THe grace of God be with you. Amen. I haue receaued frō you (dearely beloued in our Sauiour Iesus Christ) by the hands of my seruaunt William Downton,* 1.1 your li∣beralitie, for the which I do most hartely thanke you, and I prayse God hyghly in you for you, who hath mooued your hartes to shewe this kyndnes towardes me, praying him to preserue you from all famine, scarcitie, and lacke of the truth of his worde, whiche is the liuely foode of youre soules, as you preserue my body from hunger & other ne∣cessities, which should happen vnto me, were it not cared for by ye beneuolence and charitie of godly people. Such as haue taken all worldly goodes and lands from me, & spoi∣led me of all that I had, haue imprisoned my body and ap∣pointed no one halfe peny to feede or relieue me withal: but I do forgeue them, and pray for them dayly in my poore prayer vnto God,* 1.2 and from my hart I wishe their salua∣tion, and quietly & patiently beare their iniuries, wishing no farther extremitie to be vsed towards vs. Yet if it seeme contrary best vnto our heauenly father, I haue made my reckening, & fully resolued my selfe to suffer the vttermost that they are able to do against me,* 1.3 yea death it selfe, by the aide of Christ Iesu, who died the most vile death of ye crosse for vs wretches & miserable sinners. But of this I am as∣sured, yt the wicked world wt all his force & power, shal not touch one of ye heares of your heads without leaue & licēce of our heauenly father, whose wil be done in all things. If he will life, life be it: if he will death, death be it. Onely we pray, that our willes may be subiect vnto his will, & then although both we & all the world see none other thing but death, yet if he thinke life best, we shal not die, no, although the sword be drawen out ouer our heades: as Abraham thought to kill his sonne Isaac, yet when God perceaued that Abraham had surrendred his will to Gods will, and was content to kill his sonne, God then saued his sonne.
Dearely beloued, if we be contented to obey Gods will, and for his commandements sake, to surrender our goods and our selues to be at his pleasure,* 1.4 it maketh no matter whether we keepe goodes and lyfe, or lose them. Nothyng can hurt vs that is taken from vs for Gods cause, nor no∣thing can at length do ••s good, that is preserued contrary vnto Gods commaundement. Let vs wholy suffer God to vse vs and ours after his holy wisedome, and beware we neither vse nor gouern our selues contrary to his will by our own wisedome, for if we do, our wisedome will at length proue foolishnes. It is kept to no good purpose yt we keepe contrary vnto his commandements. It can by no meanes be taken from vs that he would should tary wt vs. He is no good Christian that ruleth himselfe & his, as worldly meanes serueth: for he yt so doth shall haue as ma∣ny changes as chāceth in the world. To day with ye world he shall like and prayse the truth of God,* 1.5 to morow as the world will, so will he like and prayse the falshood of man: to day with Christ, and to morow with Antichrist. Where∣fore deare brethren, as touching your behauiour towards God, vse both your inward spirites and your outward bodyes, your inward and your outward man (I say) not after the meanes of men, but after ye infallible word of god.
Refraine from euill in both, and glorifie your heauen∣ly father in both. For if ye thinke ye can inwardly in the hart serue him,* 1.6 and yet outwardly serue with the world in externall seruice, ye thing that is not God, ye deceaue your selues, for both the body and the soule must together con∣curre in the honour of God, as S. Paule plainly teacheth. 1. Cor. 6. For if an honest wife be bound to geue both hart and body to fayth and seruice in mariage, and if an honest wiues fayth in the hart cannot stand with an whorishe or defiled body outwardly: muche lesse can the true fayth of a Christian in the true seruice of Christianitie, stand with the bodely seruice of externall Idolatry: for the mistery of ma∣riage is not so honorable betweene man and wife, as it is betweene Christ & euery christian man, as S. Paule saith.
Therefore deare brethren, pray to the heauenly father, that as he spared not the soule nor the body of his dearely beloued sonne, but applyed both of them with extreame payne, to work our saluation both of body and soule: so he will geue vs al grace to apply our bodyes and soules to be seruauntes vnto him: for doubtles he requireth as wel the one as the other, and cannot be miscontented with the one and well pleased with the other. Either he hateth both, or loueth both: he deuideth not his loue to one and his hatred to the other. Let not vs therfore good brethren, deuide our selues, and say our soules serue him whatsoeuer our bo∣doyes doe the contrary, for ciuill order and pollicy.
But (alas) I know by my selfe, what troubleth you, that is, the great daunger of the worlde, that will reuenge (ye thinke) your seruice to God, with sword and fire, with losse of goodes and landes. But (deare brethren,) way of the other side, that your enemies, and Gods enemies, shal not do so much as they would, but as much as God shall suffer them, who can trap them in their own counsels,* 1.7 and destroy them in the midst of their furies. Remember ye be the workemen of the Lord, and called into his Uineyard, there to labour till euening tide, that ye may receaue your peny, which is more worth then al the kinges of the earth. But he that calleth vs into hys vineyard, hath not told vs how sore and how feruently the sunne shall trouble vs in our labour: But hath bid vs labour and committe the bit∣ternes thereof vnto him: who can and will so moderate al afflictions, that no man shall haue more layd vppon him, then in Christ hee shall be able to beare: Unto whose mer∣cifull tuition and defence I commend both your soules and bodyes.
2. September. 1554.
Yours with my poore prayer, Iohn Hooper.