THE lorde teacheth by the wordes of thys Gospell / what proffyt he hath done vnto vs / by his resurrex­tion / that is to vnder [...]an­de / that by that he hath e­rected and instituted a kyngdome / in the which it is intreaced / not of golde or syl­uer / nor of other thinges that are neces­sarye to passe ouer this oure lyfe / or by what craft or wayes those thynges ma­ye be inuented / or by what reason / soche beinge gotten maye be preserued. Tru­lye this Kyngdome whych doth consist in these earthely ande corporall thynges / was institute nowe before strayghtwa­yes in the beginninge of the worlde / ande being frō that time establisshed / it taketh force and endureth / ande is subiect by the worde of God vnto mannes reason ande prudence / Genesis the fyrst chapter / whe­re God saith thus.Gene. 1. The ear­thely kyng­dome. Be ye lordes vppō the fysshes of the sea / and the birdes of the ay­re / ād vppon all thinges hauing life that moueth vppon the earth. etc.

This is the olde kingdom in the mini­straciō wherof / the seculer magistrate is occupied / neither is there any nede of the [Page]holighoost for the mynistration of this kyngdome / neither do the holy scriptures chefely intreate of this / to teache by what reasonnes that maye be gouuerned.

But it apperteineth vnto the office of so­che as are learned in the lawe / to teach and counsell what is the reason of the mi­nistration of this kingdome.

But besydes this earthely kingdome / ther is also an other / that is to saye / the kyngdome of consciences / and a spirituall kyngdome / the which doth gouuerne cōs­cyences / ād in the which it is intreated of these busynesses that are betwixt vs ande God.The spiri­tuall king­dome is of ijsortes. Trulye thys Kyngdome is of two sortes. The one was instituted by Mo­ses / the other is erected and instituted he­re by Christe. Where he saith. Lyke as my father hath sent me / so do I send you etc.

The vse of Moses kingdome is this / to teach vs what synne is / and which are trulie good woorks and which are euell. Into this kyngdome must those be sent / which truly as yet do not knowe theyr sī ­nes / nor feale them. Of the whych sorte those are / which are agaynst the lawe / the which do teach that the lawe is not to be preached. Those that are soch as fele not the hardnes of the lawe of Moses / ande[Page]the wayght of the same / they can not este­me as it is worthy / the grace of the gospel / or the benefite of Christ / or with glad har­te to embrace the same / or to desire it from the botome of their harte. Wherfore thou shalt in vaine teach amonge those moche of the grace that is gotten by Christ / for where the lawe is not taught / ande well beaten into them / there do mē knowe no­thing of synne / what thing it is / howe great the crudelitie and abhomination of it is / and which are the true ande mooste greuous sinnes / as. S. Paule doth wit­nesse / sayinge. Wherfore the lawe was geuē. Without lawe / synne is de­ad. Also where the lawe is not / there is no transgression. For howe great a thynge synne is / and also / howe great the wrath of God is against synne / it can not be kno­wen but by the lawe. Wherfore / where the lawe is not pricked forth / nor diligēt­ly and instauntly beaten in to them / there plainely men are Ethnikes and Propha­ne parsōs / thinking thē selues to do well / yea / and excellently to do the thing / whan they do abhominably synne agaynst the preceptes of God.

The wordly power doth restrayne ād punish / those manyfest and grosse mische­uous actes ande synnes / but what synne [Page]is before God / it can neither declare nor teach / although she shuld take to counsell all the heapes of the bookes parteininge to the lawe. Therfore was the lawe geuē vnto vs / that we therby myght learne to knowe what synne is / for where synne is not knowen there is no remyssion / ande grace can not be vnderstand / moche lesse desyred and coueted / and more ouer than is there no vse of grace / for grace ought to fyght againste sinne and to vanquish it in vs that we despayre not.

Wherfore lyke as it is necessarie for a physician (that wyll with praise professe his arte / and be like vnto his name ād cal­linge) to haue the vse of longe experience / and to be exercised moch ād longe time in that science that he maie knowe and sear­che oute / fyrst what / and what kynde of desease it is and also what are the causes therof. For if he shall endeuoure to reme­die the sicknes (the dysease not beyng kno­wen / nor the causes of the same foūde ou­te) he shall rather gyue a poyson / then the remedie or helpe of the same. Euen so is it necessarie fyrst synne to be knowen before that grace be preached. And for the know leadge of sīne / the lawe is nedefull. Wher­fore the fyrst instruction of a christen mā [Page]is diligently to be taught / ande the tenne commaundementes are to be interpreted well / and beaten into the people and that is necessarie to be done in sermons in the temples. For reason (as I haue saide) is a great deale to weake / ād to full of imbe­cilitie / with all her wysdome / ande wyth all [...]e [...]awes and preceptes of all the lear­n [...] men of the lawe / to parfourme that. And albeit that we graunt / that chefelie in reason is p [...]āced and graffed a certeine knowleadge of the thīge chat is honest ād dishonest / yet is that so small and thin [...]e / that it can not sufficiently knowe the ma­lice ād noughtines of her nature and the greatnes of sinne. And therfore god hath instituted by Moses / this doctrine ande preachyng of the lawe / the which he had ceyued before of the fathers.

The other kyngdome is that which the resurrection of our lorde Iesus christ hath made. For by his resurrectiō he wol­de beginne ande erecte a newe kyngdome the which shuld resiste synne (when by the lawe they are knowen) death and hell / ād doth restrayne thē / take them a waye and abolish thē / neither doth this kīgdō teach vs howe matrimonies maie be cōtracted / howe the prouisyon of the house at home[Page]and of the publike weale / ande Empyres are to be gouuerned ande ministred. Ho­we peace ande concorde vppon the earth and the societé of men is to be preserued. Howe we muste buylde / sowe / plante / ād tyll our landes, etc. Of this (I saye) this other kyngdome teacheth nothing. But it is therfore erected / that we maye knowe where we must dwell / or whether we must go from hence / that we maye ly­ue perpetuallye / when this corruptible ād bodely kingdome will fayle / and the con­dicion of thys life shall haue an ende / whē oure goodes ād all our faculties / honou­res / promocions / houses and landes / the woorlde and what so euer is in it / and cō ­meth oute of the earth / ande fynallye the lyfe it selfe is to be forsakē. And trulie de­ath hangeth ouer vs / ād is to be loked for euery momente.

