Have you ever had anyone put trick candles on your birthday cake? They are the kind of candles that light up again and again after you blow them out. It’s fun to watch someone blow them out and then, suddenly, they light back up again. Those trick candles remind me of the lights that were now burning in the city of Geneva. The rulers of the city and the religious men tried hard to put out the lights now shining for Jesus, but they kept burning. Others began to shine too.
Anthony Froment had been forbidden now by the rulers of the city to preach in his school. One morning when he walked to his school, he found the streets so packed with people that it was impossible to make his way. His room was so crowded with people wanting to hear the Word of God that no more could fit in, much less Anthony, and still the street was filled with those anxious to listen.
“To the Molard! To the Molard!” a voice shouted out.
The Molard was a large square where the fish market was held. Soon the crowd had Anthony up on the fish stall and the square was completely filled.
“Preach the Word of God to us!” they shouted.
Anthony made a sign for them to be quiet and got off the stall and knelt on the ground. Tears ran down his cheeks and the crowd grew quiet and he prayed that God would open the eyes and ears of these people. The people wondered at this prayer. There was certainly no prayer like it in their prayer book! There is not time to tell you all that Anthony told those people. But he spoke more plainly than ever before of the truth of God’s salvation and the evil of worshipping idols and following a false religion.
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Suddenly in the middle of the preaching a voice rang out, “I command you to cease from preaching!”
“We ought to obey God rather than men,” Anthony called back. He continued to preach, but soon armed men arrived and broke up the preaching. Anthony was forced to stop in order to avoid bloodshed.
Anthony now found that he was well-known in Geneva, and it was impossible for him to go out on the streets. One day the priests and other citizens saw him and yelled, “Fall on the dog! Drown him!” The Lord delivered His servant, but Anthony knew now that the time had come for him to leave.
The religious men of the city had won! They had gotten rid of William Farel, and now only three months later, they were rid of Anthony. They thought they had put out the candles. These religious men asked the Grey Friar to preach to them. He had preached before, and they expected to listen happily now that the gospel preachers were gone. To their utter shock, the Grey Friar himself preached boldly the same glorious gospel that Anthony had preached! God’s candles had not been put out after all. The priests were even more angry against the Grey Friar than they had been at Anthony. They quickly drove him out of the city, and so three of God’s servants, one after another, had been driven away.
Were there then no more lights shining for God in that great city? Yes, indeed there were. A small group of believers gathered together one morning to remember the Lord in His death. A man named Guerin, a cap maker, stood up and prayed and broke the bread. He passed it around to the others. Then he passed the wine. Together they sang praises and then went home with their hearts full of joy.
This news soon reached the ears of those who were determined to put out God’s candles. They decided that the quickest way to get rid of Guerin was to kill him. But Guerin was warned and escaped from Geneva. So the fourth light was driven out of the city.
This was not the last man to be driven from Geneva, nor was he the last bright light to shine for God in that city. God had purposed to bless the city of Geneva and no one could put His lights out.