Yes peraduenture wyll some saye,
thus it may be. Thou maist kepe thy
selfe, thy fayth, and thy religio~ close
to thy self, and inwardly and priuatly
worship god in spirit & in truthe,
and outwardlye see thou be no open
medler, nor talker, nor transgressour

of common order: so mayeste thou be
suffred in the common wealth, & yet
vse thy relygion withoute offence of
thy conscience. In other countreies
somwhere this peraduenture myght
be vsed, but in Englande what shall
be, god wot, but it was neuer yet, so
far as euer I haue knowen or heard.
And also howe can it be, but eyther
thou must transgresse the co~mon order
and the Romyshe lawes and customes
whych haue ben vsed in England
in the times past of popery, and
nowe (it is certayne) they returne agayne:
I say, thou muste eyther be a
breaker of these rites, lawes, and
costomes, and so bewray thy selfe, or
els if thou be in dede a man of God,
thou shalt offende thy conscience, for
in obseruinge of them thou shalte be
compelled to breake gods law which
is the rule of co~scyence to the man of
god. For how canst thou resort euery
holye day to the church and beare
a face to worship the creature for the
creatour (as thou must do) and peraduenture
co~fesse it to with thy mouth

and to sprynckle thy selfe with theyr
coniured water? Thou must be co~tributor
also to ye charges of al their popery,
as of bokes for antechristes seruice,
of lyghtes of the roode loste, of
the sepulchre, for setting vp and painting
of images (nay in dede of idols)
and thou muste beare a face to worshyp
theym also, or els thou muste be
had by the back. Thou must serue the
turne to geue the holy loues, as they
call it, whiche is nothynge els but a
very mockery of the lords holy table.
Thou must be a co~tributor to ye charges
of al ye disgised apparel yt the popish
sacrificing priest, like vnto Aaro~,
must play his part in. Yea when the
pardoner commeth about, or the flatteringe
frier to begge for the mayntenaunce
of supersticion, except thou
doe as thy neighboures doe, loke not
longe for to liue in rest. If any of thy
housholde dye, if thou wilte not paye
money for ringinge and singing, for
requiem masses, dirige, & commendations,
and suche like trumpery of the antechristian
religion, thinkest thou that

thou shalt be reckned for a catholyke
man or for Amicus Cæsaris? A hundred
thynges mo may be reckned, & many
of more weyght and of more euident
superstitio~ and Idolatrie, then some
of these which I haue now rehersed,
whiche god knoweth be ill enough:
but these are enough to declare and
to set before thine eies the thing that
I intende, that is if thou abyde and
wylt dwell in Englande, thou must
eyther do these and manye other mo
contrarye to gods worde, whiche forbiddeth
not onely the thynge whyche
is euyll, but also sayth,
Ab omni specie
mali abstinere vos, absteine fro~ al things
that hathe any apparance of euyll: or
els if thou wilte not doe theim, howe
thou canst lyue in Englande in reste
and safe from the stake, trulye I can
not tel. But peraduenture (as a man
is redy to finde and inuente some coloure
to clooke his conscyence, to doe
that thynge that hys harte desyreth)
thou wilte say, thoughe at any tyme
I shall be forced to doe anye of these
thyngs and such lyke, yet wil I haue

no confidence in them, but outwardly
with my body: I will kepe my hart
vnto god, & wil not doe that of mine
owne mynde willingly neyther, but
to auoyde an other inconuenyence: I
trust therfore God wyl holde me excused,
for he shal haue my hart, what
can I doe more? O mi friend beware
for gods sake, and know that the subtelties
of Satan are depe. He that is
not able by gods worde to perceiue
them, is heauely laden, prai therfore
with Dauid: Lord let me not haue a
minde to inuente excuses for to cloke
my synne. Examine my deare frend,
these thy wily waies wyth the word
of god, and if thei do agre, thou maiest
vse them, if not, knowe, thoughe
they may seme neuer so fine & goodlye,
yet in deede they be of Sathans
broode Goddes worde it is certaine,
that forbyddeth to worshyp the creature
for the creatour, for that is heynous
idolatry, and agaynst the fyrste
co~maundement of god, and it is also
against the second co~maundement of
the firste table, to bowe downe, or to

