he that was borne blinde or his parētes but Christ aunswereth that neither he nor his parentes had sinned but that the workes of God should bee shewed on him And yet who knoweth not that both the blinde man and his parētes were sinners as other men But Christ in saying to the Iewes they should not haue had sinne sayd as much as as thus vnto them If I had not come amōg you accordyng to the very tyme appoynted at the place before spoken of and of the linage before prophesied if I had not preached vnto you if I had not done such miracles as no other man dyd then might you haue pleaded ignoraunce though it should not altogether haue excused you but now that I haue accomplished all thinges that were before told you what so euer ye now shal alledge in the defence of your selues it shal not cleare you nor dis charge you of wilfull and obstinate sinne Now I will be so bold before your honors and worships to apply these wordes of Christ as the present tyme doth offer occasion There are in this our countrey many thynges farre out of frame though I can not touch all yet some of them I purpose to lay before you besechyng you to consider of them And here I mynde not to make rehearsall what shamefull and trayterous libels are cast abroad or set vp in the chief Townes of this shyre by seditious and wicked Papistes agaynst such as professe the Religion bicause they are as yet vnknowen neither do I mynde to shewe you how shamefully cruelly the poore Ministers of this countrey are misused I meane not the dissemblyng Papistes whiche can counterfayte to serue the time for they haue to much ease how some are threatned some imprisoned I know not by what law and some put in daunger of lyfe bicause they will not consent to superstition As for these thyngs bicause they bee matters as some say touchyng the Churche the ordinaries should reforme But I purpose to open vnto you such abuses as to you the reformation thereof doth belong It hath pleased God to make you Magistrates and fathers of this coūtrey not onely to see that common quietnes be kept among the people but also that God might haue his due honor and glory so that as the Ministers office is to exhort and reproue by the word your office is to defend the good and to punishe by the sword I meane to execute iustice vpō such as transgresse the lawes of God. The Lord God hath cōmaunded and so do the lawes of this Realme that the Sabboth day should be kept holy that the people should cease from labour to the end they should heare the word of God and geue them selues to godly exercises but custome and sufferaunce hath brought it to passe that the multitude do most shamefully prophane the Sabboth day haue altered the very name therof so as where god cal leth it his holy sabaoth the multitude call it there reuelyng day whiche day is spent in bulbeatings bearebeatings bowlings dicyng cardyng daunsynges drunkennes and whoredome If these shamefull disorders haue bene kept from your knowledge yet are you sinners before god but if you haue heard of thē and haue yet suffred them or if ye shall frō henceforth now that you haue heard of it suffer it Then these woordes of Christ touch you very neare who speaketh yet out of his Scriptures vnto you and out of my mouth vnto you though a poore minister saying If I had not come and spoken vnto you you should not haue had sinne but now you haue no cloke for your sinne There haue bene also very good orders set forth as well for the relieuyng of the poore as for the punishment of sturdy vagabondes whiche loyter in euery corner as though there were no officers in the countrey to punish them and if any rebuke them for ranging from place to place they will not feare to shake vp such a one and say that he taketh more vpō him then the iustice hymself who can see thē and suffer them These are their reportes whiche are not rashly to be credited It is a wonder to consider with what difficulty any thing is gotten toward the reliefe of the poore but how ready a nomber be to helpe and relieue sturdy vagabondes all the worlde may see So that if any tything man or Constable should accordyng to his dutie punish such or go about to reforme any thyng besides within his charge such though rare to be foūde are enuied chalenged counted very busie and that they will heape more vpon their heades in one yeare then they will put of in vii c. If you haue not heard of these thynges yet are you sinners before God but if you haue heard of thē and suffer that the same vnreformed and now also after that Christ out of the mouth of his Minister hath told you then these wordes of Christ touche you very neare who sayth of you If I had not come and spoken vnto them they might seme to haue some excuse for their sinne but now haue they not to cloke their sinne with all What trayterous practises there haue bene of late among the Papistes to ouerthrow the state you are not ignoraunt and how busie they be on this side on the other side the Seas by seditious billes bookes to stirre sedition and tumulte The consideration wherof hath moued the Queenes Maiestie and the honorable Coūsaile to set forth earnest proclamations for redresse of the same But what a lamentable case is this