The Obedience of a Christian Man, Part 13

The Obedience of a Christian Man · Part 13

p. Cxxix¶The .iiij. senses of y^e scripture.

THey devide y^e scripture ī to iiij. senses / y^e literall / tropologicall / allegoricall anagogicall. The literall sence is become nothīge at all. For the pope hath takē it cleane awaye ād hath made it his possession. He hath partly locked it vp with y^e false & counterfayted keyes of his tradicions cerimonies & fayned lyes And partly dryveth mē frō it with violence of swerde. For no man dare abyde by y^e litterall sense of y^e texte / but vnderunder a protestaciō / yf it shall please y^e pope. The tropologicall sence perteyneth to good maners (saie they) and teacheth what we ought to doo. The allegory is appropriate to fayth / & the anagogicall to hope and thinges above. Tropologicall & anagogicall are termes of their awne faynynge and all together vnnecessary. For they are but allegories both two of thē and this worde allegorie comprehendeth them both and is ynough. For chopologicall is but an allegory of maners and anagogicall an allegory of hope. Allegory and what it signifieth▪And allegory is as moch to saye as straunge speakynge or borowed speach. As when we saye of a wātā childē / this shepe hath magottes in his tayle / he must be anoynted with byrchī salve which speach I borow of the shepardes ¶ Thou shalt vnderstōde therfore y^• the scripture hath but one sence which is y^e literall sence.The scripture hath but one sense. And y^t literall sence is y^e rote and groūde of all & the an…re y^t never fayleth where vntounto yf thou cleve thou canst never erre or goo out of the waye. And if thou leve y^e litterall sence▪ thou canst not but go… p. cxxxout of the waye. Never the later the scripture vseth proverbes / similitudes / redels or allegories as all other speaches doo / but that which the proverbe / similitude / redell or allegory signifieth is ever the literall sence which thou must seke out dilgently. As in the english we borow wordes and sentences of one thinge and apply them vntounto a nother ād geve thē new significaciōs We saye let the see swell and rise as he will yet hath God appoynted how f…rre he shall goo: meaninge that the tyrauntes shall not doo what they wolde / but that only which God hath appoynted them to doo / loke yer thou lepe / whose literall sence is / doo nothinge sodenly or without avisemente. Cut not the bowe that thou stondest apon whose literall sence is oppresse not the comyns and is borowed of hewers. When a thinge speadeth not well / we Borowed speach▪borowe speach and saye / the Byshope hath blessed it / because that nothinge speadeth well that they medyll with all.☜ Yf the podech be burned to or the meate over rosted / we saye / the bysshope hath put his fote in the potte or the bysshope hath playd the coke / because the bysshopes burn who they lust and whosoever displeaseth them. He is a pontificall fellow / that is / prowd and statly. He is popish / that is / supersticious & faythlesse. It is a pastime for a prelate It is a pleasure for a pope. He wolde be free and yet will not have his heed shaven. He wolde that no man shulde smyte hym & yet hath not the popes marke. And of hī y^• is betrayd ād woteth not how / we saye / he hath bene at shrifte▪ she is master parsons sisters doghter▪ he is y^e byshopes systers▪ sonne / he hath a cardinal to his vncle / she is a spiritual whore / it is the gentle womā of y^e parsonage / he gave me a Ryrieleyson. And of hyr that answereth hyr husbande vj. wordes for one we saye / she is a sister of the charter house / as who shulde saye / she thinketh that she is not bounde to kepe sylence / their silence shalbe a satisfaccion for hir. And of him that will not be saved by Christes merites / but by the workes of his awne imaginaciō we saye it is a holy worke mā. Thus borow we and fayne new speach in every tonge. All fabels prophesies and redels are allegories as Ysopus fabels and Marliens prop…sies and the interpretacion of them are the literall sence.

So in lyke maner the scripture boroweth wordes and sentences of a … maner thīges and maketh proverbes and similitud…s or allegoryes. As Christ saith Luke. iiij. Phisicion heale thy selfe. Whose interpretacion is doo that at whome which thou do…st in straunge places and that is the literall sence. So when I saye Christ is a lābe / I meane p. cxxxjnot a lambe that beareth woll / but a meke and a paciente lambe which is beaten for other mens fautes. Christ is a vine / not that beareth grapes: but out of whose rote the braunches that beleve / sucke the sprite of lyfe ād mercy and grace and power to be the sonnes of God and to doo his will. The similitudes of the Gospell are allegories borowed of wordly matters to expresse spirituall thinges. The Apocalipse or revelaciōs of Iohn are allegories whose litterall sense is herde to fynde in many places.

Beyond all this / The righte vse of allegories.whē we have found out the litterall sence of the scripture by the processe of the texte or by a lyke texte of a nother place▪ Thē goo we & as y^e scripture boroweth similitudes of wordly thīges evē so we agayne borow similitudes or allegories of y^e scripture ād apply thē to oure purposes / Allegories are no sense of scripture.which allegories are not sence of the scripture: but fre thinges besydes the scripture and all to gether in the liberte of the spirite. Which allegories I maye not make at all the wilde adventures: but must kepe me with in the compasse of the fayth and ever apply myne allegory to Christ and vntounto the fayth.☜ Take an ensample / thou hast the story of peter how he smote of Malchuses eare and how Christ healed it agayne. There hast thou in y^e playne texte greate lerninge / greate frute & greate edifienge which I passe over because of tediousnes. Then come I / when I preach of the law and the gospell / and borow this example to expresse the nature of the law and of the Gospell and to paynte it vntounto the before thine eyes. And of Peter and his swerde make I the law and of Christ the Gospell sayenge / as Peters swerde cutteth of the eare so doeth the law. The law damneth / the law kylleth / and mangleth the conscience.

