Catechism for Children, Sermon 2
¶A sermon of the authoritie of the Kayes.
THe holye Apostle sainct Paul good children, in the tenth chapiter of hys epistle to the Romaynes, wryteth on this fashion. Who so euer shal cal vponupon the name of ye lord, shall be saued. But how shal they call on hym, on whom they beleue not? How shal they beleue on him of whome they hauehave not hearde? Howe shall they heare without a preacher? Howe shal they preach, expcept they be sente? By the whiche wourdes saynct Paule doeth euidently declare vntounto vsus, two lessons.
The fyrst is, that it is necessary to our saluation, to hauehave prechers and ministers of Goddes mooste holy worde, to instructe vsus in the true fayth and knowlege of God.
The seconde is that preachers must not runne to this hyghe honore, before they be called therto, but they muste be ordeyned and appoynted to this office, and sent to vsus by God. For it is not possible to be saued, or to please God, without fayth, & no mā can truely beleue in God by his owne wytte, (for of oure selfes we knowe not what we shoulde beleue) but we must nedes heare Gods woorde, taught vsus by other.
Agayne, the teachers, except thei be called and sent, can not frutfully teache.1. Cor. iii. … Iohn. vi, b Actum. ii. … For the seede of Goddes wourde, doeth neuer brynge forth fruyt, onles the Lorde of the haruest do gyue increase, and by hys holye spirite do wourke with the sower. But God doeth not worke with the preacher, whom he hathe not sente as saynct Paule sayeth.Roma. x …
Howe shall they preache, yf they be not sent. Wherfore it is requisite, that preachers should be called and sent of god, and they must preache according to the authoritie and commission of God, graū ted vntounto them, wherby they may strengthen mennes belefe, and assure their consciences, that God hath commaūded them to preache after this or that fashion. For els euerie manne shoulde styll be in doubt, and thinke after this sort. Who knoweth whether thys be true, whiche I heare the preacher saye? who can tell whether God hath commaunded him to preach these thynges or no? And in case he teacheth no thynge but truth, yet I am not sure that God wyll wourke with me, as the preacher promyseth? Perchaunce these promises perteine to other, and not to me? These doubtes, in the tyme of temptation, might trouble mens myndes, yf we were not assured, that our Lorde Iesus Christ him selfe hathe both ordeyned and appointed ministers & preachers to teache vsus his holye wourde, and to minister his sacramentes, and also hath appoynted theym, what they shall teache in his name, and what they shall do vntounto vsus. Therfore he called them and sent them, and gaue thē instructions, what they should do, and speake to vsus, in his name, to the intente that we shoulde gyue sure credence vntounto theyr wordes, and beleue that god wyll worke with vsus accordyng to his wordes by them spoken. And he hath promised therfore, yt what soeuer they shoulde bynde vponupon earth,Mat. xvi. shoulde be bounde in heauē & whatsoeuer they shuld lose vponupon earth shuld be losed in heauen also. Wherfore good children, to the intente you maye stedfastlye beleue, all thinges whiche god by his ministers doeth teache, and promise vntounto you, and so be saued by your fayth, learne diligently I prai you, by what wordes our lord Iesus Christ, gaue this cōmissiō & cōmaundemēt to his ministers, & reherse thē here, worde for word that so you may print thē in your memories, and recite them the better when you come home.
The wordes of Christ be these.
¶Our Lorde Iesus brethed on his Apostles / & sayd.Iohn. xx: … Receaue the holye gost / whose synnes ye forgyue / they are forgyuen vntounto them. And whose synnes you reserue / they are reserued.