the matter is euē now before you that a poore man bringyng to light the seditious bookes of a Papist and deliuering them to the Lord Lieutenaunt of this shyre should being stomaked for this fact be set by the heeles for matters 4. or fiue yeare old to be driued from hys house his house to be rifled he his fayne to forsake the Towne for feare the offēder to be in maner quyet and vntoucht sauyng bound to appeare nowe before you And that that more is the Lord Lieutenaunt sendyng hys seruaūt and officer for the tyme to take order in this matter to be so reuiled and put in feare of his lyfe if you should suffer this vnpunished as I know you wil not I leaue to the consideration of your wisedomes what inconueniences will shortly come to your selues what would Mālius Torq that noble Romayne do if he were now here in this case who beyng chief of the army of the Romaynes hauyng a sonne of a valiāt courage encountryng with the cōmon enemy and gettyng the victory yet bicause he attempted the same contrary to his fathers commaundemēt his father caused his head to be striken from his shoulders to teache all others how they contemned authoritie If any should gather by this that I haue sayd that I went about to moue the Magistrates to crueltie let thē vnderstād that they are very
A SERMON made at Blanford Forū in the Countie of Dorset on Wensday the 17. of Ianuarij last past at the Session holden there before the honorable and the worshyppefull of that Shyre by William Kethe Minister and Preacher of Gods word 1571. AT LONDON Printed by Iohn Daye dwellyng ouer Aldersgate ¶ Cum gratia Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis ⧠To the right honorable my very good Lord Ambrose Earle of Warwike Baron Lisle of the most noble order of the Garter Knight general of the Q. Maiesties Ordinaunce within her highnes Realmes and dominions his most humble seruaunt William Kethe wisheth grace mercy and peace in the Lord. WHen as I considered right honorable how many godly and notable workes had ben set forth by excellent learned men to the great vtility and profite of such as should with an vpright iudgement studiously reade them I determined with my selfe and thought it sufficient for discharge of my cōscience if I wholy imployed that simple talent committed vnto me in preathing the word though simply yet sincerely according to that function wherunto I am called And so it came to passe by the good prouidence of God that on wednesday being the 17. day of this moneth of Ianuary I preached at Blādford Forum in the Countie of Dorset at the Session holden there where both the honorable and many of the worshipfull which harde me tooke my simple trauels in very good part as both then and sithence I haue well perceiued Neuertheles sundry not onely of the multitude but some of higher calling so much misliked my sayd Sermon that they thought I spake somwhat more then became me but yet I prayse God that those which take the matter most greuously are but potte companions who thinke that I haue done them an exceeding great miury for that I opened to the Magistrates how shamefully the Saboth day which God would haue to be kept holy was prophaned with druncken and vngodly reueling and all kinde of iniquitie in so much that some are cast I know not how into such a heate therewith that it seemeth they want but the chaynge and turne of tyme to put me in a greater heat then they themselues would be in willingly who also by their sinistrall reportes of my Sermon would very faine cause others which heard me not to be of their owne corrupt and peruerse iudgementes I haue therefore thought it expedient and not without aduise counfaile to call to my remembraunce my sayd Sermon and to commit the same to writing and to the iudgements of the godly wherin I haue vsed such diligēce if I be not much deceaued that such as heard it shal finde not very many things added but yet lesse left out or omitted certenly to my knowledge not one sentence And now right honorable if I should follow that laudable custome of the learned which commonly do dedicate their works to such personages as they thinke to be most worthy and to such as be of honour or worship beyng desirous to further vertue and the sincere religiō of Iesus Christ with the fauourers of the same To whom should I dedicate these my poore simple trauels but to your honour who being not onely my especiall good maister and Lorde as full oft I haue felte but also vnder God and the Queenes Maiestie one of my chiefe protectours and defenders agaynst all such as would offer me iniury And although I should laye a part all those respectes yet my case standing as it doth I know not to whome by better right I should dedicate this my Sermon then to your honour who among many other both honorable and worshipfull cā witnes with me that for the tyme I was with you in Newhauen the minister and preacher there and also this last yeare with you in the North partes one of the preachers of the Queenes Maiesties armie I vsed at both places when occasion was offered to speake plainely before your honor and the rest and yet not forgetting I trust before whome I spake yea and when I sawe that great necessirie so