Confutation of the Popes Bull, Part 4
¶That not euen by the gift of the keyes vntounto Peter, there is any fulnesse of power deliuered by the Lord, either vntounto Peter, or vntounto the Pope, for that the keyes are a farre other thing, yea and a thing of much greater holinesse then is the sayd fulnesse of the popish power.
THe Lorde addeth vntounto the premisses: And I will geue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen: and whatsoeuer thou byndest vponupon earth shall be bound in heauen, and whatsoeuer thou loosest vppon earth shall be loosed in heauen. By which wordes ye Lord sheweth againe, that this charge concerning blessednesse and eternall life, which he hath hetherto layd forth, perteineth not onelyonly to Peter or the rest of the Apostles, but also vntounto all men through the whole world. Moreouer he sheweth the meane and maner how men are brought into the Church, that is to say, how they be builded vponupon the Rocke and made members of Christ and the Church, and so enter into the kingdome of heauen. You Apostles (sayth the Lord) shall open the way, and as it were by reaching out your handes bring men into the company of me and of my Saintes, and consequently into the kingdome of heauē: and that shall be done by the preaching of the Gospell. For by fayth we be graffed into Christ and his Church. But fayth commeth by hearing, and hearing by the preaching of the Gospell. And therfore (sayth ye Lord) I will geue you the keyes of the kingdome of heauen, that is, I will commit vntounto you the charge of preaching the Gospell, to this end, that you shall go out into the whole world, and by declaring vntounto all men the remission of sinnes through me, set thē loose that be fettered in ye chaines of their sinnes, and open the kingdome of heauen to them that beleue: and on the other side bynde those that shake of the preaching of the Gospell, that is to say, declare and witnesse vntounto them that they be subiect to eternall damnation. And this your declaration and witnessing shall be so ratified and assured, that whomsoeuer ye loose or binde by my worde vponupon earth, them will I also account as loosened or bound in heauē. And this is the simple meaning of Christes wordes, flowing out of the wordes them selues, without any racking of the wordes at all. Which meaning I will more cléerly enlighten and more assuredly confirme by that which ensueth.
The worde Keyes, are not vttered alwayes in one signification in the Scripture: For otherwise there is no man but he knoweth what they be in their proper signification: that is to wit, tooles wherwithall the lockes of doores, chestes, and such other thinges are opened or shut. And they be conueyed ouer from bodily thinges to spirituall thinges, from earthly thinges to heauenly thinges: and sometime they be taken for souerein and full power, like as when we read in the Apocalips that Christ hath the keyes of Dauid, of death, and of hell. For by that phrase of spéech is betokened that Christ hath the souerein and most absolute power or authoritie to gouerne the kingdome of Dauid, and also full power ouer death it self, and ouer hell, and that he is able to deliuer from death, or to thrust down into hell whomsoeuer he listeth. These Keyes, that is to say, this power, belongeth onelyonly vntounto Christ, and no creature is partaker of it. Wherupon also in the Apocalips the Lord sayth with a vehemencie, I hauehave the Keyes: and he sayth not, I hauehave had, but I hauehave, I say I hauehave them yet still, and will hauehave them euer, & I resigne them to no man.
There is also the Key of knowledge, and the Key of the kingdome of heauen, whereof we intreate at this present. The Key of knowledge is instruction, wherby a mans vnderstanding is opened, and his want of skill amended. And the Key of the kingdome of heauē is a plaine or lightsome declaration or laying forth of thinges, whereby men are taught, what way they may goe into heauen, or how they may be saued. I faine nothing of mine owne head in this behalfe, in these thinges I followe the Scripture, and for mine exposition I alledge the very worde of Christ saying in the Gospell after S. Luke:Luke. 11. Woe be to you Lawyers, whych hauehave taken away the key of knowledge: ye entred not in your selues, and them that came in, ye forbad. Which wordes of the Lord, Mathew vttereth in this wise: Woe be to you Scrybes and Pharyseys, for ye shut vp the kingdome of heauen before men: ye your selues goe not in, neyther suffer ye them that come, to enter in. Behold, looke what Luke called the taking away of the key of knowledge, Math. 23.that doth Matthew call the shuttyng vp of the kingdome of heauen. And therefore what els I pray you is it to bring forth the keyes of the kingdome of heauen, then to bring forth ye keyes of knowledge, that is to say, the doctrine which cōcerneth the kingdome of heauen, through the instruction whereof we may know how to become partakers of the euerlasting saluation? Againe, to take away the keyes of knowledge or of the kingdome of heauen, is nothing els but to withstand the doctrine of the Gospell concerning the kingdome of God, or to assault it, or to geue commaundement that it be not preached. You therfore enter not in (sayth the Lorde) I meane by harkening to my doctrine: ye beleue not, that ye might be saued: neither suffer ye them to enter which come and are desirous of my doctrine concerning the kingdome of God, that is to say, which would faine heare and beleue my doctrine, that by faith they might be made heires of Gods kingdome, while you slaunder my doctrine and my workes, as though they procéeded from Sathan, and therefore were to be abhorred and eschewed of good men. And by these wordes of the Lord it appeareth most manifestly, that the keyes wherof he speaketh here in S. Matthew, saying, and to thee will I geue the keyee of the kingdome of heauen, are not any other thing then the charge of preaching the Gospell, committed by the Lord to the ministers of his Church, that by the sayd publishing of the Gospell, they might open the kingdome of heauen to the beleuers, and shut it against the vnbeleuers.
