Christen / good and euell / wherin also the tares groweth with the wheate vntill the tyme of the haruest Neuertheles this is not an one onely church / but destributed in to many partes for it were vnpossible to haue / in one place an one onely coÌ„gregacioÌ„ of all Christen together / seyng they dwell so farre one from another / be of so sondrie lanhages maners Therfore the Apostles as we do rede / haue in all partes ordyned as many churches / as they thought necessary acording to the nature of the countrees And gaue vnto euery church their peculiar bishoppe / to kepe the lordes flocke whom the also called prest or elder geuyng them a tytle of reputacion / either because of their age / or by reason of their excellent grauyte vertuous conuersacion To such men was coÌ„mitted the care of Christes flock and the mynistracion of gods worde / to rule the people / and to fede the flock of Christ with all As for hye bishope / vnder Christ they knew none They had al like auctorite Euery one had the ouersight of the flock that was coÌ„mitted vnto him But whaÌ„ anye doubte arose / they vsed not to shew it vnto one alone as to the head / or to theÌ„ all which was vnpossible but vnto certeyne who whan they had called vpoÌ„ the name of the lorde / knew in the holy goost / what was to be done / as we maye openly se in the Actes of the Apostles Wherfore me thinketh it a great wonder that euer the church of Rome came in such reputation / that it hath hither to bene taken of many for the head of all churches / yea for the one onely Catholike or vniuersall church coÌ„sidering that in holy scripture it hath no testimonye that maye truly be alledged to any such purpose For we haue declared now allready / that ther is not one onely visible church which thing appeareth euideÌ„tly out of the wordes of Christ / whan he saieth tell it vnto the church Shulde he now runne froÌ„ hierusalem vnto Rome / to tell his brothers faulte Therfore be there many churches or coÌ„gregacions / wherin the children of god in this vayle of misery are myxte amoÌ„g childreÌ„ of the deuel / which incoÌ„uenieÌ„ce also they daylie coÌ„playne of But let vs se with what reasoÌ„s or rater cauillacions / oure aduersary goeth aboute to maynteyne this his Romshe church / his grauÌ„dsyre pope or bishoppe of Rome We reade in the gospell / that Christ asked his disciples who saye ye that I am Peter ansuered sayde thou art the soÌ„ne of the lyuinge god Whervpon Iesus sayde vnto him Blessed art thou Simon Ionas sonne / for fleshe and bloude hath not opened that vnto the / but my father which is in heauen And I saye vnto the Thou art Petrus that is / apperteyning to the stonye rocke and vpon this rocke will I buylde my church / and the gates of hell shal not preuayle agaynst it And I will geue the the keyes of the kyng ome of heaueÌ„ what soeuer thou byndest vpon erthe / shal also be bounde in heauen And what soeuer thou loosest vpon erthe / shal be loosed also in heauen This promes of Christ / which we also beleue stedfastly to be fulfilled / taketh oure aduersary vpoÌ„ him to wraist vnto his opynion How now saieth he dyd not Christ playnlie saye Thou art Petrus / and vpon this rock wil I buylde my church and I will geue the the keyes of the kyngdome of heauen Who I praye the / denyeth that the church is buylded vpon a strong rocke who will not graunt / that the keyes were committed vnto Peter Neuertheles we will seke the true vnderstoÌ„ding of this promes Whan Peter had consessed Christ to be the sonne of the lyuinge god / the lordt sayd vnto him blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Ionas / for fleshe and bloud hath not opened that vnto the but my father which is in heauen Wherby Christ â—s the gifte of god / and commeth of the father of heauen Now foloweth the promes for the faithers sake and I saye vnto the / that thou art Petrus / here geueth he him another name / not Simon Ionas sonne / but Petrus / as one that cleueth or belongeth vnto the rocke And vpon this rocke saieth he wil I buylde my church as though he shulde saye blessed art thow / for asmuch as thorow gods reuelacion / thou coÌ„fessest / that I am the soÌ„ne of the lyuynge god And therfore art thou Petrus / that is / thou belongest vnto the rocke And vpon this rocke whervnto thou eleuest now by thy confession / wil I buylde my church For where as the church of god was norished first in hope of the redempcioÌ„ for to come / and after that the lawe came as a scoolmaster / stode much in outward ceremonies and coÌ„maundemeÌ„tes of the lawe now that the perfecte tyme is come / I wil buylde my church vpon my selfe / as on the strong rock that whosoeuer beleueth in me / shal not perishe / but haue euerlasting life Yf he had sayde Super Petrum / it might happlie haue bene vnderstonde of Peter but seyng he saieth Super haue petram / we will search the