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¶ A compendious rehearſall of that which goeth before.
I HaueHave deſcribed vntounto you the obedience of children, ſeruauntes, wines, & ſubiectes. Theſe iiij. orders Gods worde is the rule of childrē, ſeruauntes, wyues & ſubiectes.are of Gods makyng & ye rules thereof are Gods word. He that kepeth thē ſhalbe bleſſed: yea is bleſſed all ready and he that breaketh them ſhalbe curſed. If any perſon of impaciency or of a ſtubburne and rebellious mynde withdraw hym ſelfe from any of theſe, and get him to any other order: let hym not thinke thereby to auoyde the vengeaunce of God in obeying rules and traditions of mans imaginatiō. If thou poulledſt thine head in the worſhip of thy father and breakeſt his commaundementes, ſhouldeſt y• ſo eſcape? Or if thou payntedſt thy maſters image on a wall and ſtickedſt vp a cādle before it, ſhouldeſt thou therewith make ſatiſfaction, for the breaking of his cōmaundementes. Or if thou wareſt a blew coate in the worſhyp of the kyng and brakeſt hys lawes ſhouldeſt thou ſo go quyte. Let a mans wife make her ſelfe a ſiſter of the charterhouſe and aūſwere her huſband when he byddeth her hold her peace, my brethren kepe ſilence for me, and ſee whether ſhe ſhal ſo eſcape. And be thou ſure God is more gelouſe ouer his commaundementes then man is ouer hys, or then any man is ouer his wife.
Becauſe we be blynd, God hath appointed in ye Scripture how we ſhuld ſerue him & pleaſe him. As perteynyng vntounto his owne perſon he is aboundātly …o pleaſe God …o to beleue hys promiſes, & to louelove hys commaundementes.pleaſed when we beleue his promiſes and holy Teſtament which he hath made vntounto vsus in Chriſt, & for the mercy which …e there ſhewed vsus, louelove his commaundements. All bodyly ſeruice muſt be done to mā in Gods ſtede. We muſt geue obedience, honour, tolle, tribute, cuſtome, and rent vntounto whō they belong. Then if thou hauehave ought more to beſtow, geue vntounto yt pore which are left here in Chriſtes ſtede that we ſhew mercy on them. If we kepe the commaundements of louelove thē are we ſure that we fulfill the law in the ſight of God and that our bleſſing ſhalbe euerlaſtyng life. Now when we obey patiently and without grudgyng euill Princes that oppreſſe vsus, & perſecute vsus and be kinde and mercyfull to them that are mercyleſſe to vsus, and doe the worſt they cā to vsus, and ſo take all fortune patiently, and kyſſe what ſoeuer croſſe God layeth on our backes: then are we ſure that we keepe the commaundementes of louelove.
I declared that God hath taken all vengeaunce into his own handes, and will auēge all vnright him ſelfe: either by the powers or officers whiche are appointed thereto or els, if they be negligent, he will ſend his curſes vppon the trāſgreſſours & deſtroy them with his ſecret iudgementes. I ſhewed alſo that whoſoeuer auengeth him ſelfe is He that will auēge, robbeth God of his honour.damned in the deede doing and falleth into the hādes of the temporall ſword, becauſe be taketh the office of God vppon him and robbeth God of his moſt high honour, in that he wil not patiētly abide his iudgement. I ſhewed you of the authoritie of Princes, how they are in Gods ſtede and how they may not be reſiſted, doe they neuer ſo euill, they muſt be reſerued vntounto the wrath of God. Neuer the latter if they commaunde to do euill we muſt then diſobey and ſay we are otherwiſe cōmaū der of God: but not to riſe agaynſt thē. They wil kil vsus thē ſayeſt thou. Therfore, I ſay is a Chriſten called, to ſuffer euen the bitter death for hys hopes ſake, and becauſe he will do no euill. I How … ſoeuer the kyng is. … vntounto th… great gift of God.ſhewed alſo that the Kynges and rulers (be they neuer ſo euill) are yet a great gift of the goodnes of God, and defende vsus from a thouſand thynges that we ſee not.
