to syt on his ryghte hande aboue all heauenly powers In Christ was shewed the excellent power of god / aboue all thynges / whiche power god wyl shewe to them that beleueth 2. He sheweth here the glory of Christ to be aboue all the powers / domynyons / or potestates in heauen that we shulde put our truste in Christ / whiche wyll exalte to that place where he is al them that beleue in him and thynketh to come there where Christ is on the right hande of the father onely by Chryste / and nat by theyr owne merytes or deseruinges and to put men in a suretye of that thynge Christe hym selfe was exalted from deathe to lyfe eternal 3. The power and the glory of Christ is shewed in that he sytteth on the ryght hande of the father in heauen aboue all powers rule / dominyon / potestates / and vertues / and aboue all names that is in this world or in the worlde to come / and all thynges are subiected to him and vnder his domynion and power / and he is the heade of the congregatyon whiche is his body Christ is the heade / in whome consisteth the perfeccyon of the hole bodye and he that maketh in the bodye all thynges parfyte 4. This place reproueth the Bysshoppe of Rome and all his decrees that maketh hym heade of the Churche of Chryste / for the hed of the churche of Christ is nat the bysshop of Rome / but Christe whiche maketh all thynges vnparfyte parfite / princes Kinges in their kingdomes worldely / be as heades of theyr subiectes vnder Christ to se euery one be in right order / to goddes wyll and pleasure / and that euery man in euery state and degree do his duty after his calling / for to the Kinges / Princes / and other superior power / it becoÌ„meth euery man to be obedyent / and from their power can no man exempte any of these subiectes by any profession of man / wherfore byshops of Rome exemptyng religyouse men from due obedience to their kinges and Prynces haue done against goddes lawe and saynt Paules doctrine Ro. 13. 1. Pe. 2. Hebre. 13. whiche places commaundeth all subiectes to be obedient vnto the hye powers / for they that resyste powers / they resyst the ordinance of God and these that resyste the ordynaunce of God they take to them selfe Iudgemente and dampnacyon Ro. 13. ¶ The seconde Chapyter to the Ephesyans ANd quickened you also when ye were deade throughe trespacê and synnes / in the whiche in time past ye walked accordynge to the course of this worlde / and after the Prynce that ruleth in the ayre / namely / after the spiryte whiche nowe worketh in the chyldren of vnbeleue amonge whome we also had our conuersacyon in tyme paste in the lustes of our fleshe and of the mynde and more naturally the childrenne of wrath euen aswell as other The Apostell compareth the state of these Ephesyans that they were in nowe when he wrote this Epistle to them / with the state condicion of lyfe that they were in before Chryst had called them to fayth by his word preached amonge them / that by the remembraunce of it / they might be prouoked with more gladnesse and harty loue to prayse and laude God / and gyue hym harty thankes that it hathe pleased hym to call them from darknes to lyghte from ignoraunce to knowledge / from syn to iustyce from deathe to lyfe / he saythe whan you knewe nat Chryste / you were deade by trespaces and synnes / beholde in what case they be in the knowe nat Chryste and his holy worde / by trespaces and synnes he vnderstandeth all manner of vyces and synnes / whether they be in thought wyll / acte / or in outwarde dede / when they knewe nat Chryste they were deade by synnes / nowe they knowynge Chryste do lyue / and be called from deathe to the lyfe of grace and of glorye eternal / before they walked in vyce and in synne / nowe they walke in grace and in vertue / before they walked after the maners / lustes and pleasures of this worlde / that is to saye / after the lustes of the fleshe / the lustes of the eyes / and proudnes of lyfe 1. Ioh. 2. Nowe they walke after the good wyll of god and after godes pleasure / before they folowed the prince of the ayre and was obedyente to his wyll this Prynce of the ayre is that euyll spiryte that worketh in sturdy / frowarde / and disobedyent personnes to goddes wyll and that doth nat beleue God but nowe they walke after the wyll of god the father of our Lorde Iesus Chryste lorde of heauen and earthe whose spiryte bryngeth and leadeth to all good workes of God who is he that knoweth he is called from synne / death / hel / eternall dampnacion / to iustice / lyfe / heauen / eternal ioy and blisse / wyll nat giue thankes laude and praise to him