Yf adam had not synned / than neyther death nor any other calamytie shulde ha­ue bene fearfull vnto vs / neyther shulde any daunger haue bene vnto vs / by any kynde of euell. But nowe / throughe syn­ne / death is brought into the worlde / and vppon all mankinde. From the which no man is sure / no not for one momente of tyme / for as moche as euery moment she [Page]hangeth ouer mā. But to what place wilt thou flie? Whether wilt thou turne the? What minde shalt thou be in than? Whe­ther doest thou suppose to go / when pre­sent death shall take the from hence? For this contention and for this agony is the kyngdome of Christe bought / the which for that purpose was appointed to be an euerlasting kinge / that he might be lorde of synne and of iustice / of death ande life. Wyth these / the kingdom of Christ hathe to do. Vppon these he ruleth. He hathe these in his hande.

Thus the lorde meaneth (in this place where he saith. Take you the holighoost / whose synnes so euer you shall remitte / they are retayned.) to delyuer men from synne / or to declare vnto them that those that dwell in sinne / are to be dāpned eter­nally. Here truly it can not be sayde that a woorldly kingdome is instituted of him (as the Pope doth glory wyth a loudelye of the keyes of power and right to lowse and binde all thinges / ād by that meanes / to make that sīne. whyche is no synne / ād also that Christ him selfe doth not binde or lowse / and so playnely he hath made by that meanes a worldy kingdome) But Christe doth here clerely ynough teach[Page]what hys keyes are?The keyes of Christes kyngdom / ande what they be. that is to saye / not to fasten ande to lowse agayne lawes / as the Pope / but to remytte or retayne synnes.

The sentence therfore / and the somme of the wordes of Christe is. In this shall my kingdome consist / this shalbe the ma­ner of my kingdom. F [...]rst that men maye knowe them selves to be sīners. And tru­lie that busines is geven in commissiō vn­to my servaunt Moses / that by his lawe / he maye bringe mēne into the knowledge of sinne / not because I wolde binde them (for why? they were bounde before / ande miserably chayned) neyther shall I nowe do first that men may sinne or geve an oc­casiō to sinne / neither wil I have any thī ­ge to do with sinne (as the Pope doth by his lawe and by his keies of bindyng / say­inge / there [...]o be synne where none is) but I shall have to doo wyth them that natu­rally are sīners / or have synned agaīst the commaūdementes of God / that is to say / soche as contemp [...]e God soche as beleve not in God / soch as despise the woorde of God / soche as gyue not vnto God his due obedience et cetera.

These sinnes that is to saye the con­temp [...]e of God / crudelite / blasphemie / in­obedience and other lyke / are not made by[Page]the law of the Pope / but are very sinnes / cleauing and fasted in flesh and bloude / ād borne even wyth man / the which can not be absolued ād takē awaie by the Pope / by the keye (as he calleth it) of remissyon ād absoluciō / after the sorte as he vseth it / but they cleave styll ād remayne in mā as lōg as he leadeth this life / ād he cā not depose or laie thē a parte vtterly but with the life

Wherfore that we maie escape frō these synnes / for the which eternall dampnaciō remained vnto vs / and be deliuered from the payne of everlastyng death.Wath the kingdom of Chr [...]. For that is the kingdome of Christ appointed and erected / ād therfor every where he calleth that his kingdome / not an earthely king­dom or worldly or pollytike / but the kīg­dome of heauen because even than it shall take the begīning whē this earthely kīg­dom through death shall cease to be / that men may knowe howe after this life / lea­uing thys earthely kyngdome / they maye come into the heauēly kīgdome. Of thys my kīgdom (sayth he) thys shalbe the ma­ner / after this sort shal this my kīgdom be erected / stablisshed / delated ād gouuerned.

[Page]That is to saie.The office of the Apo­stles. You Apostles ād your successours vntill the worldes ende shal­be my messangers or Ambassadours / by whome I haue purposed to reigne in all the worlde / so that you must take vppon you the same office the which I haue do­ne / vnto the which also I was sēte. That is to saie / that those maye be deliuered frō sinne and death / whiche do feale their sin­ne ād death / and desire to be deliuered frō them. Ande contrary / that soche as desire not the helpe wherby they maie be redea­med from them / but do put it awaie / that those beying bound in sinnes to death ād detained / may so remaine. This shalbe your kingdome / this shalbe your ministe­rie or seruice / ande this shalbe your office that you shall take vppon you.

Vnto this kingdome it behoueth all so­che to submitte them selues that are pres­sed downe and vexed with sinne / yf they wilbe deliuered and lifted vp from them / and be partakers of the euerlasting lyfe. Vnto those that lygh vnder the heauy waight of theyr synnes / lygh groning / ād are miserablie troubled / Christe biddeth vs to saye / that they shulde be of good cō ­forte / ād not despayre because of theyr sin­nes / but lett them knowe that Chryst by[Page]his death and resurrectyon / hath brought fourth vnto vs / the remissiō of all sinnes. Yf they heare this ande beleve it / they are saintes and they are saved. For yf their sī ­nes be remitted / than hath death no ryght vppon them. But these that feale not nor knowe theyr synnes / nor are feared wyth the feare of death / ande do not penaunce / but procede constauntely / geving them selues vnto bodely lustes / as the pleasure of the flesh requireth / and liuīg after the ar­bitremēt of the olde man / Vnto these we saye by the commaundement of Chryst / you shall remaine in sinne / in indignation ande eternall death. For you aske no re­mission of sinnes and mercy / ande you do frowardely put from you and treade vn­der fote everlastyng lyfe.

