The sermons of Master Henry Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…The sermons of Maister Henrie Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…

Many hearing the Word have met with knowledge, have met with comfort, have met with salvation, but without the Word never any was converted to GOD. Therefore whensoever the Word is preached, every one may say to himself, as the Disciples said to the blind man, Be of good comfort, ¹he calleth thee: be of good comfort, the Lord calleth thee. When Christ heard a woman say,² Blessed are the breasts which gave thee suck, Christ replied, Blessed are they which hear the Word of God: showing, that his Disciples were more blessed for hearing him, than his Mother for bearing him. As Isaac gave Jacob a double blessing, so Christ blesseth them again: fo• ⟨p. 637⟩in Matthew. 16. 17. he saith,³ Blessed are the ears which hear the things which you hear: showing that the Jews were more blessed than all the world, because they had this one blessing to hear the trueth. If they be blessed which hear, then you come hither for a blessing, and he which is blessed, wanteth nothing. Every privilege doth import some special good to him which hath it: but it is the privilege of man to hear the Word, and therefore the Word became man, because it belongeth only to man.⁴ God hath given life and light and food to fowls, and fishes, and beasts, but his Word is the prerogative of man. As to speak is the property of man, so to hear is the property of man. To show the fruit which cometh by hearing, Christ calleth the Word which we should heare, ⁵Verbum Regni, The Word of the Kingdom, as though it brought a Kingdom with it: to show the fruit which cometh by hearing. The Disciples call the word which we should heare, Verbum vitae, ⁶the Word of life, as though it brought life with it: to show the fruit that cometh by hearing,