sister considered the old amitie betweene the house of Burgaine the old kings of England so that they could neuer do ought in Fraunce without their helpe last of al considered the course of marchandise that Englād hath in those parties also the naturall hate that Englishmen beare to Frenchmen Wherefore if we shall vse our old practise and set the French king against him then he shall lightly obtayne the fauour of the King of Englande by the meanes of his aunt and his wife ayd with men and money Wherefore we must take heed betimes and breake this amitye Which thing we may by this our old craft easely bring to passe Let vs take a dispensation and breake this mariage and turne the Kinges sister vnto the French King If the Frenche King gette a male of her then wee shall lightly make our king protector of Fraunce and so shall England and Fraunce be coupled together and as for the Queene of England we shall trim hir well enough and occupy the king with strainge loue and keepe hir that she shall beare no rule And as the goddes had spoken so it came to passe Our fayre yong doughter was sent to the old pocky king of Fraunce y ◠yeare before our mortall enemie and a miscreant worse them a Turke and disobedient vnto our holy father and no more obedient then he was compelled to be against his will The cause of the iorny to Callice IN shorte space thereafter Thomas Wolfse now cardinall and Legate a latere and greatly desirous to be pope also thought it exceding expedient for his many secret purposes to bring our king the king of Fraunce that now is together both to make a perpetuall peace and amitie betweene them and that while the two Kinges and theyr lordes dalied together the great Cardinales and Bisshops of both parties might betray them both and the Emperour and all christen kinges therto Then he made a iourney of gentlemen arayed altogether in silk so much as their very shoes and lining of their bootes more like their mothers then men of warre yea I am sure that many of their mothers would haue bene ashamed of so nice and wanton array Howbeit they went not to make war but peace for euer a day longer But to speake of the pompous apparell of my Lord himself of his chaplaines it passeth y ◠xij Apostles I dare swere that if Peter and Paule had sene them sodenly at a blush they would haue bene harder in beleefe that they or any such should be their successoures then Thomas Didimus was to beleeue that Christ was risen againe from death When all was concluded betweene the King of Fraunce and oures that Thomas Wolfse had deuised and whē the Prelates of both parties had cast their peniworthes against all chaūces and deuised remedies for al mischeifs Thē the right reuerend father in God Thomas Cardinal Legate wold go see the yong Emperour newly chosen to the roome and haue a certaine secreat communication with some of his prelates also And gatte him to Bridges in Flaunders where he was receaued with great solemnity as belongeth vnto so mighty a pillar of Christes church and was saluted at the entring into the towne of a mery fellow which sayd Salue rex Regis tui atquè regni sui Hayle both king of thy king and also of his Realme And though there were neuer so greate striffe bewene the Emperour and the French king yet my lord Cardinal iugled him fauour of them both finally brought the Emperour to Cales to the kinges grace where was great triumph and great loue and amitie shewed on both parties insomuch that a certaine man marueiling at it asked the old Bishop of Deram How it might be that we were so great with the Emperour so shortly vpon so strong and euerlasting a peace made betwene vs the frenchmen the Emperour and the King of Fraūce being so mortall enemies My lord aunswered that it might be well enough if he wist all but there was a certaine secret sayd he wherof all men knew not Yea verily they haue had secrets this vi◠hundred yeres which though all the lay men haue felt them yet few haue spyed them saue a few Iudases which for lucre haue bene confederate with them to betray their own kinges and all other Then were we indifferent stood still and the Emperour the French king wrasled together and Ferdinādus the Emperors brother wan Millane of the frenchmen and the Emperour Turnay our great cōquest which yet after so great cost in building a castle we deliuered vp againe vnto the Frenchmen in earnest and hope of a mariage betweene the Dolphine and our Princesse How the Emperour came thorow England AFter that the Emperour would into Spaine came through England where he was receaued w t great honour and with all that partaineth to loue and amitie The kings grace lent him mony and promised him more the Emperour should tary a certayne yeres and mary our princesse not that the Cardinal entended that thou maist be sure for it was not profitable for their kingdome but his minde was to daly with the Emperour and to keepe him without a wife that insomuch as he was yong and lusty he might haue bene nozeled entangled with hores which is their nurturing of kinges made so effeminate and beastly that he should neuer haue bene able to lift vp hys hart to any goodnesse or vertue that Cardinals and Bishoppes might haue administred hys dominions in the meane time vnto our holy fathers profite The king of Fraunce hearing the fauour that was shewed vnto the Emperour sent imediatly a defiaunce vnto our king not without our Cardinals and Bishops counsell thou mayst well wite For frenchmen are not so folish to haue done it so vnaduisedly and so rashly seing they had to many in their toppes already Then our king spake many great woordes that he would driue the frenchking out of his realme or els the frenchking should driue him out of his But had he added as the legate Pandulph taught king Iohn with the Popes licence his words had soūded much better For there can no vow stand in effecte except the holy father confirmed it We sent out our souldiers two summers agaynst the Frenchmen vnto whose cheef Captayne 's the Cardinall had appointed how far they should go and what they should do and therfore the French king was nothing afrayd but brought all his power against the Emperour in other places so was the Emperor euer betrayed And thus the Cardinall was the Emperours frend openly and the french kinges secreatly For at the meeting with the french king beside Cales he vtterly betrayed the Emperour yet for no loue that he had to Fraunce but to helpe the Pope and to haue bene Pope happly to saue their kingdome Which treason
