Chryste Here in his fyrst sarmone begynneth to restore the lawe of the ten commaundementes vnto her ryght vnderstandinge, agaynste the scrybes and Pharyses whiche were ypocrytes, false prophetes and false preachers, and had corrup­te the scrypture with the leauen of theyr gloses, Pouertye in spyryte And it is not without a great mystery that Chryst begynneth hys preachynge at pouertye in spy­ryte, whiche is nether beggery nor agaynste the possessynge of rychesse, But a vertue contrarye to the vyce of couetousnesse, the inordynate desyre and loue of reches and puttynge truste in rychesse.

Ryches is the gyfte of God geuen man to [Page] mayntayne the degrees of thys worlde, Ryches. and therfore not euell ye and some muste be poore and some ryche, yf we shal haue an order in thys worlde. And God our father deuydeth rychesse and pouertye amonge hys chyldren accordynge to hys godlye pleasure and wysdome. And as rychesse dothe not exclude the from the blessyng so dothe not pouertye certefye the. But to put thy truste in the lyuynge God maketh the heyre therof. For yf thou truste in the lyuynge god. Then yf thou be poore, thou coueteste not to be ryche, for thou art certefyed that thy father shall mynystre vnto the fode and rayment, and be thy defender, and yf thou haue ryches, thou knowest that they be but vanyte, and that as thou brough teste them not into the worlde, so shalte thou not carye them out, and that as they be thyne to daye, so maye they be another mannes to morowe, and that the fauoure of God onely bothe gaue and also kepeth the and them, and not thy wysdome or power, and that they ne­ther ought els can helpe at nede, saue the good wyll of thy heuenly father onely, Happy and blessed then are the poore in spyryte, that is to saye the ryche that haue not theyr confidence nor consolacyon in the vanyte of theyr rychesse, and the poore that desyre not inordynatly to be ryche, but haue theyr truste in the lyuynge God for fode and rayment and for all that partayneth e­ther to the body or the soule, for thers is the kingdome of heuen.

Ryche in spirite.And contrary wyse, vnhappy and accursed [Page xiii] and that with the fyrste and depest of all cursses, are the ryche in spirite, that is to saye, the coue­touse that beynge ryche and trust in thir rychesse, or beynge poore longe for the consolacyon of rychesse, and comforte not theyr soules with the promyses of theyr heuenlye father, confyrmed with the bloude of theyr Lord Christ. For vnto them it is harder to enter into the kyngedome of heuen, then for a camell to enter thorowe the eye of an nedle. Mar. 10. No they haue no parte in the kyngedome of Chryste and God. Ephe. v. Therfore it is euydent why Chryste so dylygentlye warneth all hys to be ware of couetousnes and why he admytted none to be hys dyscyples excepte he fyrste forsake altogether. For there was neuer couetous person true yet ether to God or man.

Yf a couetous man be chosen to preache goddes worde, Couetous­nes is a thynge contrary to the worde of god and to the myny­sters of the same. he is a false prophete immedyatlye. Yf he be of the laye sorte, so ioyneth he hym selfe vnto the false prophetes, to persecute the truthe. Couetousnesse is not onely aboue all other lustes those thornes that choke the worde of God in them that posesse it. But it is also a dedelye enemye to all that interprete goddes worde trulye. All other vyces thoughe they laugh them to scorne that talke godlye, yet they can soffre them to lyue and to dwell in the con­tre. But couetousnes can not reste as longe as there is one that cleueth to goddes worde in all the land.

Take hede to thy preacher therof, By coue­tousenes is a false prophete chefely knowen and [Page] be sure, yf he be couetous and gape for promo­cyon, that he is a false Prophete and leueth the scrypture, for al his c [...]yenge fathers, fathers holy chyrch and fyftene hundred yeres, and for al hys other holy pretenses.

Thys mournynge is also in the spyryte, and no kynne to the soure lokynge of Ypocrytes nor to the impaciēt weywardnes of those fleshly which euer whine and complaine that the world is naught, because they can not obtayne and en­ioye theyr lustes therin, Nether forbydyth in al­wayes to be mery and to laugh, and make good chere nowe and then, to forget sorowe, that ouermoche heuynes swalowe not a man clene vp For the wyse man saythe, sorowe hath cost many theyr lyues.

And prouer .xvii. and heuy spirite dryeth vp the bones. And Paule commaundeth. Phili. iiii. to reioyse euer. And Roma. xii. he sayth reioyse with them that reioyse, and sorowe with them that sorowe, and wepe with thē that wepe, which seme two contraryes.

Godlye mourningeThis mournynge is that crosse without which was neuer any dysciple of Chryst or euer shalbe, For of what so euer state or degree thou be in thys worlde, yf thou professe the Gospell, there foloweth the a crosse (as warmenesse accompa­nyeth the sonne shynynge) vnder whiche thy spy ryte shall grone and mourne secretlye, not onely [Page xiiii] because the worlde and thyne owne flleshe cary the away [...]lene contrary to the purpose of thyne harte. But also to se and beholde the wret­chednesse and mys fortunes of thy bretherne, for whiche (because thou loueste them aswell as thy selfe) thou shalte mourne and sorowe no lesse then for thy selfe. Thoughe thou be kynge or Emperour, yet yf thou knoweste Christ and god thorowe Chryste, and entendeste to walke in the syght of God, and to mynyster thyne offyce tru­ly, thou shalte (to kepe iustyce with all) be com­pelled to do daylye that, whiche thou art no lesse lothe to doo, then yf thou shuldeste cut of arme hande or any other member of thyne owne bo­dye, ye and yf thou wylt [...] folowe the ryght waye and nether torne on the ryght hande nor on the lefte, thou shalte haue ymmedyatly thyne owne subiectes, thyne owne seruauntes, thyne owne lordes, thyne owne councellours and thyn owne prophetes therto agaynste the. Vnto whose fro­warde malyce and stouburnesse, thou shalte be compelled to permytte a thousande thynges a­gaynste thy conscyence, not able to resyste them, at whiche thyne herte shall blede inwardly, and shalt sawse thy swete soppes whiche the worlde weneth thou haste, with sorowes ynowe and styl murnyng, studieng ether alone or els with a fewe frendes secretly nyght and day, and syghynge to God for helpe / mytygate the fury ouse frowardnes of thē whō thou art not able to w ^tstand that al go not after y ^e wyl of the vngodly, what was [Page] Dauyd compelled to soffer all the dayes of hys lyfe of his owne seruaūtes the sonnes of Seruya, Besyde the mychaunses of hys owne chyldren? And howe was our kynge Iohan forsaken of his owne lordes / Kynge. Iohan. when he wolde haue put a good and godlye reformacy on in hys owne lande? Howe was Henry the seconde compased in like maner of hys owne prelates whome he hade promoted of nought / Henry the seconde. with the secrete conspy­racye of some of his owne temporal lordes with them? I spare to speke of the murning of the true preachers and the poore comen people whiche haue no nother helpe / but the secrete hande of God, and the worde of hys promyse.

But they shalbe comforted of al theyr trybulacyon and their sorowe shalbe turned into ioye and that infynyte and euerlastynge in the lyfe to come. Nether are they without comforte here in this worlde, for Chryst hathe promysed to sende them a comfortour to be with them for euer euen the spirite of truthe whiche the worlde knoweth not. Iohn. xiiii, And they reioyse in hope (of the comforte to come) Roma. xii.

And they ouercome thorowe we faythe / as it is wrytten Hebre. xi. the saynctes thorowe faythe ouercame kyngedomes and obtayned the pro­myses. Fayth is our victory And .1. Io. v. thys is the vyctory that ouer cometh the world, euen our fayth. But the blynd world nether seyth our comfort nor our truste in God, nor how god thorowe faythe in his worde, helpeth vs and maketh vs ouercome.

Howe ouercome they (wylt thou saye) that [Page xv] be all wayes persecuted and euer slayne? ve­rely in euery batayle somme of them that wynne the felde / be slayne, yet they leue the vyctorye vnto theyr deare frendes for whose sakes they toke the fyghte vpon them / and therfore are conqueroures, seynge they obtayne theyr pur­pose and maynteyne that they foughte for. The cursed ryche of thys worlde whiche haue theyr ioy and comforte in theyr ryches / haue sence the begynnynge foughte agaynste them / to wede them out of the worlde. But yet in vayne. For thoughe they haue all wayes slayne somme yet those that were slayne / wanne the vyctorye for theyr brethern with theyr deathe / and euer en­creased the number of them. And thoughe they semed to dye in the syght of the folysshe / yet they are in peace and haue obtayned that euer­lastynge kyngdome for whiche they fought. And beside all this whē God plageth the world for theyr synne / The mour­ners for ryghtwys­nes are sa­ued w [...] God ta­keth ven­geaunce on the vnright wyse. these that mourne and sorowe are marked with the sygne of Thau in theyr fore heddes and saued from the plage / that they pe­ryshe not with the wycked / as thou seeste Eze­chiel. 9. and as lot was delyuered from amonge the Sodomytes.

And contrary wyse / cursed are they that laugh nowe, that is to say / which haue theyr ioy, solase and comforte in theyr ryches / for they shall sorowe and wepe / Luke. 6. And as it was answered the ryche man, Luke. 16. sonne remember howe that thou receauedest thy good dayes in thy lyfe tyme, and Lazarus lykewyse euell▪

[Page]And therfore is he comforted and thou tor­mented.

Mekenes possesseth the erthe.By the erthe vnderstande all that we posses­se in thys world, whiche al god wyl kepe for vs yf we be softe and meke. And what so euer trou­ble arise, yet if we wylbe pacient and abyde, the ende wyll go on our syde, as it is wrytten in the xxxvi. Psal. the wycked shalbe weded out, but they that abyde the lordes layser, shall enhe­rete the erthe. And agayne, with in a whyle the wicked shalbe gone, thou shalt behold the place where he was and he shalbe away / but the meke or softe shal enheryte the erthe. Euen as we say / be styl and haue thy wyl / and of lytle medlynge cometh moche reste / for a pacyent man shal were out all hys enemyes.

It is impossyble to dwelle in any place where no dylplesure shoulde be done the▪ If it be done vnwyllyngly / as when thy neyghbours be­astes breke into thy corne by some chaunce a­gaynste hys wyll. then it is reason that thou be softe and forgeue. If it be done of malyce and selffe wyll / then with reuengynge thou doest but with poderynge in the fyere make the flame gre­ter / and geuest an occasyon of more euell to be done the. If any man rayle on the and re­buke the / answere not agayne / and the hete of hys malyce shal dye in it selfe and goo out ym­medyatly / as fyer dothe when no more wode [Page xvi] is layde theron. If the wronge that is done / be greater then thou arte able to beare / truste in God and complayne with all mekenes vnto the offycer that is set of God to forbyd suche vy­olence, And yf the gentylmen that dwelle about the / be tyrauntes / be ready to helpe to fet home theyr wode / to plowe theyr lande / to brynge in theyr heruest and so forthe / and let thy wyfe vyset my Ladye nowe and then with a cople of hennes or a fat capon and suche lyke / and then thou shalt possesse al the remmanaunt in reste [...] or els one quarel or other may be pycked to the, to make the quyte of all togyther.

Chose whether thou wylte with softnes and sofferynge haue God on thy syde / euer to saue the and to gyue the euer ynoughe / and to haue a good conscience and peace on the erthe / or with furyousnesse and ympacyency to haue God a­gaynste the and to be polled a lytle and lytle of altogether / and to haue an euell conscyence and neuer reste on the erthe, and to haue thy dayes shortened therto, God hathe promysed if thou he meke and soft, and soffer a lytle persecucyon to geue the not onely the lyfe to come / Hundred folde. but also an hundred folde here in this lyfe, that is to say to geue the hys owne selfe and to be thy protec­tor and to minyster the euer ynough, whiche may of right be called an hundred folde, and that is a treasure passynge the treasure of al prynces.

Fynally Chryste teacheth here howe euery man muste lyue for hym selfe amonge them to whom he is a neyghboure / The pryuat person. and in pryuat mat­ters [Page] [...] [Page xvi] [...] [Page] in whiche he is but as a neyboure (thoughe he be a kynge) and in whiche thou canste not be to softe But and yf thou be an offycer / may not aduenge But the officer muste. then thou must be good, kynde and mercyful, but not a mylkesoppe and neegligent, As to whom thou art a father, them muste thou rule and make obay and that with sharpenes. if softenes wyll not be harde, and so in all other offyces.

Ryghtwys­nes.Ryghteousnes in thys place is not taken for the pryncypall ryghtuousnes of a chrysten man thorowe which the person is good and accepted before God. For these .viii. poyntes are but doc­tryne of the frutes and workes of a chrysten man before whiche the faythe muste be there, to make ryghteous without all deseruynge of workes and as a tre out of which al suche frutes and wor­kes muste sprynge. wherfore vnderstande here the outwarde ryghteousnes before the worlde and true and faythful dealynge eche with other / and iuste executynge of the offyces of all maner degrees / and meke obedyence of all that are vnder power / So that the meanynge is / happy are they whiche not onely do theyr dutyes to all men, but also studye and helpe to the vttermoste of theyr power with worde, deade, councel and exortynge, that all other deale trulye also aceordynge to the degre that euery man beareth in the wolde, & be as desyerous to further good order [Page xvii] order and ryghtuous dealynge, as the hongrye and thyrsty be desyrous to eate and drynke.

And not that it is not for naught that he sayth hongre and thurst. For excepte thy soule hongre and thyrste for thys ryghteuosnes of her newe nature, as the bodye dothe for meate and drynke of hys olde nature, the deuell and the chyldren of thys worlde (whiche can not soffer that a man ether deale truly hym selfe or helpe other) wyll so resyste the, Monke. plage the and so wery the, that thou haddeste leuer of very mystruste and desperacion that ought shulde be better, Monkes. why they ronne into relygyon. forsake al and make thy selfe a monke or a fryer, ye and to ronne into a straunge contrey and leue all thy frēdes, then to abyde in the world, and to let it chose whether it wyl synke or swyme.

But to comforte vs, that we faynte not or be wery of wel doynge, Chryste promyseth that all that haue thys thruste and hongre, shall haue theyr lust satysfied, and be trāslated into a kyng­dome, where none vnryghtwysnes is, be sydes y ^t thou shalt here and se at lēgth many come to the ryghtway and helpe with the, and many thynges that cannot be al together mēded, yet somewhat better & more tolerable so that all ryghtwysnes shal not be quenched.

And contrary wyse cursed be all they that are full, as Luke in the .vi. Luc. vi. saythe [...] that is to saye they pocrytes whiche to auoyde all laboure, so rowe, care, comberaunce and, Monkes be cursed. sofferynge with theyr bretheren, get them to dennes to lyue at rest and to fyll theyr belyes, the wealth of other [Page] [...] [Page xvii] [...] [Page] men not regarded. No, it were a grefe to them that other were better, that they alone maye be taken for holye, and that who so euer wyl to heuen must bye it of them, ye they be so ful, that they compare them selues to other poore syn­ners and lo [...] as narowly on them as the phare­seye dyd on the publycane, thankynge God that he alone was good, and the other euell. Cursed are they yet for al their fulnes, for they shal hon­ger with euerlastynge honger where none shall geue them to eate, nor they haue any refresshynge of theyr paynes.

To be mer­cyful what [...]t is.To be mercyfull, is to haue compassyon and to feale a nother mannes desease, and to mourne with them that mourne, and soffer with them that soffer, and to helpe and socoure them that are in trybulacyon and aduersyte, and to com­forte them with good councell and wholsome instruccyon and louynge wordes. And to be mercyfull, is louyngly to forgeue them that offen­ded the assone as they knowledge theyr mysdo­ynge and axe the mercy. To be mercefull / is pa­cyently longe to abyde the conuersyon of syn­ners with a lusty courage and hope that God wyl at the last conuerte them, and in the meane tyme to praye instauntlye for them, and euer when he seythe an occasyon / to exhorte them, warne them / monyshe them and rebuke them. And to be mercyfull / is to enterprete all to the best. [Page xviii] & to loke thorowe the fyngers at many thynges and not to make a greuous synne of euery small tryfle / and to soffer and forbere in hys owne cause the malyse of them that wyll not repente nor be a knowen of theyr wekednes, as longe as he can soffer it, and as longe as it ought to be soffred, and when he can no lenger, then to com­playne to them that haue auctoryte to forbyde wronge and to punyshe suche euell doers.

But the ypocrytes clene contrary condempne all them for greuous synners, Monkes saue them onely that bye theyr holynes of them, And because they wyll soffer with no man, they get them to sylence. And because they wyll helpe no man [...]ll that they haue (they saye) partayneth to the couent and is none of theyrs. Couent· And yf they be of­fended, they wyll be aduenged immedyatly. And to cloke, that they shulde not seme to ad­uenge them selues, the mater (saye they) pa [...]tay­neth to God and holy churche, or to some saynte or to one or other holye thynge, as if thou smyte one of them on the one cheke, he wyll turne to hym the other yer he wyll aduenge hym selfe. Oyle. Holy oyl [...] must be aduenged. But the iniurye of the holye Oyle wherewith he was anoynted, that muste he aduenge, and that with a spyrytuall punyshmente / that thou muste be accursed as blacke as a colyer and de­lyuered to Sathan. And yf thou come not in and axe absolucyon and offer thy selfe to pe­naunce and to paynge therto, they wel not soffer tyll the deuell fetche the. But wyll delyuer the to the fyer in the meane tyme. And al for zele [Page] of ryghtwysnes (say they.)

[...]ele of [...]yghtwys­ [...]es what [...]t is.O ypocrytes / the Zele of ryghtwysnes is to hongre and thryste for ryghteousnes, as it is a­boue descrybed, that is, to care and study and to do the vttermoste of thy power, that all thyn­ges went in the right course and due order bothe thorowe all degrees of the temporalty and also of the spyrytualty, and to Ieoperde lyfe and goodes theron.

Care howe [...]e spiritual [...]are for y ^e [...]ēporal co [...]ē wealthAl the worlde can beare recorde what payne ye take and howe ye care for the temporall co­mune welthe, that all degrees therin dyd and had theyr dutye, and howe ye put your lyues in aduenture to preache the truthe, and to enfor­me lordes and prynces and to cry vpon them to feare God and to be lerned, and to mynyster theyr offyces trulye vnto theyr subiectes, and to be mercyfull and an exsample of vertue vnto them / And howe helpe ye that youthe were brought vppe in lernynge and vertue / and that the pore were prouyded for of fode & rayment &c. And howe prouyde ye that your prestes be al lerned, and preache and do theyr dutyes truly euery man in his paryshe? howe prouyde ye that sectes aryse not to poole the people and leade them out of the waye vnder a coloure of longe praynge and ypocretyshe holynes, liuynge them selues ydle and beynge vtterlye vnto the comenwealthe improfytable? who smelleth not the swete odoure of chastyte that is amonge you? what ryghtuousnes is in youre sanctuaryes, and what indyfferent equyte is in al youre exempcy­ons, [Page xix] pryueleges and lybertyes? By your workes we Iudge you and youre Zele to ryghtuousnes. and not by youre sophystycall sottle reasons, with whiche ye wolde clawe our eares, bleare our eyes and begyle our wyttes, to take your tyrannous couetous crudelyte for the Zele of ryghtuousnes.

Fynally he that wyll not be mercyfull, to be blessed of God and to obtayne mercye of hym bothe here and in the lyfe to come, let hym be accursed with the vnmercyfull and to hym be iudgement without mercy / accordyng to the wordes of saynt Iames in the seconde chapter of his Epystle.

That whiche entreth in to a man defyleth not a man. But the thynges that defyle a man / pro­ceade fyrste out of his harte / as thou mayste se Mat. xv. Thence come out euell thoughtes sayeth (Chryste) as murther / adultrye, fornycacy­on, thefe, false wytnessynge and blasphemyes, These are the thynges which make a man fowle A man then is not fowle in the syghte of God, The fylthynes of the harte what tyll his harte be fowle. And the fylthynes of the harte are thoughtes that study to breake god­des commaundementes, The pure­nes of the harte what. wherfore the purenes of the harte is the consentynge and studyous pur­pose to kepe the lawe of God and to mene truly in al thy wordes and workes, and to do thē with a true intent.

[Page]It foloweth then that thou mayste be pure harted and therwith do all that God hathe com­maunded or not forboden. Thou mayste be pure harted and haue a wyfe and gette chyldren, be a iudge & condempne to deth them that haue deserued it / hange or heed euell doers, after they be by a iuste processe condempned. Thou mayest be pure harted, & do al y ^e drudge in the world. Lot was pure harted amonge the Sodomytes. Nycodemus beynge in the councell amonge them that conspyred the dethe of Ghryst was pure har­ted and consented not with them to the dethe of that innocent.

Yf the lawe be wryten in thyne harte it wyll dryue the to Christ, which is the ende of the lawe to iustefy al that beleue. Ro. x. And Chryste wyll shewe the hys father, for no man seeth the father but the sonne, and he to whome the sonne wyll shewe hym Luke. 10. If thou beleue in Chryste, that he is thy sauyoure, that faythe wyl leade the in ymmedyatlye and shewe the God with a lo­uely and an amiable countenaunce, and meke the feale and se howe that he is thy father, all mer­cyful to the and at one with the, and thou his son and hyghlye in hys fauoure and grace, and sure that thou pleseste hym, when thou do este an hun­dred thynges whiche some holye people wolde suppose them selues defyled. yf they shulde but thynke on them. And to se God is the blesshynge of a pure harte.

Impure and vnclene harted then are all they that study to breke Goddes commaundementes, [Page xx] Impure harted are all that beleue not in Chryste to be iustefyed by hym. Impure harted are al ypocrytes that do theyr worke for a false purpose ether for prayse, profyte or to be iustyfyed ther­by, whiche paynted sepulchers (as Chryst calleth them) can neuer se God, Impure ha [...]ted who? or be sure that they be in state of grace and that theyr workes be accepte, because they haue not Goddes worde with them, but clene agaynst them.

To enheryte thys blyssynge, Peace ma [...]kyng wha [...] it is not only re­quired that thou haue peace in thy selfe, and that thou take all to the beste, and be not offended lyghtly and for euery small tryfle, and all waye redye to forgeue, not sowe no dyscorde nor ad­uenge thyne owne wronge. But also that thou be feruent and diligent to make peace and to go betwene. where thou knowest or herest malice & en­uye to be, or seest bate or stryfe to aryse betwene person and persō, and that thou leue nothing vn­sought, to set them at one.

And though Chryste here speke not of the temporall swerde, but techeth howe euerye man shal lyue for him selfe towarde his neyghboure / Prynces what they ought to do yer they make war▪ yet Prynces (yf they wyll be Goddes chyldren) muste not only geue no cause of warre nor begyn but also (thoughe he haue a iust cause) soffer hym selfe to be entreated, yf he that gaue the cause re­pent, and muste also seke all wayes of peace be­fore he fyght. Howe be it, when al is sought, and [Page] nothynge wyll helpe, then he ought & is boūde to defende his lande and subiectes, and in so do­ynge he is a pece maker, as wel as whē he causeth theues and murtherers to be punished for theyr euell doynge and brekynge of the comon peace of hys lande and subiectes.

If thou haue peace in thy selfe and louest the peace of thy brethern after this maner, so is god thorowe Chryste at peace with the, and thou hys beloued sonne and heyre also.

¶ Moreouer if the wrōge done to the, be greter then thou mayst beare, as when thou art a person not for thy selfe only. But in respecte of other, in what soeuer worldly degre it be, & hast an of­fyce cōmytted the, then (when thou haste warned with al good maner him that dyd it, and none a­mēdement wilbe had) kepe peace in thyne harte and loue him styl, and complayne to them that are set to reforme suche thynges, and so art thou yet a peace maker and styll the sonne of God, But yf thou aduenge thy selfe or desyreste more then that suche wronge be forboden, thou syn­nest agaynst God, [...]engeaūce [...]artayneth [...]o God [...]nely. in takyng the auctoryte of god vpon the with out hys commaundement. God is father ouer all, and is of ryght Iudge ouer al hys chyldren, and to him only pertayneth all aduen­gynge, who therfore without his cōmaundement aduengeth ether with harte or hande / the same dothe cast him selfe into the handes of the sword and loseth the ryght of hys cause.

And on the other syde, cursed be the peace breakes, picquarels, whysperers, backebyters [Page xxi] sowers of dyscorde, dyspraysers of them that he good to brynge them out of fauore, interpreters to euell that is done for a good purpose, fyn­ders of faultes wher none is, sterers vp of princes to batayle and warre, & aboue al cursed be they that fasly bely the true prechers of goddes word to brynge them into hate, and to shede theyr bloude wrongfully for hate of the truth, For all suche are the chyldren of the deuel.

Yf the faythe of Chryste and lawe of God in whiche two all ryghtuousnes is contayned, be wrytten in thyne harte, that is, yf thou beleue in Christ to be iustefyed from syn or for remyssyon of syn, and consentest in thyne harte, to the lawe that it is good, holy and iuste and thy duty to do it and submytest thy selfe so to do, and ther vp on goest forth and testefyeth that fayth and lawe of ryghteousnes openly vnto the worlde in worde and deade. Then wyll Sathan stere vp his mem­bers agaynste the, and thou shalte be persecuted on euerye syde. But be of good comforte and faynte not. Call to mynde the saynge of Paule. 2. Tymo. 3. howe al that wyl lyue godly in chryst Iesu, shal so fer persecucyon, Remember howe al the prophetes that wēt before the, were so dealt with, Luke. vi. Remember the ensamples of the apostels, and of Chryste hym selfe, and that the dyscyple is no better then hys mayster, and that [Page] Chryste admytteh no descyple whiche not onely leueth not all, peace, the peace of Chryste is peace of conscyence but also taketh his crosse to, we be not called to a softe liuynge and to peace in this worlde. But vnto peace of conscyence in God our father thorowe Iesus Chryst, and to warre in thys worlde.

Moreouer comforte thy selfe with the hope of the blessynge of the enherytaunce of heuen, there to be gloryfyed with Chryste yf thou here soffer with hym. For yf we be lyke Chryste here in his passyons, and beare his ymage in soule and bodye, and fyght manfully ye / that Sathan blot it not out / and soffer with Chryste for berynge recorde to ryghtuousnes, then shall we be lyke to hym in glorye. Saynt Iohan saythe in the .iii. Chapter of hys fyrste pystle. yet it apereth not what we shalbe. But we knowe / that when he apereth / we shalbe lyke hym. And Paule. Phil. 3. oure conuersacyon is in heuen, whence we loke for a sauyour, the Lorde Iesus Chryst which shal chaunge our vyle bodyes and make them lyke his gloryous body.

It is an happy thynge to soffer for ryghteous­nes sake / but not for vnryghtuousnes. For what prayse is it (say the Peter in the seconde of hys fyrste epystle) though ye soffer, when ye be bofetted for your offenses, wherfore in the fourthe of the same he saythe, se that none of you soffer as a murtherar or a these or an euell doer or a busye body in other mennes maters, Suche sofferynge gloryfyeth not God, nor thou arte therby heyre of heuen. Beware therfore that thou deserue [Page xxii] not that thou sofferest. But yf thou do, Payne No bodely payne can be a satys­faccyon to God saue Chrystes passyon. then be­ware moche more of them that wolde bere the in hande, howe that suche sofferynge shulde be sa­tysfaccyon of thy synnes and a deseruynge of heuen. No, sofferynge for ryghtuousnes (thoughe heuen be promysed theyrto) yet dothe it not de­serue heuen, nor yet make satysfaccyon for the fore synnes, Chryste dothe bothe twane. But and yf thou repente and beleue in Chryst for the remissyon of synne, and them confesse, not onely before God, but also open before all that se the soffer / howe that thou haste deserued that thou soffrest, for breakynge the good and ryghtwyse lawe of thy father, and then takest thy punyshe­ment paciently / as an holsome medecyne to hele thy fleshe that it synne no more / and to feare thy brethern that they fall not in to lyke offence / as Moyses teacheth euery where. Then as thy pacy­ence in sofferynge is plesaunt in the syght of thy brethren whiche beholdeth, petye the and soffer with the in theyr hertes, euen so is it in y ^e syght of God, and it is to the a sure token that thou haste true faythe and true repentaunce.

And as they be blessed which suffer for ryghtousnes, euen so are they accursed which ronne a­way and let it be troden vnder the fete / and wyll not suffer for the faythe of theyr Lorde and lawe of theyr father, nor stande by theyr neyghboures in theyr iuste causes.

He [...] seyst thou the vttermoste what a Chry­sten man must loke for. It is not ynoughe to soffer for ryghtwysnes. But that no bytternes o [...] poyson be lefte out of thy cuppe, thou shalte be reuyled and rayled vpon, what the moste cruel ꝑsecucyō is and euen whan thou art condempned to dethe then be excomunycate and delyuered to sathan, depryued the felow­shype of holy church, the company of the angel­les and of thy parte in Chrystes bloud▪ and shalt be cursed downe to hell, defyed, detestat, and execrate with all the plasphemous ralynges that the poyson hartes of ypocrytes cā thinke or ymagyne, and shalt se before thy face whē thou goest to thy deth, that al the worlde is perswaded and brought in beleue that thou hast sayde and done that thou neuer thoughteste, and that thou dyest for that thou art as gyltles of as the chylde that is vnborne.

well thoughe inequite so hyly preuayle, and the truthe for which thou dyest, be so lowe kepte vnder and be not once knowē before the world in so moche that it semeth rather to be hynde­red by thy dethe, then (furthered) whiche is of all greffes the greateste) yet l [...] not thyne harte [Page xxiii] fayle the nether dyspare, as thoughe God hade forsaken the or loue the not. But comforte thy selfe with olde ensamples, howe God hath su­fred all hys olde frendes to be so entreated, Set the en­sample of Chryst be­fore the. and also hys onely and deare sonne Iesus▪ whose en­sample aboue all other set before thyne eyes, because thou art sure he was beloued aboue all o­ther, that thou doute not, but thou arte beloued also, and so moche the more beloued, the more thou art lyke to the ymage of hys ensample in sufferynge.

Dyd not the ypocrytes watche him in al hys sermones, to trappe hym in hys owne wordes? was he not subtellye aposed, whether it were lawfull to paye trybute to Cesar? were not all hys wordes wronge reported? were not hys my­racles ascrybed to Belsabub? sayde they not, he was a Samarytane and had a deuell in hym? was he not called a breaker of the Sabothe, a wyne drynker, a frende of publicans and synners? dyd he ought wherwith no faute was foūde, and that was not interprete to be done for an euell pur­pose? was nat the pretense of hys dethe, the destroynge of the temple, to brynge hym in to the harte of all men, was he not therto accu­sed of treson, that he for bade to paye trybute to Cesar? and that he moued the temple to in­surreccyon? Rayled they not on hym in the byt­terest of all hys passyon, as he hanged on the Crosse, saynge, saue thy selfe thou that saueste other, come downe from the Crosse and we wyll beleuen in the, fye wretche that destroyest the [Page] temple of God.

Yet was he beloued of God, and so art thou his cause came to lyght also / and so shal thyne at the last, ye and thy rewarde is great in heuē with hym, for thy depe sofferynge.

