A ryght notable sermon / made by Doctor Martyn Luther / vppon the twenteth Chapter of Iohan / of absolution and the true vse of the keyes / full of great coÌ„forte In the which also it is intreated of the mynysters of the Church / and of Scolemaisters / what is dewe vnto them Ande of the hardnes and softenes of the harte of manne ¶ Iohan. xx ¶ Whose synnes soeuer ye remitte / they are remytted vnto them / and whose synnes soeuer ye retayne / they are retayned IMPRINTED at Ippeswich by Anthony Scoloker Dwellyng in S. Nycholas Parryshe Anno. 1548. ¶ Cum Priuilegio ad imprimendum solum Whose sinnes soeuer ye remytte they are remitted vnto them / ande whose synnes soever ye retayne / they are retained ¶ Vnto the ryghte honorable and his mooste synguler good lorde / my lorde wentworthe Rychard Argentyne wyssheth increase of honour peace and prosperous succes / in all his procedinges ALbeit ryght honorable that the prophecye of Iacob was true / that the scripture was not takeÌ„ a waye from Iuda / vnto the tyme that Silo came / the very true Messias / both God and man Yet dyd the almygtye GOD punish the Iewes wyth blyndnes / chefelye / for their Hipocrisye and Idolatrye / ande spoyled them of the moost holy aÌ„d right gouuernaunce Where therfore it myght appere / that Antechrist was moost iustlie aÌ„d laufullye extirped all together with his vsurped power oute of this mooste fortunate realme and yet the same remained in dede still iÌ„ the teÌ„ple of god / with his abhominacioÌ„ vnder the cloke of iÌ„numerable strauÌ„ge gods / which by his persuasioÌ„s were decked i th pardoÌ„s teples golde / siluer / precyous stones and other costlie thinges / to styrre there by the people / both to be seruauntes vnto them / and to honour them / wherby Christ beyng clene extiÌ„guisshed myserably we haue iustifyed the Idolatrye of the Iewes / that of iust cause the Turke as the scourge of God doth therfore hate and persecute Christen men It hath pleased almightie god of his great mercy / to send vnto vs a Iosias / and a Kynge of moost worthye fame / clene to weede oute the same / commaundyng god and his holye woorde frelie to be geueÌ„ vnto all his louinge subiectes / and Christ onelie truelie ande syncerelye to be taught ande redde euery where / the which is the very true keye / wherby to enter into the Kingdome of heauen / ande the nexte waye / to obteyne the mightie ande stronge swearde / for euer to beate downe the deuell and hys derelie beloued antechriste For those trulie / did not receyue / with the Apostles / at the handes of the holighoost / the auctoritie of the keies of heauen / that teache theyr owne tradicions / ande not Chryst onelye / and the infinite mercy of God / And yet so moche hath been the craking of the fayned vertues of the abouenamed ennemy of God Hys painted keyes haue bene so moche exalted / his colored lyghtning / is so moche dredde in forraine Realmes the more pitie euen at this daye / that there by he maketh him selfe not onelie the vicare of god vppoÌ„ earth / but also a shamefull myxed thynge / set aÌ„d boasted vnto the woorlde / as a certeyne God of the earth / being both dradde ande honoured euen aboue God him selfe / and is in dede but a man of sinne / and the sonne of perditioÌ„ To the inteÌ„t therfore / that thauctorite of his keyes / maye the better be knowen / I haue translated a sermon / declaring the true vse of the keyes of absolution / whome the bisshoppe of Rome hath shamefully abused Geuinge that for a token of my harte / vnto your good lordeshippe / that other by you yf your pleasure so shal be maie haue the fruytion of so great a coÌ„forte / to the maintenaunce of holie learninge That the interest of his deceptfull iugglinge maye vtterly be bannyshed for euer Ande thus Iesu preserue your lordeshippes estate vnto gods honoure Fare you well ¶ At Ippeswyche the 20 daye of Ianuary / the yeare of oure lorde 1.5.48 ¶ Iohan. xx ¶ Peace be wyth you Lyke as my father sent me / euen so sende I you And wheÌ„ he had saide that / he breathed vppon theÌ„ / aÌ„d sayde vnto them Receaue the holy ghoost / whose synnes soeuer ye remytte they are remitted vnto them and whose synnes soeuer ye retayne / they are retayned Receave the holy ghâ—… Gospell THE lorde teacheth by the wordes of thys Gospell / what proffyt he hath done vnto vs / by his resurrextion / that is to vnderâ—…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 froÌ„ 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 vppoÌ„ the fysshes of the sea / and the birdes of the ayre / aÌ„d vppon all thinges hauing life that moueth vppon the earth etc. This is the olde kingdom in the ministracioÌ„ wherof / the seculer magistrate is occupied / neither is there any nede of the 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 coÌ„scyences / aÌ„d 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 siÌ„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 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 meÌ„ 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 geueÌ„ 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 diligeÌ„tly and instauntly beaten in to them / there plainely men are Ethnikes and Prophane parsoÌ„s / thinking theÌ„ 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 aÌ„d punish / those manyfest and grosse mischeuous actes ande synnes / but what synne 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 geueÌ„ 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 aÌ„d callinge to haue the vse of longe experience / and to be exercised moch aÌ„d 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 fouÌ„de 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 siÌ„ne / the lawe is nedefull Wherfore the fyrst instruction of a christen maÌ„ 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 / aÌ„d to full of imbecilitie / with all her wysdome / ande wyth all â—…e â—awes and preceptes of