The. xxv. chapyter
THys worde also so spoken to1 all twelue, was (as saynt Chri sostom sayth and saynt Cyrill both) a meruefouse goodly warnyng for them all. These are lo the worde of saynt Cyrill.2
Our lord here with sharpe wordes confermyth his apostles and maketh […] the more dylygent, by puttyng before theyr eyen the perell of theyr ruyne. For thys he semeth to saye vnto them. O my dyscyples, mych nede haue you to vse mych watche & great study about your saluacyon. The waye of perdicyon is very slyper, and not onely wythdraweth a feble mynd from thynkynge of theyr fall, by makynge them to forgette them self, but also somtyme deceyueth thē by vayn delectacyon and pleasure that are of mynde very fyrme and stronge. And that thys tale ys trewe that I nowe tell you, you may se well prouyd, not by thensample onely of them that are gone abacke, but amonge your selfe also that tary and dwell styll wyth me. For I haue you wote wel chosen you twelue as good, well knowynge that in dede you were so. For I was not ignoraunt / but beynge god (as I am) very well knew your hartes.
How be it the deuyll hath deceyued one of yon with auaryce, and so pullyd hym awaye. For a man is a free creature, and may chose his waye as he wyll, eyther on the ryght hand or ellys on the lefte yf he wyll.
Our lord therfore maketh them all the more vygylant, bycause that who shuld betraye hym he doth not expres by name. But tellynge theym all in a generalty / yt one of them shold worke suche wyckednesse, he made them all stonde in feare. And by that horrour and drede, lyfted them vp to more vygylaunt dylygence.
Here haue you herd good reders the wordes of saynt Cyrill. Now shall ye somwhat here what sayeth laynt Crysostome.
whan saynt Peter sayd, we byleue: our sauyour not causeles, out of the3 nomber of them excepted Iudas and sayd: haue not I chosen you twelue & one of you ys a deuyll. This thyng he sayd to remoue the traytour larre from hys malyce. And where he saw that nothynge dyd auayle hym / yet he went about styll to do wel for him And se the wysedome of Chryste / for neyther wolde he bewraye hym, nor let hym lurke vntowched. The one, leste he sholde haue waxed shameles and swere naye / the tother leste wenynge that none were ware, he shuld be the bolder in myschyefe.
And afterwarde thys in effecte he sayth. It is not the custome of god by force to make mē good whether they wyll or no nor in his eleccion he […] not folkes by vyolence, but by good aduyce and mocyon. And that ye may well perceiue that his calling is no constraynt of necessyte, meny whom he calleth do wyllyngly for all his callyng perysh. And therfore it is euydent, that in our owne wyll is the power sette to chose whyther we wyll be saued or loste. By these admonyssyons therfore, lette vs labour to be sober and vigylant. For yf Iudas which was one of the nomber of that holy company of thapostles, he that had opteyned so great a gifte, he that had done myracles (for Iudas hym selfe was sent amonge other to cure the lepres, and rayse vp dede men to lyfe) after that he was ones fallen in to the greuous dysease of auaryce: neyther the benefites, nor the gyftes, nor the company of Chryste, nor the seruyce, nor the wasshyng of the lete, nor the felosshyppe of hys own bord, nor the trust in kepynge of the purse, any thyng auayled hym / but all these thynges were wyth hym a passage & awaye to his ponyshement.
Lo good reders, here haue ye herd bothe by saynt Cyrill & saynt Chrysostome, that our sauyour gaue that secrete warnyng of Iudas falshed, and sayed that one of the twelue was adeuyll, to the entēt that all folke of what holynesse so euer they were, such stand euer in drede and fere / and not do as these heretykes teche, vpon boldnes of any felynge fayth or fynall eleccyon, presume them selfe so sure of saluacyon / but that whyse Iudas fell after to naught yt was onys a holy apostle, there shall no felynge fayth nor prowde hope vppon fynall eleccyon, sette any man in hys owne harte so sure, but that with hys good hope he shall all waye couple some feare, as a brydyll & abytte to refrayne and pull hym backe, leste he fall to myschyefe, and folow Iudas in falshed, & waxe a deuyll as Cryst called hym. Whyche name our sauyour gaue him not without good cause For yt deuyllys seruaūt (sayth saynt Cyril) is a deuyll to. For lyke wyse as he yt is by godly vertues ioyned vnto god, is one spyryt wyth god / so he that is with deuylysshe vyces ioyned wyth the deuyll, is one spyryte wyth hym.
And therfore good readers, he yt in suche plyght receyueth the blessed sacrament wythout purpose of amen dement, or wythout the fayth and by lyefe, that the very flesshe & bloude of Chryste is in it: he receyueth as saynt Austayne sayth notwythstandyng his noughtynesse ye very fleshe and bloude of Cryst, the very pryce of our redempciō. But he receyueth them to hys harme as Iudas dyd, & eateth and drynketh hys owne iugement & dampnacyon (as sayth saynt4 Poule) bycause he discerneth not our lordes body. But who so doth on the tother syde (whych I besech god we may all do) caste out the deuyll & hys wurkes by the sacrament of penaūce and than in the memory all & remembraūce of Chrystes passyon, receyue that blessed sacrament / wyth tre we fayth and deuocyon wyth all honour and wurshyppe, as to the reuerence of Crystes blessed person present in it apperteyneth: they that so receyue the blessed sacrament, verily receyue and eate the blessed body of Cryst / & that not onely sacramētally, but also effectually / not onely the fygure, but the thynge also / not onely his blessed fleshe in to theyr bodyes, but also his holy spyryte into theyr soules, by par tycypacyon wherof he is incorporate in them & they in hym & be made lyuely membres of his mysticall body the congregaciō of all sayntes / of which theyr soules shall (yf they perseuer) attayne ye fruit & fruicyō clene & pure onys purged after thys transytory lyfe / and theyr flesh also shall Cryst resuscytate vnto the same glory, as hym selfe hath promysed. Of whych hys gracyous promyse, hys hyghe grace and goodnesse so vouche saue to make vs all perteners thorow the merytes of hys bytter passyō. Amē.
And thus ende I good readers my fyrst boke, conteynyng thexposycyon of those wordes in the syxte cha pyter of saynte Iohn̄, wherby you may bothe perceyue by these myndes of holy sayntes, whose wordes I bryng forth, the trewth of our fayth concernynge the blessed body & bloud of Chryst veryly eaten in the blessed sacrament, and may also perceyue and controlle the wyly false folyshe exposycyon of mayster Masker to the contrary, suche as haue hys boke, and they be not a fewe. And yet that all men may se that I neyther blame hym for nought, nor bylye hym, I shall in my secunde boke she we yous as I promysed, some part of hys fawte both in falshed and in foly, & his own wordes therwyth.
Footnotes
Chapter 27 of 70