The Obedience of a Christian Man, Part 12
¶Prayer.
OF prayer and good deades ād of the order of love or charite I have habundantly written in my boke of the iustifyenge of fayth. Never the later that thou maist se what the prayers and good workes of oure mōkes and freres ād of other goostly people are worth / I will speake a worde or two and make an ende. Paul sayth Gal. iij. All ye are ye sonnes of God thorow fayth in Iesu Christe. For all ye that are baptised have put Christ on you (that is ye are become Christe hī selfe) There is no Iew (sayth he) nether greke: nether bōde ner fre: nether man ner woman: but ye are all In christe we are one as good as a nother equaly beloved and indifferently hearde·one thinge in Christe Iesu. In Christ there is nether frēch ner english: but the frenchman is the englishmans awne selfe / and the english the frenchmans awne selfe. In Christ there is nether father / ner sonne: nether master: ner servant: nether husbande / ner wife: nether kynge / ner subiecte: but the father is the sonnes selfe and the sonne the fathers awne selfe / and the kynge is the subiectes awne selfe / and the subiecte is the kynges awne selfe / and so forth. I am thou thy selfe and thou art I my selfe and can be no nere of kynne. We are all the sonnes of God all Christes servauntes bought with his bloude and every man to other Christ his awne selfe. And Collo. iij. Ye have put on the new man which is renued in the knowleage of God after the image of hym that made hym (that is to saye Christe) where is (saith he) nether greke ner Iewe / circuncision ner vncircuncision / barbarous or sythian / bonde or fre: but Christ is all to a christē man.Christ is all in all thinges. I love the not now because thou art my father and hast done so moch for me or my mother and hast borne me and geven me sucke of thy brestes (for so do Iew…s and saracenes) but because of the great love that Christ hath shewed me. I serve the not be cause thou arte my master or my kynge / for hope of rewarde or feare of payne / but for the love of Christe. For ye childerne of fayth are vnderunder no lawe (as thou seist in the Pistles to the Romayns to the Galathians / in the firste to Timoth. but are fre.The childern of faithe worke of love and nede no law to compell thē. The sprite of Christ hath written the lively lawe of love ī their hertes which driveth thē to worke of their awne accorde frely & willingly / for the greate loves sake only which they se in Christe / and therefore nede they no law to compell them. Christe is all in all thinges to them that beleve / and the cause of all love. We are all christ…s servauntes and …arve Christ.Paul sayth (Ephes. vj.) servaūtes obeye vntounto youre carnall or fleshly masters with feare and tremblinge / in singlenes of youre hertes as vntounto Christe? not with eye service as men pleasers: but as the servātes of Christe: doinge the will of God from the herte: even as though ye served the lorde and not men. And remēbre that what so ever good thinge any man doeth / that shall he receave agayne of the lorde / whether he be bonde or fre. Christe thus is all in all thinges & cause of all to a Christen man. And Math. xxv sayth Christe: in as moch as ye have done it to any of ye lest of thes my bretherne / ye have done it to me. And ī as moch as ye have not done it vntounto one of the lest of these / ye have not done it to me. Here seist thou yt we are Christes brethern and even Christe hym selfe / and what so ever we do one to a nother that doo we to Christe. Yf we be in Christe we worke for no wordly purpose / but of love. As Paul sayth .ij. Corint. v. The love of Christ compelled vsus (as who shuld saye we worke not of a flesly purpose) For (saith he) we knowe hensforth no mā flesly: no though we once knew christ fleshly we doo so now no moare. We are other wise mynded / then when Peter drewe his swerde to fyght for Christe. we are now ready to sofre with Christ and to loose lyfe and all for oure very enimies to brynge them to Christe. Yf we be in Christ we are mynded lyke vntounto Christe / Christ knoweth no thinge worldly no not his very mother.which knew no thīge flesly or after the will of the fleshe / as thou seist Matth. xij. when one said to hym. Loo thy mother and thy brethern stōde without desyringe to speake with the. He answered / who is my mother and who are my bretherne? And stretched his hande over his disciples sayenge: se my mother and my bretherne. For who so ever doeth ye will of my father which is in hevē / the same is my brother my sister & my mother. He knew not his mother in that she bare him / but in that she did the will of his father in heven. So now as God the fathers will and cōmaundmēt is all to Christ even so Christ is all to a Christen man.
