142. worde / the shyld of faith / the helmet of hope / & harnesse them selues with the meditation of those thinges which Christe soffred for vs / & with thensamples of all the sainctes that folowed hym / & thinke ernestly that it is their parte to liue as purely as the best & come after 5 as fast as they can. And yet in all their workes they knowlege them selues sinners vnfaynedly / as longe as one iot of the perfectnes that was in the dedes of Christ / is lackyng in theirs. So that the deuell cannot twyche the hertes of them / nether with a pride or vayne glorie of 10 pure lyuinge / nether to make them consentyng vnto the fleshe in grosse synnes / if at a tyme they be taken tardy and ketch a fall. What so euer chaunce them / the deuell can ketche no hold of them / to kepe them still in captiui- tie: but they will breake lose agayne / & repent & doo 15 penaunce / to chast theyr flesh that they come no moare vnder the deuels clawes. We knowe that we be of God / & that the hole worlde is set on myscheue. They that beleue: that is to say / put their trust in 20 Christ / se both their owne glorious state in God / & also the wretchyd estate of the worlde in their wickednes. But 143. the worlde as they knowe not God / ner the glorie of the sonnes of God: Euen so they se not their awne miserable estate in wickednes and damnation vnder the lawe of God / but the worse they are / the bolder they be and the surer of them selues / the further from [G8] repentaunce and the 5 moare stondyng in their awne conceytes / for the darkenes that is in them. And therfore say oure doctoures / a man cannot knowe whether he be in the state of grace or no nor nedeth to care therfore. And they be therfore the blynde leaders of the blynde. 10 We knowe that the sonne of God is come / and hath giuen vs vnderstondinge to knowe hym that is true: and we be in the trueth thoroue Iesus Christe. He is very God and eternall life. Christ is all and the fontayne of all & of his full- 15 nesse receaue we all. And as he powreth the giftes of his grace vpon them that beleue in hym so he gyueth them vnder- stondinge to knowe the very God / and that they be in the very God and that they have optayned that thoroue his pur- chasinge: and leueth not his shepe in darknes. And the 20 same Iesu Christ is very God and eternall lyfe: God and eternall lyfe was he from the beginnynge / and became man 144. for the greate loue he had to vs / for to brynge vs vnto his eternall life. And he that hath ony other way thither / whether his owne workes or other mens / or workes of ceri- monies / or sacramentes / or merites of sainctes / or of ought saue Iesu Christe only / shall neuer come thither. 5 The world seith the pope / and seith that they whiche be in the pope / be lordes in this worlde: and therfore they care to be in the pope: but whether they be in God or not they say / it is not necessaire to knowe. [G8v] Litle children beware of ymages. 10 Serue none ymage in your hertes. Idolatre is Greke / and Thengleshe is imageseruice: And an Idolater is also Greke / and Thenglishe an imageseruaunt. Be not ydolatres nor commyt ydolatrie / that is be none imageseruauntes / ner doo any imageseruice / but beware of seruinge all maner 15 images. And thinke it not ynoughe to haue put all thimages of false Gods out of the way / yf ye nowe set vp thymage of very God & of his true sainctes in their rowmes / to do the same seruice vnto them / which ye did vnto the other. For ye maye do as stronge imageseruice vnto the ymage of 20 God & of his sainctes / as vnto thimages of false Gods: ye thou maist committe as greate idolatrie to God / and yet 145. before none owtwarde ymage / but before thymage which thou hast fayned of God in thyne herte / as thou maist befor an outwarde image of the deuell. The iues in the temple of God wher was none image of God / did as greate imageseruice to God / as the hethen vnto their falce goddes: ye the Iues 5 in doinge to God the thinges which God commaundid them / did committe worse Idolatrie and synned greuouserly agaynst God / then the hethen did in offeringe vnto their false Goddes / which thinge to be true / the prophetes testifye. For when the Iues dyd their cerimonies and sacrifices: the meanyng 10 and signification loste / and the cause forgoten which God ordenyd them for: to flater and please God with the glori- ousnes of the dede in it selfe / & to purchase ought of hym for the costlynes or propernes of the present / what other made they of god in their imagination / then a childe 15 whom if he crie or be displeased / men still with a popet / or if [H1] we will haue