I proued alſo that all men without exception are vnderunder the temporall ſword, what ſoeuer names they geue them ſelues. Becauſe the Prieſt is choſen out of the lay men, to teach this obedience, is that a lawfull cauſe for him to diſobey? Becauſe he preacheth that the lay mā ſhould not ſteale, is it therfore lawfull for hym to ſteale vnpuniſhed? Becauſe thou teacheſt me that I may not kill, or if I do, the kyng muſt kill me agayn, is it therfore lawfull for thee to kil and go free? Either whether is it rather mete that thou whiche are my guide to teache me the rightwaye ſhouldeſt walke therin before me? The Prieſtes of the old law with their high biſhop Aaron. and all his ſucceſſours, though they were annointed by Gods commaundement and appoynted to ſerue God in his temple and exempte from all offices & miniſtering of wordly matters, were yet neuertheleſſe vnderunder the temporall ſword, if they brake ye lawes. Chriſt ſayth to Peter, all that take ye ſword, ſhal periſh by the ſword. Here is none exception. Paul ſaith, all ſoules muſt obey. Here is none exception. Paule hym ſelfe is here not exempt. God ſayth Gene. ix. Who ſoeuer ſheddeth mans bloud, by man ſhall his bloud be ſhed agayn. Here is none exception.
Moreouer Chriſt became poore to make other men riche, and bound to make other free. He left alſo with his Diſciples the law of louelove. Now louelove The Pope hath a law that none of his ſprites may be ſuerty.ſeketh not her owne profite: but her neighbours, louelove ſceketh not her own fredome, but becommeth ſuretie and bonde to make her neighbour fre. Dā ned therfore are the ſpiritualtie by all the lawes of God, which through falſhead & diſguiſed hipocriſie hauehave ſought ſo great profit, ſo great riches, ſo great authoritie and ſo great liberties, and hauehave ſo bedgerd the lay, & ſo brought them in ſubiectiō and bondage and ſo deſpiſed thē, that they hauehave ſet vp frā chiſes in all townes and villages for who ſoeuer robbeth, murthereth or ſlayeth them, and euen for traytours vntounto the kynges perſon alſo.
I proued alſo that no kyng hath power to graūt them ſuch libertie: but are as well damned for their geuyng, as they for their falſe purchaſing. For as God geueth the father power ouer his children: euen ſo geueth he hym a commaundement to execute it, and not to ſuffer them to do wickedly vnpuniſhed but vntounto his damnation, as thou mayſt ſee by Hely the hygh Prieſt. &c. And as the maſter hath authoritie ouer his ſeruauntes: euen ſo hath he a commaundement to gouerne them. And as the huſband is head ouer hys wife: euen ſo hath he commaundemēt to rule her appetites and is damned if he ſuffer her to be an whore & a miſſe liuer, or ſubmit him ſelf to her, & make her his head. And euen in lyke maner as God maketh the kyng head ouer The kyng is but a ſeruaunt to execute the lawes of God.his Realme, euen ſo geueth he him cō maundement to execute the lawes vppon all men indifferently. For the law is Gods and not the kyngs. The king is but a ſeruaunt to execute the law of God, and not to rule after his owne imagination.
I ſhewed alſo that the law and the kyng are to be feared, as thinges that were geuēin fire, and in thunder, and lightning, & terrible ſignes. I ſhewed the cauſe why rulers are euill, and by what meanes we might obtaine better. I ſhewed alſo how wholeſome thoſe bitter medicines euill Princes are to right Chriſten men.
