in darknes Our sauiour therefore saith The wordes y ◠I spake vnto you are spirite and life To eate the bodie of Christ and to drinke his blood is not the parte of the bodie it is rather a worke of our mind And therefore S. Ambrose saith Non corporali tactu Christum sed fide tangimus We touch not Christ by bodily touching but we touch him by faith And againe Stephanus in terris positus Christum tangit in caelo Stephen being in the earth toucheth Christ being in heauen By faith therefore wee eate Christ and by faith we drinke Christ by faith wee are apparelled and clothed with Christ And this is that the Apostle saith Put ye on the Lorde Iesus Christ Let vs bee incorporate in him Let God see nothinge in vs but the image of his sonne so shall he dwell in vs wee in him Take no thought for the flesh to fulfill the lustes thereof The sonnes of God rest vpon the prouidence of God their father He giueth thē water out of the rockes hee raineth downe breade from heauen hee openeth his handes and filleth euery liuing thing w t his blessing The Prophet saith The Lorde is my shepheard I shall not want The thinges of this worlde shall haue an ende they fade away and will not continue If riches abounde wee must not set our heart vpon them but rather bee carefull for the life to come We must seeke the kingdome of God the righteousnes thereof then al these things shalbe ministred vnto vs. He doeth not forbid honest moderate forecast and prouision as if it were not lawfull for Christians to deale in matters appertaininge to the good estate of this life For he hath said vnto Timothie If there be any y ◠prouideth not for his own namely for them of his houshoulde he denieth the faith is worse then an infidel again he saith no mā euer yet hated his owne flesh but nourisheth it and cherisheth it Agayne writing to Timothie drinke no longer water but vse a litle wine for thy stomakes sake and thine often infirmities In whiche speéches hee sheweth we are bonde to nourish and feede and bee carefull for our bodies Though the conuersation of the faithfull bee in heauen and they seeke after the thinges which are on high yet whiles they passe the pilgrimage of this lyfe they must needes haue the felowshippe and company of their naturall bodies the whiche they must not so weaken that thereby they shall become vnprofitable and not hable to doe seruice in the Churche of god and yet so keepe them vnder that they may be made obedient to the spirite Onely wee may not bee ouer carefull To take great care for the body is to cast away all care for the soule For they that will bee riche fall into temptation snares and into many foolish and noysome lusts which drowne men in perdition and destruction for the desire of mony is the roote of al euil which whiles some lusted after they erred from the fayth and perced themselues with many sorrowes Of this care speaketh our sauiour It is easier for a Camel to go through y ◠eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of God No care can satisfie the vncontented minde The righteous eateth is satisfied but the bellie of the wicked euer wanteth Hee hath enlarged his desire as hell and ladeth hym selfe with thicke clay he encreaseth that which is not his and cannot be satisfied The horse leache hath two daughters whiche cry giue giue There be there things y ◠wil not be satisfied Yea foure y ◠say not it is enough They care not by what meanes they make their gaynes they liue in vsurie a most fylthye trade a trade which God detesteth a trade which is the verye ouerthrow of all Christian loue They eate vp the people as they eate breade Such are the wayes of euery one that is greedy of gaine He wolde take away y ◠life of y ◠owners thereof They haue hardened their heart against God they doe not serue God but Mammon But their gayne shall be to their losse their mony to their destruction He that giueth his money vnto Usurie shall not dwell in the tabernacle of the Lorde nor rest vppon his holy mountayne Wee haue here no continuing Citie wee are straungers as were al our fathers before vs. If we gather riches to our selues be not rich in God he shall say vnto vs O foole this night will they fetch away thy soule from thee Then whose shall those things be which thou hast prouided Let him therefore that hath this worldes goods be as if hee had them not They are the giftes of God The Lorde giueth them and the Lorde taketh them away Settle not your hearts vpon thē As they come so wil they fade away they bee vncertaine they will deceiue you Set your desier vpon heauenly thinges seeke after the life which is to come in the lande of the liuing When wee shall see those vnspeakable ioyes wee shal perceiue that all the pleasures of this life in comparison of them were nothing Now somewhat more specially to applie the woordes of the Apostle to this present time It is now time also that wee should arise from sleepe God hath deliuered vs also from the night We may say This is the day which the Lorde hath made Let vs reioyce and be glad in it Wee may say he hath shewed his mercies towardes vs and the truth of the Lorde endureth for euer Let vs looke backe to the time late past and beholde the night of errour and ignoraunce What shall I say Where should I beginne or howe may I ende The matter is of great compasse the time I haue to speake is but shorte and I haue no delight to speake of darknes After God had deliuered the people of Israel and giuen them passage through the red sea Marie the Prophetesse sister of Aaron looked backe into Egipt There she remembred Pharao and his crueltie howe he plagued the children of God she remembred how by a mightie hande and out stretched arme hee deliuered them and wrought his wonders vpon Pharao and all the lande of Egipt She looked backe vpon the great darknes and vpon the frogges and flies and botches she behelde the waters turned into blood the killinge of the first borne of man and beast the ouerthrowe of Pharao and all his Charets in the middes of the sea And therefore she answered the men Singe yee vnto the Lorde for he hath triumphed gloriously The horse and his rider hath he ouerthrowen in the sea Euen so let vs cast backe our eies make a view of the Church Loth I am to speake of it Yet it is nedefull to say somewhat thereof that we way reioyce in our deliueraunce All thinges were done in a strang tounge the priest spake and
who haue bin constant in y ◠faith haue suffred death for Christs sake That so they may be taught by their name to remēber whose name they beare y t they neither speake nor doe anie thing vnworthy of their name As if any bee called Iohn that hee praye for grace and desire to be filled with grace that he giue witnesse of Christ that hee is the Lambe of GOD which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde that hee rebuke vice boldelie as Iohn did in Herode though hee were a mightie Prince Or if he be called Paule that hee so become a follower of Paule as Paule was of Christe and saye with Paul That I might liue vnto God I am crucified with Christ Thus I liue yet not I now but Christ liueth in mee and heare Christ speaking vnto him as did Paul fal down say Lorde what wilt thou that I doe So let him that is called Thomas touche the bosome of Christ and handle his woundes and make a good confession as Thomas did and say My Lord and my God Let Matthew forsake his custome euen the deceitful gaines of y ◠world and followe Christ Let Daniel remember Daniel and though he should be throwen in to the denne of Lions or be burnt in the fire or suffer any cruell tormentes yet let him not therfore forsake God but put his whole trust in him Thus should our names teach vs that whether we write them or vtter them or heare them spoken they may put vs in minde of christian duetie and Godlines The other Sacrament of Christes Church is the sacrament of the Lordes Supper whiche some haue called the Sacrament of the Altar some the Sacrament of the holie table some the Sacrament of bread and wine but wee most properly may call it the sacrament of the bodie and blood of Christ And that we wander not at large but may stande in certaine ground I wil expounde those words of our Sauiour This is my bodie and this is my blood of the newe testament that is shed for manie for the remission of sinnes This matter these two or three hundreth yeeres late past hath beene encumbred with manie questions and much controuersie Some saie the woordes are plaine Christe him selfe spake them hee is almightte and can doe what soeuer hee will hee hath not spoken otherwise then hee meant If wee expounde them by signes and figures wee take away the force of the holy mysterie and make nothing of it the woordes muste bee taken euen as they lye they must not haue any other construction Therefore at this day many wise men which yeelde from other pointes of superstition and in many other thinges receiue the truth stand here and sticke at this and cannot yeeld I will declare the whole matter simplye and plainely and submit my selfe to the vnderstanding and capacitie of all men That which I will vtter heerein shall not be of my selfe but of the Fathers of the Churche not of those whiche haue beene of later yeeres but of the most auncient not of the Heretiques◠but of the most Catholique which euer haue beene the enemies and confounders of Heretiques I wil shewe the vse and order and faith of the Primitiue Churche whiche was in the times of the Apostles and of Tertullian Ciprian Basill Nazianzene Hierome Augustine Chrysostome and others Catholique and godly learned Fathers Let no man regarde mee or my speeche I am onely a finger these are cleare and bright starres I doe but shewe them vnto you and poynt them that you maye beholde them God giue vs grace that wee may see them truely and by them bee able to guyde and to direct our waye let vs laie aside all contention and quietly heare that shall bee spoken Whatsoeuer shall bee saide if it bee true if it bee auncient if it be Catholique if it bee so cleere as the sunne beames let vs humble our heartes and beleeue it There is no trueth but of God Whosoeuer resisteth the truth resisteth God First I will shewe you that we doe truelie and indeede eate the bodie of Christ and drinke his blood And this shall be the foundation and key of entraunce into all the rest Secondely I will open these woordes This is my body and there howe by what sort in what sense and meaning the bread is the body of Christ Thirdly that the bread abideth still in former nature and substance as before euen as the nature and substance of water remayneth in Baptisme Fourthly how the body of Christ is eaten whether by faith or with the mouth of our bodie and how the body of Christ is present in the Sacrament Fiftly What difference is betweene the body of Christ and the Sacrament of the body of Christ Sixtly howe wee ought to prepare our mindes and with what faith and deuotion wee must come to the receiuing thereof Wee saie and beleeue that wee receiue the body and blood of Christ truelie and not a figure or signe but euen that bodie whiche suffered death on the crosse and that blood which was shed for the forgiuenes of sinnes So saieth Christ My fleshe is meate in deede and my blood is drinke indeede And againe Except yee eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drink his blood ye haue no life in you And againe He that eateth me euen he shall liue by me Wee say there is no other substantiall foode of our soules and that hee is diuided among all the faithfull and that hee is voyde of saluation and the grace of Christ whosoeuer is not partaker of his body and blood This we say and may not flee from it hereafter Yet least happily any should be deceiued we say this meate is spirituall and therefore it must be eaten by faith and not with the mouth of our bodie Augustine saith Vt quid paras dentes ventrem crede manducasti Why preparest thou thy teeth and thy bellie beleeue and thou hast eaten And againe Nolite fauces parare sed cor Prepare not your iawes but your heart As material bread nourisheth our bodie so doeth the bodie of Christ nourishe our soule and is therefore called bread Deus panis intus est animae meae saith Augustine God is the inward bread of my soule For wee receiue him and eate him and liue by him But heereof hereafter more at large Nowe let vs consider the wordes of Christ This is my body this is my blood These woordes you say are plaine open easie and manifest So are they yet albeit they are plaine they must haue a right construction The plainest woordes that bee vnlesse they bee duelie expounded may breede errour S. Iohn saith The word was made flesh These words are plaine yet of these plaine wordes Apollinaris did breede an heresie Christ saith My father is greater then I. His woordes are playne yet did the Arrians gather thereof an heresie that Christe is not equall with his
