supper a supper appointed for the increase of holinesse for the foode of the soule in holinesse to feede the soule vnto life euerlasting Not a supper appointed for the bellie for he had ended that supper that was appointed for the bellie or euer he began this Supper which was appointed for the soule A supper no doubt hauing respect to the circumstance of time by reason it was instituted in that very same time when they vsed to sup It is called also in the Bible The Table of the Lord. It is not called the Altar of the Lord but the Apostle calleth it a Table to sit at and not an Altar to stand at a Table to take and receiue at and not an Altar to offer at It is called also the Communion and participation of the bodie and bloud of Christ we haue these names giuen vnto it besides some others in the Scriptures of God The Ancients of the Latine and of the Greeke Churches gaue it sundrie names for sundry respects They called it a publike action this was a very generall name Sometimes they called it a thanksgiuing Sometimes they called it a banquet of loue and sometimes they gaue it one name sometimes another And at last in the declining estate of the Latin Church in the falling estate of the Romane Church this Sacrament began to be peruerted and with this decay there came in a peruerse name and they called it the Masse They trouble themselues much concerning the deriuation of this name sometime they seeke it from an Hebrew originall sometime from a Greeke and sometime from a Latine originall but it is plaine that the word is deriued from the Latine and it is a word which might haue bene tollerable when it was first instituted for no doubt the Sacrament at the first institution of this word was not then wholly peruerted but now in processe of time corruption hath preuailed so farre that it hath turned the Sacrament into a sacrifice and where we should take from the hand of God in Christ they make vs to giue This is plaine idolatrie and therefore whereas the word was tollerable before now it ought not to be tollerated any way it ought not to be suffered And certainly if we had eaten and drunke as oft the bodie and bloud of Christ in our soules as we haue eaten that bread and drunke that wine which are the signes of his bodie and bloud we would not haue suffered this word of the Masse much lesse the very action of it to be so rise in this Countrey But because we haue but played the counterfeits defrauded our soules of the bodie and bloud of Christ and tooke only the outward Sacrament therefore it is that our zeale decayeth therefore it is that our knowledge and light decayeth and for want of zeale loue and knowledge the word of the Masse is become customable vnto you not onely the word but the very action I will not runne out herein I onely tell you what cometh of the abuse of the hearing of the word what iudgements follow vpon the abuse of the receiuing of the Sacraments Now I come to the ends wherefore the Sacrament was appointed This Sacrament was instituted in the signes of Bread and Wine and was appointed chiefely for this end to represent our spirituall nouriture the full and perfect nouriture of our soules that as he who hath Bread Wine lacketh nothing for the full nourishment of his bodie so he or that soule which hath the participation of the bodie and bloud of Christ wanteth nothing for the full and perfect nourishment of the soule To represent this full and perfect nourishment the signes of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament were set downe and instituted The second end wherefore this Sacrament was instituted is this That we might testifie to the world and to the Princes of the world who are enemies to our profession that we might openly avow and testifie vnto them our Religion and our manner of worshipping in the which we avow and worship Christ and that we might also testifie our loue towards his members our brethren this is the second end wherefore it was instituted The third end wherefore it was instituted is this to serue for our speciall comfort and consolation to serue as a soueraigne medicine for all our spirituall diseases as we find our selues either readie to fall or prouoked to fall by the diuell the flesh or the world or after that we haue fallen and are put to flight by the diuell and would faine flie away from God God of his mercie and of his infinite pitie and bottomles compassion hath set vp this Sacrament as a signe on an high hill whereby it may be seene on euery side farre and neere to call all them againe that haue runne shamefully away and he clucks to them as a Henne doth to her chickens to gather them vnder the wings of his infinite mercie The fourth end wherefore this Sacrament was instituted is this that in this action we might thanke him for his benefits and render to him heartie thanks that he hath come downe so familiarly to vs bowed the heauens as it were and giuen vs the bodie and bloud of his owne Sonne that we might render vnto him heartie thanks and so sanctifie his benefits vnto vs for this thanksgiuing this Sacrament was also instituted Thus far concerning the ends briefely Now I come to the things contained in this Sacrament Ye see with your eyes there are corporall things visible things as the Bread and Wine There are againe hid from the eye of your bodie but present to the eye of your mind spirituall things heauenly and inward things both these are in the Sacrament The corporall visible and outward things are the things which are appointed to signifie the spirituall heauenly and inward things And why Nothing without a reason These corporall signes are appointed to signifie the spirituall things because we are corporall we are earthly bodies we haue our soule lodging within a carnall body in a tabernacle of clay a grosse tabernacle which cannot be wakened nor moued except by the things that are like to it selfe It cannot be induced to the consideration of heauenly things except by grosse temporall and corporall things If we had bene of the nature of the thing signified that as the thing signified is spirituall and heauenly so we had beene spirituall heauenly we had not needed a corporal thing so if the thing signified had bene as we are corporall earthly visible we had not needed a signe to leade vs to consider of it But because the thing signified is spirituall we are corporal therfore to bring vs vnto the sight of these spirituall things he vseth a corporall meanes an outward signe This is the reason wherfore these corporall signes are appointed to signifie the spirituall thing The spirituall thing in both the Sacraments is one and the selfe same Christ Iesus
I beseech them seeing that reason failes them that they fight not against God for maintenance of a lie how old soeuer it be for the diuell is old enough and yet he could neuer change his nature But let them rather glorifie God in confessing these speeches to be Sacramentall Then what is the reason and ground wherefore the Papists pull downe the substance of the body of Christ and the bloud of Christ and make the very substance to be corporally really and substantially in the Sacrament The reason is this Because they cannot see by their naturall iudgement nor can vnderstand by their naturall wit the truth of this to wit how Christs flesh and bloud caâ— be present in the Sacrament except he be present to their corporall mouth and stomacke If they had the light to informe them that Christ might be present in the Sacrament and not to the hand to the mouth or stomack they would neuer think of such a monstrous presence as they imagine to be there But being destitute of the spirituall light they follow their naturall reason and make a naturall and carnall presence So that ye haue this lesson to nore from hence There is no man that hath not the spirit of God to vnderstand this word This is my body but out of question he will do as the Papists do that is he will vmderstand it carnally And so they misknowing the right meaning of it it is no marueile though and we differ in this matter For will you aske of a Papist first if the true body of Christ be there or if the true flesh and bloud of Christ be there he will say it is there will you aske him wherein he will say in and vnder the accidents of the bread and wine vnder the hew and roundnesse of the bread will you aske him againe by what instrument it is receiued He will tell you by the mouth and stomacke of the body So this is their grosse vnderstanding of the body and bloud of Christ. Will you aske of the Vbiqueter if the true body of Christ be present he will say it is will you aske if it be in with or vnder the bread he will answere It is in the bread contentiuè that is the bread containes it will you aske him to what instrument it is offered he will answere that the bodie of Christ is offered to the mouth of our bodie and that the bloud of Christ is offered to the mouth of our body as the Papists do Will you know of vs how Christ Iesus his true body bloud is present We wil say that they are spiritually present really present that is present in the Lords Supper and not in the bread we will not say that his true flesh is present to the hand or to the mouth of our bodies but we say it is spiritually present that is present vnto thy spirit and faythfull soule yea euen as present inwardly vnto thy soule as the bread and wine are present vnto thy body outwardly Will you aske then if the body and bloud of Christ Iesus be present in the Lords Supper We answer in a word They are present but not in the bread and wine nor in the accidents nor substance of bread and wine And we make Christ to be present in this Sacrament because he is present to my soule to my spirit fayth Also we make him present in the Lords Supper because I haue him in his promise This is my body which promise is present to my faith and the nature of faith is to make things that are absent in themselues yet present And therefore seâ—ing he is both present by faith in his promise and present by the vertue of his holy Spirit who can say but that he is present in this Sacrament But yet the word would be explained what we meane by the word present how a thing is said to be present and absent And knowing this ye shall finde all the mater easie I say things are said to be present as they are perceiued by any outward or inward sense and as they are perceiued by any of the senses so are they present and the further they be perceiued the further present and by what sense any thing is perceiued to that sense it is present As if it be outwardly perceiued by an outward sense that thing is outwardly present As for exaÌ„ple if it be perceiued by the outward sight of the eye by the outward hearing of the eare by the outward feeling of the hands or taste of the mouth it is outwardly present Or if any thing be perceiued by the inward eye by the inward taste and feeling of the soule this thing cannot be outwardly present but it must be spiritually and inwardly present to the soule So I say euery thing is present as it is perceiued So that if you perceiue not a thing outwardlie it is outwardly absent and if ye perceiue not a thing inwardly it is inwardly absent It is not distance of place that maketh a thing absent nor propinquity of place that makes a thing present but it is onelie the perceiuing of any thing by any of thy senses that makes a thing present and the not perceiuing that makes a thing absent I say though the thing it selfe were neuer so farre distant if thou perceiue it by thine outward sense it is present vnto thee As for example my bodie and the Sunne are as farre distant in place as the heauen is from the earth yet this distance stayeth not the Sunnes presence from me why because I perceiue the Sunne by mine eye and other senses I feele it and perceiue it by the heate by the light and by his brightnesse So if a thing were neuer so farre distant if we haue senses to perceiue the same it is present to vs. Then the distance of place makes not a thing absent from thee if thou hast senses to perceiue it likewise the neerenes of place makes not a thing present be it neuer so neere if thou hast not senses to perceiue it As for example if the Sunne shine vpon thine eyes if thou be blinde it is not present to thee because thou canst not perceiue it A sweete tune will neuer be present to a deafe eare though it be sung in the eare of that man because he hath not a sense to perceiue it and a well told tale will neuer be present to a foole because he cannot vnderstand it nor hath no iudgement to perceiue it So it is not the nearenesse nor distance of place that maketh any thing present or absent but onely the perceiuing or not perceiuing of it Now the word being made cleare aske you how the bodie of Christ is present To giue our iudgement in a word as ye haue heard from time to time he is present not to the outward senses but to the inward senses which is faith wrought in the soule For this action of the Sacrament and
apprehension of the meate and drinke that is the foode of the body so there is two sorts of apprehension of the body and bloud of Christ Iesus which is our meate and drinke spirituall Of meate and drinke corporall there is an apprehension by the eye and by the taste that while the meate is present vnto you on the table your eye taketh a view of that meate discerneth it and maketh choice of it and not only the eye but also the taste discerneth the meate and the taste approouing it that is called the first apprehension Now vpon this which is the first the second apprehension followeth that is after that ye haue chewed that meate swallowed it and sent it to your stomacke where it digesteth and conuerteth into your nouriture then in your stomacke ye get the second apprehension But if your eye like not that meate neither your taste like it the second apprehension followeth not for thou wilt spet it out againe or reiect it preferring some other meate vnto it that thou likest better That meate which thou likest not enters neuer into thy stomacke and so it can neuer be conuerted into thy nourishment for it is onely the second apprehension of the meate that is the cause of the nourishment of the body in our corporall foode so that if ye chew not this meate and swallow it it feeds you not then it is onely the second apprehension that nourisheth our bodies It is euen so in spirituall things so farre as they may be compared in the foode of Christ Iesus who is the life and nouriture of our soules and consciences There must be two sorts of apprehension of Christ Iesus The first apprehension is by the eye of the mind that is by our knowledge and vnderstanding for as the eye of the body discerneth by an outward light so the eye of the mind discerneth by an inward and renewed vnderstanding whereby we get the first apprehension of Christ. Now if this first apprehension of Christ like vs well then the next followeth we begin to cast the affection of our hearts on him we haue good will to him for all our affections proceede from our will and our affections being renewed and made holy we set them wholly vpon Christ. We loue him and if we loue him we take hold of him and digest him that is we apply him to our soules and so of this loue liking of him the second apprehension doth follow But if we haue no will to him if we haue no loue nor liking of him what do we Then we reiect him and preferre our owne Idoll and the seruice of our owne affections to him and so the second apprehension followeth not We cannot digest him and if we digest him not that spirituall life cannot grow in vs for marke in what place the eye serues to the bodie in the same roome serueth knowledge and vnderstanding to thy soule and looke in what place thy hand and thy mouth thy taste and thy stomacke serue vnto thy body in that very place serue the heart and affections vnto thy soule So that as our bodies cānot be nourished except our hands take and our mouthes eate the meate whereby the second apprehension may follow likewise our soules cannot feede on Christ except we hold him and embrace him heartily by our wils and affections For we come not to Christ by any outward motion of our bodies but by an inward motion apprehension of the heart For God finding vs all in a reprobate sence he bringeth vs to Christ by reforming the affection of our soules by making vs to loue him And therefore the second apprehension whereby we digest our Sauiour will neuer enter into our soules except as he pleaseth the eye so he please the will and the affection also Now if this come to passe that our wils and affections are wholly bent vpon Christ then no doubt we haue gotten this Iewell of faith Haue ye such a liking in your minds such a loue in your hearts of Christ that ye will preferre him before all things in the world then no question faith is begun in you Now after a thing is begun there is yet more required for though this faith be formed in your minds in your hearts and soules yet that is not enough but that which is formed must be nourished and he who is conceiued must be entertained and brought vp or else the loue that is begun in me by the holy Spirit except by ordinary meanes it be daily entertained and nourished it will decay except the Lord continue the working of his holy Spirit it is not possible that I can continue in the faith And how must we nourish and keepe faith in our soules Two manner of waies First we nourish faith begun in our soules by hearing of the word not of euery word but by hearing of the word of God preached and not by hearing of euery man but by hearing the word preached by him that is sent For this is the ordinarie meanes whereunto the Lord hath bound himselfe he will worke faith by the hearing of the word and receiuing of the Sacraments And the more that thou hearest the word and the otfner that thou receiuest the Sacraments the more thy faith is nourished Now it is not onely by hearing of the word and receiuing of the Sacraments that we nourish faith The word and Sacraments are notable of themselues to nourish this faith in vs except the working of the holy Spirit be conioyned with their ministerie But the word and the Sacraments are said to nourish faith in our soules because they offer and exhibite Christ vnto vs who is the meate the drinke and life of our soules and in respect that in the word and Sacraments we get Christ who is the foode of our soules therefore the word and Sacraments are said to nourish our soules As it is said Act. 2.42 The Disciples of Christ continued in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship breaking of bread and prayers by these meanes entertaining augmenting and nourishing the faith that was begun in them Then the holy Spirit begets this faith workes this faith creates this faith nourisheth entertaineth this faith in our soules by hearing the word preached and by the receiuing of the Sacraments which are the ordinarie meanes whereby the Lord nourisheth vs and continueth this spirituall foode with vs. For obserue by what meanes the spirituall life is begunne by the same meanes it is nourished and entertained as this temporall life is entertained and nourished by the same means whereby it is begun Then seeing by these meanes the holy Spirit begets this worke of faith in our soules it is our duty to craue that he would continue the worke which he hath begunne And for this cause we should resort to the hearing of the word when it is preached and to the receiuing of the Sacraments when they are ministred that we may be fedde in our soules to life