passion Peter was angry and rebuked Christ and thought earnestly that he had raued and not wist what he sayde as at another time when Christ was so feruently busied in healyng the people that he had no leisure to eat they went out to hold him supposing that he had bene beside hymselfe And one that cast out diuels in Christes name they forbade because he wayted not on them so glorious were they yet And though Christ taught alway to forgeue yet Peter after long goyng to schole asked whether men should forgeue seuen tymes thinkyng that viij tymes had bene to much And at the last supper Peter would haue dyed with christ but yet within few houres after he denyed him both cowardly and shamefully And after the same maner though he had so long heard that no man might auenge him self but rather turne the other cheeke to then to smite agayne yet when Christ was in takyng Peter asked whether it were lawful to smite with the sword and taried none aunswere but layed on rashly So that though when we come first vnto knowledge of the truth and the peace is made betwene God and vs and we loue his lawes and beleue and trust in him as in our father and haue good hartes vnto him and be borne a new in the spirite yet we are but childrē and young scholers weake and feble and must haue leysure to grow in the spirite in knowledge loue and in the ded◅ therof as young children must haue tyme to grow in their bodies And God our father and scholemaster feedeth vs and teacheth vs accorcordyng vnto the capacitie of our stomackes and maketh vs to grow and waxe perfect and fineth and trieth vs as gold in the fire of temptations and tribulations As Moyses witnesseth Deutero viij saying Remember all the way by whiche the Lord thy God caried thee this xl yeares in the wildernesse to humble thee and to tempte or prouoke thee y t it might be knowen what were in thine hart He brought thee into aduersitie and made thee an hungred then fed thee with Manna which neither thou nor yet thy fathers euer knew of to teach that man lyueth not by bread onely but by all that procedeth out of the mouth of GOD. For the promises of God are lyfe vnto all that cleaue vnto them muche more then breade and bodyly sustenaunce as the iourney of the children of Israell out of Egipt into the land promised them ministreth thee notable ensamples and that aboundantly as doth all the rest of the Bible also Howbeit it is impossible for flesh to beleue and to trust in the truth of Gods promises vntil he haue learned it in much tribulation after that God hath deliuered him out therof agayne God therefore to teach Ionas and to shew him his owne hart to make him perfect and to instruct vs also by his ensample sent him out of the lande of Israell where he was a Prophet to go among the heathen people and to the greatest and mightiest Citie of the world then called Niniue to preache that within xl dayes they should all perish for their sinnes and that the Citie should be ouerthrowen Whiche message the free will of Ionas had as much power to doe as the weakest harted womā in the world ▪ hath power if◅ were commaunde◅ to leape int◅e of lyuyng snakes and adders as happely if God had cōmaunded Sara to haue sacrificed her sonne Isaa◅ as he did Abraham she would haue disputed with him yer shee had done it or though she were strong enough yet many an holy Saint could not haue founde in their hartes but would haue runne away from the presence of the commaundement of God with Ionas if they had bene so strongly tempted For Ionas thought of this maner loe I am here a Prophet vnto Gods people the Israelites Whiche though they haue Gods worde testified vnto them dayly yet despise it and worshyp God vnder the likenesse of calues and after all maner fashions saue after hys owne word and therfore are of all nations the worst and most worthy of punishment And yet God for loue of fewe that are among them and for his names sake spareth and defendeth them How then should GOD take so cruel vengeaunce on so great a multitude of them to whō hys name was neuer preached to and therfore are not the tenth part so euill as these If I shall therfore go preach so shal I laye and shame my selfe and God thereto make them the more to dispise God and set the lesse by him and to bee the more cruell vnto his people And vpon that imagination he fled from the face or presence of God that is out of the coūtrey where God was worshipped in and from the prosecutyng of Gods commaundement and thought I will get me an other way among the heathen people and be no more a prophet but liue at rest and out of all combraunce Neuerthelesse the God of all mercy which careth fo◠his elect children turneth all vnto good to them and smiteth them to heale thē againe and killeth them to make them aliue agayne and playeth with them as a father doth some tyme with his young ignoraunt children and tempteth them and proueth them to make them see their owne hartes prouided for Ionas how all thinges should be When Ionas entred into the shyp he layd him down to slepe and to take his rest that is his conscience was tossed betwene the commaundement of God which sent him to Ninine and his fleshly wisedome that dissnaded counselled him the contrary and at the last preuailed against the commaundement and caryed him an other way as a shyp caught betwene two streames as Poetes faine the mother of Meliager to be betwen diuers affections while to aduenge her brothers death shee sought to slea her owne sonne Whereupon for very paine and tediousnes he lay down to slepe for to put the commaundement which so gnewe and fret his conscience out of mynde as the nature of all wicked is when they haue sinned a good to seke all meanes with riot reuell and pastime to driue the remembraūce of sinne out of their thoughtes or as Adam did to couer their nakednes with apornes of Pope holy workes But God awoke him out of his dreame set his sinnes before his face For when y t lot had caught Ionas then bee sure that his sinnes came to remembraunce agayne and that his cōscience raged no lesse then the waues of the Sea And then he thought that he onely was a sinner and the heathen that were in the shyp none in respect of him and thought also as veryly as he was fled from God that as veryly God had cast him away for the sight of the rodde maketh the naturall child not onely to see and to knowledge his faulte but also to forget all his fathers old mercy and kindnesse And then he confessed his sinne openly