Cursed. Moste ac­cursed? who?And on the other syde, as they be cursed which leue ryghtuousnes destytute and wyll not soffer therewith / so are they mooste accursed whiche knowe the truthe, and yet not only fle ther from because they wyll not soffer. But also for lu­cre, become the mooste cruell enymyes therof and moste suttyll persecuters, and moste falslye lye theron also.

workes iu­styfye not.Fynally thoughe God whan be promyseth to blesse our workes / do bynde vs to worke yf we wyll obtayne the blessynge or promyse / yet muste we beware of thys pharesa [...]cal pestylence / to thynke that our workes dyd deserue the pro­myses. For what so euer God commaundeth vs to do, that is our dutye to do, thoughe there were no suche promyse made to vs at all. The promyse therfore cometh not of the deseruynge of the worker (as thoughe God had nede of ought that we coulde do) but of the pure mer­cy of God, to make vs the more wyllynge to do that is our dutye. &c. For yf when we had done all that God commaundethe vs to do he then gaue vs vppe in to the handes of tyrauntes and kylled vs / and sent vs to purgatorye (which men so greatlye feare) or to hell / and all the aun­gelles of heuen with vs / he dyd vs no wronge nor were vnryghtuous for ought that we or they [Page xxiiii] coulde calynge of deseruynge, howe so euer that God vseth his creatures / he euer abideth ryghtu­ous, tyl thou canst proue that after he hath boūd hym selfe with hys owne worde of mercy, he then breake promyse with them that kepe couenaunt with hym. So nowe yf nought were promysed / nought coulde be callenge, what so euer we dyd And therfore the promyse cometh of y ^e goodnes of the promyser only / and not of the deseruyng of those workes of whiche God hathe no nede / and which were no lesse our dutye to do / though there were no suche promyse.

The offyce of an Apostle and true preacher is to salt [...] not only the corrupte maners and con­uersacyons of erthye people / but also the roten harte within and all that spryngeth out therof / theyr naturall reson / theyr wyll / theyr vnderstandyng and wysdome / ye and theyr fayth and be­leue and all that they haue ymagyned without Goddes worde, concernynge ryghtuousnes iusti­fyenge / satysfaccyon and sercynge of God. And the nature of salt is to byte / frete & make smart. And the sycke pacientes of thys worlde are mer­uelous [Page] impacyent, so that thoughe with greate payne they can suffer theyr grosse synnes to be rebuked vnder a fassyon / It is a ieo­pardous thynge to salte ypo­crysye. as in a parable a farre of, yet to haue theyr ryghtuousnes theyr holy­nes and seruynge of God and hys sayntes / dy­salowed / improued / and condemned / for dam­nable and deuely she / that maye they not abyde In so moche that thou muste leaue the saltynge or els be prepared to suffer agayne, euen to be called a rayler / sedicyous / a maker of dyscorde and a troubeler of the comon peace, ye a scysmatyke and an heretyke also / and to be lyed vpon that thou hast done sayde that thou neuer though test / and then to be called (coram nobis) and to synge a newe songe and forswere saltynge or els to be sēt after thy felowes that are gone before / and the waye thy mayster went.

Salt who is mete to salte.True preachynge is a saltynge that stereth vppe persecucyon, and an offyce that no man is mete for saue he that is seasoned hym selfe be­fore with pouertye in spyryte / softenes / meke­nes / pacyence / mercyfulnes / purenes of harte and honger of ryghtuousnes and longynge for persecucyon to / and hathe al hys hope / comfort and solace in the blessynge only / & in no wordly thynge,

Nay wyll some say / a man myght preche longe ynough without persecucyon / ye and get fauoure to / yf he wolde not meldle with the pope / byshopes / prelates and holye gosty peo­ple that lyue in contemplacyon and solytarynes nor with greate men of the worlde. I answere / [Page xxv] true preachyng is saltynge and al that is corrupt muste be salted. And those persones are of all other most corrupt, & therfore may not be lefte vntouched.

The popes perdones muste be rebuked / the abuse of the masse / of the sacramenentes and of all the ceremonyes must be rebuked and salted. And sellynge of merytes and of prayers must be salted. The abuse of fastinge and of pylgrimage must be salted. All ydolatrye and false faythe muste be rebuked. And those freres that teache men to beleue in saynt Fraunces cote / howe that they shall neuer come in hell or purgatorye / yf they be buryed therin / maye not be passed ouer with sylence.

The payne and grefe of saltynge made mon­kes fle to theyr cloysture. Monkes why thy ronne to cloystures Naye (saye they) we went thether of pure deuocyon to praye for the people. ye but for all that the more ye encrease and the more ye multyplye youre prayers / the worse the worlde is. That is not oure faute (saye they) but theyrs / that they dyspose not them selues but contynue in synne / and so are ynapte to receaue the influence of our prayers O ypocrytes yf ye were true salt and had good hartes and loued youre neyghboures (yf dead men be neyghboures to them that are a lyue) and wolde come out of youre dennes and take payne to salte and season them, ye shulde make a greate many of them so apte, that your prayers myght take effecte. But nowe seynge as ye saye they be so vnsauery that your prayers be to them [Page] hem improfitable / though their goodes be to you profitable / and yet ye haue no compassion to come out and salt them / it is many feste that ye loue not them, not theyrs, and that ye praye not for them / but vnder the colour of praynge mocke them and robbe them.

Fynally salt which is the true vnderstandynge of the lawe / of faythe / and of the entent of all workes / hathe in you lost her vertue / nether be there any so vnsauery in the worlde as ye are / nor any that so sore kycke against true saltyng as ye / and therfore to be caste out and troden vnder fote & dyspysed of al mē / by the ryghtuous iudgement of God.

Spirytual­lye / why they be dyspysed.Yf salt haue loste hys saltnes, it is good for nothynge but to be troden vnder fote of men That is / yf the preacher which for his doctryne is called salt / haue loste the nature of salt / that is to saye, hys sharpenes in rebukynge all vn­ryghtuousnes / al natural reason / natural wyt and vnderstandynge / and all truste and confy­dence in what so euer it be / saue in the bloude of Chryst / he is condempned of God and dys­alowed of all them that cleaue to the truthe. In what case stande they then that haue benefy­ces and preache not? verely though they stande at the alter / yet are they excomunycate and cast out of the lyuynge churche of almyghtye God. And what yf the doctryne be not true salte? ve­rely then is it to be troden vnder fote. Ceremo­nyes muste be salted. As muste all wery she and vnsauerye ceremonyes whiche haue loste theyr sygnyfycacyons, and not only [Page xvi] teache not and are become vnprofytable and do no more seruyce to man. But also haue ob­tayned auctoryte as God in the harte of man, that man serueth them and putteth in them the trust and confydence that he shuld put in God hys maker thorough Iesus Chryst hys redemer. Are the instytucyons of man better then Godes ye are Godes ordynaunces better nowe then in the olde tyme? The prophetes troden vnder fote and defyed the temple of God and the sa­crefyces of God and all ceremonyes that God had ordayned, with fastynges and prayenges, and all that the people peruerted and comyt­ted ydolatrye with. we haue as strayte a com­maundement to salte and to rebuke al vngod­lynesse as had the prophetes. wyll they then haue theyr ceremonyes honorably spoken of, then let them restore them to the ryght vse, and put the salt of the true meanyng and signyficacyons of them to them agayne. But as they be nowe vsed / none that loueth Chryste can speke honorably of them? what true Chrysten man can gyue honor to that / that taketh al honoure frō Chryst? who can gyue honoure to that / that sleyeth the soule of hys brother / and robbeth his herte of that truste and confydence whiche he shulde gyue to hys lorde that hathe bought hym with hys bloude?

Christ goeth forthe and describeth the offyce of an apostle and true preacher by another ly­kenesse callynge them as before the salte of the erthe. Euen so here the lyght of the worlde / syg­nyfyenge therby that all the doctryne / all the wysdome and hye knoweledge of the worlde / whether it were phylosophye of naturall con­clusyons, of maners and vertue, or of lawes of ryghtuousnes, whether it were of the hole scryp­ture and of God hym selfe / was yet but a darc­kenes, Darkenes [...]ll know­ [...]edge is [...]arckenes [...]ntyll the [...]nowlege [...]f Christes [...]loude she [...]lyng be in [...]he harte. vntyll the doctryne of hys Apostles came That is to saye, vntyll the knowledge of Chryste came / howe that he is the sacrefyce for our syn­nes / our satysfaccyon / our peace / attonement and redempcyon / our lyfe therto and resurrec­cyon, what soeuer holynesse / wysdome ver­tue / perfectnesse or ryghtwysnes in the worlde amonge men, howe so euer perfecte and holye they appere / yet is all damnable darckenes / ex­cept the right knowledge of Chrystes bloude be there fyrste / to iustefye the harte before all other holynes.

[Page xxvii]Another conclusyon. As a cetye buylt on a hyl can not be hyd / no more can the lyght of Chry­stes gospel. Let the world rage as moche as they wyll / yet it wyl shyne on theyr sore eyes whether they be content or no.

Another conclusyon as men lyght not a can­dell to whelme it vnder a bushell / but to put it on a candelstycke to lyght al that are in the hous euen so the lyght of Chrystes gospell maye not be hyde nor make a seuerall thynge, as thoughe it pertaynethe to some certayne holye persons onelye. Naye it is the lyght of the whole worlde and pertaynethe to all men / and therfore maye not be made seuerall. It is a madnesse that dyuerse men say / Laye. The laye ought to haue the gospell the lay people maye not kno­we it / excepte they can proue that the laye peo­ple be not of the worlde. Moreouer it wyll not be hyde / but as the lyghtenynge that brea­kyth out of the cloudes / shynethe ouer all / euen so dothe the gospell of Chryste. For where it is truely receyued, there it purefyeth the harte and makethe the parson to consente to the lawes of God and to begynne a newe and a Godlye ly­uynge, facyoned after godes lawes and without all dyssymulacyon. Gospell The propertye of the gospel And then it wyll kyndle so greate loue in hym towarde hys neyghboure, that he shall not onely haue compassyon on hym in hys bodely aduersyte / but moche more petye hym ouer the blyndnes of hys soule and to my­nyster to hym Chrystes gospell / Gospell. The true gospell not hyd in dennes. wherfore yf they say, it is here or there, in saint Fraunces cote or Domynykes and suche lyke, and that yf thou [Page] thou wylt put on that cote / thou shalt fynde it there / it is false. For yf it were there / thou shuldeste se it shyne abrode de thoughe thou crepeste not into a sel or a monkes coulle / as thou seest lyghtenyng without crepyng into the cloudes ye theyr lyght wolde so shyne / that men shuld not onely le the lyght of the gospell / but also theyr good workes / which wolde as fast come out / as they nowe ronne in. In so moche that thou shuldest se them make themselfes pore to helpe other / as they nowe make other pore / to make them selues ryche.

Kynges. ought to be learned.This lyght and salte partayned not then to the Apostles and nowe to our byshoppes and spiritualty onely. No it pertayneth to the tem­poral men also. For all kynges and all rulers are bound to be salt and lyght not onely in ex­sample of lyuyng, but also in teachyng of do­ctryne vnto theyr subiectes, as well as they be bounde to punyshe euell doers. Dothe not the scrypture testefye that kynge Dauyd was cho­sen to be a sheparde and to feade hys people with Godes worde. It is an euel skole mayster that can nought saue bete only. But it is a good skole master that so teacheth that fewe nede be beaten. This salt and lyght therfore pertayne to the temporalty also, and that to euery member of Chrystes church / so that euery mā ought to be salt and lyght to other.

The order howe euery man maye.Euery man then may be a comen preacher thou wylt say / and preache euery where by his owne auctoryte, Nay verely, No man maye yet [Page xxviii] be a comen preacher saue he that is called and chosen therto by the comen ordynaunce of the cōgregacion, be a prea­cher, and howe not. as longe as the preacher teacheth the true worde of God. But euery priuate man ought to be in vertuous lyuyng both lyght and salt to his neyghbour / in so moche that the po­reste ought to stryue to ouercome the byshope and to preache to hym in ensample of lyuyng. Moreouer euery man ought to preach in wordand deade vnto his houshold and to them that are vnder hys gouernaunce. &c. And thoughe no man may preache openly, saue he that hath the offyce commytted to hym, yet ought euery man to endeuoure hym selfe, to be as well ler­ned as the preacher, as nye as it is possyble, And euerye man maye pryuatlye enforme hys neyghboure, ye and the preacher and byshope to, yf neade be. For yf the preacher preache wronge, then maye any man what so euer he be rebuke hym, fyrste pryuatlye and then (yf that helpe not) to complayne further. And when all is proued, accordynge to the order of cha­rite / and yet none amendment had, then ought euery man that can to resyst hym / and to stond by Chrystes doctrine, and to ieoparde life and al for it. Loke on the olde ensamples and they shall teache the.

The gospel hath a nother fredome with her then the temporall regyment. Thoughe euery mannes body and goodes be vnder the kynge do he ryghte or wronge / yet is the auctoryte of Goddes worde free and aboue the kynge / [Page] soo that the worste in the realme maye tell the kynge, if he do hym wronge, that he doth nought and other wyse then God hathe commaunded hym, and so warne hym to auoyde the wrathe of God whiche is the pacyent aduenger of all vn­ryghtwysnes. Maye I then and oughte also, to resyste father and mother and all temporall power with Goddes worde, whan they wronge­fully do or commaunde that hurteth or kylleth the bodye, and haue I no power to resyste the Byshoppe or Preacher that with false doctryne sleyethe the soules for whiche my Mayster and and lorde Chryste hath shede hys bloude? Be we otherwyse vnder our byshopes then Chryste and his apostles and al the prophetes were vnder the byshoppes of the olde lawe? Naye verelye, and therfore maye we and also oughte to do as they dyd, and to answere as the apostles dyd. Act. 5. O Portet magis obedire deo quam bominibus. we muste rather obaye God than men. In the gospel euerye man is Chrystes dyscyple and a persone for hym selfe to defende Christes doctryne in his owne person. The faythe of the byshoppe wyll not helpe me. nor the bishopes kepyng the lawe is suffycyent for me. But I muste beleue in Chryst for the remyssyon of al syn, for myne owne selfe and in myne owne person. No more is the byshoppes or preachers defending Godes word ynough for me. But I muste defende it in myne owne persone and ieoperde lyfe and all theron when I senede and occasyon.

I am bounde to gette worldlye substaunce [Page xxix] for my selfe and for my housholde with my iuste laboure and some what more fore them that can not, to saue my neyghboures bodye. And am I not more bounde [...]o labour for Godes worde to haue therof in store, to saue my neyghboures soule? And when is it so moche tyme to resyste with Goddes worde and to helpe, as when they whiche are beleued to mynyster the true worde, do slee the soules with false doctryne, for coue­tousnes sake? He that is not readye to geue hys lyfe for the mayntenaunce of Ghrystes doc­tryne agaynst ypocrytes, with what so euer name or tytle they be dysguysed, the same is not wor­thy of Chryste nor can be Chrystes dyscyple / by the verye wordes and testymonye of Chryste. Neuertheles we muste vse wysdome, pacyence, mekenes and a dyscrete proces after the due or­der of charite in our defendyng y ^e word of God lest whyle we go aboute to amende our prelates we make them worse. But when we haue proued all that charyte bindeth vs and yet in vayne, then we muste come forthe openlye and rebuke theyr wykednes in the face of the world and ieoperde lyfe and all theron.

A lytle before Chryst calleth hys dyscyples the lyght of the worlde and the salt of the erthe and that because of theyr doctryne / wherwith they shulde lyghten the blynde vnderstandyng of man / and with true knoweledge dryue out the false openyons and sophystycall persua­syons of natural reason, and deliuer the scryp­ture out of the captyuyte of false gloses which the ypocrety she phareseys had patched therto and so out of the lyghte of true knowledge, to [...]ere vp a newe lyuynge. and to salt and ceason the corrupt maners of the olde blinde cōuersacyon. False doc­tryne cau­ [...]het euell workes. For where false doctryne / corrupt opy­nyons and sophistycal gloses raygne ī the wyt and vnderstandynge / there is the lyuynge de­uelyshe in the syghte of God / howe so euer it appere in the syght of the blynde worlde. And on the other syde, where the doctryne is true & perfecte, True doc­tryne is the cause of good wor­kes. there foloweth godly lyuynge of ne­cessyte. For out of the inwarde beleue of the hart, floweth the outwarde cōuersacyon of the mēbers. He that beleueth that he ought to loue his enemy, shall neuer cease fyghtynge agaynst his owne selfe / tyl he haue weded all rancoure and malyce out of his hart, But he that beleueth it not / shall put a vysure of ypocresye on hys face, tyl he get oportunite to aduēge him selfe.

[Page xxx]And here he beginneth to teache them to be that lyght and that salte of which he spake, and sayth. Thoughe the scrybes and phareses beare the people in hande, that all I do / is of the de­uyll and accuse me of breakynge the lawe and the prophetes (as they afterwarde rayled on the Apostles / that they draue the people from good workes, thoroughe preachyng the iuste­fyenge and ryghtwysnes of faythe) yet se that ye my dyscyples be not of that beleue. For he­uen and erthe shall soner peryshe, then one my nume or tytle of the lawe shulde be put out. I come not to destroye the lawe [...] but to repare it onely, and to make it go vpryght where it hal­teth, and euē to make croked strayte, & roughe smothe, as Iohan the Babtyste doth in the wyl­dernes / and to teache the true vnderstandynge of the lawe, without me the lawe cā not be ful­fylled nor euer coulde. For thoughe the lawe were gyuen by Moyses / yet grace & verite / Grace and truthe tho­roughe Ie­sus Chryste that is to say / the true vnderstandinge and power to loue it and loue to fulfyll it / cometh and euer came thorough faythe in me.

I do but onely wype awaye the fylthy and roten gloses whiche the scrybes and the pharyseys haue smared to the lawe and the prophetes and rebuke theyr dānable lyuyng whiche they haue facyoned / not after the lawe of God / but after theyr owne sophistycall gloses fayned to mocke out the lawe of God / and to begyle the whole worlde, & to lede thē in blyndnes, and that the scrybes and phareseys falsly bely me / [Page] howe that I go aboute to destroye the lawe, and to sette the people at a fleshelye lyberte, and to make them fyrste dysobedyent and to despyce theyr spyrytuall prelates, & then to ryse agaynst the temporall rulers and to make all comune, and to gyue lycence to syn vnponyshed, cometh onelye of pure malyce, hate, enuye and furyouse impacyencye, that theyr vysures are plucked frō theyr faces and their ypocresy dysclosed. Howe be it what I teche and what my lernynge is con­cernynge the lawe, ye shall shortly here / and that in fewe wordes.

who so euer studye to destroy one of the commaundementes folowynge whiche are yet the leaste and but chyldyshe thynges in respecte of the perfecte doctryne that shall here after be she­wed, and of the mysteryes yet hyde in Chryste and teache other men euen so, in worde or en­sample, Gloses They that destroy the law of god with glo­ses must be cast out whether openly or vnder a coloure and thoroughe false gloses of ypocresye that same doctoure shall all they of the kyngedome of he­uen abhorre and despyce, and caste hym out of [Page xxxi] of theyr companye, as a sethynge potte dothe caste vp her fome and skome & purge her selfe. So faste shall they of the kyngedome of heauen cleaue vnto the pure lawe of God without all mennes gloses.

But who so euer shall fyrste fulfyl them hym selfe and then teache other, and sette all hys stu­dye to the furtheraunce and mayntenyng of them that doctoure shall all they of the kyngedome of heuen haue in pryce, and folowe him and seke hym out as dothe the Egle her praye, and cleaue to hym as burres. For these commaundementes are but the verye lawe of Moyses (the draffe of the phareses gloses, clensed out) interpreted ac­cordynge to the pure worde of God and as the open text compelleth to vnderstande them, yf he loke dylygently theron.

The kyngdome of heuen take for the con­gregacyon or churche of Chryste. The church And to be of the kyngedome of heuen, is to knowe God for our father, and Chryste for our lorde and sauy­oure from all synne. And to enter in to thys kyngedome it is impossyble, excepte the harte of man be to kepe the commaundementes of God pure lye, as it is wrytten. Iohan. 7. Lawet Excepte a man loue gods lawe he can not vnderstand y ^e doctrine of Chryste. yf any man wyll obaye hys wyll, that is to saye, the wyl of the father that sent me (saythe Chryste) he shall knowe of the doctryne, whether it be of God, or whether I speke of myne owne hede. For yf thyne harte be to do the wyll of God whiche is his commaundementes, he wyl gyue the a pure eye, both to dyscerne the true doctryne from the [Page] [...] [Page xvi] [...] [Page] [...] [Page xxvii] [...] [Page] [...] [Page xxviii] [...] [Page] [...] [Page xxix] [...] [Page] [...] [Page xxx] [...] [Page] [...] [Page xxxi] [...] [Page] false / and the true doctryne from the howlyng ypocryte. And therfore he saythe.

The ryghtwysnes of the scrybes and phary­seys can not enter into the kyngdome of heuen the kyngdome of heuen is the true knowledge of God and Chryste / ergo the ryghtwysnes of the Scrybes and Pharyseys neyther knowethe God nor Chryste. He that is wyllynge to obay the wyll of God / vnderstandeth the doctryne of Chryste / as it is proued aboue / the scrybes and the phariseys vnderstand not the doctryne of Chryste / ergo they haue no wyll nor luste to obaye the wyll of God. To obaye the wyll of God, is to seke the glory of God (for the glo­rye of a mayster is the meke obedyence of hys seruauntes, the glorye of a Prynce is the vmble obedyence of hys subiectes, the glory of a hus­bande is the chaste obedyence of hys wyfe / the glorye of a father is the louynge obedyence of hys chyldren) the scrybes and the pharyseys haue no lust to obay the wyl of God, Glorye. H [...] that se­keth hys owne glo­ry teacheth his owne doctryne / and not his masters ergo, they seke not the glorye of God. Furthermore the scrybes and pharyseys seke theyr owne glory / they that seke theyr owne glory, preache theyr owne doctryne, ergo, the scrybes and pharyses [Page xxxii] preache theyr owne doctryne. The maior thou hast. Math. xxiii. the scrybes and pharyseys do all theyr workes to be sene of men / they loue to sytte vppermoste at feastes and to haue the chefe seates in the Synagoges, and salutacions in the open markettes, and to be called Raby. And the mynor foloweth the texte aboue rehersed Iho. vii. he that speketh of hym selfe or of hys owne heed, seketh hys owne glorye / that is to saye, he that preacheth hys owne doctryne is euer knowen by sekynge hys owne glory, so that it is a generall rule to knowe that a man preacheth hys owne doctryne / yf he seke hys owne glorye. Some man wyll happely say, the scrybes and pharyseys had no other lawe then Moses and the prophetes nor any other scryp­ture, and groūded theyr sayenges theron. That is truthe, howe then preached they theyr owne doctryne? verely it foloweth in the sayd, vii. of Iho. Glorye He that se­keth hys owne glo­ry altereth his masters message. He that seketh tbe glorye of hym that sent him y ^e same is true and there is no vnryghtwys­nes ī him, that is to say, he wyl do his maysters message truly and not alter it, where contraryewyse he y ^t seketh his owne glory wyl be false (when he is sēt) and wyl after his masters mes­sage, to turne his maysters glory vnto his owne selfe. Euen so dyd the scrybes and pharyseys alter the word of God for theyr owne profyte and glorye. worde. gods word altered is not his. worde. And when Godes word is altered with false gloses, it is no more Gods word. As when God sayth, loue thy neyghbour and thou puttest to thy leūe and sayest, yf my neyghbour [Page] do me no hurte nor saye me anye. I am bound [...] to loue hym, but not to gyue hym at hys nead [...] my gooddes whiche I haue gotten with my sore labour. Nowe is thys thy lawe and not Goddes. Goddes lawe is pure and single, loue thy neygh­boure whether he be good or bad. To loue is to helpe at nede. Prayer. The prayer of Monkes robbeth & helpeth not. And by loue God meanethe, to helpe at neade. Nowe when God byddeth the to gette thy lyuynge and some what ouer to helpe hym that can not, or at atyme hathe not wherwith to helpe hym selfe, yf thou and .xxx. or .xl. with the gette you to wylder­nesse / and not onelye helpe not youre neygh­boures but also robbe a greate number of two or thre thousande pounde verelye, howe loue ye your neyghboures? Suche men helpe the worlde with prayer, thou wylte saye to me. Thou were better to saye, they robbe the worlde with theyr ypocresye, saye I to the▪ and it is truthe in dede, that they so do. For yf I stycke vppe to the myddle in the myer lyke to peryshe with out present helpe, and thou stonde by and wylt not socoure me, but knel [...]ste downe and prayeste, wyll God here the prayers of suche an ypocryte? God byddeth the so to loue me that thou put thy selfe in ioperdye to helpe me. and that thyne hart [...] whyle the bodye labourethe do praye and trust [...] in God, that he wyll assyste the. and throughe th [...] to saue me. An ypocryte that wyll put neyther bodye nor goddes in parell for to helpe me [...] my neade, louethe me not nether hathe compas­syon on me, and therfore his harte can not praye thoughe he wagge hys lyppes neuer so muche. [Page xxxiii] It is wryten, Iohan. ix. If a man be a worshyp­per of God and do hys wyll (whiche is the true worshype) hym God herethe, Nowe the wyl of God is / that we loue one another to helpe at nede. And suche louers he hereth and not sottle ypocrytes. Loue pra­yeth. As loue maketh the helpe me at my nede, so when it is paste thy power to helpe, it maketh the praye to God, Euen so where is no loue to make the take bodely payne with me. there is no loue that maketh the praye for me. But thy prayer is in dede for thy belye whiche thou loueste.

what were the scrybes and pharyseys? Scrybes & Pharyseys what they were. The scrybes besydes that they were pharyseys (as I suppose) were also offycers, as are our bys­shopes / Chauncelers / Comyssaryes / Archedea­cones, and offycyalles. And the phariseys were relygyouse men whiche hade professed, not as nowe, one Dominycke the other fraunces, ano­ther Barnardes rules. But euen to hold the very lawe of God / with prayer / fastynge / and al­mes dede / and were the flowre and perfectyon of all the Iewes, as S. Paule reioyseth of hym selfe philippen. 3. saynge I was an Ebrue and concernynge the lawe a pharyse, and concer­nynge the ryghtwysnes of the lawe I was faut­les. They were more honorable then any secte of Mōkes with vs. whether obseruaūt or Ancre or what so euer other be had in pryce.

They myght moche better haue reioysed to The pharyses myght better haue proued thē selues the true chyrch then our spyritualty maye. haue ben the true churche and to haue had the spyryte of God, and that they coulde not haue [Page] erred they men whome all the worlde seeth / neyther to kepe Godes lawes nor mannes, nor yet y ^t deuelyshe lawe of theyr owne makyng. For God hathe made thē of the olde testament as great promyses / that he wold be theyr God and that his spiryte and al grace shuld be with thē, yf they kepte his lawe, as he hathe made to vs, Nowe seing they kepe the vttermost rote of the lawe in the syghte of the worlde and were fautles, The pro­myses are made vpon the profes. syon of the keping the law of God so that the church that wyl not kepe Goddes lawe hathe no promise y ^t they can not erre. and seynge therto that God hathe pro­mysed neyther vs nor them oughte at al / but vpon y ^e professyon of kepyng his lawes, whether were more like to be the ryght church and to be taughte of the spyryte of God and they coulde not erre / those pharyseys and oures? Myght not the general councelles of those, and the thynges there decreed with out scrypture seme to be of as great actoryte as the generall councelles of oures and the thynges there or­dayned and decreed bothe clene with out and also agaynste Godes worde? Myght not the ce­remonyes whiche those hade adyde to the cere­monyes of Moses, seme to be as holy & as wel to plese God, as the ceremonyes of oures. The thynges whiche they added to the ceremonyes of Moyses, were of the same kynde as those ce­remonyes were / and no more to be rebuked then the ceremonyes of Moyses. As for as en­sāple yf Moyses bade washe a table or a dyshe when an vnclene worme had crepte theron, the pharyseys dyde washe the table with a wete cloute before euery refection, leste any vnclene [Page xxxiiii] thynge hade touched them vnwares to all men, as we put vnto our tythes a mortuarye for all forgotten tythes. The wyc­kednes of the Phary­seys what it was. what was then the wycked­nes of the pharyseys? verely the leuen of theyr gloses to the morall lawes, by whiche they corrupte the commaundemētes and made them no more Godes, and theyr false fayth in the cere­mones that y ^e bare worke was a sacrefyce and a seruyce to God, the sygnyfycacyons lost and the opinyon of false ryghtwysnes in theyr prayers fastynge and almos dedes, that such wor­kes dyd iustefy a man before god, and not that God forgeueth syn of his mere mercy, yf a man beleue, repent and promise to do his vttermost to synne no more.

when these thus sate in the hertes of the peo­ple, with the opynyon of vertue, holynes, Preacher why the true prea­cher is accused of tresō and heresy. and ryghtwysnes, and theyr lawe the lawe of God theyr workes, workes comaūded by God and confyrmed by all hys prophetes, as prayer, fa­stynge and almose dede, and they loked vpon as the chyrche of God that could not erre, and fynally they thē selues ether euery where were the chefe rulers or so sate in the hartes of the rulers, that theyr worde was beleued to be the worde of God.

what other thynge coulde it be, to prea­che agaynste all suche and to condemne theyr ryghtwysnesse for the mooste damnable synne that can be, than to seme to goo aboute to de­stroye the lawe and the prophetes? what other thynge can such a precher seme to be before y ^e [Page] [...] [Page xxxiiii] [...] [Page] blynde worlde / then heretycke / scysmatycke / sedicyous / Ypocrysy why ypo­crysy muste be fyrst rebuked thoughe it be ieoꝑdy to preache agaynste it. possessed with the deuel and worthy of shame moste vyle and deth moste cruel? And yet these must be fyrsterebuked and theyr false ryghtwysnes detecte, yer thou mayste preache agaynste open synners.

Or els yf thou shuldest conuerte an open senner from hys euell lyuynge, thou shuldeste make hym nyne hundred tymes worse then be­fore. For he wolde attonce be one of these sorte / euen an obseruaunt or of some lyke secte of whiche amonge an hundred thousande, thou shalte neuer brynge one to beleue in Chryste, where among open synners many beleue at the houre of dethe, fal flat vpon Chryst and beleue in hym onely without all other ryghtwysnes. It were an hundred thousand tymes better ne­uer to pray, then to praye soche lyppe prayers and neuer to fast or do almes then to faste and to do almes with a mynde therby to be made ryghtuous / and to make satysfaccyon for the fore synnes.