scripture / whether this rock maye signifie anye thing els saue onely Christ himselfe It is written beholde / I laye in Sion a stombling stone / and a rocke that meÌ„ shal be offended at And whosoeuer beleueth on him / shal not be confounded which scripture Paul and Peter also declare in maner with the same wordes And in another place saieth Paul they dranke al of the spirituall rocke that folowed them / which rocke was Christ And in the Actes of the Apostles this is the stone that was refused of you buylders / and is become the head couer stone / / nether is ther saluacioÌ„ in anye other Loo / here is a true sufficient interpretacion of this rocke For as the Apostel Paul saieth no man can laye another fundacion then that is layde all ready / namely Christ Iesus This much haue I sayd touching the fundacion of the church Now will we come to the keies And I saieth the lorde wil geue the the keies of the kyngdome of heauen The storie now of the gospell declareth / that this auctorite of the keies / was not geuen onely vnto Peter / but vnto all the Apostles alyke And whan he had so spokon saieth the Euangelist brethed he vpon them / and sayde â–ª receaue ye the holy gost Whose synnes ye forgeue / to them are they forgeuen and whose synnes ye reteyne / to them are they reteyned These are other wordes / then the lorde spake afore vnto Peter alone / and yet is it all one meanyng For what this bynding els saue onely reteyning of synnes And what eles is loosyng / saue onely remytting of synnes Wherfore not onely Peter / but al disciples also yea al such as haue the holy goost / haue
church is set forth before oure eyes Wherby we maye euidently percaue / that the holy Catholike church is nothing els but a feloshippe of saynctes And the same is also the bryde of Christ without spot or wrynckle / purified thorow the bloude of the brydgrome himselfe euen the heauenly hierusalem / in to the which / no vncleane persone commeth the most holy temple / wher into is entred oure bishope Iesus Christ / who is a prest for euer after the ordre of Melchisedech This I saye / is the church buylded vpō the roke / agaynst the which nether the windes / ner the waues of waters / no ner the gates of hell / cā preuayle the head and fundacio wheoff is Christ himselfe To this church pertayne all they / that syns the begynnyng of the worlde haue bene saued / and that shal be saued vnto the ende therof For they are the lyuinge stones of this heauenly hierusalem and of this most holy temple Know ye not saieth S. Paul that ye are the tempel of God / and that the sprete of god dwelleeh in you Yf anye man defyle this temple / him shal god destroye for the temple of god is holy / the same temple are ye Euen this church / doth this Christē brother of oures beleue stedfastly ◠yea and in this church also beleueth he forgyuenesse of synnes / ond after the resurrection of the flesh an euerlasting life Why saiest thou than / that he is falelen awaye from the church To the speake I now / thou vnreasonable accuser What hast thou yet more to laye to his charge He beleueth in god the father allmightie maker of heauen and arth / and in Iesu Christ his onely begotten sonne oure lorde / which was conceaued of the holy goost / borne of Marye the virgyn / suffred vnder Pōtius Pilate / was crucified / dead and buried / descended vnto hell / on the thirde daye rose agayne from death / ascended vnto heauen / sitteth at the right hand of god the father allmightye / from thence shal he come to iudge the quycke an dead He beleueth also in the holy goost / and al the rest that we mencioned afore of the church He beleueth likiwise all that is written by the prophetes and other olde fathers of the olde testament In like maner beleueth he all that in the gospels is written of the actes and doctryne of Christ He confesseth also that the doctryne of the Apostles and disciples of Christ is not to be dowted vpon Moreouer he beleueth that whatsoeuer the holy fathers of the new testament haue written / is true / so farre as it is not contrary to the doctryne of Christ and of his Apostles With this true and fre confession of faith / I suppose thou art so satisfied / that now thou wilt not sticke with all expedicion to quyte this Christen mā / and faithfully to commytte him vnto the iudges as a right membre of the church and for asmuch as thou hast vnaduysedly accused him as an heretike and as a rennegate from the church / hast done him wrong / I hope thou wilt therfore aske him forgeuenesse But I se well / thou shakest thy heade / bytest thy tethe one vpon another / and art be come as me thinketh nothing the mylder Wherfore beholde I besech you / how shameles this man is / yf I maye call such one a mā / which so vnmāly dealeth / that I suppose he hath forgottē / that he himselfe is a man I doute not right deare Iudges / but the same fre