Now good childrē, you shal employ your selfes, not onelyonly to reherse these wordes without boke, but also to vnderstande, what our Lord Iesus Christ ment by them, that when you shall be asked any question herein, you maye make a dyrect answere, and that also in tyme to come you maye be able to instruct your children in the same. For what greater shame can ther be, eyther in the sight of God or of man, then to professe thi selfe to be a Christen mā, & yet to be ignorāt in what place of scripture and by what wordes, Christ commaūded faith, and forgyuenes of synnes, to be preached. Seing yt a Christē man ought to beleue nothyng, as an article of his faith, except he be assured, that eyther it is gods cō maundement, or his worde. Now good children, that you maye the better vnderstande these wordes, of our sauiour Christe you shall knowe, yt our Lorde Iesus Christ whē he beganne to preache, he ded cal and chose his twelue Apostils and afterwarde besydes those twelue,Mark. iii. Luke. vi. Luke. x. he sent forth thre score and tenne dysciples, and gaue thē authoritie to preach the gospel. And a litle before his death and passiō, he made his prayer to his heuenly father for theim, & for all those that shoulde beleue thorow their preaching. As it is declared in the gospel of sainct Iohn.Iohn. xvii Now it is not to be doubted, but yt Christes praier was heard, of his heauenly father, wherefore it foloweth, that as mani as beleued the preaching of Christes discyples, were as surely saued, as yf they had heard and beleued Christ hymselfe. And after Christes assention, the Apostelles gaue authoritie to other godly and holye men, to minyster gods worde, and chiefely in those places, wher ther wer Christen mē alredy, whiche lacked preachers, and the Apostles theim selues could not longer abide with them For the Apostles dyd walke abrod into diuerse partes of the worlde, and did studye to plant the gospel in many places. Wherefore wher they founde godly men, and mete to preache gods worde, they layed their handes vpō them, and gaue them the holy gost, as they theimselues receaued of Christ the same holy gost, to execute this office. And they that were so ordeyned, were in dede, and also were called, the ministers of God as the Apostles theimselues were, as Paule, sayeth vntounto Tymothy. And so the ministratiō of gods worde (which our Lorde Iesus Christ hymselfe dyd first institute) was deryued from the Apostles vntounto other after theim, by imposition of hādes, and gyuynge the holy ghost, from the Apostles tyme to our dayes. And this was the consecration, ordres & vnction of the Apostles, wherby they, at the begynnynge, made Byshopes and pryestes, and this shall continewe in ye churche, euen to the worldes ende. And what soeuer rite or ceremonye, hath ben added more than this commeth of mannes ordinaunce and policye, and is not commaūded by goddes worde.
Wherefore good children, you shal gyue due reuerence & honour to the ministers of ye churche, and shal not meanely or lyghtly esteme them in the executiō of their office, but you shall take them for gods ministers, and the messengers of our Lorde Iesus Christe. For Christ himselfe saieth in ye gospel. He that heareth you, heareth me. And he yt dyspiseth you, dyspiseth me.Luke. …. wherefore good children, you shal stedfastly beleue al those thinges, whiche suche ministers shall speake vntounto you, from the mouth, and by the commaūdement of our Lorde Iesus Christ. And what soeuer they do to you, as when they baptyse you, when they gyue you absolution, and dystribute to you the bodye and bloude of our Lord Iesus Christe, these you shall so esteme, as yf Christe hymselfe in his awne person, dyd speake, and minister vntounto you. For Christe hath commaunded his ministers to do this vntounto you, and he hymselfe, (althoughe you see him not with your bodily eyes) is present with his ministers, and worketh by the holy ghost in thadministration of his sacramentes. And on the other syde, you shall take good hede, & beware of false and priuye preachers, whiche pryuely crepe into cities, and preache in corners, hauyng none authoritie, nor being called to this office. For Christe is not present with such prechers▪ and therefore dothe not the holy gost worke by their preching, but their worde is withoute fruite or profyt, and they do great hurte in commen welthes. For suche as be not called of God, they no doubte of it do erre, and sow abrode heresye and naughty doctrine. And yet you shal not thinke good childrē, that preachers