Here Chryste begynneth, not to destroy the lawe (as the pharyseys had falsly accused hym) but to restore it agayne to the ryght vnderstan­dynge and to purge it from the gloses of the pharyseys. He that sleyeth shall be gyltye or in daunger of iudgement / that is to say / yf a man murther, hys dede testefyeth agaynst hym, there is no more to do / then to pronounce sentence of dethe agaynst hym. This texte dyd the pha­ryseys, extende no further then to kyll with the hande and outwarde members, But hate / en­uye / malyce / churlyshnesse and to withdrawe helpe at neade, to begyle and cyrcumuent with wyles and sottle bergenynge, was no synne at all, No, to brynge hym home, thou hatedest to dethe with crafte and falshed, so thou dyddeste not put thyne hande therto / was no synne at al. As when they had brought Chryste to dethe wrongefully and compelled Pylate with sot­teltye to sleye hym / they thoughte them selues pure. In so moche that they wolde not go into the hall for defylynge them selues and beynge partakers with Pylate in his bloud. And Ac. 5 they sayd to the Apostles, ye wolde bryng this mannes bloude vpon vs / as who wolde saye, we slue hym not. And Saul in the fyrste boke of [Page] the Kynges in the .xviii. Cha▪ beinge so wrothe with Dauid, that he wold gladly haue had him slayne determyned yet that he wold not defyle hym selfe, but to thrust hym into the handes of Phylystynes, that they myght sley hym, and he hym selfe abyde pure.

And as our spyrytualtye nowe offer a man mercy / once thoughe ye haue spoken agaynste holy chyrche / onely yf he wyll but periure and bere a fagot. But yf he wyll not, they do but dyote hym a season / to wynne hym and make hym tell more, and then delyuer hym to the lay power sayenge, he hathe deserued the dethe by our lawes and ye ought to kyll hym / howe be it we deserc it not.

¶ But Chryste restoreth the lawe agayne and sayeth / to be angry with thy neyghboure to sle hym and to deserue dethe. For the lawe goeth as wel on the harte as on the hande, He that ha­teth his brother is a mutherar .i. Io. 3. If then the blynd hande deserue dethe howe moche more those partes which haue the syght of reson. And he that sayeth Racha / Racha. lewde or what so euer sygne of wrath it be, or y ^t prouoketh to wrath▪ hath not only deserued that men shuld imme­dyatly pronounce sentence of deth vpon hym, but also y ^t when deth is pronoūced, they shuld gather a councel / to decre what horryble dethe he shuld suffer. And he that calleth hys brother fole / hathe synned downe to hel.

how a man may be an­grye with­out sīnyngShal then a man not be angry at al nor re­buke or ponyshe? yes yf thou be a father or a [Page xxxvi] mother / mayster / maystresse / husbande / lorde / or ruler / yet with loue and mercye / that the an­ger / rebuke / or ponyshmente excede not the faute or trespas. Maye a man be angrye with loue? ye, mothers can be so with theyr chyldrē It is a louinge anger that hateth onely the vyce and studyeth to mende the persone. But here is forboden not only wrath agaynste father / mo­ther / and all that haue gouernaunce ouer the / whiche is to be angry and to grudge agaynste God hym selfe / and that the ruler shall not be wrath without a cause agaynst the subiecte. But also al pryuate wrathe agaynst thy neyghbour ouer whome thou haste no rule nor he ouer the, no though he do the wronge. For he that do the wronge lacketh wytte and dyscrecyon and can not amende tyll he be informed and taught louyngly. Therfore thou must refrayne thy wrath and tell hym hys faute louyngly and with kyn­denes wyn him to thy father / for he is thy bro­ther as wel made and as dere bought as thou / and as wel beloued, though he be yet chyldyshe and lacke dyscrecyon.

But some wyl say, I wyl not hate my neyghboure / nor yet loue hym / or do hym good. Loue is the kepyng of the lawe. yes thou must loue hym for the fyrst cōmaundemēt out of which all other flowe, is, thou shalt loue the lorde thy God with all thyne harte / with all thy soule / and with all thy myght. That is / thou must kepe all his commaundementes with loue. Loue must kepe y ^e fro killyng or hurting thy neyboure and frō couetynge in thyne harte [Page] what so euer is his. And .1. Ioh. 4. Thys com­maundement haue we of hym / that he whiche loueth God, loue his brother also. And agayne 1. Iohan. iii. he that hathe substaunce of thys worlde and see hys brother haue necessyte, and shutteth vp hys compassyon from him, howe is the loue of God in hym? he then that helpe the not at neade louethe not God, but breketh the fyrste commaundement. Let vs loue therfore sayth saynte Io, not with worde and tonge, but in the dede and of a truthe. And agayne saynte Iohā sayd in the sayd place / he that loueth not hys brother by deth yet styll in dethe. And of loue hath Moyses textes ynoughe. But the pharyseys glosed them out, sayenge they were but good councelles yf a man desyred to be per­fecte / but not preceptes. Exodi. xxiii. yf thou mete thyne enemyes oxe or asse goynge a straye thou shalte in any wyse brynge them to hym a­gayne. And yf thou se thyne enemyes asse falle downe vnder his burthen / thou shalt helpe him vp agayne. And Leuyti, xix. thou shalt not hate thy brother in thyne hart / but shalt in any wyse rebuke thy neyghboure, Synners he y ^t helpeth not to men [...]de synners muste suffer with them when they be ponys­hed. that thou beare no syn for hys sake. For yf thou studye not to a­mende thy neyghboure when he synneth, so art thou partaker of hys synnes. And therfore whē God taketh vengeaunce and sendeth what soo euer plage it be, to ponyshe open sinners, thou must peryshe with them. For thou dydest synne in the syght of God as depe as they / because thou dydest not loue the lawe of God to mayn­teyne [Page xxxvii] it with all thyne harte, soule / power and myght. Is not he that seeth hys nyghboures hous in ieoperdye to be sette on fyer and war­neth not, nor helpeth in tyme, to auoyde the parell, worthy yf his neyghboures hous be brent vp, that hys be brent also / seynge it was in hys power to haue kepte all out of ieoperdy, yf he had wolde / as he wolde no doute yf he had loued hys neyghboure? Euen so when God sen­deth a generall pestylence or warre to thy cy­tye / to ponyshe the synne therof / arte not thou worthy that thyne house shulde be infected or peryshe, yf thou myghtest haue kepte it frō synnynge, and thou haddest ben wyllynge therto? But yf thou do thy beste to further the lawe of God and to kepe thy land or neyghboures frō synnyng against God, thē (though it pelpe not) thou shalte bere no synne for theyr sakes when they be ponyshed. He therfore that loueth the lawe of God, may be bolde in tyme of pesty­lence and all ieoperdy to beleue in God. And agayne in the same place thou shalt not auenge thy selfe nor beare hate in mynde agaynste the chyldren of thy people. But shall loue thy fe­lowe as thy selfe, I am the lorde. As who shuld say, for my sake shalt thou do it. And Deutero­nomy .10. The lorde your God. is the God of Goddes and lorde of lordes, a greate God / myghty and terryble, which regardeth no mannes persone or degree or taketh gyftes. But doth ryghte to the fatherlesse and the wydowe, and loueth the staunger, to gyue hym rayment [Page] and fode / loue therfore the straunger / for ye were straungers in the lande of Egypt. And Leuytycum, .xix. yf a straunger soiourne by the, in your lande, se that ye vexe hym not. But let the straunger that dwelleth amonge you, be as one of your selfes, and loue hym as thy selfe. For ye were straungers in the lande of Egypt / I am the lorde. As who shulde saye, loue him for my sake. Hate when a man may hate hys neyghbour Notwithstandynge when thy neyghboure hathe shewed the more vnkyndenes then God hath loue / then mayste thou hate hym / and not before. But muste loue hym for Goddes sake / tyll he fyght agaynste God to destroy the name and glorye of God.

This texte with the similitude is somewhat sotle / and byndeth both hym that hathe offen­ded to reconsyle him selfe as moch as in him is and hym that is offended to forgeue and be at­tone. Offeringes or sacrefy­ces what they mente The offerynges were sygnes and dyd cer­tefye a man that God was at one with hym and was hys frende and loued hym. For the fat of beastes was offered and wine therto, as though God had sate and eate and dronke with them, and the rest they and theyr husholdes dyd eate before god / as though they had eate & dronke with God, and were commaunded to be mery and to make good chere / full certefyed that God was at one with them and had forgote all olde offences, & nowe loued thē / that he wold fulfyl all his promyses of mercy with them.

Nowe wyl God receyue no sacrefyce / that is to wyte / neyther forgeue or fulfyll any of hys promyses, eycept we be fyrst reconcyled vnto our brethren / whether we haue offended or be offended. In the Chapyter folowynge thou re­dest ye forgeue, your father shal forgeue you And Osia, 6. I loue mercy & not sacrefyce and the knowledge of God more then I do burnt offerynges / that is to saye / the knoweledge of the poyntementes made betwene God and vs [Page] what he wyl haue vs to do fyrst, and then what he wyl do for vs agayne. And Esaias. 58. God refused fastynge and ponyshynge of the body that was coupled with crudelyte / & sayth that he desyred no suche fast, But sayth thys faste requyre I, that ye be mercyfull and forgeue, and clothe the naked and fede the hungry. &c. Then cal (sayth he) and y ^e lord shal answere, cry, and he shall saye, see, here I am.

And that symylytude wyl, that as a man here yf he wyl no otherwyse agre / he must suffer the extremite of the lawe, yf he be brought afore a iudge (for the iudge hath no power to forgeue or to remyte, but to cōdemne hym in the vtmost of the lawe) euen so / yf we wyll not forgeue one another here, we shall haue iudgement of God, without mercy.

And that some make purgatory of the last farthynge, Laste fer­thynge. they shewe theyr depe ignoraunce. For fyrst no symylytude holdeth euery worde and syllable of y ^e similitude, furthermore whē they dyspute / tyll he paye the laste ferthynge, ergo he shal paye. But not in hell, ergo in pur­gatory. A wyse reson. Ioseph knewe not Ma­rye tyll she had borne her fyrst sonne, ergo she bare the seconde or he knewe her after, I wyll not forgeue the tyll I be dede or whyle I leue▪ ergo I wyll do it after my dethe / and a thou­sande lyke.

This commaundement commytte none adul­terye had the phareseys blynded and corrupte with theyr sophystry and leuen / interpretynge the concupyscence of the harte / lewde toyes / fylthye gestures / vnclene wordes, clappynge, kessynge and so forthe / not to be imputed for syn. But euen the acte and dede alone, thoughe Noyses say in the texte / thou shal not couet thy neyghboures wyfe, &c. But Chryst putteth to lyght and salt, and bryngeth the precept to hys true vnderstandynge and naturall taste agayne and condemneth the rote of synne, the concu­pyscence and consent of the harte. Before the worlde I am no murtherer tyll I haue kylled with myne hande. But before God I kyll, yf I hate, ye yf I loue not, and of loue kepe me both from doynge hurte, and also be redye and pre­pared to helpe at nede. Euen so the consent of the harte with all other menes that folowe ther of / be as well aduoutrye before God / as the dede it selfe. Fynally I am an aduouterer be­fore God / yf I so loue not my neyghbour, that verye loue forbyd me to couet hys wyfe, Loue is the fulfyllynge of the lawe Loue is the fulfyllynge of al cōmaundementes. And without loue it is impossyble to abstayne from synnyng agaynst my neyghbour in any precept yf occasyon be gyuen.

[Page]Carnall loue wyl not suffer a mother to robbe her chylde / no it maketh her robbe her selfe / to make it ryche. A naturall father shall neuer lust after hys sonnes wyfe. No / he careth more for her chastyte then hys son doth hym selfe. Euen so wolde loue to my neyghboure, kepe me frō synnynge agaynste hym.

Aduoutry.Aduoutry is a damnable thynge in the syght of God, and moche meschefe foloweth therof. Dauid to saue his honoure was dreuen to com­mytte greuous murther also. It is vnryght in the syght of God and man that thy chyld shuld be at another wannes cost and be another mannes hayre. Neyther canste thou or the mother haue lyghtly a quyet conscyence to God / or a mery harte so longe as it is so. Moreouer what greater shame canst thou do to thy neyghbour, or what greater dyspleasure? what yf it neuer be knowen nor come any chylde therof? The precyousest gyfte that a man hath in this world of God, is the true harte of hys wyfe, to abyde by hym in welthe and wo, and to bere all for­tunes with hym. Of that hast thou robbed hym for after she had once coupled her selfe to the she shal not lyghtly loue him any more so truly but haply hate hī and procure his deth. More ouer thou haste vntaught her to feare God and hast made her to syn agaynst God. For to God promysed she and not to man only / for y ^e lawe of matrymony is Godes ordynaunce. For it is wrytten Ge. 39. when Puthyphars wyfe wold haue had Ioseph to lye with her, he answered / [Page xl] howe could I do thys wykednes & syn agaynst God, ye verely it is impossyble to syn agaīst mā except thou syn against God first. Finally rede Cronycles and storyes / and see what hath fo­lowed of aduoutrye.

what shal we say, that some doctores haue dys­puted and douted, whether syngle fornycacyō shuld be syn [...] when it is condempned bothe by Christ & Moses to, and Paule testefieth. 1. Cor. 6. that no fornycatoure or whore keper shall possesse the kyngdome of God. It is ryght that al men that hope in God, shulde brynge vppe theyr frute in the fere and knowledge of God, and not to leaue hys sede where he careth not what come therof.

Thys is not mente of the outwarde members For then we must cut of nose, eares, hande and [Page] fote / ye we must procure to destroy the saynge herynge, smellynge, tastynge and felynge, and so euery man kyl him selfe. But it is a phrase or speache of the Ebrue tonge / and wyll that we cut of occasyons / daunsynge / kyssyng / ryotous eatynge / Fylthye, and drynkynge / and the luste of the hart and fylthy ymagynacyons that moue a mā to concupyscence. Let euery man haue his wyfe thynke her the fayrest and the best cōdicyoned and euery woman her husbande so to. For god hath blessed thy wyfe and made her without syn to the / A wyfe how good a thynge. whiche ought to seme a beautyful fayr­nes, And al that ye suffer to gether / y ^e one with the other / is blessed also and made the verye Crosse of Chryste and plesaunt in the syghte of God / why shulde she then be lothe some to the because of a lytle sufferynge, that thou shuldest luste after a nother / that shuld defyle thy soule and flee thy cōscyence and make the suffer euer­lastynglye?

[Page xli]Moyses Deut. 24. Ryght eye. permytted his Israelites in extreme necessyte, as whē they so hated theyr wyues that they abhorred the companye of thē then to put them awaye, Ryght hād to auoyde a worse in­conuenyence, wherof ye rede also Nath. xix. And he knytte therto that they myght not re­ceyue them agayne after they hade ben knowen of any other persones, which lycence the Iewes abused and put awaye theyr wyues for euerye lyght or fayned cause, and when so euer they lusteth. But Chryste calleth backe agayne and enterpreteth the lawe after the fyrst ordynaūce and cutteth of all causes of deuorcement, saue fornycacion of the wyues party, when she bre­keth her matrymony. In whiche case Moyses lawe pronounceth her dede, & so do the lawes of many othercontres, which lawes where they be vsed, there is the man free without all ques­tyon. Nowe where they be let lyue / there the man (if he see sygne of repentaunce and amen­dement) maye forgeue for once. If he may not fynde in hys hart (as Ioseph as holye as he was coulde not fynde in hys harte to take Chrystes mother to hym, when he spyed hyr with chyld) he is fre no dout to take another whyle y ^e lawe interpreteth her dede, for her syn ought of no ryght to bynde hym.

what shal the woman do, yf she repent and be so tempted in her fleshe that she cā not leue chaste? verely I can shewe you nothynge out of the scrypture. The offyce of the preacher is, to preache the, x. commaundementes whiche are [Page] the lawe natural, The offyce of a prea­cher. and to promyse them whiche submytte them selues to kepe them of loue and feare of God, euerlastyng lyfe for their labour through faythe in Chryste / and to threaten the dysobedyent with euerlastynge payne in hell. And this ponyshment is. yf any man haue offended throught fraltye, and when he is rebuked turne and repente, to receyue hym into grace and absolue hym, and yf any wyll not amende when he is rebuked / to cast him out among the infydeles. Thys I faye yf the temporall power shut her vp, as a conuicte person appoyntynge her a sober lyuynge / to make satysfaccyon to the congregacyon for her dampnable exsam­ple, they dyd not a mysse. It is better that one mysdoer suffer then a comen welthe to de cor­rupte.

where the officers be neglygent and the woman not able to put herselfe to penaunce, if she went where she is not knowen and there mary God is the God of mercye. If any man in the same place where she trespaseth, petyed her & maryed her. I coulde suffer it. were it not that the lyberty wolde be the next way to prouoke all othar that were once wery of theyr husban­des / to commytte adulterye, for to be deuor­sed from them / that they myght marye other whiche they loued better. Lette the temporall swerde take hede to their charge therfore. For thys is truth, Law / what foloweth the keping of the lawe all the temporall blessynges set in the lawe of Moyses for kepyng theyr lawes / as welthe and prosperyte / longe lyfe / the vpper [Page xlii] hande of theyr enemyes / plenteousnes of fru­tes and chepe of all thynge / and to be without pestylence / warre and famyshment / and al ma­ner other abhomynable dyseases and plages / pertayne to vs as wel as to thē / yf we kepe our temporall lawes.

And al y ^e cursses and terryble plages which are threatened through out the lawe of Moses, Law / what foloweth the brea­kyng of y ^e lawe. as honger / derth / warre and dyssencyon / pesty­lence / feuers and wōderfull and straunge fere­full dyseases / as the swete / pockes / and fal­lynge syckenes / shortynge of dayes / that the swerde / honger / and suche dyseases / shal eate them vppe in theyr youthe / that theyr enemyes shuld haue the vpperhande / that the people of the lande shulde be mynyshed and the townes decayed and the lande brought vnto wylder­nes, and that a plenteous lande shal, be made baren or so ordered that derthe shall deuoure the enhabyters / and welth be among fewe that shulde oppresse the reste / with a thousand such lyke, so that nothyng they begyn shulde haue a prosperous ende / all those cursses (I saye) par­tayne to vs aswell as to them / yf we breake our temporall lawes.

Let Englande loke about them and marke what hathe chaunced them sence they slue theyr ryght kynge whome God hath annoynted ouer them, Kynge Rycharde the seconde.

Theyr people / townes and vyllages army­nyshed by the thyrde part. And of theyr noble bloude remayneth not the thyrde nor I beleue [Page] the syxte / ye and yf I durste be bolde, I wene I myght saflye swere that there remayneth not the syxteneth parte. There owne swerde hath eaten them vp. And thoughe pastures be enlar­ged aboue all mesure, yet rotte of shepe, Mo­ren of beastes with parkes and warrans, with reysynge of fynes and rente, make all thynges twyse so dere as they were. And our owne con­modytes are so abused that they be the destruc­cyon of theyr owne realme.

Tyrantes / why God gyueth vs vp, and le­uethe vs in the handes of tyrantes & in al my­serye.And ryght, for yf we wyl not knowe god to kepe hys lawes, howe shuld God knowe vs, to kepe vs and to care for vs and to fulfyl his promyses of mercy vnto vs? sayth not Paul. Ro. 1. of the hethen. Sicut non probauerunt habere deum in noticia, it a tradidit illos deus. As it se­meth them not good, or as they had no lust / or as they admytted it not, nor alowed for ryght in theyr hertes to knowe God as God, to gyue hym the honour of God / that is, to feare hym as God, and as auenger of all euel, and to seke hys wyll, euen so God gaue them vp to folowe theyr owne blyndenes, and toke hys spyryte and his grace from them / and wolde no lenger rule theyr wyttes. Euen so yf we caste of vs the yocke of our temporall lawes whiche are the lawes of God and dreuen out of the .10. com­maundementes and lawe naturall / and out of loue thy neyghboure as thy selfe. God shal cast vs of and lette vs slyppe, to folowe our owne wytte. And then shall all go agaynste vs / what so euer we take in hande, in so moch that when [Page xliii] we gather a perlyament to reforme or amende ought / that we there determe shalbe our owne snare / confusion, and vtter destruccyon. so that all the enemyes we haue vnder heauen coulde not wyshe vs so greate myschefe as our owne councell shall do vs, God shall so blynde the wysdome of the wyse. If any man haue any godlye councell, it shall haue none audyence, Erroure / madnes and daunsynge shal haue the vpper hande.

And let the spyrytualty take hede and loke wel about them and see whether they walke as they haue promysed god, An admo­nycyon. and in the steppes of his sonne Chryst and of his apostles whose of­fyces they bere, For I promyse them / all the deuelles in hell / if God had let them all lowse▪ coulde not haue gyuen them worse counsell / then they haue gyuen them selues thys .xx. yere longe. God gaue vp his Israeltites oftentymes when they wolde not be ruled nor knowe thē selues and theyr dutye to God / and broughte them into captyuyte vnder theyr enemyes / to proue and fele (saythe the texte) whether were better seruyce, ether to serue God, and wyllynglye to obaye hys lawe coupled with so many folde blessynges / or to serue theyr enemyes / and to obaye theyr cruelnes and tyranny spyte of theyr hedes in nede and necessyte. And let the temporaltye remember, that because those nacyōs vnder which the Israelites were in cap­teuyte, dyd deale cruelly with them, not to po­nyshe them for theyr ydolatrye and syn whiche [Page] they had commytted agaynst God / but to haue theyr landes and goodes and seruyce onely, r [...] ioysinge to make them worse and more out o [...] theyr fathers fauoure, therfore when God had scorged his chyldren ynough / he dyd bete the other for theyr laboure.

But to our purpose / what yf the man ronne from hys wyfe and let her sette. Verely the ru­lers ought to make a law / if any do so & come not agayne by a certayne daye / as within the space of a yere or so that then he be banyshed the contry / and yf he come agayne, to come on his hede, and let the wyfe be fre to mary where she wyll. For what ryght is it that a lewde wretch shulde take his goodes and ronne from his wyfe without a cause and sytte by an whore ye and come agayne after a yere or two (as I haue knowen it) and robbe his wyfe of that she hath gotten in the meane tyme / and go agayne to hys whore? Paule sayth to the Corinthyans. that if a man or woman be coupled with an in­fydell / and the infydel depart, the other is free to mary where they lust. And .1. Timothe. 5. he saythe. yf there be any man that prouydeth not for his, and namely for them of his owne hous­holde, the same denyeth the fayth and is worse then an infydel. And euen so is thys man moche more to be interpretat for an infydel that cau­seles runneth from his wyfe. Let (I say) the go­uerners take hede howe they let syn be vnpo­nyshed and howe they bringe the wrath of god vp on their realmes. For God wylbe aduenged [Page xliiii] on all iniquyte and ponyshe it with plages frō heuen. In lyke maner if the woman depart can seles and wyl not be reconcyled, though she cō mytte none adultery, the man ought of right to be fre to mary agayne. And in al other causes if they seperat them selues of impacience that the one can not sufferthe others infirmite, they must remayne vnmaryed. If any parte burne / let the same suffer the payne or infirmytes of the other And the temporaltye ought to make lawes to brydle the vnruly party.

[Page] Swerynge.As to hate in the harte, or to couet another mannes wyfe / was no synne with the phare­seys, no more was it to hyde one thynge in the harte and to speake another with the mouthe, to deceyue a mannes neyghbour / yf it were not bounde with an othe. And thoughe Moyses say Leuitici. xix. Lye not nor deceyue any man hys neyghboure or one another, yet they interpre­ted it but good councell / yf a man desyred to be perfecte. But no precepte to bynde vnder payne of synne. And so by that meanes not onelye they that spake true / but also they that lyed to deceyue, were compelled to swere and to confyrme theyr wordes with othes, yf they wolde be beleued.

But Chryste bryngeth lyght and salt to the texte whiche the phareseys had darkened and corrupte with the stynkyngemyste of theyr so­phystry, To swere by God. and forbyddeth to swere at all▪ eyther by God or any creature of Goddes, for thou canst swere by none othe at al, excepte the dys­honoure shal redowne vnto the name of God. If thou swere, by God it is so, or by God I wyl do this or that, the meanynge is, that thou ma­kest God iudge, to auenge it of the, yf it be not as thou sayest, or yf thou shalte not do as thou promysest. Nowe if truth be not in thy wordes thou shameste thyne heuenlye father, and testy­fyest that thou beleuest that he is no ryghtwyse iudge nor wyll aduenge vnryghtwysnes / but that he is wycked as thou arte and consenteth and laugheth at the / whyle thou deceyuest thy [Page xlv] brother, aswell created after the lykenes of God and so deare bought with the precyous bloude of Christ as thou. And thus through the a wycked sonne is the name of thy father dys­honoured, and his lawe not fered nor hys pro­myses beleued. And when thou swereste by the gospell boke or byble, the meanynge is, that God yf thou lye. shall not fulfyll vnto the, the promyses of mercye therin wrytten. But con­trarye wyse to brynge vp on the all the cursses / plages / and vengeaunce therin thretened vnto the dysobedyent and euell doers. And euen so whē thou swerest by any creature, as by breade or salte. the meanynge is, that thou desyreste / that the creator therof shall aduenge it of the, yf thou lye. &c̄. wherfore our dealynge ought to be so substancyal that our wordes myght be beleued without an othe. Our wordes are the signes of the truth of our hartes, ī which ought to be pure and sīgle loue toward thy brother, for what so euer procedeth not of loue is dam­nable. Nowe falshed to deceyue hym and pure loue can not stande together. It cā not therfore be but dampnable syn to deceyue thy brother with lyenge, thoughe thou adde no othe to thy wordes. Moche more dampnable is it then to deceyue and to adde an othe therto. &c̄.

Howe be it al maner of sweryng is not here forboden, no more then all maner of kyllyng. Swerynge. when the commaundement sayth, kyll not / for iudges and rulers muste kyll. Euen so ought they, when they put anye man in offyce, to take [Page] an othe of hym that he shall be true and fayth­full and dylygent therin. And of theyr subiec­tes it is lawefull to take othes, and of all that offer them selues to beare wytnes. But yf the superior wolde compell the inferior, to swere that shulde be to the dyshonour of God or hurtynge of an innocent, the inferior ought rather to dye then to swere. Nether ought a iudge to compel a man to swere agaynst hym selfe, that he make hym not synne and for swere whereof it is ynough spoken in another place. But here is forboden sweryng betwene neyghbour and neyghboure, and in all our pryuate busynesse and dayly communycacyon. For customable sweringe, thoughe we lyed not, doth robbe the name of God of hys due reuerence and feare. And in our dayly communicacyon and busynes one with another is so moch vanyte of wordes that we can not but of many thynges lye, which to cōfyrme with an othe, though we begyle not is to take the name of God in vayne and vnreuerently agaynste the seconde precepte. Nowe to lye for the intent to begyle / is dampnable of it selfe / howe moch more then to abuse the holye name of God therto, and to cal to God for vengeaunce vp on thyne owne selfe.

Charite moderateth y ^e lawe.Many cases yet there chaunce dayly betwene man and man, in whiche charyte compelleth to swere, as I knowe that my neyghboure is fasly scalundered, I am bounde to reporte the truth and may lawfully swere, ye and am bounde if it nede, and that thoughe nat before a iudge. [Page xlvi] And vnto the weake where ye and naye haue loste theyr credence thorowe the multytude of lyers, Othe. To perfor­me an euell othe is double synne. a man maye lawefully swere to put them out of doute. whiche yet cometh of the euell of them that abuse theyr language to deceyue with all. Fynally to swere to do euel is damp­nable, and to performe that is double damp­nable. Herodes othe made hym not innocent and gylties of the dethe of Iohan the Baptyste thoughe the ypocryte had not knowen what his wyfes doughter wolde haue asked. And when men saye, a kynges worde muste stande / that is trouth, yf his othe or promyse be lawfull and expedyent.

In al our promyses it is to be added, if God wyll and yf there be no lawful let. And though it be not added, it is to be interprete, as added As yf I borowe thy swerde, and by the houre I promyse to brynge it y ^t agayne, thou be besyde thy selfe. If I promyse to paye by a certayne daye, and be in the meane tyme robbed or de­cayed by chaunce that I can not perfourme it. I am not forsworne yf myne herte ment truely when I promysed. And many lyke cases there be of whiche are touched in other places. To lye also and to dyssemble is not alwaye synne. Dauid. 1, Regum. 27. Tolde Kynge Achis the Phylystyne that he had robbed hys owne peo­ple the Iewes, whē he had ben a rouyng amōge the Amalekytes, and had slayne man / woman and chylde for tellynge tales. And yet was that lye no more synne then it was to destroye the [Page] [...] [Page xlvi] [...] [Page] Amalekites those deedly enemyes of the fayth of one almyghtye God. Nether synned Cusay Dauydes trusty frende. 2. Reg. 18. in faynynge and begylynge absolon. But plesed God hiely To beare a seke man in hande that a wholsome bytter medecyne is swete. to make hym drynke it, is the duty of charite & no syn. To persuade him that pursueth his neyghbour to hurt him or slee hym, that hys neyghboure is gone another contrary way, is the duty of euery chrysten man by the lawe of charyte and no syn, no though I confyrmed it with an othe. But to lye for to de­ceyue and hurt, that is damnable onely. &c.

[Page xlvii]Chryst here entēdeth not to disanul the temporall regyment, and to forbyd rulers to pu­nyshe euell doers, no more then he ment to de­stroy matrymony when he forbade to lust and couet another mannes wyfe in thy harte. But as he there forbade, that defyleth matrymonye, euē so he forbeddeth here y ^t which troubleth, vnquyeteth and destroyeth the temporal regy­ment, and that thynge whiche to forbydde, the temporal regyment was ordyned which is that no man aduenge hym selfe.

Christ medleth not with the temporal regyment. But in al this lōge sermō fyghteth against the phareseys false doctryne and salteth the law, to purge it of the corrupcion of their fylthy gloses, and to brynge it vnto y ^e ryght tast and true vnderstandynge agayne.

For the phareseys had so enterpret that lawe of Moyses (which partayned only vnto the ru­lers) that euery pryuat person myght adueng hym selfe, and do his aduersary as moch harme agayne as he had receyued of hym.

Nowe if he that is angry haue deserued that then pronounce dethe vpon hym, and he that sayeth Racha hath deserued that men shuld ra­ther a councell to determyne some sundry and cruel deth for so haynouse a cryme, and he that calleth his brotherfole, haue deserued hel what deserueth he y ^t smyteth or aduengeth him selfe with his owne hand. Here is forboden therfore pryuate wrathe onely, and that a man aduenge hym selfe.