hym to do ought make hym an horse of a sticke. If thou bringe a bolle of bloude & set it before God / to flatter hym / to stroke hym / and to cory and clawe 20 hym / as he were an horse / and imaginest that he hathe pleasure and delectation therin / what better makest thou 146. of God / then a bocchers dogge? If thou bringe the fat of thy bestes to God / for the same imagination / what makest thou of God / then one that had nede of grease to grease showes or smeere bootes? If thou burnest bloude & fat together to please god / what other thinge doest thou make 5 of God / then one that had lust to smell to burnt flotesse? God commaundyd a curtesye of all first ripe fructes to be offred: not to be an imageseruice / but a witnesse and testimonie that he had made them growe / that the poe- ple shuld not forget God / but thinke on his benefites and 10 loue hym and of loue kepe his commaundementes. And like- wise if any had synned agaynst Gods lawe God commaundyd that they shuld repent / and then bringe a beste & sley it & offre the bloude & the fat of thinwardes: not to make satisfaction / but to testifye only that God was peased / 15 and had of his mercie at the repentaunce of the herte for- giuen the sinne. The sacrifices of bloude were ordenyd partely to be a secret prophesyeng of Christes bloudeshed- inge / and partely to be a testimonie and certifieng of oure hertes / that the synne was forgiuen and peace made 20 betwen vs and God / and not to be a satisfaction. For that were imageseruice / and to make an image of God. 147. We reade in the hystories that when a loue day or a truse was made betwene man and man [H1] the couenauntes were rehersid: and vpon that / they slewe bestes in a memoriall and remembraunce of thappoyntement only. And so were the scrifices signes and memorialles only / that 5 God was at one with vs. For the Iue could beleue no wordes thoughe an aungell had spoken / without a token / as we holde vp oure fingres and clappe handes. And like- wise what so euer they were bidde to doo / they must haue had a token of remembraunce / thoughe it had bene but a 10 ringe of a rushe / as it is to se in the Bible. Euen so oure images / reliques / cerimonies and sac- ramentes were oure memorialles & signes of remembraunce only. And he that giueth in his harte moare to them then that / is an imageseruaunt. But when God is a sprite and 15 worshiped in the spirite / we for lacke of faith / beinge spiritles / and hauinge no powre to desire of God any spirituall thinge / serue God in the body / with imagined seruice / for suche worldly thinges as oure profession is to defye. Who kysseth a relique or beholdeth an image for 20 loue of the sainctes liuinge / to folowe thensample? Nay we will fast the sainctes euens and go barefoot vnto their 148. images and take payne / to obtayne greater pleasure in the worlde / and to purchase worldly thinges as mayntene the body in lustes that the soule cannot once wishe for powre to liue as the sainctes liued or to longe for the life to come. If we went in pilgrimage to kepe the remem- 5 brance of the sainctes lyuinge in mynde for oure ensample / and fasted and went barefote to tame the fleshe that it shulde not lust after suche worldly thinges which we nowe desire of the sainctes / then did oure fastynge and pil- grima[H2]ge goinge serue vs / ye and the saincte were yet 10 oure seruaunt to edifye vs in Christe with the remembrance of his life left behinde / to preache and to prouoke vs to folowe thensample. For oure bodely seruice can be no ser- uice vnto the saincte which is a spirite / except we imagen hym to be an image. 15 Saincte White must haue a chese once in a yere / and that of the greatest sorte whiche yet eateth no chese. It shalbe giuen vnto the poore in hir name saye they. First that to be false we se with oure eyes. Secondarely Christe commaundeth to care for the poore / and giue them all that 20 we may spare in his name sayeng that what is giuen them is geuen hym / and what is denyed them is denyed hym. If 149. the lawe of Christe be written in thyn harte / why dis- tributest thou not vnto thy brethern with thyne awne handes / in the name of thy sauioure Iesu Christe which dyed both for them & the / as thou hast vowed and promysed to hym in the baptyme? 5 It is giuen vnto saincte whites chappeleyn. Saincte whites chappellayne hath a stipend all ready sufficient for a Christen man / and ought to receaue no moare / but therwith to be content and to be an ensample of despisinge couetousnes. Moar ouer that prest that wold folowe the lyuinge of Iesu Christ 10 as saincte white did and teache his parisshens to do so / were a right chaplayne of Christe. And they haue a promise to be feade and clothed as well as euer was their master in the name of Christe. And so be they and euer ware / so that they nede not to begge in the name of saincte white. 