whiche be lawfully called, hauehave authoritie to do or teache what soeuer shal please thē. But our Lord Iesus Christ, hath gyuen them playne instructions, what they ought to teache and do. And yf thei teache or do any other thynge, then is conteyned in their commission, then it is of no force, nor we ought not to regarde it. And for this cause our sauioure Christ dyd breath into hys discyples, and gaue them the holy gost. For where the holy gost is, ther he so worketh, that he causeth vsus to do those thynges whiche Christe hath commaunded. And whā that is not done, than the holy ghost is not there. Wherefore all thynges whiche we shall so speake or do, can take none effecte. Now the summe of the commission whiche Christ gaue to his dysciples, was this, that they shoulde preache repentaunce, and forgyuenes of synne, in his name. And he added therto, bothe a promise & a threatnyng, saying. He that wil beleue, and be baptised, shalbe saued. But he that wil not beleue, shall be damned. Wherfore all thinges whiche the ministers of ye churche do saye or do to vsus, ought to be directed to this ende, yt they maye lowse vsus, and declare vntounto vsus, the forgyuenes of our synnes, whē we truly repent, and beleue in Christ. But when we do not repent vsus of our synne, and forsake the same, or do not beleue the gospel, then they ought to bind or reserue sinne, and to declare vntounto vsus, that yf we styl continew in sinne, we shal be dampned for euer. And when the minysters do thus execute their cōmission, then they obey God, & whose synnes soeuer they forgyue in earth, their synnes be forgyuen in heauen also. And contrarye wyse, whome soeuer they binde in earth, their sinnes be boūde also in heauē. But yf the ministers wolde interprise to do contrary to their cō mission, that is to say, to forgyue synnes to vnrepentaunte synners and vnbeleuers, or to bynde their synnes and denye theim absolution, that be repentaunte and truste in the mercye of God, then they shoulde not do wel, nor their acte shoulde be of any force, but they shoulde deceaue themselues, and other also. And than shoulde that be true, that Christ speaketh in the gospell. When the blynde leadeth the blinde, both fall into the diche. But when the ministers do trulye execute their office, you oughte good children, to take great comforte, and to confirme your faithe therby, that you maye stedfastlye beleue, and in all temptations answere your aduersarye the deuell after this maner. God hathe sente to me one of hys ministers, he in the name and place of God, hathe declared to me the forgyuenes of my synnes, and hath baptised me in the assurance of the same.
Wherfore I doubte not but that my synnes be forgyuen, and that I am made the sonne & heire of God. Thus good children, you ought generally in all temptations, to fortifie youre fayth, and to comforte your selfes, with the authoritie of Goddes word, but specially you shall learne this also, that oure Lorde Iesus Christe, dyd entende, by this authoritie of the Kayes, to comforte the troubled consciences of them, that after their baptisme, do fall in to haynous offences.
For it is not so easye a thyng, to rise agayn from synne, as the mad and blynde worlde doeth thynke, but when the deuel and oure faith shall skyrmishe together, then in those straites, and troubles of cō science, we hauehave nede of the helpe of some trewe minister of ye churche, whych (as it were in our swonynge) maye lyft vsus vp wyth the wourde of God, comforte and refreshe vsus. As the wyse kyng Salomon doth declare by thys sentence. Wo to that man, whyche is alone, for when he falleth, he hath no mā to lyft hym vp agayn. And oure Lorde Iesus Christe, doeth speake so often tymes in the gospel of the authoritie of the kayes, and hathe added so great promyses to the same, that it may wel appere by the earnestnes of Christes wourdes, how careful he was for troubled consciences, and how fatherly an effection he had to comforte thesame. Wherof it vndoutedly foloweth, yt we hauehave great nede of thys comforte, and that it is moche to be estemed and set by. For first of al our sauiour Christ, before he gaue these kayes ī dede, he promysed to Peter yt he would gyue them, saying.Mat. xviii. I wyl gyue to the, the kayes of the kyngdome of heauen. What so euer thou shalt bynde vponupon earth, shalbe bounde in heauen, and what so euer thou shall louse vponupon earth, shalbe also loused in heauen. Secondarelye, Christe doeth teache vsus, howe we shall vse these kayes, both in open and