[Page] Cheke. To turne. the other cheke what it is. To turne the other cheke is maner of spea­kynge and not to be vnderstande as the wor­des sounde as was to cutte of the hande and to plucke out the eye. And as we commaunde our chyldren not onely not to come nye a brooke or a water, but also not so herdye as once to loke that waye▪ eyther to loke on fyer or once to thynke on fyer, whiche are impossyble to be obserued. More is spoken then ment to feare them and to make them perceyue that it is er­nest that we comaūde. Euen so is the meanynge here that we in no wyle aduenge / but be pre­pared euer to suffer as moche more / and neuer to thynke it lawfull to aduenge, howe great so euer the iniury be, for he hym selfe turned not the other cheke, when he was smyten before the byshope, nor yet Paulus when he was bo­fetted before the byshoppe also. But ye haue harde a lytle aboue. Mekenes. Blessed are the meke, for they shall possesse the erthe. Let all the worlde studye to do the wronge, ye lette them do the wronge, and yet yf thou be meke, thou shalte haue fode and rayment ynoughe for the and thyne. And more ouer yf the worste come, God shall yet set suche a tyraunt ouer the, that (yf thou be meke and canst be content that he poll the properly, Pollynge howe to aduoyde it. and euen thou mayste beare) shall defende the from al other who is polled intollerably, that hys lyfe is better and euen deathe to hym, saue he that is impacyent and can not suffer to be polled. Ye, poll thy selfe. and preuent other, and gyue the baylly or lyke [Page xlviii] offycer nowe a capon, nowe a pygge. nowe a goose, and so to thy land lorde lykewyse, or yf thou haue a greate ferme, nowe a lambe / nowe a calfe / and let thy wyfe vyset thy lande ladye thre or foure tymes in a yere▪ with spysed ka­kes and apples / perrs / chyrese and suche lyke. And be thou redye with thyne oxen or horses thre or foure, or halfe a dossen dayes in a yere to set whome theyr woodde or to plowe theyr lande, ye and yf thou haue a good horse, let thē haue hym good chepe or take a worse for him, and they shalbe thy shylde and defende the / though they be tyrantes and care not for God / that no man els shal dare poll the. And therto thou mayst withwysdome get of them, that shal recompence al that thou doyst to them. All this I meane if thou be pacyent and wyse and feare God, therto, and loue thyne neyghbour and do none euell, For if thou kepe thy selfe in fauour with hurtynge thy neyghbour / thyne ende wyl be euell / and at the laste desperacyon in thys worlde and hell after.

But and yf thou canst not pol thy selfe with wysdome, and laugh and bere a good counte­naunce as though thou reioysedest whyle suche persones poll the, euery man shal poll the and they shal maynteyne them / and not defēde the. Let thys the fore be a comen prouerbe / be con­tented to be polled of some man / or be polled of euery man.

Ye must vnderstande that there be two states or degrees in thys worlde / Two ma­aer states. degrees, of regymētes. the kyngedome [Page] of heuen which in the regyment of the gospel. And the kyngdome of this worlde which is the temporall regyment. In the fyrst state there is nether father / mother / sonne / doughter / ney­ther mayster / maystres / mayde / man seruaunt / nor husbande nor wyfe / nor lorde or subiecte, nor man or woman, but Chyrste is all, and eche to other is Chryst hym selfe. There is none better then other, but al lyke good, al brethren, & Christ only is lord ouer al. Nether is there any other thynge to do or other lawe saue to loue one another as Chryst loued vs. In the tēporal regyment is husbande / wyfe / father / mother / son / doughter / mayster / maystres / mayde / man seruant / lorde and subiecte,

Euery man is of y ^e spyrytualty & of the tem­poraltye bothe.Nowe is euery person a double person and vnder bothe the regymentes. In the fyrst regy­ment thou arte a person for thyne owne selfe / vnder Christ and his doctrine, and mayst nether hate or be angry and moch les fyght or aduēge But muste after the ensample of Chryste vmble thy selfe, forsake and denye thy selfe, and hate thy selfe, and cast thy selfe awaye, and bemeke and pacyent, and let euery man go ouer the▪ and treade the vnder fote and do the wronge, and yet loue them and pray for them, as Christ dyd for his crucyfyers. For loue is al and what is not of loue / that is damnable and cast out of that kyngedome.

Loue. He that lo­ueth not. his neygh­boure hath not the true faythe of Chryst [...].For that kyngdome is the kyngdome of God and Chryste. But he that loueth not / knoweth nether God nor Chryst, therfore he that loueth [Page xlix] not is not of that kyngdome. The minor is this wyse proued / he that knowith God and Christ seeth lyght, for Chryst is lyght. But he that ha­teth hys brother / is in darckenes and walketh in darkenes and wotteth not whyther he goeth for darkenes hathe blynded his eyes. 1. Ioh. 2, Ergo he that hateth his brother / knoweth not what Chryste hath done for hym, and therfore hath no true fayth / nor is of the spyritual kyngdome of God.

To hate thy selfe, hat shalt thou gete, if thou consyder thyne owne synnes and depe damp­nacyon that longe therto with due repentaunce And to loue that shalt thou obtayne if thou be­holde the great and infinyte mercy of God with stronge fayth. There is none so great an enemy to y ^e in this world. But thou shalt lyghtly loue hym if thou loke wel on the loue that God she­wed the in Chryste.

In the temporall regyment thou art a per­son in respecte of other, thou art an husbande / The temporal regimēt father / mother / mayster / maystresse / lorde / ru­ler / or wyfe / son / doughter / seruaunt / subiecte. And there thou mayste do accordynge to thyne offyce. If thou be a father / thou must do the of­fyce of a father and rule or els thou dampnest thy selfe. Thou muste brynge all vnder obedy­ence whether by fayre meanes or foule. Thou muste haue obedyence of thy wyfe / of thy ser­uauntes / and of thy subiectes / and the other muste obeye. If they wyll not obey with loue, thou must chyde and fyght / as farre as the lawe [Page] of God and the lawe of the lande wyll suffer the. And when thou canste not rule them / thou art boūde in many cases / to delyuer them vnto the hyer offycer of whome thou dydest take the charge ouer them.

Vyolence. Not to re­syst vyolēce hawe it is vnderstād.Nowe to our purpose, whether a man may resyste vyolence and defende or aduenge hym selfe. I saye naye in the fyrste state, where thou art a persone for thy selfe alone and Chrystes dycyple. There thou must loue, and of loue do studye and enforce ye and suffer all thynge (as Chryst dyd to make peace / that the blessyng of God maye come vpon the / which sayth. Blessed be the peace makers, for they shalbe the chyl­dren of God. If thou suffer and kepest peas in thy selfe onely, the blessynge is, the possessyon of this worlde. But if thou so loue the peas of thy brethren that thou leaue nothynge vndone or vnsuffred to forther it / thy blessynge is, thou shalt be Goddes sonne and consequently pos­sesse heuen.

But in the worldly state / where thou art no pryuate man, but a person in respecte of other▪ thou not onely mayste / but also muste and [...] bound vnder payne of dampnacyon to execute thyne offyce, where thou art a father, thou must haue obedyence by fayre meanes or by fowle, and to whom thou art an husband / of her thou must requyre obedyence and chastyte / and that to gete, tempte all that the lawe of the lande commaundeth and wyll. And of thy seruauntes thou must exacte obedyence and feare, & mayst [Page l] not suffer thy selfe to be dyspysed. And where thou arte a ruler therto appoynted, thou muste take, pryson and slee to / not of malyce and hate, to aduenge thy selfe / but to defende thy subiectes, and to maynteyne thyne offyce.

Concernyng thy selfe, oppresse not thy subiectes with rent, fynes or custome at all, / ney­ther pylle them with taxes and suche lyke / to maynteyne thyne owne lustes. But be louynge and kynde to them, as Chryste was to the / for they be hys and the pryce of hys bloude. But those that be euell doers amonge them and vexe theyr brethren, and wyll not knowe the for theyr iudge, and feare thy lawe, thē smyte, and vpon them drawe thy swerde, and put it not vp vntyll thou haue done thyne offyce, yet without hate to thy person for hys masters sake and because he is in the fyrst regyment thy bro­ther / but amende hym onely / or yf it can not be / but that thou muste lose one to saue many / then execute thyne offyce with suche affeccyon / with suche compassyon and sorowe of harte, as thou woldeste cutte of thyne owne arme to saue the reste of thy body.

Take an exsample, An ex [...]pul of two reamentes. thou arte in thy fathers house amonge thy brethren and systers. There yf one fyght with a nother / or yf any do the wronge, thou mayste not aduenge nor smyte. But that perteyneth to thy father onely. But yf thy father gyue the auctoryte in his absens, and commande the to smyte yf they wyll not be ru­led▪ nowe thou arte another persone. Notwith­standyng [Page] yet thou haste not put of the fyrst per­sone / but art a brother styll / and must euer loue and proue all thynge to rule with loue. But yf loue wyll not serue, then thou muste vse the of­fyce of the other persone or synne agaynste thy father. Euen so when thou art a temporal per­son, thou puttest not of the spyrytual. Therfore thou muste euer loue. But when loue wyll not helpe, thou must with loue execute the offyce of the temporall persone or synne agaynste God. A mother can smyte & loue, and so mayst thou with loue execute the offyce of thy second state And the wyfe / sonne / seruaūt / and subiecte are brethren in the fyrst state and put not that per­son of / by reason of the seconde degree, and therfore must they loue euer▪ and with loue pay custome / trybute / feare / honoure and obediēce to whome they belonge as Paule teacheth Ro­ma. 13. And thoughe the other do not his duety and loue the, but rule the with rigorousnes and deale vnkyndly with the / thou not deseruynge cleaue thou to Chryst and loue styl / and let not his euell ouercome thy goodnes / and make the euell also.

And as after the ensample aboue / thy father hath power ouer the to comaūde the to vse hye power ouer thy brethren / euen so hath thy mayster / to gyue the his auctoryte ouer thy felowes which when thou hast thou must remember that thou art a felowe styll / and bounde to loue styl. But yf loue alone wyl not helpe / then put thy maysters auctoryte vnto thy loue. And so [Page li] hathe the ruler power ouer the / to sende the to vse vyolence vpon thy neyghboure, to take hym / to pryson him and happely to kyl him to And thou must euer loue thy neyghbour in thy [...] harte by the reason that he is thy brother in the fyrst state, and yet obeye thy rular and go with the constable or lyke offycer and breake open thy neyghbours dore / yf he wyll not open it in the kynges name / ye and if he wyl not yelde in the kynges name / thou must laye on and smyte hym to grounde tyll he be subdued. And loke what harme he getteth / ye though he be slayne / that be on hys owne hede. For thyne harte lo­ued hym and desyredest hym louyngly to obey and haste not aduenged thy selfe in that state where thou arte a brother / but in the worldly state where thou arte another maner persone in thys case / thou haste executed the auctoryte of hym that hath suche power of God to comaūde the and where thou were dampned of God, yf thou dyddest not obey.

And lyke it is / yf thy lorde or prynce sende the a warfare into a nother lande, How to be a warry ou [...] thou muste obey at Goddes commaundement and go and auenge thy princes quarel which thou knowest not but that it is ryght. And when thou comest thyther / remēber that thou arte in the fyrst state with them agaynst whom thou must fyght, howe that they be thy brethrē and as depely bought with Chrystes bloude as thou, and for Chrystes sake to be beloued in thyne h [...]rte. And se that thou desyre nether theyr lyfe or gooddes, saue [Page] to aduenge thy prynces quarell and to brynge them vnder thy princes power. And be content with thy prynces wages and with suche part of the spoyle (whē thou hast wonne) as thy prynce or hys debyte appoynted the / for yf thou hate them in thyne harte and couetest theyr goodes and art glade that an occasyon is founde (thou [...]arest not whether it be ryght or wronge) that thou mayste go a robbynge & murtherynge vnponyshed, then arte thou a murtherar in y ^e sight of God / and thy bloude wyll be sheed agayne for it / eyther in the same warre folowynge, or when thou art come home (as thou there dydest in thyne harte) so shalt thou robbe and steale / and be hāged for thy labour, or slayne by some other myschefe.

Goodes.Nowe concernynge the goodes of thys worlde it is easy to iudge. In the fyrste state or degree thou oughtest to be thankeful to Christ. and to loue / to gyue and to lende to them that are bought with hys precyous bloude / all that thou art able. For all that thou owest to Chryst whose seruaunt thou arte to do hys wyll / that muste thou paye them. [...]ath. 25. And that thou doest to them / that same doest thou to Chryste / and that thou art not redye to do for them / that denyest thou to do for Chryst. But and any of thy bre­thren wyl with holde or take away by force a­boue that thou mayste spare by the reason of some offyce that thou hast in the seconde state / or inuade the vyolently / and laye more on thy backe then thou canste beare, then holde thyne [Page lii] harte and hande, that thou nether hate or smyte and speake fayre and louyngly / and let neyghboures go betwene. And whē thou hast proued almenes of loue in vayne, then cōplayne to the lawe and the offycer that is set to be thy father and defende the, and to iudge betwene the and thy brother.

Thou wylt saye the texte forbyddeth me to go to lawe, for it sayeth, To go to lawe. yf a man wyl law with the and take thy cote / thou muste let hym haue gowne and all. If I muste suffer my selfe to be robbed by the lawe, wylte thou saye / by what ryght can I with lawe recouer myne owne? I answere. Beholde the texte dylygently. For by no ryght of lawe can a man take thy cote from the. For the lawe was ordeyned of God / to maynteyne the in thy ryght and to forbyd that wronge shulde be done the, wherfore the texte meaneth thus, y ^t where the lawe is vniustly mynystred, and the gouerners and iudges corrupt and take brybes and be percyal / there be pa­cyent & redy to suffer euer as much more, what soeuer vnryght be done the / rather then of im­pacyency, thou shuldeste aduenge thy selfe on thy neyghbour and rayle or make insurreccyon against the superyours which God hath set ouer the. For to ryse against them is to rebel against God and agaynst thy father when he scourgeth the for thyne offence, and a thousande tymes more synne then to aduenge the on thy neygh­bour. And to rayle on them is to rayle on God as though thou woldest blaspheme hym / yf he [Page] make the syke, pore or of lowe degre or other­wyse then thou woldest be made thy selfe.

Prynces / whether they maye be resysted or putte downe of theyr sub­iectes in a­ny case.Thou wylt happely saye, the subiectes euer chose the ruler and make hym swere to kepe theyr lawe and to maynteyne theyr priuyleges and lydertyes / and vpon that submytte theyr selues vnto hym. Ergo yf he rule amysse they ar not bounde to obeye. But may resyste hym and put hym downe agayne? I aunswere your ar­gument is nought. For the husbande swereth to his wyfe / ye though he forswere hym selfe / she hath no power to compell hym. Also thoughe a mayster kepe not couenaunt with his seruaūt, or one neyghboure with a nother, yet hathe ne­ther seruaunt / no nor yet neyghboure (thoughe he be vnder none obedyence) power to ad­uenge. But the vengyaunce pertayneth euer to an hyer offycer / to whom thou muste com­playne,

Ye but thou wyl say / it is not lyke. For the hole body of the subiectes chose y ^e ruler. Now Cuius est ligare, eius est soluere. Ergo yf he rule amysse, they that sette hym vp / maye putte hym downe agayne. I answere, God (and not the comen people) choseth the prynce / though he chose hym by them. For Deutero. 16. God commaundeth to chose and sette vp offycers / and therfore is God the chefe choser and setter vp of them / and so muste he be the chefe putter downe of them agayne, so that without his specyall commaundement, they maye not be putte downe agayne. Nowe hath God gyuen no com­maundement [Page liii] to put them downe agayne. But contrary wyse / when we haue anoynted a kyng ouer vs at hys commaundement / he sayethe, Touche not myne anoynted. And what ieoper­dye it is to ryse agaynste thy prynce that is an­oynted ouer the / howe euell so euer he be, se in the storye of Kynge Dauyd and through out al the bokes of the kynges. The auctoryte of the kynge is the auctoryte of God, and all the sub­iectes compared to the kynge, are but subiectes styll (thoughe the kynge be neuer so euell) as a thousande sonnes gathered to gether are but sonnes styll / and the commaundement obeye your fatehrs goeth ouer all as wel as ouer one. Euen so goethe the commaundement ouer all the subiectes / obeye your prynce and the hyer power / and he that resysteth him, resysteth God and geteth hym dampnacyon. And vnto your argumēt. Cuius est ligare, eius est soluere. I answere, he that byndeth with absolute power / & without any hyer auctoryte, hys is the myght to lowse agayne. But he that byndeth at a no­ther mannes commaundement, maye not lowse agayne with out the commaundement of the same. As they of London chose them a mayre. But may not put hym downe agayne how euel he be with out the auctoryte of him with whose ly [...]ence they chose him. As long as the powers or offycers be one vnder another / yf the infe­rior do the wronge, complayne to the hyer. But if the hyest of al do the wronge, thou must complayne to God onely. wherfore the onely [Page] remedy agaynste euell doers is, that thou turne thyne eyes to thy selfe and thyne owne synne / and then loke vp to God and saye. O father, for our syn and the synne of our fathers is thy [...] misery come vpon vs. we knowe not the as our father, to obey the and to walke in thy wayes / and therfore thou knowest not vs as thy sonnes to set louinge scole masters ouer vs, we hate thy lawe, and therfore haste thou through the wyc­kednes of vnryghtwyse iudges, made that lawe that was for our defence, to be a tyraunt moste cruel and to opresse vs and to do vs iniurye a­boue al other kyndes of vyolence & robbyng. And amende thy lyuynge, and be meke and pacyent, and let them robbe as moch as they wyl. yet shal God gyue the fode and rament and an honest possession in the earth to maynteyne the and thyne with all.

Gooddes.Moreouer concernynge thy goodes / thou must remember howe that thou art a person in the temporall regyment, and the kynge as he is ouer thy body, euen so is he lorde of thy good and of hym thou holdest them, not for thy selfe onely, but for to meynteyne thy wyfe, chyldren and seruauntes, and to meynteyne the kynge / the realme and the country and towne or cetye where thou dwellest, wherfore thou mayste not suffer thē to be wasted / that thou were not able to do thy dutye, no more then a seruaunt maye suffer hys masters good to go to wracke neglygently. Eor he that prouydeth not for hys, and namely for them of his owne household, fayth [Page liiii] Paule / denyeth the faythe and is worse then an infydell. But euery man is bounde to laboure dylygently and truely and therwith so soberly to lyue, that he may haue ynough for hym and hys and somewhat aboue for them that can not labour or by chaunce are fallen into necessyte. And of that gyue and lende and loke not for it agayne. And if that suffice not thy neybours necessyte, then speake & make labour to thy bre­thren. to helpe also. For it is a comē prouerbe many handes make lyght worke / & many may beare that one alone can nor.

And thy wyfe / thy chyldren / and seruauntes art thou bounde to defende. If any man wolde force thy wyfe / thy doughter / or thy mayde / it is not ynough forthe to loke on and say. God amende you. Naye thou must execute thyne of­fyce and auctoryte whiche the kynge gyueth the. And by the waye thou muste defende thy mayster and hys good / and the kynges good / whiche thou haste to maynteyne thy wyfe and household, and thy neyghbour that goeth with the agaynste theues and murtherars.

And agaynste al suche persones lay aboute the, and do as thou woldeste do yf thou were vnder the kynges standerde agaynste hys ene­myes whiche had inuaded the realme. For all suche persones are mortall enemyes to the re­alme and seke to put downe kyng & lawe and altogether, and to make that it myght be law­full to synne vnponyshed. And of thys maner▪ yf thou marke well the dyfference of these two [Page] states and regymētes / thou mayst soyle al lyke doutes that shalbe layde agaynste the.

Regymen­tes. Euery man is vn­der bothe regimētes.More ouer when I saye, there be two regy­mentes, the spyrytual and the temporall. Euen so I saye that euery persone baptysed to kepe the lawe of God and to beleue in Chryst. is vn­der bothe the regymentes, and is both a spyry­tuall person and also a temporall / and vnder the offycers of both the regymentes / so that the kynge is as depe vnder the spyrytual offycer, to heare out of Goddes worde what he ought to beleue and howe to lyue and howe to rule / as is the porest begger in the realme. And euen so the spyrytuall offycer yf he syn agaynste hys neyghbour or teache false doctryne, is vnder y ^e kynges or temporall correccyon, howe hye so euer he be. And loke howe dampnable it is for the kynge to withdrawe hym selfe frō the obe­dyence of the spyrytual offycer / that is to saye / from heringe his duty, to do it, and frō herynge his vyces rebuked, to amende them / so damna­ble it is for the spyrytuall offycer, howe hye so euer he be, to withdrawe hym selfe from vnder the kynges correccyon, yf he teache false or syn agaynst any temporall lawe.

A preacher of the gos­pell maye vse no vyo­lence.Fynally ye muste consyder that Chryst here teacheth his dyscyples and them that shulde be the lyght and salt in lyuynge and doctryne / to shyne in the weke and feble eyes of the world deseased with the mygrym and accustomed to darkenes / that without greate payne they can behold no lyght, & to salt theyr olde feastered [Page lv] sores and to frete out the rotten fleshe euen to the harde quycke. that it smart agayne, & spare no degree. But tell all men hye and lowe, theyr fautes, and warne them of the ieoperdye / and exhorte them to the ryght waye. Nowe suche scole maysters shall fynde small fauoure and frendshyppe with the rulers of thys worlde or defence in theyr lawes. As Chryst warneth thē. Mat. 10. sayenge (I sende you out as shepe a­monge wolues. Beware therfore of men / for they shal delyuer you vp to their coūcelles, and shall scorge you in theyr synagoges or councel houses / and ye shalbe brought before the chefe rulers & kinges for my sake) and ther taecheth them as here / to arme them selues with paciēce and to go forthe boldely with a stronge faythe and truste in the socoure and assystence of God onely / and to plante the gospell with all loue and mekenes and to water it with theyr owne bloude, as Chryst dyd. Thou mayst not in that state come with a swerde / to defend eyther thy selfe or thy gospel, and to compel men to worshyp the as God and to beleue what thou wylt Nay, shepe vse no such regyment amonge wol­ues. If thou be a shepe, thou art not in euell ta­kynge yf thou canste brynge to passe that the wolfe be content with thy fleshe onely and to shere the yerely. Giue to him that axeth, and frō hym that wolde borowe we turne not away, Luke sayeth, gyue to whosoeuer axeth the. That is to saye, whosoeuer thou seest nede or seest not the contrarye but there may be nede, to the vtter­most [Page] of thy power there open thyne harte and be mercyfull onely. And of mercyfulnes sette God thy father and Chryste thy lorde and ma­ster for an ensample and enforce to be as lyke thē as thou canst. If thou be mercyful God hath bounde him selfe to be mercyful to the agayne Lo / is not this an excedynge great thynge, that God which of no ryght ought to be bounde to his creatures / hath yet put it hole in thyne owne handes, to bynde him against the day of thy trybulacyon, then to shewe the mercy?

Concernynge lendyng, procede by the for­sayd rule of mercy, Many in extreme nede, yet ashamed to b [...]gge, shal desyre y ^t to lende. Vnto suche in stede of lendynge gyue, or saye thys▪ lo / here is as moch as ye requyre. If ye can pay it agayne well, do / and ye shall fynde me redy agaynst a nother tyme to lende or gyue (if nede be) as moche more. But and yf ye shall not be able to paye it agyne / trouble not your conscyence, I gyue it you, we be all one mannes chyl­drē, one man hath bought vs all with his bloud and bounde vs to helpe one another. And with so doynge / thou shalt wynne the harte of hym to thy father. Concernynge marchaundyse and chapmen the lesse borowinge were amonge thē the better shulde the comen welth be, if it we [...] possyble, I wolde it were / ware for ware or mony for ware / or parte mony and parte ware. But yf it wyll not be / but that a man to get hys lyuynge with muste nedes lende and call for it agayne to fynde hys householde / and to pay [...] [Page lvi] his dettes / then in the lendynge / be fyrst syngle and harmeles as a doue / and then as wyse as a serpent / and take hede to whom thou lendest. If when thou hast lent an honest man / God vy­set him / and take away his gooddes with what chaunce it be / whether by see or lande / that he is not able to paye the / then to pryson hym or to sue hym at the lawe, or once to speake an vn­kynde worde, mere agaynst the lawe of loue & contrary to shewynge mercy. There thou muste suffer with thy neyghboure & brother as Chryst dyd with the, and as God dothe dayly, If an vnthryste haue begyled the, and spente thy good awaye and hathe not to paye / then holde thyne hande and harte that thou aduēge not thy selfe But loue hym and pray for hym and remember howe God hath promysed to blesse the pacyēt and meke. Neuerthelesse because such persones corrupt the comen maners and cause the name of God the lesse to be feared / men ought to cō ­playne vpon suche persones to the offycer that is ordayned of God to ponyshe euell doers / and the offycer is bounde to ponyshe them. If thou haue lent a foxe which with cauelacyon wyll kepe thy good from the / then yf the ruler and the lawe wyll not helpe the to thy ryght. do as it is aboue sayde of hym that wyll go to lawe with the and take thy cote from the. That is to saye / be content to lose that and as moche more to it / rather then thou woldest ad­uenge thy selfe. Let not the wykednes of other [...]en plucke the from God. But abyde styll by [Page] God and hys blyssynges and [...]arye hys iudge­ment. Couetous­nes. Lyberalyte is mercy fulnes that bynd [...] God to be mercyfull agayne. Couetousnes (the roote of all euell and father of all false pro­ph [...]tes, and the seole mayster that teacheth [...] messengers of Sathan to dysguyse them selues lyke to the messengers of Chryste) is mercyl [...] that shall haue iudgement without mercy. Iaco. 2. And therfore exhorteth Chryste al his so dyligently and aboue all thynge, to be lyberall and to beware of couetousnes.

Thys texte of hatynge a mannes enemye / standeth not in any one place of the byble / but is gathered of many places in which God com­maundeth the chyldren of Israel to destroye theyr enemyes / the Cananytes / the Amorytes / the Amolekites / and other hethen people / as the Moabites / and Amonytes / whiche sought to brynge them out of the fauour of God / and to destroye the name of God. The Amalekites came behynde them and slue al that were fayn­tye and wery by the waye as they come out of Egypte. The Moabites and Ammonites hyred Balam to curse them / and begyle thē with their women and made a great plage amonge them. These & lyke nacyons were perpetual enemyes to theyr lande which God had gyuen them, and also of y ^e name of God and of their fayth. For which cause they not onely myght lawfully, but were also bound to hate thē / and to study theyr destruccion agayne / howe be it they myght not yet hate the sayed nacyons such as were conuerted to theyr faythe.

Nowe by the reason of such textes as com­maunded to hate the comune enemyes of theyr contrye and of God and his lawe, and of theyr [Page] fayth / the pharyseys doctryne was / that a man myght lawfully hate all hys pryuate enymyes without excepcion, nor was bound to do them good. And yet Moyses sayth. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thyne harte. And agayne thou shalt not aduenge thy selfe nor bere hate in mynde agaynst the chyldren of thy people. And yf thyne enemyes asse synke vnder hys burthen, helpe to lyfte hym vp agayne, and yf hys oxe or asse go a straye / brynge them home a­gayne, which all no doute, the pharyseys dyd enterprete for good councell, but for no pre­ceptes, wherfore Chryst salteth theyr doctryne and proueth that a man is bounde both to loue and to do good to hys enemye, and as a natu­rall sone, though hys brethren be neuer so euel yet to loue them and shewe them kyndnesse for hys fathers sake, and to studye to amende them, what hast thou to reioyse of, yf thy rely­gyon be not better then the religion of theues? For theues loue amonge themselues, Publycans what they were. and so do the couetouse of the worlde, as the vsurars and publycans, whiche bought in greate the empe­roures trybute / and to make theyr moste ad­uauntage, dyd ouer sette the people. Naye, it is not ynough for the to loue thy benefactoures onely / as monkes and freres do, and them of thyne owne cote and order / or the brethren of thyne owne Abbaye onely (for amonge some ther loue stretcheth no further, and that shall he that is remoued out of another cloysture thyther, well fynde / ye and in some places charyte [Page lviii] reacheth not at all the celles of the same cloy­sture and to all the monkes that were profes­sed in the same place.) But lyfte vp thyne eyes vnto thy heuenly father, and as thy father doth so do thou loue al thy fathers chyldrē. He my­nystreth sonne and rayne to good and badde / by which two vnderstande all hys benefytes. For of the heate and dryeth of the sonne and colde and moyst of the rayne, sprynge al thyn­ges that are necessary to the lyfe of man. Euen so prouoke thou and drawe thyne euell bre­thren to goodnes / with pacyence / with loue in worde and dede / and pray for them to hym that is able to make thē better and to conuerte them. And so thou shalt be thy fathers natural son & perfecte, as he is perfecte. The text sayth not, ye shalbe as perfecte as God. But perfecte after his ensample. To be perfecte y ^e scrypture is not to be a monke or a fryer, or neuer to syn. For chryst teacheth not here monkes or fryers, To be per­fecte what it meaneth. but hys dyscyples and euery Chrysten man and woman. And to be in thys lyfe al to gether without syn / is impossyble. But to be perfect, is to haue pure doctryne without false opiny­ons / and that thyne hart be to folowe that ler­nynge.

[Page lix]As he rebuked theyr doctryne aboue, euen so here he rebuketh theyr workes, for out of deuelyshe doctryne can sprynge no godly workes. But what workes rebuketh he? Verelye such as God in the scrypture commaūdeth, and without whiche no man can be a chrysten man / euen prayer fastynge and almose dede. For as the scrypture corrupt with gloses, is no more Goddes worde, euen so the dedes cōmaunded in the scrypture (when the entent of them is peruerted) are no more godlye dedes. what sayde the scrybes and pharyseys of hym (thynke ye) when he rebuked suche maner of workes? No doute as they sayde (when he rebuked theyr false gloses) howe he destroyed the lawe and the prophetes, interpretyng the scripture after the lyterall sence▪ whiche kylleth, and after hys owne brayne, cleane contrarye to the comune fayth of the holy chyrche and myndes of great clerkes and autentyke exposycions of olde holye doctoures. Euen so here what other coulde they saye, then. Beholde the heretyke and dyd not we tell you before wherto he wolde come, and that he kepte some myschefe behynde and spued not out all hys venome attonce, see to what al his godly newe doctryne that sounded so swetly, is come? he preached all of loue, and wolde haue the people saued by fayth / so longe tyl y ^t nowe at the last, he preached clene agaynst all dedes of mercy, as prayer / fastynge and almose dede, and destroyeth al good workes. Hys dyscyples faste no more then d [...] [...] [Page] they despyce theyr dyuyne seruyce and come not to churche, ye and yf the holyest of al saynt Fraunces order axe them almes / they byd hym laboure with his handes and gete hys lyuynge, and saye that he that laboureth not is not worthy to eate / and that God bade that no suche stronge loboures shulde loyter and go a beg­gynge and be chargeable to the congregacyon and eate vp that other pore men gete with the swete of theyr bodies / ye and at the last ye shal see / yf we resyste him not be tymes / that he shal moue the people to insurreccyon / as Cayphas sayd / and the Romaynes shall come and take our lande from vs. As ye se in the texte Luke 13. Howe (when they coulde not dryue y ^e people from hym with these persuasyons) they ac­cused hym to Pylate sayenge, we haue founde thys felowe peruertyng the people and forbyddyng to pay trybute to Cesar / and saynge that he is Chryste a kynge, wherfore thou canst not be Cesars frend, Iohan. 16. yf thou let hī escape. But after al these blasphemies / yet must the holy ghost rebuke y ^e world of their ryghtwisnes ye of theyr false ryghtwysnes and false holynes, which are nether ryghtwysnes or holynes. but coloure of ypocresye.