The reason wherefore I call them signes is this I call them not signes by that reason that men commonly call them signes because they signifie onely as the Brâ—â—d signifies the bodie of Christ the Wine signifies the bloud of Christ I call them not signes because they represent onely but I call them signes because they haue the body bloud of Christ conioyned with them Yea so truly is the bodie of Christ conioyned with that Bread and the bloud of Christ conioyned with that Wine that as soone as thou receiuest that Bread in thy mouth if thou be a faithfull man or woman so soone receiuest thou the bodie of Christ in thy soule and that by faith and as soone as thou receiuest that Wine in thy mouth so soone thou receiuest the bloud of Christ in thy soule and that by faith In respect of this exhibition chiefely that they are instruments to deliuer and exhibite the things that they signifie and not in respect onely of their representation are they called signes For if they did nothing but represent or signifie a thing absent then any picture or dead Image should be a Sacrament for there is no picture as the picture of the King but at the sight of the picture the King will come in your minde and it will signifie vnto you that that is the Kings picture So if the signe of the Sacrament did no further all pictures should be Sacraments but in respect that the Sacrament exhibites and deliuers the thing that it signifieth to the soule and heart so soone as the signe is deliuered to the mouth for this cause especially it is called a signe There is no picture of the King that will deliuer the King vnto you there is no other image that will exhibite the thing whereof it is the image therefore there is no image can be a Sacrament Then in respect the Lord hath appointed the Sacraments as hands to deliuer and exhibite the thing signified for this deliuery and exhibition chiefly they are called signes As the word of the Gospell is a mightie and potent instrument to our euerlasting saluation so the Sacrament is a potent instrument appointed by God to deliuer vs to Christ Iesus to our euerlasting saluation For this spirituall meate is dressed and giuen vp to vs in spirituall dishes that is in the ministerie of the word and in the ministerie of the Sacraments And suppose this ministerie be externall yet the Lord is said to deliuer spirituall and heauenly things by these external things Why Because he hath appointed them as instruments whereby he will deliuer his owne Sonne vnto vs. For this is certaine that none hath power to deliuer Christ Iesus vnto vs except God and his holy Spirit and therefore to speake properly there is none can deliuer Christ but God by his owne Spirit he is deliuered by the ministerie of the holy Spirit it is the holy Spirit that seales him vp in our hearts confirmes vs more and more in him as the Apostle giueth him this stile 2. Cor. 1.22 To speake properly there is none hath power to deliuer Christ but God the Father or himselfe There is none hath power to deliuer the Mediator but his owne Spirit yet it hath pleased God to vse some instruments and meanes whereby he will deliuer Christ Iesus vnto vs. The meanes are these the ministerie of the word and the ministerie of the Sacraments and in respect he vseth these as meanes to deliuer Christ they are said to deliuer him But here ye haue to distinguish betweene the principall efficient deliuerer the instrumentall efficient which is the word SacrameÌ„ts keeping this distinction both these are true God by his word God by his Spirit deliuereth Christ Iesus vnto you Then I say I call theÌ„ signes because God hath made theÌ„ potent instruments to deliuer the same thing which they signifie Now I go to the thing signified and I call the thing signified by the signes in the Sacrament that which Irenaeus that old Writer calleth the heauenly and spirituall thing to wit whole Christ with his whole gifts benefites and graces applied and giuen to my soule Then I call not the thing signified by the signes of Bread and Wine the benefits of Christ the graces of Christ or the vertue that floweth out of Christ onely but I call the thing signified together with the benefits and vertues flowing from him the very substance of Christ himselfe from which this vertue doth flow The substance with the vertues gifts and graces that flow from the substance is the thing signified here As for the vertue and graces that flow from Christ it is not possible that thou canst be partaker of the vertue that floweth from his substance except thou be first partaker of the substance it selfe For how is it possible that I can be partaker of the iuyce that floweth out of any substance except I be partaker of the substance it selfe first Is it possible that my stomach can be refreshed with that meate the substance whereof neuer came into my mouth Is it possible my drought can be slackned with that drinke that neuer passed downe my throat Is it possible that I can sucke any vertue out of any thing except I get the substance first So it is impossible that I can get the iuyce and vertue that floweth out of Christ except I get the substance that is himselfe first So I call not the thing signified the grace and vertue that floweth from Christ onely nor Christ himselfe and his substance without his vertue and graces onely but ioyntly the substance with the graces whole Christ God and man without separation of his natures wiâ—hout distinguishing of his substance from his graces I call the thing signified by the signes in the Sacrament for why if no more be signified by the Bread but the flesh and bodie of Christ onely and no more be signified by the Wine but the bloud of Christ onely thou canst not say that the body of Christ is Christ it is but a part of Christ thou canst not say that the blood of Christ is whole Christ it is but a part of him and a peece of thy Sauiour saued thee not a part of thy Sauiour wrought not the worke of thy saluation and so suppose thou get a peece of him in the Sacrament that part will do thee no good To the end therefore that this Sacrament may nourish thee to life euerlasting thou must get in it thy whole Sauiour whole Christ God and man with his whole graces and benefites without separation of his substance from his graces or of the one nature from the other And how get I him Not by my mouth It is a vaine thing to thinke that we will get God by our mouth but we get him by faith As he is a Spirit so I eate him by faith and beliefe in my soule not by the teeth of my mouth that is a vaine thing Be it that
Sacrament You may perceiue easily that there is a coniunction by the effect although you cannot so well know the mannâ—r of coniunction And why You heare not the word so soone spoken by me but incontinent the thing which my words wherof I speake signifie cometh into your mind If I speake of things past of things to come or of things that are neuer so far absent I can no sooner speake to you of them in this language but presently the thing signified cometh into your mind no doubt because there is a coniunction betweene the word and the thing signified So euery one of you may easily perceiue that there is a coniunction betweene the word and the thing signified by the word As for example suppose Paris be far distant from vs yet if I speake of Paris the word is no sooner spoken but the Citie will come into your mind If I speake of the King although he be farre distant from vs the word is no sooner spoken but the thing signified will come into your mind So this coming of the thing signified in the heart and mind maketh it plaine vnto you that there is a coniunction betweene the word and the thing signified by the word To tell you of this sort of coniunction it is not so easie because the thing signified is not present vnto the eye as the word is to the eare If euery thing signified were as present vnto your eye as the word is to the eare it were easie to see the coniunction but now seeing the coniunction is mysticall secret and spirituall therefore it is hard to make you vnderstand it Euer obserue what coniunction is betweene the simple word the thing signified by the word the same kind of coniunction is betweene the Sacrament the thing signified by the Sacrament for the Sacrament is no other thing but a visible word I call it a visible word why Because it conueyeth the signification of it by the eye to the mind as this is an audible word because it conueyeth the signification of it by the eare to the mind In the Sacrament so often as ye looke on it ye shall no sooner see that Bread with your eye but the body of Christ shall come into your mind ye shall no sooner see that Wine but after the preaching and opening vp of the parts of the Sacrament the bloud of Christ shall come into your mind Now this coniunction betweene the signe and the thing signified in the Sacrament standeth chiefly as ye may perceiue in two things First in a relation betweene the signe the thing signified which arisâ—th from a likenesse and proportion betwixt them two for if there were no proporâ—ion and analogie betweene the signe and the thing signified by the signe there could not be a Sacrament or a relation So the first part of this coniunction standeth in a relation which ariseth from a certaine similitude and likenesse which the one hath with the other And this likenesse may be easily perceiued for looke how able the Bread is to nourish thy body to this life earthly and temporall the flesh of Christ signified by the Bread is as able to nourish both bodie and soule to life euerlasting So ye may perceiue some kinde of proportion betweene the signe and the thing signified The second point of the coniunction standeth in a continual and mutuall concurring the one with the other in such sort that the signe and the thing signified are offered both together receiued together at one time and in one action the one outwardly the other inwardly if so be that thou hast a mouth in thy soule which is faith to receiue it Then the second point of coniunction standeth in a ioynt offering in a ioynt receiuing and this I call a concurrence Then would you know what manner of coniunction is betweene the signe and the thing signified I say it is a relatiue coniunction a secret and a mysticall coniunction which standeth in a mutuall relation There is no more to be obserued herein but this onely that if ye conioyne these two ye be carefull not to confound them beware that ye turne not the one into the other but keepe either of them in his owne integrity without confusion or permixtion of the one with the other and so ye shall haue the lawfull coniunction that should be in the Sacrament There is not a lesson that can be learned out of this at the least that I can marke or gather except onely the lesson of the kindnesse and goodnesse of the euerliuing God who hath inuented so many wonderfull sorts of coniunction and all to this purpose that we might be conioyned to aduance this great and mysticall coniunction betwixt the God of glorie and vs In the which coniunction our weale felicity and happinesse in this life and in the life to come doth onely stand That he is so carefull to conioyne himselfe with his word and Sacraments that we in his word and Sacraments might be conioyned with him If we were mooued with the care and loue of God expressed in these coniunctions though it were neuer so little on our parts assuredly we would neuer defraud our selues of the fruite of that happie coniunction nor bring it in such a loathing and disdaine as we do at this day for we by following and preferring of our pleasures to Christ and his counsell haue made the stomacks of our soules so foule and ill disposed that either they receiue him not at all or if he be receiued he is not able to tarrie And why Because a foule stomacke is not able to keepe him for incontinently we choke him so either with the lusts of the flesh or with the cares of this world that he is compelled to depart And if Christ be not both eaten and digested he can do vs no good this digestioâ— cannot be where there is not a greedie appetite to the receit of him for if thou be not hungrie for him he is not readie for thee And I am assured if all the men in the Countrie were examined by this rule that there were none that receiue Christ but he that hath a stomacke and is hungry for him I doubt that few should be found to receiue him I feare that we haue taken such a loathing and disdaine of that heauenly foode that there is not such a thing as any kind of hunger or appetite of it in our soules And what is the cause of this I will tell you Suppose we haue renounced the corporall and grosse idolatry wherein our Father were plunged drowned which men in some parts go about to erect now yet as the manners of this Countrey and the behauiour of euery one of vs doth testifie there is not a man that hath renounced that damnable idoll that he hath in his owne soule nor the inuisible idolatry that he hath in his owne heart and minde There is not a man but to that same idoll wherwith he
signified in both the Sacraments yet in diuerse respects he is the thing signified in Baptisme and he is the thing signified in the Lords Supper This Christ Iesus in his bloud chiefly is the thing signified in the Sacrament of Baptisme and why Because that by his bloud he washeth away the filth of our soules because that by the vertue of his bloud he quickneth vs in our soules with a heauenly life because that by the power of his bloud he ingrafteth and incorporateth vs in his owne body For that Sacrament is a testimonie of the remission of our sinnes that is of the cleanenesse of our consciences that our consciences by that bloud are washed inwardly It testifieth also our new birth that we are begotten spiritually to a heauenly life It testifieth also the ioyning of vs in the body of Christ. As it is a testimonie so it is a seale it not onely testifieth but sealeth it vp in our hearts and maketh vs in our hearts to feele the taste of that heauenly life begun in vs that we are translated from death in the which we were conceiued and ingrafted in the body of Christ. Marke then Christ in his bloud as he is the washing of our regeneration is the thing signified in Baptisme In this Sacrament of the Lords Supper againe this same Christ is the thing signified in another respect to wit in this respect that his body and bloud serue to nourish my soule to life euerlasting for this Sacrament is no other thing but the image of our spirituall nourishment God testifying how our soules are fed and nourished to that heauenly life by the image of a corporall nourishment So in diuerse respects the same thing that is Christ Iesus is signified in Baptisme and is signified in the Lords Supper In this Sacrament the fruites of Christs death whereof I spake the vertue of his sacrifice the vertue of his passion I call not these fruites and vertues onely the thing signified in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper but rather I call the thing signified that substance and that person out of the which substance this vertue and these fruites do flow and proceede I grant and it is most certaine that by the lawful vse participiation of the Sacrament thou art partaker of all these fruites yet these fruites are not the first and chiefe thing whereof thou art partaker in this Sacrament but of force thou must get another thing first It is true that no man can be partaker of the substance of Christ but the same soule must be also partaker of the fruites that flow from his substance yet notwithstanding thou must discerne betwixt the substance the fruits that flow from the substance and thou must be partaker of the substance in the first roome then in the next place thou must be partaker of the fruites that flow from his substance To make this cleere in Baptisme the fruites of Baptisme are remission of our sinnes mortification the killing of sinne and the sealing vp of our adoption to life euerlasting The substance out of the which these fruits do flow is the bloud of Christ. Ye must here of force discerne between the bloud which is the substance and betweene remission of sinnes washing and regeneration which are the fruites that flow from this bloud so in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper the fruits of that Sacrament are the growth of faith and the increase in holinesse The thing signified is the substance that is the body and bloud of Christ is the substance out of which this growth in faith and holinesse doth proceede Now see ye not this That you must discerne betwene â—he substance and the fruites and must place the substance in the first place So that the substance of Christ that is Christ himselfe is the thing signified in this Sacrament For your owne experience will make this plaine vnto you Before your stomacke be filled with any foode ye must eate the substance of the food first before you be filled with bread ye must eate the substance of the bread first before your drowth be quenched with any drinke ye must of necessity drinke the substance of the drinke first Euen so after this manner before the hunger of your soules be satisfied the thirst thereof quenched ye must eate the flesh of Christ and drinke his bloud first and that by faith So consider the one by the other looke to what vse bread and wine serue to thy body to the same vse the body and bloud of Christ serue to thy soule and he that appointed the one to serue for thy body the same God appointed the other to serue for thy soule So looke how impossible it is for thee to be fed with that food that neuer cometh into thy mouth or to recouer health by those drugs which neuer were applyed it is as impossible for thee to be fed by the body of Christ and to get thy health by the bloud of Christ except thou first eate his body and drinke his bloud Then ye see that the thing signified in the Lords Supper is not the fruites so much as the body and bloud and Christ Iesus which is the fountaine and substance from which all these fruites do flow and proceed Then I say suppose Christ who is the thing signified remaine alwaies one and the same in both the Sacraments yet the signes whereby this one Christ is signified in the Sacraments are not one nor of an equall number For in Baptisme the thing that representeth Christ is Water In the Lords Supper the things that represent Christ are Bread Wine Water is appointed to represent Christ in Baptisme because it is meetest to represent our washing with the bloud of Christ for what is fitter to wash with then water So there is nothing meeter to wash the soule then the bloud of Christ. In this Sacrament he hath appointed Bread and Wine why Because there is nothing more meete to nourish the body then bread and wine so the Lord hath not chosen these signes without a reason As the signes in the Sacrament are not alwayes one so the same in both are not of one number For in Baptisme we haue but one element in this Sacrament we haue two elements Now what is the reason of this diuersity that the Lord in the one Sacrament hath appointed two signes and in the other but one signe I will shew you the reason He hath appointed onely one signe in Baptisme to wit Water because Water is sufficient enough for the whole If water had not beene sufficient to represent the thing signified he would haue appointed another signe but in respect that Water doth the turne and representeth fully the washing of our soules by the bloud of Christ what need then haue we of any signe Now in this Sacrament one signe will not suffice but there must be two And why Wine cannot be sufficient alone neither can Bread be sufficient alone for he
that hath Bread onely and Wine onely hath not a perfect corporall nourishment therefore that they might represent and let vs see a perfect nourishment he hath giuen vs both Bread and Wine for the perfect corporall nourishment standeth in meate and drinke to represent the full and perfect nourishment of the soule Marke how full and perfect a nourishment he hath to his body that hath store of Bread and Wine so he that hath Christ lacketh nothing of a full and perfect nourishment for his soule Then you see the reason wherefore there are two signes appointed in this Sacrament and onely one signe in Baptisme There remaineth yet concerning these signes two thing to be enquired First what power hath that Bread in this Sacrament to be a signe more then the bread which is vsed in common houses from whence cometh that power Next if it haue a power how long endureth and remaineth that power with the bread For the first concerning the power which that bread hath more then any other bread I will tell you That Bread hath a power giuen vnto it by Christ by his institution by the which institution it is appointed to signifie his bodie to represent his body and to deliuer his bodie That Bread hath a power flowing from Christ and his institution which other common bread hath not so that if any of you would aske when the Minister in this action is breaking or distributing that Bread pouring out and distributing that Wine if you would I say aske what sort of creatures those are this is the answer They are holy things Ye must giue this name to the signes and seales of the body and bloud of Christ. That Bread of the Sacrament is a holy Bread and that Wine is an holy Wine Why Because the blessed institution of Christ hath seuered them from that vse whereunto they serued before and hath applyed them vnto an holy vse not to feede the bodie but to feede the soule Thus farre concerning the power of that Bread it hath a power flowing from Christ and his institution Now the second thing is how long this power continueth with that Bread how long that Bread hath this office In a word I say this power continueth with that Bread during the time of the action during the seruice of the Table Looke how long that action continueth and that the seruice of the Table lasteth so long it continueth holy Bread so long continueth the power with that Bread but looke how soone the action is ended so soone endeth the holinesse of it looke how soone the seruice of the Table is ended so soone that Bread becomes common bread againe and the holinesse of it ceasseth Then this power continueth not for euer but it continueth onely during the time of the action seruice of the Table Thus far concerning the Elements There is besides the Elements another sort of signes in the Sacrament there is not a ceremonie in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper but is a signe and hath it owne spirituall signification with it as namely looking to the breaking of that Bread it representeth vnto thee the breaking of the bodie and bloud of Christ. Not that his bodie and bones were broken but that it was broken with dolour with anguish and distresse of heart with the weight of the indignation and furie of God that he sustained for our sinnes which he tooke vpon him Then the breaking is an essentiall ceremonie the pouring out of the wine also is an essentiall ceremonie For as ye see clearely that by the Wine is signified the bloud of Christ so by the pouring out of the Wine is signified that his bloud was seuered from his flesh and the seuering of those two maketh death for in bloud is the life and consequently it testifieth his death The pouring out of the Wine then telleth thee that he died for thee that his bloud was shed for thee so this is an essentiall ceremonie which must not be left out Likewise the distribution giuing and eating are essentiall ceremonies And what doth the eating testifie vnto thee The applying of the bodie bloud of Christ vnto thy soule So that there is none of these rites but haue their owne signification and there cannot one of them be left out but ye shall peruert the whole action Thus far concerning the signes Now what profit can ye make of all this discourse Learne this lesson and ye shall make profite by these things In respect that euery signe and ceremonie hath it owne spirituall signification so that there is not a ceremonie in this whole action that wanteth it owne spirituall signification consider this and thinke with your selues at that time especially when ye are at the Lords Table and in the sight of that action that looke what thou seest the Minister doing outwardly what euer it be Is he breaking that Bread is he dealing that Bread Thinke assuredly with thy selfe that Christ is as busie doing all these things spiritually vnto thy soule he is as busie giuing vnto thee his owne bodie with his owne hand he is as busie giuing to thee his owne bloud with the vertue and efficacie of it So in this action if thou be a faithfull Communicant looke what the mouth doth and how the mouth of the bodie is occupied outwardly so is the hand and mouth of the soule which is faith occupied inwardly As the mouth taketh that Bread and that Wine so the mouth of thy soule taketh the body and bloud of Christ and that by faith For by faith and a constant perswasion is the onely way to eate the bodie and drinke the bloud of Christ inwardly and doing this there cannot but follow a fruitfull eating Thus far for the consideration of the signes Now cometh in the matter wherein greatest difficultie standeth whereof I spake the last day as God gaue me the grace yet in the particular I must speake as well as in the generall but somewhat more shortly Then ye haue to vnderstand for the better information of your consciences for the better preparation of your soules ye haue to vnderstand how that Bread and that Wine which are signes are coupled with the body and bloud of Christ which are signified thereby What sort of coniunction is this and from whence this coniunction floweth I shall be briefe because I haue already in my last Lecture spoken of it at large Take heede for if ye giue not good attention it is not possible that ye can conceiue this coniunction Concerning this coniunction would you know how these two are coupled Then must you first marke the nature of the signes and the nature of the thing signified ye must obserue both their natures And why Because nothing can be coupled nor conioyned with other but so far as the nature of it will suffer if the nature of it will not suffer a coniunction they cannot be conioyned Or will the nature of it