that brought hym to this ioye and felicyte Truely I thynke no man / but he wolde gyue greate thankes whan he remembreth the benefytes of his callynge / and for that cause saint Paule here compareth these two states to gether that euery one of vs may remember in what case we were in before Christe called vs to his knowledge by his worde / for as these Ephesyans were / so were we / and the same thynge he wryteth to them he writeth to vs / it agreith aswel to vs as to them / and all one thynge / as touchynge our state 2. This place sheweth that al men that came of Adam to be subiecte to synne / and for synne worthy eternall deathe / none able to delyuer them selfe from deathe and dampnacion / of the which we may learne that no man by his owne nature / myght / power / or fre wyll / can saue hym selfe from death and hell / but who someuer be saued that they be saued by the only grace of god and nat by theyr owne merytes / or by the merytes of sayntes departed 3. You see what foloweth syn / deathe / punyshment foloweth syn / as the rewarde for synne / and that these that wante the grace of god can nat but fall to synne / and go from one synne to an other / and walke after the lustes of the fleshe / and applye them selues to the wyll of the deuyll which worketh in euyl men and prouoketh to al vnhappynes vyce / syn / as these Ephesyans dyd before they were called by the worde of god to fayth to knowe Christ 4. In euyll men worketh the prynce of the ayre whiche is the deuyl that entyseth alwaye to euyll / and to do she workes of the deuyll The deuyll is called the prince of the ayre / nat bycause he hathe dominyon and power to rule the ayre at his pleasure or wyl / for that to god doth pertayne / but that he hathe power only of euyl men
done sōethyng for them to god / for the whiche the ignorant hathe crowched / kneled / kyssed / bobbed / and lycked the Images / gyuynge them cotes of clothe of golde / syluer / and of tysshu / veluet / damaske / and saten / suffred the lyuely membre of Chryst to be without a russet cote / or a sacke cloth to kepe hym warme / from the colde / leste for coulde he shulde perysshe / so we haue clothed stockes and stones / and suffered Chryst to perysshe for colde dye without the house and buyldeth goodly houses for an olde Idolle / a stocke or a stone / carued / and paynted for lucre sake .2 we may learne that we haue receyued nat one spirytuall blessynge / but all spyrytuall blessinges as our creacion / redempcion iustifycacion / forgyuenes of syn / lyfe euerlasting of no other but of Christ Iesus / and by no other meanes but for Christes sake throughe faythe / that we shulde gyue all prayse and thanke onely to god / and offer vp our selues thankfull sacryfyce / redy to obeye godes wyll aboue all thynges / redy to suffer with pacience all iniuryes / wronges and affliccyons for god his worde And this is the true sacrifyce of christians dayly and hourely to be offered vp to god for his benefytes of all christyanes 3. As he hath chosen vs before the foundacion of the world was layde / so he hath blessyd vs with al spirituall blessynges before the foūdacyon of the world layde And as this eleccyon of God was only of the mere grace / wyll / pleasure of god / so was all his blessynges towarde vs intended of his onely goodnes / and nat of our merytes or deseruynges / what thing coulde we deserue before we were borne that prouoked God to loue vs / or was the cause why that god loued vs nothynge 4. That we shulde be holy and without blame before hym in loue Nowe he shewith the cause why god elected vs in hym before the begynninge of the worlde / that we shulde be holy and without faute or blame before him in loue We thynketh the Apostle dothe speake these wordes to stoppe the vngodly mouthes of carnall men / whiche saye yf we be elected and chosen of god to immortal glorye / what maketh maier what we do / do what we wyll we shal at the laste come to that glory / and blysse / yf we be nat chosen and predestinat to be saued what skylleth of our workes / they shall nat profyte vs to optayne lyfe euerlastynge in ioye / yf we do al the cōmaundementes that god hath commaunded to be done / at the ende we shall be reiected and dampned yf we be nat predestynate of god to be saued by Chryst Iesus through faythe / that no man shuld speake so vngodly / or reason with hymselfe on this maner / and condemne Good workes / despyse to lyue holyly / care nat howe he lyue / whether he kepe godes commaundementes or no / saynt Paule sayth that god hath elected and chosen vs to be holy before hym in loue / that is to saye who so euer wyll be holy / and gyue themselues to serue god / to kepe his commaundementes / to lyue a lyfe puer and cleane from all vyce and synne / to beleue in god / to truste Chryste onely to be his sauyour / redemer / iustifyer / delyuerer from synne / deathe / hell / and eternal dampnacion / and gyue hym selfe to loue god aboue al thynges in this worlde / preferryng godes glorye aboue all earthely thynges / and to deserue good to euery man / studyinge alway to seke the glory of god and the profyte of other men / according to the wyll and pleasure of god for whose sake only good workes that God commaundeth in scrypture are to be done / which workes they do that be chosen and elected of god to eternall saluacyon / who be elected of god to saluacyon / who be nat / we can nat tell by the outwarde workes that they do Sygnes of godes predestinacyon is these Fyrste god of his goodnes elected / electeth and choseth whome he wyl only of his mere mercye and goodnes withoute all the deseruynges of man / whome he hathe elected he calleth them for the most part by preachynge of the gospell / and by the hearyng of the worde of god to fayth in Chryst Iesus / throughe faithe he iustifyeth them / forgyueth synnes / and maketh them obedyent to heare his worde with gladnes / to do that thynge that Goddes worde commaundeth them to do in theyr state and callynge / wherfore to heare the worde of God with gladnes / to beleue it / to knowe that it is the meane by the which god hath ordeyned to bring to saluacyon them that beleueth to order theyr liues accordyng to the commaundement of the worde of god to do all good workes commaunded in the scryptures to the vttermoste of your poure these be the sygnes of Saluacyon / of the contrarye parte who so euer be nat glad to heare the worde of God / but despyse it / condemne it / regarde it no more than Esopes fabules or thynke the worde of God to be folysshenes a vayne thing / of no profyte ne pleasure / a thynge to be hated and set at noughte / and so gyue no credence to it / care nat for it care nat to kepe Goddes commaundementes al set to seke the pleasures and the glorye of this worlde who so euer is so affected / it is a token that they be nat the chyldren of saluacion but of perdition and eternall dampnacyon of these workes that folowe we maye haue a coniecture who be ordeyned of God to be saued and who to be damned ¶ And ordynated vs before to receyue vs as chyldren throughe Iesus Chryst / accordyng to the pleasure of his wyll / vnto the promyse of the glorye of his grace / wherby he hathe made vs accepted in the beloued in whome we haue redemcyon / throughe his blode / forgyuenes of synnes accordyng to the ryches of his grace / whiche he hathe shewed vpon vs abondantly in al wysdome and prudence / and hath opened vnto vs the mistery of his wyll accordynge to his pleasure / whiche he hadde purposed in hym selfe / that it shulde be preached / whan the tyme was ful come / that all thynges shulde be gathered together by Chryst both the thynges which are in heauen / also the thynges that are vpon earth by hym Saynt Paule repeteth here with many playne wordes the thynges he had spoken before / that is to saye that we were elected of god in hym to be saued before the begynnynge of the worlde / that we shulde be holy and without blame before god by loue / the same thyng is repeted agayne in other wordes whiche thynge the Apostle dothe bycause he wolde haue this thynge surely knowne and roted in euery mannes harte and minde of the whiche preachers may
that lyueth here in the ayre gyue them selfe to serue the deuyll rather then God / and many mo there is that serue the deuil then god / for there is many mo vnfaythfull then faythfull / mo synners then good lyuers / mo that folowe the honours of the worlde / the pleasures of the flesshe / then that truely serueth god by true fayth and faythfull workes of charyte commaunded in the scrypture / mo that abuse the gooddes of the worlde then that vse them as they shulde do / of all abusers of goodes of the worlde the deuyll is the Prynce and captayne / for they do the wyll of the deuyl so we maye learne of whome the deuyll is prynce / what he maketh his seruauntes to do / workes of darcknes / and deathe / and where he vseth his power / here in the ayre where as euyl men lyueth folowyng the lustes of the flesshe / worldely honours / and pleasures of men / sekinge theyr owne pleasure more then goddes glorye / or the profyte of theyr neyghboure 5. Amonge whome we also had our coÌ„uersation / as he shulde say / nat