Father Christe saith of Iohn the Baptist This is Elias which was to come Hee saith not hee doth signifie Elias but he is Elias The wordes are plaine yet were there some that stood in the mayntainance of their erorour therby and said that the soule of Elias did abide in Iohn Baptist Christ saith If thine eye cause thee to offend pluck it out and cast it from thee And If thy hand or foot cause thee to offend cut them off cast them from thee The wordes are plaine yet he meaneth not that you should pick out your eyes out of your head nor choppe off your hands or feete from your bodie Iohn saith of Christ He wil baptize you with the holie ghost with fire These words are plaine yet hereof some raised this errour y t children at the time of their baptisme should bee marked in the forehead with a hot burning iron S. Paul saith He hath made him to be sinne for vs which knew no sinne The wordes are plaine Yet Christ neuer sinned Hee is the Lambe of God in whom there is no spot He is hereby sayde to be the sacrifice for sinne Christ saith They two shalbe one flesh And They are no more two but one flesh These wordes are plaine Yet if you trie the wordes by common sence it is not so they are not one but two of seuerall fleshe Christ saith You are the salt of the earth you are the light of the worlde The wordes are plaine yet indeede the Apostles were neither materiall light nor materiall salt Christe saide of Iudas One of you is a diuel The words are plaine Yet Iudas in nature and substance was not a Diuell S. Paul saith of Melchisedech He was without father without mother without kinred hath neither beginning of his dayes neither end of his life These words are plain Yet indeede hee had father and mother and was a man and was borne and died as other men So he saith The rocke was Christ So Moses saith The life of al flesh is his blood And so is Christ called a Lambe a lion a worme a way a bridegrome a head a doore a vine the light bread water a garment These speeches and infinite others the like are plaine open and euident yet are they not true as y t words sound them literally For Christe is not a Lambe in substāce nature but a spiritual Lambe So is he a spiritual garment spiritual light spiritual water and spiritual bread Christ said to Nicodemus Except a man bee borne againe he cannot see the kingdom of God These words are plaine yet Nicodemus mistooke them and was deceiued said Howe can a man be borne that is old can he enter into his mothers wombe again be born Christ meant y e spiritual birth of the soule the spirit not y t natural corporall birth of y e body And to come neerer to the matter in hande whē Christ said I am y e bread which is come down from Heauē except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man drinke his blood ye haue no life in you and my flesh is meate in deede and my blood is drinke indeede He that eateth of this bread shall liue for euer The Capernaites thought these words plaine enough therfore they say How cā this mā giue vs his flesh to eate This is an harde saying who can heare it And they departed away frō him Then said Iesus The words that I speak vnto you are spirit life Upon occasiō hereof S. Augustine writeth thus Spiritualiter intelligite quod loquutus sum vobis Non hoe corpus c. Vnderstand yee spiritually that I haue spoken vnto you Ye shal not eate this body that ye see neither shal ye drink that blood that they shall shed that shall crucifie me I haue recōmended vnto you a certain sacrament being spiritually vnderstoode it will giue you life Euen so Chrysostome What is it that he saith the flesh profiteth nothing He speaketh it not of flesh indeed God forbid but of such which take the things carnally y t are spoke And what is it to vnderstād carnally Euen to take things simply as they be spoken to seeke no further meaning For the things which are seene are not so to be iudged of but al mysteries should be considered with inward eies that is spiritually Againe vpon these wordes If any man eate of this bread he shal liue for euer he saith Panem vero siue doctrinam hoc in loco salutem fidem in se siue corpus suum dicit vtrumque enim animam fortiorē reddit Hee calleth bread in this place either doctrine and saluation and faith in him or els his bodie For either of these maketh the soule stronger S. Paul saith He that eateth or drinketh vnworthily eateth and drinketh his own dānation Dānation is a spiritual thing which is not receiued in by the mouth or broken with the teeth So Christ saith This cup is the new Testament in my blood which is shed for you Yet nowe is not his blood shed any more for he is risen dieth not And these wordes which are so plaine if they be examined wil not be so plaine to yeelde the sense vnto which they are forced It is written He tooke bread whē he had giuen thāks he brake it gaue to thē saying this is my body This bread is my bodie The bread was stil bread neither flesh nor his bodie And this cup is the new testament In due and right open meaning the cup cannot be the new testament Here we see how the wordes are not al so plain but must haue a reasonable cōsiruction It is a rule in the law In fraudē legis facit qui verbis legis saluis sententiam eius circumuenit Hee doth wrong to the law that following onlie the bare words defraudeth the meaning of the Law Orig. saith Est et in nouo testamento litera quae occidit eum c. There is also in the new testamēt a letter which killeth him that doth not spiritually vnderstande those thinges which are spoken For if he folow this after the letter where it is said except ye eat my flesh drink my blood This letter killeth Mark if ye take the word of Christ barely and nakedly as the letter soundeth it killeth S. Augustine saith In allegoria omni haec regula tenenda est vt pro sententia praesent is loci consideretur quod per similitudinem dicitur This rule is to be kept in euery allegory that what is spoken by similitude be weighed by the meaning of the present place Hierō saith Nō in verbis Scripturarum est euangelium sed in sensu The gospel is not in the words of Scriptures but in the meaning And Non in superficie sed in medulla non in sermonum folijs
sed in radice rationis It is not in the outward shew but in the inner marow not in the leafes of wordes but in the roote of reason When Christ saide Destroy this Temple and in three dayes I wil raise it vp againe The Iewes following the bare letter did beare false witnesse against him saying We heard him say I will destroy this temple made with handes and within tree dayes I will builde another made without handes Wee may not take the letter in all places of the scripture as it lieth The scriptures stand not in the reading but in the vnderstanding By taking the bare letter the Iewes founâ—â— matter to put Christ to death Orig. saith There is a let ter in the new Testament which killeth Ierome saith The gospel is not in the wordes of the Scripture not in the outward shewe nor in the leaues but in y e meaning in y e marow in the root which are hid not open manifest So y t they may not be takeÌ„ by y e bare sound but must haue some other construction But what shall be the construction of these wordes This is my body whose interpretation or iudgement of them shal stand The learned men which haue been of late yeres which yet liue are suspected Let vs heare the elder ancieÌ„t fathers whom there is no cause that any should suspect they were not Sacramentaries nor Zuinglians nor Lutheranes they were not deuided into any of these sectes Tertullian an ancient father who liued more then 1300. yeeres since expoundeth them thus Acceptum panem distributum discipulis corpus suum illum fecit dicendo hoc est corpus meuÌ„ id est figura corporis mei Figura autem non esset nisi veritatis esset corpus CaeteruÌ„ vacua res quae est phantasma figuram capere non potest Christ taking the bread distributing it to his disciples made it his body saying This is my body y t is to say this is a figure of my body But a figure it coulde not bee vnlesse there were a body of a truth in deed For a void thing as is a fantasie can receiue no figure Chrysostome saith Si mortuus Christus non est cuius SymboluÌ„ ac signum hoc sacramentum est If Christ died not whose signe and whose token is this Sacrament Againe The very bodie of Christ it self is not in the holie vessels but the mysterie or Sacrament thereof is there conteined Augustine against the heretique Adimantus writeth Non dubitauit Dominus dicere hoc est corpus meum cum signum daret corporis sui Our Lorde doubted not to say this is my body when he gaue a tokeÌ„ of his body And in another place Christ tooke Iudas vnto his table wherat he gaue vnto his disciples the figure of his bodie Saint Hierom saith Christ represented the veritie of his bodie S. Ambrose saith Before consecration it is called another kind after consecration the body of Christ is signified And again In eating and drinking that is in receiuing the holy communion we signifie the bodie blood of Christ that was offered for vs. So also Gelasius saith Imago similitudo corporis sanguinis in actione mysteriorum celebratur The image and similitude of his body blood is shewed in the action of the mysteries It woulde be ouerlong to lay forth vnto you what other reuerende olde Fathers haue written to like effect and haue expounded those woordes of Christ by suche termes as you haue hearde of signe figure token image and likenesse I trust no man be offended these speeches are not mine owne but the speeches of moste auncient Fathers and haue beene spoken or written and continued in the Church these 1200 1300. and wel neere 1400. yeres and neuer condemned in them as false though many of late times haue sought otherwise to vnderstand the words of Christ The glose vppon the Canons ioyneth herein with the Fathers Dicitur corpus Christi sed impropriè vt sit sensus uocatur corpus Christi c. It is called the body of Christ but vnproperly the meaning thereof may be this it is called Christes bodie that is to say it signifyeth Christes bodie Therefore doeth S. August giue vs good and wholesome aduertisements thus hee writeth to Bonifacius Vnlesse sacraments had a certain likenes of the things of which they be sacrameÌ„ts then indeed they were no sacraments And of this likenes oftentimes they beare the names of y t things themselues that are represented by the sacraments And again In sacrameÌ„ts we must coÌ„sider not what thei be in substance nature but what they signify Againe he saith It is a dangerous matter a seruitude of the soule to take the signe in stead of the thing that is signified And again if it be a speech that commandeth either by forbidding an horible wickednes or requiring that which is profitable it is not figuratiue but if it seeme to require horrible wickednes to forbid y t is good profitable it is spoken figuratiuely Exceptyee eate saith Christ the flesh of the sonne of maÌ„ drink his blood ye haue no life in you He semeth to require the doing of that which is horrible or most wicked it is a fygure therfore coÌ„manding vs to coÌ„municate with the passion of Christ coÌ„fortably profitably to laie vp in our remeÌ„braÌ„ce that his flesh was crucifyed wouÌ„ded for vs. In another place hee saith It is a more horrible thing to eate maÌ„s flesh theÌ„ to kil it to drink maÌ„s blood theÌ„ it is to shed it Againe he saith Wee must beware that wee take not a figuratiue speeche according to the letter for therto it pertaineth that the Apostle saith the letter killeth Besides that which hath been shewed you out of the godlie learned olde fathers howe they haue expounded these wordes who soeuer wil aduisedly consider these principall sentences or rather rules of Saint Augustine shall be holpen muche and directed to the due and Catholique construction and meaning of them The nexte matter and the thirde of the sixe is whether the breade and wine abide still in former nature and substaunce as before euen as the nature and substaunce of water remayneth in the Sacrament of Baptisme There are some that saye by vertue of these woordes Hoc est corpus meum the bread is chaunged into the bodie of Christ that the substaunce of bread is gone and nothing remayning but onely accidentes that is a shewe and appearance and likenesse of bread They say it seemeth to be the same it was but it is chaunged it seemeth to bee bread but it is not bread and the wine by the taste and colour seemeth to be wine but it is not wine They say we may not beleeue our eye sight nor stand to the iudgement of our senses They say Christ is almighty he spake the word and al thinges
