March 25th this year commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807 which was fought for by William Wilberforce. Slaves were usually subjected to a five-week trip in conditions so cramped and unhygienic that it was fairly common for a ship to lose half its slaves in transit. Over 6 million slaves were transported to the Americas in the 18th century and it has been estimated that over 40,000 of these were transported in ships from Liverpool, which was established as the leading slave port at that time. Liverpool became a very wealthy town and many well known buildings were erected from the proceeds of the

slave trade. John Newton, the great hymn writer, was a leading ship’s captain in this awful trade who, after he was converted to Christ, wrote his most famous hymn “Amazing Grace”

William Wilberforce was born into a wealthy family in Hull in 1759. William's father died when he was 8 and for a time he was brought up by an aunt in Wimbledon. She was a strong Methodist and supporter of John Wesley and greatly influenced her nephew. At the age of seventeen Wilberforce was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge. One of his closest friends at university was William Pitt who later became Britain's youngest ever Prime Minister. Wilberforce too entered politics and became a Member of Parliament for Hull. In the House of Commons Wilberforce was a keen supporter of the Tory government which was led by his friend William Pitt.

In 1784 during a tour of Europe Wilberforce read a book “The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul” by Phillip Doddridge. This book greatly affected Wilberforce and helped lead him towards his   eventual conversion to Christianity in 1785. As a result of this conversion, Wilberforce became interested in social reform and was to use his power as an MP to bring an end to the slave trade. He worked hard, along with a group of like-minded Christian social reformers from Clapham in London called “The Clapham Circle” who were Evangelical Anglicans. He eventually won his battle in the House of Commons by 283 votes to 16 in 1807. George Whitfield the American Evangelist and John Newton the converted slave trader had visited his home to persuade him that his life in politics could be used for God. A new film “Amazing Grace” has just been released (March 07) in the UK which is about Wilberforce, his life and his battle to abolish this most cruel practice. He continued to fight for another 25 years to free all of those in slavery and just 3 days before he died on 29th July 1833 at the age of 74 the slave trade was finally brought to an end throughout the British Empire. A year later 800,000 slaves were set free. One month after this Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act that gave all slaves in the British Empire their freedom. This year in Hull there are to be 34 weeks of events to commemorate this abolition. The Wilberforce Memorial Statue stands as a monument to this man’s life in the front garden of the Wilberforce House Museum in Hull.

Wilberforce fought for equal rights for all people no matter what colour or race. The Bible reveals Jesus as the only true source of freedom… John 8 v 31, 32 (NKJV)  “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  Jesus also says later in v34 and v36 “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”  and   “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
Jesus Himself is the truth; He is the Origin of truth. He is perfect. Jesus set us free by His death on Calvary. He died for the entire world - all colours and races. But, what has He set us free from?  The answer is  SIN – and all its consequences
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The Bible teaches that we are ALL slaves to sin. It gets a grip on our life and becomes our master. It controls us, dominates us and dictates what we do. But Jesus can free us from that slavery to sin that keeps us from being the person God intended us to be, and He has shown us clearly the way to find this freedom – not to do what we like, but freedom to follow God. Jesus promises us freedom from the bondage of any sin, but only if we are walking with Him…

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