The works of the reverend and faithful servant of Jesus Christ M. Richard Greenham,…The workes of the reuerend and faithfull seruant af Iesus Christ M. Richard Greenham,…

Well, then a sound is a thing inferior, a voice is somewhat more excellent, but a word is without question the best of all to increase our knowledge. Now if the word be the most principal, I would gladly know of him, that is farthest from God, if there be any word better or more worth the hearing than the word of God. Then if we ascend from a sound to a voice, and from the voice to a word, and from a word to the word of God, we see the word of God to be most principal, and good cause there is why it should so be, the speaker of it is above all creatures, and therefore¹ his word must be above the word of all other creatures. Whereunto if we join but the consideration of our reverend regard in hearing but a Prince or a meaner Magistrate, how² we listen, mark his speech, scan and stand upon every word he speaks to us, to see what most concerns us, this will surely condemn us for our negligence and carelessness in hearing the word of the Lord. But seeing the word is the best thing, we will draw out another reason, which is, that we then best employ our ears, when we hear the word, and in hearing can say: Now I hear the best thing that I can hear, this is the sweetest sound, and now mine ears are put to the best use, I hear not only a sound but a voice, a word. ⟨p. 708⟩and the very word of God: so are our hands best employed, when they are receiving the sacraments, our eyes when they are reading, our feet when they bring us to the house of God. When we thus have once set our selves in work we may well say, All that I have, is in their best estate, and put to the best kind of duty, because our senses and the parts of our bodies are about the business of saving of our souls, & about the business of the Lords glory. The Heathen said, that the goodly ornaments of the world and frame of all things, was most worthy the seeing, as though a man were borne, and came into this life only to³ take a view of them, and so to depart without having any use or profit of them; & though he never felt the power of the Sun, or the sweetness of flowers, or any other thing: much more may I say so much of the word, though a man should never have benefit by it, yet so good it is, of it self, that it is most worthy the hearing, though it be nothing but heard.