est maÌ„ducare panem viuum Beleeue in Christ and thou hast eaten Christ For beleeuing in Christ is the eating of the bread of life Beleue y â— he is that Lambe of God that taketh away the sins of the world Beleeue that there is no other name giuen vnto men wherein we shall be saued but y t name of Iesus Christ Beleeue that he hath payed the raunsome for the sinnes of the whole worlde Beleeue that he hath made peace betweene God and man Beleeue that it is hee which hath reconciled all thinges by his blood Here is nothing to be done by the mouth of the body Whosoeuer thus beleeueth hee eateth hee drinketh him Clemens saith Hoc est bibere sanguinem Iesu participeÌ„ esse incorruptionis eius This is y â— drinking of the blood of Iesus to be made partaker of his immortality Tertul. saith He must be receiued in cause of life hee must be deuoured by hearing he must bee chewed by vnderstaÌ„ding he must be digested by Faith Thus did Christ himselfe teache his disciples to vnderstaÌ„d him The words which I speake are spirit life S. Ierom therfore saith QuaÌ„do audimus sermoneÌ„ domini caro Christi saÌ„guis eius in aures nostras infunditur WheÌ„ we heare the worde of God the flesh of Christ and his blood is powred into our eares The Patriarkes Prophets and people of God which liued before the birth of Christ did by faith eate his flesh drinke his blood S. Paul saith They did al eat the same spiritual meat and did al drink of the same spiritual drink Whosoeuer beleeued in Christ they were nourished by him then as we are now They did not see Christ he was not yet borne he had not yet a naturall body yet did they eate his bodie he had not yet any blood yet did they drinke his blood They beleeued that it was he in whom the promises should be fulfilled that he shoulde be that blessed seede in whom al nations should be blessed Thus they beleeued thus they receiued and did eate his body But say some the fathers of the olde lawe were in darkenes in a shadow a figure it was meete they should receiue the Sacrament spiritually or the body of our Lord spiritually but al otherwise with vs vnto whose benefite y t sacraments of the new Testament work y â— thing it selfe that they signifie so that we receiue Christ really bodily and with the mouth of our bodies S. Paule telleth vs the fathers of the old lawe did eate the same spirituall meate that is to say the same Christe that wee eate So sayeth S. Augustine Sacramenta illa fuerunt in signis diuersa in rebus quae significabantur paria These things were Sacramentes in the outward tokens diuers but in the things signified all one with ours Likewise sayeth Leo Mysteria pro temporum ratione variata sunt quum fides qua vâ—uimus nulla fuerit aetate diuersa The Sacramentes are altered according to the diuersitie of times but the faith whereby wee liue was euer in all ages one If they did eate the same meate if the things that is the matter of their Sacramentes were all one with ours if their faith was al one with our faith what difference is there between their and our eating As they did eate Christ by faith and not by the mouth of the bodie so we eate Christ by faith and not by the mouth of our bodie To make this somewhat more euident let vs take the iudgement of the Fathers They teache vs plainely that the spirituall eating of Christes bodie by faith is the true eatinge and that wee doe not grossely fleshely really or naturally eate him in the Sacrament Saint Cyprian sayeth the bodie of Christe est cibus mentis non ventris It is meate for the mynde not for the belly Not for the teeth to chewe but for the soule to beleeue Cyrillus sayeth Sacramentum nostrum hominis maÌ„ducationem non asserit mentes credentium ad Grassas cogitationes irreligiose inducens Our Sacrament auoucheth not the eating of a man leading the mindes of the faithfull in vngodly maner to grosse or fleshly cogitations Athanasius saith Quot hominibus suffecisset corpus eius c. Vnto how many men could Christs body haue sufficed that he shoulde bee the foode of all the worlde Therefore hee made mention of his ascension into heauen that he might withdrawe them from corporall and fleshly vnderstandyng What thinge may bee spoken more playnelye It were vnpossible his naturall body naturallye receiued mighte suffice all the worlde to let them see hee had no suche meanyng he speaketh of his goyng vp into heauen Spiritually then hee is receiued of euerie one and is digested and becommeth the nourishment of al the worlde S Augustine expounding these words of Christ Who so eateth of this bread shall not die saith thus Quod pertinet ad virtutem sacrameÌ„ti non quod pertinet ad visibilile sacramentum Qui maÌ„ducat intus noÌ„ foris qui manducat in corde non qui premit dente That pertaineth to y â— vertu effect of the sacrament not y t pertai neth to the visible sacrameÌ„t He that eateth inwardly not he y t eateth outwardly that eateth with his heart not that bruseth the sacrameÌ„t with his tooth Thus is Christs bodie receiued as these holy fathers say not to the filling our contentation of the body not with mouth or tooth but with spirite and faith vnto the holinesse and sanctification of the minde After this sort wee eate his fleshe and drinke his blood Therefore wicked men and suche as beleeue not receiue not the bodie of Christe they haue no portion in it So saith Orig Est cibus verus quem nemo malus potest edere c. The bodie of Christ is the true food which no euil man can eate For if the euil man coulde eate the body of our Lord it should not be writteÌ„ he that eateth this bread shal liue for euer Ambrose saith HuÌ„c panem qui maÌ„ducauerit non esuriet est esca saÌ„ctorum non morietur morte peccatoris quia remissio peccatorum est Hee that eateth this bread shal not hunger it is the food of those that are holy He shal not die y e death of a sinner because it is the remission of sins S. Aug. saith Qui discordat a Christo nec panem eius maÌ„ducat nec saÌ„guineÌ„ bibit c. Who so disagreeth from Christ neither eateth his bread nor drinketh his blood although he daily receiue the sacrameÌ„t of so great a thing without difference to the iudgement of his presumption And againe Qui in me non manet c. He that abideth not in mee and in whom I doe not abyde let him not say or thinke that hee eyther eateth my bodie or drinketh my blood And againe Caecus interius panem Christumnon videt Et beatus
damnation In this case God so loued y â— world that he gaue his onely begotten Sonne y â— whosoeuer beleeueth in him shoulde not perishe but haue life euerlasting And as Saint Paule sayeth God sent his owne Sonne in the similitude of sinful flesh and by sinne coâ—â—emned sinne in the fleshe There was no other thing in He auen or earth which woulde be taken for our ransome Therefore was the Sonne of GOD brought before the Iudge and arraigned as a Theefe and condemned and scourged and put to death his side was opened with a speare and the bloode flowed out and he sayde It is finished that is to say the price for man is nowe payed Thus beeing in the fourme of God hee thought it no robberie to bee equall with God but he made himselfe of no reputation tooke on him the fourme of a seruaunt and was made like vnto men was founde in shape as a man He humbled himself and became obedient vnto the death euen the death of the Crosse Hee gaue his bodye to bee crucified and his blood to bee shedde for our sakes There was no other sacrifice left for sinne woe worth the sinne of man that was the cause of the death of Christ What were the effects of his death What followed God hath highly exalted him and giueÌ„ him a name aboue euery name that at the name of Iesus should euery knee bowe and that euerie tongue should confesse that Iesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father God spake out of the heauens and saide This is my beloued sonne in whom I am well pleased Hee crowned him with glorie and honour hee hath not onely aduanced Christ but vs also together with him And made vs sitte together in heauenly places in Christ Iesus Hee hath made vs like to the Image of his sonne Thus hath hee made vs an acceptable people and hath renewed the face of the earth so y â— nowe hee saith not as he did to Adam thou art earth and shalt returne to earth but he saith Thou art heauen an immortall and vndefiled inheritance that fadeth not away is reserued in heauen for thee This is the effect and value of the death of Christ All these thinges are layde before vs in the holy Table if wee haue eyes to see and beholde them There may wee see the crucifiyng of his bodie and the shedding of his blood as it were in a glasse Therefore Christe sayeth doe this in remembraunce of mee in remembraunce of my benefite wrought for you in remembrance of your saluation purchased by me Saint Paul saith As often as ye shal eate this bread and drinke this cuppe ye shew the Lordes death til he come In this supper lieth a hiddeÌ„ mystery There is the horror of sinne there is y e death of our Lorde for our sinne represented howe he was wounded for our sinnes and tormented for our iniquities and ledde as a lambe to the slaughter There may we see the shame of the crosse the darkenesse ouer the worlde the earth to quake the stones to cleaue asunder the graues to open and the dead to rise These thinges may we see in the Supper this is the meaning of these holy mysteries Therefore let euery one examine him selfe and search and weigh his owne hearte whether he be the childe of GOD and a member of the bodie of Christe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this cuppe The sacrament of the Lordes Supper is a holie foode the seale of our Faith the assuraunce of Gods promises and a couenant betweene God and man He that doeth vn worthely thrust himselfe to this table eateth and drinketh his owne damnation When a sicke man of a weake and feeble stomacke sitteth downe to eate with them that are whole whatsoeuer he eateth or drinketh it doth increase his sicknesse To them that perish the worde of God is a sauour of death vnto death Who so disagreeth from Christ neither eateth his bread nor drinketh his blood as saith S. Augustine If any of vs come to the Sacrament of the bodie of Christ and yet make our selues the members of the Diuell wee treade Christe vnder our feete we regarde not his body crucified nor his blood shed for vs we regard not the price of our saluation wee are guiltie of his death we betraie the innocent blood we are fallen from grace and Christ hath died in vaine for vs. Let vs remember Christ was forsaken scorned buffeted crucified and left vpon the crosse he was a worme and no man a reproch among men Nature it selfe yearned and yelded at the sight hereof The whole lande grewe darke the earth did quake the sunne lost his light the powers of heauen were moued the rockes were clouen the vaile of the temple rent the thiefe repented said Lorde remember me when thou coÌ„mest into thy kingdome the centurion glorified God and said of a suretie this man was iust Where is the power of Christs death now Where is the force and power of his word By these meanes he speaketh to thee and calleth saying Beholde O man thus haue I sought thee these things I suffer for thy sake that thou shouldest eate my flesh and drinke my blood be made one with me that thou mightest come into mee and I into thee I haue made thee a member of my bodie bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh Thou that wallowest in thy sinnes thou Sodoma and Gomorrah thou childe of destruction which hast reioysed in my shame and arte not moued with the paines which I haue suffered what might I do for thy sake to saue thee that I haue not done What might I suffer and haue not endured it O be a partener of my death that thou matest haue part in my resurrection Let vs die with Christ let vs bee crucified vnto the worlde Let vs bee holy Egles and scare aboue Let vs goe vp into the great parlar and receiue of our Lorde the cup of the newe testament There let vs beholde the bodie that was crucified for vs the blood which was shead for vs. There let vs say this is the raunsom of the world this was once offered hath made perfect for euer al them that beleue this entered once into the holy place and obtained euerlasting redemption for vs this standeth alwaies in the presence of God maketh intercession for vs this is the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world by this bodie I am now no more earth ashes by this I am now not a bondman but made free This bodie hath broken the gates of hell hath opened heauen In this are all the treasures of Gods mercie by this the prince of darkenes is cast foorth in this bodie shall he come againe to iudge the quicke and the dead Let no vncleane or filthie person no adulterer no vsurer no cruel extortioner or deuourer of Gods people offer him selfe to