Christe is the cause why I love the why I am ready to doo the vttermost of my power for the / and why I praye for the And as longe as the cause abydeth / so longe lesteth the effecte even as it is all waye daye / so lōge as the sone shyneth. Do therfore the worst thou cāst vntounto me: take awaye my goodes: take awaye my good name: yet as longe as As longe as christ abydeth so longe a christē mā loveth.Christe remayneth in myne herte / so longe I love the not a whit the lesse and so longe arte thou as dere …nto me as myne awne soule / and so longe am I ready to doo the good for thyne evyll and so longe I praye for the with all myne herte. For Christe desireth it of me & hath deserved it of me. Thine vnkyndnes compared vntounto his kyndnes is nothīge at all / ye it is swalowed vp / as a litle smoke of a mightie winde / ād is no moare sene or thoughte apō Moare over that evyll which thou doist to me / I receave not of thine hande / but of the hande of God / and as Gods scorge to teach me pacience and to nurtoure me. And therfore have no cause to be angry with the moare then the child hath to be angre with his fathers rod or a sicke man with a soure or bitter medicine that healeth him / or a prisoner with his fetters or he that is punished lawfully with the officer that punisheth him. Thus is Christe all ād the whole cause why I love the / And to all cā nought be added Therfore can not a litle money make me love the better or moare bound to praye for the ner make Gods commaundmente gretter.Money byndet… not chris…en to praye. Last of all / yf I be in Christe thē the love of Christe compelleth me. And therfore I am ready to geve the myne and not to take thine from the yf I be able I will doo the service frely / yf not / then if thou ministre to me agayne / that receave I of the hande of God which ministerith it to me by the: For God careth for his and ministreth all thinges vntounto them and moveth turkes and saracenes and all maner infidels to doo thē good / God careth for his.as thou seist in Abrahā / Isaac & Iacob / & how god wēt with Ioseph in to Egipte & gate hī favoure in the prysō & in every place / which favoure Ioseph receaved of ye hāde of God & to God gave ye thākes. This is God & Christ all in all: good & bad receave I of God. Thē that are good I love / because they are in Christe & the evyll to bringe thē to Christe. When any mā doeth well I reioyse / ye god is honoured / & whē any mā doeth evyll I sorow because / yt God is dishonoured. Finaly in as moch as God hath created all & Christ bought all with his bloude / therfore ought all to seke God and Christe in all & else no thinge.