suffer a coniunction looke how farre it will suffer a coniunction so far are they conioyned Seeing then ye must obserue the nature of the things that are conioyned first marke the thing signified what the nature thereof is marking that ye shall see that the thing signified is of a spirituall nature or a heauenly and mysticall nature Then may ye conclude that this spirituall thing will suffer a spirituall coniunction a mystical and secret coniunction Againe obserue the signe The signe of his nature as I haue told you hath a relation vnto the thing signified and the thing signified of his nature hath a relation vnto the signe So then the signe and the thing signified will suffer to be conioyned by a mutuall relation both the signe and the thing signified in respect they haue a mutuall relation the one vnto the other they will suffer themselues to be conioyned by a relatiue coniunction Now if ye aske me what sort of coniunction is betweene that Bread and Wine and the bodie and bloud of Christ to tell you in a word I say it is a secâ—et and spirituall coniunction such a coniunction as standeth in a mutuall respect betwixt the Bread and the bodie of Christ and betwixt the Wine and the bloud of Christ then I say it is a secret and a spirituall coniunction Ye would not be so inquisitiue of this coniunction if it were corporall visible or locall if you saw them both before your eyes you would not aske how they are conioyned or if thou didst see them both in one place But because you see but the one with your eyes and the other is hid this maketh the coniunction the more difficult to be vttered and vnderstood And how is it possible that ye can conceiue this secret hid coniunction except you haue the eyes of your mind illuminated by the Spirit whereby ye may come to the right vnderstanding But if ye haue any insight into these spirituall matters that come by faith this coniunction will appeare as clearely by the eye of your faith as the physicall coniunction doth to the eye of your body Now to haue this matter made more plaine there is another coniunction which serueth to make this coniunction very cleare namely the coniunction betwixt the word which I speake and the thing signified by that same word As if I speake to you of things in this language which ye vnderstand be it of things past though neuer so long since of things to come though neuer so farre off of things absent though neuer so farre distant yet so soone as I speake the word whether it be of things past or to come the thing it selfe will come into your mind The word is heard no sooner by your eare but the thing signified by the same word cometh into your mind What maketh the thing signified though absent to come into my mind This could not be except there were a coniunction betweene the word and the thing signified by the word As for example if I speake of the King who is now a great way distant from vs I pray God blesse him ye will no sooner heare the word but the King who is the thing signified by the word will come into your mind If I speake of things past though they be already expired yet the thing signified will presently come into your mind so there is a coniunction ye see betweene the word and the thing signified by the word Marke this coniunction and ye shall get the nature of the coniunction and coupling of the signe which is the thing signified in the Sacrament For obserue what sort of coniunction is betweene the word and the thing signified by the word the same sort of coniunction is betweene the Sacrament which is seene to the eye of your body and the thing signified by the Sacrament which is seene to the eye of your soule onely As for example so soone as thou seest that bread taken in the hand of the Minister thou seest it not so soone but incontinent the body of Christ must come into thy minde these two are so conioyned that they come both together the one to the outward senses the other to the inward senses This is not enough now because in the institution ye are commanded to go further and not onely to looke to that bread and that wine but to take that bread and that wine incontinent as your hands take the one so your heart takes the other as your teeth eates the one so the teeth of your soule which is faith eates the other that is applyeth Christ vnto your soule So ye see there is a coniunction here secret and mysticall and therefore Christ cannot be conioyned but by a secret and mysticall coniunction The coniunction betweene Christ and vs is a secret and mysticall coniunction which the Apostle in the fift of the Ephes. calleth that spirituall coniunction full of an high mystery this coniunction cannot be taken vp at the first So seeing the coniunction is secret and spirituall and not perceiued but by the spirit of God all is as nothing except ye haue some portion and measure of his Spirit All that is taught in the word and Sacraments will neuer do you good will neuer carry your soules to heauen except the Spirit of God illuminate your mindes and make you to finde in your soules the thing that ye heare in the word Then learne this seeing the word cannot be vnderstood but by the spirit of God craue that the Loâ—d would illuminate the eyes of your mindes by his Spirit and be you as carefull to get the Spirit as ye are carefull now in the hearing of the word Thus farre concerning the coniunction Now ye haue heard how the signe is conioyned with the thing signified what remaineth for you to know This rests yet to know how the signe is receiued how the thing signified is receiued whether they be both receiued with one mouth or not whether the signe and the thing signified be receiued after one fashion and maner or not And marking the diuerse maner of receiuing the diuersity of the instruments ye shall not easily erre in the Sacrament The signe and the thing signified are receiued by two mouthes for ye see the signes that is that bread and wine whereunto they are giuen they are giuen to the mouth of the body Then the mouth of the body is the instrument that receiueth that bread and that wine which are the signes As that bread and that wine are visible and corporall so the mouth and instrument whereby they are receiued is visible and corporall The thing signified by the bread and wine is not receiued by the mouth of the body no the Scripture denieth that plainely but it is receiued by the mouth of the soule Then there are two mouthes that bread and that wine which are the signes are receiued by the mouth of the body Christ who is the thing signified is receiued by the
mouth of the soule that is by a true faith Then bring not to the Lords Table one mouth onely for if ye bring the mouth of your body onely it auaileth nothing but bring with you also the mouth of your soule a constant perswasion in the death of Christ for that is auaileable Now concerning the manner how the signes are receiued and the manner how the thing signified is receiued ye may easily know that these corporall and naturall signes must be receiued after a corporall and naturall manner they must be taken with the hand or mouth of the body Againe a supernaturall thing must be receiued after a supernaturall maner And a spirituall thing must be receiued after a spirituall manner So as the signes are corporall and receiued after a corporall manner with the hand or the mouth of the body in like mannner the thing signified is spirituall and receiued after a spirituall manner with the hand and mouth of the soule which is true faith Thus ye haue briefly deliuered vnto you the whole preparation that is necessary for the vnderstanding of the Sacrament Now what doctrine gather I from this Of this last point where I say that Christ is the thing signified caÌ„not be perceiued but by faith cannot be receiued nor digested but by a faithfull soule what kinde of receiuing confirme I in this Sacrament I establish no kinde of receiuing of Christ but a spirituall receiuing he can not be perceiued nor receiued but by faith and faith is spirituall Therefore in this Sacrament I establish onely a spirituall taking of Christ and not a carnall or fleshly receiuing This is the ground Now let vs see what inconuenience can follow vppon this ground The Papists say that vpon this ground this inconuenience shall follow If there be no receiuing of Christ but a spirituall receiuing then say they your Sacrament is in vaine this Sacrament of the Lords Supper was instituted to no end And what is their reason If there be no way to receiue Christ say the Papists but by faith what neede you then a Sacrament Ye receiue Christ by faith in the word by the naked and simple preaching of the word ye get faith So the simple word may serue the turne What neede haue ye of a Sacrament if ye get not some new thing in the Sacrament which ye could not get in the word This is their argument whereof ye see their conclusion to be this We get no other new thing in the Sacrament then we do in the word if there be no receiuing but spirituall Ergo The Sacrament is superfluous We admit the Antecedent to be true we get no other thing nor no new thing in the Sacrament but the same thing which we got in the word I would haue thee deuise and imagine with thy selfe what new thing thou wouldst haue let the heart of man deuise imagine and wish he durst neuer haue thought to haue such a thing as the Sonne of God he durst neuer haue presumed to haue pierced the clowdes to haue ascended so high as to haue craued the Sonne of God in his flesh to be the food of his soule Hauing the Sonne of God thou hast him who is the heire of all things who is King of heauen and earth and in him thou hast all things What more then canst thou wish What better thing canst thou wish He is equall with the Father one in substance with the Father true God and true man what more canst thou wish Then I say we get no other thing in the Sacrament then we had in the word content thee with this But suppose it be so yet the Sacrament is not superfluous But wouldest thou vnderstand what new thing thou obtainest what other thing thou gettest I will tell thee Suppose thou get that same thing which thou hadst in the word yet thou gettest that same thing better What is that better Thou obtainest a greater and surer hold of that same thing in the Sacrament then thou hadst by the hearing of â—he word That same thing which thou possessedst by the hearing of the word thou doest possesse now more largely it hath larger bounds in thy soule by the receiuing of the Sacrament then otherwise it could haue by the hearing of the word onely Then wilt thou aske what new thing we get I say we get this new thing we get Christ better then â—â—fore we get the thing which we had more fully that is with a surer apprehension then we had it before we get â— greater hold of Christ now For by the Sacrament my faith is nourished the bounds of my soule are enlarged and so whereas I had but a little hold of Christ before as it were betweene my finger and my thumbe now I get him in my whole hand and still the more that my faith groweth the better hold I get of Christ Iesus So the Sacrament is very necessary and if it were no more but to get Christ better to get a faster apprehension of him by the Sacrament then we could haue before Now if it were true that the Sacrament is superfluous by the same reason it should follow also that the repetition of the Sacrament is superfluous For when ye come to the Sacrament the second time ye get no other thing then ye did the first time when ye come vnto the Sacrament the third time ye get no other thing then ye did the first time and yet no man will say that the third and the second comming is a superfluous thing And why Because by the second coming my faith is augmented I vnderstand better I grow in knowledge I grow in apprehension I grow in feeling and in getting the growth of all these as oft as I come there is no man will say that the oft coming to the Sacrament is superfluous and if it were euery day once So their first inconuenience auaileth not We get no new thing in the Sacrament Ergo the Sacrament is superfluous Thus far for the first Then there depends another thing on the same ground If Christ be not receiued but by faith then say we no wicked bodie can receiue him he that lacketh faith cannot receiue him He that lacketh faith may receiue that Sacrament of that Bread and Wine and may eate of that Bread and drinke of that Wine but he that wanteth faith may not eate and drinke of the body and bloud of Christ signified by that Bread and by that Wine So this is the ground No faithlesse people can receiue Christ nor eate the bodie of Christ in the Sacrament Against this ground they bring their Argument out of the same words of the Apostle which I haue read the worâ—â— are these He that eateth of this Bread vnworthily saith the Apostle and drinketh of this Cup vnworworthily is guiltie of the bodie and bloud of Christ. There is their ground So that their Argument will suffer this forme No man can be
guiltie of that thing which he hath not receiued they haue not receiued the bodie and bloud of Christ therefore they cannot be guiltie of the body and bloud of Christ but so it is that the Apostle saith they are guiltie therefore they haue receiued the bodie and bloud of Christ. I answer vnto the Proposition and say it is very false They could not be guiltie of that bodie and bloud except they had receiued it for they may be guiltie of that same bodie and of that same bloud suppose they neuer receiued it But marke the Text the Text saith not that they eate the bodie of Christ vnworthily but it saith that they eate that Bread and drinke that Wine vnworthily and yet because they eate that Bread drinke that Wine vnworthily they are counted before God guiltie of the bodie and bloud of Christ. Now wherefore is this Not because they receiue him for if they receiued him they could not but receiue him worthily for Christ cannot be receiued of any man but worthily but they are accounted guiltie of the bodie and bloud of the Sonne of God because they refused him For when they did eate that Bread and drinke that Wine they might if they had had faith haue eaten and drunke the flesh of Christ Iesus Now because thou refusest the body of Christ offered to thee thou contemnest his bodie offered vnto thee if thou haue not an eye to discerne and iudge of this bodie that is offered For if they had had faith they might haue seene his bodie offered with the Bread by faith they might haue taken that same bodie and by faith they might haue eaten that same bodie Therefore lacking their wedding garment wanting faith whereby they should eate the bodie and drinke the bloud of Christ wanting faith which is the eye of the soule to perceiue and the mouth of the soule to receiue that bodie which is spiritually offered they are counted guiltie of that same bodie and bloud Now let vs make this more cleare by a similitude Ye see among worldly Princes their custome is not to suffer their maiestie to be impeached in the smallest thing that they haue What meaner thing is there that concerneth the maiestie of a Prince then a seale for the substance of it is but waxe yet if thou disdainefully vse that seale and contemne it and stampe it vnder thy feete thou shalt be esteemed as guiltie of his bodie and bloud as he that laid violent hands on him and thou shalt be punished accordingly Much more if thou come as a swine or a dog to handle the seales of the bodie and bloud of Christ much more I say mayest thou be reckoned guiltie of his bodie and of his bloud Thus farre of the eating of the bodie of Christ The wicked cannot eate the bodie of Christ but they may be guiltie of it The Apostle maketh this more plaine yet by another speech which I haue sometimes handled in this place In Hebr. 6.6 it is said that Apostates they that fall away crucifie the Sonne of God againe and their falling away maketh them as guiltie as they were who crucified him He is now in heauen they cannot fetch him from thence to crucifie him yet the Apostle saith they crucifie him Why Because their malice is as great as theirs that crucified him because they match in malice with them that crucified him so that if they had him on the earth they would do the like therefore they are said to crucifie the Son of God So in Heb. 10.29 there is another speech the wicked are said to stampe the bloud of Christ vnder their feete Why Because their malice is as great as theirs that stamped his bloud Now they are accounted for this reason to be guiltie of the bodie and bloud of Christ not because they eate his bodie but because they refused it whem they might haue had it Now the time remaineth yet wherein we may haue the bodie and bloud of Christ. This time is very precious and the dispensation of times iâ— very secret and hath it owne bounds if ye take not this time now it will away This time of grace and of that heauenly foode hath bene dispensed vnto you very long but how ye haue profited your liues and behauiours testifie Remember therefore your selues in time and in time make vse of it for ye know not how long it will last craue a mouth to receiue as well the foode of your soules that is offered as ye do the food of your bodies take this time while ye may haue it or assuredly the time shall come when ye shall cry for it but shall not get it but in place of grace and mercie shall come iudgement vengeance and the dispensation of wrath They will not leaue this matter so but they insist yet and they bring more Arguments to proue that the wicked are partakers of the bodie and bloud of Christ That bread say they ye will grant which the wicked man eates is not naked bread but is that bread which is the Sacrament Thus then they make their Argument The Sacrament hath euer conioyned with it the thing signified But the Sacrament is giuen to all therefore the thing signified is giuen to all What if I grant to them all this Argument There should no inconuenience follow For the thing signified may be giuen to all that is offered to all as it is offered to all men and yet not receiued of all Giuen to all therefore receiued of all it followeth not I may offer you two things yet it is in your owne will whether you will take them or no but ye may take the one and refuse the other and yet he that offers offered you the thing that ye refused as truly as the thing which ye tooke So God deceiueth no man but with the word and Sacraments assuredly he giueth two things if they would take them By his word he offers the word to the eare he offers Christ Iesus to the soule By his Sacraments he offers the Sacraments to the eye he offers Christ Iesus to the soule Now it may be that where two things are truly and conioyntly offred a man may receiue the one and refuse the other He receiueth the one because he hath an instrument to take it he refuseth the other because he wanteth an instrument I heare the word because I haue an eare to heare it with I receiue the Sacrament because I haue a mouth to receiue it with but as for the thing which the word and Sacraments represent I may refuse it because I haue not a mouth to take it nor an eye to perceiue it and therefore the fault is not on Gods part but on our part The wicked get the body and bloud of Christ offered to them conioyntly with the word and Sacraments but the fault is on their part that they haue not a mouth to receiue him and God is not bound to giue them a
