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
despise his calling let him not speake to vs in vain let vs no longer say it is not yet time to build vp the Lords house God hath raised vp vnto vs a most vertuous noble Lady that hath already set labourers a woorke begun the building Let vs remember that the Chaldees when they came to Ierusalem neuer strayned curtesie or sayde It is not yet time to pul down the house of God they layd handes on it spoyled it they burnt it without mercy euen vnto the grounde Let vs not in Gods cause bee more negligent then our enemies were against God Let euery man say with himselfe It is Gods temple that must be built vp it is the heauenly Hierusalem it is the arke of the Lord it is the Lords busines that I haue in hand accursed be he that doth the Lordes busines vnfaithfully And you my Lordes forasmuch as God hath planted you in chiefest honour and made you the greatest ouerseers of his worke I beseech you euen for his sake when you see your owne houses so furnished as is meete for your estates remember the poore house of God When you see your men waiting attending at your Tables remember howe fewe there bee to wayte vppon Christ at his table When you coÌ„sider that your owne houses cannot bee mainteyned without prouision remember there bee prouision made for the house of God Let y e zeale of Gods owne house rauish and deuour our hearts let vs build vp the cabernacle of the most holy and dreadful and euer liuing God so will God dwell and abide with vs and be glorified in the middest amongst vs. And thou most mercifull father deale fauourably with Sion that wee may see the walles of thy Hierusalem restored For now is the time of thy mercy come vpon vs now is the time And as thou hast begun this worke in vs in these our daies so vouchsafe to blesse the same that it may endure and continue for euer that al the world may know thee the onely true and liuing God and thy Sonne Iesus Christe whose Gospell thou hast reuiued amongst vs. To whom with thee and the holy Ghost be al honour and glory world without end Amen Psalme 69. The zeale of thine house hath eaten me CErtaine learned wise men of old time that had no vnderstaÌ„ding or sauour of god when they considered with themselues to what end and purpose mankinde was create set in this worlde after they had driuen the matter as farre as they might by naturall knowledge at length they concluded some that man was made to knowe the properties and qualities the conuenience or difference of natural thinges either in the aire or in the water or in the earth or vnder y e earth Some other that man was made to consider and behold the Sunne and Moone the starres the course and reuolutions of the Heauens And so they iudged that man which eyther had most aboundance of naturall reason or behelde and considered the heauens best to be most perfect of all others and that he came neerest to the end of his creation Thus sayde they as men without feeling of God onely endued with the light of nature But as God himselfe declareth who fashioned vs and made vs and knoweth vs best the very true ende why man was made was to knowe and to honour God Therefore who so knoweth him best honoreth him with most reuerence he is most perfect hee commeth neerest the end of his creation When Salomon had described the deceyuable vanities of the worlde and saide Vanity of vanities vanitie of vanities al is vanity wheÌ„ hee had concluded by longe discourse that riches empire honour pleasures knowledge and whatsoeuer els vnder the Sunne is but vanitie hee knieteth vp the matter with these woordes Feare GOD and keepe his commaundementes for this is the whole duetie of men That is this is trueth and no vanity this is our perfection to this ende are wee made not to liue in eating and drinking not to passe our time in pleasure follies not to heape vp those thinges which are daylye taken from vs or from whiche wee are daylye taken awaye but that in our woordes in our life in our bodye and in our soule wee doe seruice vnto God that wee looke aboue the Sunne and Moone and all the Heauens that we become the Temples of the holye Ghoste that the holy spirite of GOD may dwell in vs and make vs fitte instrumentes of the glorye of God Therfore God gaue vs his holy word hath continued it from the beginning of the worlde vntill this daye notwithstanding the Philosophers and learned men in all ages who scorned it out as the worde of fâ—llie for so it seemeth to them that perish Notwithstanding the wicked Princes and Tyrants and high â—omers of the worlde who consumed and burnt it as false and wicked or seâ—â—tious doctrine notwithstanding the whole worlde and 〈◊〉 of darkenes 〈◊〉 euer bent against it yet hath he wonderfully coÌ„tinued and perserued it without losse of one letter vntil this day that we might haue whereby truly to know him the true and onely God