only you Gentiles were deade by syn / going frome one synne to an other doynge the wyll of the prince of the ayre / but also all we Iewes were dead by sinne / had deserued euerlastyng death for our syn worthye to haue bene for euermore excluded the kingdom of heauen / wherfore insomuch the we with you be delyuered from syn / death / hel / eternal dampnacyon / it is is nat to be imputed to our merytes or deseruinges but only to the goodnes of God / to whome we Iewes gyue thankes glorifye god for it / as you Gentyles / for God by his sonne Iesus Christ hathe delyuered vs all from death 6. Men that be out of the fauor of god walke frome one synne to an other / do the lustes of theyr flesshe / and of theyr owne wyll contrary to the wyll of god / here we maye learne what we can do of our selfe / leste to our owne myghtes and powers yf we lacke the grace of God / surely we can do nothing elles but sinne / and folowe the desyres of our corrupte fleshe / as adultery glotony / drunkennes / Enuy / malyce / tancor hatred / pride / couitousnes / error heresy Idolatry / other suche lyke of the which commeth death eternal dampnacion 7. And were naturally the chyldren of wrath aswell as other Saint Paule extolethe the Iewes nothynge aboue the Gentyls as touchyng health iustifycacyon and lyfe euerlastynge / but maketh the Iewes and the Gentyles equall shewing them doth by their owne nature to be children of wrath and of dampnacyon that al prayse and glorye myght be gyuen onely to God for our iustifycacyon / forgyuenes of synne / and the gyfte of lyfe euerlastyng in ioye and blysse and no parte ascrybed to man to mannes myght or power merites or deseruynges ¶ But god which is ryche in mercy throughe his greate loue wherwith he loued vs / euen whan we were deade in synnes hath quyckened vs with Christ for by grace are ye saued and hathe raysed vs vp with hym / and set vs vp with hym in heauenly thinges through Chryst Iesus that in tymes to coÌ„e he myght shewe the excedynge ryches of his grace in kyndenes to vs warde in Christ Iesu The Apostle nowe sheweth howe that bothe the Iewes and the Gentyles deade by synnes haue opteyned lyfe nat by their owne merites / but onely by the grace of god / and that whan all hope of lyfe was paste after mannes iudgement or by the myghtê of maÌ„nes nature for howe coulde there be any hope of lyfe of them whiche were by nature the chyldren of the wrathe of god / and condeÌ„ned to deathe But then god whiche is by nature good / gentyl and mercyfull / ryche in mercy Of his greate charite and loue towarde vs hathe restored vs deade by synne to lyfe agayne by Iesus Christe / and that nat of our good workes / but frely and for Christes sake only / by whome is our lyfe The goodnes of god in this poynt is more to be noted towarde vs. That he hath loued vs whan we were his enemies euyll wycked synners that then he wolde nat suffre vs to perysshe in our synnes / but hath delyuered vs frome deathe to lyfe to be heyres of his kyngdome 2. And that he wolde make vs sure of perpetuall healthe and lyfe He sayeth that god hath quyckened vs raysed vs agayne with Christe and made vs to syt amonge the heauenly company with Christe / and that by the onely mercy grace of god by the which we are saued Here the Apostle speketh in the tyme past for the tyme to come / for the certayntie of the thynge to come by Christe And leaste anye shulde be wauerynge in hope or doubtefull of the promysses of God to be fulfylled as at mannes promysses God wylleth that men shulde be as sure of his ê“misses as yf they were receyued in dede by fayth and hope of them / whiche hope is neuer disceyued 3. The raysyng vp of Christe from death to lyfe maketh vs sure that we shall aryse fromde deathe to lyfe Ye we whiche are in this laste tymes in the whiche thynge is shewed the ryche grace of god / and his myghty power to all the worlde and for all tymes ⧠FOR by grace are ye saued throughe fayth that nat of your selues for it is the gyfte of god nat of workes lest any man shulde boste hym sealfe For we are his workmanshype created in Christe Iesu vnto good workes to the whiche god ordeyned vs before that we shulde walke in them ♣ Here we may lerne of Paule oftymes if nede be to repete one thynge whiche we wolde haue surely knoweÌ„ / and prynted in mennes hertes / specially this thyng / that our saluation coÌ„meth nat of our selfe / of our workes or merites of man / but onely of the grace of god throughe faythe In the which wordes saynt Paule reproueth all theÌ„ that thynke our iustification dothe come by other thynges then by the