required and that duetie draue me thereto I practised your honour well knoweth a certeyne kind of discipline euen vpon those that by birth and parentage were farre aboue me I do willingly and of set purpose put your honour in mynde of these thinges which otherwise might full well haue bene buried in obliuion to the entent that when such as so stomake me for telling truth shall vnderstand that as well your honour as a great many of other men of high calling in this common welth Gentlemen and Captaynes of great worshippe actiuitie courage valiantnes besides the multitude of common Souldiers were not onely well pleased with my plaine speach among thē in preaching against abuses but also willing to redresse the same and to shew them very honorable worship full towardes me both in word deede for my plainenes with them It may be that these men by such a president before their eyes will somewhat qualifie and content thēselues forasmuch as betwene such as I haue named and them if the question be for worship office or dignitie I see not well how there may be any comparison Our heauenly father preserue your honour with all yours and graunt you the continuaunce of his loue and fauour Amen At Childockford this xxix of Ianuary 1570. Your Lordships most humble seruaunt William Keth minister of Gods worde ⧠A Sermon made at Blanford Forū in the Countie of Dorset on Wensday the 17. of Ianuari last past at the Session holdē there c. If I had not come and spoken vnto them they should not haue had sinne but now they haue no cloke for the yr sinnes c. OUr Sauiour Christ in this xv of S. Iohn doth not onely put his Apostles in mind what great troubles wer to come vpon them for the profession of his name but he also sheweth what shuld moue those persecutours so to vexe to trouble them Haec omnia facient vobis propter nomē meum quia non nouerunt eum qui misit me All these thynges shall they doe vnto you for my names sake bicause they haue not knowen him which sent me But least any mā should thinke that those wicked persecutours should vnder coulour of ignoraunce excuse thē selues Christ our Sauiour in these woordes that I haue read vnto you cōuinceth them by iij. notable reasons or Arguments prouyng their ignoraunce not to be simple but rather wilfull and malitious much lyke vnto such as at noone day will of set purpose close their eyes bicause they will not see the light Christ by his first reason or Argument proueth that they were enemyes to his doctrine in these wordes Si nō venissem locutus fuissem eis peccatum non haberent Nunc autē non habent quod praetexant peccato suo If I had not come and spoken vnto them sayth Christ they should not haue had sinne but now they haue no
cloke for their sinne By the 2. Argument Christ proueth that they were the very enemyes of God in hatyng hys person as they dyd bicause of his doctrine taught amōg thē Ther fore he sayth Qui me odit is patrē meū odit he that hateth me hateth my father also For the father and I am one The thyrd Argument sheweth how they contemned his wōderfull workes such was their hatred both to his doctrine and person Si opera non fecissem inter eos quae nemo alius fecit peccatum non haberent c. If I had not done workes among them which no other mā dyd they should not haue had sinne c. But bicause tyme will not licence me to prosecute these three Argumentes of Christ agaynst them I will stay onely vpon the first Argument requestyng you to obserue three notes that may be gathered of the same The first is that no mā can be excused before God by ignoraūce though he haue not heard the word The 2. is that where the word hath sounded there can no man haue a cloke for his sinne The thyrd last note is to shewe you what startyng holes the wicked haue to auoyde their sinne and what shiftes they haue to put theyr sinnes to other or to escape punishment for sinne thoughe to their owne confusion But that I may haue grace so to entreate of these thinges as may be to the glory of God and to the edificatiō of such as are present I shall desire you that we all may ioyne together in prayer And in these our prayers c. Si nō venissem locutus fuissem The first thing I wished you to obserue vpon this first argument of Christ was this that ignoraunce should excuse no man before the iudgement seate of Christ which assertion although it may be confirmed by many places of the scriptures yet one or two places I trust may suffice at this present We reade in in the 3. and 33. of Ezechiell where God vsing a similitude from the warres sayth thus If I bring the sword vpon a land if the people of that land take a mā from among them and make him their watchman if when he seeth the sworde come vpon the land he blow the trumpet warne the people Then he that heareth the sounde of the trumpet and will not be warned if the sworde come and take him away his bloude shall be vpon hys owne head but if the watchman see the sworde come and blowe not the trumpet and the people be not warned if the sworde come and take away any person from among them he is taken away for his iniquitie but his bloud will I require at the watchmans hand The Lord turneth frō the similitude to the Prophet and to all others which