confession of this Christen man is sufficient ynough to quyte him / and that in youre iudgment he neadeth no farther clearyng of himselfe Notwithstōding lest oure aduersary shulde reporte / that I haue sayde nothing to the ordely rehearsall of his accusaciō / but wittingly passed ouer it or how that I am so short of memorye / that I haue forgottē what he hath layed for him selfe therfore wil I rehearce it all agayne to the intēt that whā I haue repeted his vnhonest complaynt / and confuted it / euery man maye vnderstond / that he is smytten with his owne swerd Ye haue perceaued / I suppose / that his whole accusacion consisted in eight principall articles / which I will now repete in ordre / that yf any thing ther in haue bene forgetten / it maye be called vnto remābraunce agayne This heretike saith oure aduersary doth affirme First / that the bishope of Rome is not the head of the church ner the true vycar of Christ Secondly that the masse is no sacrice ner ought to be vsed for other Thirdly that the supper of the lordt ought to be mynistred in fourmes both of bread and wyne / and that also vnto the laye people Fourthly that ther is no purgatory / and that suffragies for the deed are in vayne / and supersticious Fyfthly that it is not necessary to call vpon saynctes Sixthly that auricular confession was nether commaunded ner institute of Christ and his disciples Seuenthly that on the daies prohibited and forbiddē by the church of Rome / it is no synne to eate flesh Eightely / and fynally / he saieth planely / that prestes maye mary These ye deare Iudges are the foule misdedes these are the horrible vyces these are the detestable blasphemies her off cometh the great vproure horrible noyse of heauē and erthe / wher thorow it is to be feared / that the foure elementes wil come together / and that rhe world wil returne in to his ol darcknes and confusion agayne And why do not we all rent oure clothes / and stoppe oure eares after the maner of the Iewes / crie ewith loude voyce He hath blasphemed Crucifie / Crucifie Such a matter might happly be laught at / yf it were shewed in the waye of ieasting / and to make the people a pastyme with all But for asmuch as the matter is now handled in Iudgment / and brought so farreforth / that this Christen man is like to suffre death therfore / Me thinketh euery faithfull Christen mā ought frō the ground of his hert to bewayle it But now let vs examen the first article / and pondre well / what is to be holden of the bishoope of Romes power All Christē men do confesse / that the holy Catholike or vniuersal church / is the feloshippe of saynctes And this is the one onely church / wherin is but one lorde / one faith / one baptyme / one god and father of all thinges But for asmuch as we saye I beleue an holy vniuersall church / we do cōfesse / that the same is not visible ner corporall Notwithstōding in the scripture / ther is named yet another church which is bothe visible and corporall Whervnto the keyes of the kyngdome of heauen are committed / which the lord also meaneth whan he saieth Tell it vnto the church In the which church all they are comprehended / that are named
the discretion of you that be Iudges Now will we speake of the masse This name Masse / was doutlesse in the Apostles tyme nether vsed ner heardof Nether can there any certeyne occasion be shewed whence this name shuld come But certeyne it is / that all the preparacion aboute it / was institute and ordened to the intent / that the supper and death of the lorde might be had in remembraunce which maye easely be perceaued by the vestimentes and other thinges perteyning to the masse Now in the prymityue church was not the supper of the lorde kepte afore none / as now the vse is / but in the euenyng after supper as Christ himsefe kepte it Neuertheles thorow the misbehaueouae of certeyne filthie persones / which with their dronkennes dishonoured this holy supper / arose great slaunder and offence / which S. Paul to the Corinthians doth ernestly rebuke And therfore thought the holy fathers it shulde not be agaynst the ordinaunce of the lorde Yf men kepte this holy supper afoâ—â—â—oone / fasting wherby such inordiâ—â—â—e people might somwhat be withdraweÌ„ from their incoÌ„uenience Which the coÌ„sidred / thei might well do / for asmuch as they altred nothing of the principall matter And at the first / was no more added thervnto / saue onely the Pater noster / the prayer of the lorde But afterward in proces of tyme by addyng more and more it grew tho the poynt that it is now at And besydes that with such additions they thought to garnishe the supper of the lorde peraduenture of a good intent they haue allmost vtterly lost the principall poyntes of the remeÌ„braunce of the supper So that now the right name of it is altred / and no more called the lordes supper / but is called