There is no eare so righteous that can abyde the hearinge of the law. There is no deade so good but that the law damneth it. But Christ / that is to saye the Gospell / the promyses and testamente that God hath made in Christe healeth the eare and conscience which the law hath hurte. The Gospell is lyfe / mercy and forgevenes frely / and al together an helinge playster. And as Peter doeth but hurte and make a woūde where was none before: evē so doeth the lawe. For when we thinke that we are holy and righteous and full of good deades yf the law be preached a ryght / oure righteousnes and good deades vanesh awaye / as smoke in the winde and we are left dānable synners only And as thou seist how y^e Christ healeth not tyll Peter had wonded / & as an healinge playster helpeth not tyll y^e corrosy hath trobled the woūde / evē so y^e Gospell helpeth not / but when the law hath wonded p. cxxxijthe conscience and brought the synner in to …he knowlege of his synne. Allegories prove no thīgeThis allegory proveth no thinge nether can doo. For it is not the scripture / but an example or a similitud… borowed of the scripture to declare a texte or a conclusion of the scripture moare expre…ly and to rote it and grave it in the herte. For a similitude or an example doeth prynte a thinge moch deper in the wittes of a mā then doeth a playne speakynge and leaveth behynde hym as it were a stynge to pricke him forwarde and to awake hym with allIf thou can not prove the allegory with an open texte then is it false doctrine. Moare over if I coulde not prove with an open texte that which the allegory doeth expresse / then were the allegory a thinge to be gested at and of no greater value then a tale of Robyn hode. This allegory as twichinge his fyrst parte is proved by Paul in iij. chap. of his Pistle to the Rom. where he sayeth. The law causeth wr…th. And in vij. chapter to the Rom. When the law or commaundmente came / synne revyved / ād I become deed▪ And in the ij. pistle to the Corinth. in threde chapter / the law is called the minister of deeth and dānacion &ce. And as concernynge the seconde parte Paul sayth to the Romayns in .v. chapter In that we are iustified by fayth we are at peace with God. And in the seconde pistle to the Corinthians in .iij. The Gospyll is called the ministracion of iustifienge and of the spirite. And Gala. iiij. The sprite cometh by preachinge of the fayth &c.The litterall sense proveth the allegory. This doeth the litterall sence prove the allegory and beare it / as the foundaciō beareth the hou…. And because that allegories prove nothge therfore are they to be vsed soberly and seldon and only where the texte offereth the an allegory.

And of this maner (as I above h…ve done) doeth Paul borow a similitude / … figure or an allegory of Genesis to expresse the nature of the law and of the Gospell / and by Agar & hyr sonne declareth the propertie of the law and of hyr bonde childern which wilbe iustified by deades / and by Sara and hyr sonne declareth y^e propertie of the Gospell and of hyr fre childerne which are iustified by fayth / and how the childern of the law which beleve in their workes persecute the childerne of the Gospell which beleve in the mercy and trueth of God and in the testamēte of his sonne Iesus oure lorde. And lyke wise doo we borow likenesses or allegories of the scripture / as of Pharao and Herod and of the scribes and pharises / to expresse oure miserable captivite and persecucion vnderunder Antychrist the Pope.The fayth was loost thorow allegories.

The greatest cause of which captivite ād the decay of the fayth and this blyndnes wherein we now are / sprange fyrst of allehoryes. For Origen and the of his tyme p. Cxxxiijdrew al the scripture vntounto allegories. Whos ensample they that came after folowed so longe / tyll at the last they forgat the order / and processe of the texte / supposinge that the scripture sarved but to fayne allegories apon. In so moch that twenty doctours expounde one texte .xx. wayes / as childern make descant apon playne songe Chopologicall sophisters.Then came oure sophisters with their Anagogicall ād chopologicall sence and with an antetheme of halfe an ench / out of which some of them draw a threde of .ix. dayes longe. Yee thou shalt fynde ynow that will preach Christ / and prove what some ever poynte of the fayth that thou wilt / as well out of a fabell of Ovide Poetry is as good divinite as the scripture to oure scole men.or any other poyet / as out of saynte Iohns Gospell or Pauls pistels. Yee they are come vntounto soch blyndnes that they not only saye the literall sence profiteth not / but also that it is hurtfull and noysome and kylleth the soule.The litterall sense kylleth s…le sophi…te…. Which damnable doctrine they prove by a texte of Paul. ij Corinth. iij. Where he sayeth the letter kylleth but the spirite geveth lyfe. Loo saye they the litterall sence kylleth and the spirituall sence geveth lyfe. We must therfore / saye they / seke out some choplogicall sence.

Here lerne what sophistry is and how blynde they are / that thou maist abhorre thē and spue them out of thy stomake for ever. Paul by the letter meaneth Moyses law. which the processe of the texte folowinge declareth more bryghte then the sone. But it is not their gyse to loke on y^e order of any texte but as they fynde it in their doctoures so allege they it and so vnderstōde it The letter kille this expounde.Paul maketh a compareson betwene the law and the Gospell and calleth the law the letter / because it was but letters graven in two tables of colde stone. For the law doeth but kyll and damne the consciences / as longe as there is no lust in the herte to doo that which the law commaundeth. Cōtrary wise he calleth y^e Gospell the administratiō of the sprite and of righteousnes or iustifienge For when Christ is p…eached and the promyses which God hath made in Christe are beleved / the sprite entereth the herte and looseth the herte and geveth lust to doo the lawe and maketh the lawe a lyvely thinge in the herte. To love the law is righteousnes.Now as sone as the herte lusteth to doo the law / then are we righteous before God and oure synnes forgeven. Never thelesse the law of the letter graved in stone and not in the hertes was so glorious / that Moysesis face shone so bryghte that the childerne of Israell coulde not beholde his face forbryghtnes. It was also gevē in thunder ād lighninge and t…reble signes / so that they for feare came tot Moses and desired him that he wolde speake to them & let God speake no moare. Lest we dye (sayd they) Yf p. Cxxxiiijwe heare him any moare: as thou maist se Exodi twenty. Wherapon Paul maketh his comparison sayenge: yf the ministration of deeth thorow the letters figured in stones was glorious / so that the childern of Israell coulde not beholde y^e face of Moses for the glory of his countenaunce: why shall not the administracion of the sprite be glorious? And agayne: if the administration of damnacion be glorious: moch moare shall the administration of righteousnes excead in glory: That is / if the law that kylleth synners and helpeth them not be glorious: then the Gospell which pardoneth synners and geveth them power to be the sonnes of God and to over come synne / is moch moare glorious. And the texte that goeth before is as clere.

For the holy Apostel Paul sayeth / ye Corinthians are oure Pistle / which is vnderstonde and red of all men / in that ye are knowē how that ye are y^e pistle of Christ ministred by vsus and written: not with ynke (as Moyses lawe) but with the sprite of the lyvinge God: not in tables of stone (as the ten commaundmētes) but in the fleshy tables of y^e herte / as who shulde saye / we write not a deed law with ynke & in parchemente / ner grave that which damned you in tables of stone: but preach you y^t which bringeth the sprite of lyfe vntounto youre brestes / which sprite writeth and graveth the lawe of love in youre hertes and geveth you lust to doo the will of God. And forthermoare / sayth he oure ablenes cometh of God which hath made vsus able to mynistre the new testament / not of the letter (that is to saye not of the law) but of the sprite. For y^e letter (that is to saye the law) kylleth: but y^e sprite geveth lyfe (that is to saye the sprite of God which entereth youre hertes when ye beleve the glad tydinges that are preached you in Christe / quickeneth youre hertes and geveth you lyfe & lust and maketh you to do of love and of youre awne accorde with out compulsiō / y^t which the law compelled you to doo and damned you because ye coulde not doo with love and lust and naturally. This seist thou that the letter signifieth not the literall sence and the sprite the spirituall sence. And Rom. ij. vseth Paul this terme litera for the law. And Ro. vij. where he sette…h it so playne / that if the great wrath of God had not blynded them they coude never have stombled at it.