shoulde take vppon them the office of teaching his people putting them in minde of their dueties which is to tell the people their sinnes if beyng tolde they repent not their bloud shal be vpon their owne heades but if for want of warning the people perishe thē shall their blouds as the Prophet sayth be required at the watchmans handes S. Paule also in the first to the Romaines affirmeth that for asmuch as that which may be knowne of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it vnto them and that the inuisible thinges of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene by the creation of the world being considered in his workes to the entent that they should be without excuse These and such places of Scripture do take all excuse from the sonnes of men although they haue not heard the sounde of the Gospell So that if traytors and rebels rebell against their lawfull Magistrates although they neuer heard or red that of Paule in the 13. to the Rom. Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers c. Or that of S. Peter the first Epist. and 2. chapt Submit your selues vnto all maner of ordinaunces of man for the Lordes sake Yet notwithstanding like as it cannot excuse thē before the iudgement seate here in earth to pleade ignoraunce and that they thought it not to be so heynous a cryme to rebell no more can it excuse thē before god For the very lawe of nature shall suffice to condemne them of ingratitude The Magistrates in like maner where as God hath placed them in authoritie to the end they should defend the innocent and punishe the wicked if they taking their pleasures neuer seeke to know their duties out of Gods worde but for lacke of knowledge of God and the lawes of the realme or the common weale wherein they are Magistrates do punishe the godly and mainteine the wicked can ignoraunce excuse them either before God or man no no for though they neuer heard that in the law Thou shalt not in iudgement bow to the right hand nor to the left hand and that of the Prophet in the second Psalme Be ye learned O ye rulers of the earth Yet shall the lawe of nature condemne them which teacheth them to helpe others as they would be holpen thē selues And the same may be sayde of the ministers of the Church and such as ought to be the feeders of Christes flocke of whom God by the Prophet Malachy saith that their lips should preserue knowledge If such should enter into the ministery not for any zeale but for ease for liuing and for worldly respectes as a number do being beastly ignoraunt farre frō that knowledge which the Lord requireth certenly it is so farre of that this their ignoraunce shall excuse them before God that it shall suffice deepely to condemne them And thus much shortly touching the first note vpon these wordes of our Sauiour where he sayth If I had not come c. The second note teacheth vs that where the word hath sounded in mēs eares there can they not bring ignoraunce or any other thing to excuse them or to cloke their sinne yet the wordes of Christ be such as some might thinke the contrary For Christ sayth If I had not come and spoken vnto them they shoulde not haue had sinne But the whole scope of the scriptures do euidētly proue that no man euer was is or can be without sinne the sonne of God onely excepted And the holiest men that euer were as Abraham Isaac Iacob Dauid Daniell and Iob felt their great imperfectiōs acknowledging them selues to be earth ashes desiring God not to weye their iniquities nor to enter into iudgement with thē Christ therefore in this place of S. Iohn dischargeth not men of all sinne though he had not come vnto them but now that he came and spake vnto them they not to make their profite of his comming he now chargeth them with wilfull sinne wyth obstinate sinne and with the sinne of infidelitie In the ix Chap. of Iohn the Disciples aske Christ who had sinned either
much deceaued I know that God from the begynnyng hath abhorred cruel tyrauntes and their tyranny yea the very endes so horrible of Cayn Saule Antiochus Herod ▪ sithens the Ascention of Christ of Nero Caligula Domitian Comodus Decius Maxentius Aurelian Dioclesian with many other tyraunts may suffice to feare all others from the lyke tyrāny My meanyng is that lenitie should not put Iustice to silence That same that is written of Domitian and Nerua can not to oft be called to memorie It is doubted whether the cruelty of the one or foolish pity of the other did more harme in the commō wealth It is a miserable common weale where it is lawfull for a man to do nothing but yet more miserable where euery man may doe what he liste To conclude this second part if Papistes rebels magistrates ministers c. can not be excused by ignoraunce as ye heard in the first part how much more vaine shall the excuses of such be as haue heard the worde and that Christ out of hys scriptures and out of the mouthes of his ministers so often tymes haue spoken vnto them so that now such may assure themselues that they shall haue no cloke for their sinne but that shall fall vpon them which Luke affirmeth 12. chap. The seruaunt which knoweth his maisters will and doth it not shal be beaten with many stripes But now