grace of god by Christe as by prayers / beades halowed at Syon / by masses of Scala celi / by rosaryes of our Lady / by saint Francis gyrdle / cote / coule or habit / hose / shoes or botes / gyrdeles / purse or knyfe / matyns masses or euen songe / or any other suche lyke without the grace of god without fayth of the which cometh lyfe euerlastyng 2. To fayth in the scripture is attributed our iustification / nat because fayth is the author of our iustification For the author of our iustification is Christe / but iustification is attributed to fayth because faythe receyueth the mercy of god beleueth the promysses of god made to iuste men and beleuers to be fulfylled So faythe is the organe the meane by the whiche we perceyue our
or se all his glory / ye no man can perceyue the glorye that god hath ordayned for them that loue him 1. Corin. 2. 4 Here also the Apostle teacheth al prechers to humylyate them selues and to exalte the worde of god / to gloryfie and magfye it aboue al thingê in this worlde / aboue al ryches / honoures / pleasures / profytes / or other goodes mortall in this worlde For there is no riches worldly / worthy to be compared with the worde of God / and be they reprouyd that preferreth wordely goodes ryches / honoures / before goddes worde / and in this manye be offenders / as appereth by outwarde tokens and sygnes that gyue more delygence / laboure payne / and more applyeth theÌ„ selfes to the studye of suche sciences that maye brynge worldly ryches and honoures / then to the konwledge of goddes worde whiche is tokens that men more regardeth worldly ryches then goddes worde This place checketh gentylmen ryche men in the worlde / that put theyr chyldren to the temporall lawe that they may get worldly riches rather then to the study of goddes worde to get heuenly ryches / theyr factes do shewe howe vnkynde they be to God of whome they haue theyr worldly ryches / and also it pertayneth to gentilmen to knowe goddes lawe / that they might rule accordyng to goddes wyll Iosue 1. I wyll nat speke of them whiche openly condemne and be mockers of goddes worde / thynkynge no thing profitable but that / that bryngeth worldly honoures and riches 5 The mystery of god that was hyd froÌ„ the worlde / ye and from the powers in heuen / nowe God hathe made it open to all men / and Angels in heauen / whiche other dyd nat knowe this mistery / or yf they did knowe it / they knew it nat so perfectely before as they dyd after it was preched by the Apostles called and send of god to do that message as by Paule / Peter / and other whiche here be called the Church because they were as the chiefe mynysters in the Churche 6 In that he sayeth this mysterye was opened to the heuenly powers / as to the angels archangels and other in heuen / by the Apostles of Chrste / I thynke the Apostle meaneth nat that the Apostles taught the Angels this mystery of the callyng of the Gentyles to the fayth by the Gospell preached / but rather the contrary / that the Angels taught the Apostles / and brought it from god to the Apostles / for the angels be as seruynge spirites Hebre. 1. And so when the Apostles dyd preache the gospel and by theyr preaching the GeÌ„tyles were coÌ„uerted from theyr infidelyte to the faith of Christ they dyd se the conuersion of the Gentyles that they dyd nat se before so clerely by what meanes / so by the Apostles this mysterye was made open to the heauenly powers / or elles this speakynge that the Apostle here vseth / is a maner of speakyng by the whiche he meaneth that this mystery was shewed and declared openly and playnly to all the worlde by the Apostles / to whom god shewed this iuystery wheÌ„ hê pleasure was it shuld be shewed and this mystery he also calleth the many folde wysdome of god / whiche god hathe determyned to be shewed by Christe Iesus by whome he made al thinges / and restored to their perfytnes when it was the wyll of the father they shulde be made perfyte and restored to theyr perfitnesse 7 He sheweth also that by Christe we haue boldenes and sure truste wyth al confidence to come to the father and to be partakers of his kyngedome and glorye / and that nat by Peter / Paul / Iohan / Iames or by our workes / dedes or merytes / but onely by Christe Iesus / and for his sake alone Wherfore I desyre that ye faynte nat because of my tribulacioÌ„s that I suffer for you / whyche is youre prayse ¶ The Apostle semeth in these wordes to make answere to his aduersaries whiche spake euyll of him / and slaundered hym / by theyr slaunders and euyl speakyng did plucke many from his doctrine / that they dyd nat gyue credence to him sayenge / yf Paule were the minyster of god and preached purely his Gospel / he shuld nat haue ben caste in pryson and in bondes / his bondes and prysonmente dothe proue hym to be euyll / and a deceyuer of the people / and that god is angry with him / or elles who wolde haue cast hiÌ„ in prison for who wold caste a good man in prison as who shulde saye / no man To these or suche lyke euyll speakynges the Apostle maketh answere exortyng these Ephesyans nat to shrynke from hym or forsake his doctrine for his emprisonment / in fetters bondes or other affliccions whiche he suffered / not for his fautes / but for these Ephesians for their sakes / and for their helthe and saluacyon that he preached the gospell of god to theÌ„ of the which they receiued faith and helth wherfore he sayeth that they shulde nat be asshamed of him for his affliccions / but rather they shuld reioyse for his afflicioÌ„s whiche he suffred for theyr sakes / and for theyr profyte Of these we maye se that these that purely preache the worde of god that they suffer oftimes imprisonment / bondes fetters the other affliccions / nat for none other cause / but that they preache the word of god purely and sincerely 2 Men shuld nat shrynke from the word of god or esteme it the worse or to be false doctrine because they that haue preached it haue ben persecuted / punyshed / caste in prison and put to deathe of the worlde as malefactours deceyuours of the people false preachers For other felycite / let nat true preachers loke for in this worlde of carnall men / then persecution and afflyccion this is the rewarde that they shall haue here where as carnall men do rule / but in the worlde to come / let them loke for an other rewarde in ioy and blysse / and in hope of it may be theyr comforte which hope doth take awaye the greuousnes of theyr myseries and paynfulnes of affliccions here 3 Affliccion or ê‘secutioÌ„ prouyth whether meÌ„ trust surely in god stycke to his word or no / for many there be that for feare of punyshemente and affliccyons do shrynke from god and his worde and biddeth them farwell / whiche beleued as longe as there was no persecutioÌ„ lyke to folow as Christ sayeth Math. 13. Many doth beleue for a tyme / but in tyme of tribulacyon they shrynke fearyng more man then god / and the losse of goodes of this worlde then the losse of heuenly ryches / fearinge more the losse of this presente lyfe then the losse of the lyfe to come / but let all suche repente and amende / for he that leseth hys lyfe in this worlde for me and my Gospel fayth Christe Math. 16. in the worlde to come
loue hym aboue all other / onely shulde to please hym / to make hyr bodye free to none other / but to hyr husbande alone / to be obedyente to hym with all lowelynes and gentylnes to haue him in feare / honour / and reuereÌ„ce Thus I haue shewed accordyng to the doctryne of S. Paule part of the deuty of the man towardes his wife / of the wife towardes hyr husbande ¶ The syxte Chapyter to the Ephesyans YE CHYLDREN Obey youre elders in the Lorde for that is right honour thy father and the mother that is the fyrste coÌ„maundemente that hathe any promyses that thou mayst prospere and lyue longe vpon earthe And ye fathers prouoke nat youre chyldren vnto wrathe but brynge them vp in nurtour and informacion of the Lorde NOwe the Apostle sheweth of the deutye of chyldren to theyr father and mother / it helpeth muche to obtayne godly vertues / that chyldreÌ„ from their cradel and from their yonge age be vertuously brought vp in nortoure in good / vertues and godlye learnynge / in loue and feare of god / in deu obedience to their parentes in gentil and lowly maners / for as the olde sayenge is The botell wyll kepe the smel or sauour / of that liquore that it first receyued So men for the moste part smell euer of that facyon and maners / and loue waye that they haue bene brought vp in theyr yonge age Therfore it is necessary that chyldren in their yonge age shulde be put to good scole maysters that may and wyll bryng them vp in good holy and vertuous doctryne / and godly maners that chyldren may learne to knowe God theyr creature and maker / of whom al goodnes doth come / to knowe the goodnes and benefites of god towardes them to laude and prayse God / to gyue hym thankes for his benefites to be obedient to father and mother / to gyue to them al honour / nat onely with outwarde gesture as bowynge their knees / puttynge of theyr cappe to their patentes / or askynge theyr blessynges or doynge theyr laufull coÌ„maundementes / and