Who (I praye the) can expresse with wordes howe infinite / howe substanciall ande full of health this cōforte is / that o­ne maie opē vnto an other with one wor­de the kingdom of heauē / and close vp the gates of hell? For as moche as in this kīgdom of grace (the which Chryste hath in­stituted by his resurrectiō) we do no other thīg thā that we speake with opē mouth. I remitte vnto the thy synnes / not of my self / or by my propre power or vertue / but[Page]in the name and steade of Iesus Christ. For why? he saith not that you shall re­mitte synnes in your name (for no man liuing can remytte or retaine synnes) but he saith thus. Like as my father hath sent me euen so I sende you. I haue not done this by my counsell or arbitrement / but for this I was sent from my father. And this commaundement I giue also vnto you / that you do the same vntyll the ende of this worlde / that you and all the world maie knowe this remission or retaining of synne / not to be done by the vertue or power of man / but by the cōmaundemēt of him that hath sent you.

This is not onely spoken of those that are ministers and preachers of the woor­de of God / but of all faythfull Christia­nes. Here maye euery vertuous man / cō ­forte and absoile his neighboure in the a­gonie of death / ande other necessities ande temptacions. When thou hearest of me thys woorde / then doest thou heare that god will haue mercy on the / ād deliuer the frō death ād synne / iustifie the ād saue the.

But thou sayest. I haue in dede harde the absolution of the / but who knoweth / whether it be certaine that my synnes al­so are forgeuen before God? I answere. Yf I had said and done that / as man or of [Page]mine owne or of any other mānes aucto­thoryte alonely / thā so to saye ād to doub­te / thou mightest not without cause / whe­ther the absolutiō geuen / shuld be hereaf­ter effectuall and auailable before God or no. And verely I haue hearde many / euē in the extreme agony of death / doubtīg of this thīge / sayinge / Oh woulde to god I knewe certaīly that my sīnes are forgeuē vnto me. I wold buy the certitude therof with all my possiblities and goodes. For albeit he be aparaūtly neuer so good a mā ne that pronoūceth the absolutiō / and as cōcerning his oune parson / neuer so true / yet he that is grudged in conscience ād the minde that is careful / is not cōtēted with him / yea if thou thinkest hī to be a mā / and seest in hī nothīg elles than mā / than must thou nedes doubte ād canst nothīg sticke or trust vnto his absolutiō / nor any thing confyrme or erecte thy mynde by it.

But if thou be certaine / ād cāste streng­then thy mīde agaīst this doubte / thā is it necessary that thy mīde (beīg taught ād instituted by the worde of God) saye after this sorte. Neither the minister of the worde / nor yet any manne absolueth me from my synnes / neyther hath my cura­te taught me so to beleue / but god (by this minister or faithfull Christiā / shewwīg or[Page]declarīg the remission of sinnes) hath do­ne it. This is more certeine thā that / that is assured / for why? my lorde Chryst hath commaūded the same / where he sayd. Li­ke as my Father hath sent me / so do I sende you et cet. Here doth he make equall and matche those whome he sēdeth / vnto him selfe / in every thinge / as moche as cō ­cerneth theyr Ambassage or message / that they (being sente of hī) maie do ād with expedicyon perfourme that thynge for the which he was sent from his Father / that they maye both remitte ād retaine sinnes. This is the thing that maketh that abso­lution to be effectuall. Vithout this com­maundement / Absolution shulde be frus­trate and vayne.

Yf therfore thou (being laden with the burden of sinnes) arte vexed and troubled in mynd. Yf thou quake for fear of death / by whome God shal punish sīnes everlas­tīgly / ād if thou (beīge in thys pēsyuenes) doest heare of the minyster of the church / the curate of thy soule ād thy bishop / or els (where necessité cōpelleth / that thou cāst not have the minister of the Churche) of thy neighbour that proffesseth christ ād cō meth to cōforte the / thou hearest these or suche like wordes / Dere beloued brother[Page]or sister ī Christ / I see you careful ād vex­ed ī mīd / ready to fall īto desperatiō / to fe­ar the wrath ād iudgemēt of God / becau­se of the sīnes that thou perceiuest / ād for the which nowe thou arte so moche vexed ād troubled / but heare ād strayght waies cōceiue in mīde / ād cōmit the thīgs īto the botom of thy harte that I shall nowe say vnto the. Ther is no cause why thou shuldest despaire / be of good cōfort. For christ thy lord ād sauiour / the whych for sīners came īto the world / that he might save thē hathe gevē in cōmaūdemēt / both vnto the ministers of the church (which for the publick ministratiō shalbe called for that purpose) ād also (where necessité compelleth) vnto every priuate faithful christian / that by his wordes / every mā shuld cōfort his neybor / ād ī his name absoil hī frō sīnes.

When thou hearest this cōforte / see that thou receiue it with so great ioy of minde / wyth so moch gladnes ād kindnes / as th­ough thou hardest it of Christ hī self.Christ doth commaun­de sinnes to be remitted and also to be retained. So trulie he hath cōmaunded / saying / As my Father hath sēt me / so do I sende you / Al­so / vnto who soever you remitt etc. That is to saye / ye shall take vppō you the same office that I do. You shall execute the sa­me mynistratyon that I do. If therfore[Page]thou cōceyve these wordes of Chryst / thā is thy harte pacified / and cōceyueth a sub­stantial or sure comforte / and than maiste thou saye wythe a mery harte. I haue he­arde a man that hath talked with me / ād hath cōforted me. In as moche as cōcer­neth his owne propre parson / I wold not credite the least word of his saying / but I beleue my lorde Chryst the which hath in­stituted this kīgdom of grace ād of remis­sion of synnes / ād hath geuē vnto mē this power ād this cōmaundemēt / that in his name they shuld remytt ād retain sinnes.