the Gospel to be heresie and that the things which he hath done for vs are wrought by the power of Beelzebub and which as good watchmen attending their warde may stirre vp the people to knowe the season that the night is passed and the day is come that it is time to cast away the workes of darkenesse and to put on the armour of light shall witnesse for them what zeale they beare to the house of God If the ministers be mindefull to perfourme their duetie if the Lordes haruest be not neglected if the defence for the Gospel finde vpright Iudges if all that giue outward shew of zeale be in deede zealous and worke the fruites of zeale what hope may they of Iericho haue that their cursed dwellings shal stand or why shall Israel mistrust that the Temple of God shall not receiue againe the former and perfect beautie Nowe because euery where in these sermons hee commendeth the necessary vse of godly learning and is an humble suter for patronage thereof I can not but present them vnto your honours our patrones and fathers right honourable Chauncelours of both the Vniuersities that seeing the benefite of this your gracious protection hath and doeth and shall reache it selfe so farre to do so much good to the whole Church of God you may at home and with your selues reioyce in the comfort of a good conscience for the manifold fruites of your fauour bestowed in such sort and all that haue the loue of the trueth may earnestly praye vnto God for your honours that he will continue his goodnesse towardes you and giue you long and prosperous dayes in this life and after a ioyfull enterance into his glorie Your honours most humble to command Iohn Garbrande ⧠Certaine Sermons of B. Iewell Ioshua 6. And Iericho was shut vp and closed because of the children of Israel neither might any man goe out or in 2. And the Lorde saide vnto Ioshua behold I haue giuen into thine hand Iericho and the King thereof and the strong men of warre 3. And yee shall compasse all the Citie c. IN diuers maners god spake opened himselfe to our fathers by visions dreames by sacraments by angels by plaine expresse words by allegories by secret mystical vnderstanding where one thing is couered vnder another And al this did he that he might cōdescende to our capacitie that wee might bee conuerted and saued that we might be guyded in the right way and not goe aside neither to the right hande nor to the left By vision GOD spake to Ezechiel as appeareth in the firste Chapter of his prophecie The wheeles which he saw were horible to behold they were ful of rings and the rings were full of eyes the foure beasts were also terrible they had faces like a man like a lion like a bullock and like an eagle In dream God spake to Samuel saying Beholde I wil doe a thing in Israel wherof whosoeuer shal heare his two eares shall tingle c. Touching Sacramentes God him selfe saith Thou shalt shew thy Sonne in that day saying this is done because of that which the Lord did vnto me whē I came out of Egipt thou shalt set apart vnto the lord al that first openeth the wombe c. And whē thy sonne shal aske thee to morrow saying What is this thou shalt then say vnto him with a mighty hande the Lorde brought vs out of Egypt out of the house of bondage For when Pharao was hard hearted agaynst our departure the Lord then slue al the first borne in the lande of Egypt from the first born of man euen to the first born of beast therefore I sacrifice vnto the Lorde all the males that first open the wombe but al the first borne of my sonnes I redeeme Sometimes he spake by Angels as by sundrye examples it may appeare Sometimes by him selfe in his owne person as he spake to Moses face to face Sometimes by playne expresse wordes Thou shalt loue the Lorde thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule and with all thy might And againe Thou shalt haue none other goddes before my face thou shalt make thee no grauen image c. These are playne woordes these are the woordes which our Lord GOD hath spoken Some tymes he expressed his holy will not in words or visions or in such sort as I haue shewed but onely by some mysticall or secret Allegory by some deede which the people sawe done before their eyes of which kynd is this which we haue now to consider Therefore hath God sayde by the Prophet What coulde I haue done any more to my vineyard that I haue not done vnto it What shoulde I doe but it hath byn done What shoulde I say but it hath been sayde what warning shoulde I giue but it hath byn giuen I haue byn carefull for my people that they shoulde repent and turne to me that all Israel shoulde be saued If they perish I am free from their destruction they perishe in their owne wilfulnesse they haue none excuse Now touching an Allegory whereof we are at this present to say God opened his minde sometimes not by wordes but by some notable kinde of deede and the people heard GOD speak vnto them not with their eares but with their eyes The people of Israel as they were passing through the wildernesse lacked water to drinke and were like to perishe there stood a mighty great Rocke of harde stone whiche Moses smote with his rodde it opened and yelded out a great streame of water the whole people dranke of it and was refreshed the same people being likewise in the same wildernesse vtterly voyde of bread and all other substenance was like to famish God sent them Manna from heauen aboue they gathered it they ground it and they ate of it it was sweet and delicate and full of comfort This was an Allegorie that is to say a secret and mysticall kinde of vtterance For by this Manna and by this Rocke the people was ledde to vnderstand and thinke on that bread and that water that should come from heauen Saint Paul saith the Rocke was Christ his side was clouen his blood issued out it is a water springing vp into euerlasting life we drink of it and liue for euer So likewise that Manna was the bodie of Christ the people did eate of it and liued by it Christ had not yet taken vppon him a naturall bodye yet they did eate his bodie he had not yet shedde his blood yet they dranke his blood Saint Paule saith all did eate the same spirituall meate that is the body of Christ and all did drinke of the same spirituall drinke that is the blood of Christ and that as verily and as truely as we doe nowe and who so euer then did so eate Christ liued for euer not because the rocke was turned into his flesh or the water into his blood it was an Allegory as
were made he hath said Hoc est corpus meum therfore it is now no more bread but his body and that this is the faith of the Church in which we were borne and christned In deede this hath lately beene receiued as a matter of faith But if we examine it well wee shall finde it to bee an errour and no point of faith I saye it hath beene receiued of late for our olde Fathers neuer beleeued it as I will declare and prooue and let you see that it hath not beene the Catholike faith nor the faith of the Primitiue churche nor of the Apostles of Christe and therefore no faith at all The opening of this matter will be somewhat darke and where with you haue not beene acquainted but giue me your attendance lend me your senses and I trust by the grace of God I shall make it playne They say the bread is changed and done away vtterly and that it is no breade though it seeme to be bread that in this case we may not trust our eyes but leane to faith Marke I saye they tell vs that the bread remayneth not and for trial hereof they require vs not to leane to any other thing then faith Wee will then close and shut vp our senses and hearken what Christ what S. Paul what the holy fathers of the church who are best able to instruct our Faith haue spoken S. Paul to the Corinthians in one piece of a Chapter calleth it bread foure times Read the place yee shall finde it so in the eleuenth of the first Epistle The Lord Iesus in the night that he was betrayed tooke bread And as often as ye shall eate this bread and drink this cuppe yee shewe the Lordes death till hee come Againe Whosoeuer shall eate this bread and drinke the cup of the Lorde vnworthelie shall bee guiltie of the body and blood of the Lorde And againe Let a man therefore examine himselfe so let him eat of this bread and drink of this cuppe They say it is not bread but Paul saith and so manie times saith it is bread And of the wine Christ saide after he had giuen thankes and it was consecrate and after his Supper I wil not drinke of this fruit of the vine hēceforth vntil that day when I shall drinke it newe with you in my fathers kingdome The fruite of the vine is wine therfore the selfe same fruit of the vine the same wine in substaunce did abide still after consecration as before S. Augustine calleth this holy mystery Sacramentū panis vini The sacrament of bread wine Iustinus Martyr saieth Diaconi distribuunt vnicuique praesentium de pane in quo gratiae actae sunt de vino aqua ad eos qui non sunt praesentes deferunt The Deacons deuide vnto euery one of them that are present part of that bread ouer which thankes were giuen and they carry of the wine and water to such as are not present Againe he saith Alimento humido sicco admonemur quae propter nos Deus dei filius perpessus sit By drie moyst food whereby he meaneth the sacrament wee are taught what things God the Sonne of God hath suffred for vs. What meāt he by dry food but bread or by moist food but wine It can not be avoided but that he thought y ◠bread wine remaine after the consecration He liued 1400 yeres since And before him Ignatius Vnus panis omnibus fractus It is one bread which is brokē for al. So Iraen who also liued 1400. yeeres since saith Eum calicem qui est creatura c. He made y t cup which is a creature his body by which he increaseth our bodies Therfore when the cup of mixture the bread whiche is broken receiueth the worde it is made the sacramēt of the body blood of Christ by which the substance of our flesh is increased nourished Hee saith after consecration it is a creature and suche a creature as nourisheth the substance of our flesh Origen who liued wel nigh 1400 yeres since saith Ille cibus qui sanctificatur per verbum Dei perque obsecrationem iuxta id quod habet materile in ventrem abit in secessum eijcitur The meate which is sanctified by the worde of God by praier as touching the materiall substance therof goeth into the belly and is cast out into the priuy Certainly vnles bread in the substance and nature of bread did remaine in the sacrament these words were too horrible to be spoken Dionisius saith Pontifex opertum panem aperit in frusta concidit The Bishop vncouereth the bread that was couered cutteth it in pieces He noteth that the loafe of the communion was of some bignesse and that the minister after consecration deuided it and gaue to euery man a portion S. Cipriā writeth Dedit Dominus noster in mēsa in qua vltimum cū apostolis participauit cōuiuium c. Our Lord at the table whereat he receiued his last Supper with his Disciples with his own hands gaue not his very body very blood really but bread wine but vpō the crosse he gaue his own body by y ◠hands of the souldiers to be wounded He maketh a difference betweene that which Christ gaue vppon the crosse that which he gaue at the table At the table he gaue breade and wine vppon the crosse hee gaue his body and blood Againe he calleth the bread after consecration Panem ex multorū granorum adunatione cōgestum Bread made not of formes and accidents but of the substance and moulding of many cornes Ambrose saith Quanto magis operatorius est sermo Dei vt sint quae erant in aliud cōmutentur How much more effectual is the worde of God that the bread and wine may be in substance and nature the same that they were before and yet bee changed into another thing They are changed into a Sacrament which they were not before and remaine bread and wine which they were before Chrisostome saith In similitudinē corporis sanguinis Christi panē vinum secundum ordinem Melchisedec nobis ostendit in sacramēto He shewed vs in a Sacramēt bread wine after the order of Melchisedec to bee the likenes of the body and blood of Christ What should I strande to trouble you with the rest As these say so say the other that the thinges which are seene in the sacrament are bread and wine But say they it is called bread because it was bread or because it hath a likenes of bread A pretie shift but it wil not helpe For S. Augustine saith Quod videtis panis est calix quod vobis etiam oculi renuntiant The thing that you see is the bread and the cup which thing your eyes do testify Gelasius saith Non desinit esse substantia panis vel natura vini