and his sonne Iesus Christ whom he sent Therfore haue we Temples and Churches places to resorte vnto altogether to honour to worship and to acknowledge him to be our god to ioyne our hearts and voyces together and to call vpon his holy name In suche places God hath at all times vsed to open his maiesty and to shew his power In such places God hath made vs a special promise to heare our prayer when soeuer we call vpon him Therefore are they called the dwelling place and house of GOD. In such places al godly men euermore set their greatest pleasure and thought themselues miserable when they were seciuded or put off from the same as the Prophete and â—oiy prince Dauid Laetatus sum in his quae â—icta sunt 〈◊〉 in domum Domini ibimus O saith that holye man my hart reioyced within my body wheÌ„ my fellowes called vpon me and said Let vs go into the house of the Lord. Againe I am in loue with the beauty of thy house And again O how beautiful is thy tabernacle O Lord O thou y â— God of hosts my heart longeth fainteth to come within thy courts His spirits were rauished with the sight maiesty of the tabernacle not for y â— the place it selfe at y â— time was so beautiful for in Dauids time it was almost rotten ruinous a homely thing to behold nothing in comparison to that teÌ„ple that afterward was built by Salomon But therein stood the shew worthines of that holy place y â— Gods trueth and lawe was opened and proclaimed in it and the sacraments and ceremonies so vsed in such forme and order as God had commanded them to be vsed the people receiued them obediently and liued thereafter Therfore when the tabernacle was restored when the Arke was fet
it is Gods cause The liuings of such as are in the ministery are not in their handes to whom they are due Al other labourers and artificers haue their hire increased double as much as it was wont to be Onely the poore man that laboureth sweateth in the vineyard of the Lorde of hostes hath his hire abridged abated I speak not of the Curats but of Personages Uicarages that is of the places which are the castles towers of fence for the Lordes temple They seldome passe now a dayes from the patrone if he be no better then a gentleman but either for the lease or for present money Such marchaÌ„ts are brokeÌ„ into y â— church of God a great deale more intolerable theÌ„ were they whoÌ„ Christ chased whipt out of y â— teÌ„ple Thus they y â— should be careful for Gods church that should be patrones to prouide for y â— conscieÌ„ces of the people to place amoÌ„g theÌ„ a learned Minister who might bee able to preach y â— worde vnto theÌ„ out of season in season to fulfil his ministerie seeke their own not y â— which is Iesus Christs They serue not Iesus Christ but their bellie And this is done not in one place or in one countrie but throughout England A gentlemaÌ„ cannot keepe his house vnles he haue a Parsonage or two in ferme for his prouision O mercifull God wherto will this growe at last If the miserie which this plague worketh would reache but to one age it were tolerable But it wil be a plague to the posteritie it wilbe the decay desolation of Gods Church Yong men which are toward learned see this They see that he whiche feedeth the flocke hath least part of the milke hee which goeth a warfare hath not halfe his wages Therefore they are weary and discouraged they chaunge their studies some become prentises some turne to phisick some to lawe all shun and flee the Ministerie And besides the hinderance that thus groweth by wicked dealing of patrons by reason of the impropriations the Uicarages in many places in the properest market townes are so simple that no man can liue vpon them and therefore no man wyll take them They were wont to saye Beneficia sine cura Benenefices without charge but now may be said Cura sine beneficio Charge or cure without benefice I speake not this of my selfe many here present know I speake the trueth And my selfe know the places which haue continued styll these many yeares without a Minister resident amonge them and haue prouided them selues as they might with their owne mony Your Graces subiects had hope of amendement in your graces late visitation But yet it standeth stil in case as miserable as it did before I know your grace heareth not of these matters And I hope God wyll worke in your gracious heart to prouide some remedy agaynste them For otherwise the scholes wil be forsakeÌ„ the Church desolate the people wylde and dismayed the Gospel discredited otherwise wee shal see that wrought against the house of God that neuer any Ieroboam or Iulian or Licinius could haue brought to passe against vs. This noble Realme which euer was famous for the name of learninge is like thereby to come to such ignorance and barbarie as hath not beene heard of in any memorie before our time I knowe that there are grieuous complaintes made that the