¶ And whē they come to the Gospell / there they mīgle their leuen & saye / God now receaueth vs no moare to mercie / but of mercie receaueth vs to penaunce / that is to wete / holy dedes yt make them fatt belies & vs their captiues / both in soule and body. And yet they fayne theyr Idole ye Pope so mercifull / yt if thou make a litle money glister in his Balams eyes / there is nether penaunce ner purgatory ner any fastīge at all but to fle to heven as swefte as a thought and at the twinkellynge of an eye.
¶ And the liues stories and gestes of men which are cōtayned in the bible / they reade as thīges no moare perteynīge vn to thē / then a [take] of Robī hode / & as thīges they wott not wherto they serue / saue to fayne false discāt & iuglinge allegories / to stablish their kingdome with all. And one ye chefest & fleshliest studie they have / is to magnifie ye sayntes aboue measure & aboue ye trueth & with their poetrie to make them greater then euer God make them. And if they finde any infirmite or synne asscribed vn to ye saintes / that they excuse with all diligēce / diminushīge the glorie of ye mercie of God & robbinge wretched sinners of all theyr cōforte / & thinke therby to flater the sayntes and to obtayne their fauoure & to make speciall aduocates of thē: even as a man wold obtayne ye fauoure of wordely tirantes: as they also fayne the saintes moch moare cruell then ever was any heathē man & moare wrekefull and vengeable then ye poetes faine their godes or their furies yt torment ye soules in hell / if theyr euēs be not fasted & their images visited & saluted wyth a Pater noster (whych prayer only oure lippes be accoynted with oure hertes vnderstōdinge none at all) and worsheped wt a candell & ye offerīge of oure deuociō/ in ye place which thei haue chosen to heare ye supplicaciōs & meke peticiōs of their clientes therin.
¶ But thou reader thīke of ye law of God how yt it is all to gether spirituall / & so spirituall yt it is neuer fulfilled wt dedes or werkes / vntill they flow out of thyne herte wt as greate loue toward thy neyboure / for no deseruīge of his ye though he be thine enimie / as Christ loued ye ād did for the / for no deseruīge of thyne / but evē whē thou wast his enimie. And in ye meane time / thoroute all our infancie & childhod in Christ / tyll we be growen vpp in to perfecte men in the full knowlege of christ & full loue of christ agayne & of oure neyboures for his sake / after ye ensample of his loue to vs / [rembenbir] that ye fulfillynge of ye law is / a fast fayth in christes bloud coupled wt our professiō & submyttīge our selues to lerne to doo better.
¶ And of ye Gospell or promises which thou metest in ye scripture / beleue fast yt God will fulfill them vn to ye / and that vn to ye vttemost Iott / at the repentaunce of thyne herte / whē thou turnest to hym & forsakest euell / even of his goodnesse & fatherly mercie vn to the / ād not for thy flatterīge hym with ypocritish workes of thyne awne fayninge. So yt a fast faith only with out respecte of all workes / is the forgeuenesse both of the synne which we did in tyme of ignoraunce with luste ād cōsent to synne / & also of all the synne which we doo by chaunce & of frailte / after yt we are come to knowlege ād have professed ye law out of oure hertes. And all dedes serue only for to helpe oure neyboures & to tame oure flesh that we fall not to synne agayne / & to exercice oure soules in vertue / & not to make satisfaction to Godward for ye synne yt is once paste.
¶ And all other stories of ye bible / with out excepciō / are ye practisinge of ye law & of the Gospell / and are true and faitfull ensamples & sure erneste yt God will euen so deale with vs / as he did with thē / in all infirmities / in all temptaciōs / & in all like cases & chaunces. Wherin ye se on ye one syde / how fatherly & tendirly & with all cōpassion god entreateth his electe which submitte them selues as scolers / to lerne to walke in the wayes of his lawes / & to kepe thē of loue. If they forgatt thē selues at a time & wēt astraye / he sought thē out & sett thē agayne with all mercie. If they fell & hurte thē selues / he healed thē agayne with all compassion & tendernesse of hert. He hath ofte brought greate tribulation & aduersite vppon his electe: but all of fatherly loue only / to teach thē & to make them se their awne hertes & ye sinne yt there laye hid / that they might aftirwarde feale his mercie. For his mercie wayted vppon thē / to rid them out agayne / assone as they ware lerned & come to ye knowlege of their awne hertes: so that he neuer cast man awaye how depe so euer he had sinned / saue thē ōly which had first cast ye yocke of his lawes frō their neckes / with vtter diffiaunce & malice of herte.