the receiuing of this Sacrament If any bee such a one I require hym by the body blood of Iesus Christ and by the iudge of the quicke and the dead that he come not to the Lordes table that he betraie not the sonne of God It were better he had neuer bene borne and that a milstone were hanged about his necke he throwne into y e sea Let vs not deceiue our selues God wil not be mocked He receiueth dānation y t receiueth vnworthely Let vs fall downe before our Lorde and giue thankes vnto hym Let vs say what shall I giue vnto the Lord for al that he hath giuen vnto me I wyl take the cup of saluation call vpon the name of the Lord. Let vs say O Lord our Lord how wonderful is thy name in all the world Let vs say prayse the Lord O my soule and all that is within me prayse his holy name Let vs purpose and promise amendement of our lyfe let vs goe out with Peter and weepe let vs fall at Christes feete with Marie Magdalene and with our teares washe his feete Let vs saye with Dauid I haue sinned to the Lorde Let vs saye with the Prodigal sonne father I haue sinned agaynst heauen and against thee I am no more worthy to bee called thy sonne Let vs saye haue mercy on mee O God accordyng to thy great mercie thou art my God I am thy seruāt O saue me for thy mercies sake Let vs offer vp our bodies a liuing pure holy and acceptable sacrifice to God So shall we be partakers of the death of Christ and of his resurrection Thus haue we briefly gone through the whole matter of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ and followed the same order which was set down First that we do in the Sacramente truely eate the bodie of Christ Secondly what is the meaning of the wordes Hoc est corpus meum Thirdely whether y ◠bread remeaine in nature substance Fourthly whether it be eaten with the mouth of the bodie or by faith onely Fiftly what difference is betweene the bodie of Christ and the mysticall signes Sixtly howe we must be prepared and with what deuotiō we ought to come to receiue this Sacrament Hauing thus treated of the Sacramentes of the newe testament and said so much as is needfull for you to knowe of them both as well of Baptisme which is the sacrament of our regeneration as of our Lordes supper which is the sacrament of our refection or nourishment I will now in fewe wordes speake something of confirmation of matrimony of ecclesiastical ministerie which some call holy orders of repentance or penance and of extreme vnctiō which some of late yeeres haue called Sacraments and by ioyning these to the other haue made vp the nomber of seuen Sacramentes so haue charged the Church with fiue sacramēts more then Christ did euer ordaine For these fiue wante either the worde or the element or both and therefore may not bee taken for true sacraments Such as haue with all their skil shewed them selues helpers and furtherers of our aduersaries yet haue plainely cōfessed that they are not sacraments of Christes institution Alexander of Hales saith of confirmation The sacrament of confirmation as it is a Sacrament was not ordained either by Christ or by the Apostles but afterwarde in the Counsel of Melda Which Counsel was kept many yeres after Christ And Durandus saith of matrimonie Matrimonie in due and proper kinde of speach is no Sacramēt And Bessarion a Cardinal cōfesseth as it was shewed before that in due and right consideration none of these fiue may be called Sacramentes We reade saith he that these two onely Sacramentes were deliuered vs plainely in the Gospel First of Confirmation which is so called because that which was done on our behalfe in baptisme is ratified and confirmed many parentes had not such due care as they ought in the godly bringing vp of their childrē so that many children knew not whether they were baptized or no many were neuer taught what couenant was made betweene them God in their baptisme many swarued away from Christian profession and caried them selues to the fellowship of the heathens and of the sonnes of God became the sonnes of the deuel Upon this occasion the Churche of God laieth charge vpon the parentes and the witnesses of the baptizing of younge children that they teach thē the waies of the Lorde to know y e holy mystery that they haue receiued and what they haue promised and professed in baptisme that they put them in minde howe God hath called them out of the kingdome of darknes vnto his wonderfull light and to the fellowship of the saintes in light When the children of the Christiās were thus brought vp had learned the religyō of Christ and to walke in the waies of Godlines they were brought to the church by their parents presented vnto the Bishop and yeeled a reason of their faith openly before the whole congregation they professed they would so beleue that they would liue and die in that faith Then the Bishop and all the people fell downe on their knees and prayed vnto God that he would continue the good thing hee had begonne and the bishop laying his hande vpon them cōmended them vnto God This was the ratifying of the professiō which they made by others at their baptisme and for that cause called Confirmation Now whether it be a sacrament and when I say a sacrament I meane a ceremonie commanded by God in expresse wordes For God onely hath the authorytie to institute a Sacrament Sacraments are confirmations seales of the promises of God and are not of the earth but from heauen As Christ saith The babtisme of Iohn Whence was it from heauen or of men Chrysostome saith The misterie were not of God nor perfect if thou shouldest put any thing to it Marke and iudge your selues shal see whether this were a sacrament instituted by Christ Augustine said Accedat verbum ad elementum fit sacramentum Ioine the worde to the creature it is made a sacrament This creature or element is visible as are water bread wine The word which must be ioyned is the commandemēt institution of christ without the word and the commandement and institution it is no sacrament I protest y t the vse and order of confirmation rightly vsed is profitable and necessarie in the Church no way to be broken But all y t is profitable necessarie is not a sacramēt Christ did not commāde it he spake no word of it Looke and reade if you doubt it Christes wordes are written and may be seene You shal neuer finde that hee commanded Confirmation or that hee euer made any special promise to it Therefore may you conclude that it is no sacrament Otherwise being rightly vsed it is a good ceremonie wel ordeined of our auncient fathers The Apostles layde their handes on
in a cloude and like corne buried in the ground After it was somewhat more cleerely set forth in the Law giuen by Moses After that it was reuiued by the Prophetes and in manner plainely in what place at what time of what mother of what house or stocke Christ should be borne what doctrine he should teach what miracles he should worke what death he shoulde die how he should be buried howe he shoulde arise how he should ascend into heauen howe the heathens shoulde be called to beleeue in him howe the holy Ghost should be sent and to conclude how Christ should come at the last to iudge the world After that came Saint Iohn the Baptist to point out Christ plainely with his finger and to say Ecce agnus Dei qui tollit peccata mundi Behold the lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world Last of al Christe himselfe began to preache and prophecie of himselfe and to gather vnto him a chosen people that should be followers of good woorkes Then was the accomplishment and fulnesse of time come to passe that had so long beene looked for then the kingdome of God began to suffer violence and men violently euen by force brake in vpon it then the corne sowed and cast into the ground by the patriarks long before and watered cherished by the dew of the Prophets was ripened and kerned by the spirit of God then was the haruest greate and the eares white euen ready to be cut Yet this notwithstanding Christ saith the haruest men are but few He saith not the Haruest is great and there are but few Scribes but few Pharisies but few Sadduces but few priests but few Leuites For the Priests and Leuites were distributed through y e whole countrey In euery litle Towne or borough there was a colledge as one of their Rabbines recordeth in y ◠city of Hierusalem there were no lesse then 400 schooles so that the number was almost infinit Moreouer they vsed commonly to say as it is reported by the Prophet leremie Non peribit Lex a sacerdote nec consilium a sapiente nec sermo a Propheta It cannot be that the true vnderstanding of the Law should be taken frō the Priest nor good counsel frō the wise nor the word from the Prophet They read expounded the Law to the people euery day they had their daily sacrifice and whēsoeuer the oxe or calfe or sheep or goate was slaine and offered vnto God as then the maner was the priest for his share had the breastlet that couered the heart in token as Origen writeth that the Priest should be a man of counsel He had also appointed to him the right shoulder and the tongue in token that he should be prompt ready in good works and eloquent to declare the law of God The Bishop had euermore before his breast a tablet wherein was imbrodered in letters of Golde Vrim and Thumim in token that he should be a man both perfect in life and also full and plenteous in the truth of God In the same were set twelue stones and therein grauen the names of the twelue tribes of the people that he might haue thē euermore in remembrance The skirtes or hemmes of his roabes were set with belles of gold and pomegranates in token that his life should giue a good sauour and his voice should ring and be heard among the people The Pharisies had certaine special poynts and sentences of the Lawe written round about in the borders of their garmentes that it might neuer be out of their eyes they prayed no men more and that in euery corner of the streetes they fasted twise euery weeke the bed that they laye vpon as Epiphanius writeth was but a spanne broade yet that they might sleepe with lesse ease they strowed thornes vnderneath thē Briefly all their life in appearance was such al their apparel and behauiour so seemely and decent that if a man would paint out wisedom sobrietie and perfect holinesse he could haue no better patterne And therfore they were called Pharisaei that is diuided as men in holines perfection of life farre passing al the rest of the people Yet for al this notwithstanding their greate shewe of wisedome of learning of perfection of life the great multitude of them Chrst sayeth there were few workmen to goe to the haruest For They did prophecie out of their owne harts they did not rise vp in the gappes nor made vp the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battell in the day of the Lorde they haue seene vanity lying diuination saying the Lord saith it the lord hath not sent thē they haue made others to hope that they would confirm the words of their prophecie saith Ezechiel No contrariwise these that should haue been the chiefe haruest men were the wasters and destroyers of the haruest My people saith God hath byn as lost sheep their shepherds haue caused thē to go astray haue turned them away to the mountaines Christe telleh the Pharisies they haue made his fathers house a denne of theeues He speaketh thus of them All that euer came before mee are theeues and robbers Notwithstanding their stout learning and shew of holinesse they were nothing els but theeues robbers they did robbe mens soules chey stale the sheepe out of the fold they spoyled God of his glory When they sawe the people followe thicke after Christ and to haue him in reuerence they cried out none of the Princes and great holye learned men beleeue in him but these Rascals that thus runne after him are accursed ignorant and know not the law The vnlearned sort said of Christ he casteth out vncleane spirits by y ◠power of God y ◠great learned men said no he throweth out diuels by y ◠power of Beelzebub y ◠prince of y ◠diuels The vnlearned marueiled were astonied at y ◠wonderful works that he did the learned saide he hath a diuel he is out of his wittes The vnlearned said no doubt a great Prophet is risen amongst vs the learned sayd He deceiueth the people The vnlearned sayde God hath visited and sent comfort amongst his people the learned said Behold a glutton and a companion of Publicans sinners The great learned shepherds persecuted Christ chased him from place to place the poore sheepe folowed him into the desert They that were the guyders of the flocke crucified Christ and shed his blood the poore flocke set their whole affiance in his death so dranke his blood to the reliefe of their soules they beleeued in him they knew the time of their visitation And therefore notwithstanding there were grosse damnable errours amongst the people as wel as amōgst the learned yet Christ chalenged not the people for them but only y ◠priests the Pharisies that tooke vpon them to lead the people for that he saw the