Christ here destroyeth not prayer, fastynge, and almose dede. But preacheth agaynste the false purpose and entent of suche workes and peruertynge the true vse / that is to saye / theyr sekynge of glorye / and that they estemed them selues righteouse therby and better then other [Page lx] men, and so despysed and condempned theyr brethren. with our almose which is as moch to say as dedes of mercye or cōpassyon / we ought to seke our fathers glory onely, euen the welth of our brethren and to wyn them to the know­ledge of our father and kepynge of hys lawe. He that seketh the glorye of hys good workes, seketh the glorye that belongeth to God / and maketh hym selfe God. Is it not a blynd thyng of the world / that eyther they wyl do no good workes at all / or wyll be God for theyr good workes and haue the glorye them selues.

Concernyng blowynge of trompettes and ryngynge of belles or makynge a crye / Trōpettes To blowe trompet­tes what. to call men to fet almes (though the ryght way be, that we shuld knowe in euery paryshe all our pore and had a comen coffer for them / & that straungers shulde brynge a letter of recommēdacion with them of theyr necessyte / and that we had a comen place to receyue them in to for the tyme / and though also we ought to flee all oc­casyons of vayne glorye) yet whyle the worlde is out of order / it is not dampnable to do it. So that the very menynge / both that we blowe no trompettes and that the lefte hande knowe not what the ryght hande dothe, is that we do as secretly as we can / and in no wyse seke glo­rye / or to receyue it / yf it were profered. But to do our dedes in synglenesse of conscyence to God / bycause it is hys commaundemente / Lefte hand and euen of pure compassyon and loue to our brethren / and not that oure good deades [Page] through standyng in our owne consayte, shulde cause vs to dyspyce them. Vayne glory. A good remedy [...] a­gaynste it. If thou be tempted to vayne glorye for thy good dedes, then loke on thyne euel therto and put the one in the one balaunce & the other in the other. And then yf thou vnderstande the lawe of God in any thyng at all / tell me whether weyeth heuyer.

If that thou doest, do tempte the / then con­syder what thou doest not. If it moue the to set vp thy combe when thou gyueste thy brother a fathynge or an halfe penny / ponder in thyne harte / howe farre thou arte of, from louynge hym as well as thy selfe, and carynge for hym as moche as for thy selfe. And be sure howe moche thou lakest of that, so moche thou art in syn, and that in dāpnable syn, yf god for Chry­stes sake dyd not perdone the / because thyne harte morneth therfore, and thou fyghteste [...] thy selfe to come to such perfeccyon. If a pecocke dyd loke well on hys fete and marke the euell fauoure shrykynge of hys voyce he wolde not be so proude of the beutye of hys tayle. workes iu­stefye not from synne [...]ether de­serue the rewarde promysed. Fynally that many dyspute, because god hath promysed to rewarde our dedes in heuen. that our dedes deserue heuen / and because he promyseth to shewe mercye to be mercyfull, that with our dedes we deserue mercye, and because he promyseth forgyuenes of synnes to them that forgyue, that our dedes deserue for­gyuenes of synne and so iustefye vs. I answer [...] fyrste there is ynoughe spoken therof in other places, so that to them that haue red that, it is [Page lxi] superfluouse to reherse the matter agayne. Furthermore the argument is nought and hol­deth by no rule. See ye not that the father and mother haue more ryght to the chylde and to al it can do, thā to an oxe or a cowe. It is theyr fleshe and bloude, nouryshed vp with theyr laboure and cost. The lyfe of it and the maynte­naunce and countenaunce therof is theyr bene­fyte / so that it is not able to recōpence that it oweth to father and mother by a thousand partes. And though it be not able to do hys duety nor for blyndnes to knowe hys duety / yet the father and mother promyse more gyftes styll without ceasynge, and that such as they thynke shuld most make it to see loue and to prouoke it to be wyllynge to do parte of his duety, And when it hathe done amysse, thoughe it haue no power to do satysfaccyon, nor lust or courage to com to the ryght way agayne, yet theyr loue and mercye abydeth styll so greate to it, that vpon a poyntment of mendinge, they not only forgeue that is paste and fulfyll theyr promyse not the later / but promyse greater gyftes then euer before, and to be better father and mother to it then euer they were. Nowe when it can not do the thousande parte of hys duety, howe coude it deserue suche promyses of the father and mother / as a labourer dothe his hyer? the reward therfore cometh of the loue, mercy and truthe of the father and mother as wel when the chylde kepeth the apoyntment, as when they fulfyll theyr promyse, when it hath broken the [Page] appoyntment / and not of the deseruinge of the chylde.

Euen so yf we were not thus drowned in blyndenesse, we shulde easely see / that we can not do the thousande parte of our dutye to God, no though there were no lyfe to come. If there were no lyfe to come it were not ryght that I shulde touche any creature of God, otherwyse then he hath apoynted. Though there were no lyfe to come, it had neuertheles ben ryght that Adam hade abstayned from the forboden aple tree / and from all other to, if they had ben for­boden. Ye & though there were no lyfe to com it were not the lesse ryght that I loued my bro­ther and forgaue hym to day, seynge I shal syn agaynste hym to morowe. Because a father can not gyue his chyldrē heuen / hath he no power to charge them to loue one another and to for­gyue and not aduenge one another? And hathe he not ryght to bete them. yf they smyte eche other, because he can not gyue them heuen? A boundeman that hathe a mayster more cruell then a reasonable man wolde be to a dogge / if there were no heuen / myght thys bounde ser­uaunt accuse God of vnryghtwysnes / bycause he hathe not made hym a mayster? Nowe then when we can not do our duetye by a thousande partes, though there were no such promyses / & that the thinge cōmaunded is no lesse our duety though no such promyse were, it is easy to per­ceyue that the reward promysed cometh of the goodes, mercye and truthe of the promyser to [Page lxii] make vs the gladder to do our duetye / and not of the deseruinge of the receyuer, when we haue done al that we cā, we ought to [...]ay in our harte that it was our duety and that we ought to do a thousande times more, and that God (if he had not promysed vs mercye of hys goodnesse in Chryst) he myght yet of ryght damme vs for y ^t we haue lefte vndone.

And as touchynge forgyuenes of synne, though forgyuenes of synne be promysed vnto the / yet chalenge it not by thy merytes / but by the merytes of Chrystes bloude, and heare what Paule saythe Phylyppenses. 3. Concer­nynge the ryghtwysnes of the lawe, I was faut­lesse or such as no mā could rebuke. But y ^e thynges that were to vauntage, I thought damage for Chrystes sake ye / I thynke all thynge to be damage or losse, for the excellent knowledges sake of Chryst Iesus my lorde, for whose sake I let all go to losse, and counte them as chaffe or refuse (that is to saye, as thynges whiche are purged out and refused when a thynge is tryed and made perfecte) that I myght wynne Chryst and myght be founde in hym / not hauynge my ryghtwysnes that cometh of the lawe. But that whiche cometh of fayth in Chryste Iesu / whiche ryghtwysnesse cometh of God thorough fayth / and is to knowe hym and the power of hys re­surreccyon (howe he is lord ouer al syn▪ and the only thynge that sleyeth and vanquesheth syn) and to knowe also the felowshyp of his passy­ons that I myght be made lyke vnto his dethe. [Page] So that when ryghtwysnesse and true merytes be tryed, we muste be content that ours be the chaffe and Chrystes the pure corne / oures the skome and refuse, and Chrystes the pure golde And we must fashyō aur selues lyke vnto Christ and take euery man his crosse and slee and mortefye the synne in the fleshe, Crosse. or els we can not be partakers of his passyon, The synne we do before our conuersyon is forgyuen clerly tho­rough fayth if we repent and submyt our selues to a newe lyfe. And the synne we do agaynst [...] our wylles (I meane the wyl of the spyryte fo [...] after our conuersyon we haue two wylles fygtynge one agaynst the other) that synne is also forgyuen vs thorough fayth, workes what they do. yf we repent and submytte our selues to amende. And our dyly­gence in workynge kepeth vs from synnynge agayne and mynysheth the syn that remayneth in the fleshe and maketh vs pure and lesse apte and dysposed to synne, and it maketh vs mery in aduersytes and stronge in temptacyons and bolde to go in to God with a stronge and fer­uent fayth in our prayers / and sure that we shal be harde when we crye for helpe at nede / ey­ther for our selues or our brethren, Nowe they that be neglygent and synne / are brought in temptacyon vnto the poynte of desperacyon and fele the very paynes of hell, so that they stande in doute whether God hathe caste them away or no. And in aduersyte they be sorowful and dyscouraged and thynke that God is an­grye and ponysheth them for theyr synnes. [Page lxiii] when a chylde taketh payne to do hys father pleasure and is sure that he shall haue thanke and rewarde of hys laboure, he is mery and reioyseth in hys worke and payne that he suf­freth / and so is the aduersyte of them that kepe them selues from synnynge. But a chylde when he is beten for hys faute, or when he thynketh his father is angrye and loue hym not, is anone desperat and dyscouraged, so is the aduersyte of them that are weake and syn ofte. A chylde that neuer dyspleseth hys father, is bolde in hys fathers presence to speake for hym selfe or hys frende. But he that oft offendeth and is correcte or chydde, thoughe the peace be made a­gayne, yet the remembraunce of hys offēces maketh hym fearefull and to mystrust & to thynke his father wolde not heare hym / so is the fayth of the weake that synne ofte. Promyse. he that professeth not a newe lyfe hathe no promise of mercye in Chryste. But as for them that professe not a newe lyuynge howe euer so moch they dreame of fayth▪ they haue no fayth at al, for they haue no promyse, except they be cōuerted to a newe lyfe. And therfore in aduer­sytes, temptacyon & deth, they vtterly dyspare of all mercy and peryshe.

Prayers.After almose foloweth prayer. For as it is a Chrysten mannes parte, to helpe hys neygh­boure and to beare with hym when he is ouer­charged / and suffer with him, and to stande on [...] by another, as lōge as we lyue here on this ert [...] Euen so because we be euer in suche perell and combraunce / that we can not rydde our selues out we must dayly and hourely cry to God for ayde and socoure / as wel for our neyghboures as for our selues.

workes must be seasoned with gods word if they shal please godTo gyue almose / to pray / to faste / or to do any thynge at all / whether betwene the and God, or betwene the and thy neyghbour / canst thou neuer do to please God therwith / except thou haue the true knowledge of Gods worde to season thy dedes withall. For God hathe put a rule in the scripture without whiche thou canst not moue an heere o [...] thyne hede but that it is dampnable in the syght of God. As it is of the Iewes, though (as Paule beareth them re­corde) they haue a feruent zele to God / ye and haue the scripture therto yet because they haue not the true vnderstandynge, all is dampnable [Page lxiiii] that they do, ypocrytes with scrappes of al­mose gete an hundred folde. And with prayer they get prayse (as thou seyst here) and praye therto and robbe wydowes houses / as thou redeste Math. 23. And with fastynge they get fatte belyes / full dyshes / and euer more then ynough. And yet there is none almose / pray­enge or fastynge amonge them in the syght of God, with theyr prayers they exclude all true prayers, & make it impossyble that there shuld be any amonge them. For prayer is, Prayer. what it is. eyther a­longynge for the honoure of the name of God [...]hat all men shuld feare hym and kepe hys preceptes and beleue in hym. And contrary to that seke they theyr owne honoure / that men shuld feare them and kepe theyr ordinaunces and be leue in theyr swete blessynges / prayers / par­dones / and what so euer they promyse. If they byd fast thou must do it or be dampned and be an heretyke and rebellyous to holy churche. If they dyspence and gyue the clene remyssyō for to eate fleshe on good fryday (though thou be neuer so lusty) thou must obey, or els thou art damned & an heretyke, because thou doest not beleue in holy church. Eyther prayer is to gyue God thankes for the benefytes receyued· Con­trary to which, they wyll fyrst haue thankes of the worlde for theyr prayers, and robbe not onely wydowes houses. But also lord / prynce Emperour / and all the worlde / of house and lande ye and of theyr wyttes to. And then they bynde God to thanke thē / and to gyue thē (be­syde [Page] the thankes which they haue gotten in the worlde) not only heuen and an hyer place, but that he gyue heue to another man, saue through theyr merytes.

Eyther prayer is a cōplaynyng and a shew­ynge of thyne owne myserye and necessyte, or of thy neyghboures before God / desyrynge hym with all the power of thyne harte, to haue compassyon and to socoure. Contrary to this / they haue excluded with theyr prayers all ne­cessyte and myserye from amonge them. They be [...]ordes ouer all, and do what they wyll tho­rough the whole worlde. Kynge and Empe­roure are theyr seruauntes, they nede but saye the worde, and theyr wyll is fullfylled. And as for theyr neyghboures, they haue no compas­syon vpon them, to brynge theyr complayntes before God. But with theyr prayers robbe thē of that [...]ytle they haue, and so make them more myserable.

Chamber. To shutte thy cha [...]ber dore, what it meaneth.Of entryng into the chamber and shuttynge the dore to. I saye as aboue of that the lefte hande shulde not knowe what the ryght hande doeth, that the meanynge is / that we shulde a­uoyde all worldly prayse and profyte, and praye with a syngle eye and true entent accor­dynge to Goddes worde, and is not forboden therby, to praye openly. For we muste haue a place to come to gether to pray in generall, to thanke and to crye to God for the comune ne­cessyte aswell as to preache the worde of God in, where the prest ought to pray in the mother [Page lxv] [...]onge, that the name of God maye be halowed and his worde faythfully taught and truely vn­derstande and fayth and godly lyuyng encrea­sed, and for the kyng and rulers, that God wyl gyue them his spirite, to loue y ^e comune welth and for peace, that God wyll defende vs from all ennymyes, for wederynge and frutes, that God wyll kepe away pestylence and al plages And the preste shulde be an ensample to the people how they shuld pray. There be of suche thynges as the prestes and other bable (& not praye) many good collectes that shulde muche edifye the people if they were spokē in the mo­ther tonge. And then whyle the prestes synge psalmes, let euery man pray pryuatly and giue God thankes for suche benefytes as his harte knowed he hath receyued of God and comend to God hys pryuate necessytes and the pryuate necessytes of his neyboures whiche he knoweth and is pryuy to. Nether is there in al suche any ieoperdy of vayne glory. But and if God haue gyuen any man the spyryte of prayenge, as all men haue not lyke gyftes, that he pray oft and when other do not, then to haue a secrete place to pray in both for the auoydyng of vayne glorye and speche of people / and that thou mayst be fre / to vse thy wordes as the lusteth & what so euer gestures and behauoures do moue the most to deuocyon is necessarye and good.

And fynally what so euer necessyte thou hast though thou fele thy selfe a great synner, Prayer. Gods commandemēt and pro­myse shuld moue vs to praye. yet yf thyne harte be to amende / let not that dyscou­rage [Page] the. But go boldly to thy father / seynge thou haste his commaundement / euer to praye / and promyse that he wyl heare the / not for thy goodnesse / but of hys goodnesse and for hys truthe.

[Page lxvi]As before he rebuked theyr false entent in prayenge / that they sought prayse and profyte of that worke whiche ought to be dyrecte to God alone, eyther to gyue hym thankes / that is to saye, to be a knowen and to confesse in the harte, that all we haue cometh of hym, or to cal vpon hym for ayde and socoure in temptacyōs and all necessyte. Euen so here he rebuked a false kynde of prayenge, wherin the tonge and lyppes laboure and al the body is payned, but the harte talketh not with God nor feleth any swetnes at all, nor hathe any confydence in the promyses of God, but trusteth in the multytude of wordes and in the payne and tedyousnes of the lenght of the prayer / as a coniurar do the in his cyrcles. Characters and supersticyouse wordes of his coniuracyon. As ye se nowe to be a­mong our fryers / mōkes / chanons nunnes / and euen through out al the spyrytualty, whiche (as I haue proued aboue) haue with theyr false en­tent of prayenge, excluded al occasyons & the whole matter of true prayeng, and haue turned it into a bodely laboure, to vexe the tonge, lyppes, eyes, and trouth with roryng, False pra­yer is paynfull. and to wery al the mēbers, so that they say (and may truely sweare it) that there is no greater laboure in the world / then prayer, for no labour what soeuer it be, when the body is cōpelled and the harte vnwyllynge, can be other then greuous & paynful. true prayer is plesaunt But true prayer (if they cōplained & sought helpe eyther for thē selues or for theyr neygh­boures & trusted in the promyse of God) wold [Page] so conforte the soule & courage the harte, that the body (though it were halfe deade & more) wolde reuyue and be lusty agayne, and the la­boure wolde be shorte and easy (as for an en­sāple, if thou were so oppressed that thou were wery of thy lyfe, and wentest to the kynge for helpe, and haddest spede, the spirites wold so reioyse, that thy body wold receyue her strēgth agayne & be as lusty as euer it was) euen so the promyses of God worke ioy aboue al mesure. where they be beleued in the harte.

But our hyrelinges haue no Goddes worde saue truste in the multytude of wordes, length of bablynge and payne of body as bounde seruauntes. Nether knowe they any other vertue to be in prayer, as ye may se by the ordynaun­ces of all foundacyons. Syon. Shene. Kynge Henry the fyfte buylde Syon and the Charterhouse of sheue on the other syde the water of suche a maner that lyppe laboure may neuer cease. For when the fryers of Syon rynge out, the Nunnes begynne And when the Nunnes rynge out of seruyce / the Monkes on the other syde begynne. And when they rynge out, the fryers begyn agayne / and vexe them selues nyght and day. And take payne for Goddes sake / for whiche God must gyue them heuen. Ye and I haue knowē of som yere this, that for vere payne and tedyousnesse haue bydden the deuell take theyr founders. They call Lente the holyes [...]e tyme of the yere. But wherin is that holynes, verely in the mul­tytude of wordes and tedyous [...] length of the [Page lxvii] seruyce. For let them begynne at syxe, and it wylbe twelue or they can ende. In which tyme they be so weryed that by the tyme they haue dyned / they haue lust to nothynge saue to slepe And in the ende of all they thynke no farther, then that God must rewarde theyr payne. And yf thou axe howe they knowe it. They wyll an­swere, he muste rewarde it or be vnryghtwyse. No God loketh not on the payne of thy prayer but on thy fayth in hys promyse and goodnes nether yet on the multytude of thy wordes or longe babyllynge. For he knoweth thy matter better thē thou thy selfe. And though the Iewes and the hethen were so folyshe throughe theyr vnbelefe to bable many wordes, yet were they neuer so madde, as to mumble and buffe out wordes that they vnderstande not. Thou wyll saye. what matter maketh it, yf I speke wordes whiche I vnderstande not. or yf I praye not at all, seynge God knoweth my matter al ready. I answere, he wyl haue the to open thyne harte to hī / to enforme and edefy thyne owne selfe, that thou myghtest knowe howe that all good­nes is of hym, to put thy trust and confydence in him / and to flee to hym in tyme of nede, and to be thankful / and to loue hym and obeye his commaundementes, and turne and be cōuerted vnto thy lorde God, & not to runne wylde / as the vngodly do, whiche knowe not the benefy­tes of God, & therfore be vnthankeful to obey hys commaundementes.

And that thou mayst knowe howe and what [Page] to praye, he gyueth the a shorte instructyon and ensample sayeng / after this maner praye.

Fyrst must thou go to hym as a mercyful fa­ther whiche of his owne goodnes and fatherly loue y ^t he bereth to the, is redy to do more for the than thou canst desyre, though thou haue no merytes. But because he is thy father / onely yf thou wylte turne and hensforthe submytte thy selfe to lerne to do his wyll.

Honoured and praysed be thy name or ho­noured and praysed be thou, for to honoure God and to honoure the name of God is all one. And to honoure the name of God is, to dreade hym to loue hym and to kepe hys com­maundementes. For when a chylde obeyeth his father, he honoreth and prayseth his father and when he is rebellyous and dysobedient, he dyshonoreth his father. This is then the vnder­standynge and meanyng of it. O father / seynge thou art father ouer al / powre out thy spyryte vpon al fleshe / and make all men to feare and drede & loue the as their father, and in kepyng thy commaundementes to honoure the and thy holy name.

That is, seyng thou art kynge ouer al, make all to knowe the and make the kynges and ru­lers which are but thy substitutes, to cōmaunde [Page lxviii] nothynge but accordynge to thy worde / and to them make all subiectes obey.

This is al one with that goeth before. For as muche then as thou art father and kyng ouer all, and all we thy chyldren and brethren a­monge our selues, make vs all as obedyent to seke and to do thy wyll as the aungelles do in heuen. Make that no mā seke his owne wyl but all thyne. But and yf thou withdrawe thyne hande to tempte thy chyldren, that the rulers commaunde ought contrarye to thy wyll / then make the subiectes to stande fast by thy worde and to offer them selues to suffer all extremyte, rather then to obey. Fynally when we pray to the in our tēptacions and aduersites desirynge the of what so euer thynge it be, & meane truely yet yf thou that knowest al, seyst a better waye to thy glorye and our profyte, then they wylbe and not oures. As thy son Iesus gaue vs an en­sample / whē he desyred (if it had ben possible) that / that cuppe of better deth myght haue de­perted from hym sayenge, yet not as I wyl, but as thou wylt.

By breade is vnderstande al maner of fusty naunce in the Ebrue speche / ye and here is vnderstande [Page] therby all that pertayned vnto the necessyte of thys lyfe. If we haue bread there is dearth of nothyng that can pynche / namely in that lande. Gyue vs our dayly breade. Gyue vs all that the necessyte of thys lyfe dayly requy­reth. Gyue it vs day by daye, as we nede it. we desyre not to haue store for many yeres, to ex­clude all necessyce of prayenge to the, and to be as it were out of thy daunger, and to forget the. But mynyster it day by daye, that we maye daylye fele thy benefytes and neuer forget the. Or if thou gyue vs aboundaunce aboue that we desyre, then gyue vs an harte to vse it and to bestowe it for that purpose thou gauest it and to deale with our neyghboures, & not to loue it inordynatly, but to thynke that it is thyne, and that thou mayst take it awaye euery howre and that we be content that thou so do at thy pleasure, and so euer to haue it but for daylye breade.

Because he knoweth that our nature is so weake that we can not but synne dayly, ther­fore he teacheth vs daylye to repent and to re­consyle our selues to gether / and dayly to axe God forgyuenes. Seynge he commaundeth vs to axe, we maye be bolde so to do, and to be­leue that he wyll forgeue vs. No man therfore nedeth to despare that can repent and axe for­gyuenes, howe euer so depe he hathe synned. [Page lxix] And me thynketh, yf we loked a lytle nere vpō thys texte, we neaded not to make the pope so great a God for his perdons. For Christ (which is a man to be beleued) sheweth vs here a more sure way, ye and that a sensyble way which we maye fele that we be perdoned and our synnes forgyuen. we can haue none experyence of the popes thynges whether they be so or no. He can with al his perdons delyuer no man of any purgatorye that God putteth vs vnto in thys worlde. He can not blesse or heale any man so moche as of a pore ague or tothe ache. whiche deseases yet by hys owne confessyon God put­teth on vs to purge vs from synne. But where we can not see / fele / or haue any experyence at all, that it so is, there is he myghtye. If I were come whome out of a lande where neuer man was before, and were sure neuer man shulde come, I myght tel as many wonders as mayster More doth of Vtopia, and no man coulde re­buke me.

But here Christ maketh the sure of perdon, for yf thou canst forgyue thy brother / god hath bounde hym selfe to forgyue the, what if no mā haue synned agaynste me? That were harde in this lyfe, neuertheles yet yf that professyon be in thyne harte / that thou knowest that it is thy duetye to forgyue thy brother for thy fathers sake / and art obedyent to thy fathers ordy­naunce / and woldest forgyue, yf any of thy brethren had offended the and dyd axe the forgiuenes. Then hast thou that same spirite which [Page] which God desyreth to be in the. Marke what Chryst sayth aboue in the begynnynge of the .5 chapter. Blessed be the mercyfull / for they shal haue mercy / doeste thou pety thy brethren that syn, and doest thy best to amēde thē, that thy fathers name may be honored. Then hast thou yf wherby thou art sure of mercy as sone as thou desyrest it. And agayne. Blessed be the peace makers for they shalbe Goddes chyldren. Lo, yf there be any varyaūce among thy brethren, that one haue offended the other, do thy beste to set them at one, and thou hast the same thynge that God desyreth of the / for which he hath bounde hym selfe to forgyue the.

That is. Let vs not slyppe out of thy leafe, but holde vs faste, gyue vs not vp nor cease to gouerne vs, nor take thy spirite frō vs. For as an hounde can not but folowe his game when he seyth it before him yf he be lowse, so can we not but fall into synne when occasyon is gyuen vs, yf thou withdrawe thyne hande from vs. Leade vs not into temptacyon. Let no temptacyon fall vpon vs, greater then thyne helpe in vs. But be thou stronger in vs than the tempta­cyon thou sendeste or letteste come vppon vs. Leade vs not into tēptacyons. Father though we be neglygent, ye and vnthankful, and dysobedyent to thy true prophetes / yet let not the dyuell lowse vpon vs to deceyue vs with hys [Page lxx] false prophetes and to harden vs in the waye, in which we gladly walke, as thou dydest Pha­rao with the false myracles of hys sorserars, as thyne Apostle Paule threateneth vs. 2. The. 2. A lytle threde holdeth a stronge man where he gladly is. A lytle pullyng draweth a man whe­ther he gladly goeth. A lyght wynde dryueth a greate shyppe with the screme. A lyght persua­syon is ynoughe to make a lecherous man be­leue that fornycacyon is no synne. And an an­grye man that it is lawful to aduenge him selfe, and so forth by all the corrupt nature of man. A lytle myracle is able to confirme and harden a man in that openyon and faythe whiche hys blynde reason beleueth all redye. A fewe false myracles were ynoughe to persuade the coue­tousnes of Pharao and hys gredynes to holde the chyldren of Israel in bondage for theyr seruyce, that thy true myracles shewed by Moyses for theyr delyueraunce / were not of the. But of the same kynde and done by the same crafte / as were the myracles of hys sorserars, and so to harden his harte.

Euen so father yf thou gyue vs ouer for our vnkyndenesse / seynge the blynde nature of man delyteth in euell / and is ready to beleue lyes, a lytle thynge is ynoughe to make them that loue not to walke in thy truthe (and ther­fore neuer able to vnderstande thy sonnes doc­tryne. Iohan. 7) for to beleue the faynynges of our most holy father, al is superstycyous po­petry and inuysyble blessynges / and to harden [Page] them therin. As a stone caste vp in to the ayer, can nether go any hyer nether yet there abyde / when the power of the hurler ceaseth to dryue it. Euen so father, seynge our corrupt nature can but go downeward [...] onely, and the deuell and the worlde dryueth therto the same waye, howe can we procede further in vertue or stāde therin, if thy power cease in vs. Leade vs not therfore o mercyfull father into tēptacyon nor cease at any tyme to gouerne vs. Nowe seynge the God of al mercy which knoweth thyne in­firmite cōmanded the to pray in al temptacion and aduersite, and hath promysed to helpe / yf thou trust in hym, what excuse is it to say, when thou hast synned, I coulde not stāde of my selfe when his power was ready to helpe the, yf tho [...] hade axed it.

Fyrst (as aboue) let vs not fal into temptacyon. Seconderely, yf we be fallen, as who ly­ueth and falleth neuer? for neuer to falle were ynough to make a man as euell as Lucyfer, and to beleue that he stode by hys owne power. If therfore we be fallen euen to the botome, howe so euer depe it be, put in thyne arme after, for it is longe and stronge ynough, and plucke vs out agayne. Thyrdly, delyuer vs from euel, and plucke vs out of the fleshe and the world & the power of the deuel, & put vs in the kyngdome where we be past al ieoperdy and where we can not synne any more.

Because that t [...]ou only art the kynge, and al other but substytutes. And because al power is thyne, and all other mennes power but bo­rowed of the, therfore ought all honoure and obedyence to be thyne of ryght as chefe lorde, and none to be gyuen other men, but onely for the offyce they holde of the. Nether ought any creature to seke any more in thys worlde, then to be a brother tyl, thou haue put hym in offyce then (yf brotherlynes wyll not helpe / whiche he ought fyrste to proue) let hym execute thy power. Nether maye any man take auctorite of hym selfe, tyll God haue chosen hym / that is to wete▪ tyll he be chosen by the ordynāce that God hath set in the worlde to rule it. Fynally no kynge / lorde / mayster / or what ruler it be, hath absolute power in this worlde / and is the very thynge whiche he is called. For then they ceased to be brethren styl, nether could they syn what so euer they cōmaunded. But nowe theyr auctoryte is but a lymeted power / which when they trāsgresse, they syn agaynst theyr brethren, and ought to reconsile them selues to their bre­thren and to axe forgiuenes, and they are boūd to forgyue.

Fynally let kynges / rulers / and officers re­mēber that God is the very kynge / and referre [Page] the honoure that is gyuen to them for theyr of­fyces sake / to hym / and vmble them selues to hym and knowledge and confesse in theyr har­tes, that they be but brethren and euen no bet­ter before God / then the worst of theyr subiec­tes. So be it.

A couenaūt where with god is bonde to for­gyue vs, & we to for­gyue eche other.This is Goddes couenaunt with vs and a cō fyrmacyon of the petycyon aboue rehersed in y ^e Pater noster / forgyue vs our trespasses, as we forgyue our trespassers. If thou wylt enter into the couenaunt of thy lorde God / and forgyue thy brother, then what so euer thou hast cōmyt­ted against God, if thou repent and axe hī for­gyuenes, thou art sure that thou art so absolued by these wordes, that none in heuē nor erth can bynd the▪ No though our most holy father cursse the as blake as coles, Gods couenaunt is a sure absolucyō to al y ^t kepe it. seuen fote vnder the erthe and seuen fote aboue, & cast al his lyghtenynge vpon the, to burne the to powder. Kepe the couenaunt of the lorde thy God therfore, & feare no bugges. But and if thou wylt not come with in the couenaunt of God, or yf when thou haste professed it and receyued the signe therof, thou cast the yoke of the lorde from of thy necke, be [Page lxxii] thou sure, thou art bounde by these wordes so fast y ^t none in heuen or in erthe can lowse the. No, though our erthyshe god whysper al his absolucyons ouer the, & clawe the and stroke thy hede with al his swete blessynges.