to whom the Priest applieth that sacrifice And as for the rest of the Church who are absent they obtaine this remission of their sinnes by this worke generally These three things are necessarie to the substance of the Masse As for the accidents that must concurre to the making of a Masse they are of two sorts Some of them are alwaies necessarie without the which that action cannot be againe some are not necessarie and the action may be without them but not without a deadly sinne These things that are necessarie concerne partly the Priest and partly the action it selfe The accidents that are necessarie to the Priest are of two sorts One sort are such as without the which he cannot be a Priest The other sort such without the which he cannot be free from deadly sin The things without the which he cannot be a Priest are these Except he haue a power giuen of his Bishop to consecrate which power is iustified by the vnction and shauing of his crowne Except againe he haue power to speake and that the roofe of his mouth be whole that he may speake he cannot be a Priest These two are alwaies necessarie and concurre to the person Other things againe are not so necessarie as that the Priest must be free from suspension from cursing deadly sinne and all Ecclesiasticall paine and censures These things are necessarie to the person There are againe two things necessarie to the action One sort without the which the action cannot be without the Lords prayer it cannot be without the fiue words of the institution it cannot be Other things againe are not so necessarie as the consecration of the place where the Masse is said the Altar stone the blessing of the Chalice the water the singing he that should helpe to say Masse and the rest So they and we in no sort agree concerning the word what is meant by it The second point is how this woâ—d ought to be intreated wherein we are as farre asunder we say the word taken as hath bene said for the whole institution ought to be intreated after this manner First there ought to be a lawfull Pastor who hath his calling of God to deliuer it And this Pastor ought to deliuer the word lawfully what is that he ought to preach it to proclaime it publikely with a plaine speech to denounce it he ought to open vp and declare all the parts of it what is the peoples part what is his owne part how he ought to deliuer and distribute that Bread and that Wine how the people ought to receiue at his hands that Bread and that Wine to informe their faith how they ought to receiue Christs bodie and bloud signified by that Bread and Wine As also he ought to teach them how they should come with reuerence vnto that Table and communicate with the pretious bodie and bloud of Christ. This he ought to do in a familiar language that the people may vnderstand him that they may heare him that they may perceiue and lay vp in their hearts the things that he speaketh For what auaileth it you to heare a thing whispered and not spoken out or if it be spoken out what auaileth it you to heare it if ye vnderstand it not For except ye heare Christ in a familiar and plaine language ye cannot vnderstand and except ye vnderstand it is impossible for you to beleeue and without beliefe there is no application of Christ and except ye beleeue and apply Christ to your selues your coming to the Sacrament is in vaine So of necessitie if â—his Sacrament be lawfully handled the Pastor must preach the institution of Christ that it may be heard and in a familiar language that it may be vnderstood in such sort that the faithfull people may be informed how to receiue and the Minister may know his part how to deliuer and distribute This I say should be the right handling of the holy institution of this Sacrament Now what do they In place of a Minister Pastor or Bishop call him as you please who is lawfully called of God they substitute a priest surrogate an hireling who hath no calling or office now in the Church of God For the office of a priest as they vse their priesthood is no other thing but the office of Christ Iesus the office of the Mediatour betwixt God vs for they make their priests daily to offer vp Christ Iesus to the Father Now this is the Mediatour Christ his office and he did it once for all once for euer saith the Apostle so that they haue no entrance to do this ouer againe and in respect that their priests do this againe which Christ hath done already they do it without command they haue no warrant in the word of God And if they had warrant for their calling in the word of God yet they handle the Sacrament amisse for whereas they should speake forth cleerly they whisper and coniure the elements by a certaine kinde of whispering Whereas they should speake it in a knowne language that the people may vnderstand they speake in an vnknowne language and though they spake it in a knowne and familiar tongue yet in that they whisper it the people cannot be the better And what shall I say Seeing they thus handle the word though it be the very institution it selfe yet they so spoyle it in the handling that it is not an holy Sacrament Then we differ as much in the second poynt how that word ought to be handled and intreated Now the third poynt is what vertue this word hath how farre the vertue of this word extendeth it selfe In this point we grant and acknowledge that the word hath a vertue the word taken as hath bene said worketh some what euen toward the same elements of bread and wine for we acknowledge that those element by the vertue of this word are changed not in their substance and naturall properties but we grant that the elements are changed in a quality which they had not before in such sort that these elements are taken from the common vse whereunto they serued before and by the institution of Christ they are applyed vnto an other holy vse Marke how farre the holy vse differs from the common vse there is as great difference betwixt the elements this day in the action and the thing that they were yesterday For I grant that the elements are changed and yet this change proceedeth not of the nature of the elements from an inclosed vertue supposed to be in the words nor from the whispering of the words but it proceedes from the will of Christ from the ordinance and appointment of Christ set downe in his owne institution for that thing is holy which God calleth holy and that thing is profane which God calleth profane To let you vnderstand how these signes are made holy it is necessary that these two things be considered First what he is that makes them holy
place of the Scripture Thirdly it is opposite vnto the end wherefore this Sacrament was instituted and this is most euident for the end of the Sacrament is spirituall as the effect that floweth thereof is spirituall and the instrument whereby this spirituall food is applyed to vs is also spirituall But from a naturall and corporall presence a spirituall effect can neuer flow therefore the corporall and naturall presence of the body and bloud of Christ Iesus repugnes directly the end of this Sacrament for the corporall presence must haue a corporall eating of this eating followeth a digestion in the stomacke and the thing that is digested in the stomacke is neuer able to feede my soule to life eternall So this corporall presence must euer tend to a corporall end which is directly contrary vnto the end wherfore the Sacrament was instituted Further if the bread were transubstantiate it should become the thing signified if it become the thing signified this Sacrament should want a signe and so it should not be a Sacrament for euery Sacrament as ye haue head is a signe Now to say that the accidents of true bread as the colour and the roundnesse of it may serue as signes that is more then folly for betwene the signe and the thing signified there must be a conformity but there is no conformity betweene the accidents and the body and bloud of Christ Iesus For if that were so the accidents behoued to nourish vs corporally as the body and bloud of Christ Ie pointed to nourish vs spiritually Againe if the bread become the body bloud of Christ Iesus it should follow that he had a body without bloud for he hath instituted another signe besides to represent his bloud Also if there had bene â—uch a wondefull thing as they speake of in this Sacrament there would haue bene plaine mention made thereof in the Scripture for God himselfe neuer works a notable worke but he declares it either openly or more secretly in the Scripture that thereby he may be glorified in his wonderfull workes As ye may reade in the Euangelist Iohn 2.8 where the water was changed into wine Gene. 2.22 where the rib of Adam was changed into Heua Exodus 7.10 where Aarons rodde was turned into a Serpent there ye see that changing is manifestly expressed Therefore I say if there had bene such a monstrous change in these elements of â—he Supper as they affirme the Scripture would not haue concealed it but expressed it but in respect there is no mention made of this change in the Scriptures therefore there is no such change in this action Further if there were such a change as they say either it is before these words of consecration be spoken or followes after the same words be spoken If the change be before the words of the consecration be spoken the consecration is superfluous and their Proposition is false if the change be after the words be spoken This bread is my body their Proposition is false also because the word bread is spoken before the last syllable of their fiue words is pronounced These and infinite more absurdities follow of this doctrine And yet they obstinately perseuer and vrge vs with the letter affirming that the words of Christ are so plaine that they admit no figure They would haue spoken more aduisedly if they had sought counsell of Augustine to haue discerned betwene a figuratiue speech and a proper speech for he in his third booke and 16. chapter of Christian doctrine speakes after this sort If the speech saith he seeme to command a wickednesse or mischiefe or to forbid any happinesse or any welfare it is not proper it is then figuratiue And he addes for an example a place out of Iohn 6.53 Except saith our Sauiour ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drink his bloud ye haue no life in you Whereunto Augustine addeth This speech saith he seemeth to commande a mischiefe therefore it is a figuratiue speech whereby we are commanded to communicate with the sufferings of Christ Iesus and with gladnes to keepe in perpetuall memory that the flesh of the Lord was crucified and wounded for vs. For otherwise it were more horrible as the same Augustine maketh mention in the second booke against the Aduersaries of the law to eate the flesh of Christ Iesus really then to murther him and more horrible to drinke his bloud then to shed his bloud Yet notwithstanding they are not ashamed still to hold maintaine that those words ought to be taken properly So that it appeareth that of very malice for contradiction sake to the end onely that they may withstand the truth they will not acknowledge this to be a sacramentall speech For they are compelled will they nill they in other speeches of the like sort to acknowledge a figure as Genes 17.10 Circumcision is called the couenant and Exod. 12.11 the Lambe is called the Passeouer and Math. 20.22 the Cup is called his Bloud and Luke 22.20 the Cuppe is called the new Testament and 1. Cor. 10.4 the Rocke is called Christ. All these speeches are sacramentall and receiue a kinde of interpretation yet they maliciously prease to deny vs this in these words Hoc est corpus meum which they are compelled to grant in the rest as especially where Paul calleth the rocke Christ. Now when they are driuen out of this Fortresse they flie as vnhappily to the second namely That God by his omnipotency may make the body of Christ to be in heauen and in the bread both at one time Ergo say they it is so If I denied their consequent they would be much troubled to proue it But the question standeth not here whether God may do it or not but the question is Whether God will it or not or may will it or not And we say reuerently that his Maiestie may not will it for though it be true that he may many things which he will not yet it is as true that there are many things which he may not will of the which sort this is and these are reduced to two sorts First he may not will those things which are contrary to his nature as to be changeable as to decay such others for if he might will these things they should not be arguments of any puissance or of any other power but rather certaine arguments of his impotency and infirmity And therefore though he may not will these things he ceasseth not to be omnipotent but so much the rather his constant and inuincible power is knowne Secondly God may not will some things by reason of a presupposed condition as such things whereof he hath concluded the contrary before of the which sort is this which is now controuerted For seeing that God hath concluded that a humane body should consist of instrumentall parts and therefore to be comprehended and circumscribed within one and the owne proper place and also seeing he hath appointed Christ
THE WAY TO TRVE PEACE AND REST. DELIVERED AT EDINBOROVGH In XVI Sermons on the Lords Supper Hezechiahs Sicknesse and other select Scriptures By that reuerend faithfull Preacher of Gods word Mr. ROBERT BRVCE for the present Minister of the Word in Scotland Dulcia non meruit qui non gustauit amara IOHN 10.27.28 My sheepe heare my voyce and I know them they follow me And I giue vnto them eternall life and they shall neuer perish neither shall any man plucke them out of my hand LONDON Printed by R. Field for Thomas Man and Ionas Man dwelling in Pater-noster row at the signe of the Talbot 1617. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVL MAISTER ADRIAN MOORE Esquire c. And to the no lesse religious and vertuous Gentlewoman Mistresse MARIE MOORE his Wife Patrones of Piety all peace and happiness in both Worlds RIght Worshipfull It must not seeme strange vnto you that a new occasion hath made also a new change of stile since occasion daily sheweth so many changes in the world Amongst all which alterations I must beg of you still to continue your countenance vnto these few plaine homely Sermons In token that no change I hope so long as I liue shall keepe me from manifesting vnto the world as all occasions shall serue how much in dutie I am bound to your true vnfeined loue and vndeserued fauours to me the vnworthiest of all For which I can but wish you to be euer attended with those two faithfull companions of the Saints peace of conscience and ioy in the holie Ghost and at the last to haue a speedie hearing when your Spirits shall faile to transport them into Abrahams bosome there to enioy eternall and vnspeakeable rest for euer and euer Yours in all dutie much and euer bound I. H. TO THE READER GEntle Reader The Author of these Sermons not being present at their going to the presse againe to reuiew and correct them I doubted whether in these learned and curious dayes such homely lines as these might not be distastfull amongst such multitudes of learned ones euery where swarming in the presse so much the rather since their Author hath euer thought so meanly of himselfe that no worke of his could be worthie of the presse Notwithstanding since the importunitie of many did long since as it were wring and extort these few Sermons from him in the beginning of his ministerie before things could be so well ripely and methodically digested as possibly he could haue wished if now they were to do I haue made bold also once againe to send them vnto thy view chiefly to the hungrie Because as Salomon speaketh he who is full despiseth an honie combe but to the afflicted soule euery soure thing is sweete The first fiue on the Lords Supper were englished by a late Gentleman of worthie memorie M. S. Mitchell who was gathered to his fathers before he could see them at the presse the rest were perused and englished by another friend All the care and paines taken hath bene for Gods glorie and thy good If it please thee now therefore to vse Philips counsell to Nathaniel and see whether any good things come out of Nazareth it may be thou shalt not thinke thy paines and time lost which that thou mayest the sooner do I ceasse to trouble thee remaining Thine in the Lord Iesus I. H. The Contents and substance of the Sermons following SERMON I. Out of 1. Cor. 11.28 Intreating of preparation to the Lords Supper Sheweth that a man must make this triall in his conscience The Definition of conscience the causes why conscience was by God left in vs The way how to keepe a good conscience In what things we must chiefly examine our consciences how to trie our peace with God and loue with our neighbours of mans first miserie and recouerie and so how faith is wrought in the heart how it is nourished in vs. SERM. II. Out of 1. Cor. 11.28 Intreating of Preparation to the Lords Supper Sheweth how a sincere faith is knowne that he who for Christ can renounce himselfe cannot be disappointed of his expectation That faith is the free gift of God Certaine effects whereby we may know if we haue faith That because it is ioyned with doubting it must be nourished That faith and doubting may lodge in one soule That a faith mingled and maistered with much doubting is yet a true faith That faith smothered yet is not extinguished A sure rest in the most dangerous tentations The definition of loue what our loue vnto God and our neighbour is SERM. III. Out of 1. Cor. 11.23 Intreating of the Sacraments in generall Sheweth the definition and diuerse acceptions of the word Sacrament what the signes in the Sacrament are why they are called signes what the thing signified in the Sacrament is The necessitie of the application thereof How the signe and the thing signified are ioyned together The Illustration of this Coniunction what considerations are needefull when the Signe and the thing signified are giuen and receiued The other part of a Sacrament which is the word To what vses the Sacrament serueth vs more then the word Faults which peruert the Sacrament c. SERM. IIII. Out of 1. Cor. 11.23 Intreating of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Sheweth the diuerse Names both in the Scriptures and by the Ancients giuen vnto this Sacrament of the Lords Supper The ends why this Sacrament was instituted The things both outward and inward contained in this Sacrament That the things signified in both Sacraments are one but the signes are not one why in Baptisme there is but one signe and in the Lords Supper two What power and perpetuity the bread hath to be a signe How the Signes the thing signified are conioyned in the Sacrament How the Signe and the thing signified is receiued What inconueniences are cast in by the Papists against this spirituall receiuing of Christ in the Sacrament How the soule is said to eate the body and drink the blood of Christ. Faith is that which coupleth vs to Christ. A similitude explaining the same SERM. V. Out of the 1. Cor. 11.23 Intreating of the Sacrament of the Lord Supper Sheweth our vnion with Christ by vertue of communion of the same Spirit The definition of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Why this Sacrament is called a seale Why a holy seale Why the seale is said to be annexed to the Couenant Why the Sacrament should be administred publikely Why this seale must be ministred according to Christs institution That the word and element must concurre in the institution of a Sacrament What we meane by the word in a Sacrament what the Papists vnderstand by the word in this action and our differences from them How the outward Elements are sanctified How the Papists sanctifie these Elements The refutatiō of Transubstantiatiō by diuerse arguments The reasons why the Papists cannot thinke Christs body present in the Sacrament vnlesse it be really and substantially present The
