them whom he will And again Verily verily I say vnto you the houre is comming and now is when the dead shall heare the voice of the Sonne of God and they that heare it shall liue Secondly he rendreth this reason why he giveth life to the dead For as the Father hath life in himselfe so hath he given to the Sonne to haue life in himselfe As the Sunne hath light the fire heat a Well-spring water in themselues not for themselues but for the vse of man and beast So Christ hath life in himselfe that he may giue life vnto vs. For this cause he is called liuing first subiectiuè because he hath life in himselfe Secondly effectiuè because he hath it not for himselfe but giveth it to all those that haue him as S. Iohn saith u 1 Ioh. 5.12 he that hath the Sonne hath life Even as the scripture calleth x Gen. 26.19 a Well of living water that which having abundance of water in it selfe springs and flowes and runnes and imparts it selfe vnto all O MOST wonderfull and powerfull bread No other bread hath life in it selfe This hath No other bread giveth life This doth No other bread is a preservatiue against death This is All other bread y Ioh. 6.27 perisheth This endureth vnto euer lasting life Not only it liveth in it selfe but also it maketh to liue eternally the soules of all those that eate it and shall at the last day of the world quicken the bodies of all those whose soules it hath quickened in this world as he saith a Ioh. 6.54 Who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him vp at the last day His flesh and his bloud or rather he himselfe by tearing his flesh and renting it from his soule He by shedding his bloud in his death is the living bread b Cusan Excit lib. 4. ex Sermone Qui manducat Ipse est qui est dator vitae conservator Quare est panis vitae giuer and keeper of life and therefore most worthily called the bread of life RIGHT HONORABLE Reverend Worshipfull and beloved Auditours remember I pray you the exhortation of our Saviour to the Iewes of Capernaum and c Ioh. 6.27 labour not for the meate which perisheth but for that meate which endureth vnto everlasting life Alas it is a pitifull spectacle to behold how men labour for the meate which perisheth d Ps 127.2 they rise vp early they sit vp late they eate the bread of sorrowes e Matth. 15.17 It entreth in at the mouth it goeth into the belly and is cast out into the draught If men labour exceeding hard for such bread how should we labour for this living bread Not to purchase it for it groweth not in the earth it is not sold in the Shambles it is not to be bought in the Shops But to reach vnto it where it is but to receiue it where and when it is offered It is offered every where in the towne in the fields in our houses in our closets But namely in the Church when the Gospell is preached and particularly when the blessed Sacrament is given as to you this day The preaching of the Gospell is f Exod. 25.23 the golden Table wherevpon this shew bread is set This holy Sacrament is as it were g Ve. 29.30 the golden dish wherein it is offered vnto vs. We know what we must doe to receiue the outward Sacrament h Panem domini the bread of the Lord If we receiue it from the hand of the Minister for he is no better then i Ioh. 6.32 Moses who gaue not the true bread from heaven When we haue received it we eat◠it we let it downe into out stomacks we disgest it Nothing is more easie But 〈◊〉 receiue k Panem dominum the bread which is the Lord another worke more difficult is required l Ioh. 6.29 This is the worke of God that ye beleeue in him whom he hath sent Your soules must goe vp to heaven There the Table is covered There is the bread which is the Lord set vpon the Table of the Mercie of God There God the Father giveth it by his eternall will and decree There the Sonne giveth it by his merite and consent There the holy Ghost taketh it as it were in his hands entreth with it into your hearts and offereth it vnto your famished soules The Cherubims and Seraphims stand by and wonder Send your faith thither and there your faith shall receiue it This is the worke which God commandeth 1 Ioh. 3.23 This is the worke which God himselfe worketh in you Eph. 1.3 Phil. 1.29 This is the worke which if ye want all your workes are sinnes Rom. 14.23 and it is impossible that yee should please God Heb. 11.6 Which if ye haue by it Iesus Christ will dwell in you Eph. 3.17 and liue in you and quicken you so sensibly that ye shall say as truely as S. Paul said m Gal. 2.20 I liue yet not I but Christ liveth in me And this life of Christ or Christ living in you shall be so powerfull in you that as n 1. Kings 19.20 Elijah by the strength of that bread and of that water which the Angel of God prepared for him went fortie dayes and fortie nights without hunger without thirst without wearinesse till he came vnto Horeb the Mount of God So by the vertue of this living bread which no Angel of God but o Luk 2.31 God himselfe hath prepared ye shall walke couragiously and constantly all the dayes of your life till ye come to the kingdome of heaven where ye shall p Mat. 8.11 sit downe with Abraham and Isaac and Iacob and there be abundantly satisfied with these q Ps 16.11 pleasures which are at the right hand of God for evermore FIFT CHAPTER I. Christ came not downe from heaven as man II. Neither as God by a locall motion III. Neither as sent and approved of God IV. But as God incarnate V. Three commings of Christ VI. What should be the order of our conceptions concerning Christ WE HAVE yet the last part of my text to consider concerning the cause of the excellency of this bread For ye may aske how any bread can be so excellent that it liveth or so powerfull that quickneth And certainely no other bread can But this can because it came downe from heaven What is the meaning of these words Valentin said that he brought his body from heaven But that is false For the Scripture beareth record that r Heb. 2.16 he tooke on him the seed of Abraham ſ Rom. 1.3 was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and t Luk. 1.27.35 was borne of the Virgin Mary IF any say that his divine nature came from heaven by a locall motion That also is false u Iere. 23.24 Doe I not fill
