The First Decade of Sermons, Written by Henry Bullinger. Of the Word of God; the Cause of It; and How, and by Whom, It Was Revealed to the World. First Sermon
ALL the decrees of Christian faith, with every way how to live rightly, well, and holily, and finally, all true and heavenly wisdom, have always been fetched out of the testimonies, or determinate judgments, of the word of God; neither! can they, by those which are wise men indeed, or by the faithful and those which are called by God to the ministry of the churches, be drawn, taught, or, last of all, soundly confirmed from elsewhere, than out of the word of God. Therefore, whosoever is ignorant what the word of God, and the meaning of the word of God is, he seemeth to be as one blind, deaf, and without wit, in the temple of the <\Lord, in the school of Christ, and lastly, in the reading of the very sacred scriptures. But whereas? some are nothing zealous, but very hardly drawn to the hearing of sermons in v the church; that springeth out of no other fountain than this, which is, because they do neither rightly understand, nor diligently enough weigh, the virtue and true force of the word of God. That nothing therefore may cause the zealous desirers of the truth and the word of God to stay on this point; but rather that that estimation of God’s word, which is due unto it, may be laid up in all men’s hearts; I will (by God’s help) lay forth unto you, dearly beloved, those things which a godly man ought to think and hold, as concerning the word of God. And pray ye earnestly and continually to our bountiful God, that it may please him to give
[1 hodie, Lat.; at this time of day.] [2 imo quod, Lat.; Yea, and that. ] [3 Ne quid remoretur, Lat.]]
to me his holy and effectual power to speak, and to you the opening of your ears and minds, so that in all that I shall say the Lord’s name may be praised, and your souls be profited abundantly.
First, I have to declare what the word of God is. Verbum in the scriptures, and according to the very property of the Hebrew tongue, is diversely taken. For it signifieth what thing soever a man will; even as among the Germans the word ding is most largely used. In St Luke, the angel of God saith to the blessed virgin: “With God shall no word? be unpossible;”” which is all one as if he had said, all things are possible to God, or to God is nothing unpossible. Verbum also signifieth a word uttered by the mouth of man. Sometime it is used for a charge, sometime for a whole sentence, or speech, or prophecy: whereof in the scriptures there are many examples. But when verbum is joined with any thing else, as in this place we call it verbum Dez, then is it not used in the same signification. For verbum Dei, “the word of God,” deth-signify-the virtue and power ofits. God: it is also put for the Son of God, which is the second person in the most reverend Trinity. For that saying of the holy evangelist-is—evident to all men, “The word was made flesh.” But in this treatise of onrs, the word of God doth properly signify the speech of God, and the revealing of God’s will; first of all uttered in a lively-expressed voice by the mouth of Christ, the prophets and apostles; and after that εν ον ἾΡΙΣ gts a rightly called holy and divine scriptures.” The word doth shew the mind of him out of whom it cometh: therefore the word of God doth make declaration of God. But God of himself naturally speaketh truth; he is just, good, pure, immortal, eternal: therefore it followeth that the word of God also, which cometh out of the mouth of God, is true, just, without deceit and guile, without error or evil affection, holy, pure, good, immortal, and everlasting. For in the gospel saith the Lord, “Thy word is truth”.” And the apostle Paul saith, “The word of God is not tied.” Again, the scripture everywhere crieth: “The word of the Lord endureth for ever?” And
[4 πᾶν pjpa.—Luke i. 37. omne verbum, Lat. and Vulg.] [6 etiam sic, Lat.] [6 John i. 14.] [7 John xvii. 17.] [ 2 Tim. ii. 9.] [0 Isai. xl. 8; 1 Pet. i. 25.]]
Salomon saith: “Every word of God is purely cleansed. Add thou nothing to his words, lest peradventure he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” David also saith: “The sayings of the Lord are pure sayings, even as it were silver cleansed in the fire, and seven times fined from the earth?”
This you shall more fully perceive, dearly beloved, if I the sneak somewhat more largely of the cause or beginning, and certainty, of the word of God. The word of God is truth: but God is the only well-spring of truth: therefore God is the beginning and cause of the word of God. And here indeed God, since he hath not members like to mortal men, wanteth also a bodily mouth: yet nevertheless, because the mouth is the instrument of the voice, to God is a mouth attributed. For he spake to men in the voice of a man, that is, in a voice easily understood of men, and fashioned according to the speech usually spoken among men.; This is evidently to be seen in the things wherein he dealt with the holy fathers, with whom, as with our parents Adam and Eva, Noe, and the rest of the fathers, he is read to have talked many and oftentimes. In the mount Sina the Lord himself preached to the great congregation of Israel, rehearsing so plainly, that they might understand those ten commandments, wherein is contained every point of godliness. For in the fifth of Deuteronomy thus we read: “These words,” meaning the ten commandments, spake the Lord with a loud voice, from out of the midst of the fire, to the whole congregation” And in the fourth chapter: “A voice of words you heard, but no similitude did you see beside the voice.” God verily used oftentimes the means of angels, by whose ministry he talked with mortal men. And it is very well known to all men, that the Son of God the Father, being incarnate, walked about in the earth; and, being very God and man, taught the people of Israel almost for the space of three years. But in times past, and before that the Son of God was born in the world, God, by little and little, made himself acquainted with the hearts of the holy fathers, and after that with the