Christes glad tydings first through openyng of the law to rebuke all thinges and to proue all thynges sinne that procede not of the spirite of faith in Christ and to proue all men sinners and children of wrath by inheritaunce and howe that to sinne is their nature and that by nature they can no otherwise doe then sinne and therewith to abate the pride of man and to bring him vnto the knowledge of him selfe and of his miserie wretchednes that he might desire helpe Euen so doth S. Paule and beginneth in the first Chapter to rebuke vnbelefe and grose sinnes which all men see as the Idolatrie and as the grose sinnes of the heathen were and as the sinnes now are of all them whiche liue in ignoraunce without fayth and without the fauour of GOD and sayth The wrath of GOD of heauen appeareth through the Gospell vpon all men for their vngodly vnholy lyuyng For though it be knowē and dayly vnderstād by the creatures that there is but one God yet is nature of herself with out the spirit and grace so corrupt and so poysoned that men neither can thanke him neither worship him neither geue him his due honor but blind thē selues and faule without ceasyng into worse case euen vntill they come vnto worshipping of Images workyng of shamefull sinnes whiche are abhominable and agaynst nature and moreuer suffer the shame vnrebuked in other hauing delectation and pleasure therein In the second Chapter he procedeth further and rebuketh all those holy people also whiche without lust and loue to the law liue wel outwardly in the face of the world and condemne other gladly as the nature of all hypocrites is to thinke them selues pure in respect of open sinners and yet hate the law inwardly and are full of couetousnes and enuy and of all vnclēnes Math. xxiij These are they whiche despise the goodnes of GOD and accordyng to the hardenes of their hartes heape together for thē selues the wrath of God Furthermore S. Paule as a true expounder of the law suffreth no man to be without sinne but declareth that all they are vnder sinne whiche of freewill and of nature will liue well suffreth them not to be better thē the open sinners yea he calleth them hard harted and such as can not repent In the thyrd Chapter he mingleth both together both the Iewes and the Gentiles and sayth that the one is as the other both sinners no difference betwene them saue in this onely that the Iewes had the word of God committed vnto them And though many of them beleued not thereon yet is Gods truth and promise thereby neither hurt nor minished And he taketh in his way and allegeth the saying of the 50. Psalme that God might abyde true in his wordes ouercome when he is iudged After that he returneth to his purpose agayn and proueth by the Scripture that all men without difference or exceptiō are sinners and that by the workes of the law no mā is iustified but that the law was geuen to vtter and to declare sinne onely Thē hee begynneth and sheweth the right way vnto righteousnes by what meanes mē must be made righteous and safe and sayth They are all sinners without prayse before God and must without their own deseruyng be made righteous throughe fayth in Christe which hath deserued such righteousnes for vs and is become vnto vs Gods mercystole for the remission of sinnes that are past thereby prouyng that christes righteousnes which commeth on vs through fayth helpeth vs onely whiche righteousnes sayth he is now declared through the Gospell was testified of before by the lawe of the Prophetes Furthermore sayth he the law is holpē and furthered thorough fayth thoughe that the workes therof with all their boast are brought to nought In the iiij Chapter after that now by the 3. first Chapters the sinnes are opened and the way of faith vnto rightuousnes layd he begynneth to aunswere vnto certain obiections and cauillations And first putteth forth those blinde reasons whiche commonly they that wil be iustified by their owne workes are wont to make when they heare that faith onely without workes iustifieth saying shall men do no good workes yea and if fayth onely iustifieth what nedeth a man to studie for to do good workes He putteth forth therfore Abraham for an ensample saying what did Abraham with his workes was all in vayne came his workes to no profite And so concludeth that Abraham without and before al workes was iustified and made righteous In so much that before the worke of Circumcisiō he was praysed of the Scripture and called righteous by his fayth onely Gene. xv So that he did not the worke of Circumcision for to bee holpen there by vnto righteousnesse whiche yet God commaunded hym to do was a good worke of obedience So in likewise no doubt none other workes helpe any thyng at all vnto a mās iustifiyng but as Abrahams Circumcisiō was an outward signe wherby he declared his righteousnes which he had by fayth and his obedience and readynes vnto the will of God euen so are all other good workes outward signes and outward frutes of fayth of the spirite which iustifie not a man but that a man is iustified already before god inwardly in the hart through faith and through the spirite purchased by Christes bloud Herewith now stablisheth S. Paul his doctrine of faith afore rehearsed in the thyrd Chapter and bringeth also testimony of Dauid in the xij Psalme whiche calleth a man blessed not of workes in that his sinne is not rekened and in that fayth is imputed for righteousnes though he abide not afterward without good workes when he is once iustified For we are iustified receiue the spirite for to do good workes neither were it otherwise possible to do good workes except we had first the spirite For howe is it possible to doe any thyng well in the sight of God while we are yet in captiuitie and bondage vnder the deuill and the deuill possesseth vs all together and holdeth our hartes so that we can not once consent vnto the will of God No man therfore can preuent the spirite in doyng good the spirite must first come and wake him out of his sleepe with the thunder of the law and feare him and shew him his miserable estate wretchednes and make him abhorre hate him selfe and to desire helpe and then comfort him agayne with the pleasaūt rayne of the Gospell that is to say with the sweete promises of God in Christ and stirre vp faith in him to beleue the promises then when he beleueth the promises as God was mercyfull to promise so is he true to fulfill them and wil geue him the spirite and strength both to loue the will of God to worke there after So see we that God onely whiche accordyng to the Scripture worketh
