A04477:23
A sermon made in latin in Oxford in the reign of King Edward the…A sermon made in latine in Oxenforde in the raigne of King Edwarde the…
A sermon made in latin in Oxford in the reign of King Edward the sixth, / by the learned and godly father John Ivel, late Bishop of Salisbury, and translated into English, by R.V. Dedicated unto the Bishop of London, as appeareth in the Commentary of Ma. Calvin, upon the Galatians, in English.A sermon made in latine in Oxenforde in the raigne of King Edwarde the sixt, / by the learned and godly father Iohn Iuel, late Bishop of Sarisburie, and translated into Englishe, by R.V. Dedicated vnto the Bishop of London, as appeareth in the Commentarie of Ma. Caluine, vpon the Galathians, in Englishe.
London: printed by Thomas Purfoote, 1581
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
For when the authority of Councils, and the conspiracy ⟨image 12⟩of a few Bishops and Monks, was placed above the scriptures, when it was doubted whether the Romish bishop were a man or a God, and whether he could sin, when all things were referred to the constitutions of men, & nothing to the knowledge of Christ, when sales of pardons, vows and masses, were made openly & without all shame, when the sacraments were miserably torn in pieces, when the word of God was condemned of fraud & heresy, when nothing was left found & pure from superstition, when error possessed all things, and the truth could not be heard, where then, or what Church of God was there? It was heresy in those days, not ye disagreed from the scriptures, but from that which liked a few Bishops. For the gospel was thrust into corners, nothing was left to the judgement of Christ. Our gods were not then according to the nun ber of our cities, but they were as many as we had streets, yea almost houses. So were all things utterly out of frame, for that religion depended not on the word of God, but on the will of man. These horrible cases, brethren, may warn us, that ⟨image 12⟩we never unadvisedly depart from the word of God. And thereof it is that all the scriptures do move us so often & so diligently, that we neither ad any thing to the word of God, nor take ought therefrom, nor that we bow to the right hand or the left. Neither would the Lord that we should be Princes and Judges, but messengers & ministers of his word. For look what serveth to our salvation, & unto godliness all that hath God himself set down in his laws. For the holy scripture, as Paul saith inspired by God, is profitable to doctrine, to reprove, to correction, to instruction, that the man of God may be perfect, instructed to every good work: that the man of God saith he, may be perfect & sound, & as far as is requisite either to godliness or manners, that he should in every respect be perfectly furnished▪ & now I pray you what should God his ambassador bring forth unto god his people, rather then the word of God? He that is an Ambassador in civil affairs, if perhaps he say any thing beside that which is commanded him, he is accused that he hath not don his embassade rightly, he is called to his trial he is arraigned ⟨image 13⟩upon life and death, and why do not we with like fidelity handle the word of God?