beynge obedient with al glad diligence to do theyr parentes coÌ„maundementes but also that they shulde honour theire parentes with all due honoure in gyuynge and prouydyng for them al necessaries yf they nede / or be pore / or haue nede of the helpe of theyr chyldren / for so this word honour is taken in the scripture nat onely for outwarde reuerence / but also for helpe or sufficience of liuing as Paul sheweth 1. Timo 5. where he sayeth The elders that rule well are worthy double honoure / cheyflye they that laboure in the worde of god 2 In the lord This worde sheweth how chyldren shulde be obediente to theyr elders and to their fathers and mothers / that is to say in the lorde / because the lorde hathe so commaunded / and it is the wyll of the lorde that chyldren shall obey to theyr parentes / or elles in the lorde / that is to say iÌ„ all thynges that pleseth the lorde / that is in al lawful thinges So chyldren obeing theyr parentes gyuyng them deu honour doth serue and please the lorde / and these chyldren that be disobedient to theyr pareÌ„tes do dysplease and offende god 3 For this is iuste / that the chyldren shulde obey they re parentes / helpe and socour their necessite gyuynge deu honoure to them seynge chyldren hathe receyued of theyr parentes theyr beynge / fode and coste of bryngyng vp when they were nat able to helpe them selfe Therfore it is equite that they shuld helpe ther parentes 4 This is the fyrste commaundemente in promyse / to the whiche promyse of rewarde is made of longe lyfe eyther in this lyfe / or in the lyfe to come / or in bothe / as oftymes chaunceth to them that honoure their parentes in this worlde / and the coÌ„trarye is oftymes shewed / that these children that do nat honoure theyr parentes in this worlde but be disobedient to them conteÌ„ne / dispise and wyl nat acknowledge theire father and mother / or kynsfolke / or be so vnkynde vnnaturall chyldren that desyre the â—â—th of their parentes for their profyte / goodes / landes / or riches / it is oftymes sene that these chyldren be of shorte lyfe in this worlde / or dye some euyl death by some myschaunce or euyll fortune called of man / when it is the secrete wyl and workynge of God / whiche wyll nat suffre the contempte of parentes to be vnpunysshed in this world / that al chyldren might learne to be obedient to their parentes / to honoure them / and nat to contemne or dispise them or to wysshe theyr death for any lucre sake / for any honoure or promotion or suche lyke thynge The Apostle promyseth two thynges to these chyldreÌ„ that honoure their parentes / the one is / that all thynges shal be wel to them / and al thynges prosperous The other leÌ„gth of lyfe / contrary to them that dishonoureth there parentes thretteth two thynges / that all thynges shal be euyl to them / and shortnes of lyfe / which thinges yf they chaunce nat alway in this lyfe / yet surely in the lyfe to come they wyl chauÌ„ce / god wyl ê‘fourme his promyse / for god is true in his promyses and wyll perfourme theÌ„ / eyther in this worlde / or in the worlde to come or elles to bothe And although it is red of some chyldren that disobeyed their parentes / that had great ryches or felicite in this worlde and of longe lyfe in whome this threte of god had no place in this worlde / yet with out doubte it had place after this lyfe in them / or elles such disobedient chyldren to theyr parentes was without all felicite of shorte lyfe before god Chyldren that do nat obey their parentes they offend agaiÌ„st the lawe of nature / of equite and iustice againste goddes lawe wryten / whiche all require that children shulde gyue deu honoure to their fathers and mothers 5 And ye fathers prouoke nat your children to wrathe Nowe he coÌ„meth to pareÌ„rentes sheweth what is their deutye towardes their chyldren Fathers and mothers for the mooste parte eyther they are to tender / softe / gentle / or make to muche on them / or elles they are to harde / fel / cruel sharpe / or frowarde with them Fewe or none of theyr pareÌ„tes do knowe how they shulde order or brynge vp their chyldren / but eyther nature moueth them to be to teÌ„der ouer them / and so they make the chyldren to wantonne / selfe wylly / frowarde nat carynge for father or mother / ye disobedient to father and mother and so oftymes it is true that Mantuane sayeth Blanda patrum segnes facit indulgeÌ„tia gnatos To muche pamperynge of rathers maketh slowe and disobedient chyldreÌ„ Therfore it is trewe that Salomon saythe He that spareth the rod he hateth the child And of the contrary part there is some