The Parable of the Wicked Mammon, Parable · Part 6
MArke diligentlie therfore seynge wee are come to answere. The scripture because of suche dreames and fayned faythes sake, vseth such maner of speakinges of workes, not yt a man shoulde ther by be made good to God warde or iustified, but to de clare vntounto other, and to take of other the difference betwene falce fained faith and ryght faith: for where ryght faith is ther bryngeth she forth good workes, yf there folowe not good workes, it is no doubte but a dreame and an opinion or fayned fayth. Wher for loke as A fruite maketh not the tre good, but declareth and testifi eth outwardly that the tre is good (as Christe sayeth / eueryevery tre is knowen by his fruite: euen so shal ye knowe the right faith by hyr fruite.
Take for an ensample Mary that annoynted Christes fete, Luke. vii. When Symon whiche bad Christe to his house had condempned hir, Christ defended hyr and iustified hyr saynge: Symon I hauehave a certayne thynge to say vntounto the▪ And he said master sa…e on. There was a certaine lender whyche hade two detters, the one ought fyue hundreth pens, and the other fi…ftye. When they had nothinge to paye he for gaue both. Which of them tel me, wyll louelove him moost? Simon answered and saide: I suppose that he to whom he forgaue moost. And he to hym, thou haste iudged truly. And he turned hym to the woman, and sayde vntounto Symon Seest thou thys woman? I entred in to thyne house and thou gauest me no water to mi fete, but she hath washed my fete with teres, and wyped them wyth the heares of hir head Thou gauest me no kysse, but sence the tyme I came in hath not shee reasted to kysse my fete, Thou haste not anoynted my heade with oyle.
But she hath annoynted my fete with costlye and preciouse oyntement. Wherfore I saye vntounto the, many synnes are forgeuen her for she loued much. To whō lesse is forgeuen, the same doth louelove lesse and here by se we that deades and workes are but outwarde sygnes of the inwarde grace of the bounteous and plenteous mercy of God frely receyued, with out all merytes or dedes, yea and before all dedes. Christ teacheth to knowe the in warde fayth and louelove, by the outwarde dedes. Dedes are the fruites of louelove, and louelove is the fruit of fayth. LoueLove & also the dedes are greate or smal accordinge to the proporciō of fayth. Wher faith is mighty and stronge, ther is louelove feruent and dedes plenteous, & done with exceadynge mekenes: Where fayth is weake, ther is louelove clode and the dedes few and faydeth as flores and blossomes in wynter. Symon beleued and had fayth, yet but weak ly, and accordynge to the proporcyon of hys fayth loued coldly, and hadde dedes therafter he bade Christe vntounto asimple and abare feaste only, and receyued hym not with any greate humanite. But Mary had a strong fayth, and therfore burn ning louelove, and notable dedes done with exceadinge profounde and depe mekenes. On the one syde she sawe herselfe clearely in the lawe, both in what daunger she was, and hyr cruell bondage vnderunder synne hyr horryble dampnacion and also the fearfull sentence and iudgement of God vponupon synners. ¶ On the other syde she hearde the Gospell of Christe preached, and in the promises she sawe with Egles eyes the exceadinge abundaunt mercy of God, that paseth all vtteraūce of speach, whiche is set forth in Christ for all meke synners. Which knowlege theyr synnes And she beleued the worde of God myghteli and glorifed God ouer his mercy and trueth, and beinge ouercome & ouer whelmed with the vnspeakable, yea and incō prehensyble abundaūt ryches of the kind nes of God, dyd enflame and burne in louelove, yea was so swollen in louelove, that she coulde not abyde nor holde, but muste breake out, and was so dronken in louelove that she regarded nothinge, but euē to vtter the feruent and burnynge louelove of hyr herte onelye. She hade no respecte to hyr selfe, thoughe she was neuer so greate and notable a synner, neither to the curyouse bypocrisie of the pharisies which euer dysdayne weake synners, nether to the costlynes of hyr oyntment but with all humbelnes dyd runne vntounto hys fete. Washed theym wyth the teares of hyr eyes, and wiped them with the heares of her head, and anoynted them with precyous oyntement, yea and would no doubt hauehave runne in to the grounde vnderunder hys fete to hauehave vttered hyr louelove toward him yea woulde hauehave descended downe in to hell, yf it had bene possible. E… as Daul in the nyenth chapter of his epistle to the Romayns was dronke in louelove and ouer whelmed and with the plentuousnes of the infinite mercye of God (whiche he had receyued in Christ vnsought for) wi shed hymselfe banished from Christe and dampned, to saue the Iewes, yf it myght hauehave …en. For as a mā feleth God in him selfe, so is he to hys neghbour.
Marke an other thinge also. We for the moost part because of oure grossenes in all oure knowledge procede from that which is last and hi…ost vntounto yt whiche is fyrst, begynnynge at the later ende, disputynge and makynge oure argumentes backwarde. We begynne at the effecte and worke and procede vntounto the naturall cause. As because of an ēsample we fyrst se the mone darke, and then searche the cause, and fynde that the puttyng of the earth betwene the sonne and the mone is the naturall cause of the darkenes and that the earth stoppeth the lyght. Then dispute we backwarde sayenge the mone is darkened, therfore is the earth directly betwene the sonne and the mone. Nowe yet is not the darkenes of the mone the naturall cause that the earth is betwene the sonne and the mōe, but the effect ther of and cause declarynge and leadyng vsus vntounto the knowlege, howe that the earth is betwene the sonne and the mone direct lye and causeth the darknes, stoppynge the light of the sōne from the mone. And contrarye wise the beyng of the earth directly betwene the sonne and the mone is the naturall cause of the darkenes. Lykewyse, he hath a sonne therfore is he a father, and yet the sonne is not cause of the father, but contrarye wyse.
Not withstādynge the sonne is the cause declaratyue where by we knowe that the other is a father. After the same maner here, many synnes are forgeuen her,▪ for she loued much, thou mayste not vnderstande by the worde for, that louelove is the natural cause of ye forgeuyng of synnes, but declareth it onelyonly, and contrary wyse the forgeuenes of synnes is the naturall cause of louelove. The workes declare louelove.
And louelove declareth that ther is some be nefyte and kyndnes shewed▪ or els would there be no louelove. Why worketh one, and an other not? Or one more then another? Because that one loueth and ye other not or that the one loueth more thē the other, Why loueth one and another not, or one more then another? Because that one feleth the exccadynge kyndnes of God in his herte and another no…, or that one feleth it more then another. Scripture spea keth after the moost grossest maner. Be diligente therfore that thou be not deceyued with curiousnes. For men of no smal reputacion hauehave ben deceyued with thier owne sophistrye.