do worshyp vnto any images of god
or of any other thing, and gods word
requireth not onely the beliefe of the
harte, but also the confession of the
mouth: and to beare parte of the charges
to the mayntenaunce of thynges
vngodlye, what is that but in thy so
doinge a consent to the thinge done?
Now consenters and the doers gods
worde accounteth to be giltye bothe.
And it is not lawefull by S. Paules
doctrine whych was inspired hym by
the spirite of god, to do il that therof
the thyng which is good may come.
Thy hart, thou saiest, god shal haue,
and yet wilte thou suffer thy body to
do the thing that god doeth abhorre.
Beware O ma~, take hede what thou
saiest. Man may be deceaued; but no
man may deceaue God, for he is called
and is trewely NoValue that
is to saye, the searcher of the harte.
Now to geue god thy hart is to geue
him thy whole harte, to loue him, to
dread him, and to trust in hym aboue
al other things. He that hath my co~mau~dement
sayth Christ, and obserueth

and kepeth them, it is he that loueth
me, and to dreade god aboue all
other, is rather willingly to incurre
the danger and peryll of all fearefull
thinges, then wyttinglye to doe that
thynge which is contrary to his blessed
wyll and commaundemente: and
to truste in him aboue all thinges, is
assuredly to truste to hys promyse of
his reward, and of hys tuition and of
his goodnesse and mercy, and to prefer
that aboue al thinges in ye world,
seme they neuer so strong, so wyse, or
so good. Now howe canste thou saye
truly, that God hathe thy harte after
this maner of sorte (which is to haue
thy harte in dede) when thy dedes do
declare far an other thinge? Thy body,
o man, is gods, and al the partes
thereof euen as thy soule is: he made
them both and Christ with his bloud
hath redemed them both, and is lorde
of both, for he hath boughte the~ both
deare, & darest thou suffer any parte
of eyther of them to do seruice to Satan?
Surely in so doinge, thou committest
sacriledge and doest rob God,

thou defilest the liuely temple of the
liuing god if thou suffer thy body to
do sathan seruice. Do you not know
saith S. Paule, that your body is a
liuely temple of god? and may a man
then take and vse anye parte thereof
but in the seruice of God? No surely
it is not lawful so to doe fo ye man of
god, neither with hand, tongue, nor
fote, nor any part of the whole body.
Doth not Paule commaund to the
Romaines, which pertaineth to euery
Chrystian soule: As you haue in
times past (saith he) geuen your members
to doe seruice vnto vncleanesse
and wickednes, from one wickednes
to another, so nowe geue your members
to do seruice vnto righteousnes
that you may be sa~ctified. And I prai
thee good brother, what doest thou
thinke is, to beare the marcke of the
beaste in the forhead and in the hand
that s. Iohn speaketh of? I know we
ought warely to speake of gods misteries
which he shewed by the spirit
of prophecying to his seruant Iohn,
yet to reade theym wyth reuerence,

D.i.

and to praye for the vnderstandynge
of the same so much as god knoweth
is necessary for our time to knowe, I
thinke it necessary and good. Wherfore
what I suppose is to beare the
beastes marke, I wyll tell thee, and
commit the iudgement of mine interpretation,
as in all other thinges, to
the spirituall man. I suppose he beareth
the beast of Babilons marke in
his forhead, which is not ashamed of
the beastes waies, but wyll professe
them openly to set forthe hys master
the beaste Abaddon. And likewyse he
beareth his marke in his hands that
wil and doeth practise the workes of
the beaste with his power and hand.
And likewyse I will not lette to tell
thee, what I thincke to be sygned in
the forhead for the seruants of God,
whereof Iohn also speaketh, reckening
vp many thousandes so to haue
bene sygned of euery tribe. I suppose
he is signed in the forhead for the seruant
of god, whom god hath appointed
of his infinite goodnes, and hath
geuen him grace and strength; stoutly

to confesse him and his trueth before
the worlde. And to haue grace &
strength to confesse christ and the doctrine
of the crosse, and to lament and
mourne for the abhominatio~s of antechryste,
I suppose is to be sygned
wyth Tau whereof Ezechiell the prophet
doeth speake. Thus I suppose
these prophecies are spiritually to be
vnderstanded, and to looke for other
corporall markes to be sene in mens
forheads or in their handes, is nothing
els but to loke that ther should
come some brute beaste out of Babilon,
or some Elephante, Leoparde,
Lion, or Camell or some other suche
mo~strous beast with ten hornes, that
shoulde do all the wonderful things
spoken in Iohn: & yet of a beast speaketh
Iohn, but I vnderstande him so
to be called not for that he shalbe ani
such brute beaste, but for that he is &
shalbe the childe of perdicion, whych
for his cruelty and beastly maners is
well called a beaste.
The carnal Iewes knewe ther was
a promise made that Helias shoulde