15 [H2v] What shall saincte white doo for the agayne for that greate chese? (for I wot wel it is not giuen for nought) giue abundance of mylke to make butter & chese? All we that beleue in Christe / are the sonnes of God / and God hath promised to care for vs / as moche as we care for the 20 kepinge of his commaundementes / and hath promised that we shall receaue what so euer we axe to his honoure and oure 150. nede / of his hande. If then we be the naturall sonnes of God / why run we from oure father / a begging to sent white? Sainct white sendeth no rayne vpon the erthe ner maketh the sonne shyne theron ner maketh the grasse growe. Nether is ther any gods worde that he will nowe doo so 5 moche for vs at hyr request. But God hath promised if we will kepe his lawes to doo so moche for vs at oure awne request / for the bloude of his sonne Iesu. What other thinge then is thy seruinge of saincte white / then lacke of faith and trust to godwarde in Christes name / and a 10 false fayth of they nawne faynynge to saincte white warde for thyne imageseruice or seruinge hir with chese / as thoughe she were a bodely thinge? And like disputation is it of all other sainctes. And as we worshipe the sainctes with imageseruice to 15 obtayne temporall thinges: euen so worshipe we God. And as the Iewes turned their sacrifices vnto image seruice whiche were giuen them of God to be signes to moue them to serue God in the spirite: Euen so haue we oure sacramentes. And for an ensample lat vs take the masse / which after the 20 popes abuse of it / is the most damnable imageseruice that euer was sence it beganne. Christe accordinge to the testi- 151. monie of the scripture / made in the dayes of his [H3] fleshe / satisfaction for all the synne of them that had or shulde beleue in his name / and obtayned that they shulde be the sonnes of God / & taken from vnder the dam- nation of the lawe and put vnder grace and mercie / and 5 that God shuld henceforth deale with them as a mercifull father dealeth with his chyldren that run not away from hym / no thoughe ought be at a tyme chaunced amysse: but tary euer still by their father and by his doctrine / and confesse their trespase / and promise henceforthe to en- 10 force them selues vnto the vtmost of their power that they doo no moare so negligentlye. And this purchase made he with the thinges whiche he soffred in his fleshe / and with the stronge prayers which he prayed. And to kepe this testament / euer fresh in mynde / that it were not for- 15 gotte / he left with vs the sacrament or signe of his body and bloude / to strengthe oure faithe and to certifye oure conscience / that oure synnes were forgiuen asssone as we repentyd and had reconcyled oure selues vnto oure brethern: & to arme oure soules / thorou the contynuall remembrance 20 of Christes deeth / vnto the despisinge of the worlde / mortifyeng of the fleashe / and quenching of the lustes and 152. thurst of wordly thinges. As they whiche haue dayly con- uersation with the sicke and miserable and are present at the deethes of men / are moued to diffie the world / and the lustes therof. And as Christ had institute the sacrament of his 5 body and bloude / so the busshopes in the processe of tyme / set signes of all the rest of Christes passion / in the ornamentes and gestures of the masse: so that the hole passion was dayly described before our eyes / as thoughe we had presently loked vpon it. 10 [H3v] And that thou maist se for what cause they came vnto the sacrament / they reconsiled them selfes echone to other / if any man had offended his brother / yere they were admit- ted in to the congregation or bodye of Christe to be mem- bres of eche other knit togither in one faith and loue to 15 eate the lordis sowper (as Paul callith it) for the congre- gation thus gatherd is called Christis body & Christ their hed. And likewise if a man had be taken in open synne / agenste the profession of his baptisme / he was rebuked openly. And he confessed his synne openly / and axed for- 20 giuenes of God and of the congregation whom he had offended with thensample of his euell dede: and toke penaunce as they 153. call it / of the congregation / that is / certayne discret iniunctions howe he shulde liue and ordre hym selfe in tyme to come and tame his flesh / for thauoydinge of the saide vice: because his confession and