God is a sprite and all his wordes are spirituall. His The litterall sense is spirituall.litterall sence is spirituall and all his wordes are spirituall. When thou readest. Mathei. j. she shall beare a sonne and thou shalt call his name Iesus. For he shall save his people from their synnes This litterall sence is spirituall and everlastinge lyfe vntounto as many as beleve it. And p. Cxxxvthe litterall sence of these wordes Math. v. blessed are the mercyfull / for they shall have mercy are spirituall and lyfe. Wherby they that are mercyfull maye of right by the trueth and promise of God calenge mercy. And lyke is it of these wordes. Mathei vj. Yf you forgeve othermen their synnes youre hevenly father shall forgeve you yours. And so is it of all the promises of God. Finally all gods wordes are spirituall / yf thou have eyes of God to se the ryght meanynge of the texte ād where vntounto the scripture perteyneth and the finall ende and cause therof.

All the scripture is ether the promyses and testamente of God in Christ and storyes perteyninge there vntounto / to strength thy fayth ether the law and stones perteyninge therto to feare the from evell doinge.What is to be soughte in the scripture and in the litteral sense. There is no story nor gest / seme it never so symple or so vile vntounto the worlde / but that thou shalte fynde therin spirite and life ād edifienge in the litterall sense. For it is Gods scripture written for thy lernynge and conforte. There is no cloute or ragge there that hath not precious reliques wrapte therin of fayth / hope / pacience and longe soferinge and of the trueth of God / and also of his ryghtwesnes. Set before the the story of The story of Ruben.Ruben which defyled his fathers bed. Marke what a crosse G…d sofered to fall on the necke of hys electe Iacob. Considre fyrst the shame amonge the hethen / when as yet there was no mo… of the whole worlde with in the testamente of God but he and his housholde. I reporte me to oure prelates which sw…re by their Swere they by their honoure? then are they not ready to sofre shame for christes sake.honoure whether it were a crosse or no. Seist thou not how oure weked bylders rage / because they se their byldynges burne / now they are tryed by the fyre of Gods worde / and how they stere vp the whole worlde / to quench the worde of God / for feare of loosynge their honoure? Then what busynes had he to pacyfie his childerne? Loke what a doo he had at the defylinge of his dochter Dina. And be thou sure that the brethern there were no more furious for the defylinge of their syster / then the sonnes here for the defylynge of their mother. Marke what folowed Ruben / to feare other that they shame not their fathers and mothers. He was cursed and loost the kyngdome and also the prestdome / and his tribe or generacion was ever few in numbre as it appereth in y^e stories of the Bible.

The adultery of David.The adultery of David with Barsabe is an ensample / not to move vsus to evell: but yf (whyle we folow the waye of ryghteousnes) any chaunce dryve vsus a syde / that we despere not. For yf we saw not soch infyrmytes in Gods electe / we which are so weke and fall so ofte shulde p. Cxxxvjvtterly despeare and thinke that God had cleane forsaken vsus. It ys therfore a sure and an vndowted conclusion / whether we be holy or onholy / we are all synners. But the difference is / that Gods synners consente not to their synne.The differēce betwene gods synners ād the devyls. They consente vntounto the law y^t it ys both holy and ryghteous and morne to have their synne taken awaye. But the devels synners cō sente vntounto their synne and wolde have the law and hell taken awaye and are enemies vntounto the righteousnes of God.

Lyke wyse in the whomely ges… of Noe / Noe·when he was dronke / and laye in hys tente with his pryvey membres opon / hast thou greate edyfyenge in the litterall sence. Thou seyst what became of the cursed childern of weked ham which saw his fathers privey membres and gested therof vntounto his brethern. Thou seyst allso what blessynge fell on S…m and Iaphet which went backwarde and covered their fathers membres and saw them not. And thredly thou seyst what infirmyte accompanie…h Gods electe be they never so …oly / which yet is not imputed vntounto them. For the fayth and trust they have in God swaloweth vp all there synnes.The Pope is likened to ham

Not with standynge this texte offereth vsus an apte & an honsome allegory or similitude to destribe oure weked hā ātichriste the pope which many hūdred yeres hath done all the shame that herte can thinke vntounto the privey membre of God which ys the worde of promyse or the worde of fayth as Paul calleth it Roma. x. and the Gospell and testamente of Christe wherewith we are begotē / as thou seist .j. Petri. j. and Iames. j. And as y^e cursed childern of ham grew in to geauntes so myghty ād greate that the childern of Israel semed but greshoppers in respecte of thē: so the cursed sones of oure Ham the Pope his cardinals / bisshopes / abbotes / monkes and freres are become mighty geauntes above all power and auctorite / so that the childern of fayth in respecte of them / are moch lesse then greshoppers. The will to heven by a waye of there awne makynge.They hepe mountayne apō mountayne and will to heven by theyr awne strength and bi a waye of their awne makynge and not by the waye Christe Never the later those geauntes for the w… kednes and abhominations which they had wrought / did God vtterly destroye / parte of them by the childern of Loth and parte by the chyldern of Esau and seven nacions of them by the childern of Israel. So no doute shall he destroye these for lyke abhomi…acions and that shortly. For their kyngdome is but y^e kyngdome of lyes ād falsheed which must nedes perish at the comynge of the trueth of Gods worde / as the nyght vanesheth awaye at the presence of daye. The childern p. cxxxvijof Israel slew not those geauntes / but thē power of God / Gods trueth and promyses as thou maist se in Deutero. * So it is not we that shall destroye those geauntes / as thou maist se by Paul. ij. Thessaloni. ij. speakynge of oure ham Antichrist. Whom the lorde shall destroye (sayeth he) with the sprite of his mouth (that is / by the wordes of trueth) and by the bryghtnes of his comynge (y^t is / by the preachinge of his Gospell.