Messe / which name is both straunge and vnknowne in the scripture yea and that worse is / it is named a sacrifice / that maye be done for other folkes Wherof then spronge the slaunderous market of byeng and sellyng of masses in churches here of was renewed the daungerous ydolatrie / that we ranne vnto the masse as to a speciall worck / thinkyng there to fetch all saluacion / which we shulde haue loked for onely at Christes hande But let vs loke / wherfore they call it a sacrifice Euen because saie they that in the masse / Christ the sonne is offred vp vnto god his father O what a greate blasphemy is this / yea to be abhorred of al vertuous men Who wold thinke it possible / that men mortall and synfull / coulde euer haue bene so in a lapert or rather mad / as to presume with their vncleane handes / to offre Christ the lorde vnto his father yet ones agayne Christ saieth S. Paul is entred in to the very heauen / for to appeare now in the sight of god for vs not to offre himselfe offten / as the hye prest entreth in to the holy place euery yeare with straunge bloude for then must he haue offt suffred sens the world beganne And afterward it foloweth thus was Christ offred vp ones for all to take awaye the synnes of many but they will saye Christ is not so sacrificed in the masse / that he dieth agayne vpon the crosse / but it is for the remembraunce of the same sacrifice that ones was made Whi do they than call it a sacrifice / seyng it is but a remembraunce of a sacrifice And why saie they that it maye be done for other seyng that of it selfe it is no such worke / but onely a remembraunce of the supper and passion of oure lordt Iesu Christ Which saieth take and eate / this is my body And of the cuppe he saieth drynke ye all therout And as afft as ye this do / then do it to the remembraunce of me He saieth not offre my body and my bloude Wherfore let the rihht true remembraunce of the lordes Supper remayne in the congregacions / and let vs shew the lordes death vntill he come Now yf we be disposed to offre / let vs offre oure owne bodies / a quycke / holy and acceptable sacrifice vnto god / which is euen the reasonable waye to serue him We reade in the scripture / that no vyce was ponished so sore / as the abuse of gods seruyce Wherfore me thinketh all vertuous meÌ„ shulde hartely praye / that the abuse of the masse were put downe in the churches For yf we wilfully synne after the knowlege of the trueth / there remayneth no more sacrifice for synnes c. But I willet the masse go / and treate of both the kyndes in the lordes holy Supper / whiche shulde also be geuen vnto the laye people It is past all doubte by euery man / that Christ in the holy Supper gaue his disciples both the kyndes Therfore it is manifest / that their opynion is not euell / which wolde haue the chalice distributed vnto euery man And me thinketh the other do erre sore / that holde the contrary / and specially because they put such difference betwene prestes and laye people / not consideryng the prestly office that is coÌ„mitted vnto all faithfull beleuers For in the lawe of Moses / the office of prestes was to offre and praye for the pople But now for asmuch as Christ beyng ones offred vp for vs / hath abrogate all other sacrices / and not onely permitted but also commaunded all men to praye I can not sewhat difference can be betwene prestes and laye people / excepte the gouernaunce of the church and minystracion of gods worde For. S. Peter in his Epistel saieth and ye also as lyuing stones / are made a spirituall house / an holy presthode / to offre vp spirituall sacrifices / acceptable to god thorow Iesus Christ And euen there also saieth S. Peter but ye are the chosen generacion / the royall presthode / the holy nacion etc. Here wryteth S. Peter not onely vnto bishoppes and prestes / but to the straungers that were dispersed and scatred abrode in Ponto / Galatia etc. And calleth them alltogether an holy and royall presthode S. Paul also wryting of this holy supper of the lorde to the commen congregacions at Corinthum / maketh mencion not onely of the bred / but also of the cupen Yf the cuppe then at that tyme / was commen vnto all Christen men / why is it now withdrawen from the laye people The holy fathers saieth oure aduersary haue with good coÌ„scieÌ„ce brought the supper to this ordenyng that it now is in and that mihht they well do / as we reade that in the Apostles tyme certeyne thinges were ordyned / wher of no mencioÌ„ is in the gospell Among which this is one in the Actes of the Apostles / where they commaunded to absteyne from thinges offred vnto Idolles / and from bloude and from strangled whiche commaundement the Apostles estemed necessary Whervnto I answere brefely / that the Apostles gaue no such commaundemeÌ„t for that intent that it shulde allwaye so coÌ„tynue