When they sent to Iohn asking him whether he were Christ he denied it When they asked him what he was and what he sayd of himselfe he aunswered not I am he that watcheth prayeth drinketh no wine nor strong drinke eateth neyther fishe nor fleshe but liue wyth wilde hony and Grashoppers and weare a coate of camels heare and a gyrdle of a skinne but sayd I am a voyce of a cryar My voyce onely pertaineth to you Those outward things which ye wonder at pertayne to my selfe onely vnto the taming of my bodye To you am I a voyce onely and that which I preach My preaching if it be receaued into a penitent or repenting hart shall teach you how to liue and please God according as God shall shed out his grace on euery man Iohn preached repentaunce saying prepare y ◠Lordes way and make his pathes straight The Lordes way is repentaunce and not hipocrisy of mans imagination inuention It is not possible y t the Lord Christ should come to a man except he know himselfe and his sinne truely repent Make his pathes straight the pathes are the lawe if thou vnderstād it a right as God hath geuen it Christ sayth in the xvij of Mat. Helias shall first come that is shall come before Christ and restore all things meaning of Iohn Baptist Iohn Baptist did restore the law and the Scripture vnto the right sence vnderstanding which the Pharises partly had darckned and made of none effect thorough their owne traditions Math. xv where Christ rebuketh them saying why transgresse ye the commaundementes of God thorough your traditions and partly had corrupt it with gloses and false interpretations that no mā could vnderstand it Wherefore Christ rebuketh them Mat. 23. saying wo be to you Pharises hipocrites which shut vp the kingdome of heauen before mē ye enter not your selues neither suffer them that come to enter in and partly did beguile the people and blinde their eyes in disguising themselues as thou readest in the same 23. chap. how they made broade and large Philacteries and did all their workes to be seene of men that the people should wonder at their disguisinges and visuring of themselues otherwise then God had made them and partly mocked them with hipocrisy of false holines in fasting praying and almes geuing Mat. 6. and this did they for lucre to be in authoritie to sitte in the consciences of people and to be counted as God him selfe that people shoulde trust in their holynes and not in God as thou readest in the place aboue rehearsed Mat. 23. wo be to you Pharises hipocrites which deuoure widowes houses vnder a colour of long prayer Counterfet therfore nothing without y t worde of God whē thou vnderstandest that it shall teach thee all thinges how to applie outwarde thinges and whereunto to referre them Beware of thy good entent good mynde good affection or zeale as they call it Peter of a good minde and of a good affection or zeale chidde Christ Math. 16. because he sayde that he must goe to Hierusalem and there be slayne But Christ called him Satan for his labour a name that belongeth to the deuil And sayde that he perceaued not godly thinges but worldly Of a good entent and of a feruēt affection to Christ the sonnes of Zededei would haue had fire to come downe from heauen to consume the Samaritans Luk. 9. But Christ rebuked them saying that they wist not of what sprite they were that is that they vnderstoode not how that they were altogether worldly fleshly mynded Peter smote Malchus of a good zeale but Christ condemned his deede The very Iewes of a good entēt and of a good zeale slew Christ and persecuted the Apostles as Paule beareth them recorde Rom. x. I beare them recorde sayth he that they haue a feruent mynde to Godward but not according to knowledge It is an other thing then to do of a good minde and to do of knowledge Labour for knowledge that thou mayest know Gods will and what he would haue thee to doe Our mynde entent and affection or zeale are blinde and all that we do of them is damned of god and for that cause hath God made a testament betwene him and vs wherin is cōteyned both what he would haue vs to do and what he would haue vs to aske of him See therefore that thou do nothing to please God withall but that he commaundeth neither aske any thing of him but that he hath promised thee The Iewes also as it appeareth Act. vij slew Steuē of a good zeale because he proued by the scripture that God dwelleth not in Churches or temples made wyth handes The Churches at the beginning were ordeyned that the people shoulde thether resorte to heare the word of God there preached onely and not for the vse wherein they now are The temple wherein God will be worshipped is the hart of man For God is a spirite sayth Christ Ioh. 4. and will be worshipped in y t spirite in truth that is when a penitent hart consenteth vnto the lawe of God and with a strong fayth lōgeth for the promises of God So is God honored on al sides in that we count him righteous in all his lawes and ordinaunces and also trust in all his promises Other worshipping of God is there none except we make an Idoll of him IT shal be recompensed thee at the rising agayne of the righteous Lu. xiiij Reade the text before and thou shalt perceaue that Christ doth here that same that he doth Math. v. that is he putteth vs in remembraunce of our dutie that we be to the poore as Christ is to vs and also teacheth vs how that we can neuer know whether our loue be right and whether it spring of Christ or no as long as we are but kinde to them onely which do as much for vs againe But and we be mercifull to the poore for conscience to God and of compassion and harty loue which compassion loue spring of the loue we haue to God in Christ for the pure mercy and loue that he hath shewed on vs then haue we a sure token that we are beloued of God and washed in Christes bloud and elect by Christes deseruing vnto eternall life The scripture speaketh as a father doth to his young sonne do this or that and then will I loue thee yet the father loueth his sonne first and studieth with all his power and witte to ouercome his childe with loue and with kindnes to make him do that which is comely honest and good for it selfe A kynde father and mother loue their children euen when they are euill that they would shed their bloud to make them better and to bring thē into the right way And a naturall childe studieth not to obtayne his fathers loue with workes but considereth with what loue his father loueth him with all