the body and the Spirit the manhood and the Godhead of Christ for he is one with vs in both natures Even as the same author saith that f Idem adv Nestor lib. 4. cap. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are sanctified and revived spiritually and corporally that is to say not onely in our spirits but also in our bodies because saith he g 1 Cor. 15 53. this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortall must put on immortalitie h Ex Theodoreto dialogo 2. So S. Ignace saith that Christ is ioyned to the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 carually and spiritually i.e. both in his humane and divine nature and not partly by a carnall partly by a divine manner For the manner of the vnion of Christ with the Father is wholly divine And so also the manner of our vnion with him is altogether divine and spirituall Dare Papists say that we are ioyned with Christ naturally although Cyrillus saith that our vnion with him i Cyril in Iohan lib. 11. cap. 26. is naturall Yet he speaketh so because our nature is ioyned with his natures as he prooveth because k 1 Cor. 10.27 the Church is Christs body and we are members of Christ in particular So then in regard of the obiects which are vnited this vnion is naturall reall substantiall corporall spirituall because his whole person is ioyned with ours And therfore I say that we must eate Christ not onely as bread but also as living And if as man he is bread and as God is living we must eate him in both natures together For in both natures he is our Mediatour and the bread whereby we liue YET in this eating wee must obserue an order Like l Gen. 28.11 Iacobs ladder by his manheed he toucheth the earth By his God head he toucheth heavē And by both vnited together he ioyneth the earth with heaven reconcileth man with God obtaineth to vs the service of the Angels of God which m Ioh. 1.51 ascend and descend vpō him and by him vpon vs But in such sort that by him as he is man they alcend from vs and goto him as he is God and from him as he is God descend vnto vs by him as he is man In the same order doe we cate him and abide in him and he in vs. n Aug. in Ioh. trac 42. Adnentus eius humanitas eius Mansio eius diuinit as eius Diuinitas eius quo imus Humanitas eius qua imus Nisi nobis fieret qua iremus nunquam ad illum manentē perueniremus He commeth vnto vs saith S. Austin by his humanitie He abideth with vs by his divinitie His divinitie is that wherevnto we goe His humanitie is that whereby we goe If he were not vnto vs the way whereby we may goe we should never come vnto him in that wherein he abideth with vs. But because I haue spoken of this bread largely inough vpon the first part of the Verse I leaue it to come to the third part of my division which is OF THE EATING of the living Bread and of the manner thereof CHAPTER V. I. To eate Christ is to be vnited vnto him II. Necessitie of our vnion with Christ III. Expressed in the Scripture by many similitudes and in the sixt of S. Iohn by the similitude of Eating IV. All Papists hold that Christ is eaten in the Sacrament with the mouth of the body V. The liter all sence is not alwayes to be followed VI. When it is lawfull when not to aske How VII Papists agree not among themselues concerning divers circumstances of the bodily eating TO EATE is to chew and worke the meate with our teeth if it be solide and strong to sup and swallow it downe if it be liquid to receiue it into our stomackes to disgest it there till it be turned into blood and changed into the substance of all the parts of our bodies that thereby this our mortall life may be maintained which otherwise should decay and perish Even so saith Christ a Ioh. 6.53.54 Except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood ye haue no life in you And of those that eate him he saith Who so eateth my stesh and drinketh my blood hath eternall life and I will raise him vp at the last day Whereby it is easie to be vnderstood that this eating and drinking is a certaine action whereby Christ is vnited vnto vs so neere that we sucke life out of him yea that he himselfe beōmeth b Col. 3 4. our life as the Apostle calleth him c Aug. Confess l. 7. c. 10. Nec tu me in te mutabis sicut cibum carnis tuae sed tu mutaberis in me It is true that the bread of the earth when we eate it cannot feed vs till it be changed into our bodies because we are more excellent then it is But the bread which came downe from heaven is more excellent then we are and therefore that we may be fed by it we are changed into it made members of his bodie of his flesh and of his bones Even as the fire