Furthermore though forgiuene [...] of thy synnes be annexed to thy worke and forgeuynge thy brother / yet doeth not (as I sayd) thy wor­kes iustefye the before God. But the faythe in Chrystes bloude and in the promyses made vs for his sake, dothe brynge ryghtwysnesse into the harte. And the ryghtwysnes of the harte by fayth, is felt and knowen by the worke. As Peter in the fyrst of his seconde epystle commaundeth to do good workes / for to make our vo­cacyō and election sure / that we myght fele our fayth, and be certefyed that it is ryght. Eor ex­cept a man be proued and tryed, it can not be knowen / nether to hym selfe or other men / that he is ryghtwyse and in the true fayth. Take an ensample lest thou be begyled with sophystrye Chryst sayeth Mat. 13. The kyngdome of heuē is lyke leuen which a womā taketh and hydeth in thre peckes of meale tyll all be leuended or soure. Leuen. Leuen is some tym taken in an euel sence for the doctryne of the phareseys which corrupted the swetnes of the worde of God with the leuen of theyr gloses, and some tyme in a good sens, for the kyngedome of heuen that is to say the gospel and glad tydinges of Christ. For as leuen altereth the nature of dowe and maketh it throughe sowre / euen so the gospell turneth [Page] a man into a newe lyfe and altereth him a lytle and a lytle / Fayth. fyrst the hart and then the mēbers. Fayth in Chryst fyrst certyfyeth the conscyence of the forgeuenes of synnes, and delyuereth vs from feare of euerlastynge dampnacyon / and then bryngeth the loue of God and of hys lawe into the harte, whiche loue is the ryghtwysnes of the harte. Loue bryngeth good workes in to the members / whiche workes are the out­warde ryghtwysnesse and the ryghtwysnesse of the members. Loue is ryghtwys­nes. To hate the wyll of God is the vnryghtwysnes of the harte and causeth euell workes whiche are the vnryghtwysnesse of the members. As when I hatyd my brother / my tonge spake euel, my hādes smote and so forth To loue is the ryghtwysnesse of the harte / and causeth good workes whiche are the ryghtwys­nes of the members. As yf I loue my brother and he haue nede of me and be in pouerte, loue wyll make me put myne hande in to my pursse or almorye and to gyue hym some what to re­fresh hym. &c. That the loue of God and of his commaundementes is the ryghtwysnesse of the harte, doeth no man doute saue he that is hert­lesse. Fayth bryngeth loue. And that loue spryngeth of faythe thou mayst euydently see. 1. Iohan. 2. [...]e that loueth hys brother dwelleth in the lyght. But he that hateth his brother, is in darckenesse and wal­keth in darckenesse / and woteth not whether he goeth / for darckenesse hathe blynded hys eyes / why is he that hateth / in darckenesse (ve­rely because he seyth not the loue of God. For (yf he [Page lxxiii] sawe that, he coude not but loue his brother for so kynde a fathers sake. If any man hate hys brother, thou arte sure that thesame man is in darkenes and hath not the lyght of true faythe nor seyth what Chryste hathe done. If a man so loue that he can forgyue his brother, thou arte sure that he is in the lyght of the true fayth and seyth what mercy is shewed hym in Chryst.

This is then the somme of all together workes are the outwarde ryghtuousnes before the worlde, workes. and may be called the ryghtuousnes of the mēbers and spryng of inwarde loue. Loue. Loue is the ryghtwysnes of the hart, and spryngethe of fayth. Faythe is the trust in Christes bloude, Faythe. and is the gyfte of God. Ephe. 2. where vnto a man is drawen of the goodnesse of God, and dreuē thorowe true knowledge of the lawe and of beholdinge his dedes in y ^e lyght of the law and with comparynge the lust and desyre of y ^e mēbers vnto the requeste of the lawe, and with seynge hys owne dampnacyon in the glasse of the lawe. For yf a man sawe his owne dampna­cion in the law, he shuld ymmedyatly hate God and al his workes and vtterly dyspare, except that God offered hym Chryste, and forgaue all that were paste, & made hym his son & toke the dampnacyon of the lawe away, and promysyd that if he wold submytte him selfe to lerne and to do his best, that he shulde be accepte as well as an aungell in heauen, and therto yf he fell of frayltye and not of ma [...]yce and stoburnesse, it shulde be forgeuen vpon a mēdment, and that [Page] God wolde euer take him for his son, and only chastyce hym at home whē he dyd a mysse, after the most fatherlyest maner and as easely as his deseases wold suffer, but neuer bring hī forthe to be iudged after the rygorousnes of the lawe And as thou couldest not se leuen though thou brakest vp a lose, except thou smellest or taste­dest the sourenes, euen so couldest thou neuer se true fayth or loue, except thou sawest workes / and also sawest the entente & meanynge of the worker, leest ypocresy deceaue the.

Our dedes are the effecte of ryghtwysnes and therto an outwarde testymony and a certefyenge of the inwarde ryghtwysnes, as soure­nesse is of leuen. that faythe iustefyeth what it meanethe. And when I say faythe iustefy­eth, the vnderstandynge is, that fayth receaueth the iustefyenge. God promyseth to forgyue vs our synnes and to impute vs for ful rightwysse And God iustefyeth vs actyuely, that is to saye forgeueth vs & rekeneth vs, for ful ryghtwyse And Chrystes bloude deserueth it, and fayth in the promyse receaueth it and certyfyeth the cō ­scyēce therof. Fayth chalengeth it for Chrystes sake, which hath deserued al that is promysed and cleueth euer to the promyse & truthe of the promyser, and pretendeth not the goodnesse of her worke. But knowledgeth that our workes deserue it not, saue are crowned and rewarded w ^t the deseruynge of Chryst. Take an ensāple of yonge chyldren, when the father promyseth them a good thynge for the doynge of some tryfle, and when they come for theyr rewarde, [Page lxxiiii] dalyethe with them saynge, what, that thou hast done is not worth hafe so much, shulde I geuethe so great a thynge for so lytle a tryfle? They wyll answere, ye dyd promyse me it, ye sayde I shulde haue it, why dyd ye promyse, and why then dyd ye saye so? And let hym saye what he wyl to dryue them of, they wyl euer say agayne ye dyd promyse me, so ye dyd, ye sayd I shuld haue it, so ye dyd. But hyrelinges wyl pretende theyr worke and saye, I haue deserued it, I haue done so muche, and so muche, and my laboure is worthe it.

Nowe at the first couenaunt makynge with God and as ofte as we be reconsyled, after we haue synned, Faythe. the ryghtwysnesse cometh of God all together. But after the attonement is made and we reconsyled, then we be partlye ryght­wyse in our selues and vnrightwyse, ryghtwyse as ferre as we loue, and vnryghtwyse as ferre as the loue is vnperfecte. And fayth in the promyse of God that he dothe reken vs for full ryghtwyse doth euer supply y ^t vnryghtwysnes & imperfectnes, as it is our hole ryghtwysenes at the begynnynge.

Fynally our workes which God cōmaun­deth and vnto which he annexed hys promyses that he wyll rewarde them / workes are sacramētes are as it were very sacramentes and visyble and sensible sygnes, tokens, yernest, oblygacyons, wytnesses, testimo­nyes, and a sure certefyenge of our soules / that God hath & wyl do accordynge to his promyse to strengthe our weake faythe and to kepe the [Page] promyse in mynde. But they iustefye vs not, no more thē the visible workes of the sacramentes do. As for an ensample, the worke of baptyme that outwarde wasshynge whiche is the vysyble sacrament or sygne, iustefyeth vs not. But God only iustefyeth vs actyuely as cause effycient or workeman. Baptym. God promyseth to iustefye who so euer is baptysed to beleue in Christ, & to kepe the lawe of God that is to say, to forgyue them theyr fore synnes and to impute ryghtwysnesse vnto them, to take them for hys sonnes and to loue them aswell as though they were ful ryghtwyse. Chryste. Chryste hathe deserued vs that promyse and ryghtwysnesse. And faythe do the receaue it. and God dothe gyue it, and impute it to fayth & not the wasshynge. Faythe. And the wasshynge dothe testefye it / and certyfye vs of it, as the Popes letters do certyfye the beleuers of the Popes perdones. Nowe the letters helpe not or hyndre / but that the perdone were as good without them / as with them / saue onelye to sta­blyshe weake soules that coulde not beleue excepte they rede the letters / loked on the seale and sawe the prynte of saynt Peters keyes,

O mercyfull God and a moste louynge fa­ther / howe careth he for vs / fyrst aboue all and besyde all hys other benyfytes / to geue vs hys owne son Iesus / and with hym to geue vs hym selfe and all, and not content therwith, but to geue vs so many sacramentes or visible sygnes to prouoke vs and to helpe our weake faythe and to kepe hys mercye in mynde, as baptyme, [Page lxxv] the sacrament of his body and bloude, and as many other sacramentes as they wyll haue / yf they put sygnyfycacions to thē (for we destroy none, but they destroy whiche haue put out the sygnificaciōs or fayned some without) as wed­locke to sygnefy that Christ is the husbāde and we his wyfe and partakers w ^t him, as the wyfe with her husbande of al his ryches. &c. and be­yonde all those vysible sacramentes to geue vs yet more sensyble and surer sacramentes and suraunce of his goodnes, euen in our owne sel­ues as yf we loue and gyue almes to our neyghboure, yf we haue cōpassyon and pray for hym yf we be mercyful and forgeue him, yf we deny our selues, and faste, and withdrawe all plesu­res from the fleshe for loue of the lyfe to come and to kepe the commaundementes of God. For when suche thynges beinge before impossible / and nowe are easye and naturall / we fele, and are sure that we be altered and of a newe nature / and a newe creature shapen in ryght­wysnes after the ymage of Christ and God our father / seynge hys lawes of ryghtwysnesse are wrytten in our hartes.

As aboue of almose and prayer, euen so here Chryste rebuketh the false entente and ypocry­sye of fastyng. That they sought prayse of that worke that was ordeyned for to tame the flesh and vsed suche fassyons / that all the worlde myght knowe that they fasted / to prayse them and to saye O what holye men are these / howe pale and petyfull they loke euen lyke deathe / hangynge downe theyr hedes and beholdynge the erthe, as men clene out of the worlde? If these come not to heauen / what shall become of vs poore wretches of the worlde? If these be not greate in the fauoure of God, and theyr prayers harde what soo euer they axe / in what case are we laye people? Happy is he that may be a brother amonge them and partaker of theyr prayers and fastynges and other holye lyuynge, In an vnhappy. In an happy (I wolde saye) houre was he borne that buyldethe them a sell or a cloysture / or geueth them a porcyon of hys lande to comforte them good men, in thys paynefull lyuynge / and strayte penaunce [Page lxxvi] which they haue taken vpon them. Blessed were he that myght kysse the edge of the cote of one of thē. Oh, he that myght haue hys body wrapped in one of theyr olde cotes at the houre of dethe, it were as good to hym as his Chrysten­dome. &c. It apereth also by y ^t they axed Christe why hys dyscyples fasted not as well as the pharyses, y ^t they oft fasted whē the comen peo­ple fasted not & al apere holy. As oures fast aduent, and begyn before lent at Septuagesima / when. Laus tibi domine cometh in.

And concernynge the annoyntynge of thy heed. &c. is ment, To annoīt the heed what it me­neth. as afore of turnyng the other cheke and of that the lefte hande shulde not knowe what the ryght dyd, that is y ^t they shuld auoyde al vayne glory, and fast to god, and for the entent that God ordeyned it for, and that with a mery hart and cherful countenaūce ther­by to fele the workyng of God, and to be sure of his fauoure, Such is the meaninge, and not to bynde thē that wyl fast to anoynt theyr heed & washe theyr faces. And the maner or phrase of spekynge cometh of an vsage, that was among the Iewes, to anoynt thē selues with swete and odoryferouse annoyntmentes when they were dysposed to be mery and to make good chere, as ye se howe Mary of Bethany poured a boxe of precyouse oyntmente vpon Chrystes heed at souper.

As concernynge fastyng, Fastynge. it were good that kynges and rulers dyd sette an order of sober­nesse [Page] amonge theyr subiects / to auoyde derthe innumerable deseases and the great hepe of vyces that sprynge of intēperancy / and that they forbade not onelye ryote and excesse. But also all maner wanton, delycyous and customable eatynge and drynkynge of such thynges as corrupte the people and make the men more effe­minate then the woman, so that there remay­neth no more tokens of a man in thē saue theyr berdes. Our fassyons of eatinge make vs slouth full and vnlusty to laboure and study / vnstable inconstant and lyght manered / full of wyttes, after wytted (as we call it) incyrcumspecte in consyderat, hedy, rashe, and hastye to begynne vnaduysedly and without castynge of parelles the ende not consydered what may folowe nor the meanes well loked vpon / howe and by what way the mater might be brought to passe tryfelers / mockers / rude / vnsauery / iestere with out all maner of salte / and euen very apes, and Marmesettes, and full of wanton and rebal­dyshe communycacyon and lewde gestures. It corrupteth the wyte with false iudgement, and infecteth the body with luste, and makethe the hole man so vnquyet in hī selfe, that the bodye can not syt styll & rest in one place and cōtynue in hys worke, nor the mynde perseuer and en­dure in our purpose.

Let them prouyde that ther be diligent fys­shynge in the se, and cōmaunde the se coste and townes whyther fyshe may easely come, to fast fryday, saterday and wēsday to, if nede be, and [Page lxxvii] on the fryday to eate no whyte meate. And let the countryes whiche haue none aboundance of fyshe, yet haue whyte meate ynough, fast fryday & saterday from fleshe only. And let those contreys where scasty of bothe is, faste frydaye from fleshe only / and eate fleshe wensday and saterday. But absteyne from super or from dy­ner / or eate soberly those dayes, And let them so moderate theyr fastes that the people maye beare it / a prouysyon made for the olde / the sycke, and feble, &c. whiche faste shalbe a tem­porall thynge▪ for a temporall comen welthe only, and not a seruyce to God.

Then let the prestes preache fyrst the law [...] truly and teache the people to se theyr synnes / and so brynge them to repentaunce. And secondarelye the faythe of Chryste and the forgyue­nes of synne thorowe faythe. And thyrdlye al­mose / prayer and fastynge / which are the hole lyfe of a Christen man, and with out which ther is no Christen mā a lyue. Almose. And let them preache the true vse of theyr almose, whiche is to helpe thy neyghboure with councell, with bodye and goods and al that is in thy power, Prayer. and the true vse of prayer whiche is to brynge hys necessyte & thyne owne before God with a strong fayth in hys promyses, Fastynge. and the true vse of fastynge which is to tame the fleshe vnto the spirite, that the soule may attēde to the worde of God and pray thorowe faythe.

By these thre we kepe the spirite of God, Almose. Prayer and fastynge howe necessarye. and doth contynue and also growe in ryghtwysnes [Page] and waxe perfecter and perfecter in soule and body. And yf these fayle or that we vnderstāde not the ryght entent, we lose the spirite agayne and the ryghtwysnesse of faythe / and the true vnderstandyng of the scripture, and al our ler­nynge shalbe but darckenes. And then what a blyndenes is that, when the darcknes of hell is called the lyght of heuen.

Almose. Prayer and fastynge are insepe­rable.As it is of almose and prayer, so it is of fa­stynge, iudge of al thre, where any one of them is, there are they all thre, and where any one is awaye, there is none at all, we muste haue the professyon of al thre euer wrytten in our hartes I must euer loue my neyghboure and be redy to helpe, and when occasyon is offered, then do it I ought to consyder and knowe that al cometh of God, and to knowledge that same to him in myne hart. And what soeuer we nede we ought to know, that we must receaue that of God, and therfore to cal euer to him with a strong fayth. Euen so I must euer fyght agaynst my fleshe, & therfore euer withdrawe from it al that moueth it to rebelle agaynst the spirite.

Fastynge is not in eatyng and drynkynge onelye.So nowe fastinge standeth not in eatynge and drynkynge only, and muche lesse in flesh alone But in abstynence of all that mouethe the fleshe agaynste the spirite, as longe sleapynge, ydle­nes, and fylthye communycacyon and al world lye talkynge, aa of couetousnes and promocy­on and suche lyke, and wanton company. softe clothes, and softe beddes, and so forth, which [Page lxxviii] are that ryght hande, and ryght eye that must be cut of and plucked out, that the holeman pe­ryshe not. And as ye can put no generall rule of almose or prayer, no more can ye of fastyng But I must be all waye redye to cut of what so euer I perceaue to strenght the fleshe against the spirite. And I muste haue a dylygent eye to the fleshe and hys complexyon and yf ought scape me in worde or dede, seke whence the occasyō came, and attonce cut of that ryght hande and plucke out that eye.

If this fast be truly preached, workes make ypo­crytes, yf the true en­tent be a­waye. then is fastynge good / and not afore / for makynge of ypocry­tes / as Christ wolde not let his disciples fast before they were lerned, leste they shulde thereby haue ben no better then the pharesyes. And then the outwarde fastynge ordeyned by the temporal rulers helpeth much / for the weakes sake, ye & though the lande were so plenteouse that it nede not to commaunde suche fast for to auoyde derth, ye they ought to set suche vp, be­cause of them that can not rule them selues, Rulers be ordeyned for them that cā not rule them selues. for whose sakes they ought to forbyde excesses of tauerns and ale houses and ryotyng out of sea­son. For if the people coulde rule them selues, what nede rulers. More ouer if any man pryuatlye shewe the preste hys infyrmytyes / and the prestes se any maner of abstinence or chastifyng apte for the person, that let him councel him to do for the subdewinge of the fleshe, and not cō maunde as a tyraunt vnder payne of dampna­cyon and to make satysfaccyon. Thus wyse let [Page] hym say, brother or syster, ye be bounde vnder payne of deedlye synne to tame your fleshe by some maner of waye that ye synne not agaynste God, and I knowe no better then this, my councell and my desyre therfore is, that ye vse thys tyll ether ye haue no more nede / or tyll God shewe you some better. &c. And let the elders consyder dyligently the course of theyr youthe and with wysdome / councell and dyscrete go­uernaunce / and helpe the yonger to auoyde the perelles and ieoperdyes whiche they haue ler­ned by theyr owne, experyence to be in y ^t daungerous iorney.

Preacher the offyce of a true preacher.More ouer when the people be fallen from their profession and from the lawe, as it shalbe impossyble for the preacher, to kepe the greate multytude to gether, if the temporal swerde be slacke and necglygent in punyshynge open of­fenses (as they euer haue and wylbe, saue in those poyntes onely wherin lyeth the pythe of theyr owne profyte and aduauntage / and the weyght of theyr honour and mauntenaunce of theyr dygnytyes) and when God also (as hys promyse is) hathe brought vpon them the cur­ses of the lawe, hungre, derth, batayle, pestilēce and al maner of plages w ^t all mysfortune and euell lucke. Then let the true preachers be im­portune, and shewe the people the causes of theyr mys [...] [...]d wretched aduersyte, and ex­pounde the [...]awe to them and brynge them to knowledge of their synnes, and so bynde their conscyences and drawe them to repentaunce [Page lxxix] and to the apoyntmente and couenaunt of the lorde agayne. As many holy prophetes, prestes and kynges in the olde testamente dyd call the people backe and brought thē agayne in tyme of aduersyte, vnto the apoyntmēt of the lorde. And the preste, prophete, or kynge in Goddes stede smote handes with thē, and toke an oth of thē, to be y ^e lordes people and to turne agayn to the lordes couenaunte, for to kepe hys lawe and to beleue in his promyses. And God yme­dyatly withdrewe his hande and rydde thē out of all captyuyte and daunger, and be came as mercy full as euer before.

But we Christen haue ben very seldome or neuer called agayne to the couenaunte of the lorde y ^e lawe of god and fayth of Chryst. But to the couenaūt of the pope often. As he nowe clocketh a pase of his chekyns and wyll bothe proue al his olde polyces, and seke & ymagyn newe, practikes. And if the people come agayn let the preste or byshope after the ensample of the prophetes and hye prestes of the Israelytes take an othe in Goddes stede of the kynge and lordes. And let the kyng & lordes receuyng an othe of the people, and folowe the ensample of the Neniuites in fastynge and prayenge.

Some man wyll saye, seynge fastynge is to withdrawe al plesures frō the body and to pu­nyshe the fleshe, then God deliteth in our payn takynge. &c. I answere God delyteth in true obedyence and in al that we do at his cōmaun­dement and for the entent that he cōmaundeth [Page] it for. If thou loue and pety thy neyghbour and helpe hym, thy almose is acceptable. If thou do it of vayne glory to haue the prayse that belongeth to God, or for greatter profyte onely, i [...] to make satysfaccyon for thy sinnes past and to dyshonoure Chrystes bloude which hath made it all redye, Payne howe God delyteth in our payne takynge. then is thyne almose abhomynable If thy prayer be thankes in thyne harte or cal­lynge to God for helpe, with trust in him accor­dynge to his promyse, then thy prayer pleaseth If thou beleue in Christes bloud for the remys­syon of synnes, and hence forthe hatest syn, that thou punyssheste thy body to flee the lustes and to kepe them vnder that thou syn not agayne / then it pleaseth God exceadyngely. But and yf thou thynke that God delyteth in the worke or the worke it selfe / the true entente awaye / and in thy payne for the payne it selfe, thou arte as farre out of the way, as from heuen to the erth, If thou woldest kyl thy body or whē it is tame ynoughe, payne him furder that thou were not able to serue God and thy neyghboure / accor­dynge to the roume and estate thou arte in / thy sacrefyce were clene with out salte and al to gether vnsauery in the tast of God, & thou madde and out of thy wyt, but and yf thou trust in thy worke, then art thou abhomynable.

Fast, The entent of fastynge what it is.Nowe let vs loke on the popes fast. First the entent shulde be to tame thy lustes / not letche­ry only, but pryde cheflye, wrathe, malyce, hate enuy, and couetousnes and to kepe the lawe of God / and therfore standethe not in meate and [Page lxxx] drynke only, but howe they kepe goodes lawe compare it to their dedes and thou shalt se. Fast, Howe the Iewes. faste. Se­condarely the fast of the olde lawe was, to put [...]n mournynge clothes as heyre or sack / and nether to eate nor drynke vntyll nyght, and al the while to pray and to do almose dedes & shewe mercy. And at euen they eate fleshe & what god gaue soberly as lytle as wold susteyne the body &c. The Popes fast is comenly, Fast. The popes faste. only to eate no fleshe. I say not loke howe lene they be but cō ­sydre what tamynge of the fleshe it is to eate ten or twenty maner of fisshes dressed after the costelyest maner, and to sytte a cople of houres and to poure in of the beste wyne and ale that may be gotten. And at nyght to bāket w ^t dewe (as they saye) of al maner of frutes and confe­ctyons Marmeled, Succad, Grenegynger, Com­fettes, Suger plate, with Malmesay, and Rom­ney, burnt with Suger, Synamond, and Cloues wth Bastade, Muscadel, & Ypocras, &c. Thinke ye not that suche dewes, with drinkynge a pece of salt fyshe or a pyckrell / dothe not tame the body excedyngly?

Furthermore that the true entent is away bothe of theyr fastynge and prayers / Fastynge. The true entent is a­waye from the Popes fastynge. it is euy­dente, fyrste by the multeplyenge of them / for when the Iewes hade lost the vnderstandyng of theyr sacryfyces and dyd beleue in the worke, then they were mad vpon them, that well was he that coulde robbe hym selfe to offer mooste in so muche y ^t the prophetes cryed out agaynst them, that theyr offerynges stanke in the nose [Page] of God. And oures hade so multeplyed theyr fastynge that they coulde no lenger bere them. At the begynnyng they were tollerable for the vauntage. Quia leuis est labor cum lucro, But when they had purchased ynough and ynough agayne, they became intolerable. And ther­fore al our mōkes whose professyon was neuer to eate fleshe, Monkes made the Pope a God for his dyspensacyons. set vp the Pope and toke dispensacyons bothe for that faste and also for theyr strayte rules, and made theyr strayte rules as wyde as the hodes of theyr cowles. And as for the ypocrysy of the fratrye where they eate but inuysible fleshe, or that is interprete to be no fleshe is spoken of in other places. A nother profe is that they so longe a tyme haue gyuen pardons of the merytes of theyr fastynge, as thoughe they had done more then ynoughe for them selues / and of that marchaundyse haue gotten al they haue, & haue brought the knoweledge of Chrystes bloude clene into darckenes And fast of al what shall I say of the open ydolatry of innumerable fastes, of S. Brādons fast, S. Patryckes fast, of .iiii. holy frydayes of S. Anthones betwene S. Mary dayes, of our lady fa [...]t, euery .vii. yere the same daye that her daye falleth on in marche & then begyn, or one yere with brede and water, and all for what purpo­ses, ye knowe well yno [...]ghe and of suche lyke. I trowe ten thousande in the wolde. And who hathe rebuked them?

Note the goodly order of Chrystes prea­chynge. Fyrste he restored the true vnsterstan­dynge of the lawe, then the true entente of the workes. Couetous­nes what a pestylence it is. And here consequētly he rebuketh the mortal so and sworne enemy both of true doc­tryne and true lyuynge, whiche is couetousnesse the ro [...]e of al euel sayth Paule. 1. Tim. 6. Couetousnes is ymage seruyce. Collo. 3. Yt maketh men to erre from the faythe. 1. Tymothe. 6. Yt hathe no parte in the kyngdome of Chryst and God Ephe. 5. Couetousnes hardened the harte of Pharao that the faythe of the myracles of God coulde not synke in to it. Couetousnesse dyd make Balam which knewe al the truthe of God. to hate it, and to gyue the most pestilent & poyson councell agaynste it that harte coulde ymagyne, euen for to destroy it, yf it hade bene possyble. Couetousnesse taught the false pro­phetes in the olde testamente to enterprete the lawe of God faslye / and to peruerte the mea­nynge and entente of al the sacrefices and ceremonyes, [Page] and to sle the true preachers that rebu­ked them.

And with theyr false persuasions they dyd le [...]de all the kynges of Israel out of the ryght waye, and the most parte of the kinges of Iuda also. 2. Pe. 2. And Peter in the chapiter epistle of his se­conde epystle prophesyeth that there shuld be false teachers amonge vs, that shoulde folowe the way of Balam (that is to saye for couetous­nes persecute the truth) and thorowe couetous­nesse with fayned wordes to make marchaun­dyse of the people, and to bringe in damnable sectes to. Couetous­nes can not but erre. And here ye haue an infallyble rule that where coutouesnesse is / there is no truthe / no thoughe they call them selues the churche & saye thereto that they can not erre. Couetous­nesse kepte Iudas styll in vnbelefe thoughe he sawe and dyd myracles also in the name of Chryste, and compelled hym to sell hym to the scrybes and pharesyes / for couetousnesse is a thynge mercylesse. Couetousnes made the pha­resyes to lye on Chryste, to persecute hym and falsly to accuse him. And it made Pilate though he founde hym an innocente yet to slee hym. It caused Herode to persecute Chryste yet in hys cradel. Couetousnes make the ypocrites to persecute the truth agaynst their owne conscyences and to lye to prynces / that the true preachers moue sedicion and make their subiectes to ryse agaynste them, and the sayde couetousnesse ma­keth the prynces to beleue theyr wycked per­swacyons and to lende theyr swerde to sheed [Page lxxxii] ynnocent bloude.

Fynally couetousnes maketh many (whom the truthe pleaseth at the begynnynge) to caste it vppe agayne and to be afterwarde the moste cruel ennemyes thereof after the ensample of Symon Magus. Actes. viii. Ye and after the en­sample of Syr Thomas More. K. More. whiche knewe the truthe & for couetousnes forsoke it agayne and conspyred fyrst with the Cardynal to dys­ceaue the kynge and to leade hym in darckenes And afterwarde when the lyght was spronge vpon them & had dryuen them clene out of the scrypture / and had delyuered it out of theyr ty­ranny, and had expelled the darcke stynkynge myst of theyr deuelyshe gloses, and had wyped awaye the cobwebbes whiche those poysoned spyders had speade vpon the face of the clere texte / so that the spiritualtye (as they call them selues) were asshamed of their parte, as shame­lesse as they be, yet for all that. Couetousnes blynded the eyes of that glerynge foxe more and more and hardened hys harte agaynste the trouthe / with the confydence of hys paynted poetry. babyllynge eloquence and iuggelynge argumentes of sutle sophystry, groūded on his in wrytten verytes, as true and as autentycke as hys storye of Vtopia. Paule therfore byddeth Tymothe to charge the ryche to beleue in the lyuynge God and not in theyr vncerten ryches, for it is impossyble for a couetous ydolater or ymage seruer that trusteth in the deed God of hys ryches, to put hys trust in the lyuinge God.

[Page]One mysery is that they which here gather and leye vppe / can not tell for whom. An other i [...], rust, canker, mothes, and a thousāde mysfor­t [...]nes besyde theues, extorcyoners, oppressers and myghtye tyrantes, to the whiche the ryche [...]e euer praye. And thoughe they prosper to the ende outwardlye / yet feare euer gnawethe their hartes inwardly. And at the houre of deth they knowe and fele that they haue gathered naught / and then sorowe they and are lyke one that dremeth of rechesse / and in the mornynge when he fyndeth naughte / is heuye and sorye for the remembraunce of the pleasaunt dreme. And fynally when they be moste lotheste to dye and hope to lyue longe then they peryshe so­daynlye / after the ensample of the ryche man whiche entended to make hym larger barnes and store houses. Luc. 12. Happy therfore is he that la­yeth vp treasure in heuen and is ryche in faythe and good workes, for the rewarde therto pro­mysed shall God kepe sure for hym. No mā can take it awaye. Here is not forboden to haue ry­ [...]hes. But to loue it, to trust in it, and to be care­ful for it. For God hathe promysed to care for vs and to gyue vs ynoughe and to kepe that which is gotten, yf we wyll care to kepe his cō ­maundementes. what so euer offyce or degree thou art in, in this worlde, do the dutye of thy offyce dylygently and trust in God and let him care. If thou be an husband mā. Eare and sowe and husbande thy grounde and let God alone for the rest he wyll care to make it growe plen­teously [Page lxxxiii] and to sēde seasonable wether to haue it in / and wyll prouyde the a good market to sell. &c.

In lyke maner yf thou be a kynge, do the offyce of a kyng, and receaue the dutyes of the kynge & let God care to kepe the in thy kyng­dome. Hys fauoure shall do more for the then a thousande myllyons of golde / and so of all other. He that hathe but a lytle and is sure that God shall kepe bothe him and it, is rycher then he which hath thousande, & hath no other hope then that he and it must be kept with hys owne care and polycye.

And fynally marke one poynt in Lu. 14. Luke. 14. none of them that refuseth not al that he poses­seth can be my dyscyple, that is / he that caste the not awaye the loue of all worldly thynges can be no scoler of Christes to lerne hys doctryne, Then he addeth that salt is good, Couetous­nes maketh the salte of Goddes worde vn­sauerye. but if the salt be vnsauerye or hathe lost his vertue / what can be seasoned therwith / verely nothynge. Nowe by salt is vnderstāde the doctryne, and the me­nynge is, yf ye be couetouse and loue worldlye thynges, it wyll corrupte the salte of your doc­trine, so that what so euer you pouder therwith it shalbe more vnsauery then before.

where your treasure is / there are your hartes, If your treasure be in the worlde, so is the loue of youre hartes. And yf ye loue the worlde and the thinges of the worlde, the loue of God is not in you, Couetous­nes maketh & the loue of God is the loue of hys cōmaundemētes, and he that loueth [Page] not Goddes cōmaundementes shal neuer prea­che them truelye, A false prophete. because he louethe them not But shal corrup them with gloses that they may stande with that which his hart loueth, and vn­tyl they haue a nother sence thē euer God gaue them. Ergo no couetouse person can be a true prophete. It is not for naught thē that Christ so oft and so dylygētly warneth his dyscyples to beware of couetousnes, as of that thinge which he wyst wyl had euer corrupt the word of God and euer shulde.