euerlastyng promises eternall Testament that God had made betwene man and hym in Christes bloud and the miracles dyd testifie also that they were true seruauntes of Christ Paul preached not him selfe he taught not any maÌ„ to trust in him or his holynes or in Peter or in any ceremonie but in the promises which God hath sworne onely yea he mightyly resisteth all suche false doctrine both to the Corinthians Galathians EphesiaÌ„s and euery where If this be true as it is true and nothyng more truer that if Paul had preached him self or taught any maÌ„ to beleue in his holynes or prayer or in any thyng saue in the promises that GOD hath made and sworne to geue vs for Christes sake he had bene a false Prophet why am not I also a false Prophet if I teach thee to trust in Paule or in hys holines or prayer or in any thing saue in Gods word as Paul dyd If Paule were here and loued me as he loued them of his tyme of whoÌ„ he was sent and to whoÌ„ he was a seruaunt to preache Christ what good could he doe for me or wishe me but preach Christ and pray to God for me to open myne hart to geue me his spirite to bring me vnto the full knowledge of Christ vnto which porte or hauen when I am once come I am as safe as Paule felow with Paule ioyntheyre with Paul of all the promises of God and gods truth heareth my prayer as well as Paules I also now could not but loue Paul wish him good and pray for him that God would strength him in all his temptations geue him victory as he would do for me Neuerthelesse there are many weake and young consciences alwayes in the congregation which they that haue the office to preach ought to teach and not to disceaue them What prayers pray our Clergy for vs which stoppe vs and exclude vs froÌ„ Christ and seke all the meanes possible to kepe vs from knowledge of Christ They compell vs to hyre Friers Monkes Nunnes Chanons and Priestes to buye their abhominable merites and to hyre the Saintes that are dead to pray for vs for the very Saintes haue they made hyrelynges also because that their offeryngs come to their profite What pray all those that we might come to the knowledge of Christ as the Apostles did Nay verely For it is a plaine case that all they which enforce to kepe vs from Christ pray not that we might come to the knowledge of Christ And as for the Saintes whose prayer was wheÌ„ they were a lyne that we might be grounded stablished and streÌ„gthed in Christ onely if it were of God that we should this wise worshyp them contrary vnto their owne doctrine I dare be bold to affirme that by the meanes of their prayers we should haue bene brought long a go vnto the knowledge of God and Christ agayne though that these beastes had done their worste to set it Let vs therefore set our hartes at rest in Christ and in Gods promises for so I thinke it best and let vs take the Saintes soran example onely and let vs do as they both taught and dyd Let vs set Gods promises before our eyes and desire him for his mercy and for Christes sake to fulfill them And he is as true as euer he was and will do it as well as euer he dyd for to vs are the promises made as well as to them Moreouer the end of Gods miracles is good the ende to these miracles are euill For the offerynges which are the cause of the miracles do but minister and maynteine vice sinne and all abhomination and are geuen to them that haue to much so that for very aboundance they â—ome out their owne shame and corrupt the whole worlde with the styuch of their filthines Therto what soeuer is not of fayth is sinne Roma xiiij Fayth commeth by hearyng Gods woorde Roma x. when now thou fastest or doest any thyng in the worship of any Saint beleuyng to come to the fauour of God or to bee saued thereby if thou haue Gods worde then is it true fayth and shall saue thee If thou haue not Gods woorde then is it a false fayth superstitiousnes and Idolatry and damnable sinne Also in the Collects of the Saintes with whiche we pray God to saue vs through the merites or deseruynges of the Saintes which Saintes yet were not saued by their owne deseruynges them selues we say Per Christ 〈◊〉 DominuÌ„ nostrum that is for Christ our Lordes sake We say saue vs good Lord thorough the saintes merites for Christes sake How can he saue vs through the Saintes merites for Christes sake and for hys deseruyng merites and loue Take an example A Gentleman sayth vnto me I will do the vttemost of my power for thee for the loue whiche I owe vnto thy father Though thou hast neuer done me pleasure yet I loue thy father well thy father is my frend and hath deserued that I doe all that I can for thee c. Here is a Testament and a promise made vnto me in the loue of my father onely If I come to the sayd Gentleman in the name of one of his seruauntes whiche I neuer saw neuer spake with neither haue any acquaintaunce at all with and say Syr I pray you be good master vnto me in such a cause I haue not deserued that he should so do Neuerthelesse I pray you doe it for such a seruauntes sake yea I pray you for the loue that you owe to my father doe that for me for such a seruauntes sake If I this wise made my petition would not meÌ„ thinke that I come late out of S. Patrikes Purgatory had left my wittes behinde me This do we For the TestameÌ„t and promises are all made vnto vs in Christ And we desire God to fulfill hys promises for the Saintes sake yea that he will for Christes sake do it for the Saintes sake They haue also martyrs which neuer preached Gods worde neither dyed therefore but for priuileges and liberties which they falsely purchased contrary vnto Gods ordinaunces Yea such Saintes though they be deade yet robbe now as fast as euer they did neither are lesse couetous now then when they were aliue I doubt not but that they will make a Saint of my Lord Cardinall after the death of vs that be aliue and know his iuggling and crafty conueiaunce and will shrine him gloriously for his mightily defending of the right of holy Church except we be diligent to leaue a commemoration of that Nimroth behind vs. The reasons wherewith they proue their doctrine are but fleshly and as Paule calleth them entising wordes of mans wisdome that is to witte sophistry and brauling argumentes of men with corrupt mindes and destitute of the truth whose God is their bellye vnto which idole whosoeuer offereth not the same is an heretike and worthy to be brunt The