turneth into fire all things that feed on it THIS leadeth vs by the hand to the consideration of the necessitie of the eating of this bread that is to say of our vnion and communion with Christ Our felicitie is to be ioyned with GOD d Psal 36.9 with whom is the fountaine of life But e Esa 59.2 sinne separateth betweene vs and our God For f 1 Ioh. 1.1.5 he is light and in him there is no darknesse at all g Eph. 5.8 we are darkenesse and in vs by nature there is no light at all h 2 Cor. 6.15 What communion hath light with darknesse O Lord thou hast made vs for thine owne selfe that sticking fast vnto thee we may be blessed by thee But loe by our sinne we i Eph. 2.11.12.13 are far off and k Psal 73.27.28 loe they that are far from thee shall perish But it is good for vs to draw neere vnto thee neither is our heart at rest till it returne vnto thee Tell vs then ô Lord how shall we be againe ioyned with thee The Sonne the Word the Wisedome of God answereth l Ioh 14.6 No man cōmeth vnto the Father but by me And S. Paul telleth vs why and how saying m Eph. 2.13 Now in Christ Iesus ye who sometimes were farre off are made nigh by the blood of Christ Aske ye why Because by the blood of his sacrifice he hath satisfied the iustice of God asswaged the burning fire of his indignation and made attonement for vs as n Heb. 7 22. Suretie and o Heb. 9.15 Mediatour of the new Testament Aske ye how Because we are in him He is our p Exod. 28.11.12.30 high Priest who beareth vs vpon his shoulders and vpon his heart before the Lord q 1
Ioh. 5.11.12 who hath given to vs eternall life and this life is in his Sonne He that hath the Sonne hath life and he that hath not the Sonne hath not life For as r Math 13.44 he who found a treasure hid in a field could not claime any right vnto it till he bought the field So cannot we challenge Å¿ Col. 2.3 the treasures of wisdome knowledge and of that t Ioh. 1.16 fulnesse of graces which is in Christ till he himselfe be ours and so ours that we be in him and one with him by a most reall vnion of his person with our persons EVEN as u Rom. 6.5 the graffe is one tree with the stocke wherein it is graffed x Ioh. 15.1 the vine and the branches are one plants y 1 Cor. 12.12 the head and the members are one body a Eph. 5.31.32 the husband and the wife are one flesh b Eph 2.20.21 the foundation and the stones builded vpon it are one Temple and to come to the similitude of my Text the bread which was no part of vs because it is without vs when it is eaten becoÌ„meth a part of our flesh and of our bodies So ye see not onely by the similitude of eating but also by all the rest that our vnion with Christ is so necessary that as a man cannot liue without meate nor a house stand without a foundation no more can we liue stand and withstand in the evill day without our vnion with Christ according to his own saying c Ioh. 15.5 I am the vine ye are the branches He that abideth in me and I in him the same briugeth forth much fruit for without me or severed from me ye can doe nothing Ye see also that he is vnited with vs in all that is his i. in both his natures d Eph. 5.30 In his manhood for we are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones And in his Godhead For e 1 Cor. 6.7 he that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit Likewise we are vnited with him in all that is ours i. not only in our soules but also in our bodies as the Apostle saith f 1 Cor. 6.15 Know we not that your bodies are the members of Christ IF THIS had beene diligently and religiously observed there should not be any controversie betweene Papists vs about the manner of the eating of Christ for if to eate Christ be no other thing but to vnite Christ vnto our selues if we know how we are vnited with him we cannot chuse but know how we eate him If we be one with him corporally that is after an outward and corporall manner then we care him corporally But if our vnion with him be spirituall doubtlesse the mouth wherwith we eate him must be a spirituall mouth Papists say that our eating of Christ is both spirituall and corporall That out of the Sacrament it is spirituall And many Papists as g Biel super can Miss lect 8â— Gabriell Biel h â—aâ—â—tan in 3 part q 80. art vlt. Caietan i Cusan epist 7. ad Bohemos Cusanus k Ianseni concordant c 59 Iansenius l Tapper explicat art 15 Lovaniens Tapper m Hessel in lib de commun sub vnaspecie Hesselius and others acknowledge that Christ in this whole Chapter speaketh of the spirituall eating only n Bellarm. de Eucharist lib. 1. cap. 5. Bellarmin with the rest of the Societie and other Popish Doctors grant that wee must take in that sence all the words of Christ from the seven and twentith vnto the one and fiftie verse which now I expound But that from henceforth beginning at the one fiftie verse vnto the end of the Chapter Christ speaketh of the Eucharist which opinion Cusanus refuteth by these words of Christ vers 53. Exceptye eate the flesh of the Son of man and drinke his blood ye haue no life in you saying that o Cusan epist 7. ad Bohem. Necesse estâ— quod si de omnibus sanctis debet verificari qui habent vitamillam divinaÌ„ quod non imelligitur de visibili seu Sacramentali manducatione sed de spirituali if they must be verified of all the Saints which haue this divine life they must not be vnder stood of the visible or Sacramentall but of the spirituall eating Which is true