Wherfor / when any vtuous man is assaulted by the deuell and with the sugges­tions of Sathan / that he is a great sinner ād therfor lost ād condēpned / than ought he not to descēd īto the place of fight with Sathan / nor to reason or to loue to be so­litary / or to hide hīself in som secrete place without arbytrement / but let hī come vn­to some mynister of the church / with whome he is accustomed to coūsell in the busi­nes apperteinīg vnto his soules health / or lett hī send for hī / or call hī vnto him. Or if peraduenture no minister of the church be present / let hī call vnto him / or let hī re­sorte vnto his frēde / whome he hathe knowē to be a louer of the worde of God and[Page]vertuous / and let him complaine vnto hī of his sinnes / ād of what soeuer difficulté doth oppresse him / and let him poure into his bosome / all thīgs wher with he is tor­mented and troubled in mynde / requyrīg him of his counsell / and let him trust vp­pon the wordes of Christ. Vnto who soe­uer you shall remytte theyr synnes etc. And where two or thre shalbe gathered together in my name / I shalbe ī the middest of them. Trusting vppon these wordes / let hym assuredly beleue these things that the same brother or mynister of the chur­che or yf he be a vertuous frēde / shall saie ī the name of the Lorde / oute of the scryp­tures. Euē as he shall beleue / so shalbe do­ne vnto him. Yf he geue credyt vnto the absolution / by the which he hath absoyled hym in the name of Chryst / then is he ab­soiled / and hath remissiō of his sīnes. etc.

What it is two or thre to be gathe­red toge­ther in the name of Chryste.Than trulye are two or three gathered to gether in the name of christ / whan they entreate amōgest them selues / not of cor­porall ande earthely busynes / howe they may haue great gaines / howe thy may gather together great riches / by what wais ād reasō that may be done / or of other cor­porall thyngs / of the whych this tēporall lyfe hath nede / but whē they ētreate amōg[Page]them selues of those things which do ap­parteine vnto the edifying ande health of the congregation / that when in confessiō or elles where thou doest open thy vyces and temptacions / and whan he with whome thou doest vnlade the secretes of thy mynde and thy cares / doth vnderstand ād se the to be feared and stonied with the la­we of Moses / by thy synnes to be bitten / oppressed ād vexed and greuouslye trou­bled ād tormēted with the feare of death. And when with syghes and vnfained sor­rowes thou doest lamēt and abhorre thy life / with these ād soch like wordes / which procede from those that are afearde in de­de. O wold to God I had not bene borne. Also / O wold god / wold prolōge my life / I wolde passe it ouer farre other wise and more holely / thā I haue don hitherto. Like as that seruaūt doth in the gospel / that did owe vnto his lord x. m. talētes sayīg. Lord or maister / be patiēt towordes me / and I shall restore vnto the all thinges.

Whan therfore the minister of the chur­che / or who soeuer elles shalbe / begynne to comforte the / not after a wordly sorte / nor for the desyre of lucre / (as the Pope doth / who sayth / that he hath power ande faculté to lowse and binde / but at no tyme but when thou shalt nūbre vnto him / and[Page]will redeme his bulles / pardons and In­dulgences / ) but because he seeth thy care­full and to be oute of all cōforte / through the feares of sinne and death. And therfo­re saith vnto the. Forsake and despise all / thinges that are vppon earth / as money / riches / all mennes doinges / and the life. Loke not vnto those thinges / turne thine eyes / ād all thy sences from them / but gi­ue eare vnto these thinges that I nowe saye / fasten those in thy minde. Thy harte is vexed / and thou desirest nothing more than to be deliuered oute of sorrowes and care / ande thy conscience to be cleared / ād to escape those sharpe hornes of Moses that stryketh so sore. Here I saye / heare what thy brother saith / whome thou ta­kest to thy counsell / when he speaketh vn­to the / this sentence. In the name of our lorde Christ / who suffred death for the. I declare and saie vnto the / that thou be of good comforte / ād beleue / ād be of a good and quiet minde / ād doubte nothing / that thy synnes are forgeuen vnto the / ād that death hath no ryght vppon the.

But thou sayest. Howe wilt thou pro­ue vnto me that it is so in dede? I answe­re / Chryst oure lorde saide vnto his disci­ples and vnto all the catholike congrega­tion.[Page]I commaund and bidde that youre mytte synnes / or retayne them / If you shall do any soche thynge / you do it not of your selues / but whē ye do the same by my byddyng and cōmaundement / I my selfe do yt. For truly / the minister of the chur­che that is to saye / the curate of thy soule and Bysshoppe / or any other who soeuer he be (so that he be vertuous) in this necessité / is called ande sent therfore vnto the / to comforte the. Therfore thou must as moche beleue him (seyng he seketh onely the health of thy soule) as though Chryst hī selfe beyng present / shuld stande by the / ād laying his hādes on the / shulde absoile the from synne. So truly he saith. I do sende you that is to saye. I do cōmunica­te ād geue vnto you full power ād cōmaūdemēt / to do that thing / for which I was sēt frō my father / ād that I dyd. Wherfor yf any mā layīg his hādes vppō the / doth by this cōmaūdemēt of Christ declare vnto the / thy remission of synnes / it is as moche as though Christ hī selfe had done it / whē (I saye) he shall do it by the cōmaundemēt of Christ. For yf that cōmaūdemēt of Christ were not / thā nothīg shuld be done lesse. And the moost mercifull lord for­bid that I or any mā shuld be bold to attē [...] [Page]any soch thīg without his cōmaundemēt.