That fayth haue they in theyr owne workes onely But the true hearers vnderstand the lawe as Christ interpreteth it here and feele thereby theyr righteous damnation and runne to Christ for succour and for remission of all their sinnes that are past and for all the sinne which chaunce thorough infirmities shall compel theÌ„ to do for remission of that the law is to stronge for their weake nature And upon that they consent to the lawe loue it and professe it to fulfill it to the vttermost of their power and then go to and worke Faith or confidence in Christes bloud without helpe and before the workes of the law bringeth all maner of remission of sinnes satisfaction Faith is mother of loue fayth accompanieth loue in all her workes to fulfill as much as there lacketh in our doing the lawe of that perfect loue which Christ had to his father and vs in his fulfilling of the law for vs. Now when we be reconciled then is loue fayth together our righteousnesse our keeping the lawe our continuing our proceeding forwarde in the grace which we stand in our bringing to the euerlasting sauing and euerlasting life And the woorkes be esteemed of God according to the loue of the hart If the woorkes be great loue little and colde then the woorkes be regarded thereafter of God If the workes be small and loue much and feruent the workes be taken for great of God And it came to passe that when Iesus had ended these sayinges the people were astonied at his doctrine for he taught them as one hauing power and not as the Scribes The Scribes and Phariseyes had thrust vp the sworde of the woorde of God into a scabbarde or shethe of gloses and therein had knit it fast that it coulde neither sticke nor cut teaching dead workes without fayth and loue which are the life and the whole goodnes of all workes and the onely thing why they please God And therefore their audience abode euer carnall and fleshly mynded without faith to God and loue to their neighbours Christes wordes were spirit life Ioh. vi That is to say they ministred spirite and life and entred into the hart and grated on the conscience and thorow preaching the lawe made the hearers perceaue their duties euen what loue they ought to God what to man and the right dampnation of all them that had not the loue of God and man written in their hartes and thorow preaching of fayth made all that consented to the lawe of God fele the mercy of God in Christ and certified them of their saluation For the worde of God is a two edged sworde that pearceth and deuideth the spirite and soule of man a sonder Heb. 〈◊〉 A man before the preaching of Godes woorde is but one man all fleshe the soule consenting vnto the lustes of the fleshe to follow them But the sworde of the worde of God where it taketh effect diuideth a man in two and serteth him at variaunce against his own selfe The fleshe haling one way and the spirite drawing another the fleshe raging to follow lustes and the spirite calling backe agayne to follow the lawe and will of God A man all the while â—e consenteth to the flesh before he be borne again in Christ is called soule or carnall But whe he is renued in Christ through y t word of lyâ—e and hath the loue of God and of hys neighbor and the fayth of Christ written in his hart he is called spirite or spirituall The Lord of all mercy send vs preachers with power that is to say 〈◊〉 expounders of the worde of God and speakers to the hart of man and deliuer vs from Scribes Phariseyes hypocrites and all false Prophetes Amen An aunswere vnto Syr Thomas Mores Dialogue made by William Tyndall 1530. ☞ First he declareth what the Church is and geueth a reason of certaine wordes which Master More rebuketh in the translation of the new Testament ¶ After that he aunswereth particularly vnto euery Chapter which semeth to haue any appearaunce of truth thorough all his foure bookes ¶ Awake thou that slepest and stand vp from death and Christ shall geue the light Ephesians 5. THe grace of our Lord the light of his spirite to see to iudge true repeÌ„taunce towardeâ— Gods lâ—we a fast fayth in the mercyfull prâ—…es y â— are in our sauiour Christ serueÌ„t loue toward thy neighbour after the exaÌ„ple of Christ his Saints be with thee O Reader with all that loue the truth loÌ„g for the redemption of Gods elect Amen Our Sauiour I esus in the 16. of Iohn at his last Supper when he tooke his leaue of his Disciples warned them saying the holy Ghost shall come and rebuke the world of iudgemeÌ„t That is he shall rebuke the world for lacke of true iudgement and discretion to iudge and shall proue that the tast of theyr mouthes is corrupt so that they iudge swete to be sowre and sowre to be swete the eyes to be blynd so that they thinke that to be the verâ— seruice of God which is but a blynd superstition for zeale of which yet they persecute the true seruice of God and that they iudge to be the lawe of God whiche is but a false imagination of a corrupt iudgement for blynd affection of whiche yet they persecute the true law of God and them that kepe it And this same it is that Paul sayth 1. Corinth ij how that the naturall man that is not borne agayne and created a new with the spirite of God be he neuer so great a Philosopher neuer so well sene in the law neuer so sore studied in the Scripture as we haue examples in the Phariseis yet hee cannot vnderstaÌ„d the thynges of the spirite of God but sayth he the spirituall iudgeth all thyngs and hys spirâ—e searcheth the deepe secretes of God so that what soeuer God commauÌ„deth hym to do he neuer leaueth searchyng till he come at the bottome the pith the quicke the lyâ—e the sâ—… the mâ—â—ow very cause why and iudgeth all thyng Take an example in the great commaundement loue God with all thyne hart y t spirituall searcheth the cause and looketh on the benefites of God and so conceaueth loue in his hart And when he is commaunded to obey the powers and rulers of the world hee looketh on the benefites which God sheweth the world through them and therefore doth it gladly And when hee â–ª is commauÌ„ded to loue his neighbour as hym selfe he searcheth that his neighbour is created of God and bought with Christes bloud and so forth and therefore he loueth hym out of his hart and if he be euill forheareth hym and with all loue and pacience draweth hym to good as elder brethren wayte on the youÌ„ger and serue them and suffer them when they will not come they speake fayre flatter and geue some gaye thyng and