thou mightest eate the flesh of Christ with thy teeth this were a cruell manner of doing yet thou maist not eate the God-head with thy teeth this is a grosse fashion of speaking Then if euer ye get good of the Sacrament ye must get whole Christ and there is not any instrument whereby to lay hold on him but by faith onely therefore come with a faithfull heart O but ye will aske me and by appearance the definition laid downe of the thing signified giueth a ground to it If the flesh of Christ and the bloud of Christ be a part of the thing signified how can I call his flesh a spirituall thing and Christ in respect of his flesh a heauenly thing Ye will not say that the substance of Christs flesh is spirituall or that the substance of his bloud is spirituall wherefore then call ye it an heauenly and spirituall thing I will tell you The flesh of Christ is called a spirituall thing and Christ is called spirituall in respect of his flesh not that his flesh is become a Spirit or that the substance of his flesh is become spirituall No it remaineth true flesh and the substance of it is one as it was in the wombe of the Virgin His flesh is not called spiritual in respect it is glorified in the heauens at the right hand of the Father be not deceiued with that for suppose it be glorified yet it remaineth true flesh that same very flesh which he tooke out of the wombe of the blessed Virgine Neither is it spirituall because thou seest it not in the Supper if thou wert where it is thou mightest see it but it is called spirituall in respect of the spirituall ends whereunto it serueth to my body and soule because the flesh and bloud of Christ serueth to nourish me not to a temporall but to a spirituall and heauenly life Now in respect this flesh is a spirituall foode seruing me to a spirituall life for this cause it is called a spirituall thing if it nourish me as the flesh of beasts doth but to a temporall life it shoud be called but a temporall thing but in respect it nourisheth my soule not to an earâ—hly and temporall life but to an heauenly celestiall and spirituall end in respect of this end the flâ—sh of Christ and Christ in respect of his flesh is called the spirituall thing â—n the Sacrament It is called also the spirituall thing in the Sacrament in respect of the spirituall instrument whereby it is receiued The instrument whereby the flesh of Christ is receiued is not a corporall instrument is not the teeth and mouth of the bodie but it is spirituall it is the mouth of the soule which is faith and in respect the instrument is spirituall therefore Christ who is receiued is also called spirituall In respect also that the manner of receiuing is heauenly spirituall and an internall manner not a naturall nor externall manner in respect that the flesh of Christ which is giuen in the Sacrament is receiued by a spirituall and secret manner which is not seene to the eyes of men In all these respects I call Christ Iesus the heauenly and spirituall thing which is signified by the signes in the Sacrament Now I say in the end the thing signified must be applied to vs. What auaileth it me to see my medicine in a box standing in an Apothecaries shop what can it worke toward me if it be not applied What auaileth it me to see my saluation afarre of if it be not applied to me Therfore it is not enough for vs to see Christ but he must be giuen vs or else he cannot worke health and saluation in vs. And as this saluation is giuen vs we must haue a mouth to take it What auaileth it me to see meate before me except I haue a mouth to take it So the thing signified in the Sacrament must be giuen vs by God by the three persons of the Trinity one God by Christ Iesus who must giue himselfe and as he giues himselfe so we must haue a mouth to take him Suppose he present and offer himselfe yet he can profite and auaile none but them who haue a mouth to receiue him Then ye see what I call the thing signified whole Christ applyed to vs and receiued by vs whole Christ God and man without separation of his natures without distinguishing of his substance from his graces all applyed to vs. Then I say seeing we come to the Sacrament to be fed by his flesh and refreshed by his bloud to be fed to an heauenly and spirituall life and seeing there is no profite to be had at this Table without some kinde of preparation therefore let no man prease to come to this Table except in some measure he be prepared Some will be prepared in a greater measure then others alwayes let no man presume to go to it except in some measure his heart be sanctified therefore my exhortation concerning the way whereby euery one of you ought to prepare your selues that ye may fit you the better to this Table is this There is not one of you that cometh to the Table of the Lord that may bring before the Lord his integrity iustice and vprightnes but whosoeuer goeth to the Table of the Lord he ought to go with the acknowledging and confession of his misery he ought to go with a sorrowfull heart for the sinnes wherein he hath offended God he ought to go with a hatred of those sinnes Not to protest that he is holy iust and vpright but to protest and confesse that he is miserable and of all creatures the most miserable and therefore he goeth to that Table to get support for his misery to obtaine mercy at the throne of Grace to get remission and forgiuenesse of sinnes to get the gift of repentance that more and more he may study to liue vprightly holily and soberly in all time to come Therefore except ye haue entred into this course and haue a purpose to continue in this course to amend your life past to repent you of your sinnes and by the grace of God to liue more vprightly and soberly then ye haue done for Gods cause go not to the Table For where there is not a purpose to do well and to repent of necessity there must be a purpose to do il and whosouer cometh to that Table with a purpose to do ill and without a purpose to repent he cometh to mock Christ to scorne him to his face and to eate his owne present condemnation So let no man come to that Table that hath not in his heart a purpose to do better that hath not a heart to sorrow for his sinnes past and thinketh not his former folly and madnesse ouer-great Let no man come to that Table without this vnder the paine of condemnation But if ye haue in your heart a purpose to do better suppose your former life hath bene dissolute and loose
man But Christ Iesus hath locked vp and reserued the ministery of this heauenly thing to himselfe onely therefore there are two giuers in this Sacrament the Minister giueth the earthly thing Christ Iesus the Mediatour giues you the heauenly thing in this Sacrament For Christ in giuing the earthly thing wil not vse his owne ministery immediately nor the ministery of an Angell but only the ministery of an earthly man And as for the dispensation of his owne body bloud he will not giue it either to heauenly creature or earthly man but he keepeth this ministery to himselfe and he dispenseth his owne body and bloud to whom and when he pleaseth And why If any man in the world had power to giue Christs body bloud no question this man should haue power to clense the heart conscience for the bloud of Christ hath this power with it and consequently should haue power to forgiue sins Now it is onely God that may forgiue sinnes and therefore it is not possible that the ministery of the heauenly thing can be in the power of any man Example we haue in Iohn the Baptist Math 3.11 Saith he not The ministery that I haue is of the element I am commanded to minister the element of water onely but as for the ministery of fire and of the Spirit Christ hath reserued it vnto himselfe Therfore looke not to get the Spirit at mans hands but at the hands of Christ himselfe onely And without this inward ministerie the outward ministerie is not worth a straw For my outward ministerie yea suppose it were the ministerie of an Angell and suppose Christ were present in the flesh to minister vnto you these outward things except he conioyne the inward ministerie of his Spirit therewith it auaileth nothing it may well be as a processe against you in the day of that generall assemblie but to your saluation it will neuer profit you Therfore this ye ought alwaies to pray for that the Lord would water your hearts by his holy Spirit as he watereth your eares by the hearing of his word Then there are two offerers the Minister offers the signe Christ Iesus offers himselfe the thing signified The three persons one God offer the Mediatour or the Mediatour offers himselfe and that by the power and vertue of his owne Spirit As there are two offerers two persons that offer and giue the Sacrament and thing signified by the Sacrament so these two are offered and giuen in two actions Christ who is the heauenly thing is offered and giuen vnto you by an inward secret and spirituall action which is not subiect to the outward eye The signe againe is offered and giuen in an outward action after a corporall and visible manner As there are two sorts of actions so there are two sorts of instruments whereunto the signe and the thing signified are offered for the thing signified that is Christ is neuer offered to the mouth of my bodie the bloud of Christ the flesh of Christ whole Christ or the Spirit of Christ is not offered either in the word or in the Sacrament to the mouth of my bodie Let the Aduersaries find me that in any part of the Bible that there is any other manner of receiuing Christ then by faith and let them haue the victorie So there is not an instrument as I told you neither hand nor mouth to receiue Christ but faith onely As Christ who is the thing signified is receiued by the hand and mouth of faith so the signe which signifieth Christ is receiued by our owne naturall mouth and hand Ye haue a mouth in your heads and in your bodies as proper to receiue the signe as faith is to receiue Christ. So the signe and the thing signified are offered and giuen not to one instrument but to two the one to the mouth of the bodie the other to the mouth of the soule Now marke by what way these things are offered and giuen by the same way they are receiued as the signe is corporall and naturally offered to a corporall instrument so is it receiued after a corporall and naturall manner for thou must take the Bread and Wine either by thy hand or by thy mouth The thing signified is not taken after a corporall manner but after a secret and spirituall manner and as it is offered so it is taken There can be nothing clearer then this the one is taken after a naturall manner the other after a secret and spirituall manner So in this last part ye haue these things to marke to distinguish betweene the outward action and the inward betweene the signe and the thing signified and to keepe a proportion and analogie betweene the inward and the outward actions ye may surely perswade your selues that if ye be faithfull Christ is as busie working inwardly in your soules as the Minister is working outwardly towards your bodies looke how busie the Minister is in breaking that Bread in pouring out that Wine in giuing that Bread and Wine vnto thee as busie is Christ in breaking his owne bodie vnto thee and in giuing the iuyce of his owne bodie after a spirituall and inuisible manner So keepe this distinction and ye may assure your selues that by faith Christ is as well occupied towards your soules to nourish thē as the Minister is outwardly towards your bodies Keepe this and ye haue the whole Sacrament Then from this discourse and deduction you may learne a double matter whereof the Sacrament consisteth It standeth on two sorts of materials that is of an earthly matter and of an heauenly matter the signe and the thing signified And as there is a double matter in the Sacrament so the Sacrament must be handled after a double manner by an outward action and an inward action keepe the distinction in these things betweene the signe and the thing signified and ye shall not easily slip in the vnderstanding of the Sacrament This being said concerning the generall consideration of the Elements for all this yet appertaineth to the Elements it resteth that we speake somewhat concerning the word which I call the other part of the Sacrament I meane and vnderstand by the word whereunto the Elements are annexed that thing which quickneth this whole action which serueth as it were a soule and giueth life vnto the whole action For by the word and appointment of Christ in the word the Minister knoweth what is his part the hearer knoweth what is his part euery one is prepared how to deliuer and how to receiue the Minister how he should deliuer and the hearer how he should receiue So the Institution of Christ is the quicking of the whole action for all the action is warranted from the Institution set downe in his word In the Institution of Christ there are two things chiefly to be considered a Command and a Promise The Command is this where he saith Take eate The Command requireth obedience There is a Promise also
Sacrament defraud vs of the profite vse thereof these faults are either in the forme or in the person In forme if the essentiall forme be spoyled we get nothing for when the Sacrament is spoyled of the essentiall forme it is not a Sacrament There is an essential forme in Baptisme an essentiall forme in the Lords Supper which if they be taken away ye lose the vse of the Sacrament The essentiall forme of Baptisme is I baptize thee in the Name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost Leaue out any of these three or do it in the name of any one of the three persons onely ye lose the essentiall forme of Baptisme In the Lords Supper if ye leaue out the least ceremonie ye lose the essentiall forme and so it is not a Sacrament I speake of the essentiall forme in respect of the Papists who keepe the essentiall forme in Baptisme though they haue brought in trifles of their owne and mixt with it yet in respect they keepe the substantiall forme it is not necessary that they who were baptized vnder them be rebaptized Indeede if the vertue of regeneration flowed from the person it were something but in respect Christ hath this to giue to whom and when he pleaseth the essentiall forme being kept it is not necessary that this Sacrament be reâ—terated Now what are the faults in the person that peruerts the Sacrament The fault may be either in the person of the giuer or in the person of the receiuer I speake not of those common faults which are common to all but of such faults as disable the person of the giuer to be a distributer of the Sacrament and taketh the office from him so when the person of the giuer is this way disabled no question it is not a Sacrament Then againe in the person of the Receiuer the fault may be if their children be not in the couenant but out of it they get not the Sacrament Indeed if the Parents afterward come to the couenant the children though they be gotten out of the couenant may be receiued Euen so in the Lords Supper if a man be laden with any burthen of sin without any purpose to repent he ought not to receiue it So then if ye come without a purpose to repent ye lose the vse of the Sacrament it is onely this purpose to repent that maketh me who receiue the Sacrament to get the fruite and effect thereof therefore euery one who goeth to the Sacrament must looke what purpose he hath in his heart Hast thou a purpose to murder to continue in adultery or to commit any other vile sinne that is in thy heart and art not resolued to repent In shewing thee to be without repentance thou shewest thy selfe to be without faith and consequently thou comest to thy condemnation and not to thy saluation take heed then what your purpose is for if with a dissolute life ye haue a dissolute purpose ye come vnto your euerlasting perdition I had thought to haue entred particularly into the handling of this Sacrament but because the time is past and some of you I doubt not are to communicate onely this Remember that ye addresse not your selues to that Table except ye finde your hearts in some sort prepared The first degree of preparation standeth in contrition in sorrowing for sinne in a feeling of your sinnes wherein ye haue offended to gracious a God If ye be able as that woman was by the teares of a contrite heart to wash the feete of Christ humbly to kisse his feete and â—o get hold of the foote of Christ though ye dare not presume so high as to get him whole ye are in a good case but if thou want all these and hast them not in some measure thou wantest all the degrees or preparation Therefore let none come to this Table except he haue these in some measure But where there is a displeasure for sinne a purpose to do better and an earnest sobbing and sighing to get the thing that thou wantest in that soule where God hath placed this desire of Christ it is the worke of Gods Spirit and Christ will enter there And therefore though that soule be farre from the thing that it should be at let him not refuse to go to the Lords Table but let him go with a profession of his owne infirmitie and weakenesse and with a desire of the thing that he wants Euery one of you that findeth himselfe this way disposed let him go in Gods name to the Lords Table and the Lord worke this in euery one of your hearts that this ministerie may be effectuall in euery one of you at this time and that in the righteous merits of Iesus Christ. To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honour praise and glorie both now and for euer Amen THE FOVRTH SERMON VPON THE LORDS SVPPER IN PARTICVLAR 1. COR. 11.23 For I haue receiued of the Lord that which I also haue deliuered vnto you to wit that the Lord Iesus in the night that he was betrayed tooke Bread c. WE ended the consideration of the Sacraments in generall in our last Exercise welbeloued in Christ Iesus now it remaines that we proceede to the consideration of this Sacrament of the Lords Supper in particular And that ye may the better attaine vnto the knowledge and consideration of the great varietie of matter that is contained in this Sacrament of the Lords Supper I shall endeuour as God shall giue me grace to set downe certaine things for the easier vnderstanding of it And first of all I will let you see what names are giuen vnto this Sacrament in the Bible I will shew you some names that are giuen to this Sacrament by the Ancients Next I will let you vnderstand for what chiefe ends and respects this Sacrament was instituted and appointed by Christ Iesus Thirdly I will come to the things that are contained in the Sacrament how these things are coupled how they are deliuered and how they are receiued And last of all I will answer certaine obiections which may be obiected to the contrarie of this doctrine and as God shall giue me grace I will refute them and so end this present Exercise Now we find sundry names giuen vnto the Sacrament of the Lords Supper in the booke of God and euery name carries a speciall reason with it We finde this Sacrament called the bodie and bloud of Christ. This name is giuen vnto it no doubt because it is a heauenly and spirituall nouriture it containes a nouriture of the soule that is able to nourish and traine vp the soule to a life spirituall to that life euerlasting for this cause it is called the bodie and bloud of Christ. It is called also the Supper of the Lord to put a difference betwixt it and a profane supper for this is the Lords Supper a holy supper not a profane or common
mouth Marke this That if it were not of Gods speciall grace and mercy that he giueth me an eye to perceiue him a mouth to receiue him I would refuse him as wel as they So this Argument holdeth not Christ is offered to all Ergo he is receiued of all Happy were they if they could receiue him Thus far for the 3. Argumēt What resteth now for the full vnderstanding of the Sacrament These things remaine That we vnderstand the Sacramentall speeches that are vsed in the Sacrament for we vse to speake of them God vseth to speake of them and the Ancients vse to speake of them We vse to say that the soule eateth the body of Christ and drinketh the bloud of Christ. These speeches would be opened to you how the soule is said to eate the body and drinke the bloud of Christ these speeches are Sacramentall yet ye are not the wiser but I will make it plaine by Gods grace They are Sacramentall what is that Ye know it is proper to the body to eate and drinke they are the proper actions of the body onely Now they are ascribed to the soule by a translation by a figuratiue manner of speaking That which is proper to the body is ascribed to the soule and it is said that the soule eateth and drinketh The eating of the soule doth resemble the eating of the body then the eating of the soule is no other thing but the applying of Christ to the soule to beleeue that he hath shed his bloud for me that he hath purchased remission of sinnes for me Wherefore then call you this an eating Thy body eateth when thou appliest the meate to thy mouth If then the eating of the body be no other thing but the applying of the meat to the mouth the eating of the soule is no other thing but the applying of the nourishment to the soule Then ye see what is meant by the eating and drinking of the soule no other thing but the applying of Christ to my soule and the applying of his death and passion to my soule and this is onely done by faith therefore he that lacked faith cannot eate Christ. Thus farre for the eating and drinking of the soule which are Sacramentall speeches There remaineth now of all these great things of al this doctrine which hath bin taught but this one lessō That thou learne to apply Christ rightly to thy soule Thou art a great Diuine if thou hast learned this wel for in the right application of Christ to the sick soule to the wounded conscience and diseased heart here begins the fountaine of all our felicity and the wel-spring of all our ioy And I will tell you what this application worketh Obserue what the presence of thy soule within thee suppose thou want Christ in thy soule doth to this earthly body to this lumpe of clay as by the presence of the soule it liueth it moueth it feeleth as the soule giueth to the body life mouing and senses that same very thing doth Christ vnto thy soule Hast thou once laid hold of and applyed him to thee As the soule quickens thy body so he quickens thy soule not with an earthly or temporall life but with the life which he liueth in heauen he makes thee to liue that same life which the Angels liue in heauen he maketh thee to moue not with worldly motions but with heauenly spirituall and celestiall motions Againe he inspires in thee not outward senses but heauenly senses he worketh in thee a spirituall feeling that in thine owne heart and conscience thou mayst find the effect of this word So by the coniunction of Christ with my soule get a thousand times greater benefits then the body doth by the soule for the body by the presence of the soule getteth onely an earthly and temporall life subiect to continuall misery but by the presence of Christ in my soule I see a blessed life l feele a blessed life and that same life takes daily more and more increase in me Then the ground of all our perfection and blessednesse standeth in this coniunction suppose thou mightest liue Methushelaes yeers and wert euer seeking yet if in the last houre thou get this coniunction thou must thinke thy trauell well bestowed thou hast gotten enough for if we haue obtained Christ we haue gotten al with him Then the applying of Christ to my soule is the fountaine of all my ioy felicity Now let vs see how we get this coniunction This is a spirituall coniunction a coniunction hard and difficult to be purchased obtained gotten of vs. How then is this coniunction brought about which are the meanes of this coniunction on Gods part and which are the means on our part to get Christ to put Christ in our soules and to make Christ one with vs There is one meanes on Gods part that helpeth vs vnto Christ and there is another on our part On Gods part there is the holy Spirit which offereth the body and bloud of Christ to vs and on our part there must be a meanes or else though he offer we will not receiue Therefore of necessity there must be faith in our soules to receiue that which the holy Spirit offers to receiue that heauenly food of the body and bloud of Christ which the holy Spirit offers Then faith and the holy Spirit are the two meanes of this spirituall and heauenly coniunction By these two meanes by faith and by the holy Spirit I get the body of Christ the body of Christ is mine and he is giuen to my soule Now here comes in the question How canst thou say that the body of Christ is giuen or deliuered to thee seeing the body of Christ is sitting at the right hand of God the Father and looke how great distance is betwixt heauen and earth as great distance is there betwixt the body of Christ and thy body how then say ye that the body of Christ is giuen to you The Papists vnderstand not this and therefore they imagine a grosse and carnall coniunction Except the Spirit of God reueale these things they cannot be vnderstood The Spirit of God must illuminate our mindes and be planted in all our hearts before we can come to the vnderstanding of this Then wouldest thou vnderstanding of this Then wouldest thou vnderstand how Christ is giuen thee This ground is true that the body of Christ is a◠the right hand of the Father the bloud of Christ is at the right hand of the Father yet notwithstanding though there be as great distance betwixt my body and the body of Christ as is betwixt heauen and earth yet Christs body is giuen to me because I haue a title to his body giuen to me the right and title which is giuen to me of his body and bloud makes me to possesse his body and bloud The distance of the place hurteth not my title nor my right for if any of you haue a peece of Land