D.ii.

come before christ Messias the anointed
of god, to prepare his waies: thei
knewe also there was a promyse of
Messias, that he shoulde come and be
a kinge & raigne in the house of
Dauid for euermore, but thei vnderstode
all so grosely & so carnally, that they
neyther knewe Helias nor Messias
whe~ they came, for they loked for Helias
to come downe from heauen in
his own perso~, & for Messias to come
& raygne in worldly pompe, power,
riches & glorye, when as the prophecies
of both were spiritually to haue
bene vnderstanded: of Helias that he
should come not in person but in spirit,
that is, one which should be indued
with the spirit and giftes of grace
of Helias, which was in deede Iohn
Baptist, as christ himself dyd declare
to his apostles: & of Messias raygne,
all the prophets were to be vndersta~ded
of ye raigne of his spiritual kingdome
ouer the house of Iacob, & the
true Israelites for euermore. And so
by that theyr grosse and carnall vnderstandinge
they mystake both Helias

and the true Messias, and when
they came, knewe neyther of theym
both. So like wise I feare me (nay it
is certain) ye world that wanteth the
light of the spirit of god, (for | ye world
is not able to receaue hym, sayeth
Iohn) neyther doth, nor shall knowe
the beast nor his markes, though he
rage cruelly & liue neuer so beastly, &
thoughe his marked men be in number
like the sand of the sea. The lord
therfore vouchsafe to open the eies of
the blinde wyth the lyghte of grace,
that thei may see & perceaue, and vnderstand
the wordes of god after the
minde of his spirite. Amen.
Here remayneth two obiections
which maye seeme weyghty, and the
which may peradue~ture moue many
not to folow the former cou~sell. The
former reason is? a man wyll saye,
Oh sir it is no smal matter ye speake
of, to depart from a mans owne natiue
cou~trey into a straunge realme.
Manye men haue so greate lettes, as
howe is it possible yt they can or may
do so? Some haue lands and possessions

D.iii.

whych they can not carry wyth
the~, some haue father, mother, wyfe,
children, and kinsefolke, from whom
to depart is as hard a thyng (and all
one almost) as to suffer death, and to
goe to a straunge countrey that thou
knoweste not, neyther the maner of
the people nor how thou maist away
either with ye people or wt the cu~trey.
Oh what a harde thinge it is to liue
among a straunge people whose tongue
thou doest not vnderstande &c.
I graunt here thou mayest heape a
number of worldly incommodityes
whych are surely verye like
to ensue
the departure out of a mannes owne
natiue countrey, I meane out of the
whole realme into a straunge lande:
but what of all these and a thousand
mo of the like sort? I wil set vnto the~
one sayinge of our Sauioure Christe
which vnto the faithful childe of god
and to the true Christyan, is able to
counteruaile al these, yea and to way
the~ downe. Christ our sauiour saithe
in Luke: if any come to me and doe
not hate his father & mother (he meaneth

and wil not in his cause forsake
his father and mother) his wife, children,
and brethren, yea and hys lyfe
to, he cannot be my disciple: and who
soeuer doeth not beare hys crosse and
come after me he cannot be my discyple.
And in ye same place he declareth
by two parables, one of a buylder, &
the other of a king that is a warrier,
that euery man that wyl not in christes
cause forsake all yt euer he hath,
he can not be hys dysciple. Loke the
place who wil, the matter is so plainly
sette forthe, that no gloses nor cloking
of conscience to the man of god,
can serue to the contrary. Many places
there be for the same purpose, for
the imbracing of christes crosse, whe~
Christ and hys cause layeth it vppon
our backe, but thys is so playne that
I nede here to rehearse no more.
The latter reason & obiection wherof
I spake before is of more force, and
includeth a necessitie which after the
common sayinge hathe no lawe, and
therfore it is more harde to shape for
it a good aunswere.

Diiii.