repentaunce whiche he semed to haue / shuld be none hypocrisie / but an ernest 5 thinge. For if an open synner be founde amonge vs / we must immediatlie amende hym or cast hym out of the congregation with defiaunce and detestation of his synne / as thou seist howe quyckly Paule cast out the Corinthian / that kept his fathers wife / and when he was warned wold not amende. Or 10 else if we soffre soch to be amonge vs vnrebuked / we can not but atttonce fall from the constancie of oure profession / and laughe and haue delectation and consent vnto their synne / as it is come to passe thorowe out all Christendome. Which is .x. thousande tymes moare abominable then if we synned 15 oure selues. For the best man in the world that hateth synne / might at a tyme thorowe frailtie of the fleshe be drawne to synne. But it [H4] is all together deuellishe and a sure token that the spirit of Christe is not in vs ner the profession of oure baptisme writen in the herte / 20 if we laughe at a nother mans synnes / thoughe we oure selues absteyne for shame or feare of hell or for what so euer imagination it be / or that we be so blynde that we se 154. no nother synne in vs / then oure outwarde dedes. And the penaunce enioyned fraile parsones / that coulde not rule them selues was vnder thauctorite of the curate / and the sad and discrete men of the parish to releisse parte or all at a tyme if necessite required / or when they sawe 5 the parsone so growne in perfectnes that he nedyd it not. But se wherto it is nowe come / and after what maner oure holy father that is at Rome dispenseth with all together? And se what oure busshopes officers doo / and wher thauc- torite of the curate and of the Parishe is become. If in 10 .x. parishes rounde ther be not one lerned and discrete to healpe thother / then the deuell hath a greate swynge amonge vs: that the busshopes officers that dwell so ferre of / must abuse vs as they doo. And if within a diocese or an hole lande / we can fynde no shyft / but that the pope that 15 dwellyth at the deuell in hell / must thus mocke vs / what a stroke thinke ye hath Sathan a monge vs? And all is because we be hypocrites and loue not the way of trueth / for all oure pretendinge the contrarie. And to begynne with all / they said Confiteor and 20 knowleged them selues to be synners. And then the prest prayed in generall for all estates and degrees and for 155. encreace of grace / and in especially if nede required: vnto whiche prayers the people harkened and said Amen. [H4v] And then the Gospell and glad tydinges of forgiuenes of synnes was preached / to ster vp oure faithe. And then the sacrament was ministred for the confirmation of the 5 faith of the gospell / & of the testament made betwen God and vs of forgiuenes of synnes in Christes bloude / for oure repentaunce and faith: as ye se howe after all bar- gens there is a signe therof made / ether clappinge of handes / or bowyng a peny or a grote / or a pece of golde / 10 or giuinge some ernest / and as I shewyd you / howe after a truse made they slewe bestes / for a confirmation. And then men departed / euery man to his busynes / full certi- fied that their synnes wer forgiuen / and armed with the remembraunce of Christes passion and deeth for the morti- 15 fieng of the fleshe all the daye after. And in all these was nether the sacrament nether other cerimonies of the masse imageseruice to God / and holy dedes to make satis- faction for oure synnes / or to purchese suche wordly thinges as the gospel teacheth vs to dispise. And nowe 20 compare this vse of the masse to oures / and se whether the masse be not become the most damnable ydolatrie and 156. imageseruice that euer was in the worlde. We neuer reconcyle oure selfes vnto oure brethern which we haue offendid: we receaue vnto oure masse the open synners / the couetouse / thextorcioners / the adulter / the bacbiter / the comen whore / and the whore keper / 5 which haue no parte in Christe by the scripture / ye suche are soffred to say the masse / as the vse is nowe to speake / ye suche are we compellyd with the swerde to take for oure pastores and curates of oure soules and not so hardy to rebuke them. Nether doo they repent and confesse their 10 synnes / [H5] and promise amendment / or submitte them selues to holsome iniunctions for thavoydinge of such synnes / and tamyng of their fleshe. We sai Confiteor and knowlege oure selues to be synners in latyne / but neuer repent in Englishe. The priest prayth in laten and saith 15 euer more a stil Masse / as we saye. For thoughe he synge & streyne his throte to crye lowd vnto them