Beholde / this is the forme ande ma­ner to remitte ād absoile sinnes. That thī ge can be done by no other reason / nor by any other meanes / no other coūsell / no o­ther helpe is any where in any thing. For that doctrine of the Pope / is both erroni­ous ād blasphemous by the which mē do professe / that by their works ād propre merites they can obteine remissiō of their sī ­nes / ād therfore doth it bind mē to satisfactions and cōmaundeth thē / to take vppō thē a solitary life / or to make a pilgrimage vnto. S. Iames / or to builde tēples / or to edifie great Cathedrall churches and mo­nasteries to singe Masses ād to buy Pardons and soche like. These be not the wa­yes or meanes / wherby the remyssyon of synne maye happen vnto the. These thy pilgrimages ād these thy workes ād goo­des thou maiste cōuerte īto ā other ād better vse. In this busines (as moche as ap­parteineth vnto the meanes of health) they shall proffit the nothīg at all. For he­re it commeth to passe as it is said / when muses taketh vppō hym his hornes ande doth strike the / that is to witte / when by the lawe / he doth declare vnto the thy sin­nes ād the greatnes and multitude of thē ande so doth cast the into quaking feares[Page]and desperation. Than arte thou no lon­ger in that greate nombre of men that are full of securité / and haue forgotten to sor­rowe / and can not repent / ād are obdura­te / but in that litle nombre of these that do acknowledge theyr miserie and sinnes / ād do fele them / ād therfore they wepe / wai­le and tremble at the russhyng af a leafe / and at the shadowe of a rede that is mo­ued. Vnto those a helpe is prepared. Vnto those Christ saith I / I saye / haue instituted and establysshed that kingdom of grace / which shal cōsume / abolish swal­low vp and destroye synnes and death / ād shall bringe vnto the iustice / and lyfe.

Saye not therfore. Where shall I fyn­de it? where shall I seke it? Muste I take any Iornate towardes Roome or towardes Ierusalem? Not so. For if thou shul­dest ascend into heauen with golden lad­ders / if it might be brought to passe / yet shuldest thou not obteyne that thinge / by this meanes / that thou desirest. But this thou must do. Beholde ād fastē in thy minde these wordes ande cōmaundement of Christ. Who sayth / I sende you etc. As who shulde saye. It was nedefull that I shulde come fyrst vnto you / that I shuld declare vnto you by the Gospell or glad[Page]tidinges / the will of my father / ād that I shuld institute sacramentes ād absolutiō / or elles you could not haue come vnto me. Truly because / I can not be corpo­rally in all places of the woorlde vnder a visyble forme / neyther shall I be alwaies present in this propre parson / therfore do I that that my father hath done. He hath sēt me into this litle āgle of the worlde / īto Iury / that I shuld teach in it. But what taught he? He taught the glad tidīges for the cōforte of miserable synners / that we­re in Iury / he healed the sycke and dyd re­suscitate the dead. This was the worke and ministerie geuen vnto hym in com­maundement. For this was he sent from his father. There ād to this was he wholy geuen. In those places was he cōuer­saunt / and dyd his offyce with faythfull intent and sedulité / not in the Courtes of noble men / amōgest glotons / smelkitchēs these raueners more lyke swyne than mē / not with Annas and Caiphas and other Iusticers / ryche ād wise before the world / ād soche like mēne / but amōgest the blīde / the lame / the dismembred / the halting / the lepers / the deafe / the dead ād amōgest the myserable shepe that were wretchedly se­duced and strayinge abroade. With those[Page]was he present / those dyd he make of / the­se did he helpe / curyng them both in body and soule / bringing vnto them the moost precious ande inestimable treasure of the worlde / which no creature hath (moche more can it not geue it) excepte it receaue it from him / that is to saye / Iustyce ande euerlasting health.

Thus sayth he here / You shall also. do it in all places wher as you shall come And for that same cause I sende you / that you runne and be my Apostles ande mes­sangers through all the worlde. And vn­to this office you shall ordaine ād appoin­te others also / the which maye teach ande do the selfe same thynge / vnto the whiche I was sent from my father. And you are sente by me / vntyll the worldes ende ande I shalbe alwayes present with you / that you maye knowe that you are not they that do that thynge / but I by you.

By the force and strengt [...] of this com­maundement / we also haue obteyned po­wer ande faculté / to comforte the sadde and carefull conscyences / ande to absoyle them from synne. Ande we knowe when we execute this mynysterye or exercyse this acte / that we our selues do it not / but that Chryst hym selfe doth it. Wherfo­re[Page]euery vertuous man / in this case ande busynes / must thynke / whē he heareth his curate or the precher so in the pulpitt / that he heareth not man / but God hym selfe speakinge / than maye he be certeyn / eande appointe in his mynde / that he hath re­ceaued full remyssyon of all hys synnes / neyther is there left any sticking or dou­bte any more. For trulye Christe ha­the so instituted by his resurrection / that if any man that is laufully called the my­nister of the Churche / or who soeuer fy­nally in extreme necessyté doth absoyle from synnes hys neyghbour that is asto­nyed and doubtefull in mynde ande desy­rous of comforte / the same is of so moche effect and value / as though GOD him selfe had done it / if truly it be done by his commaundement and in his name.