ANd as I have sayde of allegories / evē so it is of worldly similitudes which we make ether when we preach ether when we expound the scripture.The vse of similitudes. The similitudes prove no thinge / but are made to expresse moare playnely that which is contayned in y^e scripture & to leade the ī y^e spirituall vnderstōdīge of y^e texte. As y^e similitude of matrimony is takē to expresse y^e mariage that is betwene christe & oure soules & what exceadinge mercy we / have there / where of all y^e scriptures make mēciō. And y^e similitude of y^e mēbres / how every one of them careth for other is take to make y^e fele what it is to love thy neyboure as thy selfe. A similitude with out scripture ys a sure token of a false prophete.That preacher therfore y^t brīgeth a naked similitude to prove y^t which is cōtayned in no texte of scripture ner foloweth of a texte / coūte a disceaver / a leader out of y^e waye ād a false prophete / & beware of his philosophy and persuasions of mans wisdome as Paul every where warneth the. Paul. j. Corinth. ij. saith:Paul preached not worldly wisdome. my wordes and my preachinge were not with entysinge wordes and persuasions of mans wisdome but in showinge of the sprite and power / that is / he preached not dreames confirminge them with similitudes: but Gods worde confirminge it with myracles & with workinge of the sprite the which made them fele every thinge in their her…es. That youre faith / saith he / shuld not stonde in y^e wisdome of man: but in the power of God Similitudes and reas…ns of mans wisdome make no faith but waveringe opiniōs only.For y^e reasons & similitudes of mans wisdome make no fayth / but waveringe & vncertayne opiniōs only: one draweth me this waye with his argumēte a nother that / ād of what principle thou provest blacke a nother proveth white / and so am I ever vncertayne / as if thou tell me of a thinge done in a ferre londe and a nother tell me the contrary / I wote not what to beleve. But fayth is wrought by y^e power of God / that is / … Gods worde is preached / the spirite entereth thine herte & maketh thy soule fele it ād maketh y^e so sure of it / Gods word maketh sure faith for god can not lye.y^t nether adversite nor persecucion / ner deeth / nether hell / ner the powers of hell / nether yet all the paynes of hell coulde ones prevayle agenst the or move the from the sure rocke of Gods worde / that thou shuldest not beleve that which God hath sworne.

p. cxxxviijAnd Peter. ij. Petri. j. saith we folowed not deceavable Peter preached not fables and false similitudes but the playne scripture.fables / when we opened vntounto you the power and comynge of our lorde Iesus Christe: but with our eyes we saw his maiestie. And agayne / we have (saith he) a moare sure worde of prophesie / where vntounto if ye take hede / as vntounto a lighte shininge in a darke place / ye doo well. The worde of prophesy was the olde testamente which bereth recorde vntounto Christe in every place / without which recorde y^e Apostles made nether similitudes nor argumē tes of worldly witte. ☜Here of seist thou / that all the allegories / similitudes / pesuasions & argumentes which they bringe without scripture / to prove prayēge to sayntes / purgatory / eare cōfessiō & that God will he are thy prayar moare in one place then in a nother / and that it is moare meritorious to eate fysh then flesh / and that to disgise thy selfe and put on this or that maner cote is moare acceptable then to goo as God hath made the / & that wedowhode is better then matrimony and virginite then wedowhode / and to prove the assumpcion of oure lady and that she was borne without originall synne / ye and with a kisse saye some / are but false doctrine.Scole doctrine.

Take an ensāple how they prove y^t wedowhode & virginite exceade matrimony thei brī ge this worldli similitude He y^t taketh most payne for a man deserveth most and to hym a mā is most bounde / so like wise must it be with God ād so forth: now the wedow ād virgyn take moare payne in resistinge their lustes then the maryed wife / therfore is their state holyer. Fyrst I saye / that in their awne sophistry a similitude is the worst and feblest argumēte that can be and proveth lest and sonest disceaveth.Similitudes are no good argumētes amō ge the sophisters awne selves. Though that one sone doo moare service for his father thē a nother / yet is the father fre ād maye with righte rewarde them all a lyke. For though I had a thousande brethern ād did moare thē they all / yet do I not my dutie. The fathers and mothers also care most for the leest ād wekest and them that can do leest: ye for the worst care they most and wold spende / not their goodes only: but also their bloude to bringe them to the righte waye. And evē so is it of y^e kingdome of Christe as thou maist well se in the similitude of the riotous sonne Luke. xv. Moare over Paul saith .j. Cor. vij. It is beter to marie then to burne. For the persone y^t burneth can not quietly serve God in as moch as his mynde is drawen awaye and the thoughtes of his herte occupied with wonderfull and mōstrous imaginacions. He can nether se / ner heare / ner reade but that his wittes are rapte and he cleane from hym selfe. And agayne / saith he / circuncision is nothinge vncircuncision is no p. cxxxixthinge: but the kepynge of the commaundmentes is all to gether. Loke where in thou canst best kepe the commaundmentes thither get thy selfe and therein abyde / wheder thou be wedow wyfe or mayde / and then hast thou all with God We must cure oure īfirmites withe the reamedies that god hath ordened and not tempte God.Yf we have infirmites that draw vsus from the lawes of God / let vsus cure them with the remedies that God hath made. Yf thou burne mary For God hath promysed the no chastite / as longe as thou maist vse the remedy that he hath ordened: no moare then he hath promysed to flake thine hongre without meate

Now to aske of God moare then he hath promysed cometh of a false fayth and is playne ydolatry: and to desyre What temptinge of God ys▪a myracle where there is naturall remedy / is temptinge of God. And of payne takynge this wyse vnderstande. He that taketh payne to kepe y^e commaundmentes of god is sure ther by that he loveth god ād that he hath gods sprite in him. And the moare payne a man taketh (I meane paciently ād without grouginge) the moare he loveth God and the perfecter he is ād neare vntounto that health which the soules of all christen men longefore and the moare purged from the infirmyte and synne that remayneth in the fleshe: but to loke for any other rewarde or promocion in heven or in the lyfe to come thā that which God hath promysed for Christes sake and which Christe hath deserved for vsus with his payne takynge / is abhominable in the syght of God. For Christe only hath purchesed the rewarde / and oure payne takynge to kepe the commaundmentes doeth but purge the synne that remayneth in the flesh / and cerrifie vsus that we are chosen & sealed with Gods spirite vntounto the tewarde that Christe hath purchased for vsus.

I was once at the creatinge of doctours of divinite / where the oponente brought the same reason to prove that y^e wedow had moare merite then the vigin / because she had greater payne for as moch as she had once proved the pleasures of matrimony. Ego ne go domine doctor said the respondente. For though the virgen have not proved / yet she imagineth that the playsure is gretter then it is in deade and therfore is moare moved and hath greater temptacion ād greater payne. Are not these disputers they that Paul speaketh of in the sixte chapter of y^e first pistle to Timotheum. That they are not / contente with the wholsome wordes of oure lorde Iesus Christ / and doctrine of godlinesse. And therfore know no thinge: but wast their braynes aboute questions and strifte of wordes / wherof springe envy / stryfe and raylinge of men with corrupte myndes destitute of the trouth.