This may be obiected of some. Alas
sir I grau~t all these thinges do greue
me, and because I vnderstande they
do not agre with gods worde whych
is the rule of my conscie~ce, I loth either
to loke on them or to heare the~.
But sir, alas, I am an impote~t man,
an aged man, a sycke manne, a lame
man, or I haue so many smal infants
and a lame wife, which all lyueth by
my labour and by my prouision, if I
leaue them, they shall sterue, & I am
not able to cary them with me, suche
is my state. Alas sir what shall I do?
And these causes may chau~ce to some
men of god, whereby either it shalbe
for them vtterly impossible to depart
the cou~trey, or els in departing, they
shal be inforced to forsake such in extreame
necessities of whom both god
and nature hath commytted vnto the~
the care. Alas what counsell is here
to be geuen? O lamentable state, O
sorowefull harte that neither can departe,
and without extreame danger
and peryll is not able to tarye styll.
And these are they whom our sauior

Christ sawe before should be, and called
them in his prophecy of the latter
time, great bellied or trauelinge women,
and women that geueth after
they be broughte to bed, their small
babes sucke. The state of such as are
not able to fly the infection of the pestiferous
plague of antechrists abhominations,
Chryst lamentinge & not
cursing, sayth: wo be vnto the greate
bellyed and trauelynge women, and
women yt geueth suck in those daies.
For these alas my hart mourneth the
more, the lesse I am able to geue any
comfortable counsayle but this, that
alwaies, as they loke for euerlasting
life, they abide stil in the co~fession of
his truth whatsoeuer shal befall, and
for the rest to putte their trust nowe
wholy in God, whych is able to saue
them against all apparaunce: & commonly
in extremities, whe~ al worldly
comforte fayleth and the danger is
at highest, then vnto his he is wonte
after his accustomed mercy to be most
ready for to put his helpynge hande.
Daniell God suffered to be caste into

the denne of lions, and the thre chyldren
into the hotte burning fornace,
and yet he saued the~ all. Paule was
plucked out of the mouth of the lion,
as he saieth of himself, and in Asia he
was brought in such trouble yt he loked
for no other thing but for present
death, & yet he that rayseth the deade
to lyfe againe did brynge him out of
all his troubles, and taught him and
all other that be in troubles, for christes
cause not to trust to the~selus but
in almighty God. Of gods gracious
aid in extreme perils toward them yt
put their trust in him, all scripture is
ful both olde & newe. What dau~gers
were the patriarks often brought vnto,
as Abraha~, Isaac and Iacob, but
of all other Ioseph, & how mercifully
were thei deliuered againe? In what
perylles was Moyses when he was
faine to flie for ye safegard of his life?
& whe~ was he sent againe to delyuer
the Israelytes from the seruyle bondage?
not before they were broughte
into extreame misery. And when dyd
the Lord mightely deliuer his people

from Pharao his sworde? not before
they were brought in such straytes yt
they were so compassed on euery side
(the mayne sea on the one syde, & the
mayne hoste on ye other) yt they could
looke for none other, yea what didde
they els in dede loke for then, but eyther
to haue bene drowned in ye sea,
or els to haue falle~ on ye edge of Pharao
his sword. These iudges, which
wrought most wonderful thynges in
the deliuery of the people, were euer
geuen when the people was brought
to most miserye before: as Othoniel,
Aioth, Sangar, Gedeon, Iephthe, Samson, And
so was Saul indued with strength and
boldnes from aboue, against the Ammonites,
Philistines, & Amalechites
for the defence of the people of God:
Dauid likewyse felt gods helpe most
sensibly euer in his extreme persecutions.
What shall I speake of the
prophetes of god whom god suffered
so oft to be brought into extreme perils
and so mightely deliuered theim
againe? As Helias, Hieremy, Daniel, Micheas,
and Ionas, and manye other whom

it were but to longe to rehearse, and
set out at large. And did the lorde vse
his seruantes otherwise in the newe
law after christes incarnation? Read
the actes of the apostels and you shal
see no. Were not thapostels cast into
prison and brought out by the mighty
hande of god? Did not the aungell
deliuer Peter out of ye stronge prison
& brynge hym oute by the yron gates
of the citie and set him free? And whe~
I praye you? euen the same night before
Herod apointed to haue brought
him in iudgement for to haue slayne
hym, as he had a lyttle before kylled
Iames the brother of Iohn.
/>

Thinkest thou O thou man of god,
that Christ our Sauiour had lesse affection
to the fyrste martyr Stephen,
bicause he suffered his enemies euen
at the firste conflicte to stone him to
death? No suerlye, nor Iames Iohns

E.i.