I declared how they whiche God hath made gouerners in the worlde ought to rule if they be Chriſtē. They ought to remēber that they are heades and armes, to defend the body, to miniſter peace, health, & wealth, and euē to ſaue the body, and that they hauehave receaued their offices of God to miniſter & to do ſeruice vntounto their brethrē. Kyng, ſubiect, Maſter, ſeruaunt, are names in the world: but not in Chriſt. In Chriſt we are all one and euen brethren. No man is his own, but we are all Chriſtes ſeruauntes bought with Chriſtes bloud. Therfore ought no mā to ſeke him ſelfe or his owne profite: but Chriſt and his will. In Chriſt no man ruleth as a kyng his ſubiectes, or a maſter his ſeruaunts: but ſerueth as one hand doth to an other and as the handes do vntounto the feete and the feete to the handes, as thou ſeeſt. 1. Cor. xij. We alſo ſerue not as ſeruauntes vntounto maſters: but as they which are bought with Chriſtes bloud ſerue Chriſt hym ſelfe. We be here all ſeruauntes vntounto Chriſt. For what ſoeuer we do one to an other in Chriſtes name, that do we vntounto Chriſt, & the reward of that ſhall we receaue of Chriſt. The kyng counteth How farre a kyng ought to ſeeke at his commons handes.his cōmōs Chriſt himſelfe, & therfore doth thē ſeruice willingly, ſeeking no more of thē thē is ſufficiēt to mainteine peace & vnitie, & to defēde the realme, And they obey agayne willingly and louingly as vntounto Chriſt. And of Chriſt eueryevery man ſeketh his reward.
I warned the iudges that they take not an enſample how to miniſter their offices, of our ſpiritualtie, whiche are bought and ſolo to do the will of Sathā: but of the Scripture whence they hauehave their authoritie. Let that which is ſecret abyde ſecret till God open it, which is the iudge of ſecretes. For it is more then a cruell thyng to breake Note. 4vp into a mans hart & to compell him to put either ſoule or body in ieopardy or to ſhame him ſelfe. If Peter that great piller for feare of death forſoke hys maſter, ought we not to ſpare weake conſciences?
I declared how the kyng ought to ridde his Realme from the wily tyrā ny of the hypocrites, and to bryng the hypocrites vnderunder his lawes: yea and how he ought to be learned, & to heare, and to looke vponupon the cauſes him ſelfe, which he wil puniſh, and not to beleue the hypocrites, and to geue them his ſword to kill whom they will.
The kyng ought to count what he hath ſpent in the Popes quarell ſens he was kyng. The firſt viage coſt vpō xiiij. hundred thouſand poundes. Rekē ſens what hath bene ſpēt by ſea and land betwene vsus and Frenchmen, and Scottes, and then in triumphes, and in Ambaſiaſies, and what hath bene ſent out of the Realme ſecretly, and all to mainteine our holy father, and I doubt not but that will ſurmount the ſome of. xl. or. l. hundred thouſand poūdes. For we had no cauſe to ſpend one peny but for our holy father. The king therfore ought to make them pay this money eueryevery farthing, and fette it out of their myters, croſes, ſhrines and all maner treaſure of the Church, and pay it to his commons again: not that onelyonly which the Cardinal and his Biſhops compelled the commōs to lend, and made thē ſweare with ſuch an enſample of tyrāny as was neuer before thought on: but alſo all that he hath gathered of them. Or els by the cōſent of the commons to keepe it in ſtore for the defence of the realme. Yea the kyng ought to loke in the Chronicles what the Popes hauehave done to kings in time paſt and make them reſtore it alſo, And ought to take away from them theyr landes whiche they hauehave gotten with their falſe prayers, & reſtore it vntounto the right heyres agayne, or with conſent & aduiſemēt turne them vntounto the maynteinyng of the poore and bringyng vp of youth vertuouſly and to maynteine neceſſary officers and miniſters for to defend the common wealth.
If he will not do it: then ought the commons to take pacience and to take it for Gods ſcourge, and to thinke that God hath blynded the kyng for theyr ſinnes ſake and commit their cauſe to God: And then ſhall God make a ſcourge for them and driue them out of his Temple after hys wonderfull iudgement.
ON the other ſide I hauehave alſo vttered the wickednes of the ſpiritualtie, the falſhead of the Byſhops, and iugglyng of the Pope, and how they hauehave diſguiſed them ſelues, borowyng ſome of their pompe of ye Iewes, and ſome of the Gentiles, and hauehave with ſuttill wyles turned the obedience that ſhould be geuen to Gods ordinaunce vntounto them ſelues. And how they hauehave put out Gods Teſtament and Gods truth and ſet vp their owne traditions and lyes, in which they hauehave taught ye people to beleue & there by ſit in their conſciences as God, and hauehave by that meanes robbed the world of landes & goodes, of peace and vnitie, and of all temporal authoritie, and hauehave brought the people into the ignoraunce of God & hauehave heaped the wrath of God vponupon all realmes & namely vponupon the kings. Whom they hauehave robbed (I ſpeake not of worldly thinges onelyonly) but euen of their very natural wittes. They make thē beleue that they are moſt Chriſten, whē they lyue moſt abhominably, and will ſuffer no man in their Realmes that beleueth on Chriſt, and that they are defenders of the fayth, when they burne the Goſpell & promiſes of God, out of which all fayth ſpringeth.