all the learnâ—… men of the lawe / to parfourme that And albeit that we graunt / that chefelie in reason is pâ—aÌ„ced and graffed a certeine knowleadge of the thiÌ„ge chat is honest aÌ„d dishonest / yet is that so small and thinâ—e / that it can not sufficiently knowe the malice aÌ„d 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 resurrectioÌ„ he wolde beginne ande erecte a newe kyngdome the which shuld resiste synne when by the lawe they are knowen death and hell / aÌ„d doth restrayne theÌ„ / take them a waye and abolish theÌ„ / neither doth this kiÌ„gdoÌ„ teach vs howe matrimonies maie be coÌ„tracted / howe the prouisyon of the house at home 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 / aÌ„d 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 aÌ„d bodely kingdome will fayle / and the condicion of thys life shall haue an ende / wheÌ„ oure goodes aÌ„d all our faculties / honoures / promocions / houses and landes / the woorlde and what so euer is in it / and coÌ„meth oute of the earth / ande fynallye the lyfe it selfe is to be forsakeÌ„ And trulie death hangeth ouer vs / aÌ„d 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 hangeth ouer maÌ„ 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 daÌ„pned 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 / aÌ„d by that meanes / to make that siÌ„ne whyche is no synne / aÌ„d 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 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 shal be the maner of my kingdom Fâ—rst that men maye knowe them selves to be siÌ„ners And trulie that busines is geven in commissioÌ„ vnto my servaunt Moses / that by his lawe / he
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 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 cōcerneth 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 cōmeth to cōforte the / thou hearest these or suche like wordes / Dere beloued brother 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 shal be 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 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 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 shal be gathered together in my name / I shal be 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 shal be 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 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 shal be / 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 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 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◠any soch thīg without his cōmaundemēt Beholde / this is the forme ande maner to remitte ād absoile sinnes That thīge 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 sīnes / 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 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 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 meÌ„ne / but amoÌ„gest the bliÌ„de / the lame / the dismembred / the halting / the lepers / the deafe / the dead aÌ„d amoÌ„gest the myserable shepe that were wretchedly seduced and strayinge abroade With those 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 aÌ„d 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 shal be 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 strengtâ— 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 euery vertuous man / in this case ande busynes / must thynke / wheÌ„ 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 theÌ„ both / here desyreth or seketh for the goodes of the other / lyke as the Papistes aÌ„d gapers for advauÌ„tage do / which do not onely pol but also pill the Church / which do synge ande distill into the sicke soche or like woordes / O man / the houre is now at hande that doth call the from heÌ„s 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 / aÌ„d see that thou prouide for the helth of it Gyue vnto vs one parte of thy goodes / aÌ„d we shall praye for the / ande we shall do many good woorkes for the / aÌ„d the merites of all our good woorkes / shal be 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 freÌ„de the opportunité of the place aÌ„d 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 / aÌ„d that thou arte in conflict with desperatyon / and that thou haste not sufficieÌ„t helpe of thy selfe wherby thou mayest be able to rydde thy selfe oute of that dauÌ„ger / and confirme thy minde against those fearfull thynges But take a good harte vnto the / Christ hath instituted a kiÌ„gdom in earth full of consolation and beatitude / when he sayde / like as my father hath sent me so do I seÌ„d you / with these wordes / he hath consecrated vs all to be priestes / for this purpose / that one shuld declare vnto other the remissioÌ„ of siÌ„nes 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 / aÌ„d with thy harte reÌ„dre vnto him thaÌ„kes 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 miÌ„de / saye these wordes O moost mercifull God O heauenly Father I thanke thâ— / that thou hast forgeuen vnto me my synnes / by thy derely beloued sonne Iesus Christ nor doubte not / but of the lorde hiÌ„ 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 iÌ„ no wise coÌ„fyrme and establish the tirannie of the poâ—… For christ did not therfore giue these keies He did not therfore iÌ„stitute this ministerie / that I shuld eÌ„riche the / or thou me / or that I shuld be lorde ouer the / or that thou shuldest be coÌ„pelled to be subiect vnto me / as the pope doth conuerte it into wordly power / magnyfycence and dominion by the whiche acte he setteth forth aÌ„d doth testifie / moost manyfestly / that he hym self is a great Rybaulde / Antechrist hym selfe / moost wicked / full of contumaâ—…te aÌ„d a despiser of GOD / a blasphemâ—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 theâ— wrastlyng with desperation / and gronyng vnder the harde burden 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