Bishops appoint Priests and Ministers that are ignoraunt and haue no vnderstanding in the latine tongue Woulde God it were not true Or would God that they which be the causers hereof woulde somewhat helpe to ameÌ„d it But alas are we able to make learned men vpon the sudden Or can we make others then come vnto vs or wyll come to liue in miserie But there are many which can say such as bee ministers in the Churche shoulde teache freely without hope of recompence or hire for their labour Our preachers are no better then Peter Paul the other Apostles They are no better then the holy prophets who liued poorely Pouertie is a coÌ„mendable estate So say some in lyke deuotion as did Iudas What needed this wast this might haue bene sold for much giuen to the pore not that he cared for the pore but because he was a thiefe had the bag bare y t which was giuen I doubt not there are many which teach Christ for Christes sake which say in their soule y e Lord is my portion who in that heauy time from which God deliuered theÌ„ if they might haue receiued theyr life only for a recoÌ„pence would haue bin glad to take the paines who seeke you and not yours which haue forsaken all they had to followe Christ I doubt not there are such But for y t hope of posteritie I report me to al you which are fathers haue childreÌ„ for whom you are carefull Although your selues haue a zeale a care for the house of god yet wil you breed them vp keepe them at schoole vntil 24. yeeres old to your charges that in the ende they may liue in glorious pouertie y t they may liue poorely naked like the Prophets Apostles Our posteritie shall rue that euer such fathers went before them And Chronicles shal report this contempt of learning amonge the punishments and murraines and other plagues of God They shall leaue it written in what time and vnder whose raygne this was done Or if we growe so barbarous that wee consider not this or bee not able to drawe it into Chronicle yet forraine nations wyl not spare to write this and publish it to our euerlastinge reproche and shame In the meane time what may bee ghessed of their meaning which thus rauine and spoyle the house of God which decay the prouision therof and so basely esteeme the Ministers of his Gospel They can not say to God the zeale of thy house hath eaten me vp Howsoeuer in other thinges they doe wel howsoeuer they seeme to reioyce at the prosperitie of Sion and to seeke the safetie and preseruation of the Lordes anoyâ—ted yet needes must it bee that by these meanes forraine power of which this realme by the mercie of God is happely delyuered shall agayne be brought in vpon vs. Suche thinges shalbe done vnto vs as we before suffered the truth of God shalbe taken away the holy scriptures burnt and consumed in fire A marueilous darknesse and calamitie must needes ensue For if the tempest be so darke in the sea that the load starre lose her light and the needle fayle to giue token of the North Pole no marueile though the Ship lose her course and be swallowed vp in the sandes The Gospell of Christe is the fountaine of light and of knowledge It cannot be mainteined by ignorance and darknes These bee the proppes of their kingdome which take away y e scriptures which hold the people in blindenes which flie the light whiche haue their common prayers minister
Gods hands is to haue prophets preachers by whō they may be instructed When y ◠prophet declareth y ◠mercy of God towardes Israel y ◠he would put an end to their afflictions bring thē home again from Babylō he saith thus Behold saith the Lord I wil send out many fishers they shal fish thē In the like sort saith Esai How beautiful vpō y ◠moūtaines are the feet of him that declareth publisheth peace that declareth good tydings publisheth saluatiō saying vnto Siō thy god reigneth The voice of thy watchmē shalbe heard they shal lift vp their voyce shout together And Baruch Nor the Agarēs that sought after wisdom vpō the earth nor the marchāts of Nerrā Themā nor the expoūders of fables nor the scarchers out of wisdom haue known the way of wisedome There were the giāts famous frō the beginning that were of so great stature so expert in war Those did not the Lord choose neither gaue he the way of knowledge vnto thē but they were destroyed because they had no wisdome perished through their own foolishnes He hath foūd out al the way of knowledge hath giuē it vnto Iacob his seruant to Israel his beloued And againe O Israel we are blessed for the thinges that are acceptable to god are declared vnto vs. He hath not dealt so with euery nation neither haue they knowledge of his iudgmēts saith the Prophet Dauid But when God taketh away his ministers whiche should preach peace open vnto the people the wil of God make known his iudgemēts it is a token that God is highly displeased with his people Where there is no visiō the people decay they