Yet all Papists agree that in the Sacrament Christ is eaten not onely spiritually by faith but also corporally by the mouth of the body in such sort that the true body of Christ entereth into their mouthes and is received into their stomackes If ye aske how they can beleeue such a moÌ„strous Doctrine They answere that Christ affirmeth in this Chapter that we must eate his flesh drinke his blood And that in the Sacrament he hath commaunded vs to eate his body saying Take eate This is my bidy To refuse to eate him were disobedience To aske how is incredulitie like vnto that of the Iewes of Capernaum p Ioh 6 52. Rhennsta who stroue amongst themselues saying HOW can this man giue vs his flesh to eate This say they is the literall sence and this sence they will follow BVT first if the literall sence must be alwayes followed why beleeue they not as the Anthropomorphits did that God hath a body as we haue seeing God saith that he hath eyes eares hands feete c Why shake they not hands with the Arrians and deny Christ to be God because he himselfe said q Ioh. 14.28 My Father is greater then I Certainely if they had been in Nicodemus his place they would not haue asked of Christ r Ioh. 3.4 How can a man be borne when he is old but said vnto him Lord feeing thou hast said that we must be borne againe we beleeue that we shall enter the second time into our mothers wombe and be borne againe And if they had bin standing by the Samaritane Woman they would haue naught her to beleeue that Christ is reall and substantiall water because he called himselfe water May they not also with as good reason expouÌ„d literally that which Å¿ Pro. 9.5 the Wisdome in the Proverbs t Cant. 5.1 the Spouse in Salemons Song u Esa 55.1 God in Esaiah speaketh of the furnishing of their Table with beastes honey milke bread and wine And when God saith x Psal 81.10 Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it y Cant 5.1 eate drinke abundantly if we must alwayes cleaue to the leaues of the words we must prepare our throats our bellies and drinke stoutly till we be drunke SECONDLY if those speeches must be taken allegorically of meate and drinke of another kinde then those which are earthly and vsuall amongst vs it is no offence to aske how we may be made partakers of them To aske how the things which GOD alone doth may be done as how he created the world How
comming and of the end thereof He came from heaven when y Mansit quod erat factus est quod nonerat nunc est vtrumque being still that which he was he became that which he was not and now is both Being God he became man and now is both God and man in one person So ye haue the constitution of his person necessary to the fulfilling of the worke for which he came The end of his comming was to be liuing bread vnto vs that is to redeeme and saue vs. Ye finde in his person all things requisite to do that for which he came He came to be bread Bread he could not be but by his death die he could not for man if he had not beene a man Therefore in that wherein he is equall vnto vs he is bread a Gerhard Lutphan lib. de Reformat virium animae cap. 28. And this must be your first conception of him when ye consider those good things which ye receiue by him and which are all comprehended in this word Bread The breaking of the bread in the Sacrament sheweth vs that he was broken in his death to be our bread And therefore we must say He who is our bread is man The second conception must be that he is also God for this bread is called liuing who is liuing in the sence which I haue explaned but God And therefore in that wherein he is equall vnto his Father he is liuing as he himselfe saith b Ioh. 6.63 It is the Spirit that quickeneth The flesh profiteth nothing The flesh is his humane nature wherein by death he is become our bread The Spirit in his divine nature which maketh his flesh to liue and which giveth a quickening vertue to this bread The third conception must be this The excellencie vertue of this bread floweth from the dignitie of his person And therefore this man this God are in him one person otherwise he could neither be bread to nourish vs nor liuing to quicken vs. As indeed he saith of himselfe not as of two as Nestorius dreamed but as of one Ioam the liuing bread which came downe from heaven Hence it is that whatsoever God did in Christ we beleeue that the man did it because Christ is a man And whatsoever the man did in Christ we beleeue that God did it because Christ is God Example When Christ was on earth speaking to Nicodemus as he was a man he said that even then c Ioh. 3.13 he was in heaven because in him man is God Againe the Apostle saith that d Act. 20.28 God hath purchased the Church with his owne blood because in Christ God is a man Christ in the Sacrament leadeth you to this consideration when he saith This is MY body broken for you This is MY blood shed for you meaning that it is the body and blood of him who is God and therefore it is no wonder if the body of God be bread if the blood of God be drinke If I say the death of so wonderfull and so excellent a person be your life e Luk. 1.37 For with God nothing shall be impossible SIXT CHAPTER I. Seeing Christ is God we must stand in awe of him and obey him II. We should be alwayes rauished in admiration with his comming downe from heaven III. His most wonderfull humiliation should be vnto vs a patterne of humilitie IV. In his