I ſhewed how they hauehave miniſtred Chriſt, Kyng and Emperour out of their rowmes, & how they hauehave made them a ſeuerall kyngdome which they gote at the firſt in deceauyng of Princes, and now peruert the whole ſcripture to proue that they hauehave ſuch authoritie of God. And leſt the lay men ſhould ſee how falſely they alledge the places of the Scripture, is the greateſt cauſe of this perſecution.
They hauehave fained confeſſion for the ſame purpoſe to ſtabliſh their kyngdome Confeſſion.with all. All ſecretes know they therby. The Biſhop knoweth the confeſſion of whom he luſteth throughout all his Dioces. Yea and his Chaunceler commaundeth the ghoſtly father to deliuer it written. The pope, his Cardinals and Byſhops know the confeſſion of the Emperour, Kyngs, & of all Lordes: & by confeſſion they know all their captiues. If any beleue in Chriſt, by confeſſion they know him. Shriue thy ſelfe where thou wilt, whether at The manifolde enormities which their auricular confeſſion did breede.Sion charterhouſe or at the obſeruāts thy confeſſion is knowen wel inough. And thou, if thou beleue in Chriſt, art wayted vppon. Wonderfull are the thinges that therby are wrought. The wife is feared and compelled to utter not her own onelyonly but alſo the ſecretes of her huſband, and the ſeruaunt the ſecretes of his maſter. Beſides that thoraugh confeſſion they quench the fayth of all the promiſes of God, and take away the effect and vertue of all ye Sacramentes of Chriſt.
They hauehave alſo corrupted y• Saintes liues with lyes and fayned miracles & hauehave put many thinges out of the ſentence or great curſe, as rayſing of …ente and fines and hyring men out of their houſes, and whatſoeuer wickednes they them ſelues do, & hauehave put a great part of the ſtories and Chronicles ont of the waye leſt their falſhead ſhoulde be ſene. For there is no miſchieues or The Pope and his chapteyns were the fountaines of all euils in ſpiritual… regiment, or tēporall.diſorder, whether it be in the temporall regiment, or els in the ſpiritual wherof they are not the chief cauſes and euē the very fountayne and ſpringes, and as we ſay, the wel head ſo that it is impoſſible to preach agaynſt miſchief except thou begyn at them, or to ſet any reformation in the world except thou reforme them firſt. Now are they indurate and tough as Pharao, and will not bow vntounto any right way or order. And therefore perſecute they Gods word and the preachers therof, and on the other ſide lye awayte vntounto all princes & ſtirre vp all miſchief in the world and ſend them to warre, and occupy their myndes therewith or with other voluptuouſnes, leſt they ſhould hauehave layſure to heare the word of God and to ſet an order in their realmes.
By them is all thing miniſtred and by them are all kynges ruled: yea in eueryevery kynges conſcience ſit they …re he be king and perſuade eueryevery king what they luſt, and make thē both to beleue what they will and to doe what they will. Neither can any kyng or any realme hauehave reſt for their buſineſſes. Behold kyng Henry the v. whom they ſēt out for ſuch a purpoſe as they ſent out our kyng that now is. See how the Realme is inhabited. Aſke where the goodly townes and their walles and the people that was wont to be in thē are become, and where the bloud royal of the Realme is become alſo. Turne thine eyes whether thou wilt & thou ſhalt ſee nothing proſperons but their ſuttle pollyng. With that it is flowyng water: yea and I truſt it wilbe ſhortly a full ſee.