in secrete synnes. Of the vse of the kayes in opē synnes, Christ speaketh these wourdes. Yf thy brother trespace agaynst the,…. xviii. go and tell hym hys faulte betwene him and the alone. Yf he hear the, thou hast wonne thy brother. But yf he heare the not, then take yet wyth the one or two, that vpō the mouthe of two or thre wytnesses, eueryevery worde maye stande. Yf he heare not them tell it vntounto the cō gregacion. Yf he heare not the cō gregation, let hym be vntounto the, as an hethen and publican. Uerely I saye vntounto you, what so euerye bynde on earth, shalbe bounde in heauen. And what so euer ye lose on earth, shalbe loused in heauen. And of the vse of the kayes, in priuye and secrete synnes, oure sauiour Christ hath taught vsus by his awne dede and example. For the mā, that was sycke of the palsey, Christ said thus.Mark. ii. Sonne cōceaue a stedfast fayth, thy synnes be forgyuen the. And as touching byndyng of synnes, he sayd to ye hard herted and stubburne Iewes.Luke. v. Iohn. ix. Yf you were blinde, you shulde hauehave no synne. But nowe bycause you saye, you see, your synne abydeth styll, that is to saye, it is not forgyuen. Thyrdlye, oure Sauioure Christe after his resurrectiō, gaue the kaies to his apostles (as before he had promysed) breathynge vponupon theim, and saying. Receaue the holy gost, whose synnes ye shall forgyue, they are for gyuen. Now forasmuche as oure sauioure Christe, in gyuynge the keyes, did promise vsus so great cō forte, dyd so dylygentlye teache the vse of them, and dyd so faythfully, and louyngly ordeyne and commende them and put theim (as it wer) into the handes of his apostles & their successors, we ought in no wyse to dyspyse this greate authoritie, whiche God hath gyuen vntounto men, but thankefully to vse it. For knowe this for a suertye good children, that it is a very great offence against God, lytle to care for hys great gyftes and benefites. Therefore when we fal agayne to great synnes, after that we are ones baptysed, we oughte not to walke in a certē rechelesnes, thynkyng that our synnes be forgyuen vsus onelyonly because God is merciful (For this opinion or wauering imaginatiō, is more weake and feble, thē that in the feare and battaile of the conscience, it is able to stande against the violent force and craftye assaultes of the deuel) But in this fight betwene our cō science & the deuel, our great trust and comforte is ye sure worde and worke of God, whiche maye asserteyne vsus that our synnes are forgyuen, that is to say, whan we obteyne forgyuenes of oure synnes and absolutiō, of the ministers of the churche, to whome Christ hath deliuered the kaies, and hath promysed saying. Whose synnes ye shall forgyue in earthe, their synnes be forgyuen in heauen also.
And this also is to be reproued, that some men, whiche continue in manyfest and open synne, and go not about to amende their lyfes, yet they wil be counted christē mē, and interpryse to receaue the same sacramētes, that other do, to come to ye churche, to worship God, and to praye with other. Suche muste be warned of their fautes, and yf they refuse to heare and amende, then they ought to be excommunicate and put out of the christen cō gregation, vntil they repente and amende their lyfes. Lest by suche manifest sinne and euel examples, other men might be prouoked to do the lyke and so at length many might be infected, and the Christē religyon dispysed and euel spoken of, as thoughe it wer the worst relygyon, forasmuche as Christian men shoulde thā leade a shameful and vngodly lyfe. And so by this meanes, ye name of God, and God himselfe, might be blasphemed amonge the heathen people. And althoughe those canons, ordynances and rites, whiche be agreable to the gospel, (and were ordeyned in tyme past, to punyshe suche opē trāsgressors and malefactors) are nowe in oure tyme almost vtterly abolyshed and taken awaye, yet for this cause we ought not to dispise or cast awaye, the authoritye & vse of the kayes. For they which presumptuously do cast away all pokes of ecclesiasticall discipline or chasticement, & do let, that such kynde of correction, whiche is agreable to the gospel, maye not be restored againe, shall hauehave without doubte God for their iudge. But let vsus praye our Lord Iesus Christ, that as it hath pleased him to restore vntounto vsus his moste blessed worde, and the true vnderstā dyng of the same, so also he wyll vouchesaue to rendre and sende agayne to vsus, these and suche lyke good and holsome ordinances, agreable to his worde.