But contrary wise vntounto monkes / freres / and to the other of oure holy spiritualte the bely is all ī all & cause of all love.The bely is a God and cause of all vntounto oure spiritualte. Offer therto / so art thou father / mother / sister / ād brother vntounto thē Offerest thou not / so know they yt not / thou art nether / father / mother / sister / brother ner any kīne at all to thē. She is a sister of oures he is a brother of oures saye they he is verely a good man / for he doeth moch for oure religiō. She is a mother to oure covēte▪ we be greatly boūd to praye for thē And as for soch & soch (saye they) we know not whether they be good or bad or whether they be fish or flesh / for they doo nought for vsus we be moare bounde to praye for oure benefactours (saye they) and for them that geve vsus / then for them that geve vsus not. For them that geve litle are they litle bound and them they love litle and for them that geve moch are they moch bounde and them they love moch. And for them that geve nought are they nought bounde and them they love not at all. And as they love the when thou gevist: so hate they the when thou takest awaye from them / and runne all vnderunder a stole and curse the as blacke as pitch. So ys cloyster love All is of the bely ād no thī ge of Christe.bely love / cloyster prayer bely prayer and cloyster bretherhed bely bretherhed. Moare over love yt springeth of Christ seketh not hir awne selfe (.j. Corinth. xiij.) but Christis love For …heteth her selfe: but monkes love thinketh on the bely·forgetteth hir selfe and bestoweth hir apon her neybours profite as Christ sought oure profite & not his awne. He sought not the favoure of God for him selfe / but for vsus yee …e toke the wrath ād vengeaunce of God frō vsus vntounto him selfe and bare it on his awne backe to bringe vsus vntounto favoure. Lyke wise doeth a Christē man geve to his brethern and robbeth them not as freres and monkes doo: But as Paul cammaundeth Ephe iiij. laboureth with his handes some good worke to have where with to helpe the neady They geve not but receave only. They laboure not but lyve ydely of the swet of the pore. There is none so pore a wedow / though she have not to fynde hir selfe and hir childern ner any money to geve: yet shall ye frere snach a chese or some what. They preach / saist thou ād laboure in ye worde.Freres ād mō kes oughte not to preach. First I saye they are not called and therfore ought not: for it is the curates office. The curate can not seyst thou. What doeth the thefe there thē? Secō daryly a true preacher preacheth christes testamente only & maketh christe the cause ād rewarde of all oure deades & teacheth every mā to beare his crosse willingly for christes sake: But these are enimies vntounto the crosse of christe and preach their bely which is their God Ephe. iij. and they thinke that lucre is the servinge of God .j. Timo. vj. that is / they thinke them christē only which offer vntounto their belyes / which when thou hast fylled then spue they out prayers for the / to be thy rewarde / and yet wott not what prayer meaneth. Prayer is the longinge for Gods promises / which promises as they preach them not so longe they not for thē ner wish thē vntounto any mā. Their lōginge is to fyll their …anch whom they serve and not Christ ād thorow swete preachinge and flatteringe wordes deceave the hertes of the symple ād vnlerned. Roma. xvj.
Finally as Christ is the whole cause why we doo all thinge for oure neyboure / Christ is the whole cause why God loveth vsus.even so is he the cause why god doeth all thinge for vsus / why he receaveth vsus in to his holy testamēte & maketh vsus heyres of all his promyses / & powreth his sprite in to vsus / & maketh …s his sonnes / and fascioneth vsus like vntounto Christe and maketh vsus soch as he wolde have vsus to be How to know that we ar Gods sonnes.The assuraunce that we are sonnes / beloved and heyres with Christe ād have Gods sprite in vsus / is the consente of oure hertes vntounto the law of God. Which law is all perfeccion and the marke where at all we oughte to shote.The law ys the m…ke: ye and the …wich …ō where wit… we ough…e to trye oure selv…s and se how f…r…or…h we are purged. And he that hitteth that marke / so that he fulfilleth the lawe with all his herte soule and myghte and with full love and lust without all let or resistaunce ys pure golde and neadeth not to be put eny moare in the fyre: he is streghte and righte and neadeth to be no moare shaven: he is full fascioned lyke Christe and can have no moare added vntounto him. Never thelesse there is none so perfecte in this lyfe that fyndeth not let and resistaunce by the reason of originall synne or birth poyson that remayneth in him / as thou maist se in ye lyves of all the sayntes thorow out all the scripture and in Paul Ro. vij. The will is presente / saith he / but I fynde no meanes to performe yt which is good I doo not that good thinge which I wolde: but that evyll doo I which I wolde not. I fīde by ye law yt whē I wolde doo good / evyll is presēt with me. I delyte…n ye law / as cōcernīge the inner mā / but I fīde a nother law ī my mēbres rebellinge agēste ye law of mi mīde & subduīge me vntounto ye law of sīne.