brother, whiche was one of the three
that Paul calleth Primates or Principals
amongst ye Apostles of Christe.
He loued him neuer a whit ye worse
then he did the other, although he suffered
Herod the tyrants sword to cut
of his head. Nay doth not Daniel say
speaking of the cruelty of Antechrist
his time:
Et docti in populo docebunt plurimos,
& ruent in gladio, & in flamma, & in captiuitate,
& in rapina dierum
&c.
Et de eruditis
ruent ut co~flentur & eliga~tur & dealbentur, &c
.
That is, and the lerned (he meaneth
truly learned in gods law) shal teach
many, and shal fal vpon the sworde,
and in the flame (that is, shalbe burned
in the flaming fyer) and in captiuitye
(that is, shalbe in prison, and be
spoiled and robbed of their goods for
alonge season). And after a lyttel in
the same place of Daniel it foloweth:
and of the lerned ther be, whiche shal
fal or be ouerthrowen yt they maye be
knowen, tried, chosen, & made white:
he meaneth, be burnyshed and scoured
a new, picked and chosen, & made
freshe and lustye. Yf that then was

foresene for to be done to the godlye
lerned, and for so gracious causes, let
euery one to whome any such thinge
by the wyll of God doeth chaunce, be
mery in God, and reioyce, for it is to
Gods glory and to hys owne euerlastinge
wealth. Wherefore well is he
yt euer he was borne, for whome thus
graciouslye God hath prouided, hauinge
grace of God and strenghe of
the holy ghoste to stande stedfastly in
the height of the storme. Happy is he
that euer he was borne, whom God
his heauenly father hath vouchsafed
to appointe to glorify him, & to edifie
his church by ye effusion of his bloud.
To die in Christes cause is an hyghe
honour, to the which no man certainlye
shall or can espire, but to whome
god vouchsafeth that dignitie: for no
man is alowed to presume for to take
vnto himselfe any offyce of honoure,
but he whiche is there vnto called of
god. Therfore Iohn sayth wel, speaking
of them whiche haue obteyned
the victory by the bloud of the lambe
and by the worde of hys testimonye,

E.ii.

that they loued not their lyues, euen
vnto death. And our sauiour Chryste
sayeth, he that shall lose hys lyfe for
my cause shall finde it. And this maner
of speache pertayneth not to one
kind of christians, as the worldly do
wyckedly dreame, but to all that doe
truly pertain vnto Christ. For when
christ had called vnto him the multitude
together wyth hys dysciples, he
saide vnto them (marke yt he said not
this to ye disciples and apostles only,
but he said it to al)whosoeuer wil folow
me let him forsake or deny hi~self
& take vp his crosse and folow me: for
whosoeuer wil saue his life shal lose
it (he meaneth whosoeuer wil to saue
his lyfe, bothe forsake or leaue him &
his trueth)and whosoeuer shall lose
his life for my cause and the gospels
sake, shal saue it: for what shal it profit
a man if he shal winne the whole
worlde and lose his owne soule? hys
owne life? or what shall a man geue
to recompence that losse of his owne
life and of his owne soule? Whosoeuer
shall be ashamed of me and my

words(that is to confesse me and my
gospell)before this adulterous & sinful
generation, of him shal the son of
man be ashamed when he co~meth in
the glory of his father, with the holy
aungels. Know thou O man of god,
that all thinges are ordeyned for thy
behofe and to the furthera~ce of thee,
towardes thy saluation. All thinges
(saith Paule) worketh with the good
to goodnes, euen the enemies of god,
and such kind of punishments wherby
they go about to destroye theym,
shall be forced by Goddes power,
might, and fatherly prouidence, for
to do them seruyce.
It is not as the wycked thinketh,
that pouertie, aduersity, sycknes, tribulation,
yea paynefull death of the
godly, be tokens that God doeth not
loue theym: but euen cleane the contrary,
as al the whole course of scripture
doeth euedently declare: for then
he wold neuer haue suffred his most
deare beloued ye Patriarches to haue
had such troubles, his prophetes, his
Apostles, his Martyrs and chiefe cha~pions

Eiii.

and maintainers of his trueth
and gospell, so cruelly of the wycked
to haue bene murdered and slain. Of
the whiche some were racked (as the
apostle saith) and would not be deliuered,
that they might receiue a better
resurrection. Some were tried by
mockings and scourgings, yea more
ones by bondes and imprisonmente:
they were stoned
, they were hewen
and cut insu~der, they were tempted,
they were slain with the sword, they
wandered vppe and downe in sheepe
skins and Gotes skinnes, being forsaken,
afflicted and tormented, suche
men as the worlde was not worthye
to haue, wandringe in wildernesses,
in mountaines, in dennes and caues
of earth. All these were approued by
the testimony of fayth, and receiued
not the promise, bicause god did prouide
better for us, that wythoute vs
they shuld not be consu~mated They
tary now for vs vndoubtedly lo~ging
for the day. But they are commaunded
to haue pacience yet, sayeth the
lord, a littel while, vntil the number