performance of the same The Quenes most honourable counsaile with the residue of the noblitie The miserable state of both the Uniuersities all other schooles of learning the onely nurceries of this Realme The Byshops and preachers that the number of them may bee encreased and that they may haue grace to set foorth the trueth of Gods Gospell as their dutie is diligentlye soberly sincerely truely and faithfully And the whole commons of this Realme especially such as speake yll or thinke ill of Gods holy word that they may haue grace to regarde the saluation of their soules to laye afide all blinde affection to heare the woorde of God and so to come to the knowledge of the trueth Who so list to peruse either the whole course of the Scriptures or other stories and recordes of antiquitie shall finde that the messengers of God such as haue bene sent of purpose to giue knowledge of his holy wyll haue at all tymes bene vnkindely receiued of the more parte and sclaunderously reported of and whatsoeuer they haue sayde or done hath bene falsly depraued turned to the worst Moses that godly Captayne notwithstandynge hee were purposely called and sent from God and in his name wrought many strange wonders befor the people yet were there some that saide hee was a Sorcerer and whatsoeuer he did he did by way of coniuration The Religion of the Jewes was the true worship of the onely God Yet Plinie sayth it was contemptus omnium numinum The despising of all the goddes The Jewes suffered no images to be in their Churches because God had forbiddē them Yet Cornelius Tacitus saith They worship their god in forme of an asse Others said they worship a god whome they call Sobaoth in the shape and fashion of a hogge and that therfore they were forbidden to eate swines flesh Others that they worship Saturnus because they were commaunded to keepe holy the Saturday The wicked and cruell Aman to bringe the people of God into hatred with the king Assuerus made his complaint of them in this wise May it please your Maiestie sayth he to vnderstande you haue a people here in your realme that vseth a new kinde of religion and wyll not be ordered by your graces lawes When the godly prynce Cyrus had giuen Esdras and Nehemias leaue to builde vp againe the Church of God at Hierusalem there came diuers to him and had him take good heede for that the Jewes were his enemies and euer had hene traitours to his crowne Lykewise after that Christ our Sauiour had ascended into heauen and the holy Ghoste was powred downe vpon the Apostles and they began to speake diuers tongues that they neuer had learned the enemies disdainefully scorned at the giftes of God and sayde Musto pleni sunt isti These men be drunken and full of newe wine And therfore they talke they knowe not what When Paul and the other Apostles taught free remission of sinnes without any goodnesse or desert of our partes onely of Gods mercye and in the blood of Christ the enemies iested at that kinde of learning and said faciamus mala vt veniant bona then if Gods mercie bee declared by forgiuenes of sinnes Let vs doo euill that good may come therof Let vs continue in sinne that grace may abound Because the Christians in the ministration of the holy Communion vsed bread and wine some saide they worshipped not Christ but Bacchus and Ceres goddes of the heathens Wheras the Christian men soone after the Apostles time vsed to resorte together in the night time or in the morning before daye into some priuate house there to call vpon the name of God and to receiue the sacrament together for feare of the crueltie of tyrantes the enemies reported that beinge thus together they killed a childe amongst them and so deuoured vp his flesh and dranke his blood and after put out the lights and so committed incest and adulterie one with another But what needeth moe examples Because wee saye that iustification standeth onely vpon the free grace and mercy of God the aduersaries report that we forbid good workes And because we speake against superstition vsed in fasting as before vs did Esay Paul and Christe himselfe they report that wee woulde haue no fasting And because we reproue the errours and abuses in the maner of prayer they say we would not haue the people to pray And because we restore the sacraments to the first institution of our Sauiour Christe and the example of the primatiue Church they say wee take away the Sacraments This is Gods holy wyl that for our exercise whatsoeuer we say or doe be it neuer so well it shall bee ill taken Iulian the apostata founde fault with the simplicitie and rudenes of Gods word Tertullian saith the heathens in the time of the primatiue Church were wont to painte out in mockery the God of the Christians with an asses head and a booke in his hand in token that the Christians professed learnynge but indeede were Asses rude and ignorant And do not out aduersaries the lyke this day agaynst all those that professe the Gospell of Jesus Christ O saye they who are they that fauour this way none but Shoomakers Taylours Weauers Prentises such as neuer were in the vniuersity but bee altogether ignoraunt and voyde of learning Thus haue you bene borne in hande that you might bee broughte to mistruste the Gospell And as the Pharises vpbrayded those that hearde the doctrine of Christe Dooth any of the rulers or of the Pharises beleue in him But this people which knowe not the law are cursed Euen so this day they say by you they vnderstand not their pater noster they knowe not their Creede yee bee ignorant O miserable men doe they aduance themselues of your ignoraunce If you knowe not your beleefe if you vnderstand not your Pater noster if you be so ignoraunt through whose fault are you so ignorant why were they your pastors why did they not teache you why take they from you the holy Scriptures why wyll they haue you be ignorant and vnlearned still This doe they that they may the more discredit and deface the Gospell which GOD of his mercie hath in our dayes restored vnto vs and caused the beames thereof to shine ouer all Countries in such sort that nowe the simple and vnlearned the rich the learned the worshipfull the honourable the states and Princes of the worlde be become professours and mainteyners of it as our eyes do see this day Blessed be his holy name therfore They say that the preachers of the same are vnlearned as men that read nothing but a fewe English books and neuer studied or saw the old Doctors Wee finde not such fault in their learninge neither do we speake those thinges by them that the most parte of you doeth knowe wee might iustly and truely speake For wee seeke not to confound them by such meanes it is not our profession
time saith a Christian man could be known by nothing so wel as by the changing of his life Cyprian of the Christians in his time sayth Veniunt vt discant discunt vt viuant They come that they may learne they learne that they may know how to liue S. Paul commendeth the Philippians that they shine as lyghtes in the worlde that theyr lyfe doth testifie what they be Eusebius saieth Valeriani aula erat referta piis Ecclesia Deifacta They y t were of the court of Valerian were become Christians and then was the court not lyke a court but like vnto the Church of God Iustinus the martir saith he was first turned to Christ for the admiration that he had of the innocent and godly life of Christian men Such then was the life of them that bare the name of Christ they came to learne they learned to liue You might haue knowne theyr profession by the onely changing of their maners The court wherin they liued was so reuerently kept without notable sinne or wantonnes as if it has ben the temple of God O almighty God howe fares it nowe with them that woulde be called Christians and bee reckoned among professors of the Gospel how many are there that come to learne how many are there that learne to liue howe many are there that may be knowne by changing of their maners Unlesse it be for that they make a mockerie of Gods holy Gospel and so become more dissolute more fleshly more wanton then euer they were afore What court can we finde that any part may be lyke the temple of God Seldome is it that almightye God may bee hearde to speake hys minde But when he hath spoken who is he that thinketh vpon it who is he that doth not dispise it who is he that spurneth not at it If our life should giue testimonie and report of our religion sory I am to speake it but alas it is to true in too many it cryeth out Non est Deus the very course of our life beareth wytnesse against vs that in our heartes wee thinke there is no God and that there is no feare of God before our eyes I amplifie not nor enlarge the matter I woulde to God it were no more then I make of it Thus we doe withholde the trueth of God in vnrighteousnesse thus the grace of God is abused to the contenting of our pleasures thus wee become the vessels of Gods wrath and heape vp vengeance vpon our heads Therefore wil God take away his holy spirit from vs therefore wyl God giue vs ouer to a reprobate minde therfore shal y e end of vs be worse then was y e beginning O good brethren let vs not abuse the mercy of god let vs not receiue the grace of god in vaine Remēber how many eyes are set vpon vs let vs take occasion away from them y t seeke occasion to sclander our profession let not let not our life cause the gospel of Iesus Christ to be yl spoken of and blasphemed let vs walke so as becommeth them that are called and in deede are Filii lucis The children of light The trueth of the gospel of Iesus Christ hath nowe shined ouer the whole worlde if it be yet hiddē from any it is hidden frō them that perish he that perisheth nowe shall perish in his owne blood Now if any beleeue not he is inexcusable The wisdom of god in publishing his word contrary against the course of mans policie y e continual preaching of it in al places the ashes of so many learned fath ers godly men women who haue yeelded their bodies to the cruel torments of tyrants to bee consumed in the fire for the testimony therof are yet so fresh in your eies spoken of in your hearinge and witnessed in your hartes and consciences that you can not denie but the kingdome of God is come amongst vs. But if there be any that is not perswaded in his religion for asmuch as it is a matter of lyfe and death of saluation damnation I beseeche you before God and before his Christ let vs not be careles let vs not be negligent If we mislike it let vs read the Scriptures and know wherefore we mislike it Dispise not good brethren despise not to heare gods worde declared As you tender your owne soules be diligent to come to sermons for that is the ordinary place where mens hearts be moued Gods secrets be reuealed For be the preacher neuer so weake yet is the word of God as mightie as puisant as euer it was If thou heare Gods worde spoken by a weake man anignorant man a sinner as thou thy selfe art and yet wilt beleeue it and heare it with reuerence it is able to open thine eyes and to reueale vnto thee the high misteries of thy saluation Remember we are the sonnes of the Prophets The kingdome of God is come amongst vs. Let vs not withstand the Spirit of God let vs not treade downe the blood of the euerlasting Testament The hande of god hath wrought this let vs not arme our selues against GOD and say They are wrought in the name of Beelzebub It is not our doctrine that we bring you this day we wrote it not we founde it not out wee are not the inuentours of it wee bringe you nothing but that the olde fathers of the Churche that the Apostles that Christ our Sauiour himselfe hath brought before vs. O condemne it not before you know it In the meane while thinke well of them that labour for you that do you seruice that pray for you that shall giue their lyfe for you Let vs lay aside all blinde affection let vs labour to know the truth let God haue the victory And then when we know God let vs glorifie him as our God let vs so liue y e our words our deedes our whole life may testifie that y e kingdom of god is amōngst vs. Let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works gloryfie our father which is in heauen So shall God powre downe his blessings vpon vs so shal god bles whatsoeuer we take in hand so shal we be blessed in peace so shal we be blessed in war so shal god go forth before our armies so shal we be the children of god so shall god bee our god and remayne with vs for euer And thou most mercifull father as thou hast sent vs thy heauenly kingdome that is the most comfortable tidyngs of the Gospel of thy sonne Iesus Christ so wee beseeche thee for thy mercy blesse that thinge that thou hast begunne that it may continue among vs remaine with vs for euer Open the heartes of them that of ignorance thinke ill of it that they may see that blessed hope whereunto thou hast called vs that al the worlde may know thee and thy sonne our sauiour Iesus Christ whome thou hast sent for the