that be by hym / yet as longe as no man woteth what he prayeth / or whether he blesse or curse / he is dome and spechles. And so in that parte we abide fructlesse & vntaught howe to praye vnto 20 God. And the gospel is songe or sayd in latyn only and no preachinge of repentaunce toward the lawe & faith towarde 157. Christ had. And therfore abyde we euer faytheles & with- out studienge to amend oure liuinges. And of the cerimo- nies of the masse we haue no nother imagination / then that they be an holy seruice vnto god which he receaveth of oure handes and hath greate delectation in them and that 5 we purchase greate fauoure of god withe them / as we do of greate men here in the world with giftes and presentes. In so moche that if the priest said messe without those vestimentes or left thother cerimonies vndone / we shulde al quake for feare / and thinke that there were a synne 10 committed ynoughe to sinke vs al and that the priest for his laboure wer worthie to be put in the popes purgatorye and there to be brent to asshes. And of the very sacrament it selfe we knowe no nother thinge then that we come thither to se an vnseable myracle / 15 which they affirme / the angels in heuen haue no power to do: sed solis presbyteris / quibus sic congruit / vt sumant nec dent ceteris: howe that bred ys turned in to [H5v] the body / and wine in to the bloude of Christ / to mocke our seinge smellinge / felinge & tastinge / which is a very 20 stronge faith / & moare a greate deale (I thinke) then the texte compelleth a man to. Neuer the later it were some 158. what yet / if they had bene as louinge / kynde / careful and diligente to teache the people to repente / and to beleue in the bloude of Christ for the forgeuenes of theyr sinnes vnto the glorie of the mercie of god & of his excedinge loue to vs / and vnto the profite of oure soules / 5 and apon that preachinge to haue mynistred the sacramente as a memoriall / remembrance / signe / token / ernest / the seale of an obligation and clappinge of handes to gether for the assuerance of the promise of god / to quiet / stablissh and certifie oure consciences / and to put vs 10 out of al waueringe & doute that our sinnes were forgeuen vs and god become oure father & at one with vs / for which cause only christ ordened it: as they were zelouse and fer- uente to mayntene the opinion of so turnynge bred and wine in to the body & bloude of Christ / that it ceaseth to be 15 bred & wine in nature / vnto their awne glorie and profit / with out help of scripture / but with sotle argumentes of sophistrie and with crafty wiles. First with takinge awaye halfe the sacramente / lest if the people shulde haue dronk the bloude of Christ / they shulde haue smelt the sauoure 20 and fealte the tast of wine / & so haue bene to weake to beleue that there had bene no wine. And secondarily when 159. they durst not robbe the people of al the sacramente / they yet toke awaye comen bred / & imagined maunchetes which maye not be handled / and in sight haue no simili- tude of bred / & in eatinge very litle tast / if there be any at al. And thridly whom they coulde not [H6] catch 5 with those craftes / agenst hym they disputed with the swerde. For when they had taken awaye the signification & very entente of the sacramente / to stablish the eare confession / their merites / deseruinges / iustifienge of workes & lyke inuencion vnto their awne glorie & profit: 10 what had the sacramente bene / if they had not made of that other opinion an article of the faith? But now when they haue destroyed for the nonce that faith which profited / & haue set vp with wiles / sotiltie / falshed / gyle and with violence / that faith which profiteth not / we haue good 15 cause to iudge & examine the doctrine of the spirites / whether it be grounded vpon gods worde or no. But I aske / wherfore we beleue that Christes body and his bloude ys there presente? verely as many heads as many wittes / euery man hath his meanynge. We take paynes to 20 come thither to se strange holy gestures / wherof / saye they to their shame / who knoweth the meanyng ye or of the 160. other disgisinge: & to heare straunge holy voyces / where of / saye I also that no man knoweth the vnderstondinge: & to loke vppon the sacramente: & al to obteyne worldly thinges / for that seruice. Why maye not a man desire worldly thinges of god? yes / we ought to aske of god 5 only sufficiencie of al worldli thinges / as we do spiritual thinges / yet not for bodily seruice / when god is a spirite: but for the goodnesse & mercie of our father & for the trueth of his promyse & deseruinges of his