Now when a man after baptisme hath greuously synned, and doubteth in his conscience, whether he be in the fauour of God or no (as oftentymes yt happeneth) then it is harde for hym to trust to his awn bare imaginations, thinking on this fashion. I know yt I hauehave synned, but yet I am in this opinion, that God is not so cruel a reuenger. But that he hath forgyuen me. For suche an opinion without goddes worde, is not a trew faith, nor is able to stande in the daūgerous skirmyshes of tēptation. But trewe faith must euer be stayed vponupon the certen worde & wourke of God. Now God dothe not speake to vsus, with a voyce soundynge out of heauen. But he hath giuen the kayes of the kingdom of heauen, and the authoritie to forgyue synne, to the ministers of the churche. Wherefore let him that is a sinner, go to one of theim let him knowlege and confesse his synne, and praye him, that accordyng to gods commaundemente, he wyll gyue him absolution and cōfort him with ye worde of grace and forgyuenes of his synnes. And when the minister dothe so, then I ought stedfastly to beleue, that my synnes are truly forgyuē me in heauen. And suche a faythe, is able to stande stronge, in all skyrmyshes, and assautes of oure mortal enemy ye deuel, forasmuche as it is buylded vpō a sure rocke, that is to say, vpō the certen word and worke of God. For he that is absolued, knoweth for a suertye, that his synnes be forgyuen him by the minister. And he knoweth assuredlye also, that the minister hath autoritie from God himselfe so to do. And thirdely he knoweth that God hath made this promise to his ministers, & sayed to them. To whom ye forgyue synnes vponupon earth, to him also they shall be forgyuen in heauen. Wherefore good children, gyue good eare to this doctrine, & when your synnes do make you afrayed and sadde, then seke and desyer absolution & forgyuenes of your synnes of the ministers, whiche hauehave receaued a commission and commaundement from Christ hymselfe, to forgyue men their synnes, and then youre conferences shal hauehave peace, tranquillitie & quietnes. But he that dothe not obey this counsell, but beyng ether blynd or proude, doth dispyse the same, he shal not fynde forgyuenes of his synnes, neither in hys awne good wourkes, nor yet in paineful chastysementes of his bodye, or any other thynge, whereto God hath not promysed remission of sinnes. Wherfore dispyse not absolution, for it is the commaundemente and ordinance of God, and the holy spirit of God is present, and causeth these thinto take effect in vsus, & to worke our saluatiō. And this is the meaning and playne vnderstandynge, of these wordes of Christ, which you hearde heretofore rehersed, whiche are writen to thentēt yt we shoulde beleue, that whatsoeuer goddes ministers do to vsus by Gods commaūdement, are as muche auaileable, as yf God hymselfe shoulde do the same. For whether ye minysters do excommunicate opē malefactors and vnrepentant persons or do gyue absolution to those, which be truly repentant for their synnes, and amende their lyues, these actes of the ministers, hauehave as great power & authoritie, and be cōfirmed and ratified in heauē, as thoughe oure Lorde Iesus Christ himselfe had done the same Wherefore good children, learne these thinges dilygentlye. And whē you be asked how vndrestāde you the wordes before rehersed? ye shall answer. I do beleue, that what soeuer ye ministers of Christ do to vsus by gods commaūdemēt, either in excommunicatinge open and vnrepentante synners, or in absoluyng repentant persons, all these their actes, be of as greate authoritie, and as suerly cōfirmed in heauen, as yf Christe shoulde speake the wordes out of heauen.
So ye hauehave good children, the begynnynge and foundation, of the ministers of gods worde, and of the authoritie of the kayes, as our lord Iesus Christ did first ordeyne and institute the same. The whiche our sauiour Christ did institute and appointe for this purpose, that our consciences myghte thereby be comforted, and assured of the forgyuenes of synnes, and to hauehave the inestimable thresures of the gospel, as often as we hauehave nede thereof. That we thereby being made stronge in oure faith, might so continewe to thende of our life. And he that continueth to the ende, shal be saued. The which graunt vsus the most merciful God Amen.