Marginalia1556. Aprill.your selues (saith the Lord) and touch no vncleane thyng: so wyl I receyue you, and wyll be a father vnto you, and ye shal be my sonnes and daughters, saith the Lord.

Thus mine own bowels in the lord, as I began, so make I an ende, bidding you beware of your enimies, and take vp your crosse & folowe your captaine Christ in at the narowe gate here by persecution, and then you shal be sure to raigne & reioyce with hym in his euerlasting kingdome, which he him self hath purchased with his own most precious bloud: to whom with the father and the holy Ghost, be all honour both now and for euer. Amen.

By me William Tyms.

An other letter of W. Tyms, with an exhortation to al Gods faithful seruauntes to eschewe the societie of Idolaters, and Gods enimies.  

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This letter was printed before 31 January 1555.

MarginaliaAn other letter of Will. Tyms to Gods faythfull seruauntes.GRace be with you, and peace from God the Father, and from the Lord Iesus Christ.

I thanke my God with al remembrance of you alwayes in my prayers for you, & pray with gladnes, because of the felowship which ye haue in the gospel, frō the first day that I knew you, vntil this day: & I am surely certified of this, that he which hath begon a good worke in you, shal go forth with it, vntyl the day of Iesus Christe, as it becōmeth me to iudge of you: whom I haue in my hart, & as cōpanions of grace with me, euen in my bonds. And thus I pray that your loue may increase more and more in knowledge. Good brethren, I moste hartily desire of God, that as you haue a willyng mynd to cōfort my vile earthly body in this time of persecution, so he wyl strengthen you with his holy spirite, that my imprisonmēt doo not discōfort, but rather strengthē & comfort you, to see the goodnes of God shewed vnto me, in that being a man without learnyng, & brought before three such bishops cōcernyng wordly wisdome, he gaue me both mouth & wisedome: MarginaliaB. Boner went away from W. Tyms belyke not able to make his part good.in so much that the Bishop of London went away in a great hast from me, & after that, he sent his man with a Bible, turnyng to the. ix. cha. to the Heb. & the B. of Bath looking on it, said: What meaneth my lord? this maketh nothing for his purpose. Thē I looked on it, & said: my lord seeth that I was weake, & therfore he hath holpen me: for here he hath condēned the sacrifice of your masse: for you say that you offer a daily sacrifice in your masse, both for the quicke & the dead: & here s. Paul saith: MarginaliaHeb. 9.Without bloud shedding there is no forgeuenes of sinnes: therefore that is here condemned. He answeared, Yea, saith he so? So say al suche heretikes: and so forth with many like argumentes: which my neighbours that heard then, can declare: therfore I leaue thē. This haue I written, that you should not be afeard, but cal vpon God, for he hath cōmaunded vs to aske, & we shal haue: Seeke, & you shal find, knocke, & it shalbe opened vnto you. Also he hath cōmaunded vs to cal on hym in the day of trouble, & he hath promised to heare vs. MarginaliaGod geueth mouth and vtterance to his Saintes.Therfore if we haue not both mouth & wisdome at his hand, the fault is in vs, þ^t either we wyl not repēt vs of our wickednes, & amēd our lyues, or els we be vnfaithful, & beleue not the promises of God: & so we our selues are the cause that this wisedome is lacking in vs. Therfore let vs repent & amend our lyues & God is mercyful. And in any case, as I haue alwaies said vnto you since I first knew you, so say I now: beware of idolatrie, & of your own good intents: if not, mark what hath folowed vpō thē þ^t haue left Gods cōmaūdements, & don their own good intents. Remēber whē the children of Israel had made them a goldē calfe, dyd not God say, they had mard all, & would haue destroyed thē, had not Moyses earnestly prayed for them? I let many other places alone that proueth the wrath of God to come vpon the people for Idolatrie: therefore as we wyl auoyd the wrath of God, let vs keepe vs vnstayned from it. You haue examples out of the old Testament, how loth the godly Fathers were to be partakers with the wicked. And yet to see how litle we regard it, it would make any christen mans hart to weepe. God send vs more grace. First looke in the. 11. &. 12. of Genesis. Abraham, because he would not be partaker of their idolatrie, fled frō the people of Caldea, being his natiue coūtrey. Also in the. 19. of Genesis, Lot at the cōmaundement of the angels departed frō Sodome, lest he tarying w^t the Sodomites, should haue ben consumed with them. In the. 21. of Genesis, Sara would not suffer Ismael which was geuen to mocking, to keepe cōpany with her sonne Isaac, least he also should become a mocker. Looke in Num. the. xvj. Moyses at Gods appoyntmēt cōmaunded the people to depart frō the dwelling places of Chore, Dathan,and Abiron, lest they also should be al wrapped in their sinnes & to perish among them. MarginaliaWarning to come away from the wicked.So do I, euen as Moyses cōmaunded thē that they should not keepe cōpany with those wicked people, lest the vengeance of God should light on them, so doo I geue you warning that you should not keepe com-

panye with the Idolaters in their idolatrous temples, least the wrath of God come vpon you to destroy you.

