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…

After Despise not Prophesying, followeth▪ Try all things: as if he should say, Despise not prophesying, but for all that try prophesying, lest you believe error for truth: for as among Rulers, there be bad Rulers: so among Prophets there be false Prophets. This made Christ warn his Disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,¹ that is, of their false doctrine. This made John say, Try the Spirits. ²And therefore we read in the seventeenth Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and the eleventh verse, how the men of Beroea would not receive Pauls doctrine before they had tried it, and how did they try it? It is said, that they searched the Scripture. This is the way which Paul would teach you to try other whereby he was tried him self: whereby you may see, that if ⟨p. 315⟩you use to read the Scripture, you shall be able to try all doctrines: for the word of God is the touchstone of every thing,³ like the light which God made to behold all his creatures; so is the Scripture to decide all questions, every doubt must come to the Word, and all controversies must be ended at this Tribunal, the Scripture must speak which is right, and which is wrong, which is truth, and which is error, and all tongues must keep silence to hear it: so God hath appointed that the Judge of our controversies, which he saith in the twelfth chapter of John and the eight and fortieth verse, shall judge us in the last day. Here a man may ask, If it be so that God would have us to try all our Religion by the Scripture, and not by Fathers, nor by Doctors, nor by Councils, nor by Angel, nor by Pope; how then do the Papists say, we must believe as the Church believeth? and never look into the Scripture, whether our teachers say as God saith, but take it upon their credit, as a blind man eateth his meat.

After Despise not Prophecying, followeth▪ Trie all things: as if he should say, Despise not prophecying, but for all that try prophecying, lest you beleeue errour for truth: for as among Rulers, there bee bad Rulers: so among Prophets therebe false Prophets. This made Christ warne his Disciples to beware of the leauen of the Pharisies,