know not what to beleeue Of this misery speaketh Iere. The young children aske bread but no mā breaketh it vnto them Of this speaketh Esay The poore needy seeketh water there is none They would haue some counsell some comforte and there is no man to giue it them My sheepe wandered saith God through al the mountaines and on euery high hill yea my flock was scattered through all the whole earth and none did seeke or searche after them They were full of diseases they were pined for hunger and taken vp by the wolfe but none had care to deliuer them In such state as the flocke is in which hath no shepheard or the shippe which is tossed by the tempestes amiddes the surges and rockes of the Sea and hath no skilful Pilote to guide it or the yong sucking childe that hath no nource to feede it euen in such stace are your soules if you haue not the ministery of Gods worde abyding with you You are children the Preacher is your nource you are a shippe in daunger of many wreckes through the boysterous tempests of this worlde the Preacher is your Pilote to guide you safely towardes the hauen of rest you are the flocke the Preacher leadeth you from dangerous places to feede vpon the whole some pastures of Gods holy worde Whosoeuer they be which reioyce not in the increase of the Lords haruest hee forsaketh them and leaueth them comfortlesse and giueth them fewe or no labourers Wherfore pray the Lorde of the haruest that he would send forth labourers into his haruest It is the Lorde which casteth the firste seede into the earth whiche doeth moysten the ground and maketh it fruitful and giueth forth his sunne that it may come to ripening Al the soile field corne and the husbandry therof is the Lordes Let vs pray to him to send forth labourers to trauaile and take paines Notwithstanding we ought to praye to God that hee will stirre vp and set foorth men to instruct his people yet that nothing embarreth the authority of princes For as God calleth him inwardly in the heart whom he wil haue to bee a minister of his word so must he be authorized of his Prince by outward and ciuil calling as I could shew at large if time would suffer it So Salomon the king deposed Abiathar the high priest and set vp Sadoc So Iustinian deposed two bishops of Rome Siluerius Vigilius authorized others And the same Iustinian was wont to say that he had no lesse regarde to the Church of God thē he had to his own soule So Constantinus Valentinianus and Theodosius called themselues Vasallos Christi The vasals of Christ And Socrates in his story saith Wee haue also herein comprised the Emperours liues for that sithence the Emperours were first christned the affaires of y ◠church haue depended of them the greatest counsels both haue byn are kept by their aduise It pertaineth therefore also to kings and Princes to send out labourers into the haruest Labourers they must be and not loyterers For Christ compareth the teaching of his people to thinges that be of greate labour as to plowing and fallowing of the grounde to planting of a Uine to rearing of a House to threshing of Corne to feeding of sheepe to leading of an Hoste and keeping of warre in which thinges is required much diligence and labour Cato in his bookes of husbandry saith it was an old saw among husbandmen Qui terram colit ne sedeat est enim aliquid semper quod agat He that plougheth the ground must not sit stil for he hath alwaies somwhat to do The worke of the husbandman is neuer ended hee falloweth stirreth soweth harroweth weedeth and tendeth his land Therefore if they he Pastours let them feede the flocke if they be Doctours let them teach the people if they be watchmen let them stande vppon their watche if they bee messengers let them doe their erraunt This is the way to buylde vp the Churche of Christ This commission Christ gaue vnto his Disciples Ite in mundum vniuersum c. Goe ye into al the world and preach the Gospel vnto euery creature Thus by twelue poore Apostles al the world was conquered Princes and kings and Emperours were subdued to the faith of Christ This is the key that openeth the conscience this is the two edged sword which entreth through euen to the diuiding asunder of y e soule and the spirit Therefore the Apostle saith The weapons of our warfare are not carnall but mighty through God to cast downe holds casting down the imaginations euery hie thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bringing into captiuity euerie thought to the obedience of Christ This is the only instrumēt wherwith we may cut down and haue in the haruest of God For all mens deuises Actes Iawes or commandements be the authority thereof neuer so great yet are not sufficient to content one mans conscience For the wisedome of man is but follie before God God knoweth the fancies and cogitations of men that they be but vayne and foolish Aristotle the great wise Philosopher on a time being sick when the phisition came to him to minister him