In all their doynges though they VnderUnder an outwarde pretence of Gods honor, the po… Clergie procured their owne dignitie.pretend outwardly the honour of God or a common wealth, their entent and ſecret Councell is onelyonly to bryng all vnderunder their power and to take out of the way who ſoeuer letteth them, or is to mighty for them. As whē they ſend the Princes to Hieruſalem to cōquere the holy land and to fight agaynſt the Turkes. What ſoeuer they pretende outwardly their ſecret entent is, while the Princes there conquere them more Biſhoprikes, to conquere their landes in the meane ſeaſon with their falſe hipocriſie, and to bryng all vnderunder them, which thou mayeſt eaſely perceaue by that they will not let vsus know y• fayth of Chriſt. And when they are ones on hye, then are they tyrauntes aboue all tyrauntes, whether they be Turkes or Saracenes. How miniſter they prouyng of teſtamentes? How cauſes of wedlocke? or if any man dye inteſtate? If a poore man dye and leaue his wi…e and halfe a doſen young children & but one cow to finde them, that will they hauehave for a mortuary mercyleſſe: let come of wife and children what will. Yea let any thyng be done agaynſt their pleaſure and they will interdite the whole realme ſparyng no perſon.
Read the Chronicles of England (out of which yet they hauehave put a great part of their wickedneſſe) & thou ſhalt finde them all wayes both rebellious and diſobedient to the kinges and alſo churiiſh and vnthankeful, ſo that, whē all the Realme gaue the kyng ſomewhat to maynteine him in his right, they would not geue a myte. Conſider the ſtory of K. Iohn, where I dout not but they hauehave put the beſt & fayreſt for them ſelues, & the worſt of kyng Iohn, For I ſuppoſe they make the Chronicles them ſelues. Compare the doings of their holy Church (as they euer call it) vntounto the learnyng of Chriſt and of his Apoſtles. Did not the Legate of Rome aſſoyle all the Lordes of the realme of their due obediēce which they ought to the king by the ordinaunce of God? would he not hauehave curſed y• king with his ſolemne pompe, becauſe he would hauehave done that office whiche God commaundeth eueryevery kyng to do and wherfore God hath put the ſword in eueryevery kynges hand? that is to wete, becauſe kyng Iohn would hauehave puniſhed a wicked Clerke that had coyned falſe money. The lay men that had not done halfe ſo great fautes muſt dye, but the Clerke muſt go eſcape fre. Sēt not the Pope alſo vntounto the kyng of Fraunce remiſſion of his ſinnes to go and conquere kyng Iohns Realme. So now remiſſion of ſinnes commeth not by fayth in the Teſtament that God hath made in Chriſtes bloud: but by fightyng & murtheryng for the Popes pleaſure. Laſt of all was not kyng Iohn fayne to deliuer his crowne vntounto the Legate and to yeld vp his Realme vntounto the Pope, wherfore we pay Peter pēce. They might be called the pollyng pence of falſe Prophetes well inough. They care not by what miſchief they come by their purpoſe. War and cōquering of landes is their harueſt. The wickeder the people are, the more they hauehave the hypocrites in reuerence, the more they feare them and the more they beleue in them. And they that cōquere other mens landes, whē they dye, make them their heyres, to be prayed for for euer. Let there come one The keepyng down of Gods word, promoted the Popes ſpiritualties honour.cōqueſt more in the Realme, and thou ſhalt ſee them get yet as much more as they hauehave (if they can keepe downe Gods word that their iugglyng come not to light) yea thou ſhalt ſee them take y• Realme whole into their hādes and crowne one of them ſelues kyng therof. And veryly I ſee no other likelyhode, but that the land ſhalbe ſhortly conquered. The ſtarres of the Scripture promiſe vsus none other fortune, in as much as we denye Chriſt with the wicked Iewes, and will not hauehave him reigne ouer vsus: but wilbe ſtill children of darknes vnderunder Antichriſt, and Antichriſtes poſſeſſion, burnyng the Goſpell of Chriſt, and defendyng a fayth that may not ſtand with hys holy Teſtament.
If any mā ſhed bloud in the church, it ſhalbe interoited, til he hauehave payd for the halowing. If he be not able the pariſh muſt paye or els ſhall it ſtand alwayes interdited. They wilbe auenged on them that neuer offended. Full well propheſied of them. Paule in the ij. Epiſtle to Timo. iij. Some man wil ſay, wouldeſt thou that men ſhould fight in the Church vnpuniſhed? Nay but let the kyng ordeine a puniſhment for them, as he doth for them that fight in his palace and let not all the Pariſh be troubled for ons faule. And as for their halowing it, is yt iuggling of Antichriſt. A Chriſten mā is the temple of God and of the holy ghoſt, & halowed in Chriſtes bloud. A Chriſtē mā is holy in him ſelfe by reaſon of the ſpirite yt dwelleth in him and the place wherin he is, is holy be reaſō of him, whether he be in the field or towne. A Chriſten huſband ſanctifieth an vnchriſtē wife, and a Chriſten wife an vnchriſten huſband (as concernyng the vſe of matrimony) ſayth Paul to the Corinthians. If now while we ſeeke to be halowed in Chriſt, we are found vnholy, & muſt be halowed by the grounde or place or walles, thē died Chriſt in vayne. How beit Antichriſt muſt hauehave wherwith to ſit in mens conſciences, and to make them feare where is no feare, and to robbe them of their faith, and to make them truſt in that can not helpe them, and to ſeeke holynes of that which is not holy in it ſelfe.
After that the old kyng of Fraunce was brought down out of Italy, mark what pageaūtes hauehave ben playes, and what are yet a playeng to ſeparate vsus frō the Emperour (leſt by the helpe or ayde of vsus he ſhould be able to recouer his right of the Pope) & to couple vsus to the Frēchmē, whoſe might the pope euer abuſeth to keepe the Emperour frō Italy. What preuayleth it for any kyng to mary his daughter or his ſōne or to make any peace or good ordinaunce for the wealth of his realme? For it ſhal no longer laſt thē it is profitable to them. Their treaſon is ſo ſecret that the world cā not perceaue it. They diſſimule thoſe thynges whiche they are onelyonly cauſe of, & ſimul diſcorde among them ſelues whē they are moſt agreed. One ſhall hold this, and another ſhall diſpute the contrary: But the concluſiō ſhalbe that moſt maynteineth their falſhead, though Gods word be neuer ſo contrary. What hauehave they wrought in our days, yea and what worke they yet, to the perpetuall diſhonour of the Kyng and rebuke of the Realme, and ſhame of all the nation in what ſoeuer Realmes they go?
I vttered vntounto you partly the malicious The Byſhop of Rocheſter as a fit paterna to… …ll y• …a….blindnes of the Byſhop of Rocheſter, his iuggling his cōneying, his foxi wilenes, his bopepe, his wreſting, rentyng and ſhamefull abuſyng of the Scripture, his Oratory & aliegyng of heretikes and how he would make the Apoſtles authors of blind ceremonies without ſignification contrary to their owne doctrine, and hauehave ſet him for an enſample to iudge all other by. What ſoeuer thou art that readeſt this. I exhorte thee in Chriſt, to cōpare his ſermon and that which I hauehave written, and the ſcripture together and iudge. There ſhalt thou finde of our holy fathers authoritie, and what it is to be great, and how to know the greateſt.
Then foloweth the cauſe why laye mē can not rule tēporall offices which is the falſhead of the Biſhops. There ſhalt thou finde of miracles & ceremonies without ſignification, of falſe annoynting & lyeng ſignes & falſe names and how the ſpiritualtie are diſguiſed in falſhead, & how they rowle the people in darkenes and do all thing in the Latin toung and of their pety pyllage, Their polling is like a ſoking conſūption wherin a man cōplaineth of feblenes and of fayntynes and wotteth not whence his diſeaſe commeth: it is lyke a pocke that freateth inward and conſumeth the very marow of the bones.
There ſeeſt thou the cauſe why it is impoſſible for kynges to come to the The cauſe why kings coulde not come to the knowledge of y• truth.knowledge of the truth. For the ſprites lay awaite for them & ſerue their appetites at all poyntes and through cōfeſſion buy and ſel and betray both them, and all their true frendes & lay beytes for them and neuer leaue them till they hauehave blinded them with their ſophiſtry & hauehave brought them into their nettes. And thē whē the kyng is captiue, they compell all the reſt with violēce of his ſword. For if any man will not obey them be it right or wrōg they cite him, ſuſpēde hym, and curſe or excommunicate him. If he then obey not they deliuer him to Pylate, that is to ſay, vntounto the temporall officers to deſtroy him. Laſt of all there findeſt thou the very cauſe of all perſecution, whiche is the preachyng agaynſt hypocriſie.