He changeth the affections and inclinations of my soule he changeth the faculties and qualities of my soule And though our hearts and minds be made new yet the substance of them is not changed but onely the faculties and qualities are changed in respect of the which change we are called new creatures and except you be found new creatures ye are not in Christ. Now to come to the point This secret coniunction is brought to passe by faith and by the holy Spirit by faith we lay hold on the bodie and bloud of Christ And though we be as farre distant as heauen and earth are the Spirit serueth vs as a ladder to conioyne vs with Christ As the ladder of Iacob which reached from the ground to the heauen to the selfe same vse serueth the Spirit of God to conioyne the bodie of Christ with my soule Then obserue the whole in a word What maketh you to haue any right or title to Christ Nothing but the Spirit nothing but faith What should be your studie then Seeke by all meanes possible to get faith that as Peter Acts 15.9 saith your hearts and consciences may be sanctified by faith And if you endeuour not as well to get faith in your hearts as in your minds your faith auaileth not What auaileth the faith that fleeteth in the fantasie and bringeth a naked knowledge without the opening of the heart and consent of the will So there must be an opening of thy heart and consent of thy will to do that thing that God commandeth or else thy faith auaileth not Then striue to get faith in your hearts and minds and doing so ye do the duties of Christians This is not done without the diligent hearing of the word and diligent receiuing of the Sacrament Then be diligent in these exercises and be diligent in prayer Praying in the holy Ghost that he would nourish your soules inwardly with the bodie and bloud of Christ That he would increase faith in your hearts and minds and make it to grow vp more and more daily vntill you come to the full fruition of that blessed immortalitie Vnto the which the Lord of his mercie bring vs and that for the righteous merits of Christ Iesus To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be all honour praise and glorie both now and euer Amen THE FIFTH SERMON VPON THE LORDS SVPPER 1. COR. 11.23 For I haue receiued of the Lord that which I also haue deliuered vnto you to wit that the Lord Iesus in the night that he was betrayed tooke Bread c. WE haue heard wel-beloued in Christ Iesus in our last exercise what names were giuen to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper as well in the Scriptures as by the Ancients of the Latine and East Churches we heard the chiefe ends wherefore and whereunto this holy Sacrament was at first instituted we heard the things that were contained in this Sacrament what they were how they are coupled how they are deliuered and how they are receiued we heard also some obiections that might be obiected to the contrarie of this doctrine we heard them propounded and as God gaue the grace refuted we heard how the faithfull soule is said to eate Christs body and drinke Christs bloud We heard the manner how Christ is or can be receiued of vs. And we concluded in this poynt That Christ Iesus the Sauiour of mankinde our Sauiour cannot be perceiued nor yet receiued but by a spirituall way and apprehension Neither the flesh of Christ nor the bloud of Christ nor Christ himselfe can be perceiued but by the eye of faith can be receiued but by the mouth of faith nor can be layd hold on but by the hand of faith Now faith is a spirituall thing for faith is the gift of God powred downe into the hearts and minds of men and women wrought in the soule of euery one and that by the mighty working and operation of the holy Spirit So the onely way to lay hold on Christ being by faith and faith of it owne nature being spirituall it followeth therefore that there is no way to lay hold on Christ but a spirituall way there is not a hand to fasten on Christ but a spirituall hand there is not a mouth to digest Christ but a spirituall mouth The Scriptures familiarly by all these termes describe the nature and efficacy of faith We are said to eate the flesh of Christ by faith and to drinke his bloud by faith in this Sacrament chiefly in doing of two things First in calling to our remembrance the bitter death and passion of Christ the bloud that he shed vpon the crosse the Supper which he instituted in remembrance of him before he went to the Crosse the commandement which he gaue Do this in remembrance of me I say we eate his flesh and drinke his bloud spiritually First in this point in recording and remembring faithfully how he died for vs how his bloud was shed vpon the crosse This is the first point a point that cannot be remembred truly except it be wrought by the mighty power of the holy Spirit The second poynt of the spirituall eating standeth in this That I and euery one of you beleeue firmely that he died for me in particular That his bloud was shed on the crosse for a ful remission and redemption of me and my sins The chiefe and principall point of the eating of Christ his flesh drinking of his bloud standeth in beleeuing firmly that that flesh was deliuered to death for my sinnes that that bloud of his was shed for the remission of my sinnes and except euery soule come neere to himselfe and firmely consent and agree and be perswaded that Christ died for him that soule can not be saued that soule can not eate the flesh nor drinke the bloud of Christ. Then the eating of the flesh and drinking of the bloud of Christ standeth in a faithfull memorie in a firme belief and in a true applying of the merits of the death and passion of Christ to my owne conscience in particular There were sundry things obiected against this kind of receiuing I will not insist to repeate them But beside all the obiections which ye heard obiected against this kinde of spirituall receiuing by faith they say If Christ his flesh nor his bloud be not perceiued nor receiued but by the Spirit by faith in the Spirit then say they ye receiue him but by an imagination if he be not receiued carnally nor corporally but onely by the Spirit and by faith then is he not receiued but by way of imagination conceite and fantasie So they account faith an imagination of the minde a fantasie and opinion fleeting in the hearts of men I cannot blame them to thinke so of faith For as none can iudge of the sweetenesse of hony but they that haue tasted of it so there is none can discerne nor iudge of the nature of faith but they that haue felt it
and tasted in their hearts what it is And if they had tasted and felt in their soules what faith brings with it alas they would not call that spirirituall Iewell and onely â—ewell of the soule an imagination They call it an imagination and the Apostle describing it Heb. 11.1 calleth it a substance and substantiall ground Marke how well these two agree An imagination and a substantiall ground They call it an vncertaine opinion fleeting in the braine and fantasie of man He calleth it an euidence and demonstration in the same definition See how directly contrary the Apostle and they are in the nature of faith Vpon this they infer that as it is true in generall he can not be deliuered nor giuen but that same way that he is receiued and looke what way any thing is receiued the same way it is giuen and deliuered So as they say he being receiued by way of imagination he is also in their fantasie giuen and deliuered by way of imagination For if he be not giuen say they to thy hand to thy mouth nor to thy stomack corporally he cannot be giuen but by an imagination and fantasticall opinion The reason that moueth them to thinke that Christ cannot be theirs nor giuen to them truly in effect and really except he be giuen carnally is this That thing which is so far absent and distant from vs as the heauen is from the earth cannot be said to be giuen vs nor to be ours But by our owne confession say they to vs Christ his body is as farre absent from vs as the heauen is from the earth Therefore Christ his body nor his flesh cannot be giuen vnto vs except by way of imagination and so not truly nor in effect This argument framed in this sort would at the first sight seeme to be of some force But let vs examine the proposition of it The proposition is this That thing which is so farre absent from vs as the heauen is from the earth cannot be said to be deliuered to vs to be giuen to vs or any wayes to be ours Now whether is this proposition true or false I say this proposition is vntrue and the contrarie most true A thing may be giuen to vs and may become ours though the thing in person it selfe be as farre distant from vs as the heauen is from the earth And how proue I this What maketh any thing to be ours What maketh any of you esteeme a thing to be giuen vnto you Is it not a title Is it not a iust right to that thing If ye haue a iust right giuen vnto you by him who hath power to giue it and a sure title confirmed to you by him who hath the power though the thing that he giueth vnto you be not deliuered into your hands yet by the right and title which he granteth to you is not the thing yours There is no doubt of it for it is not the neernes of the thing to my body to my hand that maketh the thing mine for it may be in mine hand and yet not belong to me Neyther is it the distance nor absence of the thing that makes it not to be mine but it may be farre absent from me and yet be mine becaue the title is mine and because I haue gotten a right to it from him who hath the power to giue it So then this ground is true It is a sure title and a iust right that maketh a thing though it be far distant from vs to be ours But so it is that a liuelie and true faith in the bloud and death of Christ maketh vs to haue a sure title and a good right to the flesh and bloud of Christ and to his merites looke what he merited by his death shedding of his bloud vpon the crosse all that together with himselfe also appertaineth to me and that by a title and a right which I haue gotten to him of God which is faith And the surer that my title is the more sure am I of the thing that is giuen me by the title Now this Sacrament of the Lords Supper was instituted to confirme our title to seale vp our right which we haue to the bodie and bloud to the death and passion of Christ and so the bodie of Christ is said to be giuen to vs the bloud of Christ is said to be deliuered to vs when our title which we haue of him of his death of his bodie and bloud is confirmed in our harts For this Sacrament is instituted for the growth and increase of our faith for the increase of our holinesse and sanctification which faith the greater that it is in our hearts the more sure are we that Christ his death appertaineth to vs. I grant as I haue said that the flesh of Christ is not deliuered into my hndes his flesh is not put into my mouth nor entreth into my stomacke Yet God forbid that thou shouldst say He is not truly giuen although Christs flesh be not put into thy hand nor mouth of thy body and wherfore should it Hath he not appointed bread wine for the nourishment of the bodie may not that content you Are they not sufficieÌ„t to nourish you to this earthly temporall life Hath he not appointed Christ to be deliuered to the inward mouth of thy soule to be giuen into the hand of thy soule that thy soule may seede on him and be quickned with that life wherewith the Angels liue wherewith the Sonne of God and God himselfe liue So the flesh of Christ is not appointed to nourish thy bodie but to nourish thy soule in the hope yea in the growth of that immortall life and therefore I say though the flesh of Christ be not deliuered into the hand of thy body yet it is deliuered to that part that it should nourish the soule is that part that it should nourish therefore to the soule it is deliuered Yea that Bread and that Wine are no more really deliuered to the bodie and to the hand of the bodie then the flesh of Christ is deliuered to the soule and to the hand and mouth of the soule which is faith therefore craue no more a carnall deliuerie nor thinke not vpon a carnall receiuing Thou must not thinke that either God giueth the flesh of Christ to the mouth of the bodie or that thou by the mouth of thy bodie receiuest the flesh of Christ For ye must vnderstand this principle in the Scriptures of God our soules cannot be ioyned with the flesh of Christ nor the flesh of Christ cannot be ioyned with our soules but by a spirituall band Not by a carnall band of bloud and alliance not by the touching of his flesh with our flesh but he is conioyned with vs by a spirituall band that is by the power and vertue of his holy Spirit And therefore the Apostle saith 1. Cor. 12.13 That by the meanes of his holy Spirit all we who are faithfull men
and women are baptized into one bodie of Christ. That is we are conioyned and fastened with one Christ by the meanes saith he of one Spirit not by a carnall band or any grosse coniunction but onely by the band of the holy Spirit That same holy Spirit that is in him is in euery one of vs in some measure and in respect one Spirit is in him and in vs therefore we are accounted all to be one bodie and to be members of one spirituall and mysticall bodie And in the same verse the Apostle saith We are all made to drinke into one and the selfe same Spirit that is we are made to drinke of the bloud of Christ. And this bloud is no other thing but the quickning vertue and power that floweth from Christ and from the merits of his death we are made all to drinke of that bloud when we drinke of the liuely power and vertue that floweth out of that bloud So there is not a band that can couple my soule with the flesh of Christ but onely a spirituall band and a spirituall vnion And therefore it is that the Apostle 1. Cor. 6.17 saith He that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit And Iohn saith That which is borne of the Spirit is Spirit So it is onely by the participation of the holy Spirit that we are conioyned with the flesh and bloud of Christ Iesus That carnall band whether it be the band of bloud which runneth through one race or the carnall touching of flesh with flesh that carnall band I say was neuer esteemed of by Christ. In the time that he was conuersant here vpon earth he respected nothing that band for as he witnessed himselfe by his owne words he neuer had that carnall band in any kind of reuerence or estimation in respect of the spirituall band But as for the spirituall band whereby we are coupled with him by one Spirit he euer esteemed of this band in the time that he was conuersant on earth in a word he hath left the praise and commendations of the same To let you see how lightly he esteemed of the carnall band of bloud and alliance which we esteeme so much ye may see in the eight of Luke 20.21 for there they coming to him say Master thy Mother and thy brethren stand without and would see thee ye shall heare his answer vnto them how little he esteemed of that carnall band in the 21. verse in a manner denying that band he saith My Mother and my brethren are those which heare the word of God and do it As if he would haue said It is not that carnall band that I esteeme it is not that carnall coniunction that I reuerence it is the spirituall coniunction by the participation of his holy Spirit whereby we are mooued to heare the word of God to giue reuerence to it and obey it This carnall band was neuer profiâ—able as that in the 8 of Luke doth plainly testifie for if the touching of Christs flâ—sh had bene profitable the multitude whereof mention is made in that Chapter that thrusted and preased him had bene the better by their carnall touching But so it is that there was neuer any of them the better by their carnall touching therefore the carnall touching profiteth nothing Saith not Christ himselfe Iohn 6.63 to draw them from that sinister confidence they had in the flesh onely My flesh profiteth nothing It is the Spirit that quickneth To touch him by the holie Spirit and by faith in thy soule this touching by faith hath euer bene profitable and we haue a plaine example of it in the same Chapter Euen so the poore woman that had long bene diseased with a bloudie issue the space of twelue yeares and had wasted and consumed the greatest part of her substance in seeking remedie she found no helpe by the naturall and bodily Physition at the last by vertue of the holie Spirit working faith in her heart she vnderstands and conceiues that she is able to recouer the health of her bodie and the health of her soule from Christ Iesus who came to saue both bodie and soule And vpon this perswasion which she had in her heart that Christ could cure both bodie and soule she came vnto him and as the Text saith she preased through the multitude to come to him and when she was come it is not said that she touched his flesh with her hand in case the Papists would ascribe the vertue which came out of him to her carnall touching but it is said that she touched onely the hemme of his garment with her hand and with faith which is the hand of the soule she touched her Sauiour God and man And to let you vnderstand that she touched him by faith he saith to her at the last Go thy way thy faith hath saued thee She touched him not so soone by faith but incontinent there came a power out of him which power and vertue she felt by the effect of it in her soule and our Sauiour felt it when it went from him The effect whereby she felt it was the health of her soule and the effect whereby he felt it was the going from him And so soone as he felt it go from him he saith Who is it that hath touched me Peter who was euer most suddaine answereth and saith Thou art thronged and thrusted by the multitude yet thou askest who hath touched thee Our Sauiour answers againe It is not that touching that I speake of it is another kind of touching There is one hath touched me who hath drawne a vertue and power out of me the multitude taketh no vertue from me The poore woman thinking she had done amisse and perceiuing she could not be hid came trembling and said I haue done it He answered her at the last and said Depart in peace thy faith hath saued thee Thy faith hath drawne out a vertue and power from me that hath made both thy soule and thy bodie whole So that this touching of Christ hath euer bene profitable is shall be profitable like as the touching of Christ with the corporall hand hath neuer bene is not nor euer shall be profitable And why Christ is not appointed to be a carnall head to be set vpon the necks of our bodies that he may do the office of a carnall head thereunto to furnish naturall motions and senses to our bodies No the Scriptures call not Christ a naturall head but the Scriptures call him a spirituall head to be set vpon the necke of our soules that is to be conioyned with our soules that out of him into our soules may distill holy motions heauenly senses and that there may flow out of him to vs a spirituall and heauenly life Then the Scriptures call him a spirituall head as they call vs a spirituall bodie and as the life which we get from him is spirituall so all our coniunction with him is spirituall And in respect he
