A preparative to marriage The sum whereof was spoken at a contract, and enlarged…A preparatiue to mariage The summe whereof was spoken at a contract, and inlarged…

So I and thou, and every one here had committed treason against the King of Kings, and stood condemned for it, not to suffer & then to be free, like them which break the laws of men, but to suffer and suffer, and ever to suffer all that the devils would heap upon us. Then came the mercy of God for Christ which shed his blood, like an umpire between God and us, and said as Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ^*Thou shalt not die but live, loose him, let him go, for he is mine. So we were stayed like the widows son when he was carried to his grave. This is the benefit of Christs death, and this Sacrament is the remembrance of it, and therefore whensoever we receive it, this addition cometh with it, which is ⟨image 106⟩shed for the remission of sins: our ²fault was so heinous & grievous, that no ransom could countervail it, unless God himself had suffered for us. Being in this extremity, neither man, nor Angel offered his life for us, but the Prince himself, which should have crucified us, came to be crucified of us, for us, that we might say with steadfast faith, I believe the ³remission of sins, not the satisfaction of sins, but the remission of sins. Mark this distinction against Popish merits of works, or penance, Christ hath satisfied and not we; we are remitted and not Christ: therefore we say in our Confession, I believe the remission of sins, which I may call the merciful Article, because it is the quintessence and sweetness of all the twelve. Therefore who ⟨image 107⟩but Antichrist durst deprave it? If there be a satisfaction for our sins by our works, or by our Pilgrimages, or by our Masses, or by our penance, let Christ never be called a forgiver, but an exchanger like the Pope, which selleth his pardons. Wretched creatures which will not receive the Lord when he comes to their door. Christ saith, take for nothing, and they say no, we will not take but buy. Vile base miserable men disdain to take grace of God without satisfaction, but they will cope with the Lord, and give him so many Pilgrimages, fast so many days, hear so many Masses, and pay so many works for it, until they have done as much good as they have done evil. Our sins are infinite, & God is infinite, but our works are finite, in number