and hys Apostles Neither could it bee brought to passe vntill the Pope had got the Emperours sword out of hys haÌ„d The Grekes which were the one halfe of Christendome then I suppose would neuer admit it Now godly loue would neuer suffer them to coÌ„sent that we should be bouÌ„d vnto that burthen which they themselues could not beare as M. More in an other place affirmeth that they dyd And agayne we haue manifest storyes that it was brought in with violence ot sword that all the Priestes of Germany were coÌ„pelled to put away their wiues And we finde that whersoeuer the pope raigneth he came in with deceauyng the kyng of the countrey and then with his sword coÌ„â—elled the rest The Pope came but now late into Wales to raigne there ouer the Byshops and Priestes and that with the sword of the kyng of England And yet though all the Clergie of christendome had graunted it all the Church had not made it nor yet the tenth part of the Church The lay people be as well of the Churche as the Priestes Neither can all the Priestes in the world of right make any law wherin their part lyeth without their consent Now it perteineth vnto the coÌ„mon people and most of all vnto the weakest that their Priestes be endued with all vertue and honestie And the chastitie of his wife daughter and seruaunt perteineth vnto euery particular man which we see by experience defiled dayly by the vnchast chastitie of the spiritualitie Wherfore if the Parishes or any one Parish after they had sene the experience what incoÌ„ueniences came of their chastitie would haue no Curate except he had a wife to cut of occasions as Paule when he had sene that proofe would haue no young widowes minister who saue a tyraunt should be agaynst them Moreouer the generall Councels of the spiritualtie are of no other maner sence the Pope was a God then the generall Parlamentes of the temporalitie Where no man dare say hys mynde frely and liberally for â—eare of some one and of his flatterers And looke in what captiuitie the Parlamentes be vnder the priuate couÌ„sels of kinges so are the generall CouÌ„cels vnder the Pope and his Cardinals And this is the maner of both Some one two or three wilye Foxes that haue all other in subiection as ye haue sene in my Lord Cardinall imagine not what ought to be but what they lust to haue and conceaue in theyr own braynes and go with child some tyme a yeare ij iij. iiij v. vi or vij and some tyme. xx and aboue castyng canâ—esing and compassing for the byrth agaynst oportunitie openyng the matter priuely vnder an othe a litle and a litle vnto certaine Secretaries whose part is therin as they finde men of actiuitie and of courage prepared to sell soule and body for promotion And the matter in the meane tyme is turmoyled and tossed among themselues and persuasions and sutle reasons are forged to blind the right way and to beguile mens wittes And whoÌ„ they feare to haue aduersaries able to resist them for such meanes are sought to bring them in vnto their partie or to conuey them out of the way And wheÌ„ oportunitie is come they call a counsel or ParlameÌ„t vnder a contrary preteÌ„ce And a Masse of the holy ghost whom they desire as farre away as were possible is song and a goodly Sermon is made to blere mens eyes with all And then sodenly other meÌ„ vnprouided the matter is opened after the most suttle maner And many are beguiled with suttle argumentes and craftie persuasions And they that hold hard agaynst theÌ„ are called aside and reasoned with a part and handled after a fashion and partly entised with fayre promises and partly feared with cruell threatnyngs and so some are ouercome with siluer syllogismes other for feare of threatnyng are driuen vnto silence And if any be found at the last that will not obey their falsehead and tyranny they rayle on him and iest him out of couÌ„tenaunce call him opinatiue selfe mynded and obstinate beare him in hand that the deuill is in him that he so cleaueth vnto his owne witte though he speake no silllable but Gods word is asked whether he wil be wiser then other meÌ„ And in the spiritualitie they excommunicate him and make an hereticke of him And this to be true in the Clergies chastitie is as cleare as y e day by manifest chronicles in so much that the Prelates of Rome were a brewyng it aboue an hundred yeares and I wot not how long lenger yer they could bryng it to passe and yet in vayne til they had got the Emperours sword to proue that it was most expedient so to be And for what entent to bryng all vnder the Pope and that the Prelates of all landes might as the old maner was come and wayte on the Pope at Rome where he prepared theÌ„ whores inough And that his sworne Prelates in euery land might the more conueniently wayte in Kyngs Courtes to minister the commoÌ„ wealth vnto the popes pleasure and profite For had the Clergie kept their wiues they could neuer haue come vnto this where they now be and to these pluralities vnioÌ„s and totquottes For there is no lay man though he were neuer so euill disposed that could for his wife children haue leysure to coÌ„trâ—…e such mischiefe and to runne from countrey to countrey to learne falshead and subtiltie as our spiritualtie do which without feare of God and shame of man keepe whores whersoeuer they come And thus ye see that the clergies chastitie pertayneth as much vnto the temporaltie as vnto the spiritualtie And an other is this no power among them that professe the truth may bynde where God lowseth saue onely where loue and my neighbours necessitie requireth it of me Neyther can any power now binde them to come but they may freely keepe or breake as the thing is hurtfull or expedieÌ„t Neither can there be any bond where loue and necessitie requireth the contrary So that this law loue thy neighbour to helpe him as thou wouldest be holp must interpret all mans lawes As if I had sworne young or vnwisely that I would liue chast all the world had bound me if afterwarde I burnt and could not ouercome the passion I ought to mary For I must condition my vow and shew a cause of it thereto I may not vow for the chastitie it selfe as though it were sacrifice to please God in it self for that is the Idolatry of heathen I must therfore vowe to do my neyghbour seruice which in that case he may not require or to geue my selfe more quietly to prayer and studie which is not possible as long as I burne and the minde will not be quiet or that I may the better keepe y e lawes of God which if I burne I stand thorow my chastitie in more ieopardy to breake
