Catechism for Children, Sermons on the ten commandments · General introduction
¶A general begynnyng for all sermons.
GRace peace and merciemercy be with you all / frō God the father and from his onelyonly begotten sonne Iesu Christe oure Lorde. Amē. That we may profectablie and with fruite teache & learne the word of God / let vsus call for grace and praye the Lordes praier.
Pater noster.
A generall preface to be rehersed after the prayer, in the begynnyng of eche sermon made vponupon the ten commaundementes.
THe Prophete Dauid good Children lyke a cōmen scholemaster in the schole of God doeth preache on thys faschyon in the xxxiiii. psalme,Psa. xxxiiii. come hither he saith my sonnes,1. Pet. iii. herken vntounto me, I wil teache you the feare of the Lorde who so euer desireth to lyue, and woulde fayne see good dayes, let him refeaine his tongue frō euyl. & hys lyppes yt they speake no deceit, let him eschew euel, & do good.Prouerb. xii.xiii, xxi Let him seke peace and pursue it.Iac. i.iii.
Now my derely beloued childrē I know suerly that there is none amonge you, but that he woulde wyshe to see good dayes, and lead a Godlye and quiet lyfe. Then muste you folowe the counsell of the prophete Dauid, with all dilygence to learne the feare of the Lord whilest ye are yet yong & tender of age. For yt which mē learne not in theyr youth ye same do they learne in theyr age with more difficultie. Therfore learne now with all diligence the feare of the Lord deare children, then shal you ware men of excellent vertue, and leade a godlye lyfe, and shall see good dayes. For a blessed and quiet life is not bought with riches nor gotten by …oure, but by learnynge the feare of God. And he that feareth his maker, as an almyghtye God and Lorde, which dothe mercifully healpe them that be good, and greuously punysheth the wicked, he wyll dyligentlye take hede, that he doth nothinge contrarye to goddes pleasure, but wil kepe hys commaundementes so muche as is in his power. And suche godlye children proue learned and wyse men, whiche maye be able to profit other and the commen welth also, as Dauid saith in an other place. The feare of the Lorde is the begynnyng of wisedome.Psal. cxi.
Wherfore if you feare God and hauehave a desyre to be occupyed in godlynes, then learne the ten commaundementes, wherby God hath taughte vsus, what pleaseth & what dyspleaseth hym, what thynge is good and what is euell. And yf you learne these lessons perfectly, then therby you shal purchase vntounto you the beginning of trew and godly wisedome, whiche is suche wisedom, that many men wel striken in yeares, do not attaine to it. And yet this wisedom and knowlege of the ten commaūdementes, is but onelyonly the begynnyng of sapience, for it is the teaching of the lawe. But when the doctrine of fayth in Christe is taughte vntounto you, then you lerne a greater and higher wysedome, the whiche the vngodlye or vnfaythfull do not vnderstand nor perceyue, but god onelyonly doeth gyue it downe frome heauen, to make vsus feare him and beleue his holy worde. Wherfore good children, learne nowe dylygently the beginning of wisedom, that is to saye, tholy ten commaū dementes, and gyue so good eare vntounto them, that you maye learne them without booke, and reherse them when you come home.
¶Here folowe the ten commaundementes, which must be recited so tretably and distinctly, that children by often hearinge of them, maye print them in theyr memories and faye them by rote.
These are the holy ten commaundementes of the Lorde our God.
The firste.
I Am the Lorde thy God / thou shalt hauehave none other Goddes but me▪
The seconde.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vayne / for he shal not be gyltles before the Lorde / that taketh hys name in vaine.
The thirde.
Remember that thou sanctifye the Sabboth daye.
The fourthe.
Honour thy father and thy mother / that thou mayst lyue a longe lyfe in the lande whiche the lord thy God shall gyue vntounto thee.
The fifthe.
Thou shalt not kyll.
The sixte.
Thou shalt committe no adulterye:
The seuenth.
Thou shalt not steale
The eyght.
Thou shalt not beare false witnes agaynst thy neighboure.
The nynthe.
Thou shalt not couet thy neyghbours house.
The tenth.
Thou shalt not couet thy neyghboures wyfe / nor hys man seruaunte / nor his mayde seruaunt / nor hys oxe / nor hys asse / nor anye thynge that is thy neyghboures.
Nowe good children these are the ten holye commaundementes of the lorde God, in the whiche he hath opened his wyl vntounto vsus, and hath declared what is godly and what is vngodly, what we should do, and what we should not do. These ye shall learne with greate diligence, not only to reherse them but also to vnderstande what is ment by them, and what the lorde God doeth require of vsus in these his commaundementes: to thintēt that when you be asked any questian of them, you maye answere to y• purpose, and that also in time to come you may teache your children to feare God after suche sort and maner as you your selfes be nowe instructed. For it is a great shame, bothe before God and the worlde, for a Christen man to be ignoraunt in the commaundemē tes of God, and not to know that doctryne that perteyneth to eueryevery Christen man, seynge that euerye Christen man is bounde, openly to declare his doctrine, & to gyue a rekenyng of his fayth, whē nede shall so requyre, and to brynge vp his children in the same.