Darkenes.Note the conclucyon with a proper symyly­tude. The eye is the lyght of the body▪ & by the lyght of the eye all other members see and are gouerned. As longe as the eye seyth, hande and fote do theyr dutyes, neyther is there any feare that a man shulde stomble or fall into fyer or water. But yf the eye be blynde, all the body is blynde, and that so blynde that there is no re­medye at all, set a candel before hym he seythe not, gyue hym a lanterne in his hāde, and yet he [Page lxxxiiii] can not go streyght. Brynge hym out into the son and poynte hym vnto that which thou woldest haue him se, it boteth not. Euen so, Couetous­nes causeth Darkenes. yf couetousnesse haue blynded the spyrytuall eye and peruerted the ryght entent of the lawe of God and of the workes cōmaunded by God and of the sacrefyce / ceremonyes and sacramentes / and of al other ordynaūces of God (which en­tente is the spiritual eye) then is al the doctrine darke and verye blyndenes / ye and then howe darcke is the darckenesse, when that whiche is pure blyndenes is beleued to be lyght? howe darcke is the doctryne of them that teache that a man may compel God with the workes of frewyll to gyue them hys fauoure and grace / or make God vnryghtwyse? Howe darcke is the doctrine of thē which (to y ^e rebuke of Christes bloude) teache that workes do iustefye before God and make satysfaccyon for synnes? howe blynde are they whiche thynke prayer to be the paterynge of many wordes and wyll therefore not only be praysed and payed of the worlde, but also by the title therof chalenge heuen and not by the merytes of Chrystes bloude? Howe darke is the doctryne of thē whose fayth is only and al together apoyntmentes which they them selues haue fayned betwene thē and God, vnto which yet God neuer subscribed. In which also they assygne what worke and howe muche they wyll do, and what rewarde, and howe greate God must gyue them, or chose whether he wyll be vnryghtwyse.

[Page] Darkenes.Howe darke is the doctrine of them that say sty [...]e that the worke of the sacramentes in it selfe (not referrynge it to stere vp the faythe of the promyses [...]nnexed to them) dothe iustefye▪ and affyrme that bodelye payne for the payne it selfe (not referrynge it eyther to the loue of the lawe of God or of their neyghboure) dothe please God? Howe darke, dāpnable and deue­lyshe is the doctryne of them whiche not onely thynke lucre to be the seruyce of God, but also are so ferre past al shame that they affyrme they be the holy church and can not erre, and al that they decre, must be an artycle of our fayth, and that it is dāpnable once to doubte or serche the scrypture whether theyr doctryne wyll therto agre or no but say their decres must be beleued as they sounde, howe contrary so euer the scripture be, and the scripture must be expoūded & made agre to thē. They nede not to regarde the scripture, but to do & say as theyr holy gost moueth them, and if the scrypture be contrary, thē make it a nose of waxe and wrest it this way & that way tyll it agre.

Faythe in workes is darkenes.Fayth of workes was the darkenes of the false prophetes / out of the whiche the true coulde not drawe them. Fayth of workes was the blyndenesse of the pharysyes / out of the whiche nether Iohan Baptist nor Christ coulde brynge them And though Iohan Baptist pyped to thē with reasons of the scrypture inuyncible and Chryst therto added myracles, yet the pha­resyes wolde not daunce. For Iohn Baptist (as [Page lxxxv] they thought) was to madde to lyue soo strayte a lyfe, and to refuse to be iustefyed therby. And as for Chryst and his dyscyples / the pharysyes were muche holyer them selues, fasted oftener, prayed thycker, & vttered muche mo wordes in theyr prayer then they. Faythe of workes is that belefe of the turkes and Iewes which dry­ueth them euer awaye form Chryste. Faythe of workes hathe ben that lyght of darckenesse in which a great parte of vs Chrystē haue walked [...]er sēce Pelagius and Faustus, wel aboue .xii.C. yeres, and euer mo & mo, and ī which al out [...]l [...]gyons haue walked al & more to this foure or fyue hundred yere, and in whiche the prestes also haue walked a lōge season, y ^e lorde bring them out agayne.

Fynally howe darke is the darkenes when a pharesye and a verye Pelagyan standeth vp, Darkenes. and preacheth agaynste the pharesyes and the Pel [...]gians and is alowed of all the audyence? And in conclusyon when the worlde euer sence it beganne hathe and dothe of naturall blyndenes beleue in theyr owne workes / then yf the scrypture be peruerted to cōfyrme that errour howe sore are their hartes hardened and howe depe is that darkenes.

Mammon what it is.Māmon is reches or aboundance of goodes. and Chryste concludeth with a playne symyli­tude, that as it is impossyble to serue two con­trary masters, & as it is impossyble to be retay­ned vnto two dyuerse lordes whiche are eny­myes one to the other / soo is it impossyble to sarue God and Mammon. Two masters of one minde and one wyl might a mā serue, for if one wyll, one mynde and one accorde be in twenty then are they all but one master. And two may­sters where one is vnder the other and a substy­tute, maye a man serue. For the seruyce of the inferior is the commaundement of the superior As to serue and obey father, mother, husbande master and lorde is Goddes commaundement But and yf the inferyor be of a contrarye wyll to the superyor, and commaunde any contrary thyng, thē mayst thou not obey. For nowe they be two contrary masters, Mammon is a God. so God & Māmon are two contrary masters▪ ye two cōtrary Godes, & of contrary commaundementes.

¶ God sayth. I thy lord God am but one, and me shalt thou serue alone, y ^t is, thou shalt loue me with all thy harte, or with thy whole harte / with all thy soule and with al thy myght. Thou shalt nether serue, obey or loue any thyng saue the and that I byd the, and that is far & no far­ther then I byd the.

¶ [...]nd Māman sayth the same. For Mammon wylbe a God also and serued and loued alone

[Page lxxxvi]¶ God sayth, se thou loue thy neyghbour, that thou labour with thy handes to get thy lyuynge and some what aboue to helpe hym.

¶Māmon sayth, he is called thy neyghbour because he is nye the. Nowe who is so nye the as thy selfe. Ergo Proximus esto tibi, that is loue thy selfe / and make lewde and vyle wretches to laboure dylygentlye to gette the as muche as thou mayst, and some scrappes aboue for them selues. Or wylt thou be perfecte? Then dysgyse thy selfe and put on a gray cote, Mammon make men dysgyse thē selues. a blacke or a pyed and gyue thy selfe to deuocyon? despyce the world and take a couetous (I wold say cō ­templatiue lyfe) vpon the. Tel y ^e people howe hote purgatory is, and what paynes there must be suffered for smal fautes. And thē geue mercy fully a thousāde folde for one spiritual, for tē ­poral, geue heuen, and take but house & lande and folyshe temporal thinges.

¶ God saythe, iudge trulye betwene thy bre­thren / and therfore take no gyftes. Mammon sayth, it is good maner and a poynte of curtesy to take that is offered. And he that geueth y ^e loueth the better then such a churle that geueth the [...]ught, ye & thou art more bounde to fauoure hys cause?

¶ God sayth, sel and geue almose. ¶ Māmon sayth lay vp to haue ynough to mayntene thyn estate and to defende the frō thyn enemyes and to serue the in thy age.

For as muche then as God and Mammon be two so contrary maysters, The seruaū tes of. Mammon are not of Chrystes churche. that who so euer wyl [Page] serue God must gyue vp Mammon, The ser­uaunt of Mammon is no true preacher. and all that wyl serue Mammon must forsake God, it folo­weth that they which are the sworne seruauntes of Mammon, and haue his holy spirite, and are his faythful churche, are not the true seruauntes of God / nor haue hys spirite of truthe in them or can be hys true churche. More ouer seynge that God and Mammon be so contrarye that Goddes worde is dethe in Mammons ear [...], and hys doctryne poyson in Mammons mouthe / it foloweth that yf the ministers of Goddes word do fauour Mammon, they wyl so fassyon theyr speche & so sounde their wordes that they may be plesaunt in the eares of Mammon. To be Mā ­mons ser­uaunt what it is.

Fynally al only to haue rychesse is not to be the seruaunt of Mammon, but to loue it and cleue to it in thyne harte. For yf thou haue gooddes onely to maynteyne the offyce whiche God hath put the in, and of the rest to helpe thy neybours nede, Mammon seruaunt howe is he knowen. so art thou lorde ouer thy Mā ­mon and not his seruaūt▪ Of them that be riche, howe shalt thou knowe the mayster of Māmon frō the seruaūt? verely fyrst by the gettynge, se­cōdarely when his pore neybour complayneth yf he be Mammons seruaunt, Māmon wyl I shute vp his harte and make him without cōpassyon, Thyrdly the crosse of Christe wyl trye them the one from the other. For when persecucyon aryseth for the worde, then wyl the true seruaūt of Christ byd Mammon a dewe. And the faythful seruaūt of Mammon wyl vtter his ypocresy, &c. not only renounce the doctryne of Chryste / but [Page lxxxvii] also be a cruel and a sharpe persecuter therof / to put awaye all surmyse, and that hys fydelyte whiche he hathe in hys mayster Mammon, maye openly appere.

He that buyldeth a costely house euen to the tylynge, wyl not leue there & lose so great cost for so smal a tryfle more. No more wyll he that gaue the so precyous a soule and so beuty­ful a body, let ether of them perishe agayne be­fore the day, for so smal a thing as fode or raymēt. God neuer made mouth but he made mete for it, nor body but he made reymēt also. How be it Māmon blyndeth our eyes, so that we can nether se nor iudge a ryght.

Birdes and bestesteche vs to put a­way care.He that careth for the lest of his creatures wyll muche more care for the greattest. The byrddes of the ayre and beastes preache all to vs that we shulde leue caringe and put our trust in our father. But Mammon hathe made vs so dul and so clene with out capacyte that no ex­sample or argumente be if neuer so vehement / can enter the wyttes of vs / to make vs see or iudge a ryght. Fynallye what a madnes is it to take soo greate thought for fode or raymente / when the welthe, helthe, lyfe of thy bodye and al to gether is out of the poure. If al the world were thyne thou couldeste not make thy selfe one ynche lenger nor that thy stomacke shall dysgest the meate that thou puttest into it. No thou art not sure that which thou putteste in to thy mouth shal go thorwoe y ^e or whether it shal choke the. Thou canst not make whē thou lyest or syttest downe that thou shalt aryse agayn, or when thou sleapest that thou shal awake agayn or that thou shuldest lyue one houre lenger. So that he which cared for the when thou couldest not care, must care for the styl or else thou shul­dest peryshe. And he wyll not care for the to thy soules profyte / yf thou mystrust hī and care for thy selfe.

Not only fowle and beast, but also tre, erbe, Care. and al the flowres of the erth do cry vnto vs to trust God to cast awaye all care that is coupled with couetousnesse of more then suffycyent to beare the charges which we haue in our handes by the reason of the state we be in the worlde, and al care that is anexed with mystrust y ^t God shuld not mynister ynough to beare al our char­ges, if we endeuer our selues to kepe his cōmaū dementes & to do euery man his craft or offyce he is in truly / and (when God to proue vs, sofferyth vs to haue nede of our neyboures) we fyrst cōplayne to God, & desyre him to prepare the hartes of our neyghboures agaynst we come to desyer theyr helpe.

But Māmon pypeth another songe, Nammon. sayenge yf thou shuldeste make no nother maner of la­boure for a benefyce, then as yf thou careddest [Page] not whether thou haddest it or haddest it not [...] wolde be longe yet thou gattest one, al wolde be take out of thyne hande? I answere, as the labour was to get it, suche shalbe thy behauor in it, as thou flatteredest to haue it, so shalt thou in it. And as thou boughtest and soldeste to get it, so shalte thou fell in it to be fauoure and to be set by in the worlde. If thy pryncypal entend that thou sekeste a benefyce for, be lucre / then take hede to the ensāple of thy fore father Sy­mon magus / Actes. 8. Let thy care therfore be to do thy office that God putteth the in truly, & the bles­synge that he coupleth therto y ^t take with thankes, and nether care nor couet farther.

Be not lyke the hethen which haue no trust in God not hys worde / nor beleue any lyfe to come / let them vexe them selues and eche be a deuell to another for worldlye thynges: But [Page lxxxix] comforte thou thy selfe with the hope of a better lyfe in an other worlde, Couenaunt kepe coue­naunt with God and he shall kepe pro­myse with the. euer assured that thou lhalt haue here suffycient, onely yf thou kepe couenaunt with the lorde thy God / and seke his kyngedome and the ryghtwysenesse therof aboue all thynges. The kyngedome of God, is the gospell & doctrine of Christ. And the ryghtwysnes therof, is to beleue Christes bloude for the remyssyon of synnes. Out of whiche ryghtwysenesse springeth loue to God and thy neyboure for his sake, Kyngdom of heuen what. whiche is also ryghtwysnesse as I haue sayd afore, so farre as it is perfycte, and that whiche lacketh is sup­plyed by fayth in Goddes worde, in that he hath promised to accepte that, tyll more come Then foloweth the outwarde ryghtwysnesse of workes by the which and dyligent recording of Goddes worde together, Ryghtwys­nes of the kyngdome of heuen what it is. we growe and waxe perfecte & kepe our selues from goynge backe and losynge the spite agayne.

And these haue our spiritualty with theyr corrupte doctryne myngled to gether that is to say, the ryghtwysnes of the kyngedome of God, which is fayth in Christes bloude, & the outwarde ryghtwysnes of the mēbres that we ascrybe to y ^e one that perteyneth to the other.

Seke the kyngedome of heuen therfore and the ryghtwysnesse of the same, & be sure thou shalte euer haue sufficient, and these thynges shalbe mynystred vnto the, that is to say, shall come of their owne accorde by the promise of God, ye Christ promyseth the an hunderfolde [Page] euen in this lyfe, of all that thou leuest for his sake. If that were true wolde some say / who wolde nat rather serue him thā Mammon? yet it is true. For first if thou be seruaunt of Mam­mon, thou must kepe thy God, & thy God nat the. And euery man that is stronger then thou wyll take thy God from the. Moreouer God wyll take ether the from thy Mammon, or thy Māmon from the, ye [...] thou woldest, to aduēge him selfe of thy blynde vnkyndnes, that when he hath made the and geuen the all, thou for­sakest him and seruest his mortall enemye. But yf thou folowe Christ, all the worlde (and let them take all the deuelles in hel to them) shal nat be able to disapoynte the of a sufficient lyuynge. And though they persecute the frome house to house a thousāde tymes, yet shal god prouide the of another with all thynges suffi­cient to lyue by. Nowe compare the surety of his with the incertayntie of the other, and then the blessed ende of this (that heuen is promy­sed the also) with the myserable departynge from the other so sore agaynst thy wyll, then the desperacion that thy hurte feleth y ^t thou art alredy in hel. And thē may nat this be well called a thousande folde more then y ^e other?

If thou loke well on the couenaunt that is betwene the & thy lorde God, Care. on the one syde and the temptacions of the worlde, the fleshe and Satan on the other / thou shalte sone per­ceyue that the day presēt hath euer ynough to be cared for / and for which thou must crye in­stantlye to God for helpe also / though thou do thy best. Now then seynge the day present is ouer charged with her owne care / what madnesse is it to lade vpon her also the care of the day folowyng, ye the care of a yere, ye of .xx. yere, or as though thou neuer entendest to dye & to torment and vexe the soule thorow my­strust and vnbelefe, & to make thy lyfe sowre and bytter and as vnquyete as the lyfe of the deuelles in hell. ❧ / ❧

Therfore care day by day / and houre by houre ernestlye to kepe the couenaunt of the lorde thy God an to recorde therin day and nyght and to do thy parte vnto the vttermost of thy power. And as for Goddes parte let hym care for it hym selfe, and beleue thou his wordes stedfastly & be sure that heuen & erthe shal soner peryshe thē one [...]ote byde behinde of that he hath promysed. And for thyne owne parte also, care nat of that maner / as though thou shuldest do all alone. Naye. God hath fyrst promysed to helpe the. Secondarely to accepte thyne harte, & that lytle that thou art [Page] able to do, be it neuer so imperfecte. Thyrdly though wynde, wether and the streame cary the cleane cōtrary to thy purpose, yet because thou by dest styll in thy professyon / redy to turne the ryght course as sone as the tempeste is a lytle ouer blowen, God promiseth to for­geue that, and nat the lesse to fulfyll his pro­myses of one iote. ❧ ❧

Tempte. why God letteth his chyldren be tēpted with aduersite.Dothe Christe so defende his, that they neuer come in daunger of trouble? yes they come in to suche straytes ofte that no wytte nor rea­son can se any way out / saue fayth only is sure that God hath and wyll make a way thorowe. But that tēptacion is but for an houre to teche them / and to make them fele the goodnes of theyr father / and the passyons of theyr bre­tkren and of theyr maister Christ also, It is but as a louyngge mother / to make her chylde to perceaue and fele her kyndenes (to loue her agayne an be thankfull) letteth it hunger in a mornynge. And whan it calleth for his break­fast maketh as she herde nat, tyll for payne & impacience it begynneth to crye a good. And then she stylleth it & geueth it all that it asketh and more to / to please it. And whan it is pea­sed and begynneth to eate, and reioyseth and is glade and fayne / she asketh, who gaue the that / thy mother? and yt sayth ye. Than sayth she. Am nat I a good mother that gyue the all thynges? and it answereth / ye. And she asketh. wylt thou loue thy mother. &c. And yt sayth ye, and so cometh it to the knowledge of his [Page xci] mothers kyndenesse / and is thankfull, Suche is the temptacion of Christes electe, and other wyse nat, ❧ / ❧

Here is nat forboden all maner of care, what care is forbo­den. but that worldly and deuelshe care that springeth of an inordinat loue to worldly thynges, and of mistrust in god. As for an ensample. I couet inordinatly more then sufficient, or but euen that I haue nede of. And it (because I mystrust God & haue no hope in hym, & therfore pray nat to hym) cometh nat. Then I mourne / so­row and pyne away / and am whole vnquyet in myne harte. Or whether I haue muche or but sufficient, and loue it inordinatly, then I care for the kepynge. And because I mistrust god & haue no hope in hym, that he wyl helpe me therfore whan I haue locked dores, cham­bres and cofers. I am neuer the nere at rest, but care styl & cast a thousande parelles, of which the moost parte were nat in my myght to ad­uoyde though I neuer slepe. And where this care is, there can the worde of God haue no restynge place, but is choked vp as sone as it is sowne. ❧ / ❧

There is a nother care that spryngeth out of the loue of God for euery loue hath here care and is a care to kepe Goddes cōmaundemētes This care must euery man haue. Care, what care euery man ought to haue. For a man ly­neth nat by brede only / but muche more by euery worde that procedeth out of the mouth of God. Goddes cōmaundement is mannes lyfe. The kepynge of Goddes commaun­demēt is the lyfe of a man, as wel in thꝭ world [Page] as in the worlde to cōe. As childe obey father and mother, that thou mayst longe lyue on the erthe. And by father an mother is vnderstāde all rulers, whiche yf thou obey, thy blessynge shalbe longe lyfe, and contrarye if thou diso­beye, short lyfe, and shalt ether peryshe by the swerde or by some other plage, and that shortlye, And euen so shall the ruler, yf he rule nat as God hath cōmaunded. Opresse thou a we­dowe and fatherles children (sayth God) and they shal cry to me, and I wyl here their voyce and then wyll my wrathe waxe whote / so that I wyl smyte you with swerde, Exod. 20. and your wyues shalbe wydowes and your children fatherles.

why God soffereth tyraūtes to prospere.Some wyll say, I se none more prosper or longer continue then those that be most cruell tyrauntes. what then? yet say I that God aby­deth euer true. For where he setteth vp a ty­raunt and contynueth hym in prosperite, it is to be a scourge to weked subiectes that haue forsaken the couenaūt of the lorde their god. And vnto them his good promyses pertayn [...] ant, saue his cursses onely. But yf the subiectes wolde turne and repent and folowe the wayes of God, he wolde shortely delyuer them. Howe be it yet where the superior corrupteh the inferior whiche else is dysposed ynough to goodnesse, God wyl nat let them longe continue. ✚

[Page] Iudgynge.Thys is nat meant of the temporall iudge­mentes, for Christe forbade nat that, but ofte dyd stablyshe it, as do Peter & Paule in theyr Epistles also. Nor here is nat forboden to iudge those dedes which are manifest agaynst the law of God, for those ought euery Christen man to persecute, what iud­gynge is rebuked. yet must they do it after the ordre that Christ hath set. But when he saythe. Ypocrite, cast out first the beme that is in thyne owne eye, it is easie to vnderstande of what maner of iudgynge he meanethe. ¶ The ypo­crites wyll haue fastynges, prayenges, kne­lynge, crouchyng▪ duckynge and a thousande ceremonyes of their owne inuēcion. And who so euer do nat as they do, they counte hym a dampned soule by & by. To Christ they say. why fast nat thy disciples, as the Pharesyes do why plucke they the eares of corne and rubbe them in theyr handes (though they dyd it com­pelled with pure hunger) and do that is nat lawfull on the Saboth day? why breake ye the tradicions of our elders / and washe nat when ye syt downe to mete? ye and why doest thou thy selfe heale the people vpon the holyday? why dyddest thou nat only heale him that was bedred .xxxviii. yeres, but also badest hī bere his beed away vpon the saboth day? Be there nat workyng dayes ynowe to do good dedes to the prayse of God, and proffyte of thy ney­boure, but that thou must breake thy Sabothe day? He can nat be but a dāpned person that breketh the holy daye / and despyseth the or­dinaunce [Page xciii] of the holy churche.

He eateth butter a frydayes with out a dispē ­sacion of our holy father the pope. ye & kake bread made with mylke and egges to / and whyte mete in lent, he taketh no holy water whan he cometh to the churche, he hereth no masse frome sonday to sonday. And eyther he hath no bedes at al, or else thou shalt nat here a stone clynke in the hande of hym, nor yet his lyppes wagge al the masse and matens whyle. The bea­me- &c. O ypocrite, cast out first the beme that is in thyne owne eye, and then thou shalt se better. Thou vnderstandest all Goddes lawes falsly / and therfore thou kepest none of them truly / his lawes require mercy & nat sacrifice. More ouer thou haste a false entent in all the workes that thou doest, and therfore are they al dampnable in the syght of god, ypocrite cast out the beame that is in thyne owne eye, lerne to vn­derstande the lawe of God truly, & to do thy workes a ryght, & for the entent that God or­deyned them. And then thou shalt se whether thy brother haue a mote in his eye or nat / Ceremoni­es, he that breaketh vnite for zele of ce­remonies vnderstan­deth nat Goddes lawe. and yf he haue howe to plucke it out / and else nat. ¶For he that knoweth the entent of the lawe and of workes though he obserue a thousande ceremonyes for his owne exercise, he shall ne­uer cōdempne his brother or breake vnite with hym in those thynges which Christ neuer com­maunded, but lefte indifferent. Or yf he se a mote in his brothers eye, that he obserueth nat with his brothren same certen ordinaūce made [Page] for a good purpose because he knoweth nat the entent, Ceremo­nyes. he wyl plucke it out fayre & softe­ly and enstructe hym louyngely, & make hym wel cōtent, which thynge yf our spiritual wold do, men wolde nat so abhore to obey theyr tyrannye. But they be ypocrites & do and cō ­maunde all theyr workes for a false purpose / and therfore iudge, slee and shede theyr bre­threns bloude mercylesslye. God is the father of all mercy, and therfore gaue nat ypocrites suche absolute power to compelle theyr bre­thren to obey what they lyst or to slay thē with out pytye, shewyng ether no cause of theyr cō ­maundementes at al, but so wyl we haue it / or else assignynge an entent dampnable and con­trary to all scripture, Paule. Ro. xiiii. sayth to thē that obserued ceremonies, that they shulde nat iudge them that dyd nat, for he that obserueth and knoweth nat the entent iudgeth at once, and to them that obserued nat that they shulde nat despise them that obserued, he that obserueth nat, ought nat to despyse y ^e weknes or ignoraunce of his brother, tyll he perceaue that he is obstinate and wyll nat lerne. More ouer suche measure as thou geuest, Measure. thou shalte receaue agayne, that is, yf thou iudge thy ney­boure. God shall iudge the, for yf thou iudge thy neyboure in suche thynges / thou knowest nat the lawe of god, nor the entent of workes / and arte therfore cō ­dempned of god.

The dogges are those obstinate and indu­rate, Dogges. which for the blynde zele of their leuen / wherwith they haue sowred both the doctrine & also y ^e workes, maliciously resyst the truth and persecute the mynystres therof, and are those wolues amonge whiche Christe sendeth hys shepe, warnyng them / nat only to be syn­gle and pure in theyr doctrine, but also wyse & circumspecte & to beware of men. For they shulde brynge them before iudges & kynges and slay them / thynkynge to do God seruice therin, that is as Paule to the Romaynes testi­fyeth of y ^e Iewes, for blind zele to their owne false and fayned ryghtwysnesse / persecute the ryghtwysnesse of God. ❧ / ❧

The swyne are they whiche for all they haue receaueth the pure Gospell of Christ, wyll yet contynue styll in synne, Swyne. and roule them selues in the podel and myer of their olde fylthye cō uersacion, and bothe befose the ignoraunt & also the weake, vse the vttermost of their libertye, enterpretynge it after the largest fassyon / and muste fauoure of the fleshe, as it were the popes pardon, and therwith make the truthe euell spoken of / that thousandes whiche else [Page] myght haue ben easely wonne. wyll nowe nat once here therof, and stere vp cruell persecuci­on, whiche els wolde be muche easyer. ye and somtyme none at al. And yet wyl those swyne. when it cometh to the poynte abyde no perse­cucion at all. But offer them selues wyllynge euen at the fyrst chope for to deny yet they be scasly apposed of theyr doctrine. Therfore lay first the lawe of god before them, & call them to repentaūce. And yf thou se no hope of men­dynge in them, sease there & go no further, for they be swyne. ¶ But alas, it euer was & shal be that the greater nombre receaue the wordes for a newnesse & curiosite (as they say) and to seme to be somwhat & that they haue not gone to schole in vayne, they wyll forthe with yer they haue felte any chaunge of lyuynge in them selfe, be scholemasters and begyn at libertie, an practise openly before theyr disciples. And whan the Phareseyes se theyr tradicions bro­ken they rage & persecute immediatly. And then our newe scholemasters be nether groun­ded in the doctrine to defende theyr doynges nor rooted in the profession of a newe lyfe to suffre with Christ. &c. ❧ / ❧

Fyrst note of these wordes, Prayer is a commaun­dement. that to pray is Goddes commaundemen, as it is to beleue in god, to loue God or to loue thy neyboure, and so are almose and fastynge also, Belefe. To beleue in God, what. Nether is it possible to beleue in God, to loue hym or to loue thy neyboure. But that prayer wyl spring out ther hence immediatly. For to beleue in God, is to be sure that all thou hast is of hym and all thou nedest must come of hym. whiche yf thou do thou canst nat hut cōtinually thanke him for his benefites whiche thou continually without ceasynge receauest of his hande / and therto euer cry for helpe, for thou arte euer in nede, and canst no whence els beholden. And thy neyboure is in such necessite also. wherfore yf thou loue him, yt wyll compelle the to pyte hym, and to cry to God for hym continually, and to thanke as well for hym as thy selfe.