Wherfore / when two after this sorte intreate and talke betwyxt them selues / they are gathered to gether in the name of CHRISTE. For lyke as it is aboue sayd vnto vs / none of thē both / he­re desyreth or seketh for the goodes of the other / lyke as the Papistes ād gapers for advaūtage do / which do not onely pol but also pill the Church / which do synge ande [Page]distill into the sicke soche or like woordes / O man / the houre is now at hande that doth call the from hēs. Remembre howe thow wylt dispose thy goodes and thy fa­culties / that they maye be bestowed into vertuous or Godly vses. The auari­ce or coue­tuousnes of the Pa­pistes. See that thou forget not thy wretched soule / ād see that thou prouide for the helth of it. Gyue vn­to vs one parte of thy goodes / ād we shall praye for the / ande we shall do many good woorkes for the / ād the merites of all our good woorkes / shalbe comune vnto the / with vs.The sayin­ge of a faithfull myny­ster vnto the sycke. This doth not he / which is god­ly in dede speake vnto the sicke / but vseth these / or soch like wordes. O my frēde the opportunité of the place ād time / or the case of thy infirmeté doth not nowe suffer vs to haue many things to do of thy mo­ney ande of thy earthely goodes / let other men take cure of those. I see thy harte to be troubled or stryken wyth the feare of death / ād that thou arte in conflict with desperatyon / and that thou haste not suffi­ciēt helpe of thy selfe wherby thou mayest be able to rydde thy selfe oute of that daū ­ger / and confirme thy minde against tho­se fearfull thynges. But take a good harte vnto the / Christ hath instituted a kīgdom in earth full of consolation and beatitude / [Page]when he sayde / like as my father hath sent me so do I sēd you / with these wordes / he hath consecrated vs all to be priestes / for this purpose / that one shuld declare vnto other the remissiō of sīnes. And therfore / I nowe come vnto the in the name of the same oure lorde Iesu Christ / and I bidde the to be of good comforte. There is no cause why thou shuldest feare. There is nothing why thou sholdest quake and be of a desperate minde / as though ther we­re no solace / helpe or counsell any where. Doest thou not heare that Christ came not for the iust / but for sinners to the purpose to saue them? Wherfore take a good harte vnto the / trust assuredly / receue this glad tidinges wyth a glad minde / ād with thy harte rēdre vnto him thākes for this tidinges whiche he bringeth vnto the by me / without all labour / care ande charge of thy selfe. And besydes this / also he hath geuen commaundement / that I shuld re­mytre vnto the thy synnes / wherfore I forgeue all thy synnes vnto the / in the na­me of the Father / the sonne ande the holy­ghoost. Wherfore / nowe with a glad mī ­de / saye these wordes O moost mercifull God O heauenly Father I thanke th [...] / that thou hast forgeuen vnto me my syn­nes / [Page]by thy derely beloued sonne Iesus Christ nor doubte not / but of the lorde hī selfe the hauenly father thou arte absoy­led of thy vniuersall synnes.

Of this thou seest / that these wordes of the office of the keyes doth ī no wise cō fyrme and establish the tirannie of the po­ [...]. For christ did not therfore giue these keies. He did not therfore īstitute this mini­sterie / that I shuld ēriche the / or thou me / or that I shuld be lorde ouer the / or that thou shuldest be cōpelled to be subiect vn­to me / as the pope doth conuerte it into wordly power / magnyfycence and domi­nion by the whiche acte he setteth forth ād doth testifie / moost manyfestly / that he hym self is a great Rybaulde / Antechrist hym selfe / moost wicked / full of contu­ma [...]te ād a despiser of GOD / a blasphe­m [...]s and a mocker of CHRIST ande the traitour of his Churche. For Christe woulde not this / as I haue sayde. He hath not by these wordes instituted any wordly Kyngdome and tyranny / but he had an eye to this purpose / this he wolde / and therfore he dyd institute it / that com­ming vnto the [...] wrastlyng with despera­tion / and gronyng vnder the harde bur­den[Page]of synnes (whether it be in the great agony of death / or any other tyme) I shuld saye vnto the (intending to lyfte the vp with comforte or counsell) let power / money / honoures dygnityes and ryches be remoued hens farre of / nowe may the­re not / neither ought any respect to be had of those thinges. But nowe must we be­twyxt vs entreate and talke of the Kyng­dome of Chryste / by the which onely / and by none other thou canst be delyuered frō synne and death.

This truly is not a forrayne ande a worldlye power and dominion / but it is an office and a ministerie. For here truly I seke for nothing of the / I neither haw­ke nor wowe for any thinge wherby I maye be enryched / or to be lorde ouer the / and wherby I maye make the subiect vn­to me / ād to make the my handseruaunt / but I serue ande do exhibit the greatest offyce that maye be vnto the. I brynge vnto the a great ād inestymable treasure / not golde or syluer / but where as thy har­te that is oppressed wyth heauy care / doth covet to be comforted / delyuered ande confyrmed / ande to haue GOD mercy­full vnto the in heauē. Therfore come I [Page]vnto the brīging vnto the / the moost true Gospell or tidings that is moost gladdest / moost pleasaunt and moost to be desyred / not of my selfe / not of my good intent / or of my propre coūsell / but by the commaū ­demēt and message of Chryst. Who saith / Come you all vnto me / that labour ād are ladē / I shall refresh you. Also / These thi­ges whiche ye lowse vppon earthe / shalbe lowsed in heauē / or els (as he sayth here) Vnto whome you shall remitte their sin­nes / vnto thē are they forgeuen etc. Is not thys to serue? Is it not an office that is greatest of all? and not to be compared withall for any mā to do the better / when thankfully I bringe vnto the an inestima­ble treasure that is heauenly ande euerlastynge? Whyche neyther thou / nor all the woorlde with all the goodes ād riches in it cā neither match nor buy with money? For what are the vniuersall treasures of all the world / the Iewelles of all kinges / crownes / goodes / golde / precious stones / and what soever it maketh moost of / ande doth wonder at it / what are all those thī ­ges in comparyson of this treasure / that is to say / the remissiō of sīnes / by the wh­yche thou arte delyuered from the tyran­nye of the Devell / of death ande of hell.

[Page]And arte certyfyed that God the heauen­lye Father wilbe mercyfull vnto the / And so mercyfull / that for Chrystes sake / thou must be the sonne and heyre of God / ande the brother and coheyre of Chryste. Wherfore soche ande so great a treasure as this is / can not be bought or solde / or wayed e­qually with money / the which thynge the same our Iudas Iscarioth the pope hath done. For excepte it be geuen ande taken thanckfully / and wyth mere grace / ther is no cause why that thou shuldest trust to enioye the same thyng / or to take by it any commodyté. For the gyfte of God is not gotten with money.