comming to be our bread we should acknowledge our owne indignitie V. And neverthelesse accept with obedience of faith the honour of his Table VI. Exhortation and Consolation THIS Doctrine is fertile in instructions comforts which may be taken some from the person of Christ some from the end of his cōming vnto vs. When we consider that he which came downe from heaven is the true God we must with f Esa 6.2 the Seraphims and with the man of GOD g 1 Kings 19.13 Elijah cover our faces stand as we do this day before his Maiestie with feare trembling heare his Word with reverence receiue the Sacrament which he offereth vnto vs with humilitie and thankesgiving and shew a cheerefull and holy readinesse to doe with obedience whatsoever he commandeth vs. WHEN we heare that he who was h Heb. 7.26 higher then the heavens i Eph. 4.9 descended into the lower parts of the earth was there crudled like Cheese clothed with skinne and flesh fenced with bones sinewes When we are taught that he who k Phil. 2.6.7 being the Son of God thought it no robbery to be equall with God yet notwithstanding made himselfe of no reputation and tooke vpon him the forme of a servant how can we chuse but wonder and be astonied at his humiliation whereat the Angels themselues are amazed l Ioh. 1.51 euer ascending descending vpon the sonne of man m 1. Pet. 1.12 ever desiring to looke into this mysterie which passeth all knowledge Because man in his pride n Gen. 3.5.22 would needs be like vnto God God to make amends for that fault by a most wonderfull humiliation would needs be like vnto man yea o Psal 22.6 be a worme no man the reproach of men and the despised of the people p Ioh. 13.6.8 Peter was astonied when he saw Christ comming vnto him with water in a Bason and kneeling at his feete to wash them The Creator to wash the feet of his creature the Lord of his servant the master of his disciple God of man he that made all things of nothing the feete of a worme which he had made of clay Haue we not greater matter of astonishmēt when we heare and see that the same Creator of all things became a creature he who is the eternall possessor owner of heaven earth came downe from heaven and was made man on earth that he might be the bread of man in heaven O wonderfull loue O inestimable bounty O new O never heard of before O peerlesse humilitie WHAT president what patterne of humilitie can we find in heaven or in earth so perfect to follow so worthy to be followed as this is I cannot teach you any better preparatiō to come this day to the Table of the LORD then this is O man the Son of God descēded so low that he came down from heaven and was made the Sonne of man for thee And wilt thou who art nothing but the fonne of a man or rather a man of sin wilt thou heape vp the summe of thy sinnes by taking vnto thy selfe the wings of pride to say with the King of Assur q Esa 14.13.14 I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne aboue the starres of God I will be like the most high Of whom wilt thou learne humilitie if thou refusest to learne it of the author of humilitie These and many moe may be our meditatiōs when we consider the excellencie of the person which is come
VIII I. Wee must learne of Christ how he giveth himselfe and how we receiue him II. Christ giveth himselfe vnto vs by his Spirit III. To be in Christ and to haue the Spirit of Christ are equivalent in the Scriptures IV. We haue no reall vnion with Christ in the Sacraments but by the Spirit V. It is easie to the Spirit to vnite vs vnto Christ VI. We must pray for the Spirit WE shall not goe astray if in this point and all others we follow the counsell of S. x Cyrill in Ioh. lib. 4. c. 13. Quaerendum enim ita semper est vt apud cum habitemus ad alienas sententias non defer amur Cyrillus and make inquirie in such sort that we dwell with God and be not caried about with the opinions of men Papists beleeue that they must eat Christ because he hath said it We beleeue it likewise But when he telleth vs also how he giveth himselfe and how we must eate him they stop their eares and will not heare we must not doe so we must say vnto him as Samuel did to GOD y 1 Sam. 3.9 Speake Lord for thy servant heareth He of all can best tell how he giveth himselfe and how we receiue him And what he answereth to both questions must be true TO THE first he answereth in the 63. verse of this Chapter saying It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speake vnto you they are Spirit and they are life i. they must be vnderstood of the spirit which is a Rom. 8.2 the Spirit of life quickning the flesh of Christ and b Aug. in Iohan. tract 27. Ergospiritus est qui viuificat Spiritus euim facit viua membra making all the members of his body to liue by a spirituall vnion with him He had said before vers 56. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him And S. Iohn saith that c 1 Ioh. 4.13 hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in vs because he hath given vs of his Spirit It is then by the Spirit that he giveth himselfe vnto vs and dwelleth in vs. And this giving of himselfe vnto vs by his Spirit is so incompatible with his bodily presence that he averred for a most certaine truth that d Ioh. 16.7 it was expedient that he should goe away For if I goe not away said he the Cemforter will not come vnto you but if I depart I will send him vnto you And what to doe e Ioh. 14.16.17.18 To abide with you for ever And this abiding of his Spirit with vs is his abiding with vs as he saith in the next verse I will not leaue you comfortlesse I will come to you THIS IS so true that in the new Testament to be in Christ and to haue the Spirit of Christ are equivalent The Apostle averreth that f Rom. 8.9.10 if any man haue not the Spirit of Christ he is not his Wherevnto he addeth If Christ be in you because Christ is not in vs but by his Spirit This vnion of Christ with vs extendeth it selfe to our bodies g 1 Cor. 6.15 Know ye not saith the Apostle that your bodies are the members of Christ If ye aske of him How He answereth h Vers 17. He that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit i. e. he is made one with the Lord by the holy Spirit as he sheweth when he asketh againe i Vers 19. What know you not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye haue of God WE haue no other kinde of vnion with Christ in the Sacraments It is written of our Baptisme that k 1 Cor. 12.13 by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body because it is the Spirit that in our Baptisme incorporateth vs in Christ It is also written of the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 12.13 that we haue bin all made to drinke into one Spirit because that in that holy Sacrament he giveth his body vnto vs by his Spirit Although that his body should come downe from heaven and enter into our bodies it could not vnite vs vnto him as I haue said for the flesh profiteth nothing But that which is impossible to his flesh is easie to his Spirit which if he send from heaven into our hearts it will vnite vs vnto him more truely and neerely then our soules are vnited to our bodies THIS then is the true How Christ giveth himselfe to be eaten 1. Vse wherevnto we must submit our minds and cogitations without any further inquirie following the example of the blessed Virgin who when the Angel had instructed her that l Luk. 1.35.38 the holy Ghost should come vpon her and make her to conceiue brought into captivitie all her thoughts to the obedience of the Word of GOD and said Behold the handmaid of the Lord be it vnto me according to thy Word Behold I pray you how the Sunne budgeth not out of his heavenly tabernacle and neverthelesse darting his beames from heaven to earth communicateth it selfe to all the creatures that are on earth And shall we say that m Mal. 4.2 the Sunne of righteousnesse must leaue his celestiall and glorious palace to make good the word which he hath spoken of our communion with him O blasphemy He hath said that by his Spirit he will come vnto vs and dwell with vs He will doe it as he hath said it n Luk. 1.37 For with God no word shall be impossible WHEREFORE fettering our curiositie with the shackles of the word of God let vs cry to heaven o Veni creator Spiritus Et infunde coelitus Lucis tuae radium Come O most holy and blessed Spirit into our hearts assured that if we pray so earnestly God will heare vs p Luk. 11.13 For saith Christ if ye being evill know how to giue good gifts vnto your children how much more shall your heavenly Father giue the holy Spirit to them that aske him CHAPTER IX I. We must learne of Christ himselfe how we eate him II. Such bread such eating III. Such man such eating IV. Such sences and instruments to apprehend him such eating V. Such end of our eating such eating LET Vs in the next place goe againe vnto Christ and aske and learne of him how we must eate this bread which came downe from heaven For q August in Ioh tract 27 Patitur enim nos non contradicentes sed nosse cupientes he beareth with vs when we aske of him not to contradict but to learne O ye that haue an eare to heare heare r Deut. 29.29 The secret things belong vnto the Lord our God Å¿ 1 Sam. 6.19 Looke not with the men of Bethshemesh into this Arke of the Lord t Iob. 33.13 He giueth not account of any of his matters u Deut. 29.29 But
those things which are revealed belong vnto vs and to our children for ever that we may doe all the words of this Law Conformably whervnto an ancient hath said wisely x Ambros de Vocat Gent. lib. 1. cap. 7. Quae deus occulta esse voluit non sunt scrutanda quae auteÌ„ manifesta fecit non sunt neganda ne in illis illi citè euriosi istis damnabiliter inueniamur ingrati that those things which GOD will haue to be hid must not be searched and those which he hath made manifest must not be denyed least in those we be found vnlawfully curious and in this be condemned as vnthankfull Of these things is the manner of the eating of the bread which came down from heaven FIRST Such as the bread is and as it is given to be eaten so must it be eaten If it be come downe from heaven from heaven also must come the mouth that eateth it If it be given vnto vs by the holy Spirit the mouth which receiveth it must be a spirituall mouth If Christ who is this bread giveth himselfe vnto vs as dead haue we any mouth that can eate him so but the mouth of the soule This is his own doctrine For after he had said Take ye eate ye This is my body he shews how we must eate him saying doe this in remembrance of me These words saith y August de Doct. Christ lib 3. cap. 15. Figura est ergopracipiens passioni domini esse coÌ„municandum suaniter at que vtiliter recoÌ„denduÌ„ in memoria quod pro nobis caro eius crucifixa vulnerata est Augustin are a figure commanding vs to communicate to his passion and to