sonne. And so when we do men bodili seruice / we ought to loke for 10 our wages of god: lest if he moue not the hartes of our masters / we be shrewdly payed: & like wise when we lende or bargen / we ought to desire god for payment / lest thorou our negligence he forget vs / & [H6v] the appoynt- mentes be not truly kepte. Some there be yet / that aske 15 heuen. But for bodyly seruyce: which is lyke abhominacion. But who cometh thither with repentaunce and faith / for to obtayne forgeuenisse of his sinnes / and with purpose to walke in the life of penaunce for the tamynge of the flesh that he sinne no moar? and to stablish his herte in 20 that purpose / and to arme his soule agenst al that moue to the contrary / and when he goeth home is certified in his 161. conscience / thorow that signe and token / that his sinnes ar forgeuen him: as Noe was certified bi the signe of the raynbow that the worlde shuld no moare be ouerrunne with water: and as Abraham was certified by the signe of circun- cision that god wolde fulfil to hym and his offspringe al 5 the mercies that he had promised: & as Abraham Genesis .xv. when he asked a signe to be sure that he shuld possesse that lande of Canaan / was certified thorowe the signe that God gaue hym there of / and of the foure hundred yeres that his posterite shulde be in thraldome in Egipte and of 10 theyr delyueraunce: and as Gedion was certified by the signe of hys flese / of the victory that god had promysed hym: and as many other that beleued in God / were certi- fied by the signes that god gaue them / of the promyses which god made them? Verely no man. For our prelates 15 which laye for them selues / compelle intrare / compel not vs to entre in to any soch feest ner wil sofre any soch meate to be set before vs: for feare of ouerthrowinge the foundacion of their false bylding wherof springeth so gret glorie & profit vnto them / which foundacion to bylde 20 their lyes vpon / they could neuer haue layed / excepte they had first thrust this doctrine of oure soules [H7] 162. health cleane out of knowlege. And as sone as they had blynded that light / they became leaders in derkenes: and made of the messe Imageseruice: so that the strange holy gestures / and the strange holy voices / and strange holy vesturs / with al other strange holy ceremones / muste be 5 meritoreus werkes to deserue longe life / helth / ryches / honoure / fauour / dignite and aboundance of al that we haue / forsakinge our baptym / & to arme vs frome bearinge of the crosse with christe. And they haue made of it a pil of two contrary operacions: so that the same medi- 10 cine that preserueth oure soules frome purgatory / dothe purge the bodye of house / landes / rentes / goodes and money / that it is made as bare as Iobe and as baulde as a coote. And the light that rebuketh them / they cal sediciouse / that it maketh the subiectis to ryse agenste 15 their princes. Which thinge the ypocrites layed sometyme vnto the prophetes / as ye may see in the olde testamente. And at laste they layed it vnto Christis charge / as ye may see in the gospel / and to the charge of the apostles / as ye may see in their actes. But at al sich tymes / the 20 ypocrites their selues stered vp sich a swerde to mayntene their falshed / that euermore a grete parte of the worlde 163. peresshed thorow their owne myschevouse incensinge and prouokynge princes to batayle. These ypocrytes layed to wycleues charge (and do yet) that his doctrine caused insurrection: but they / to quenche the truthe of his preachinge / slew the right 5 kinge / and set vp .iij. false kinges a rowe: by which mys- chevouse sedicion / they caused halfe englonde to be slayne vp / and brought the realme in to siche ruyne and desolacion that .M. More coulde saye in his vtopia / that [H7v] as englisshmen were wonte to eate shepe / euen so their shepe 10 now eat vp them by hole paresshes at once / besydes other inconuenientes that he then sawe. And so the ypocrytes saye now lykewise: that Gods worde causeth insurrection: butte ye shal see shortely that these ypocrites themselues aftir their olde wonte and ensamples in quenchinge the 15 truthe that vttereth their iuglinge / shal cause al realmes Christen to ryse one agenst a nother / and some agenste themselues. Ye shal see them tunne out before the year come aboute / that which they haue bene in bruwing (as I haue marked) aboue this dosen yeares. & cetera. 20 [ornament: one leaf] This moch I haue sayd because of them that disceaue you / to geue you an occasion to iudge the spirites. [ornament: one leaf] The yere of our lorde .1531. in September.