Which ensamples how cōfortable are they for vs / whē we be fallen in to sinne & God is come vppō vs with a scorge / yt we dispeare not / but repēt with full hope of mercie after ye ensamples of mercie yt are gone before: And therfore they were written for our lernīge / as testifieth Paul Ro. xv. to cōforte vs / yt we might ye better put oure hope & trust in God / whē we se / how mercifull he hath bene in tymes past vn to our weake brethern yt are gone before / in all theyr aduersities / neade / temptaciōs / ye & horrible synnes in to which they now & then fell.
¶ And on ye other side ye se how they yt hardened their hertes & synned of malice & refused mercie yt was offered thē & had no power to repēt / perished at ye later ende with all confusion & shame mercilessely. Which ensamples are very good & necessary / to kepe vs in awe & dreade in tyme of prosperite as thou maist se by Paul. j. Cor. x. that we abyde in the feare of God / & wax not wild and fall to vanities ād so synne ād prouoke God and bringe wrath vppon vs.
¶ And thridly ye se in that practise / how as god is mercifull & longesoferynge / euen so were all his true prophetes & prechers / beringe the infirmities of their weake brethern & their awne wrōges & iniuries with all paciēce & longesoferinge / neuer castinge any of thē of their backes / vn tyll they synned agenst ye [holygost] / maliciously persecutinge ye open & manifest trouth: cōtrary vn to the ensample of ye Pope / which in sinninge agenst God & to quench ye trueth of his holy spirite / is euer chefe captayne and trōpetblower / to sett other awerke / ād seketh only his awne fredome / liberte / priuilege / welth / prosperite / profite / pleasure / pastyme / honoure & glorie / with ye bondage / thraldome / captiuite / miserie / wretchednesse & vile subiectiō of his brethern: & in his awne cause is so feruent / so steffe & cruell / that he will not sofre one word spoken agenst his false magiste / wily inuenciōs ād iuglynge ypocrisie to be vnaduēged / [thongh] all christendome shuld be sett to gether by the eares / and shuld cost he cared not how many hundred thousande their lives.
Now yt thou mayst reade Ionas frutefully & not as a poetis fable / but as an [obligacō] betwene God and thy soule / as an ernist peny geuen ye of God / yt he wil helpe ye in time of nede / if thou turne to him ād as the word of god ye only fode ād life of thy soule / this marke & note. First count Ionas the frend of god ād a man chosen of god to testifie his name vn to ye worlde: but yet a younge scolar / weake & rude / after ye faciō of ye appostles / while Christ was yet with them bodyly. Which though Christ taught thē euer to be meke & to vmble thē selues / yet oft stroue amonge them selues who shuld be greatest. The sonnes of Zebede wold sitt / the one on the right hōde of Christ ād the other on ye lifte. They wold praye / that fire might descēde from heuen / and consume the Samaritanes.
¶ Whē Christ axed who saye men that I am / Peter answered / thou arte the sonne of the lyuinge God / as though Peter had bene as perfecte as an angell. But immediatly after / when Christ preached vn to thē of his deeth & passiō / Peter was angre & rebuked Christe & thought ernestly yt he had raued & not wist what he sayde: as at a nother time / when Christ was so feruētly busied in healinge ye people / yt he had not leyser to eate / they went out to holde him / supposinge that he had bene besyde him selfe. Ande one yt cast out deuels in Christes name / they forbade / because he wayted not on them / so glorious were they yet.