worketh that same operation in my soule which the carnall head doth in my bodie therefore he is called a spirituall head therefore he is called the head of his Church because he furnisheth her with spirituall motion and senses which is the life of the Church So to be short there is nothing in this coniunction carnall there is nothing grosse in it there is nothing that may be compassed by our naturall iudgement and vnderstanding And therefore whosoeuer would attaine to any small in-sight of this spirituall coniunction betweene Christ and vs of necessitie he must humble himselfe earnestly pray for the Spirit otherwise it is not possible to get any vnderstanding no not the least apprehension how the flesh of Christ and we are conioyned except we haue some light giuen vs by the Spirit that is except our hearts be wakened by the mighty working of the Spirit of Christ this shall remaine as a dead closed letter vnto vs. So ye are to craue that the Lord in his mercie would waken you illuminate your vnderstandings and make you to haue a spirituall light to discerne of these spirituall things Next ye must studie and be carefull to remoue all vaine cogitations earthly fantasies when ye come to heare so high a matter ye must cast off all filthie thoughts ill motions and care of the world and ye must shake off all things that clog your hearts Thirdly ye must come with a purpose to heare the word to giue diligent eare to the word with a sanctified heart to receiue it with a purpose to grow and increase in holinesse as well in bodie as in soule all the daies of your life And coming with this purpose no question the holie Spirit shall reueale those things to you which ye want And though this word passe and bring no commoditie for the present yet the holie Spirit hereafter shall reueale to thee the truth of that which thou hast now heard This then is the end of all Be present in your hearts and minds and let your soules be emptied of all the cares of the world that they may receiue that comfort which is offered in the hearing of the word Now I come to the defining of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper I call this Sacrament An holy Seale annexed to the couenant of grace and mercie in Christ. A seale to be ministred publikely alwaies according to the holy institution of Christ Iesus that by the lawful ministery thereof the Sacramentall vnion betweene the signes and the thing signified may stand and this vnion standing Christ Iesuâ— who is the thing signified is as truly deliuered to the increase of our spirituall nourishment as the signes are giuen and deliuered to the body for our temporall nourishment Now let vs examine the words and parts of this definition First of all I call this Sacrament a Seale because this Sacrament serueth to the same vse to our soules that a common seale doth to a common Euidence As the seale which is annexed to the Euidence confirmes seales vp the truth contained in the Euidence so this Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ confirmeth and sealeth vp the truth of mercy and grace contained in the couenant of mercy and grace for this respect it is called a seale It is called An holy Seale Why Because it is taken from profane vse whereunto that bread serued before and that bread is applyed to an holy vse There is a power giuen to that bread to signifie the precious body of Christ Iesus to represent the nourishing and feeding of our soules And in respect it serueth now in the Sacrament to so holy an vse therfore I call it an holy seale This is not my word it is the Apostles Rom. 4.11 where he giueth the Sacrament the same name and calleth it a seale And further if the wisedome of Christ in his Apostle had bene followed and if men had not inuented new names of their owne for this Sacrament but had contented satisfied themselues with the names which God hath giuen by his Apostle that Christ himselfe hath giuen to this Sacrament I am assured none of these controuersies and debates which neuer will ceasse had fallen out but where men will go about to be wiser then God and go beyond God in deuising names which he neuer gaue vpon mens owne inuention such debates haue fallen out A lesson by the way that no flesh presume to be wiser then God but let them stoupe keepe the names which God hath giuen to this Sacrament Thirdly I say annexed to the Couenant annexed and hung to the Charter because it cannot be called a seale properly except it be hung to an Euidence What it is by nature the same it remaineth and no more if it be not annexed to some Euidence it is onely the hanging of it to the Euidence that maketh men account it a seale not being esteemed except it be hanged to the Euidence Euen so it is here if this Sacrament be not ministred and ioyned to the preached word to the preaching of the couenant of mercy and grace it cannot be a seale but what it is by nature it is no more As by nature it is but a common peece of bread so it is no more if it be not annexed to the preaching of the word and ministred therewith as Christ hath commanded Therfore I say the seale must be annexed and hanged to the Euidence to the preaching of the word for the confirming of the Euidence otherwise it is not a seale But it is not so with the Euidence which is the word of God for ye know any Euidence will make faith though it want a seale and it will serue to make a right if it be subscribed without a seale but the seale without the Euidence auaileth nothing Euen so it is with the word of God though the Sacraments be not annexed to the word yet the word will serue the turne it serueth vs to get Christ it serueth to ingender and beget faith in vs and maketh vs to grow vp in faith But the seale without the word can serue vs to no holy vse therefore I say the seale must be annexed to the word preached to the couenant of mercy and grace Now it followeth in the definition that this seale must be ministred publikely Wherefore say I publikly To exclude all priuate administration of this Sacrament For if this Sacrament be administred to any priuately it is not a Sacrament Why Because the Apostle calleth this Sacrament a Communion therefore if ye administer it priuately ye lose the Sacrament For this Sacrament is a Communion of the body and bloud of Christ therefore of necessity it must be by way of communication and so the action must be publikely ministred Secondly this Sacrament must be publikely ministred because Christ Iesus who is the thing signified in this Sacrament is no such thing as pertaineth to one man
onely if this were so he might be priuatly giuen and ministred But seeing Christ which is the thing signified in the Sacrament is a common thing belonging to euery faithfull man and woman therefore he ought to be commonly giuen to all in a coÌ„mon action in a society congregation of the faithfull Thirdly this Sacrament is a Thansgiuing to God the Father for his benefites Now it appertaineth not to one or two to thanke God onely but as we are all partakers of his temporall and spirituall benefits so we ought all of vs publikely to giue him thankes for the same Therefore I say in the definition this seale ought to be publikely and not priuately ministred as the Papists do in their priuate Masses This Seale must be publikely ministred according to Christ his institution Wherefore say I Christ his institution more then mans institution or Angels institution Why keepe I to Christ his institution Because man hath not power to institute or make a Sacrament because an Angell hath not power to make or institute a Sacrament For none hath power to make or institute a Sacrament but he that hath power to giue Christ who is the thing signified in the Sacrament But so it is that none hath power to giue Christ but either the Father or himselfe therfore none hath power to make or institute a Sacrament but either the Father or the Sonne only God must make a Sacrament Secondly this Sacrament is a part of Gods seruice and worship but so it is that none hath power to appoynt any part of his seruice or prescribe any part of his worship but onely God himselfe therefore none can make a Sacrament but God himselfe There is no Prince wil be contented to be serued after another mans fantasie but he will prescribe his seruice according vnto his owne pleasure how much more is it meete that God should appoint his own seruice worship Therfore there is neither man nor Angell hath power to institute any part of the seruice of God The Sacraments are a part of his seruice therfore there is no Angel nor man hath power to institute a Sacrament The greatest stile that any man can haue in the ministerie of the word and Sacraments is that stile which the Apostle giues them 1. Cor. 4.1 There we are called Stewarâ—s and Dispensers of the graces of God Ministers of those mysteries and holy things It followeth then that we are not Authors Creators and makers of them but onely Ministers and Dispensers of the Sacraments So it is euident that no man nor creature hath power to make a Sacrament Then it must be according to the institution of Christ his institution must be kept looke what he said what he did what he commanded thee to do all that must be said done and obeyed If thou leauest one iot of that vndone which he commanded thee to do thou peruertest the institution for there is nothing left in register of that institution but it is essentiall So in the celebration of Christs institution we must take heede to whatsoeuer he said did or commanded to be done Thou must first say whatsoeuer he said and then do whatsoeuer he did For the Ministery of the Sacrament must follow after the word First thou must say that which Christ commanded thee to say and thou must teach that which he commanded thee to teach and then minister the Sacrament Then to keepe this institution we must begin at the saying and say whatsoeuer Christ commanded vs then after faithfully to do all that which he commanded to be done Then I call the word the whole institution of Christ Iesus preached and proclaimed denounced distinctly clearely and sensibly to the people in such sort that if we leaue any kind of circumstance or ceremonie of this institution vndone we peruert the whole action It is agreed vpon and condescended vnto betweene vs who celebrate this institution and all the sects in the world who haue separated themselues from this institution That two things are necessarie and must concurre in the nature and constitution of a Sacrament To wit there must be a word and there must be an element concurring There is not a sect that granteth not this That the word must concur with the element before there can be a Sacrament Though they easily admit this generall wherein we agree well with them yet when it cometh to the speciall and that we enter into particular in the handling and treating of the word how well soeuer we agree in the generall yet in the particular we are farre asunder For when we come to dispute and reason on these particulars First what we meane by the word Secondly how this word ought to be intreated Thirdly what vertue this word hath Fourthly how farre the vertue of this word doth extend it selfe And last of all to whom the word ought to be directed and pronounced In all these particulars we are as far asunder as euer we seemed to agree in the generall I leaue to meddle with any other sect but will deale with the Papists onely because we haue most to do with them And first of all we are to vnderstand what we meane by the word and what they meane by it We by the word as I haue said vnderstand the whole institution of Christ Iesus whatsoeuer he said or did or commanded to be done without adding or diminishing or alteration of the meaning or sense of the word This we meane by the word in the Sacrament Now what vnderstand the Papists by the word They preach not the institution of Christ nor take the whole institution as he left it But in place thereof they select and chuse out of his institution foure or fiue words and they make the whole vertue of the institution to consist in the foure or fiue words And it were nothing if they would content themselues with these words because they are the words of the institution But they adde to the words they take from the words and alter the meaning of the same words at their pleasure That ye may know this In their Masse which they call the Lords Supper I will let you see the substance of it I will deuide their Masse into substantiall and accidentall things To the substance of the Masse there are three things required There must of necessitie be a Priest that is to say such a one as takes vpon him the office of our Mediatour Christ Iesus to interceede betweene God and man Secondly to the substance of the Masse is required that the Priest offer the bodie and bloud of Christ. We come here to receiue the same things There the Priest offers them to God the Father Thirdly by this worke say they they obtaine all good things by this worke wrought they obtaine remission of sinnes as well to the dead as to the quicke but in speciall they obtaine remission of sinnes to the Priest who is the distributer to him
nature that it may be clothed with a more glorious apparell as with incorruption power glorie spiritualitiâ— and immortalitie We see then that this glorification imports a change indeed but I beleeue no man will be so mad as to thinke this change to be made in the substance for if that were so the old substance behoued to decay and a new should arise but we heare no such thing in this discription And as little is the change made in the quantitie for we find no word either of augmentation or diminution of any substance which behoued to be if it were in the quantitie The most that we can perceiue this mutation consisteth in the qualities by the which the bodie casteth off the old coate of infirmitie and is clothed a new with the coate of glorie for Christ after he did arise he both went and came was seene and touched Of the things before deduced it cleaâ—ely followeth That in respect the glorie of the bodie of Christ hath wrought nothing in his nature and substance and consequently in his naturall dimensions neither yet in any other essentiall propertie that therefore the glorification of his bodie freeth it not from the rules of Nature For so long as that nature of a true bodie remaineth there are no supernaturall gifts whereby it may be glorified were they neuer so high so far as they may be gathered out of the Scriptures that may hurt either the nature or the naturall propertie of it For there is no gift nor qualitie that may hurt nature but that gift that is against nature But the supernaturall gift is neither vnnaturall neither yet against nature therefore it cannot hurt nor impaire nature And my reason is this Those gifts that decore and beautifie nature they cannot hurt nor impaire nature But all supernaturall gifts beautifie and decore nature Therefore they cannot take away either nature or yet the naturall propertie They leaue vs not so but out of this doctrine of Paule concerning the glorification of the bodie they draw an obiection to presse vs withall Paul granteth that a glorified bodie is a spirituall bodie but a spirituall bodie is an inuisible body Therefore a glorified bodie is inuisible and by consequence the bodie of Christ is inuisible Though â—he argument be not formall yet to be short I denie theiâ— assumption for if there were no more but that word bodâ—e that word might be an argument that the spirituall bodie is not inuisible But yet to open the matter more clearely according to the meaning of Saint Paul in that place Saint Paul in a word as it were in the 44. verse of that Chapter sheweth the change that shall be in the qualities of the bodie by the resurrection For he saith that our naturall bodies shall become spirituall bodies and then in the next verse immediatly following he expoundeth these two qualities for in the 45. verse That is called a naturall body saith he which is maintained and quickned by a liuing soule onely such as Adams was And againe that is said to be a spirituall bodie which together besides the soule is quickned with a farre more excellent vertue to wit with the Spirit of God which descendeth from Christ the second Adam vnto vs. Then according vnto this ground I answer with Augustine ad Constantium As the naturall bodie is not a soule but a bodie euen so the spirituall bodie is not said to be a soule but a bodie And by consequent it is not inuisible For the further explaining of this head I will giue them onely one knot to loose so end this point Then I reason If therefore Christs body is naturally and really in the Lords Supper because that it is glorified It followeth consequâ—ntly that when it was not glorified it could not be really present But it was not glorified when this supper was first instituted Therefore it was not really present in the bread at Christs first Supper If his bodie was not really present in the bread at the first Supper it cannot be naturally present now For whatsoeuer they vse now in the administration of their Supper or of their Masse call it as you will according to their owne confession they vse it according to the ordinance forme and manner that Christ Iesus himselfe vsed in his first Supper For they say plainly in their disputation at Poyssie and in all the rest of their works That Christ Iesus first of all obserued that forme which they vse in their Masse and left it to his Apostles and to their successours that they should do the like And so by their owne words they haue intangled themselues and crucified their Masse what can they answere to this They will not stand dumbe I am sure for maintenance of their religion they must say some thing Thus they say That though the body of Christ which was locally present with the rest of his disciples was not glorified yet the body which he exhibited in the bread was glorified They might as wel haue held their peace and say nothing For marke the words of the text as they are written Luke 22.19 where it is said And he tooke the bread and when he had giuen thankes he brake it and gaue to them saying This is my body which is giuen for you and Saint Paul 1. Cor. 11.24 hath these words Take eate this is my body which is broken for you This relatiue which is relatiue to the body which was exhibited in the bread for according to their owne confession those words are pronounced vpon the bread and directed vnto it But that same body was giuen and broken vnto vs that is to say crucified and broken with anguish and dolors Then I reason after this sort To be crucified and broken with anguish and dolors can no wayes agree and accord with a glorified bodie But the body that Christ exhibited in the bread is said of the Euangelists to be crucified and broken for vs Ergo that body was not glorified Now last of all they are not yet content but say Christ can make the bread his body and therefore his body is really present That Christ can make the bread his body we grant for Christ being God can do whatsoeuer he wil onely let them shew That Christ will make of reall bread his reall flesh and then this controuersie will end Christ indeede makes the bread his body not really but sacramentally For Christ hath not a bodie made of bread his bodie was made once of the pure substance of his blessed Mother Another body then this or oftner made then once hath he â—one wherefore all doctrine that teacheth Christs body to be made of bread is impious and hereticall The Papists doctrine of reall presence teacheth that Christs body in the Sacrament is made of bread by changing the bread into his body through consecration wherefore we may bodly and truly conclude That their doctrine of reall presence is both wicked and hereticall Now to conclude this head
warning and know not what houre the Lord wil call on vs. There is none that is sure that he must change habitation and is out of doubt in his conscience that he is to remoue that will settle his heart in that place which he is not able to keepe but being assured that he shall remoue he will send his houshold stuffe and substance before him If this be true in earthly things how much more ought we seeing the Lord giueth vs leasure to send our substance before vs And as it is true that the heart followeth the substance let both hart and substance be sent to heauen where they may both meete vs to our comfort Be rich in God be rich in good workes and that kind of substance shall be able to convoy thee and shall serue stand in stead to thee both in heauen and earth The second comparison was taken from the Weauer and his web and the effect of it is this as the Weauer bringeth his web to the off cutting so would the King say I see I haue brought this miserable life of mine to the off-cutting I haue procured my suddaine and vntimely death by mine euil life I haue hasted this messenger It is true that all the diseases of the body and the chiefe diseases of the soule flow from sinne And as death entred by sinne so by multiplication of sinne deaâ—h is hastened sinne shorteneth our life sinne maketh our dayes euill sinne maketh them full of griefe and sorrow sinne inuolueth vs in a thousand cares sinne wrappeth vs in infinite vnprofitable labours Sinne weakneth our body by deceiueable pleasures sinne vexeth our minde with such terrors as cannot be expressed Abeit if this good King had occasion to say that his euill spent life spurred him to his death what may our yong nobility say if it be true that one sinne blood cutteth the halfe of the dayes as the Psalmist sayth how much more shall an heape of sinnes concurring in one pâ—rson shorten the dayes The sacrilegious blasphemer and the bloudy adulterer and infinite more other sinnes concurring in one person shall not these shorten this miserable life The thing which they feare most would willingliest eschue that same thing such is their iudgement they runne headlong on As to the prophane multitude ye see these two vices gluttony and drunkennesse whereby they dâ—aw on themselues sudden death and there is neuer a man but he is subiect vnto one sinne or other which shorteneth the threed of his life and draweth on that which he would eschue Well I will not insist in these occasions of death take heede whether ye walke in mercy or in your owne sinnes If ye walke in your owne sinnes of all iudgements it is the most terrible to be left to your selfe now mercie is offered and therefore ye that would be translated from death to life vse this time diligently In the second part of that exercise I shewed you the rage and fury of his sicknesse we did let you see the weight of his feuer was so great that it made him thinke that God was a deuouring Lion readie to bruise all his bones to powder It made him to looke that both soule and bodie should be taken from him that day ere night We shewed that these voyces could not flow froÌ„ a temporall paine only but there behoued to be a fire in the soule a further paine then could come of any bodily disease in the earth Of all troubles that come vnto man the trouble of conscience is the greatest of all other troubles this is the chiefest when besides a sight of sinne there is a touch of â—he insupportable anger indignation of the liuing God It appeareth by these voyces that the King felt a touch of this wrath whereby God appeareth to be a consuming fire It is the custome of God to bring his children into these extremities that feeling the pangs of hell they may see how precious the death of Christ ought to be vnto them How farre they are bound vnto him what is the dutie they owe vnto him that went betwixt them and so bitter a punishment This kind of extremitie teacheth vs how easie it is for the Lord to represse the pride of the flesh and to beate downe this wantonnesse of our filthie nature This glorious King in the space of 12. houres is brought to the ports of the graue and of desperation in a manner So ye see how easie it is for the Lord to bring the proudest flesh low and to do this he needeth not fire nor sword nor any other instrument but such as we haue within our selues he is able to make our owne darlings to be our greatest tortures For we carrie within vs either one viper or other which shall destroy the soule except the Lord preuent in mercie Last of all we shew how this King in his greatest extremitie behaued himselfe notwithstanding God appeareth to be a fire to his soule yet he retireth to the same God and where he might not by words vtter the griefe and trouble of his heart when the benefite of his speech was taken from him yet he ceasseth not but he sigheth and maketh his moane counterfeiting the Doue the Swallow and the Crane he chattereth and lifteth vp his eyes vsing all such gestures so long as he had his tongue he prayeth and the words are few which he speaketh but they are sententious It hath oppressed refresh me or weaue me out As if he would say The force of this disease and furie of this feuer is so great that it ouercometh all force of nature Therefore seeing nature will auaile nothing I flie to the God of nature to whom it is easie to support nature and of this God I craue health and continuance of my daies I craue that as he hath begun so he would weaue out this web to the glorie of his name and comfort of his Church FroÌ„ this last part we shewed you two things we marked first these contrarie voyces into which the seruants of God burst foorth in their greatest troubles vttering sometimes words full of doubting and sometimes full of confidence In the 15. verse God appeareth to haue bene a consuming fire and a raging Lion to him In the 14. verse he maketh his recourse to the same God and suppose he threatned him yet he reposeth vpon him Vpon this we did let you see first that doubting and confidence may haue place both in one and the selfesame soule There was neuer a seruant of God but had experience of this yea it is proper to the children of God to be subiect to this doubting suppose in mercie they be kept from desperation For seeing this faith of ours as long as we are here is imperfect how is it possible that anie faithfull soule weighing their faith with that perfection which is in God to whom nothing is pleasant but that which is perfect how is it possible I say but that soule must doubt