As pertaynynge to oure ladyes body / wh… re p. cxiit is or where the body of Elyas / of Iohn the Evangeliste and of many other be / perteyneth not to vsus to know. One thinge are we sure of / that they are where God hath leyde thē. ☜Yf they be in hevē / we have never the moare in Christe: Yf they be not there / we have never the lesse. Oure dutie is to prepare oure selves vntounto the commaundmentes and to be thankefull for that which is opened vntounto vsus / and not to sherch the vnsherchable secretes of God. Of Gods secretes can we know no moare then be openeth vntounto vsus. Yf God shutte / who shall open? How thē cā naturall reasō come by y^e knowlege of that which God hath hyd vntounto himselfe?

Yet let vsus se one of their reasons where with they prove it. The chefe reason is this / every man doeth moare for his mother / saye they / then for other / in lyke maner must Christe do for his mother / therfore hath she this preheminence / that hir body is in heven. And yet Christ in the twelf chapter of Mathe. knoweth hir not for his mother: but as ferforth as she kepte his fathers commaundmentes. And Paul in the seconde Pistle to the Corintheans in v. chap. knoweth not Christe himselfe fleshly or after a worldly purpose. Last of all god is fre & no forther boūde thē he bīdeth hīselfe: yf he have made hir any promyse he is bounde / yf not / then is he not. Finally yf thou set this above rehersed chapter of Math. before the where Christe wolde not know his mother / and the seconde of Iohn where he rebuked hir / and the secōde of Luke where she loost him and how negligente she was to leve him behinde her at Ierusalem vnwars ād to goo a dayes Iorney yer she sought for him thou mightest solve many of their reasons which they make of this matter / and that she was without originall synne: reade also Erasmusis annotations in the said places. And as for me I committe all soch maters vntounto those ydle belies which have noughte else to doo / then to move soch questiōs and geve thē fre libertie to holde what they lyste / as longe as it hurteth not the fayth / whether it be so or no: exhortīge yet with Paul all that will please God ād obtayne that saluacion that is in Christe / that they geve no hede vntounto vnnecessary and braulynge disputacions / and y^t they laboure for the knowlege of those thinges without which they cā not be saved And remēbre y^t the sonne was geven vsus to gyde vsus in our waye and workes bodyly. Now yf thou leave the naturall vse of the sonne & will loke directly on hym to se how brighte he is and sochlike curiosite then will the sonne blynde the. So was the scripture gevē vsus to gyde vsus in our waye p. cxljand workes goostly. The waye is Christe ād the promises in him are oure salvacion yf we longe for them. Now if we shall leave that righte vse and turne oure selves vntounto vayne questions and to sherch the vnsherchable secretes of God: then no doute shall the scripture blinde vsus as it hath done oure scole mē and oure sotle disputers.

ANd as they are false prophetes which prove with allegories / similitudes ād wordly reasons that which is no where made mencion of in the scripture. ☜Even so counte them for false prophetes which expounde the scriptures drawinge them vntounto a worldly purpose cleane contrary vntounto the In expoundinge of the scripture we must have a respecte vntounto the lyvinge and practisinge of christ ād of his apostels and prophetes·example / lyvinge / and practisinge of Christe and of his Apostles and of all the holy prophetes. For saith Peter. ij. Petri. j. no prophesy in the scripture hath any private interpretation. For the scripture came not by the will of man: but the holy men of God spake / as they were moved by the holy goost. No place of the scripture maye have a private exposition / that is it maye not be expounde aftyr the will of man or aftyr the will of y^e flesh or drawē vntounto a wordldly purpose cō trary vntounto the open textes and the generall articles of the fayth ād the whole course of the scripture and contrary to the lyvinge ād practisynge of Christe and the Apostles and holy prophetes. For as they came not by the will of man so maye they not be drawen or expound after the will of man: but as they came by the holy goost / so must they be expounde and vnderstonde by the holy goost. The scripture is that where with God draweth vsus vntounto him and not where with we shuld be leade frō him. The scriptures springe out of God and flow vntounto Christe / and were geven to leade The scripture was geven to leade vsus vntounto Christe.vsus to Christe. Thou must therfore goo alonge by the scripture as by a lyne / vntyll thou come at Christ / which is the wayes ende and restynge place. Yf any man therfore vse the scripture to drawe the from Christe and to nosell the in any thinge save in Christe / the same is a false prophete. And that thou maist perceave what Peter meaneth / it foloweth in the texte. ☞There where false prophetes amonge the people (whose prophesies were bely wisdome) as there shalbe false teachers amō ge you: wich shall prively brynge in damnable Sectes or orders.sectes (as thou seist how we are divided in to monstrous sectes or orders of religion) even denienge the lorde that hath bought them. (For every one of them taketh on hym to sell the for money that which God in Christe promyseth the frely) ād many shall folow their damnable wayes / by whō the waye of trouth shalbe evell spoken of (as thou seist how the waye of trouth is become heresie sedicious or cause of insurreccion p. cxlijand breakynge of the kynges peace and treason vntounto his hynes). And thorow covetousnes with fayned wordes shall they make merchaundyse of you. Covetousnes Covetousnes ād desyre of honoure ys the ende of all false doctrine ād that which false prophetes seke.is the conclusion: for covetousnes and ambicion that is to saye / lucre and desyre of honoure is the fynall ende of all false prophetes and of all false teachers. Loke apon the Popes false doctrine / what is the ende therof and what seke they there by? Wherfore serveth Purgatory.purgatory? but to purge thy purse and to polle the and robbe both the and thy hyeres of house and landes and of all thou hast / that they maye be in honoure. Serveth not Pardons.pardons for the same purpose? Wherto perteyneth Prayenge to sayntes.prayenge to sayntes but to offer vntounto their belies? Wherfore serveth Confession.confession / but to sitte in thy conscience and to make the feare and tremble at what so ever they dreame and that thou worshepe them as Goddes: and so forth in all their tradicions / cerimonies / and coniuracions they serve not the lorde: but their belyes. And of their false expoundynge the scripture and drawynge it contrary vntounto the example of Christe and the Apostles and holy Prophetes vntounto their damnable covetousnes and fylthy ambicion take an example.An example of false expoundinge the scriptures.