/ but was in all poyntes tempted as we are but without synne / beyng euer able also to saue them that come vnto god thorow him / and lyueth euer to make intercessiō for vs. Nether is ther vnder heauen geuen vnto men anye other name / wherin we must be saued For ther is but one god / and one mediatoure be twene god and man / namely the man Iesus Christ / which gaue himselfe a redempcion for all To him be honour and praise for euer My purpose was Right deare Iudges to haue defēded this Christen man cause with few wordes Neuertheles the sotyl cōplaynt of our aduersary hath hyndred me as ye se fro makyng of myne answere Wherfore the faulte of so lang communicacion ought reasonably to be imputed not vnto vs / but to the vnrighteous accuser And now wyll I take in hand the sexte article / namely auricular cōfession which I suppose was first ordyned for this purpose / that the symple vnlerned people shulde go to the prestes to seke counsaill / yf they had anye greuous thing in their mynde either cocernyng eny dowte in the beleue / or cōcernyng synne which vexeth a mans conscience To the intent that the prestes as they that be lerned and haue experience in the scripture / might strenght such as be weake in faith / warne the vnrulye and misnurtoured / comforte such as be sory and penitent for their synnes summa / as true phisicians to geue due medycines for euery sicknesse Which ordynaunce yf it were right kepte / and as I now haue sayde / I suppose no mā could reproue it But now forasmuch as they commaunde / that euery persō shal ones in the yare confesse all his synnes to his owne prest not onely such as he hath committed in dede / but also what soeuer is come in to his thought / yea and to declare the state / place / tyme and circumstaunce of the persones / considering likewise that they proclame the same out as a commaundment of god vnder payne of eternall dammacion / I maye saye that it is no wholsome confession of synnes / but rather a shamelfull tormenting of mens consciences Nether can I beleue ether / but that it was brought in by the speciall craft and sotiltie of the deuel / to tangle poore men with a new snare / and vttarlye to bring them frō the wholsome and necessary confession of synnes It is written in the psalme I sayde / I wil euen agaynst my selfe / cōfesse myne offence vnto the lorde / and thou for gauest me the vngodlynesse of my synne For the same shal all saynctes praye vnto the in due season Without such confession of synne shal noman be saued For they that desyre to be partakers of the grace of Christ / must afore al thinges know and confesse / that they are synners and worthy of eternall punishment Such a confessiō yf it come frō the hert / is wholsome frutefull Afterward verely foloweth a broken hert / which god will not dispise Oure aduersary wolde proue out of the gospell / that this confession to the prest / is commaunded of Christ / because that whan he clensed the lepars / he bad them go shew them selues to the prestes Here doth oure aduersary make a colde interpretacion Shew youre selues / saieth he / is asmuch to saye / as confesse youre synnes But the wordes that folowe after in the gospell / wil not suffre such a slender exposiciō And offre the gift saieth Christ that Moses cōmaunded / for a witnesse vnto them This was the very cause why they were cōmaunded to go vnto the prestes namely / that of thē / as of those to whō the knowlege of leprosie was committed / they might be iudged cleane to the intent it might be knowne / that Christ had truly clensed thē Ther frre for a witnesse agaynst such as resisted him / bad he the lepers offre the gift that Moses had cōmaūded in the lawe Out of S. Iames epistle taketh our aduersary these wordes knowlege your synnes one to another / and praye one for another / that ye maye be saued Here doth he as he dyd afore / and will haue this worde one to anoher / to be asmuch to saye as to a prest Neuertheles the wordes be so playne / that they nede no long interpretacion For. S. Iames willeth / that euery one shal knowlege himself as a synner toward his neggboure / so one to praye for another / that they maye fulfill brotherley loue and be saued I abhorre most prudent Iudges to expresse / what greate harme the straite confessiō hath brought to passe among the symple people For seyng they thinke that they can not be saued / exerpte they confesse euery thing as narowly as the sameshrist tradicion byndeth / and yet leaue it vndone somtyme for shame / and sōtyme thorow forgetfulnesse / no doute they fall in to despayre / and are euer yea aslong as they lyue farre from holy hope It is manifest also how vnreasonably certayne prestes behaue themselues in hearing of confessions / to the greate destruction of soules Some / for all yght occasiō / will not absolue a penitent / no though he be very sory for his synnes Some aske questions of yong