Looke what s. Paul saith in his second Epistle & the. 6. chap. to the Corinth. Marginalia2. Cor. 6.Set your selues (saith he) therfore at large, and beare no straunge yoke with the vnbeleuers, for what felowship hath righteousnes with vnrighteousnes? what company hath light with darkenes? what cōcord hath Christe with Beliall? either what part hath he that beleueth, with an Infidel? How agreeth the tēple of god with Images? And ye are the temple of God, as saith God: I wil dwel among them, & walke among them, and wyl be their God, and they shal be my people. Wherfore come out from among them, and separate your selues (saith the Lord) and touch no vncleane thing.

Good brethren, marke what commeth of keeping company with the wicked. Syrach saith: MarginaliaSirach. 13.He that toucheth pitch, shal be defiled withal: and he that keepeth company with the proude, shal clothe him selfe with pride. Euen so he that is familiar with Idolaters, can not be vnstayned from Idolatrie, except he doo it to wyn them to Christe, as there be but a few that doo: Yea it may not be where Idolatrie is openly cōmitted, as for an ensample: Peter, so lōg as he continued with Christ & Christes disciples, he continued in the truth, preached the truth, cōfessed openly Christ to be the sonne of the liuyng God, and promised that he woulde not onely goe to prison, but also to very death with hym: MarginaliaWhat it is to be associate in ill company.but when he came once into the Court into the Bishops house, he strayt way was striken with suche a feare, that a poore mayden & simple Ruffin (such a one as my L. of London hath, þ^t said: MarginaliaA vyle seruaunt of B. Boners.By Gods bloud, if I meete w^t any of these vile heretikes, I wyll thrust a narow in hym): when Peter (I say) was amongst them, he denyed his maister, & swore that he neuer knew him, whō he, before he cam there, boldly confessed before al men: and againe, after that he had repented hym of his wicked deede, he boldly preached to the beleuyng Iewes, MarginaliaActes. 2.commaunding them among other his godly exhortations, to saue them selues from that vntoward generation. How many of our Priestes before this storme of persecution when the Gospel was truely preached, were bold, and could say, they would dye rather then denye their Master? but whē they come once into the bishops houses, they preach Christ no more, but vtterly deny hym: therfore I pray God keepe them from thence, or els sende thē more grace and strength. It is needefull to pray: therfore watche in prayer.

Paul, al the while he was among the Bishops, was a cruel persecuter, but after he was called of God frō the Bishops, he became a true preacher: therfore God keepe al christian men out of the handes of our bishops. S. Paul in the xv. to the Rom. saith: MarginaliaRom. 15.I dare not speake any of those thinges, þ^t Christ hath not wrought by. He saith also: MarginaliaRom. 16.I beseech you brethrē, marke thē that make diuision, & geue occasiōs of euyll, contrary to the doctrine that ye haue learned, and them auoyd, for they that are such, serue not the Lord Iesus Christ, but their own bellyes, and with sweete & flatteryng words deceiue the harts of the simple. Our master Christ hym selfe hath geuen vs warning which they be: for he hath set the playne marke on them, in the. 24. of Math. MarginaliaMath. 24.If they say, here is Christ, or there is Christ, beleue them not, saith Christ. If they say, he is in the desert, go not forth. If they say, he is in the secrete place, beleue them not. And I pray you, where can he be more secret, thē in so small a peece of bread? for my Lorde of London, like a lyer, sayde to me, that after the wordes be spoken, there remayneth neyther bread nor wyne. Then I asked hym what he sayd to Dauid, where he saith: Thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption? how say you to that? Wyll not your sacrament of the Aultar putrifie or corrupte? MarginaliaB. Boner not able to aunswere to this place of Dauid.He aunsweared, Yes. I asked hym, what it was that dyd corrupt, if there were neither bread nor wyne. He answeared, and sayd, the accidences. I sayd vnto hym, it was a mad accidence without substance: for you say, there is neither bread nor wine, and then there is nothyng to *Marginalia* How can corruption be referred to accidences when by all Philosophy generation and corruption belong onely to the predicament of substance. corrupt: with many suche like argumentes.

Therfore beware of them, for they goe about to deceiue you with suche argumentes. Say not but ye be warned, & a great deale the more worthy of your damnation, if they deceyue you, because you haue had so muche warnyng. Repent you betymes of your sinfull lyues, and amende, & then no doubt but God wyll eyther turne their hartes, or els take them away, or els he will geue vs that, that he promised to his Disciples, if we be contented to take the same reward that they had. And if we disdayne the one, let vs not looke for the other. For he that wyll be his fathers heyre, must be contented to receiue his fathers correction. For S. Paul saith in the. xij. to the Romanes: If we be not vnder correction, whereof al are partakers, then are we bastardes, and not sonnes.