Math. xvj. When Peter saith to Christ thou arte the sonne of the lyvinge God / and Christe answered / thou arte Peter and apon this rocke I will bylde my congregaciō. By the rocke interpret they Peter. And then cometh the pope and wilbe Peters successor / whether Peter will or will not / yee whether God will or will not and though all the scripture saye nay to any soch succession / and sayeth / loo I am the rocke / the foundaciō ād heed of Christes church Christe the faith and Gods-word is the rocke and not the popeNow sayeth all the scripture that the rocke is Christe / the fayth and Gods worde. As christe sayeth Math. vij. he y^t heareth my wordes & doeth therafter is lyke a man y^t byldeth on a rocke. For the house y^t is bylde on Gods wordes will stōde / though hevē shulde fall. And Iohn. xv. Christe is y^e wine & we y^e braūches / so is Christe y^e rocke / y^e stocke & fundaciō where on we be bylde. And Paul. j. Cor. iij. calleth Christe oure fundacion & all other / whether it be Peter or Paul / he calleth oure servātes to preach Christe & to bylde vsus on hī. Yf therfore y^e pope be peters successoure / his duty is to preach Christe only ād other auctorite hath he none.The auctorice of peters successoure is but to preach. And .ij.xj. Paul marieth vsus vntounto Christe and dryveth vsus from all trust ād confidence in man And Ephesio. ij. sayeth Paul. Ye are bylde on the fundacion of the Apostles and prophetes / that is on the worde which they preached / Christe beinge / sayth he / the hed corner stone / in whom every byldinge coupled p. cxliijto gether groweth vp in to an holy temple in the lorde / in whom also ye are bylde together and made an habitaciō for God in the spiryte. And Peter in the seconde of his fyrst pistle bildeth vsus on Christe / contrary vntounto the Pope which byldeth vsus on hym selfe. Hell gates shall not prevayle agenst it / that is to saye / agenste the congregation that is bylde apō Christes fayth and apon Gods worde. Now were the Pope the rocke / hell gates coulde not prevayle agenste him. For the housse coulde not stonde if the rocke and foundacion where on it is bylde did perish: but the contrary se we in oure Popes. For hell gates have prevayled agenste them many hūdred yeres / and have swalowed them vp: if Gods worde be true & the stories that are written of them: yee or if it be true that we se with oure yes. I will geve the y^e keyes of heven saith Christ / and not I geve. And Iohn. xx. after the resurrection payed it and gave the keyes to thē all indifferently. What soever thou byndest on erth / it shalbe boūde in heven / and what soever thou lousest on erth it shalbe loused in heven. Of this texte maketh the Pope what he will / and expoundeth it contrary to all the scripture / contrary to Christes practysinge / and the Apostles / and all the prophetes. * Now the scripture geveth recorde to him selfe and ever expoundeth it selfe by an other open texte. Yf the Pope then can not brynge for his exposicion the practysinge of Christe or of the Apostles and prophetes or an open texte / then is his exposicion false doctrine.That exposicion ys false which is agēst the epen scripture or agenst the practisinge of christ ād of his apostles.. Christe expoundeth him selfe. Mathei. xviij. sayenge: Yf thy brother synne agenste the rebuke him betwixt him and the alone. Yf he here the thou hast wōne thy brother: but yf he here y^e not thē take with y^e one or two & so forth as it stādeth in y^e text he cōcludeth sayēge to thē all what so ever ye bynde in erth it shalbe bounde in heven and what soever ye louse on erth it shalbe loused in heven. Where byndinge is but to rebuke them that synne and lousynge to forgeve them that repente. And Iohn. xx. Whose synnes ye forgeve they are forgeven and whose synnes ye holde they are holden. And Paul. j. Corinthiorum. v. bindeth / and .ij. Corinthiorū. ij. louseth after the same maner.

Also this byndinge and lousinge is one power / and as he byndeth so louseth he:Byndynge ād lowsinge is one power. yee and byndeth first yer he can louse. For who can louse that is not bounde. Now what so ever Peter byndeth or his successoure (as he wilbe called and is not / but in deade the very successoure of Satan) is not so to be vnderstonde / that Peter or the Pope hath power to commaunde a man to be in deedly synne or to be damned or to goo in to hell sayenge: be thou in deedly synne / be p. cxliiijthou damned / goo thou to hell / goo thou to purgatory. For that exposicion is contrary to the everlastinge testamēte that God hath made vntounto vsus in Christe. He sente his sonne Christe to louse vsus from synne and damnacion and hell / and that to testifie vntounto the worlde sente he his disciples Actes. j. Paul also hath no power to destroye / but to edefie .ij. Corithiorum. x. and .xiij. How can Christe geve his disciples power agēst him selfe and agenst his everlastinge testamente? Can he sende them to preach salvacion and geve them power to damne whom they luste? What mercy and profite have we in Christes deeth and in his Gospell / yf the Pope which passeth all men in wekednesse hath power to sende whom he will to hell / and to damne whom he lusteth? we had thē no cause / to call him What Iesus signifieth.Iesus / that is to saye saver: but myghte of ryghte call him destroy ar. Wherfore then this byndinge is to be vnderstōde as Christe interpreteth it in the places above rehersed and as the Apostles practysed it What byndī ge meaneth·and is nothinge but to rebuke men of their synnes by preachinge the law. A man must first synne agenste Gods lawe yer the Pope can bynde him: yee and a man must fyrste synne agenste Gods law yer he nede to feare the Popes curse. What cursynge meaneth.For cursinge and byndinge are both one and * no thynge save to rebuke a man of his synnes by Gods lawe. It foloweth also then that the lousynge is of lyke maner / and is no thinge … forgevinge of synne to them that repente thorow preachinge of y^e promyses which God hath made in Christe in whom only we have all forgevenes of synnes / What low synge meaneth.as Christe interpreteth it and as the Apostles and prophetes practysed it. So is it a false power that the pope taketh on him to louse Gods lawes / as to geve a man licence to put awaye his wife to whom God hath bounde him / and to bynde them to chastite which God commaundeth to mary / that is to wete them that burne and can not lyve chaste. It is also a false power to bynde that which Gods worde maketh fre / makynge synne in the creatures which God hath made for mās vse.

☞The Pope which so fast lowses and purgeth in purgatory / can not with all the low synges and purgacions that he hath ether lowse or purge our appetites and lust and rebellion that is in vsus agenst the law of God And yet the purginge of them is the right purgatory. Yf he can not purge them that are a lyve / where with purgeth he them / that are deed? * The Apostles knew no other wayes to purge / but thorow preachinge Gods worde which worde only is that that purgeth the herte / as thou mayst se Ihon xv. Ye are pure / saith Christe / thorow the p. cxlvworde. Now the Pope preacheth not to thē whom the fayne to lye in purgatory / no moare thē he doeth to vsus that are alyve. How then purgeth he them? The Pope is Robyn goodfelow.The Pope is kynne to Robyn goodfellow which swepeth the howse / washeth the disshes ād purgeth all by nyghte. But when daye cometh ther is no thinge founde cleane.