the word haue I to do this what warrant haue I of his mouth for thus doing And finding a warrant of Gods word and of his Spirit going together thou art sure But where the conscience giueth a testimony without the warrant of the word it is a deceiuing testimony without the warrant of the word it is a deceiuing testimony Therefore conioyne these two Try narrowly in your doings if the word and the Spirit go together And if these two be ioyned they shall stand as two witnesses with thee The greatest impediment that stayeth men from the conioyning of these two in their doings is the affection they haue to their own person the affection and loue they haue to themselues hindreth this trill For we see that such is the superiority and dominion which that affection hath that it carrieth reason whither it pleaseth and it is so strong that it suffereth not the grace of God to enter into vs but moueth man to giue obedience to the wickednes of her lust of appetite and to say Ere I will want the seruice of my lust pleasure of mine appetites I wil make subiect rather the word to mine appetite then subdue my appetite to the word so to want my pleasure Iudge ye what conscience this is They make the word to serue their appetites and neuer suffer the word to mortifie their appetites And of this what cometh to passe By this kind of dealing it cometh to passe that at last they lose their conscience so that it can neither accuse nor excuse because they are cast asleepe ly in this dead sleepe till they be wakened with a terrible wakening by God the righteous iudge from heauen Take heede for this is the truth And at that wakening he shall make the terrours of these same sinnes which if they had followed counsel they might haue eschued terrribly to ouerwhelme them Now the conscience is at quietnesse and rest and holdeth thee in security But alas it is a festered security The inward heart is full of filth which filthinesse shall bring such terrours in the end with it that it shall multiply thy torments and so oppresse thee except in time thou search out the bottome of thy conscience Therefore be not deceiued as ye are come into this world to serue glorifie him so euery one in your owne rankes and callings be vpright Ye deale vprightly in you calling when ye haue the warrant of the word for the warrant of the word is not changeable it cometh not vnder alteration But once haue the warrant and haue it full So whosoeuer obtaineth the warrant of the word in this world that blessed mouth shall be a warrant to them in a greater place Then take heede to this terrible iudgement looke in time that out of time it ouertâ—ke thee not with a terrible wakening Now to come to the ninth verse In this verse he noteth the time when this great iudgement was wrought vpon the enemies and he sayth it was wrought when God arose it was not done when God sate for the whole time when he sate his enemies were spending their time in raging murder oppression blood as now ye may see the great men in this country raging who are his enemies Then all the time that God sate his enemies were aloft And this long sitting of God what did it whereas it should haue drawn them to repentance it confirmed them in their pride increased their malice Well God ariseth at the last and when he ariseth he striketh them with a terrible iudgement He bringeth in God here after the manner of earthly Iudges after the custome of our Iudges For first they sit downe they try seeke out and aduise and after aduisement they resolue and after aduisement and resolution they rise vp giuen iudgement and pronounce the sentence Euen so the Prophet bringeth in God after the same manner sitting and after sitting arising and pronouncing the sentence Then the Lord ye see hath his time of sitting his time of rising The time of his sitting I call the time of his patience the time of his long suffering the time of his benignity whereby he allureth yea if it were possible his very enemies to turne vnto him And I call the time of his sitting the time of his delay of the execution of his iudgement I call the time of his rising the time of his execution the time of his hote wrath and the time of the declaration of his righteous iudgement vpon flesh The Lord hath both these times and they who abuse the time of his sitting shall not be able to escape the time of his rising Senacherib abused the patience and long suffering of Gods sitting but he escaped not his rising as he did beare him witnesse All doctrine should be applied to our present estate all mens consciences are asleepe and except they be now wakened in time terrible shall that wakening be which they shall haue when the terrours thereof shall oppresse them Therefore it is good that this matter of terror were presented in time to waken the conscience For by the way the biting conscience is not the worst of all sort of consciences but the biting conscience is in the second ranke for the conscience that biteth thee and accuseth thee sendeth thee to seeke remedy And the more that it hasteth thee the sooner thou purchasest remission of thy sinnes and peace in the body and blood of Christ Iesus So of all consciences the biting conscience is not the worst but is in the second ranke it sendeth thee to seeke remedy Onely of this beware that thou furnish not matter to her biting by increasing of further corruption but euer cast out sin wherby God is offended and this biting nourished and in the end thou shalt finde a true pacification and a taste of the right peace that floweth from Christ Iesus which peace passeth all vnderstanding To come to the particular The Lord is not risen as yet in this country albeit he hath sitten long And why hath he sitten but to see if his enemies will repent And hath this taken effect No for he hath not greater enemies in any part then the great men in this countrey where his word is so clearely preached So that the greater the knowledge is the greater is the contempt and the greater the contempt is the heauier must the iudgement be that abideth them Now in all this time of the Lords sitting what are they doing They are burning and scalding slaying and murthering and vsing all kinde of oppression and raging so as if there were not a King in Israel Well the Lord sitteth not to this end that they should abuse his patience he sitteth not that they should be confirmed in their cruelty that they should lose their knowledge or thinke that either there were not God or God were become like themselues Alwayes I say this is not the end wherefore he sitteth but he sitteth onely to this
himselfe is neuer disappointed of his expectation Exhortation Faith is the free gift of God Certaine effects whereby we may know if we haue faith Our faith must be coÌ„tinually nourished because it is ioyned with doubting Doubting faith may lodge in one soule 1 Cor. 4. A doubting and weake faith is faith and shall neuer decay The spaâ—kles of faith though they be smothered they are not wholly put out nor are idle Similitudes shewing that the sparkles of faith though they be couered are not extinguished A sure retreat to repose on in highest tentations A lesson Of loue which is the secoÌ„d point of our triall How the word loue is taken in the Scripture The definition of loue Of our loue toward God Of loue towards our neighbour Conclusion with an exhortation The diuerse taking of the word Sacrament Ephes. 3.9 Ephes. 5.32 The heads to be entreated of in this Sermon 1. The signes in the SacrameÌ„t Why they are called signes 2. What is the thing signified in the Sacrament Question Answer The thing signified must be applyed How the signe the thing signified are ioyned together This coniunction is made cleare by the coniunction betwixt the word and the thing signified thereby How the signe and the thing signified are giuen and receiued Considerations thereof The signe the thing signified are offered in two actions by two instruments and after two manners Of the other part of the Sacrament which is the word Anâ—wer 1. By the Sacrament we possesse Christ more fully then by the simple word 2. They serue to confirme the truth contained in the word Exhortation Faults whiâ—h peruert the Sacrament Conclusion with an exhortation Of the Supper of the Lord in particular Heads to be intreated of First head generall Of the names giuen vnto this SacrameÌ„t both in the Bible and by the Ancients Second head generall Of the ends why this Sacrament was instituted Third head generall Of the things contained in this SacrameÌ„t outward and inward wherin sundry heads are intreated The thing signified in both the Sacraments is one the signs are not one Why in Baptisme there is but one signe and in the Lords Supper two Two questions What power the bread hath to be a signe in this Sacrament And how long that power endureth 1. Answer That bread hath that power from Christs institution 2. Answer That power continues during the seruice of the Table An obseruation How the signes the thing signified are coÌ„ioyned in the Sacrament How the signe and the thâ—ng signified iâ— receiued What kinde of receiuing Christ is established in the Sacrament Inconueniences cast in by the Papisâ—s against the spirituall â—eceiuing of Christ in the Sacrament First inconuenience That the Sacrament is supeâ—fluous Refutation of the first Inconuenience Second incoÌ„uenience Refutation of the second inconuenience obiected wherein are sundrie reasons giuen why the wicked are counted guiltie of the body and bloud of Christ. Exhortation Third inconuenience Refutation of the third inconuenience How the soule is said to eate the body and drinke the bloud of Christ. Obseruation Faith is that which couples vs and Christ. Similitude taken from the Sunne Conclusion with an exhortation How we are said to eate the flesh and drinke the bloud of Christ. Our vnion with Christ by one and the same Spirit Exhortation The definition of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Why this Sacrâ—ment is called a Seale Why it is called an holy Seale Why the seale is said to be annexed to the couenant Why the Sacrament should be ministred publikely First reason Second reasoÌ„ Why this seale must be ministred according to Christ his institution None hath power to institute a Sacrament but God onâ—ly We call the word in the Sacrament the whole institution Word and element must concurre in the constitution of a Sacrament What we meane by the word in the Sacrament What the Papists vnderstand by the word in the SacrameÌ„t The third head in controuersie How the elements are sanctified The word of blessing and thankâ—giuing vsed indifferently expressed by the other How the Papists sanctifie the outward Elements Refutation of the doctrine transubstantiation by three sorts of arguments The first sort of argument Second sort of argument Third sort of argument Other arguments vnto the same effect Their last râ—fuge The reason that moues the Papists to thinke thâ—t Christs body cannot be present in the Sacrament except it be really carnally and substaÌ„tially present Obseruation The diuerse opinions coÌ„cerning the presence of the body of Christ in the Saâ—rament How a thing is said to be present and absent How the bodie of Christ is present The last point in controuersie betwixt vs and the Papists Conclusion with an exhortation Heads to be intreated in this Sermon First lesson Second lessoÌ„ The time when the King fell into this disease Obseruation Doctrine The Prophet visiteth the King and inioyneth two things to him The dutie of the Pastor toward his diseased brethren The first omission that appeareth to be in this denunciation The second omission The third omission The King behauiour in this disease The Kings behâ—uiour makes vs certaine of his faith and repentance The Kings gesture in his disease The words of his prayer Dan. 6.23 1. Cor. 4. A wonderfull thing to haue recourâ—e vnto the same God who smiteth â—esson Recapitulation Diâ—isâ—on First lesson 2. Lesson 3. Lesson Doctrine The circumstance of peace Third circumstance The comfort that the King receiued Why mention of Dauid is here made Why Dauid is called Hezechias Father What maketh vs the sonnes of God 1. Lesson 2. Lesson A fault to be eschued in Ionas person Application to the King A vertue to be followed in Esaiahs person Doctrine Application The points of the comfort that the King receiued Obseruation Application Obseruation Exhortation to the Kings Maiestie Recapitulation The heads of doctrine to be intreated of The cause why he sought a signe How the wicked seeke signes Some refuse signes when they are offered How the signe was shewed Why the signe was wrought in the diall Why it was wrought in the body of the Sunne What profite is to be gathered of signes By whose power this signe was wrought The force of prayer in procuring this signe Why the Lord willeth vs to pray Application The Kingâ— thankfulnes for the beneâ—ite receiued The parts of the Kings Song A short sum of the Kings life A Christians chiefe exercise The first part of the song The diuersity of seeking death in the wicked and godly The way to eschue the feare of death Application The reason why deaâ—h was grieuouâ— to him Application The second reaâ—on why death was grieuous to the King How God was said to be seene of old Application The third reaâ—on why death was grieuous to this King Applicatâ—on What is worthy of praise or reprofe in these reasons Conclusion with an exhortation Recapitulation The heads to be treated of in this SermoÌ„ The manner of the transportation of the
what is my heart and mind doing There is not one of you but haue experience as I my selfe haue in what estate the heart and mind is before that this light enter The mind lieth drowned in blindnesse and the heart is hardned and they both conspire together in vice to set vp an Idoll in stead of God a domesticall and inuisible Idoll what sort of Idoll â—s that No doubt some worldly or fleshly affection or other this is set vp in the throne of thy heart and on this Idoll thou bestowest the seruice of thy whole heart of thy whole mind of thy whole soule and bodie So that the seruice of thy soule and bodie which should be bestowed vpon God onely is imployed vpon that Idoll which is set vp in thy heart that is in the place of God in the stead of the most high God And thou art more addicted to the seruice of that Idoll then euer thou wast to the seruice of the liuing God yea vntill such time that this Idoll of ours be banished and that this blindnesse whereby this Idoll is serued be takâ—n away there is not one of you but are seruants to one lust or other and thy soule that should be consecrated to the seruice of the liuing God is imployed vpon one affection or other vpon some worldly or fleshly lust of thine owne But from the time that the Lord beginneth to scatter the clouds of our naturall minds and vnderstanding and beginneth to chase away this thicke mist of the darke soule and placeth therein some sparke of heauenly light which floweth out of Christ and whereas we were children of the night and darknesse before he maketh vs to be light in the Lord and to be children of the light and of the day Then we see that all the things in the world besides the liuing God are vanities deceiueable allurements vnconstant shadowes fleeting and flowing without any abiding and then we see that our hearts and our minds were set on euill continually Then we begin to abhor that Idoll and to seeke to serue God onely Now except the Lord of his mercie and goodnesse place in vs this light vntill such time as we get some glimmering of this light we can neuer see our owne vanitie nor yet see God This then is the first worke of the Spirit he banisheth darknesse and errors placeth light in our minds Now this first worke of the Spirit is tearmed oftentimes in the Scripture vnder the name of faith for the mind hath it owne assent and perswasion in the owne kind as wel as the heart hath therefore the mind being illuminate and seasoned with this light the assenting knowledge in the same mind is called faith The Apostles and Euangelists giue to this knowledge the name of faith for from the time that thou once hast an eye to see God and whom he hath sent Christ Iesus when once thou gettest a sight of him and accesse to him if it were no more then in the mind it is called faith But we must not stand still here if faith go no further then the mind it is not the faith that we are seeking For the faith that iustifieth and doth vs good must open the heart as well as it openeth the mind it must banish that Idoll and affection out of the heart and in stead thereof place a throne for Christ Iesus So that except the good Spirit of God go further then the mind and banish this Idoll as well out of our hearts as out of our minds we haue not that iustifying faith whereby we may looke for mercie Yea the Spirit of God must not onely stay at the inlightening of thy mind but it must mollifie this heart of thine and change thine affections And whereas thy affections were wicked and euill Gods Spirit must change thy will and he neuer can change thy will except he make the ground of thy heart good that it may be set on God and bring forth good fruite abundantly to the owner And what teacheth this This teacheth you to seeke for an honest heart and to seeke instantly vntill ye obtaine it For what auaileth it any man to know what is good or what is euill except he haue a way shewed him how he shall eschue the euill and a meanes giuen him to make himselfe partaker of the good Is not this an idle and vnprofitable knowledge to me to see a farre off and to know that this is good for me when I find not a meanes how to be partaker of that good that it may be especially good to me Is it not an idle knowledge also to perceiue that this is ill for me that it will do me hurt if I do it and yet that same very thing I will do no other So the Spirit of God linketh these two together in this worke and as he reformeth the mind he reformeth also the heart and maketh you to be partakers of that good which ye see and to eschue that euill which ye perceiue And this is the second worke of the Spirit not onely to present a thing to thee but to make it thine in effect For howbeit the mind would do this part neuer so well and let thee see that Christ is thine and present him to thee neuer so often yet if thy heart be not reformed that will and crooked affection that is in thy heart will preferre it selfe to Christ and will make thee to account all but follie in respect of that Idoll And therefore it were an idle and a foolish thing to me to see my saluation except I get grace to be partaker of it and what auaileth it thee to see the works of the diuell to see thine owne sinnes that slay thee except thou get grace to eschue them And so the second worke of the Spirit is this he enters into the heart he danteth the heart and wonderfully changeth it making the will of it obedient he mollifieth the affection which was hard before in such sort that it is made to poure out thy affection in some measure on the liuing God whereas it was poured out on one Idoll or other of thine owne before Then except the heart wil do his part as the mind doth his part the whole soule is not consecrate to God for God hath not made the soule that the heart should serue thee and the mind onely should serue him but thy seruice is then onely acceptable to God when thou consecratest thy heart as well as thy mind to him Now this matter is so cleare that it needeth not to be illustrated by similitude yet to make it more plaine vnto you I will shew you by a similitude that the apprehension of the mind is not enough except ye get the apprehension of the heart also In corporall things in meate and drinke which serue for the vse of your bodies there must be of this meate and drinke two sorts of apprehensions and as there is two sorts of