But if these thinges which notwithstāding (if I be not deceaued) I take to be euident & strong inough) do not yet satisfie you: beholde I will vnfolde this whole matter of the keyes yet an other way, though nothing differing from the interpretation which I hauehave set downe already, as in respect of the pith of the matter. The worde keyes are also vsed in the Scripture, for the care & ordering of an householde. For the seruauntes whom the master of any house setteth in office, hauehave keyes deliuered vntounto thē, wherewith to open and shut, and to order all the house: which thing is wont to be done by the Stewardes or Comptrollers, that hauehave the chéef charge of the house. By meanes wherof the keyes also are taken for the very charge, the ordering, or the gouerning of the house. Héere againe I faine nothing of my self,Esay. 22. I follow the holy Scriptures. For in Esay the Lord sayth: I wyll lay the key of the house of Dauid vponupon the shoulder of Eliachim, which shall open and no man shall shut, and shall shut and no man shall open. And what els is this, then if he had said without figure, I wil put Sobna out of office, and make Eliachim Lord Treasurer, and commit the gouernement of the Realme or of king Ezechias palace, which charge he shall performe with so great faithfulnesse and authoritie, that whatsoeuer he ordaineth, shall stand sure and inuiolable, and whatsoeuer he disanulleth, no mā shall attempt to ratifie. In like respect are the keyes of the kingdome of heauen sayd to be geuen to the Apostles and other ministers, I meane the gouerning or housholdly ordering of the Church, therby to bring mē to the kingdome of heauen, or to shut them out of the partenership thereof. Which surely can be none other, then that which it accoū teth as the chéef, namely, the message of Gods worde, I meane the preaching of the Gospell of Iesu Christ, concerning the remission of sinnes, and euerlasting life. The which truely is so certaine and sure, that looke whom the ministers absolue from their sinnes by it, they are also assuredly acquit before God, and whom the ministers condemne by the worde for their vnbeléefes sake, those remain also condemned to destruction before God.
And as for these thinges which I hauehave layd forth concerning the ordering of a housholde by Stewardes, that is to say, concerning the ordering of the Church by the ministers, they are not differing from the worde of God. For the Lord in his Gospell rehearseth a parable of a man that went from home and committed the charge of his house to his seruauntes which should be as Stewardes to order his house. Which Parable certesse is applyed to the Church the house of God, and to the ministers placed in the same, that in gouerning it they may chéefly beautifie it with the preaching of the Gospell. For in the same Gospell the Lord sayth againe: Who (thinkest thou) is that faythfull and wise seruaunt, whom his Lord hath set ouer his housholde to geue them meate in due season? But who knoweth not what the meate of the Church is? Truely Paule writing to a Bishop, that is to say, to an ouerséer or steward of the Church, sayth: Indeuour to yeeld thy selfe an allowable workman vntounto God, not to be ashamed of, and rightly distributing the worde of truth. And the same Apostle speaking yet more manifestly of the ministers and the housholde order of the Church, sayth: Let a man so esteeme you as the ministers of Christ, and housholde guides or stewardes of the mysteries of God. Then the which, I pray you what can be spoken more fully and plainly in this our case? Christ our Lord ordained in his Church, ministers and not Lordes, ministers or seruauntes I say to be stewardes or dealers forth of Gods mysteries in the Church, that is to say, of the Gospell, and of the thinges that are annexed to the Gospell. For so doth the Lord him selfe expound the worde Mysterie in the xiii. chapt. of Mathew: and so doth Paule also in the third to the Ephesians. These keyes, that is to say, this charge & houshold order of gouerning the Church, which is executed according to the appointment of the Gospell of Iesus Christ, did the Apostles receaue, and after them all ministers of Churches that be lawfully called to the same office.