Some man will saye the Pope byndeth them not / they bynde them selves. I answare he that byndeth him selfe to the pope and had lever have his lyfe & soule ruled by the Popes will thē by the will of God & by the Popes worde then by the worde of god / is a fole. And he that had lever be bonde then fre is not wise. And he that will not abyde in the fredome wherin Christe hath sette vsus / is also madde. And he that maketh deedly synne where none is and seketh causes of hatered betwene him and God is not in his right wittes. Forther moare no man can bynde him selfe further then he hath power over him selfe. He that is vnderunder the power of a nother man can not bynde him selfe without lycence / as sonne / doghter / wife / servante and subiecte. Nether canst thou geve God that which is not in thy power. Chastite canst thou not geve God further then God lendeth it the / yf thou can not live chaste thou arte bounde to mary or to be damned. Last of all for what purpose thou byndest thy selfe must be sene. Yf thou do it to obtayne therby that which Christ hath purchased for the frely / so arte thou an infidell and hast no parte with Christe and so forth. Yf thou wilte se moare of this mater loke in Deuteronomion ād there shalt thou fynde it moare largely entreaded

Take an other ensample of there false expoundynge the scripture. Christ saieth Mathei. xxiij.A nother example. The scribes and the phareses sitte on Moyses seate / what soever they byd you observe / that observe and doo: but after their workes doo not. Loo saye oure sophisters or ypocrites / lyve we never so abhominably / yet is oure auctorite never the lesse. Do as we teach therfore (saye they) and not as we doo. And yet Christ sayth they sitte on Moses seate / y^t is as lōge as they teach Moyses do as they teach. For the law of Moyses is the law of God. But for their awne tradicions and false doctrine Christ rebuked them and disobeyed them and taught other to be ware of their leven. So if oure phareses sitte on Christes seate ād preach him / we ought to heare them: but when they sitte on their awne seate / then ought we to beware as well of their pestilente doctrine as of their abhominable livinge.

Lyke wise where they fynde menciō made of a swerde / they turne it vntounto the popes power. The disciples said vntounto Christe Luke p. cxlvixxij. Loo here be two swerdes. And Christe answered two is ynough. Loo / saye they the Pope hath two swerdes / the spirituall swerde and the temperall swerde. And therfore is it lawfull for hym to fyghte and make warre.

Christ a litle before he wente to his passion / axed his disciples sayenge: when I sente you out without all provision lacked ye any thinge. And they sayed nay. And he answered / but now let him that hath a walet take it with hym and he that hath a scrippe lyke wise / & let hī that hath never a swerde sell his cote and by one: As who shulde saye / it shall goo otherwise now then then. Then ye wente forth in fayth of my worde and my fathers promyses and it fedde you and made provision for you and was youre swerde and shilde and defender: but now it shall goo as thou readest Zacharias. xiij. I will smyte the sheparde and the shepe of the flocke shalbe scatered. Now shall my father leave me in the hādes of y^e weked & ye also shal be forsakē ād destitute of fayth / & shall trust in youre selves & in youre awne provision & in youre awne defence. Christ gave no commaundemente / but prophesied what shuld happen. And they because they vnderstode hym not / answered here are two swerdes. And Christe to make an ende of soch babylynge answered two is ynough. For yf he had commaunded every man to by a swerde / how had two bene ynough? Also yf two were ynough / and pertayned to the Pope only / why are they all commaunded to byevery man a swerde? By the swerde therfore Christe prophesied that they shulde be lafte vntounto their awne defēce. And two swerdes were ynough: yee never a one had bene ynough. For yf every one of them had had ten swerdes they wolde have fled yer mydnyghte.

In the same chapter of Luke not .xij. lines from the forsaid texte. The disciples evē at the last soper axed who shulde be the greatest And Christ rebuked thē ād said it was an hethenish thinge & ther shulde be no soch thinge amonge them / but that the greatest shulde be as the smallest / and that to be greate was to do service as Christ did. But this texte because it is brighter then the sonne / that they can make no sophistry of it / therfore will they not heare it ner let other know it

FOr as moch now as thou partly seist the falshed of oure prelates / how all theyr study is to disceave vsus and to kepe vsus in darknes / to sit as Gods in oure cō sciences and handle vsus at their pleasure ād to leade vsus whether the luste: therfore / I red the / gete the to Gods worde ād therby trye all doctrine and agenst that receave nothinge. Nether any exposicion cōtrary vntounto the p. cxlvijopen textes / nether contrary to the general articles of the fayth / nether contrary to the livinge and practisinge off Christ and off his Apostles.Fathers fathers. And when they crye fathers fathers / remembre that it were the fathers that both blinded and robbed the whole worlde and brought vsus in to this captivite where in these enforse to kepe vsus styll. Forther moare as they off the olde time are fathers to vsus / soo shall these fowle monsters be fathers to thē that come after vsus / and the ypocrites that folowe vsus will crye of these and of their doinges fathers fathers / as these crye fathers / fathers / of them that are past. And as we feale oure fathers / so did they that are past feale their fathers: nether were there in the worlde any other fathers then soch as we both se ād feale this many hundred yeres / as there decrees beare recorde and the stories and cronycles well testifye. Yf Gods worde appered any where they agreed all agenst it. When they had brought that a slepe / then strove they one with a nother aboute their awne traditions and one pope condemned a nothers decrees and were some tyme two / yee thre popes attonce. And one bisshope went to law with a nother and one cursed a nother for their awne fantasies and soch thinges as they had falsly goten. And the greatest sayntes are they that most defended the liberties of the church (as they call it) which they falsly gote with blyndinge kynges / nether had the worlde any rest this many hundred yeres for reforminge of freres and monkes and ceasinge of scismes that were amonge oure clergy. And as for the holy doctours as Augustine / Hierom / Cipriane / Chresostomus and Bede / will they not heare. Yf they wrote any thinge negligently (as they were men) that draw they cleane contrary to their meaninge and therof trihumphe they. Those doctours knew of none auctorite that one Bishope shuld have above a nother / nether thought or once dreamed that ever any soch shuld be / or of any soch whisperīge or of pardons / or scouringe of purgatory / as they have fayned.

Miracles miracles.And when they crye myracles myracles remembre that God hath made an everlastinge testamente with vsus in Christes bloud / agenst which we maye receave no myracles no nether the preachinge of Paul hym selfe yf he came agayne / by his awne teachinge to the Galathiens / nether yet the preachinge of the aungels of heven. The woman of lēster was a solem miracleWherfore ether they are no myracles but they have fayned them (as is the myracle that saint Peter halowed westmester) or else / yf there be myracles that confirme doctrine contrary to Gods worde / then are they done of the devell (as the mayde of ypswich p. cxlviijand of kent) to prove vsus whether we will cleve fast to Gods worde and to desceave them that have no love to the trueth of Gods worde ner lust to walke in his lawes.The armoure of the spiritualte.