of their fellowe seruauntes be fulfilled,
and of theyr brethren whych are
yet to be slaine, as they were.
Now thou O man of God, for our
Lords sake, let vs not for the loue of
this life, tary them to longe, and be
occasion of delay of that glorious co~summation,
in hope and expectacion
wherof thei departed in the lord, and
the which also ye liuing endued with
Gods spirit, ought so earnestly to desire
and to grone for with al the creatures
of God. Let vs all with Iohn
the seruant of God, cry in our harts
vnto our sauiour Christ:
Veni domine
Iesu, come Lorde Iesu come. For then
when christ which is our life, shalbe
made manifest and apeare with him
in glory, the~ shal the children of god
appeare what thei be, euen like vnto
Christ: for this our weake body shall
be transfygurated and made lyke vnto
Christes glorious body, & that by
the power wherby he is able to subdue
vnto himself all thinges. Then,
that which is now corruptible, shall
be made incorruptible: that is nowe

Eiii

vyle, shal the~ be made glorious, that
is nowe weake, shal rise then mighty
and strong, that is grosse and carnal,
shalbe made fine and spirituall,
for the~ we shal see & haue ye vnspeakable
ioy and fruition of the glorious
maiesty of our lorde euen as he is.
Who or what then shall let vs to
ieopard, to ieopard? yea to spend this
life which we haue here in Christes
cause? in our lorde God his cause? O
thou therefore man of god, thou that
arte loden and so letted lyke vnto a
great bellied woman that thou canst
not fly the plague, yet if thou lust after
such things as I haue spoken of,
stand fast what soeuer shall befall in
thy maysters cause: and take thys
thy letting to fly, for a calling of god
to feighte in thy maister Christe hys
cause. Of this be thou certaine, they
can do nothing vnto thee, which thy
father is not aware of, or hathe not
forsene before: they can do no more
then it shal please him to suffer them
to do for the furtheraunce of his glory,
edifyinge of his church and thyne

owne saluation. Lette them then doe
what they shal, seing to thee O man
of God, all thinges shall be forced to
serue, and to worcke with thee vnto
the best before God. O be not afraide
and remember the ende.
All thys whiche I haue spoken for
the comfort of the lamentable case of
the man who~ christ calleth the great
bellied woman: I meane to be spoke~
like wise to the captiue and prisoner
in Gods cause: for suche I count to
be as it were already summoned and
pressed to fight vnder the banner of
the crosse of Chryste, and as it were
souldiours allowed and taken vp for
the Lords warres, to do to their lord
and maister good and honorable seruice,
and to stycke to him as men of
trustie seruice in his cause euen vnto
death, and to thinke their life lost in
his cause, is to winne it in eternall
glory for euermore.
Therefore now to conclude and to
make an ende of this treatise, I saye
vnto all that loue God our heauenly
father, that loue Christe Iesus oure

redemer and Sauioure: that loue to
folowe the wayes of the holy ghoste,
which is our comforter and sanctifier
of all: vnto all that loue Christes
spouse and body, the true catholicke
churche of Christe, yea that loue life
& ther owne soules health: I say vnto
all theis, harken my deare brethre~
and sisters, all you that be of God, of
all sortes, ages, dignities, or degre:
harken to the worde of our sauioure
Iesus Christe spoken to his Apostels
and ment to all his in Saincte Mathewes
Gospell: Feare not theym
whiche kyll the bodye, for they can
not kill the soule: but feare him more
whiche maie destroye and caste both
bodye and soule into hell fyer. Are
not twoo small sparrowes sold for a
mite, and one of them shal not fal or
light vpon the ground without your
father? All the hears of your head be
numbred. Feare them not, you are
much more worth then are the littel
sparrowes. Euery one then that confesseth
me before me~, him shal I likewise
confesse before my father which

28

is in heauen. But whosoeuer shal denye
me before men, I shall denye him
likewyse before my father whyche is
in heauen.
The lord graunt vs therfore of his
heauenly grace & strength, that here
we may so confesse him in this world
amongest this adulterous and sinfull
generation, that he maye confesse vs
again at the latter day, before his father
which is in heauen, to his glory
and our euerlasting comforte, ioy and
saluation.
To our heaue~ly father, to our sauiour
& redemer Iesus Christ,
and to the holy ghost, be al
glory and honor now
and for euer
Amen.
/>