☞ Which law of sīne is nothīge but a corrupte & a poyesoned nature which breaketh in to evyll lustes & frō evill lustes in to weaked deades & must be purged with the trew purgatory of the crosse of christe:The ryghte crosse of …hrist yt is thou must hate it with all thine herte & desyre god to take it frō ye. And thē what so ever crosse God putteth on thy backe beare it paciently whether it be poverte sycknes or persecucion or what so ever it be / & take it for the righte purgatory & thinke that God hath nayled the fast to it / to purge ye therby He that loveth not the law ād ha…eth syn hath no parte with christe.For he that loveth not the law and hateth his synne ād hath not professed in his herte to fyghte agenst it & morneth not to God to take it awaye ād to purge him of it / the same hath no parte with christe How to trye the doctrine of oure spir…ualte.Yf thou love the lawe & fyndest that thou hast yet synne hāgīge on ye / where of thou sorowest to be delyvered & purged as for an exāple / thou hast a covetous mīde & mistrustest god & therfore arte moved to begyle thy neyboure & arte vntounto hī mercylesse / not caringe whether he sinke or swym so thou maist winne by hym or gett frō hī yt he hath: thē gete y• to the observaū te which is so purged frō yt synne that he wil not once hādle a peny & with yt wyle doeth y• sotle foxe make ye gose come flyenge in to his hole ready prepared for his mouth with out his laboure or swet & bie of his merites which he hath īstore & geve thy money not in to his holy hādes but to of him yt he hath hired …ther with parte of his praiers or parte of his praye to take ye synne vpō hym and to hādle his money for hī. In lyke maner yf any parson that ys vnderunder obedience vntounto Gods ordinaūce (whether it be sonne or doghter / servaunte / wife or subiecte) consente vntounto the ordinaunce / and yet fynde contrary mocions: let hym goo also to them that have professed an obedience of theyr awne makynge / ād bye parte of their merites. Yf thy wyfe geve the .ix. wordes for thre / goo to the charterhowse and bye of their sylence and so If the praya…s and merites of our religious purge oure lustes thē are they of valve and else notYf the abstenynge of the observaunt from handlynge money heale thine herte from desyringe money / and the obedience of them that will obeye no thinge but their awne ordinaunce / heale thy disobedience to Gods ordinaunce / and the sylēce of the charterhouse monke tame thy wyves tonge: then beleve that their prayers shall deliver thy soule from the paynes of that terreble ād fearfull purgatory which they have fayned to purge thy purse with all.
The spiritualte encreaseth dayly. Moo prelates moo prestes / ☞moo monkes / freres / chanons / nūnes and moo heretikes / I wold saye heremytes with lyke draffe / Set before the the encrease of saynt Fraunces disciples in so few yeres. Rekē how many thousāde. yee how many twenty thousandes / not discyples only: but whole cloysters are spronge out of hell of them in so litle space. Pateringe of prayers encreaseth dayly. Their service as they call it / waxeth longer and lōger and the laboure of their lyppes greater / new sayntes / new service / new festes ād new holy dayes. What take all these awaye? Synne? Nay. For we se the contrary by experience and that synne groweth as they grow. But they take awaye fyrst gods worde with fayth / hope / peace / vnite / love and concorde then howse and lōde / rent and fee / toure ād toune / goodes and cattell / and ye very meate out of mens mouthes.What the spiritualte taketh awaye with their prayers▪ All these lyve by purgatory. When othe… wepe they synge and when other loose they wynne.When other wepe for their frēdes they singe merily when other loose their frendes they gete frēdes. The pope with all his pardons is grounded on purgatory. Prestes monkes / chanons / freres with all other swermes of ypocrites doo but empty purgatory ād fyll hell. Every masse / saye they / delyvereth one soule out of All is of purgatory. The… phisicions geve no other medicines save purgation… only▪purgatory. Yf that were trew / yee if ten masses were ynow for one soule / yet were the parish prestes and curates of every parysh sufficiente to scoure purgatory. All ye other costly worke mē myght be well spared: