The Parable of the Wicked Mammon, Parable · Part 13
ITē Math. vi. Take hede to your Almes, that ye do it not in ye sight of men to the entent that ye would be sene of them, or els hauehave ye no rewarde with your father whyche is in heauē. Neither cause a trompet to be blowen afore the when thou doest thyne Almes, as the hypocrits do in the sinagoges and in the stretes to be gloryfied of the worlde. But whē thou doist thine Almes let not thy lyft hād know what thy right hand doth, that thy Almes may be in secret, and thy father whiche seeth in secret shall rewarde the openly. Thys putteth vsus in remembraūce of oure dutye, and she weth what foloweth good workes, not that workes deserue it, but yt the reward in leayd vp for vsus in store, and wee ther vntounto elect thorow Christes bloud, which the workes testifye. For if we be worldly mynded and do our workes as the world doth, how shal we knowe that God hath chosen vsus out of the worlde? But and if we worke frely, without al maner world ly respect, to shewe mercye, and to do our dutie to oure neyghboure, and to be vntounto him as God is to vsus, then ar we sure that the fauour and merciemercy of God is vponupon vsus and that we shall enioye all the good promyses of God thorowe Christe whiche hath made vsus heyres therof.
Item in the same Chap. it foloweth. When thou prayst be not as the hypocrites, whiche louelove to stand and praye in the synagoges & in the corners of the stretes, for to be sene of men. But when thou prayeste enter in to thy chāber and shutte thi dore to ye, & preaye to thi father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret shal rewarde ye opēly. And likwise whē we fast (teacheth Christe in the sam place) that we shoulde behaue oure selfes that it appere not vntounto men how that we fast, but vntounto our father whiche is in secret, and our father which seeth in secret shall rewarde vsus openly. These. ii. textes doe but declare what foloweth good wor kes, for eternall lyfe commeth not by the deseriunge of workes but is (sayth Paul in the. vi. to ye Romayns) ye gyft of God thorowe Iesus Christ. Neither do oure workes iustifie vsus. For except we were iustifyed by fayth whiche is oure rightuousnesWythout we be iustified we can not worke frely. and had the spirite of God in vsus to teach vsus, we could do no good worke frely without respecte of some profit, other in this world or in ye worlde to come, neither coulde we hauehave spiritual Ioye in oure hertes in tyme of afflicition and mortyfyinge of the fleshe.
Good workes are called ye fruites of theGood workes are called the frute of ye spirite and ryght wysnes. spirit, Galt. v. Cha. for ye spirit worketh them in vsus, and some tyme frutes of righ tuousnes, as in the seconde epistle to the Corhinthians. ix. Chapter▪ before al workes therfore we muste hauehave a rightuousnes wythin in the herte, the mother of all workes, and from whence they springe.
The rightuousnes of the scribes andWhat is the ryghtuousnes of scribes▪ and pharises. Pharises, and of thē that hauehave the spirit of this worlde, is the glorious showe and outward shinyng of workes. And Christ sayth to vsus Mat. v. except your rightuousnes excede the ryghtuousnes of the scribes and pharises, ye can not enter in to the kyngdome of heauen. It is rightuousnes in the worlde, if a man kyll not. But a Christen perceyueth rightuousnes if he louelove his enemye, euen when he suffeth persecuciō and formente of hym, and the paynes of death, and morneth more for his aduersaries blindnes than for his owne payne, and prayeth God to open his eyes and to forgeue him hys synnes, as dyd▪ Steuen in the Actes of the Apostles the. vii. Chap. and Christ Luc. xxiii.
A christen considereth hym selfe in the lawe of God, and ther putteth of hym al maner rightuosnes. For ye lawe suffereth no merites no deseruinges, no rightuous nes, nether any man to be iustified in the syght of God. The lawe is spirytuallThe law must be fulfilled spiritually and wt obedience as Christ, hath done and requireth the herte and commaundementes to be fullfillyd with suche louelove and obedience as was in Christe. If any fulfil al that is the wil of god with such louelove and obedience, the same may be bold to sel pardons of his merites, and els not.
A Christen therfore (whē he beholdeth him selfe in the law) putteth of al maner rightuousnes, deserueuinges and merites and mekely & vnfaynedly knoweledgeth his sinne and mysery, his captyuite and bondage in the flesh, hys trespasse and gylte, and is there by blessede wythe the poore in spirite Math. v. Cha. Then he morneth in hys herte, be cause he is in such bondage that he can not do the will of God, and is an hongred and a thrust after rightuousnes. For rightuousnes (I meane) which springeth out of ChristesA christen whē he praieth abideth & sticketh bloud, for strength to do the wil of God. And turneth hym selfe to the promyses of God, and desyreth hym for hys greate mercye and trueth, and for the bloude of his sonne Christe to fulfil his promyses, and to geue hym strength. And thus hysfast to Gods promises. spirite euer prayeth within hym. He fasteth also not one day for a weke, or a lente for and whole yeare, but professeth in his herte a perpetuall sobre…es, to tame the fleshe & to subdue ye body to the spirite, vntyll he wax stron̄ge in the spirite, and growe rype in to a full ryghtuousnes after the fulnes of Christe.
And because this fulnes happeneth not tyl the body be slayne by death, a Christē is euer a synner in the lawe, and therfore fasteth and prayeth to God in the spirite, the world seing it not. Yet in ye promises he is euer rightuous, thorowe fayth in Christe and is sure that he is heyre of all goddes promyses, the spirite whiche he hath receyued in exnest, beringe hym witnes, hys herte also and his deades testifiinge the same. Marke this then. To se in wardlye that the lawe of God is so spirituall, that no fleshe can fulfyll it. And then for to morne and sorowe and to desyre, yee to honger & thurst aftir strength to do the will of God from the groūde of the herte, and (not wythstandyng all the soutelty of the deuils, weknes and feblenes of the fleshe, and wondringe of the worlde) to cleue yet to ye promises of god and to beleue yt for Christes bloude sake thou art receyued to the enherytaunce of eternall lyfe, is a wonderfull thinge, and a thinge that the world knoweth not of: but who so euer fealeth that (thought he fall a thousande tymes and is sure that the mercye of God is vponupon hym.
If ye forgeue other men theyr trespasses, your heauenlye father shall forgeue you yours, Math. in the. vi. Chapt. If I forgeue, God shall forgeue me, not for my dedes sake, but for his promises sake for his merciemercy and truth, & for the bloude of his sonne Christe oure Lorde. And my forgeuing certifieth my spirite that God shall forgeue me, ye that he hath forgeuen me all redye For if I consent to the wyllBy cōsentyng vntounto the wyll of God & knowledging our faulte mekely we be assured of the spirite of God. of God in my herte, thought thorowe infirmitie and wekeanes I can not do the wil of god at al tymes, more ouer though I can not do the will of God so purelye as the lawe requireth it of me, yet if I se my faute and mekely knowledge m… sinne we…inge in mine herte because I can not do the wil of God, & thruste after strēgth, I am sure that the spirit of God is in me and his fauoure vponupon me. For the world lusteth not to do the wil of God, neither soroweth because he can not, thoughe he sorowe some time for feare of the payne that he beleueth shall folowe. He thatWherfore the beleuinge forgeueth hath the spirit of this worlde can not forgeue wyth out a mendes makinge or agreater vaūtage, If I forgeue now how cometh it? verily because I feale the mer cye of God in me. For as a man fealeth God to hym selfe, so is he to hys neyghboure I knowe by myne one experience that all fleshe is in bondage vnderunder sinne and can not but sinne, therfore am I mer cyfull and desyre God to loose the bōdes of synne euen in myne enimye.