Hu
gh Latimer (1485-1555), burned at the stake in Oxford in October 1555 for his adherence to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, was one of the most gifted preachers of the Tudor age. One of his most famous sermons was the Sermon of the Plough preached in London in January 1548. In it, he said these famous words about the most diligent preacher in the land:
“And now I would ask you a strange question. Who is the most diligent bishop and Prelate in all England, that passeth all the rest in doing his office? I can tell, for I know who it is; I know him well. But now I think I see you listening and hearkening that I should name him.
There is one that passeth all other and is the most diligent prelate and preacher in all England. And will ye know who it is? I will tell you: it is the Devil! He is the most diligent preacher of all other; he is never out of his diocese; he is never far from his cure; ye shall never find him unoccupied; he is ever in his parish; he keepeth residence at all times; ye shall never find him out of the way; call for him when you will, he is ever at home; the diligentest preacher in all the realm, he is ever at his plough; no lording or loitering can hinder him; he is ever applying his business; ye shall never find him idle, I warrant you….”
Latimer’s passion was to encourage all those who preach to be diligent in that task. The Reformation was a recovery of preaching – a preaching of the Gospel. To the bishops and Prelates of his day, he went on to say in the above sermon:
“Therefore, ye unpreaching prelates, learn of the devil; to be diligent in doing your office, learn of the devil; and if you will not learn of God or good men, for shame learn of the devil. I speak it for your shame (1 Cor. 15:34). If you will not learn of God or good men to be diligent in your office, learn of the devil!”
How much we need to learn of the primacy and urgency of preaching the Word of God!
Scripture as the ultimate source of authority
T C Hammond Superintendent of Irish Church Missions 1919-35
There are three ultimate courts of appeal, which may with some degree of support, be claimed in matters of religion:-
1. Reason.
2. The Church.
3. The Bible.
It must not be supposed, however, that they are mutually incompatible; in point of fact, they are frequently to be combined. But what must be clearly grasped is where the emphasis is to be placed. More depends upon proper emphasis than people imagine, and things which appear not to differ, in reality may become very different because of the unequal values placed on one word. Read more…
Martin Luther writes about his conversion experience
Martin Luther
Meanwhile in that same year, 1519, I had begun interpreting the
Psalms once again. I felt confident that I was now more
experienced, since I had dealt in university courses with St.
Paul’s Letters to the Romans, to the Galatians, and the Letter to
the Hebrews. I had conceived a burning desire to understand what
Paul meant in his Letter to the Romans, but thus far there had
stood in my way, not the cold blood around my heart, but that one
word which is in chapter one: “The justice of God is revealed in
it.” I hated that word, “justice of God,” which, by the use and
custom of all my teachers, I had been taught to understand
philosophically as referring to formal or active justice, as they
call it, i.e., that justice by which God is just and by which he
punishes sinners and the unjust. Read more…