but inuisible and still bodely present hee would neuer haue couered hym selfe with the cloude shewyng them and testifying also by those ij men his very bodely AsceÌ„tion out of their sightes We may not make of hys very bodely AscentioÌ„ such an inuisible iugglyng cast as our Papistes fayne Fashionyng and fayning Christ a body now inuisible now in many places at once theÌ„ so great and yet in so litle a place not decerned of any of our senses now glorified now vnglorified now passible and then impassible and I wote neare what they imagine and make of their maker and all without any woorde yea cleane agaynst all the wordes of holy Scripture For surely in this their imagination and so saying they bryng in a fresh the heresie of that great heretike Marcian which said that Christ tooke but a phantasticall body And so was neither verely borne nor suffered nor rose nor ascended verely neither was he very man Which heresie Tertulian confuteth Christ toke verely our nature such a passible and mortall body as we beare about with vs saue that he was without all maner of synne In such a body he suffered verely and rose agayne from death in such a glorified body now immortall c. as euery one of vs shall ryse at the generall iudgement It is appropried onely to hys Godhead to be euery where and not to bee circumscribed nor conteined in no one place And as for our Papistes prophane voyde voyces his body to be in many places at once indifinitiue incircumscriptiue non per modum quaÌ„ti neque localiter c. which includeth in it selfe contradiction of which Paule warned Timothe callyng them the oppositions of a false named science for that theyr Scholasticall Diuinitie must make obiections agaynst euery truth be it neuer so playne with pro contra whiche science many that professe it sayth Paul haue erred from the fayth as for this contention and battayle about wordes profitable for nothyng els but to subuert the hearers I care not for them For I haue the almighty testimony of the euerlastyng word of God ready to soyle all theyr madde and vnreasonable reasons to wype them cleane away and to turne them into their own confession And for bycause they hold them so fast by Paule I shall loose theyr hold expoundyng the Lordes Supper after Paule which addeth immediatly vnto the cup this y t Luke there left foorth Doe ye this into my remembraunce This doth Paule repete so ofte to put vs in minde that these thankes giuing and Supper is the coÌ„memoration and the memoriall of Christes death Wherfore after all hee repeteth it yet agayne the thyrde tyme saying So oft as ye shall eate this bread hee calleth it still bread euen after the Popes consecration and drinke the cuppe he sayth not drinke this bloude see that ye gyue thaÌ„kes be ioyous and preach the death of the Lord for so much signifieth Anâ—â—â—ciate in this place vntill hee come that is to say froÌ„ the tyme of his death and Ascention vntill hee come agayne to iudgement Furthermore sayeth Paule who so eateth this bread he calleth it still bread or drinke of the cuppe of the Lord vnworthely is giltie of the body and bloud of the Lord. The body and bloud of the Lorde Paule calleth here the congregation assembled together to eate the Lordes Supper For they are his body and bloud which are redemed with his body and bloud as he said in the x. chapter before The cup of thankes giuyng whiche we receiue with thaÌ„kes is it not the felowshyp of the bloud of Christ The bread whiche we breake is it not the felowshyp of the body of Christ For we beyng many together are one bread and one body Loe here Paule expoundyng hym selfe vseth the same forme of spech that is vsed in these woordes This is my body takyng is for signifieth We are one bread one body that is to say we are signified by one loafe of bread to be one body he sheweth the cause addyng because we be all partakers of one lofe or peece of bread And in the xij chapter folowing he sayth plainly ye be the body of Christ and his particular members and in the first to the Ephesians God dyd set Christ to be the head ouer all vnto hys congregation whiche is his body c. And bicause the comparison in the x. chapter betwene the Lordes borde and his cup and the deuils borde and his cup do declare this matter I shall recite Paules wordes saying ye may not drinke the cup of the Lord and the cuppe of the deuill both together Ye may not bee partakers of the Lordes borde the deuils borde both at once The deuils borde and hys cuppe was not his body and bloud but the earing and drinkyng before their images and Idols as dyd the heathen in the worshyppe and thankes of theyr Gods Of the which thyng thou mayst gather what Paul meant by the Lordes borde and his cuppe Now let vs returne to Paule in the xâ— chapter They eate this bread and drinke of this cup vnworthely that come not vnto this borde with such faith and loue as they professed at their Baptisme They eate vnworthely that thrust them selues in among this congregation hauyng not the loue that this SacrameÌ„t and signe of vnity teacheth and signifieth Which maner of people Paule in y e same chapter rebuketh and bendeth all his Sermon agaynst them for that they were conteÌ„tious and came together not for the better but for the woorse So that their commyng together which should haue bene a token of fayth and loue was turned into the occasion and matter of disscution and strife bycause euery man dyd eate as Paule sayth hys owne supper and not the Lordes supper wherein the bread and drinke is common as well to the poore as to the riche But here the rich disdayned the poore and would not tarye for them So that some as the rich went theyr way dronken and full and the poore departed hungry and dry whiche was a token of no equall distribution of the bread and drinke and that the rich contemned the poore and so became sclauÌ„derous and giltie of the body bloud of Christ that is to witte of the poore congregation redemed with Christes body and bloud Thus they that came together appearyng to haue had that loue whiche the Supper signified and had it not vttered them selues by this conteÌ„tious and vnlouyng dealyng not to be members of Christes body but rather giltie and hurtfull vnto them As if a souldier of our aduersaries part shoulde come in among vs with our Lordes badge hauyng not that hart fayth and loue to our captaine that we haue we would if we espyed it by any token take him for a spye and betrayer rather then one of vs. Let a man therefore sayth Paule proue him selfe well before whether he hath this fayth to Christ