dronkennes chambering wantonnes strife and enuying They be the vnfruitfull workes of darknes the way of them leadeth vnto damnation But put you on the Lord Iesus Christ If we beholde our selues consider our owne nakednes we shall find y t by nature we are nothing els but the childrē of wrath Who can cal that cleane that is conceiued of vncleane seede Dauid saith Behold I am conceiued in sinne my sinnes haue ouer gone my head there is no health in my flesh Nōe that liueth shalbe iustified in thy sight who can vnderstand his faults Clense me from my secret fultes Iob saith Verebar omnia opera mea I stood in feare of al my workes knowing that thou wilt not iudge me innocēt Again The starres are vncleane in his sight How much more man a worme euen the sonne of man which is but a worme In like sort saith Esaie We haue al bene as an vncleane thing and all our righteousnes is as filthie cloutes Our vertue our holines our fasting our prayers are filthy whē they come to his sight Wee can not say our heart is cleane Wee can not say wee haue not sinned God hath shut vp al in vnbeliefe that hee may haue mercie vppon all That is borne of the flesh is flesh The sperit fighteth against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit Open shame belongeth to vs and to our fathers Cursed is hee that abideth not in al thinges that are writen in the booke of the law And whosoeuer offendeth in one is made guiltie of all the commaundementes When the miserable and writched soule boasteth it selfe sayinge I am rich and increased with goods haue need of nothing the spirit of God maketh answere Thou art wretched and miserable poore and blinde and naked Thou hast nothing to put vpon thee to couer thy shame I counsell thee to buy of me golde tried by the fire that thou mayest be made rich white rayment that thou mayest be clothed that thy filthy nakednes do not appeare and anoint thine eies with eie salue that thou mayest see The same spirit in the Apostle giueth this counsell that wee put on vs Iesus Christ Let him couer vs with his body and with his blood as with a garment his blood hath clensed vs from al our sinnes Hee is the lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of y e world Hee is become vnto vs wisdome and righteousnes sanctification redemtion S. Hierome saith S◠merita nostra consideremus desperandum est If we weigh our owne deseruings if we appeare in our owne apparel wee must dispaire And Basil saith Qui non fidit recte factis nec sperat ex operibus iustificari solam habet spem salutis miserecordias domini Hee that trusteth not to good deedes nor hopeth to be iustified by his workes hath no other hope of saluation but by the mercies of the Lord. Let vs therefore put on vs Iesus Christ Let vs couer vs vnder his apparell as Iacob couered him selfe vnder the coat of his brother Esau so let vs present our selues before our heauenly father The phrase of puttinge on is vsuall wherby he meaneth we must be wholy clad possessed with Christ In like phrase it is said in the twelfe of the reuelation There appeared a great wonder in heauen a woman clothed with the sun And in the 104. psalm My soule prayse thou the Lorde O my God thou art exceeding great thou art clothed with glory honour And which couereth himself with light as with a garmēt And to the Colos Put on tender mercie kindnesse humblenes of minde meeknes long suffering Chrisostome saith Dominum ipsum quod horribile est vestimenti loco tradit Behold hee giueth vs Christ to be put on as a garment which is a hainous thing to be spokē It passeth al sence of nature it passeth the iudgement of flesh and blood Here remember these wordes may not be taken as if christ were a material earthly coate made of cloth to couer our bodies they are spiritual words haue a spirituall vnderstandinge Chrisostome saith Omnia tibi factus est Christus mensa vestimentum domus caput et radix Christ is become all thinges for thee thy table thy garment thy house thy head thy roote Origen saith verbum dei et caro dicitur et panis et lac et holera The worde of God is called flesh and bread milke and herbes-Nazianzen also saith Quemadmodū dominus Iesus appellatur vita via panis vitis lux vera et mille alia ita etiam appellatur gladius After the same maner as our Lorde Iesus Christ is called the lyfe the way the bread the wine the true light and a thousand things else so is he also called the sword He is spiritually a table a garment a house a roote a head flesh milke herbes the waye the light a sworde bread or drinke we dwel in hym spiritually wee are clothed with hym spiritually We grow out of hym and walke vpon hym and are made one with him euen members of his bodie spiritually We do spiritually eat him and drinke him wee liue by him spiritually wee eate him by hearing and digest him by fayth Origen saith appallatur panis vitae vt habeat gustus animae quod degustet he is called the bread of lyfe that the soule may haue whereon to feede O brethren O that wee had senses to feele this foode that we could sauour of the breade of lyfe and taste and see how sweete the Lorde is hee that thus tasteth of this breade shall liue for euer Chrisostome saith Dentes inserimus in earnes Christi We thrust our teeth into the flesh of Christ And Cipriā Intra ipsa vulnera redēptoris nostri linguam figimus We fastē our tonge within the woundes of our redemer These be vehement and spirituall kinde of speeches to raise vp our senses and to teach vs to feele the vnspeaeable sweetenes of this heauenly feeding Likewise said Bernard Desidero totum Christum videre et tangere et non id solum sed accedere vsque ad sanctum vulnus lateris eius ostium arcae quod factum est in latere vt intrem totus vsque ad cor Iesu I desire to beholde whole Christ to touch him not so onely but also to come to the holy wound of his side which is the doore that was made in the side of the arke that I may enter wholly and go in euen vnto the heart of Iesus Thus are we taught to lifte vp our heartes and to seeke those thinges which are aboue where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Why shoulde we then followe the fleshly errour of the Capernaites why shoulde wee bee so insensible in heauenly things Let vs haue some feeling hereof in our heart Salomon saieth The wise mans eies are in his head but the foole walketh
the forgiuenesse of their former sinnes may well receiue this sacrament of their regeneration So when they which heard Peter were pricked in their heartes and saide to Peter and the other Apostles Men and brethren what shal wee doe Peter said vnto theÌ„ Amend your liues and be baptized euery one of you in the Name of Iesus Christ for the remissioÌ„ of sinnes They were buried with Christ by Baptisme into his death and made partakers of his blood and continued in the Apostles doctrine and fellowshippe Christ saith the Apostle loued the Church and gaue himselfe for it that he might sanctifie it and clense it by the washing of water through the word Againe According to his mercie hee saued vs by the washing of the newe birth and the renewing of the holye Ghost For this cause is baptisme called saluation life regeneration the forgiuenes of sinnes the power of God to resurrection the Image and pledge of resurrection and the weede of immortalitie And yet are not these thinges wrought by the water for then what neede had wee of Christ what good did his passion what doeth the holie Ghost woorke in our heartes what power or force is lefte to the woorde of God Augustine saith Quare non ait mundi estis propter Baptismum quo loti estis nisi quia etiam in aqua verbum mundat detrahe verbum quid est aqua nisi aqua Why doth not Christ say nowe ye are cleane because of the Baptisme wherewith ye are washed sauing that because in the water it is the word that maketh cleane take away the worde and what is water more then water It is the couenant and promise and mercie of God which clotheth vs with immortalitie assureth our resurrectivn by whiche wee receiue regeneration forgiuenesse of sinnes life and saluation His woorde declareth his loue towardes vs and that woorde is sealed and made good by Baptisme Our faith which are baptized and our continuance in the profession whiche wee haue made establisheth in vs this grace which wee receiue As it is sayde Verus Baptismus constat non tam c. True Baptisme standeth not so much in washing of the bodie as in the faith of the heart As the Doctrine of the Apostles hath taught vs saying By Faith purifiyng their heartes And in another place Baptisme saueth vs not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the examining of a good conscience before God by the resurrection of Iesus Christ Therefore Hierom saith They that receiue not Baptism with perfect faith receiue the water but the holie Ghost they receiue not The water wherein wee are baptized doeth not clense the soule But the blood of Iesus Christ his sonne doth clense vs from al sinne Not the water but the blood of Christ reconcileth vs vnto GOD strengtheneth our conscience and worketh our redemption We must seeke saluation in Christ alone and not in any outwarde thing Hereof saith Cyprian Remissio peccatorum siue per Baptismum siue per alia Sacramenta donetur propriè spiritus sancti est Verborum solennitas c. The remission of sinnes whether it be giuen by baptisme or by anie other Sacraments do properly appertain to the holy ghost The solennitie of the words and the inuocation of Gods holy Name the outwarde signes appointed to the ministerie of the Priest by the institution of the Apostles worke the visible outward Sacrament But touching the substance therof it is the holy Ghost that worketh it Saint Ambrose also saith Vidisti fontem vidisti sacerdoteÌ„ c. Thou hast seene the water thou hast seen the Priest thou hast seen those things which thou mightest see with the eies of thy body and by such sight as man hath but those things which worke doe the deede of saluation which no eye can see thou hast not seene Such a change is made in the sacrament of baptisme Through y t power of Gods working the water is turned into blood They y t bee washed in it receiue the remission of sinnes their robes are made cleane in the blood of the lambe The water it selfe is nothing but by the working of Gods spirit the death and merits of our Lorde and Sauiour Christ are thereby assured vnto vs. A figure heereof was giuen at the redde Sea The children of Israel passed through in safetie but Pharao and his whole armie were drowned Another figure heereof was giuen in the Arke The whole worlde was drowned but Noah and his familie were saued aliue Euen so in the fountaine of Baptisme our spirituall Pharao the Deuill is choked his armie that is our sinnes are drowned and we saued The wicked of the worlde are swallowed in concupiscence and vanities and wee abide safe in the Arke GOD hath chosen vs to bee a peculiar people to himselfe wee walke not after the flesh but after the Spirite therefore wee are in Christe Iesus and there is nowe no condemnation vnto vs. Nowe touching the Minister of this Sacrament whether hee bee a good man or an euil man godly or godlesse an heretike or a Catholike an Idolater or a true worshipper of God the effect is all one the value or woorthinesse of the Sacrament dependeth not of man but of God Man pronounceth the worde but GOD setleth our heartes with grace man toucheth or washeth vs with water but God maketh vs cleane by the Crosse of Christ It is not the minister but Christ himselfe whiche is the Lambe of GOD that taketh away the sinnes of the worlde Againe whether the infant be signed with y t signe of the crosse or be put into the water once or thrise whether one or two or three or more be Godfathers or witnesses of the Baptisme it maketh nothing to the vertue of the sacrament they are no part thereof without these baptisme is whole and perfect Hereof Gregorie saith In vna fide nihil officit consuetudo Ecclesiae diuersa The Faith beeing one the diuersitie of customes hurteth nothing Christ left no order for the vse of these thinges neither did by his word or example require them The Church of God hath libertie to dispose herein as may bee most â—itting for decencie and godlines Some make doubt of those infantes the children of the faithfull which depart before baptisme whether they be saued or not What shal wee say that they are damned It is a hard matter and too curious for man to enter into the iudgements of God his mercie is infinite and his purpose secrete Hee sheweth mercie vnto those vpon whom hee will haue mercie Who can appoynt him or set him an order what hee shall do It is not good nor standeth with Christian reuerence to bee contentious and busie in searching out or reasoning of matters which the wisedome of God hath hid from our knowledge Yet if any would faine bee resolued hee may thus safely reason It is true that children are borne in sinne and