[Page]Secondarely, this heapynge of so many wordes to gether, axe, seke & knocke, signify that the prayer must be cōtinuall, & so dothe the parahle of the wedowe that sued to the weked iudge, Luke. 18. and the cause is, that we are euer in cōtinual necessite (as I sayd) and all our life but euen a warre fare and a perpetual batayle In whiche we preuayle as longe as we pray, & be ouercome assonc as we ceasse prayenge / Prayer. By prayer we wynne the vycto­rye onely, and ther­fore is it of all thynges moste ne­cessarie. as Israel ouercame the Amalechites. Exod 1.xvi [...]. as longe as Moses helde vp his handes in prayer, and assone as he had let downe his handes for werynesse, the Amalechites preuayled and had the better. Christ warned his disciples at his last souper to haue peace in him, affirmyng that they shulde haue none in the worlde. The false prophetes shall euer impugne the faythe in Christes bloude, & enforce to quenche the true vnderstandyng of the lawe, and the ryg [...] meanyng and entent of all the workes com­maūded by god, which fyght as a fyght aboue all fyghtes. First they shalbe in such nōhre that Christes true dyscyples shalbe but a small flocke in respecte of them. False pro­phetes what theyr wekednes is. They shall haue workes like Christes, so that fastynge, prayer, pouerty, obedience and chastite shalbe the names of their profession. For as Paule sayth to the Corinthians, the angelles or messengers of Sathan shal chaūge thē selues in to angelles or messengers of lyght and truthe. Marc. xiii. They shall come in Christes name, & that with signes and myracles, and haue the vpper hande also / euen [Page xcvi] to deceaue y ^e very electe if it were possible, Mat, 24. Ye and beynde all this, yf thou get the victory of the false prophetes, & plucke a multitude out of theyr handes, there shal immediatly ryse of the same & set vp a new false secte against the. And agaynst al these Amalechites, the only re­meady is to lyfte vp the hādes of thy harte to God in cōtinual prayer. which handes, if thou for werynes once let fall / thou goest to the worsse immediatly. Then besyde the fyght & cōflyct [...] of the sottle sophistrie, false myracles desguysed & ypocretishe workꝭ of these false prophetes, cometh the dogges and wolues of theyr disciples with the seruauntes of Māmon and the swyne of thyne owne scolers, againste whiche al thou hast no nother shyld or defence but prayer. Then y ^e syn & luste of thine owne flesh, Sathan & a thousande temptacions vnto [...]ell in the worlde, wyll ether dryue the to y ^e castell and refuge of prayer or take the priso­ner ondoutedly. Last of all thy neyboures necessite and thyne owne wyl cōpel the to crye Father whiche arte in heuen gyue vs our dayly brede, though thou were as ryche as kynge Sa­lomon. The ryche must praye for daylye breade. For Christ cōmaūdeth the riche as wel as the pore, to cry to God cōtinually for their dayly brede. And if they haue no suche nede, then is Christ a deceauer and a mocker. what nede I to pray the to geue orlende me, that is in myne owne possessiō alredy? Is nat y ^e fyrst [Page] commaundement, that there is but one God / and that thou put thy whole trust in him, which yf it were wrytten in thyne harte thou shuldest easely perceaue, and though thou haddest as many thousandes as Dauid lefte behynde him and Salomon heaped mo to them, that thou haddest no more then the poore begger that goeth from dore to dore, ye & that y ^e begger (if that cōmaūdemēt be wrytten in his harte) is sure, y ^t he is as ryche as thou. For fyrst thou must knowledge that thou hast receaued that great treasure of the hande of God, wherfore whan thou fettest an halfepeny therof thou oughtest to geue God thankes in thyne harte for the gyfte therof. Thou must confesse also that God only hath kepte it and the that same nyght, and euer before, or els be an ydolater and put thy trust in some other thynge thē, God And thou must cōfesse that god only must kepe it and the, the day and nyght folowynge and so continually after, & nat thyne owne wytte or power, or the wytte or power of any other creature or creatures. For yf God kept it the nat, it wolde be thyne owne distruction & they that helpe the to kepe it / wolde cut thy throte for it. There is no kynge in Christendome so well beloued, but he hath ynowe of his owne euell subiectes (yf god kepte them nat downe with feare) that wolde at one houre ryse vp on him and slee him to make hauoke of al he hath who is so welbeloued thorowe out al Englāde but that there be ynow in the same parysshe or [Page xcvii] nye aboute that wold, for his good wishe him to hel if they coude, & wolde with their hādes destroye him, if god kept him nat and dyd cast feare on the other, Nowe then if god must euer kepe it the & thou must dayly receaue it of his hande (as a pore man doth receaue his almose of a no ther man) thou arte in no more suretye of thy dayly brede, no though thou were a cardinal, then the porest is. wherfore how so euer ryche thou be, yet must thou euer crye to God for thy dayly breade, So nowe it is a cōmaun­dement to pray and that continually / shorte, thycke and ofte as the psalmes be and all the prayers of the Byble. ❧ ❧

Fynally the thyrd is that we be cōmaunded to pray with fayth & trust and that we beleuē in the lorde our God, Fayth must be ioyned to our prayers. and doute nat in his promyses, vnto whiche Christ enduceth vs with an apte similitude sayenge. If ye beynge euer can yet geue good thynges vnto your chyldren / howe muche more shal God fulfyl his promi­ses of mercy vnto his chyldren if they crye vn­to him? he is better and more mercyful then al men, wherfore seynge God commaundeth the to pray, and for as muche as thou hast so great necessite so to do, and because he is mercy full and hath promysed and is true and can nat deny his owne wordes, Therfore pray, and when thou prayest, loke nat on thyne vnworthynesse but on his commaundement, mercy and goodnesse, and on his truthe and faythfulnesse / and beleue stedfastly in hym. Moreouer what so [Page] euer thou hast done / yet yf thou repent & wylt amende, he promyseth that he wyll nat thynke on thy synnes. And though he differ y ^e, thynke it nat longe nor faynt in thy fayth or be slacke in thy prayer. For he wyll surely come & geue the more then thou desyrest / though he deferre for thy proffyte / or chaunge t [...]y request in to a better thynge. ❧ / / ❧

This is a short sermone, that no man nede to complayne that be can nat for y ^e length beare it awaye. It is so nye the / that thou nedest nat to sende ouer see for ir. ❀ Doutes howe to soyle dou­tes. It is with in the, that thou nedest nat to be importune vpon maister doctor sayenge / syr I pray you / what say ye to this case and to that / & is nat this lawfull / and may I nat so do & so well ynough? Axe thyne owne consience what thou mayst or oughte to do, woldest thou men dyd so with the, then do it, woldest thou nat be so dealte with, then do it nat. Thou woldest nat that men shulde do to the wronge or oppresse the. Thou woldest nat thet men shulde do the shame and rebuke / lye on the, kyll the / hyre thyne house from the, or tyce thy seruaūt awaye / or take agaynst thy wyll oughte that is thyne, Thou woldest nat that men shulde sell the false ware whan thou [Page xcviii] puttest them in trust to make it readye or laye it out for them / Nota. nor thou woldest nat that men shulde deceuue the with greate othes sweryng that to be good which in dede is very naught. Thou woldest nat also that men shulde sell the ware that is noughte and to deare / to vndo the / do suche thynges then to thy neyboure. But as lothe as thou woldest be to bye false ware or to deare / for vndoynge thy selfe / so lothe be thou to sell false ware or to deare for vndoynge thy neyboure. And in all thy nedes howe glade thou woldest be to be holpen / so glade be to helpe thy neyboure. And so in all other cases examyne thy cōscience and axe her what is to be done in al doubtes betwene thy neyboure and the, & she wyl teache the, except thou be more fylthy then a swene and all to gether beastlye, ☜ / / ☞

He sayth here, Nota. this is the lawe and the pro­phetes. And Math. xxii. he sayth. Thou shalte loue thy lorde God with al thyne harte, with al thy soule and al thy mynde, Law, what the fulfyl­lynge ther­of is. And as Marke ad­deth, / with al thy myght, and thy neyboure as thy selfe. In the two commaundementes han­geth the whole lawe and the prophetes. And Paule. Roma. xii. and Gala. v. sayth that loue is the fulfyllyng of the lawe, And it is written that Christ is the fulfyllynge or the ende of the lawe. To make all this agree, thys thou muste vnderstande, that to loue God purely is the fi­nall and vttermost ende of all the lawe & the [Page] prophetes. To loue thy neyboure is the ende of all lawes that is betwene man and man / as are, kyl nat, steale nat, beare no false wytnesse commytte none adulterye, couet nat tby ney­boures wyfe, his house, oxe, asse, mayde, man seruaūt nor ought that is his. &c. Christe is the fulfyllynge of the lawe for vs / where we be imperfecte. And whan we breake and repent / his fulfyllynge is imputed vnto vs. And this texte, this is the lawe and the prophetes, mayst thou vnderstāde, as whan Paule sayth, Loue is the fulfyllynge of the lawe. That is, to do as thou woldest be done to, is all the lawe that is betwene the and thy neyboure, and that acor­dynde to the true vnderstandynge and inter­pretynge of all true prophetes.

Strayte gate,The strayte gate is the true knowledge and vnderstandyng of the lawe and of the true en­tent of workes, whiche who so euer vnderstan­deth, the same shalbe dryuen to Christ to fetche of his fulnes and to take him for his ryghtwysnes and fulfyllynge of the law, al to gether at [Page xcix] the begynnynge and as ofte as we fall after­warde, and for more then the thousande parte of our fulfyllynge of the lawe and ryghtwys­nesse of our best workes al our lyfe longe. For except the ryghtwysnesse of Christe be knytte to the best dede we do, it wyll be to shorte to reache to heuen. ❧ / / ❧

And the narowe waye is to lyue after this knowledge▪ The na­rowe way. He that wyll enter in at this gate must be made a newe, his heed wyll else be to great, he must be vntaught all that he hath ler­ned, to be made lesse for to entre in, and disu­sed in all thynges to which he hath ben accustomed to be made lesse to walke thorowe the narowe way, where he shall fynde such an heape of temptacions and so continuall, that it shall be impossible to endure or to stande, but by prayer of stronge fayth. ❧ / ❧

And note a nother, Few fynde the narowe way and why. that fewe fynde the waye why? for theyr owne wysdome, theyr owne power & the reasons of their owne sophistrye blynde them vtterly. That is to say, the lyght of theyr owne doctrine which is in them, is so extreme darcknesse that they can nat se. Shuld god let his church erre (say they) Shulde our elders haue gon out of the waye? Shulde God haue let y ^e deuel do these myraclas & so forth. And whan Christ sayth / fewe shall fynde the gate, ye say they / in respecte of the turkes and saresyns whiche are the greater multitude. Ye but yet here a lytle / the Scrybes & Phareseys which had all the auctorite ouer the people & [Page] taught out of the scripture, & the saduces with all other false prophetes that were whā Christ came, were no Turckes nor Saresyns, nether had God any other churche than was amonge them. Peter. And saynt Peter prophesyeth y ^t it shal be so amonge vs, & that we shalbe drawen w ^t false sectes of couetousnesse, to deny Christ, as we nowe do, and beleue no more in hym, And Paule & Christ cōfirme the same, Paule. Christe. that the elect shulde be deceyued, if it were possible. More­ouer yf it were ynough to say. I wyll beleue & do as myne elders haue done, as though they could nat erre, then was Christ to blame for to saye, that excepte thou forsake father, mother and thyne elders, thou couldest nat be his disciple, Christe must be thy master, & thou must be taught of God, and therfore oughtest thou to examine the doctrine of thyne elders by the worde of God, For the greate multitude that Christ meneth are the false prophetes & them y ^t folow thē, as it shal better apere here after.

Here Christe warneth the, The false prophetes who. and describeth vn­to the, those capitayns that shulde so blynde the great multitede (that they shulde nat finde the strayte gate) & leade them the brode waye to perdicion. Note fyrst that though they be false, yet he calleth them prophetes, whiche worde in the newe testamēt is taken for an ex­pounder & an interpreter of scripture. And he sayth they shal come to you my disciples, then they must be our preachers and our doctours. Ye verely they must be those our false prechers which Peter prophesyed shulde be amonge vs and brynge in dāpnable sectes, for to fulfyl & satisfy theyr couetousnesse, & folowe the way and steppes of theyr father Balam. And they shall come therto in shepes clothynge. Ergo they be nether the turkes nor yet saresins. For they come clothed in yron and stele, and wyll therto suffre vs to kepe our fayth / yf we wyll submytte our selues to them / as the grekes do▪ [Page] And as for the Iues they be an hundred tymes fewer then we, & are euery where in bondage, ye and for the great parte captiues vnto vs. They also be nat clothed in shepes skynnes / but mayntene openly theyr fayth cleane con­trarye to oures. ❧ / ❧

Shepes clothynge what.But what are these shepes clothynges, truly the very name of Christ, For sayth Christ Mat. xxiiii. There shall come many in my name and deceaue many. And besydes that, they shall do myracles in Christes name, as it foloweth in the texte, that they shal call Christ Maister, Maister, and begynne theyr sermone sayenge. Our maister Christe saythe in suche a chapiter. what so euer ye bynde vpon earthe, shalbe bounde in heuen. Se frendes these be nat our wordes, but our master Christes, And they shal do myracles in Christes name therto, to con­fyrme the false doctrine which they preache in his name. O feareful & terryble iudgement of almyghty God and sentence of extremery go­rousnesse vpon al that loue nat the truth (whan it is preached them) that God to aduenge hym selfe of their vnkyndnesse, shal sende them so stronge delusions that doctrine shuld be prea­ched vnto them in the name of Christ, & made seme to folowe out of his wordes and be con­fyrmed with myracles done in callynge vpon the name of Christ, 2. The. 2. to harden their hartꝭ in the fayth of lyes accordynge to the prophesye of Paule to the Thessaloniās in the secōde pistle.

Shepes clothynge.Another of theyr shepes coutes is, that they [Page ci] shal in euery sermon preche myghtely agaynst the Scrybes & Phareseyes, agaynste Faustus and Pelagian with such lyke heretykes, which yet neuer preached other doctryne then they thē selues do. And more of theyr clothynge is they shal preache that Christ preached almose prayer and fastynge, and professe obedience pouerty and chastite, workes that our sauiour Christ bothe preached and dyd, Fynally they be the holy churche and can nat erre.

But they be within rauenynge wolues, Raueninge wolues. They preache to other, steale nat yet they them selues robbe God of his honoure, & take from hym the prayse & proffite of all their doctrine and of all their workes. They robbe the lawe of God of her myghtye power wherwith she dryueth all men to Christe, and make her so weyke, that the feble frewyll of man is nat able to wrestle with her, without callynge to Christe for helpe, ❧ / ❧

They haue robbed Chiste of all his mery­tes and clothed them selues therwith. They haue robbed the soule of man of the breade of her lyfe, the fayth and trust in Christes bloude and haue fede her with the shales and coddes of the hope in theyr merytes, and confydence in theyr good workes ☜ ☞

They haue robbed the workes commaunded by God of the entent and purpose that they were ordeyned for. And with theyr obedience they haue drawen them selues from vnder the obedience of all princes and temporall lawes [Page] with theyr pouerty, they haue robbed all na­cions & kyngedomes, and so with theyr wyl­ful pouerty haue enryched them selues, & haue made the comens poore / with theyr chastite / they haue fylled all the worlde full of whores and sodomites, The obedience pouertye & wyl­ful chastite of our spi­ritualtye. thynking to please God more hylye with kepynge of an whore then an ho­nest chast wyfe, If they say it is nat truthe then all the worlde knoweth they lye, for if a prest mary an honest wyfe, they punyshe hym imme­diatly and saye he is an haynouse heretyke as though matrimonye were abhominable. But if he kepe a whore, thē is he a good chast chylde of theyr holy father the pope whose ensample they folowe, an I warrant hym synge masse on y ^e next day after as wel as he dyd before, without ether persecucion or excommunicacion / suche are the lawes of theyr vnchaste I wolde say theyr owne chast father. ☜ / ☞

If thou professe obediēce, why ronnest thou from father, mother, master and ruler (whiche God byddeth the to obeye) to be a fryer / yf thou obeye, why obeyest thou nat the kynge and his lawe, by whome God defendeth the bothe the in lyfe and goodes / and al thy great possessions? ❧ / ❧ ❧ / ❧

Pouertye.If thou professe pouertye, what doest thou with the landes of gentylmen, squyer [...], knygh­tes, barōs, erles & dukes? what shulde a lor­des brother be a beggers seruaunt? or what shulde a begger ryde with thre or foure score horses waytynge on hym. Is it mete that a man [Page cii] of noble byrth, & the right heyre of the landes whiche thou possessest sholde be thyne horse keper thou beynge a begger.

If ye professe chastite, why desyer ye aboue al other men the company of women? Chastite. what do ye with whores openly in many contreyes, and with secret dispensacions to kepe concu­bines? why corrupte ye so much other mennes wyues? and why be there so many Sodomites amonge you? ☜ / ❀ / ☞

Your charite is mercylesse to the rest of the worlde to whome ye may gyue nought agayne and onely lyberall to your selues (as is the charite of theues) xxx. Charite. or fourtye of you to gether in one denne, amonge whiche yet are nat many that loue thre of his neyboures hertelye.

Your fastynge maketh you as full and as fatte as your hydes can holde / Fastynge. besye that ye haue a dispensacion of your holy father for your fastynge. ☜ / ❀ / ☞

Your prayer is but patterynge without all affeccyon. Prayer, Your syngynge is but ro [...]ynge to stretche out our mawes (as do your other ge­stures and rysynge at mydnyght) to make the meate synge to the botome of the stomacke y ^t ye may haue perfecte dygestion, & be redy to deuoure a freshe agaynst the nexte refeccion.

Ye shal know them by theyr frutes. Thornes beare no fygges. First thornes beare no grages nor bryers fygges. Also if thou se goodly blossomes in them & thynkest there to haue fygges, grapes, or any frute for the sustenaunce or confort of man, go to them [Page] in tyme of nede, and thou shalt fynde nought at all. Thou shalte fynde, for southe I haue no goodes nor any thyng proper, or that is myne owne, It is the couentes. I were a thefe yf I gaue it my father what so euer nede he had. It is saynt Edmondes patrimony. Saynt Albons patrimonye, Saynt Edwardes patrymonye the goodes of holy churche. It may nat be mynys­shed nor occupyed vpon lay and prophane vses. The kyng of the realme for al that he de­fendeth them aboue all other, yet getteth he nought what nede soeuer he haue saue thē only whan he must spende on theyr causes all that they gyue withal that he can get besyde of his pore comēs. If the kyng wyl attempte to take ought from thē by y ^e auctorite of his office for the defence of the realme. Or yf any man wyll entre at them otherwyse then they lust them selues, by what lawe or ryght it be, they turne to thornes and bryers, and waxe at once roug­her then a hedgehogge, & wyll sprynkle them with the holy water of theyr maledictions as thycke as hayle, and brethe out the lyghte­nynge of excommunicacion vpon them, and so consume them to pouldre, ☜ / ☞

A corruptetre beareth no good frute.More ouer a corrupt tree can beare no good frute That is wher they haue frute that semeth to be good, go to and proue it, and thou shalt fynde it rotten / or the carnell eaten out / and that it is but as a holowe nutte. For fayth in Christ (that we and al our workes done within the compase of the lawe of God, Fayth is the kernell of all our good fru­tes. be accepted [Page ciii] to God for his sake) is the kernell, the swet­nes and the pleasaunt bewty of al our workes in the syght of God. As it is wrytten Iohan, vi, This is the worke of god, that ye beleue ī him whome he hath sent. This faythe is a worke whiche God nat only worketh in vs, but also hath therin pleasure and delectacyon, and in all other for that faythes sake.

Fayth is the lyfe of man, as it is wrytten. Iustus ex fide viuit, out of whiche lyfe the pleasantnesse of all his workes sprynge. As for an ensample, thou arte a shoumaker whiche is a worke within the lawes of God, Fayth ma­keth the worke good and ecceptable and sayest in thyne harte. Lo God, here I make a shue as truely as I wolde for my selfe / to do my ney­boure seruice / and to get my lyuynge in truthe with the laboure of myne handes as thou com­maundest, and thanke the that thou hast geuen me this crafte and makest it luckye that I gette my lyuynge therwith / and am surelye persua­ded that bothe I and my worke please the, O father, for thy sonne Iesus sake. Lo nowe this faythe hath made this symple worke plea­saunt in the syght of God. ☜ / ☞

Another ensample, thou takest a wyfe and sayest, O father, thou nat only permyttest this but also commaundest all that burne and haue their myndes vnquyeted / to mary for feare of fornicacion & so forthe. And father I promise the to loue this woman truelye and to care for her, and gouerne her after thy lawes, & to be true to her, & to stande by her in all aduersites [Page] and to take in worthe as well the euell as the good and to brynge vp the frute that thou shalte geue me of her / in thy feare / and teache it to knowe the. ❧ / ❧ / ❧

❧ Moreouer as concernyg the acte of Matri­mony, as whā thou wylt eate, thou blessed god and receauest thy dayly fode of his hande ac­cordynge to the fourthe peticion of thy pater noster, and knowlegest that it is hys gyfte, and thankest hym, beleuyng his word, that he hath created it for the to receaue it with thankes by the which worde & prayer of thākes thy meate and drynke is sanctifyed. 1. Timot. iiii. Euen so thou sayest, Father this I do, nat only at thy permission which is ynough to please the with all, but also at thy commaundement, and haue bounde my selfe here vnto to kepe my soule from synnynge agaynst the, and to helpe my neyboure that she synne nat also, and promyse the to kepe this profession truly / & to noryshe the frute that thou shalt gyue me ī the feare of the & in the faith of thy son Iesu, & so thankest the lorde for his gyftes. How is thy worke thorowe this fayth & thankes pleasaunt & accep­table in the syght of God. And so was the gen­derynnge of Iacob in faith / and of Samuel, & many other. And y ^e geuyng sucke was a good worke, and so was the dressyng of them by the fyre. And whan our lady conceaued Christs thorowe fayth, was nat that a good worke? what yf God whan she doubted & asked (by what maner she shulde conceaue him) had commaunded [Page ciiii] her to conceaue hym of Ioseph or of some other man, had nat that worke done in obedience and fayth / ben as good a worke?

The wyll that Abraham had to slaye Isaac, & all that he dyd tyl he came at the very poynte to slaye hym / were good workes / and so had ben the slayenge also. And Abraham was sure that he pleased God hylye / and as well as in any other worke, and had as depely synned yf he had ben disobedient therin, as though he had done any other cruell dede forboden by God, ye but shomakynge is nat commaunded by God, yes and hath the promise of God an­nexed therto. For God hath commaunded me for the auoydynge of syne to do my brethren seruice / and to lyue therby / Handy craftes are the cōmandement of God. and to chose one estate or other (for if thou woldest receaue on­ly of thy brethren and do nought agayne thou were a thefe and an extorcioner & a tyraunt) And I chose shomakynge, or receaue it at the obedience of myne elders. Nowe haue I god­des commaundement to worke therin trulye, and his promyse annexed therto, that he wyll blesse myne occupacion and make it lucky and frutful to brynge me an honest lyuynge. worke I nat nowe at goddes commaundement and haue his promyse that it pleaseth hym?

❀ Note thꝭ also, Fyrst my crafte is goddes cō ­maundemēt. Secōdarely I beleue and am sure that my worke pleaseth god for Christes sake Thyrdlye my worke is proffytable vnto my neyboure, and helpeth his necessite. Fourthlye [Page] I receaue my rewarde of the hande of God w ^t thankes, and worke surely certefyed that I please God in my worke thorowe Christe and that god wyl gyue me my dayly breade therby

But yf thou examyne theyr doctrine / thou shalt fynde that this fayth is away in all theyr frutes, and therfore are they worme eaten and shales without kernelles, ☜ ☞

Nota.☞ Note agayne, the turkes and lewes gyue almose as well as we & as muche, and yet ab­hominable for lacke of fayth and knowledge of the true entent. what sayth the texte, he that receaueth a prophete in y ^e name of a prophete shall haue the rewarde of a prophete. That is, because thou aydest him in preachyng of Christes worde, thou shalt be partaker with him & haue the same rewarde, And he that receaueth a disciple in the name of a disciple, shall haue &c. And he y ^t geueth one of these lytle ons but a cuppe of colde water for my name sake shal haue his rewarde. If a kyng minister his kyngedome ī the fayth of this name, because his subiectes be his brethren and the pryce of Christꝭ bloude, he pleaseth God hyghly, and yf this fayth be nat there / it pleaseth him nat. And yf I sowe a shue truly in the fayth of his name, to do my brother seruice / because he is the pryce of Christes bloude / as pleaseth God. Thus is fayth the goodnesse of all workes.

❧ Fynally whan God geueth, and I receaue with thankes, is nat God as well pleased / as whan I geue for his sake and he receaueth? A [Page cv] true frende is as glad to do his frende a good turne, as to receyue a good turne, whan the fa­ther gyueth his sonne a newe cote & sayth. Am nat I a good father / & wylte nat thou loue me agayn and do what I bydde the, And the boye receyueth it with thankes and sayth ye, and is glade and proude therof, dothe nat the father reioyse as muche nowe in the lade, as a nother tyme whan the lade dothe what so euer it be at his fathers commaundemēt? But the false prophetes do well to paynte God after the lyke­nesse of theyr owne visenomye, glad whan he receyueth▪ ye whan they receyue in his name. But sowre grudgynge and euell content whan he geueth agayne. But thou pleaseth god, whā thou askest ī faith, & whan thou receauest with thankes, and whan thou reioysest in his gyftes and louest hym agayne, to kepe his commaun­dementes and the apoyntemāt and couenaunt made betwene hym and the. ☜ / ☞

❀ And for a conclusion besydes, that they ex­pell feyth which is the goodnesse of al workes they set vp workes of theyr owne makynge to distroye the workes of God, and to be holyer then goddes workes, to the depisyng of god­des worke, & to make Goddes workes vyle. ❀ with theyr chastite they distroye the chastite that god ordeyned & only requyreth w ^t theyr obedience, they destroye the obedience that God ordeyned in this world, and desyreth no nother, with theyr pouertye they destroye the pouerty of the spirite which Christ taugh only [Page] whiche is, onely nat to loue worldely goodes with theyr fast, they destroye the fast whiche God commaundeth that is a perpetuall sobre­nesse to tame the fleshe, with theyr patterynge prayer, they destroye y ^e prayer taught by god whiche is ether thankes or desirynge helpe with fayth & trust that God heareth me.

The holy­nes of ypocrites wherin it is.Theyr holynesse is to forbyd that God or­deyned to be receaued with thankes gyuynge, as mete and matrimonye. And their owne workes they mayntayne and let Goddes decaye. Breake theirs and they persecute to the dethe But breake Goddes, and they ether loke tho­rowe the fingers or else gyue the a flappe with a foxe tayle for a lytle monye. There is none ordre amonge thē that is so perfecte, but that they haue a prison more cruell then any [...]ayle of theues and murtherers. And yf one of theyr brethren commytte fornycacion or adulterye in the worlde, he fynissheth his penaunce ther­in in thre wekes or a moneth, and then is sent to a nother place of the same religion. But yf he attempt to put of y ^e holy habite, Axe the Austen fryers why they murthered one of theyr fe­lowes at London. he cometh neuer out, and is so straytlye dyoted therto, that it is meruel if he lyue a yere, besyde other cruell murther that hath ben founde amonge them, and yet is thys shamefull dyotynge of theyrs, murther cruell ynough,

Be nat deceaued with vysures, nor yet with myracles. But go to and iudge theyr workes, for the spiritual iudgeth al thyngꝭ sayth Paule i. Cor. 11, who is that spirituall? nat suche as [Page cvi] we nowe call men of holy churche, who is the spirituall. But al that haue the true interpretacion of the lawe wryt­ten in theyr hartes. The ryght fayth of Christe and the true intent of workes, which God byddeth vs worke, he is spirituall and iudgeth al thynges, and is iudged of no man.

This doublynge of lorde hath vehemensy & betokeneth that they whiche shalbe excluded are suche as thynke them selues better & per­fitter then other men, & to deserue heuen with theyr holy workes, nat for them selues onely but also for other. And by that they prophe­syed, by whiche thou mayst vnderstande the en­terpretynge of scripture, and by that they cast out deuelles / and dyd myracles in Christes [Page] name (and for all that they are yet workers of wykednesse, and do nat the wyll of the father which is ī heuen) it is playne that they be false prophetes, and euen the same of which Christe warned before. ❧ / ❀ / ❀ / ❧

Ignoraūce excuseth nat, yf we wyl nat se.❀ And nowe for as muche as Christe and his apostles warne vs that suche shall come, and descrybe vs the fassiōs of their vysures (Christꝭ name, holy churche, holy fathers and fyftene hundred yeres, with scripture and myracles) and cōmaunde vs to turne our eyes from their visures, and consider their frutes, and cut them vp and loke within whether they be sounde in the corē and kernell or no, and gyue vs a rule to trye them by, is it excuse good ynough to say. God wyl nat let so great a multitude erre. I wyll folowe the most parte and beleue as my fathers dyd / and as the preachers teache / and wyll nat busy my selfe / chose them / the faute is theirs and nat oures / God shal nat laye it to our charge yf we erre. ☜ / ❀ / ☞

False pro­phetes, howe to know wher they be.❀ where suche wordes be / there are the false prophetes all redy / for where no loue to the truthe is, there are the false prophetes / and where suche wordes be, there to be no loue to the truthe is playne, Ergo where suche wordes be, there be the false prophetes in theyr full swynge by Paules rule .2. Thessa. 2. Another cōclusion where no loue to the truthe is, the be false prophetes. The greatest of y ^e worlde haue least loue to the truth. Ergo the false prophetes be the chapelanes of the greatest which [Page cvii] may with the swerde compell the rest. As the kynges of Israell compelled to worshype the golden calues. And by false prophetes vnder stande false teachers, as Peter calleth them & wycked expounders of the scripture.

❀ Christ hath two fortes of hearers, Beleuers without workes, and wor­kers with­out fayth are buylt on sande. of whiche nether nother do there after. The one wyll be saued by fayth of their owne makyng without workes. The other with workes of their owne [Page] makynge without fayth. The first are those volupteouse which haue yelde them selues vnto synne sayenge, tushe God is mercyfull / and Christ dyed for vs, that must saue vs only, for we can nat but synne without resistence. The secōde are the ypocrites which wyl deserue al with theyr owne ymagyned workes only. And of fayth they haue no nother experience, saue that it is a lytle meritoriouse where it is payn­full to be beleued, As that Christ was borne of a virgyne, and that he came nat out the waye that other chyldren do / fye no / that ware a great inconuenience but aboue vnder her arme and yet made no hole / though he had a verye naturall bodye as other men haue / and that there is no breade in the sacrament nor wyne, though the fyue wyttes saye all ye, And the merytoriouse payne of this belefe is so heauye to them, that excepte they had fayned them a thousande wyse similitudes and lowsye lyke­nesses / and as manye madde reasons to steye them with all / and to helpe to captiuate theyr vnderstandynge, they were lyke to cast all of their backes. And the onely refuge of a greate many to kepe in that faythe, is to cast out of theyr myndes and nat to thynke vpon it. As though they forgyue nat, yet yf they put the displeasure out of their mindes & thynke nat of it tyll a good occasion be geuen to aduenge it, they thynke they loue theyr neyboure well ynough all the whyle, and be in good charite.

And the fayth of the best of them is, but lyke [Page cviii] theyr fayth in other worldlye storyes. But the fayth which ls trust and cōfydence to be saued and to haue theyr synnes forgeuen by Christe whiche was so borne, haue they nat at al That fayth haue they in theyr owne workes onely. But the true hearers vnderstande the lawe, as Christe interpreteth it here / and fele therbye theyr ryghtwyse dampnacion / and runne to Christe for succoure / and for remyssyon of all theyr synnes that are past / and for al the synne whiche chaunce thorowe infirmite / shall com­pell them to do, and for remysson of that the lawe is to stronge for theyr weake nature. And vpon that they consent to the lawe, loue it and professe it, to fulfyll it to the vttermost of theyr power, and then go to and worke. Fayth. Fayth or cōfidence in Christe bloude without helpe and before the workes of the law bryn­geth al maner of remission of synnes and satis­faccion. Fayth is mother of loue. Fayth accō ­payneth loue in all her workes to fulfyll as muche as there lacketh in our doynge the lawe of that perfayte loue, whiche Christe had to his father and vs in his fulfyllynge of the lawe for vs. Nowe whan we be reconcyled / than is loue and fayth to gether our ryghtwysnesse / Loue. our kepynge the lawe, our contynuynge / our proceadynge forwarde in the grace whiche we stande in / and our bryngynge to the euer­lastynge sauynge and euerlastynge lyfe. And the workes be estymed of God accordynge to the loue of the harte. If the workes be [Page] great and loue lytle & colde, then the workes be regarded therafter of God. If the workes be small and loue muche and feruent, the wor­kes be taken frr great of God. ❧

❀ The Scribes & Phariseyes had thrust vp the swerde of the word of god into a scabarde or shethe of gloses, and therin had knytte it fast / that it coulde nether stycke nor cut, teachynge deed workes without fayth & loue whiche are the life & y ^e hole goodnes of al workes & the only thynge why they please God. And ther­fore their audiēce abode euer carnal & fleshly mynde without fayth to god & loue to theyr neyboures. Christes wordes were spirite and life. Io. vi. That is to say, they ministred spirite and lyfe, and entred into the harte and grated on the cōscience and thorowe preachynge the lawe, made the herars perceyue theyr dutyes, euen what loue they ought to God, and whAt to man, & the right dāpnacion of al them that had nat the loue of God & man written ī their hartes, and thorow preachyng of fayth, made al y ^t cōsented to the lawe of god, [...]ele the mercy of God is Christ, and certefyed thē of theyr saluacion. [...]or y ^e word of god is a two edged [Page cix] swerde that perceth and deuydeth the spirite and soule of man a sonder. Hebre, 4. A man before the preaching of Goddes worde is but one man, all fleshe, the soule consentyng vnto the lustes of the fleshe, to folowe them, but the swerde of the worde of God where it taketh effecte, diuideth a man in two, and setteth hym [...]t variaunce agaynst his owne selfe. The fleshe [...]alynge one way, and the spirite drawynge a [...]other, y ^e flesh ragyng to folowe lustes, & the [...]pirite callynge backe agayne, to folowe the [...]awe and wyll of God. A man al the whyle he [...]ōsenteth to the fleshe and before he be borne [...]gayne in Christ, is called soule or carnal. But when he is renewed in Christ thorowe y ^e word of lyfe, and hath the loue of God and of his neyboure, and the fayth of Christe wrytten in his harte, he is called spirite or spirituall. The lorde of all mercye sende vs preachers with power, that is to say, true expounders of the worde of god and spekers to the harte of man & deliuer vs from Scribes, Pha­reseyes, ypocrites, and all false prophetes.