it is tyme that I come to the third and last parte and so an ende Our Sauiour Christ knew how necessary it was to take frō the vnbeleuing Iewes all excuse and that they might haue nothing to cloke to couler their sinne for he was not ignoraunt how prone man was to sinne and yet how harde a thyng it was to make hym confesse his sinne how readie he would be to laye hys sinne vpon others frō himselfe what clokes he would haue to couler his sin what starting holes to auoyde the punishment for his sinne If ye will learne how harde it was to make the Iewes cōfesse their sinne read the 8. of S. Ioh. where you may see how stoutely they stoode to the iustifiyng of themselues And when Christ at the iudgement shall charge the wicked that when he was hungry they gaue hym no meate c. They shall aske hym when they sawe him hungry or thyrsty and did not geue hym as though Christ vniustly charged them But if the fault be so euident that it cannot be auoyded yet will we couer hide our selues wyth figge leaues and in the wods as did our father Adam before vs who when God asked him whether he had eaten of the forbidden fruite and that the thickets coulde no longer hide hym yet he could be cōtented to laye the faulte to the woman so well as he loued her And when God asked the like question of the woman she posted it of to the Serpent and coulde not abyde that the faulte shoulde rest vpon herselfe The most parte of men and especially the Papistes haue a singuler grace in thys to shift of faultes frō themselues to others and such as accuse them And in very deede it is in all places a thyng to common Let honest men vpon their othes present great crymes eyther before the temporall Magistrate or the spirituall officer it is oft tymes sene that the offenders goe away lesse discouraged thē those which present them What encouragemēts are these to farther iustice when matters passe so slenderly There was of late a papistical Prelate of thys shyre who in the Pulpit cast out these or such like wordes in effect that where mē merueyled he spake no more agaynst the Pope he did them to vnderstand that he knewe no hurt by the pope if he were a good man he prayed God to continue him in his goodnesse if he were an ill man he prayed God to amend hym What wordes were these of a preacher what subiect is there so simple which knoweth not that that vile Italian of Rome is a traitor to this Realme who hath of late by his beastly Buls sturred the subiectes of this Realme to rebell agaynst their lawfull magistrates and hath sought what he might and yet doth what hee can to pull the crowne from the Queene Maiesties head and is this fit that a Papist which shall speake such wordes of the Pope as I haue recited or the lyke in effect shall yet continue not onely an ordinary ouer a great multitude but also a cōmon preacher such as he is in this shyre Such are the subtill shyftes of craftie Papistes and such a face or coūtenaunce of honesty they can make with a multitude that shal cleaue vnto thē to speake in their cause that they are able to cast a myste before the eyes of such as are to be reuerēced both for their wisedome learnyng godlynes and vertue But in the tyme of Queene Mary if ten Protestantes had come agaynst one Papiste could they haue bene heard thoughe their matter had bene neuer so good and shall now ten Papistes preuayle against one Protestant thoughe their matter be neuer so ill God forbyd And here I haue a sute vnto you I beseche you ye honorable and worshypfull euen for the loue of God that ye will haue good regard what witnesses ye admit in matters of weight and especially in Gods cause when the controuersie riseth betwene man and man that you will consider what the men be and not how many they be I will shewe you a notable storie concernyng the the multitude or number of witnesses and how some tyme they are to be suspected There was within my remembraunce a Minister of this shyre who vnderstandyng what great disorders there were commōly at these Church Ales vpon the Saboth day required his flock committed to his charge as hee was preachyng vnto them both in Gods name the Queenes Maiesties name and the Lord Lieutenauntes name of the countrey that they should not assemble the people together to offende God by theyr vngodly behauiours but rather geue them selues vppon the Sabboth day to serue God accordyng to their duties The people could in no wise away with this exhortation but certaine of them went to the Iustices to desire licence for the commyng together of the people Sondry of the Iustices both godly and wisely denyed them At lēght one Iustice they founde who for good considerations as he thought gaue them a licence for certaine dayes I may not say to commit disorders for we may well thinke no Iustice would be so vndiscret but they abused hys authoritie The Minister seyng the great disorders in hys Parish the next Sabboth day after they had obtained licence wrote to the Iustice of that same and wrote nothyng but that he will yet stād to The Iustice called those that had abused hys authoritie and reproued them but now ye shall see the multitude There were by the Iustices report 36. whiche offred vp vnto hym theyr names which