Truly I would not that any mā shuld thynke that I haue spoken these thynges as though nothynge ought to be geuen or employed vppon the mynysters of the ch­urch which syncerely and trulye teach the worde of God / wherby they may nourish them selues / the which thinge at this daie certeyne parsons do gladlye in many pla­ces / which do so envie their curates ande ministers of their churches / that almoost they numbre ande measure everye morsell of meate that commeth within theyr Ia­wes / by all waies ande meanes that they can. They steale and pike vnto them sel­ues [Page]those ecclesiasticall goodes / wyth the which the pastours and mynisters of the worde of God ought to be nourisshed. And in so doying they declare opēly / that theyre studie is to driue the ministers of the worde vnto extreme pouerté ad daū ­ger of famyne / and so to dryue them from them / that there maye be none to teache / or to checke their vices. Truly what di­sturbaunce hereafter shall come. What desolation of the Church. What myserie. Nowe great a barbarousnes shal there of follow we shall proue that / and that shor­tely / excepte the magistrates fynde some remedy for this myschefe. In no case therfore do I speake these thinges / nor yet so these thinges ought to be vnderstā ­de / as who shulde saye / that nothing shuld be geuen vnto the ministers of the Chur­che. For these thinges are dewe wnto thē wherby they may nourish ande susteyne commodiously and easely / them selues ād their familie. For except they haue wher­wyth to lyue / wherwith to cladde them selue / where to dwell / and howe to defen­de them selues / agaynst the iniurie of col­de ande heate / they can not longe do their office / but they shalbe compelled (forsa­kynge theyr offyce of teachynge) to seke[Page]and finde howe to kepe them selues. The which thinge when it cometh to passe / the Gospell can noth longe remaine. The which thing the deuell doth ād seketh for the same purpose / that by this occasyon he may take oure of the way and let the doc­trine of the Gospell.

A stypende is dewe vn­ro the ministers of the Chu [...]ch / [...] the ordenaū ce of God. And that thinges are dewe vnto them / wherby they maie aptely nourish thē sel­ues / Christe doth teache that openly whe­re he saith. The labourer is worthy of his reward. S. Paul also. He that is instructed / must cōmunicate vnto him that doth instructe him in all good thinges. And he dothe adde a terme / wherby iustly those wicked parsons ought to be feared / the which is this. God is not mocked. Also. 1 Timoth. the. 5. Seniour or prestes that are righte in auctorne / or that do gouuer­ne well / are worthy to be had in doub [...] honour specially those that by worde ande teaching do laboure. If that therfore sti­pendes be geuen vnto other that are pu­blike officers in thiges that they serue vn­to a communalté / that by the same they maye with more expedition serue the tur­ne wherunto they are called / moch more is it dewe vnto the ministers of the wor­de / for trulie when we haue wyth all dili­gence[Page]and good will / geuen vnto them all thinges / wherby they may lyue commo­diously / yet must ye saye this. This stipend / this money or this grayne which we geue vnto the curate or minister of the worde / we geue it not for sermons or ab­solutiō. (the which are not the propre thī ­ges of those ministers but of God / ande therfore they can not be solde of them for money) but for as moch as God hath so ordained / that we shuld heare ande recea­ue the worde and his Sacramentes / of menne. Therfore is it necessarie that they be norisshed of the comun charge / or of the publike treasure / or by our comune wa­gis. And we shall geue thē with glad mi­de / that they maie haue whervppō to liue / and that by that wayes they maie wyth better expedition do theyr office. The which thinge if it were not done / they shulde be compelled to renounce their office / and so shulde we be spoiled of the doctri­ne of the Gospell.

These thinges are moost true / and in dede of necessyté must be so done. Fur­ther more if the doctryne of the GOS­PELL ought to be Preached purely ande to be sect ouer or left vnto the pos­terytyté pure / We must prouyde not[Page]onely for the ministers of the worde a cō ­modious lyuyng / but we must beware ād watche with all care ande study also / that the places appointed to teache in / or scoo­les of learning / maye haue apte Parsons / and that wi [...]h oute difficulte the rulers of the scooles / Stipendes must be ge­uen vnto Scoolemasters and the teachers of childeren may haue also meate and drincke and sti­pendes wherby they maye commodious­ly susteine them selues / wherby those ma­ye be brought vp / which in time to come maye be not onely comune preachers or onely apte for that purpose that they ma­ye instructe with the word some one churche / but soch also / that maye gett vnto thē that doctryne and faculté that they maye be able not onely to teache in a pulpit / but also to contynue and resiste these that ma­ke secres and madde raging spirites / ande soch as are foolishsly insensed with false opiniōs. For this vse not onely the Prin­ces and magistrates / but also the Cytezēs and all the people of the countrey ought comunely to giue some parte of their fa­culties / that scoles might be preserued / and that the church maye alwaies haue such men / the which trulie she can not lac­ke / if the purité of the doctrine and the he­alth of the cōgregation or churche ought[Page]to be maynteyned.

For of chese thinges that you haue he­arde / you maye easely gather / howe great and howe incomparable a treasure ande not able to be estemed / is the puryté ande absolu [...]ō of the Gospell / if it be hearde ād receaued in a true sence of a right and lau­full minister / when he commeth vnto the being sicke / and dothe comforte the / thou oughtest assuredly to persuade thy selfe / and to beleue / that Christ the lord him fel­fe doth comme vnto the and comforte the. For no man wold euer so presume to co­me so vnto the / without the commaunde­ment of God / neyther coulde any mā hel­pe the with comforte or counsell / or gyue the any ayde. Nowe trvly / seing thou hea­rest that God hym selfe doth commaun­de it / thou maist without doubte / ād with a glad mynde saye here christe him self cō ­meth vnto me / in my confessour or cura­te. For he doth not speake his owne but the worde of god / for the whych he is sent and the which is geuen in commaunde­mēt vnto hym of God. This / whan a mā hath persuaded with him selfe / that God hath sent him / and hath cōmaunded those thinges to be declared / than doth the fea­re and the carefulnesse of the cōscience de­crease[Page]and is quenched / than is the minde erected and pacefyed wich comforte / and beginneth to haue a good hope / neyther is there than any cause why to waver ād to be in doubte ande to be in a wane hope and to sticke in doubte. The whych thing must nedes be in those that followe the doctrine of the pope.The Po­pes doctry­ne of abso­lution. For that doctrine taught that men ought to doubte / neither dyd that absoyle anye man from synnes excepte he departed with sufficient ande due iustice / and full contricion / ande had cofessed all his synnes. Here was no mē ­cion made / not so moche as a worde of faith / ande of the vertue of the keyes that are institute by Christe. Truly thys doc­trine ande knowledge was so obscured ande vnknowen / ande playnely buried / that I my selfe / euen than whan I was made doctor / (which certeynly ought by no meanes to be rude or ignoraunt in this matter) dyd thinke no otherwyse / nor taught otherwyse / then that than fi­nally the synnes to be remitted vnto me and vnto other / if we had done / or had to a full ād iuste sorte parfect or due contri­tion / ande were confessed. But of a tru­eth / if oure synnes shuld not be forgeuen [Page]vnto vs / before that we with our cōtriti­on or compunction and wyth other good woorkes shulde waie downe the same / ād before that nothing might be required in them / than myght I neuer trust for any remission of sinnes. For I can neuer de­termyne with my selfe that I haue done full and iust contrycion / and therfore ac­cordig vnto that / no man can absoile / whether he be Pope or any other what soever he be.