of our heart And as S. Basil Est spirituale os interioris hominis quo nutritur recipiēs verbū vitae quod verbū est panis qui descēdit de coelo There is a spiritual mouth of y ◠inner mā by which he is nourished by receiuing Christ y ◠word of life whiche is the bread that came frō heauē In this mystery of y ◠death of Christ his death passion is renewed to our remēbrance We are so moued to sorow for our sins which haue bin cause of his death to be thākful for y e great mercy of God whiche by this meanes wrought our redēption as if we did see him presēt before our faces hanging vpō y e crosse We know y ◠Christ hath left his sacraments to his Church that they might be helpes to lift vs vp into heauē By them we are ioyned with Christ and made partakers of his passion Next let vs consider how and after what sort we eat the body of Christ in the sacrament And here I beseech you that you may take the cōfort of the body blood of Christ to giue good eare For of mistaking this mystery grewe the first error in the Church When y ◠disciples of Christ heard Christ speake of this matter and vnderstood him not they were offended and shrounke backe and departed If we take the wordes of Christ in such meaning as they did wee shalbee deceiued and offended as they were This it is then which wee haue to consider whether the bodie of Christ goe into our mouth and our bodies as other meates or whether it be receiued spiritually as a spirituall meate and so passe into and nourishe our soule Hereof somewhat was sayde before by the way and shortly But for cleerer vnderstanding of the same we haue to weigh and declare that the eating of the body of Christ is not grosse or corporall but ghostly and spirituall as a peculiar worke of the minde The trueth hereof is founded in our Creede and is an article of our Christian faith Wee beleeue that Christ did rise againe from the dead and ascended into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of God in glorie So saith Saint Paule If yee then be risen with Christe seeke those thinges whiche are aboue where Christ sitteth at the right hād of god And again Our conuersation is in heauen from whence we also looke for the sauiour euen the Lord Iesus Christ Christ himselfe saith to his disciples It is expediēt for you that I goe away And The poore alwaies ye haue with you but me yee shall not haue alwayes So S. Peter saith Whom the heauen must conteine vntil the time that al thinges be restored which God had spoken by the mouth of al his holy prophets since the world began Whiche speeches haue occasioned the olde auncient learned Fathers to teache the people after this sort touching the body of Christ Vigilius a godlie Bishop and Martyr saith Caro Christi cū esset in terra nō erat in coelo nunc quia est in coelo non est vtique in terra The flesh of Christ when it was in earth was not in heauen and nowe because it is in Heauen doubtlesse it is not in earth Ambrose saith Seeke the things that be aboue and not the things that be vpō earth Therfore we must seeke thee neither vpō the earth nor in the earth nor according to the flesh if we list to finde thee S. August saith According to the flesh that the word receiued according to that he was borne of the Virgin according to that he was takē of the Iewes according to that he was nayled to the crosse according to that he was taken downe and lapt in a shrowde and layde in the graue and rose againe and shewed himselfe in this respect it is true that hee sayde Yee shall not euermore haue mee with you And againe hee saith Donec saeculum finiatur sursum est Dominus c. Vntill the world be ended the Lorde is aboue yet notwithstāding euen here is the truth of y e Lord. For the body wherin he rose againe must needs be in one place So Cirillus sayd Christus non poterat in carne versari cum Apostolis postquam ascēdisset ad patrē Christ could not be conuersant together with his Disciples in his flesh after he had ascended vnto his father It would bee tedious to alleadge all y t might be saide to like purpose Thus Christe and Paul Peter thus Vigilius Ambrose Augustine Cirill and al the olde Catholique fathers say and wee are taught to beleeue that Christ is not corporally in the churche but is ascended into Heauen and that hee hath giuen to his bodie immortalitie but hath not taken from the same the nature of a bodie Vigilius hauing cause to prooue this same article against Eutiches shutteth vp the matter thus Haec est fides professio catholica quam Apostolitradiderunt martyres roborauerunt fideles huc vsque custodiunt This is the Catholique faith profession which the Apostles haue deliuered the martirs haue confirmed and the faithful hitherto doe continue The body then which we eate is in Heauen aboue all Angels and Archangels and powers and principalities Our meate is in Heauen on high and we are heere belowe on the earth Howe may it be that we may reach it or taste or eate it Heere let vs imagine that there are two men in euery man and that euerie man is fleshe and spirite bodie and soule This man thus doubled must bee furnished with double senses bodily to serue the bodye and spirituall to serue the soule Hee muste haue eyes of the bodie and eyes of the soule eares of the bodye and eares of the soule Spirituall senses ars quicke sharpe and liuely They pearce anye thing bee it neuer so thicke they reache anye thing bee it neuer so farre off Christ saieth of Abraham Abraham reioyced to see my daye hee sawe it and was gladde Hee sawe it not with his bodylie eyes but with the inner eyes of the soule When we speake of the mysterie of Christe and of eating his bodie wee must shut vp and abandon all our bodily senses And as wee cannot say that wee see him with our bodily eyes or heare him with our bodilye eares or touche him with bodily feeling so likewise can we not and therefore may wee not saye wee taste him or eate him with our badylie mouth In this woorke wee must open all the inner and spirituall senses of our soule so shall wee not onely see his bodye but heare him and feele him and taste him and eate him This is the mouth and the feeling of faith By the hande of faith we reache vnto him and by the mouth of Faith we receiue his body Touching the eating of Christes bodye S. August taught the people on this wise Crede manducasti Credere in Christum hoc
them and confirmed them which were baptized of Iohn But that proueth not this confirmation that was extraordinarie it was a miracle The holy Ghost came downe vpon them and lightened their hearts by this laying on of the Apostles handes But it is not so nowe the holy Ghost doth not now descende in visible forme vpon those which are confirmed there is no such miracle wrought There is no neede that it should so be There was no commandement either to appoint it vnto the Church or to continue it vntyl the comming of Christ and the end of the worlde Therefore it is no Sacrament by the institution of Christ Hitherto of the vse Now somewhat of the abuse Nothing so good and holy but it may be abused The worde of God hath bene abused to Heresies to Necromancie to Charmes and Sorcerie and Witchcrafte The supper of the Lord was abused in y â— time of S. Paul He telleth the Corinthians This is not to eate the Lords Supper Lesse marueile then if this happen to a ceremonie Time rusteth and consumeth all things maketh many a thing to proue naught in the ende which was first deuised for good The brasen Serpent at the first was made by Moses and set it vp for good purpose But after warde it was abused The children of Israel did burne incense vnto it and therefore Ezechias brake it in pieces The first abuse in confirmation was that it was done in a strange tongue y â— no man might vnderstand what was ment Then that they receiued to confirmation such children and so young as were not able to make profession of their faith so that the infant promised he knew not what and the Bishop ratified and confirmed where there was nothing to be confirmed he set to his seale where there was nothing to be sealed These abuses were farre vnmeete for the Church of God Besides these ther was great abuse in the manner of doing For thus the Bishop said Consigno te signo crucis confirmo te chrismate salutis I signe thee with the signe of the crosse and coÌ„firme thee with the oyle of saluation Thus they vsed to doe these were their words with the oyle of saluatioÌ„ They tooke not this of Christ nor of his Apostles nor of the holy auncient fathers It agreeth not with our Christian faith to giue the power of saluation vnto oyle He that sâ—eketh saluation in oyle looseth his saluation in Christ and hath no parte in the kingdome of God Oyle for the bellie and for necessarie vses of life It is no fit instrument without commaundement or promise by the worde to worke saluation More they said he was no perfect ChristiaÌ„ that was not anointed by the Bishop with this holy oile This was another abuse For whosoeuer is baptized receiueth thereby the full name of a perfect Christian and hath the full and perfice couenaÌ„t and assurance of saluation he is perfitely buried with Christ doth perfitely put on Christ and is perfitely made partaker of his resurrection Therefore they are deceiued that say no man is a perfite Christian that is not marked with this oyle Els the Apostles and holie Martyrs were but halfe Christians because the lacked this oyle Els what hope and comfort might the pore fathers haue In what state shall he thinke to finde his childe if he die before confirmation passe without perfite Christendome verely they write thus Sine oleo Chrismatis nemo potest sisti ante tribunal christi Without y e oyle of chrisme no maÌ„ can appeare before the Iudgment seat of Christ Againe they say confirmation is more honorable then baptisme because any priest may baptize but confirmation is giuen onely by a Bishop or a suffragain So doe they giue a greater preeminence to confirmation which is diuised by man then to the holy sacrament of baptisme which Christ him selfe ordained I neede not speake more hereof the errour is so grosse so thicke so sensible and palpable Againe when they blessed or halowed their oyle they vsed these wordes Fiat domine hoc oleum te benedicente vnctio spiritualis ad purificationem meÌ„tis corporis O Lord let this oile by thy blessing be made a spritual ointmeÌ„t to purifie both soule body O Christ Iesu where was thy crosse where was thy blood and the price of thy death and passion when a drop of oyle was of power to worke remission of all sinnes to saue and defende against al the dartes of the wicked spirites and to refresh both bodie and soule Yet so were we taught so were wee lead I faine not these things The words may be seene Neither do I speake this to bring you to a misliking or loathing of our latter fathers but onely that wee may humble our heartes and giue thankes to GOD that hath brought vs out of that darkenes and giuen vs better knowledge Nowe a worde or two of the bringing vp of children and preparing them to confirmation Wherein I woulde God the olde order were duely obserued that they were instructed perfitly to know relygion theyr duetie to God and so might be brought before the Congregation and make an open profession of their faith with promise that neither tribulation nor anguish nor persecution nor famine nor nakednes nor fire nor sword nor life nor death shall euer make them denie their faith Hereof might much be spoken but I will be short The whole standeth in knowledge and in the feare of God that they may knowe God walke before him in reuerence and in feare and serue him in holines and righteousnes al the dayes of their life The Iewes are a miserable people they liue in errour they die in their owne blood yet haue they so much vnderstanding that they bringe vp their children in the knowledge of God and that knowledge they teach out of the worde of God They remember what charge God gaue them Thou shalt teach them thy sonnes and thy sonnes sonnes Therefore a father must teache his childe what God is That he is our father that he hath made vs and doeth feede vs and geueth vs all thinges needefull both for body and soule that he is our Lord and therefore we must serue him and obey him and do nothinge whereby he may be displeased that hee is our iudge and shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead and that all men shall come before him to receiue according as they haue done in the flesh He must put his childe in minde of his baptisine and teach him that it is a couenent of Gods mercie to vs and of our duetie to God that it is a misterie of our saluation that our soule is so washed with the blood of Christ as the water of baptisme washeth our bodie So must he also teach his childe the misterie of the Lordes supper what and how he receiueth there to his comfort that as the bread is broken and the wine poured out so the bodie of Christ was