record profitably that his flesh was crucified and wounded for vs which we cannot do but by an action of the soule SECONDLY Such man such eating If he who eateth Christ be nothing but a naturall man let him eate and drinke with his naturall organes But if Christ be meate for Christians if the Christian be z Eph. 4.24 a new man a 1 Cor. 2.1 a spirituall man b RoÌ„ 2.19 Rom. 7.22 an inward man if all his organes be spirituall and inward shall we not say truly with S. Augustin that he he alone eateth Christ c August in Ioh. tract 26 in verba Vt si quis manducat ex ipso non meriatur Quiâ— manducat intus nonforis qui maÌ„ducat in corde non qui pren it deâ—â—e that eateth inwardly not outwardly who eateth in his heart not he that thrufteth his tooth into the Sacrament THIRDLY to apply this to all the sences and parts of the inward man Christ saith d Math. 5.8 blessed are they which doe hunger and thirst after righteousnes Is not he he himselfe e Ier. 23.26 THE LORD OVR RIGHTEOVSNES Such then as is our hungring and thirsting after him such is our eating of him If this hunger be in our stomackes if this thirst be in our throates then let vs satisfie our gnawing stomacks with him let vs drinke him with our throates But if this hunger and thirst be proper to the soule as David saith f Psal 42 2. As the Hart panteth after the water brookes so panteth my scale after thee O God My soule thirsteth for God for the living God What can the eating of his flesh be but as S. g Cyprian de Coena domini Esus igitur carnis huius quaedam auiditas est quoddam desiderium manendi in ipso Cyprian saith a certaine greedinesse and eager desire to abide in him Such as are our eyes wherewith we see him such is our mouth wherewith we eate him If we see him with our bodily eyes with our bodily mouth we must eate him But he expoundeth our seeing of him by our beleeving in him saying h Ioh 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Sonne and beleeveth on him may haue everlasting life Therefore I say that to beleeue in him is to eate him He said to the belly-god Iewe i Ioh 6.27.28.29 Labour not for the meate which perisheth but for that which endureth vnto everlasting life O Lord we aske of thee as the Iewes did What shall we doe that we may worke the workes of God for such as is our labouring for this meat such is our eating thereof And thou answerest O Lord This is the worke of God that ye beleeue on him whom he hath sent k August in Ioh. tract 25 Hoc est ergo manducare â—ibum qui non perit sed qui permanet in vitam aeternam Vt quid paras ventrem dentes crede mandacasti This then also saith S. Austin is to eate the meate which perisheth not but endureth vnto everlasting life For what vse makest thou readie thy teeth and thy belly Beleeue and thou hast eaten him 4. l 2 Cor. 5.16 We know him no more after the slesh For m Vers 6. we are absent from the Lord. And neverthelesse he saith n Ioh. 6.37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that commeth to me I will in no wise cast out Such then as are our seete wherewith we goe vnto him such is our eating of him Goe we vnto him with our bodily feete When he was in the world many did walke with him in their bodies to whom he said o Ioh. 5.40 Ye will not come to me that ye might haue life shewing that even then when they were present with him in body they were absent from him because they beleeved not in him For p 2 Cor. 5.7 we walke by faith not by sight Therefore the Centurien abiding at home in his body went abroad vnto him with his faith and said vnto him q Luk. 7.6.7.8.9 Lord trouble not thy selfe For I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter vnder my roofe Wherefore neither thought I my selfe worthy to come vnto thee but say the word and my seruant shall be healed And to that faith which did not regard the bodily presence of the Lord the Lord gaue this commendation I haue not found so great faith no not in Israell Christ himselfe saith that to goe thus vnto him is to eate him r Ioh. 6.35 I am faith he the bread of life He that commeth to me shall neuer hunger and he that beleeveth on me shall neuer thirst In stead of eating he putteth comming in stead of drinking he putteth beleeving because the eating of him is to come to him the drinking of him is to beleeue in him And these two are one Å¿ August de verbis domini serm 2. Vbi credis ibi venis Where thou beleevest there thou commest 5. Such hands to receiue him such mouth to eate him The hand wherewith we receiue him is the hand of faith as it is written t Ioh. 1.12 As many as received him to them gaue he power to become