And for as moch as they to disceave with all arme them selves agenst the with argumentes and persuasions of fleshly wisdome / with worldly similitudes with shadowes / with false allegories / with false exposicions of the scripture contrary vntounto the livinge and practisinge of Christe and the Apostles / with lyes and false myracles / with false names / dome ceremonies / with disgisinge of ypocresy / with the auctorites of the fathers and last of all with the violence of the temperall swerde: The armure af a christē mā ys gods word and fayth.therefore do thou contrary wise arme thy selfe / to defende the with all / as Paul teacheth in the last chapter to the Ephesians Gyrde on the the swerde of the spirite which is Gods worde and take to the the shilde of fayth / which is not to beleve a tale of Robyn hode or Gestus Romanorum or of the Cronycles / but to beleve Gods worde that lasteth ever.

And when the Pope with his falsheed calēgeth tēperall auctorite above kynge and Emperoure: set before the fyve and twenty Chapter off Saynte Mathew. Where Christ cōmaundteth Peter to put vp his swerde. And set before the Paul. ij. Corin. x. Where he saith the wepons of oure warre are not carnall thinges but myghty in god to bringe all vnderstandinge in captivite vnderunder the obedience of Christ / that is / the wepons are Gods worde and doctrine ād not swerdes of yeron and stele / and set before the y^e doctrine of Christe ād of his Apostles and their practise

And when the Pope calengeth auctorite over his fellow Bisshopes and over all the congregacion of Christe by succession of Peter set before the the fyrst of the Actes where Peter for all his auctorite put no mā in the rowme of Iudas / but all the Apostles chose two indifferently and cast lottes desyringe God to temper them that the lotte myght fall on the most ablest. And Actes viij. the apostles sente Peter / and in the .xj. call hym to rekenynge and to geve acomptes of that he hath done.

☞And when the Popes law cōmaundeth sayenge: though that the Pope lyve never so wekedly and draw with hym thorow his evell ensample innumerable thousandes vntounto hell / yet se that no man presume to rebuke him / for he is hed over all and no man over hym: set before the Galath. ij. Where Paul rebuketh Peter openly. And se how both to the Corinthians ād also to the Galathiens p. cxlixhe will have no superior but Gods worde and he that coulde teach better by Gods worde. And because when he rehersed his preachinge and his doynges vntounto the hye Apostles / they coulde improve no thinge / therfore will he be equall with the best.

And when the freres saye / they doo moare then their dutie when they preach and moare then they are Freres be not bound to preach·bounde to:☜ to saye oure service are we bounde (saye they) and that is oure dutie and to preach is moare then we are bounde to. Set thou before the how that Christes bloud shedinge hath bounde vsus to love one a nother with all oure myghte and to doo the vttemost of oure power one to a nother. And Paul sayeth .j. Corinth. ix. Wo be vntounto me yf I preach not: yee wo is vntounto hym that hath where with to helpe his neyboure and to make him better and doo it not. Yf they thinke it moare then their dutie to preach Christe vntounto you then they thinke it moare then their dutie to praye that ye shuld come to the knowlege of Christe. And therfore it is no mervell though they take so great laboure: ye and so great wages also to kepe you styll in darkenes.

And when they crye furiously hold the heretikes vntounto the wall and if they will not revoke burne them without any moare a doo reason not with them / it is an article condemned / by the fathers. Set thou before the the sayenge of Peter. j. Petri. iij. To all that axe you be ready to geve an answere of the hope that is in you and that with meakenes. The fathers of the Iewes ād the bisshopes / which had as great auctorite over thē as ours have over vsus / cōdemned Christ and his doctrine. Yf it be ynough to saye the fathers have condemned it then are the Iewes to be holde excused: yee they are yet in the ryght waye and we in the false. But and yf the Iewes be bounde to loke in the scripture and to se whether their fathers have done right or wrōge / thē are we lyke wyse bounde to loke in the scripture whether oure fathers have done right or wronge / and ought to beleve no thinge with out a reason of the scripture and auctorite of Gods worde.

And of this maner defende thy selfe agenst all maner wekednes of oure sprites / armed all waye with Gods worde ād with a stronge and a stedfast fayth ther vntounto. Without Gods worde doo nothinge. And to his worde adde nothynge nether pull any thynge there from / as Moyses every where teacheth the. How god oughte to be served.Serve God in the sprite / and thy neyboure with all outwarde service.☞ Serve God as he hath appoynted the and not with thy good entente and good p. clzele. Remembre Saul was cast awaye of God for ever for his good entente. God requyreth obedyence vntounto his worde and abhorreth all good ententes and good zeles which are without Gods worde. For they are nothynge else then playne ydolatry and worshepinge of false Goddes.In Christ ys rest of consciē ce only.

And remembre that Christ is the ende of all thynge. He only is oure restinge place and he is oure peace. Ephesiorum seconde chapter. For as there is no salvacion in any other name / so is there no peace in any other name. Thou shalt never have rest in thy soule nether shall the worme of conscience ever cease to gnaw thyne herte tyll thou come at Christ: tyll thou heare the glad tydynges / how that God for his sake hath forgeven the all frely. Yf thou trust in thy workes there is no rest. Thou shalt thynke / I have not done ynough. Have I done it with so greate love as I shulde doo? Was I so glad in doynge as I wold be to receave helpe at my neade? I have left this or that vndone and soch lyke. Yf thou trust in confession / then shalt thou thynke. Have I tolde all? Have I tolde all the circumstances? Did I repente ynough? Had I as greate sorowe in my repentaunce for my synnes as I had pleasure in doynge them? Lyke wyse in our holy pardons and pylgremage / gettest thou no rest. For thou seist that the very Gods them selves which sell their pardone so good chepe or some whiles geve thē frely for glory sake / trust not therin them selves. The byld colleges and make perpetuites to be prayed for for ever and lade the lyppes of their beidmen or chaplaynes with so many masses and diriges and so longe service / that I have knowen of some that have byd the devell take their founders soules for very impaciencye and werynes of so paynefull laboure.

Doo good deades ād trust in Christ.As perteyninge to good deades therfore / do the best thou canst ād desyre God to geve strēgth to do better dayly / but in Christ put thy trust and in the pardon and promyses that God hath made the for his sake / and on that rocke bylde thine howse and there dwell. For there only shalt thou be sure from all stormes and tempestes and frō all wyly assaltes of oure weked spirites which stody with all falsheed to vndermyne vsus. And the God of all mercy geve the grace so to doo / vntounto whom be glorie for ever. Amen.