people concernyng wanton and filthie mattters / nothing regarding their innocent myndes And where as they shulde ernestly desyre to helpe with some wholsowe medycine / they make deedly woundes in weake consciences But what shal I saye Haue they not oft and wilfully thorow their constrayned cōfessiō / abused the chaist symplicite of honest wemē and virgyns / to their owne vnchastite and wantonnesse Some of them openly tolde abrode / the thing that hath bene cōmitted to their fidelite in confession and therby haue they brought much malyce to passe / yea and somtyme murthur also Such are the swete frutes of this fayned confession yea and that as euell is / they preach the same to be a worke / for whose sake god forgeueth synnes and therby haue they robbed Christ of his honoure / like blasphemous men as they be Wherfore considering this tre was not planted by the father of heauen / but by the children of the deuel / to search out craftely the priuyties of mens hertes / me thinketh it shulde be pluckte vp by the rootes / and men brought agayne to the right and wholsome confession of their synnes The rest is / that I make answere touching the difference of meates / and concernyng the mariage of prestes Which two poyntes I purpose not to sonder / far asmuch as Paul ioyneth thē together in his first epistle to Timothy / where these be his wordes the sprete speaheth euidently / that in the later tymes some shal departe frō the faith / and shal geue hede vnto spretes of erroure and deuelishe doctrynes of them which speake false thorow ypocrisie haue their conscience marked with an hote yron / forbydding to mary / and cōmaunding to obsteyne
/ and declareth therbye / that faith can not be without loue or charite Therfore will we discerne these thre thinges faith hope and charite one from another / but so / that they remayne vnseparated Faith onely iutifieth before god loue or charite worketh toward hir neghboure hope doth paciētly wayte for the promes of god / and shal not be confounded Thou saiest we lacke good workes / not such as come of loue / or that Christ shal requyre of vs at the daye of iudgment but to go a pilgremage / to set vp cādils before ymages / to nombre vp what we pray / to tell ouer a payre of beedes / to put deffence in clothing / in meates / in prayers / in titels or names / wher one had rather be called a charter house monck or a barfote frere / then a Christen man These and such like sklender and childishe workes requyrest thou of vs which though one had done them alltogether / it were euen asmuch as though he in the meane season had rydden vpon a sticke with boyes in the strete But declare thou vs thy faith out of such workes / as belong to a Christē man / and we wil shew the oure workes put of faith Seist thou how this Christē mam whom thou accusest stondeth here so weake fleble thorow the stynck and tedyousnesse of the preson / that he can scace stond vpon his legges And why I praye the. Hath he committed anye euell dede No. For yf he haue done ouhht that deserueth death / or so the Iudges haue the law / they haue the swerde / let thē execute it / I wil make no request agaynst it Wherfore is it than I wil tell the. Euen because he hath frely preached the gospell of Christ and the grace that is geuen vs thorow him for he beleued / therfore hath he spoken and hath taught that what soeuer is agaynst the gospell ought to be put dawne / to the intent that the kyngdome of god might come vnto vs / that his name might be santified thus of a feruent loue hath he endeuored himselfe to instructe all mē and to bring them to the true knowlege of god / and of his sone Iesus Christ Summa / his mynde was so set to serue his negboure / that he hath not abhorred the darck dongeon and preson / to be desolate and alone / in honger and thirst / yea in daunger of death Such are the workes of a Christē mā / which must not be ascrybed vnto vs / but vnto the lorde that worketh them in vs. Such true fasting is accepted of the lorde such true obediēce belongeth to his sayntes Now forasmuch as I haue sufficiently declared that oure aduersaries complaynte is cleane agaynst equyte / ther is no more to be requyred saue onely that ye / Right deare Iudges whose mynde is to do euery man right quyte this Christen man acording to youre beneuolēce A short recapittulaciō vnto the Reader Here haste thou harde moste Iētle Reader how beninge / how lovinge / how myndfull owre moste mercifull father is / and ever hatthe ben / ouer his electe and chosyn children / namely euē now And for an ensample haue we this poore and simple creture sett before owre iees / to calle vs to remembrance that he is ny vnto all them that / in tyme of tribulaciō or persecucion will calle / a pon hym in treweth and verite Se we not here how mercifully He stirechith owte his hande / he spredith a broude his wynges to