Then come we to the Sacramētes, where thou ſeeſt that the worke of the Sacrament ſaueth not, but the fayth in the promiſe which the Sacramēt ſignifieth iuſtifieth vsus onelyonly. There haſt yu that a Prieſt is but a ſeruaunt to teach onelyonly and what ſoeuer he taketh vponupon him more then to preach & to miniſter the Sacramentes of Chriſt (whiche is alſo preaching) is falſhead.
Then cōmeth how they iuggle thorough dōme ceremonies & how they make marchaūdiſe with fained words, penaunce, a poena & a culpa, ſatiſfactiō, attrition, character, Purgatory pickepurſe and how through confeſſiō they make the Sacramētes and all the promiſe of none effect or value. There ſeeſt thou that abſoluyng is but preachyng the promiſes & curſing or excommunicating preachyng the law, and of their power, & of their keyes, of falſe miracles & prayeng to Saintes. There ſeeſt Miracles are done by fayth and not by ceremonies.thou that ceremonies dyd not the miracles but faith: euē as it was not Moſes, rodde that did y• miracles but Moſes fayth in the promiſe of God. Thou ſeeſt alſo that to hauehave a fayth where God hath not a promiſe is Idolatry. And there alſo ſeeſt thou how the pope exalteth him ſelf aboue God and commaūdeth him to obey his tyrāny. Laſt of all thou haſt there that no mā ought to preach but he that is called.
Thē foloweth the bely brotherhead of Monkes & Friers. For Chriſt hath deſerued nought with them. For his ſake getteſt thou no fauor. Thou muſt offer vntounto their belyes & thē they pray bitterly for thee. There ſeeſt thou that Chriſt is the onelyonly cauſe: yea & all the cauſe why God doth ought for vsus and heareth our complaint. And there haſt thou doctrine how to know and to be ſure that thou art elect and haſt Gods ſprite in thee. And haſt there learnyng to try the doctrine of our ſpirites.
Then folow the foure ſenſes of the Scripture of which three are no ſenſes and the fourth that is to wite the litterall ſenſe which is the very ſenſe hath the Pope taken to him ſelfe. It may hauehave no other meanyng thē as it pleaſeth his fatherhode. We muſt abyde his interpretatiō. And as his belles thinke ſo muſt we thinke, though it be impoſſible together any ſuch meanyng of the Scripture. Then haſt thou the very vſe of Allegories and how they are The vſe of Allegories.nothyng but enſamples borowed of the Scripture to expreſſe a text or an open concluſion of the Scripture and as it were to paynte it before thyne eyes, that thou mayeſt feele the meanyng and the power of the Scripture in thyne hart. Then commeth the vſe of worldly ſimilitudes, & how they are The vſe of ſimilitudes▪falſe Prophetes which bring a worldly ſimilitude for any other purpoſe, ſaue to expreſſe more playnly y• which is cōteined in an open text. And ſo are they alſo whiche draw the Scripture contrary to the open places and cōtrary to the enſample liuyng and practiſing of Chriſt, the Apoſtles and of the holy Prophetes. And then finally haſt thou of our holy fathers power and of hys keyes and of hys bindyng and excommunicatyng and of his curſyng and bleſſyng with enſamples of eueryevery thyng.
The end of the obedience of a Chriſten man.
¶ An expoſition vppon the v. vi. vii. chapters of Mathew, which three chapters are the keye and the dore of the ſcripture, and the reſtoring agayne of Moſes law corrupte by the Scribes and Phariſes. And the expoſition is the reſtoring agayne of Chriſtes lawe corrupte by the Papiſtes.
¶ Item before the booke, thou haſt a Prologe very neceſſarie, contayning the whole ſumme of the couenaunt made betwene God and vsus, vppon which we be baptiſed to kéepe it.
Set forth by William Tyndall.