So by the popysh lyes the consciences are miserably seduced ād called awaye frō the woorde of faythe and the commaun­dement of God / vnto his vncerteyne con­trition and compunction of harte. And this theyr doctrine hath gotten by extor­tion infinite sommes of money / and hath encreased them with great ample ryches and kyngdomes.The occasyon of the popysh power And by thys meanes al­so / so manye Temples monasteries great Churches / ande Cathedrall Churches / Chappelles and Aulters are builded and indued withe large or ample gyftes ande costes. And at thys daye theyr are bulles and Popyshe pardones that are sufficiēt witnesses of these thynges / and doth con­fyrme those buyldinges ande gyftes / by the whyche the POPE hath wretche­lye[Page]deceiued all the woorlde / ande hathe by these faierynges / or buying and sellig­done so moch harme vnto the Church of Christ / that no man can compryse wyth mynde / nor expresse with wordes the gre­atnes of that calamité and iniurie.

For that cause / we do often and diligēt­ly exhorte. And let those with vs with cō ­tinuall studie do the same / that in this case doth helpe vs / as manie as maye / that sco­les / cur [...]s ād ministries of the worlde / be earnestly maintained / least soche an other errour / or rather worse (the which thing Sathan doth endeuour with the greatest studie that he can) crepe in againe. The mea­nes to con­serue the Gospell pure.If tru­lye we wyll preuent and withstande this mischefe / that cā no otherwise be done better / than if the youth euen from theyr yonge ande tender age / be well ande vertu­ously taught and brought vp / the whiche succeding after vs / when we are departed vnto Christ / maye not onely set forth and beate into the people diligently the pure doctrine / but also maie defend the same / against madde raging and erronious tea­chers / and put of wycked ād false / opiniōs For trulye it is a great benefyt of God / when soch parsōs are apoīted ministers / the whiche do syncerely teach the worde[Page]of GOD rightly and purely. And besy­des those also / it is necessarie that some be that can preserue learning / and defend the same / least the Church be infected and corrupted with theyr poyson and wicked er­rours.The neces­syte of sco­les. For that purpose it is necessarye / that vniuersities or scooles be mayntey­ned / from whence soch men do at length come / the which may fyght or contend for the doctryne / ande preserue the purité of the same.

When truly we do employ to this pur­pose either our labour or faculties / that soch men maye be in the Church / that ma­ye teache purely and that may also cōfor­te the sorrowfull ande afflicted conciens­ces / according vnto the commaundemēt of Christ (as we haue sayde) and may re­fraine and conuince the wolues and wic­ked doctours. And when those haue well prouided for them thynges necessary / and large and due stipendes / than that ought not to be adiudged as a sufficient recom­pense / wagis or price / for those benefites which happē vnto vs by thē / but it must be thought that it is a thankfull sacrifice / and a geuing of thankes and a due pray­se vnto God.Praiers must be made for the preachers of the chur­che. And also we must diligently praye / lyke as Christe doth admonish vs / [Page]that he will vouchsafe to sende soch wor­ke men into his haruest. For why? tea­chers trulye shall alwayes be / but except he send them / they shall not be Godly / faithfull and pure.

After this forme is it ryghtly taught and beleued of the Kyngdome of Christe / and of the power and ministerie of the ke­yes. Ande if we directe our selues after this forme / than remayne we Christians / and than maye we parforme the offyces or dueties that we owe both vnto God and man / and sone dyscharge oure selues from all kynde of doctrines ande opini­ons / and to iudge of them rightlye.

And then also shall we giue GOD than­kes from our harte / that he hath delyue­red vs from the tormentes / slaughter­house and tyranie of the Pope / who doth cōuert the power of the keyes into a cer­taine clere ande infinite power / ande vp­roare ande a worldly dominion / when notwithstanding the power of the keyes was appointed and ordeyned of Chryst / The ende of the keies of Christ.for this ende ande vse onely that that treasure shuld be offered ād exhibited vnto all the world / the which may be waied dow­ne ād bought with no sommes of money[Page]nor with no riches sauing that we must testifie and declare our benignité piété or godlynes ande gratitude / with our bene­fietes / liberalité of our faculties / ād with our offices / towardes those that do exe­cute this ministerie / the which are wor­thy of double honoure... Timoth. 5.

Let vs therfore geue thākes vnto chri­ste our lord / that he hath by his resurrec­tion institute soch a kingdome of grace / for this purpose / that we shuld haue ande finde in that in all our necessities ād trou­bles / alwayes a present help and a sure cō ­forte / neither is this treasure to be sought for / oute of regiōs farre of / neither is ther moch labour or paynes to be spent for the same / neither are great costes to be done when we buy it vnto vs. For Christ hath geuen commaundement and full power vnto his Apostles / yea / in necessite vnto e­uery vertuous mā that beleueth in Christ euen vntyll the worldes ende / that they maye erect ād cōfirme those that are wea­in faith and ready to fall into desperatiō / wyth comforte. And in his name forgiue synnes. etc. Of the which thing let this be spoken suffyciently.