hyde and cover this his tender birde frome the gleyde or bosarde And in conclusion he mollifieth and movith the harte of this verteouse prince and by hym as by an enstrumēt of his one / doeth he not only defende this poore mans cause / or rather the trewthyt selfe but also delyueryth him frome the cruell hādes of all his emnies / no otherwise / thē evin as it were frome death to lyfe soche is his godly nature / soche is his properte an a customed maner / that in the mydist of aduersytes tribulacion persecucion / where men thinck him moste furthist of / ther is he moste nyest and present / with soche cōsolacion and comforth as canne not be expressid wyth / tonge What more Ioye cāne ther come to them whiche be afflicted persecuted and vnder the swete crosse of Iesu Christ / then to calle to ther remembrance the confortable storyes of the scripture acording to the sayeng of sent Paul What so euer thyng is wrytten / it is wrytton for owre doctryne and lernyng / that throwgh pacience and the consolaciō of godes worde / we may haue sewre hope truste Hou lycke a loving lorde / saued he / Isaac / frome the mortall and deadly strock of the swerde / with howe petiful aneye lokyd he on Noe the precher of ryghteousnesse / restoryng hym frome the rough ragyng wawes of the vnmercifull see / he deliuerid Loth at an enstant frome the conuersacion and cōpany of they vngodly Sodomytes Gomorrians / keppt he not Ionas saue and sownde / after he was devoured and swaloed vp of that houge and monstruus fishe Sydrach / Misach / and Abdenago / preserued he frome the flamyng fornace of burnyng fyrd Daniel be deliueryd frō the devouryng mowthes / of the hongry liōs Moises amōge the reedes and flages hydde hangyd by the water syde in a baskyd / whas restored agayne to his naturall mother to be norsed of her Paul was left downe in a baskyt / and so escaped the handes of his persecuters / Susanna / whas preserued and defended pure and vndefiled / frome the lecherus lustes of the false prestes and Iudges / Iudith / with moche Ioye and victorye whas delyueryd frome the feyrce violence / and myghty power of all they emnies of god These / and many mo godly ensamples be lefftt in the holy scripture to the great comforth and consolation of them that suffer persecuciō for Christes sake / acording to the saieng of Christ hym selfe Blessed are all they which suffer persecucion for ryghteousnes sake for theyr is the kyngdome of heauen Agayne / as many as will lyue godly in Christe Iesu muste suffer persecution / it is the blessyng of god the swete rodde of correctiō / where wyth all the feathe of the feathfull must ther wyth betryed For evyn as owre lorde and god / doeth all wayes and at all tymes preserue / kepe / and defende his poore persecuted afflicte in al extremites so doeth he caste downe / and neuer rayse vp agayne / all soche that so obstinatly and wilfully resistyth his eternall testament and worde / oppressyng his prechers / and persecutyng Christ / the only sone of god in his members Seyeng now that soche trowble and persecucion chansith all wayes apon the simple and pore afflicte / specially now / in these dangerus perelus seyson let not therfore the wordes of Paul be owte of they remēbrāce of thē that be at liberte / where he sayeth Remēbre them that are in bandes / evyn as though ye were in bandes wich thē and be myndfull off them whiche are in aduersite Lett this shorte an bresse lesson / be suffycient at this tyme to put the / moste Christen reader in remēbrance of some paerte of thy dewty and to render thanckes vnto the lorde for the great strength and power he gaue vnto this Christē prynce to confesse his lord god / before all men hym shalle the lorde cōfesse agayne before the father of heven / the lorde sende vs many soche prynces that wil wyth so redy a mynd defende the lyuely worde of god / deliuer the innocent / cōfute the false accuser / and to conclude to be prest redy to gyue his lyffe for his pore brother To the great discomforth of that hongry horse leche / and bloude thyrsti Romanyst the generation of wome ys never satisfied tyl yt hathe bloud God defende all thē that beleue in hys worde frome ther cruelite / and ylluminate they hertes of all prynces that they maye onest spye and perceyue what kynde of people they be that cause thys great dissencion discorde and warres / now in this trowbelous tyme / and thou I put no dowte but that kyngdome of antichriste / whyche now hangyth by a twyne threde / shall shortly take a falle / the kyngdome of Christe magnyfied amōge all nacyons to the great honor and lawde of god to the consolacion and confort of the wolle Christen congregatiō of Iesu Christe / to whome be praise both now euer AMEN ¶ Printed at Nurenbergh / And translated owt of douche in to Englishe by Myles Couerdale / in the yeare of our Lorde M.D.XLV in the laste of Octobre