is contained in this word of eating and sheweth vnto vs the nature and true action of faith which is to apply Christ vnto our soules so neerly that every one out of the true sence of this heavenly gift in his owne heart saith most truly as the Spouse doth m Cant. 2.16 My beloved is mine and I am his and as Thomas did n Ioh. 20.21 My Lord and my God according to the promise of the new Testament o Zach. 13.9 I will say It is my people and they shall say The Lord is my God Such was the faith of S. Paul when he said p Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ neverthelesse I liue yet not I but Christ liveth in me And the life which I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who loved ME and gaue himselfe for ME. Such is the faith of every true Christian according to this saying of S. Peter q 2 Pet. 1.1 ye haue obtained like precious faith with vs. What seeke we by eating of our daily bread To liue What seeke we by eating of Iesus Christ To haue communiō with him that we may liue by him The Apostle saith that we liue by faith Therefore saith S. Cyprian r Cypr. de Coena domini Qnod est escacarni hoc animae est fides That which food is to the body the same is faith to the soule For the same cause S. Augustin expounding the words of my Text saith that ſ Aug. in Iohan trac 26 Credere enim ineum hoc est manducare panem vivum to beleeue in Christ is to eate the living bread This is not their exposition It is from Christ himselfe as we haue heard CHAPTER XI I. To eate Christ by faith it is no imagination as Papists say II. Neither is it an easie thing by nature III. It goeth beyond the whole reach of nature IV. Therefore we must aske it of God V. And although it be weake be assured that it will eate Christ IF THAT be true say Papists if to eate Christ be no other thing but to beleeue in him there is nothing more easie then to be saved What is faith An imagination in the braine that Christ hath saved vs. How easily may we imagine such a thing and so be saved by a fancie 1. Indeed if we did speake of eating of Christ as they doe it might be said most truely that there is nothing more easie What so easie to any man as to open the mouth of the body and to swallow downe that which entereth into it Is there any Papist that findeth any difficultie in it Yea they hold their eating of Christ so easie that they make it common not onely to bad as well as to good men but also to toades wormes dogs asses mice and other beasts 2. When they speake of faith as of an imagination they teach vs what they iudge and what they will haue vs to sudge of their faith They say that they beleeue in God Is their beliefe nothing but an imagination They call on God And t Rō 10.14 how shall they call on him in whom they haue not beleeved u Rō 14.23 For whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne What Will they confesse that their prayers and in a word all their most laborious devotion is nothing but an imagination Aske of them how they know that Christs body is in the Sacrament as big and as tall as it was on the crosse although such a thing came never in Christs mind they will answer that Christ hath said it and they beleeue it That beliefe indeed is nothing but a most fond imagination But will they call it so 3. A great many of their Doctors confesse that in the first part of this Chapter till the one fiftie verse Christ speaketh of the spirituall manducation of his body and recommendeth it vnto vs and some of the most learned amongst them confirme by insoluble arguments that the whole Chapter is of the same argument And dare they say that Christ recommended nothing vnto vs but imaginations 4. Since the beginning of the world there was never any man saved but by the eating of Christ The Apostle writeth of the fathers which were in the desert that x 1 Cor. 10 3.4 they did all eate the same spirituall meate and did all drinke the same spirituall drinke y Aug. de poenit cap. 1. to 9. Eundem non inuenio quomodo intellig am nisi cum quem nos The same which we eat drink not corporall in the elemēt but spirituall in the signification For they dranke of that spirituall Rocke that followed them and that Rocke was Christ Was that eating and drinking of Christ before he came into the world nothing but an imagination How many milliōs of Christians die and are saved before they can eate Christ in the Sacrament And yet without eating of Christ spiritually there is no salvation Are they also saved by imagination When we shall be called a Rev. 19.7 to the marriage-supper of the Lambe when b Mat. 8.11 we shall sit downe with Abraham and Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heaven when there c Psal 36.8 God shall satisfie vs abundantly with the fatnesse of his house and shall make vs drinke of the river of his pleasures shall that eating and that drinking also be nothing but an imagination As we shall eate him then so must we eate him now AND to eate him so now is not an easie thing is not an imagination To see our owne misery and the mercy of God our naughtinesse and his goodnesse our emptinesse and his fulnesse our folly and his wisedome our weakenesse and his power our shame and his glory displayed in Iesus Christ is it an easie thing Is it an imagination To know and to feele how worthy I was of his hatred and how wonderfull is that loue wherwith he hath loved me in his deare Sonne Iesus Christ is it an easie thing is it an imagination To runne vnto Christ to imbrace him to take hold on him to lodge him in our hearts to say vnto him as Iacob did d Gen. 32.26 I will not let thee goe except thou blesse me Or rather with David e Ps 73.28 It is good for me to draw neere to God I haue put my trust in the Lord God And therefore I will never let thee goe that thou mayest blesse me for ever To seeke and finde grace mercie peace life and salvation in him and therevpon to say f Psal 118.6.14 The Lord is on my side I will not feare The Lord is my strength and song and is become my salvation is it an easie thing Is it an imagination SVRELY the eating of Christ by this kind of faith goeth so farre beyond the power and reach of nature that g Math. 16.17 flesh and blood doe not reveale Christ to be the Sonne of