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
certaine maner of speech and not otherwise the Sacrament of the bodie of Christ is the body of Christ the Sacrament of the blood of Christ is the blood of Christ so the sacrament of faith is faith Who hath ordeined the Sacramentes Not any Prelate not any Prince not any Angel or Archangel but onely God himselfe For he only hath authoritie to seale the charter in whose authoritie onely it is to graunt it And onely he giueth the pledge and confirmeth his grace to vs whiche giueth his grace into our heartes Chrisost sayth DiuinuÌ„ integrum non esset mysterium si quicquam ex te adderes The mystery were not of God nor perfect if thou shouldest put any thing to it In the daies of Noah when God determined to be mercifull vnto his people and neuer to drowne the whole worlde with water he said I haue set my bowe in the cloude and it shalbe for a signe of the couenant betweene me and the earth and when I shal couer the earth with a cloude and the bow shalbe seen in the cloude then wil I remember my couenaunt whiche is betweene me you and betweene euery liuing thing in flesh and there shalbe no more waters of a flood to destroy al flesh In like maner when God would witnes stablish to Abraham his seede after him the promise of his mercie he himselfe ordained a sacrament to confirm the same This is my couenaÌ„t which ye shal keep between me you thy seed after thee Let euery manchild among you be circuÌ„cised Thus God ordeined y t sacrament of circuÌ„cision This sacrameÌ„t was a seale of Gods promise to AbrahaÌ„ a seale of Abrahams faith obedience towardes God By this sacrament maÌ„ was bound to y t Lord by y t same sacrament God vouchsafed to binde himselfe to man But how is the sacrament formed of what parts is it made August saith Accedat verbuÌ„ ad elementuÌ„ fit sacramentuÌ„ Ioine y t word of Christs institutioÌ„ with the sensible creature therof is made a sacrameÌ„t Ioyue the word to the creature of water and thereof is made the sacrament of Baptisme take away the worde then what is the water other then water The worde of God the creature make a sacrament But why were sacraments ordeined he telleth you In nulluÌ„ nonceÌ„ religionis ceu veruÌ„ c. Men caÌ„not be gathered together to the profession of any religioÌ„ whether it be true or false vnlesse they be bound inthe felowship of visible signes or sacrameÌ„ts The first cause why they were ordeined is that thereby one shoulde acknowledge another as felowes of one household members of one body So was al Israel reckoned the children of Abraham because of their circumcision al such as were vncircumcised were cut off from the people had no part in the common wealth of Israel because they were vncircumcised Euen as wee take them that are not baptised to be none of our brethren to be no children of God nor members of his Church because they will not take the Sacrament of Babtisme An other cause is to moue instruct and teach our dul and heauy hearts by sensible creatures that so our negligence in not heeding or marking the woorde of God spoken vnto vs might be amended For if any man haue the outward seale and haue not the faith thereof sealed within his heart it auayleth him not hee is but an hypocrite and dissembler So the circumcision of the foreskinne of the fleshe taught them to mortifie their fleshly affections and to cut off the thoughts and deuises of their wicked hearts Therefore said Stephen to the Iewes Ye stiffe-necked of vncircumcised hearts eares you haue alwaies resisted the holy Ghost So when in Baptisme our bodies are washed with water wee are taught that our soules are washed in the blood of Christ The outward washing or spriukling doth represent the spriukeling and washing which is wrought within vs the water doeth signifie the blood of Christ If we were nothing else but soule hee would giue vs his grace barely and alone without ioyning it to any creature as hee doeth to his Angels but seeing our spirite is drowned in our bodie and our fleshe doeth make our vnderstanding dul therefore we receiue his grace by sensible thinges Chrysost saith Aliter ego aliter incredulus disponitur Ille cuÌ„ c. I am otherwise affected theÌ„ is he which beleeueth not WheÌ„ he heareth of the water of Baptisme hee thinketh it is nothing els but water But I see not the creature onelie which mine eyes do see but also the cleansing of my soule by the holie Ghost He thinketh y t my body oneli is washed I beleue that my soule is therby made pure holy and withal I consider Christes burial his resurrectioÌ„ our sanctificatioÌ„ righteousnes redemption adoption our inheritance the kingdom of heauen the fulnes of the spirit For I iudge not of y e things I see by my bodily eyes but by the eyes of my minde When one that is vnlearned and can not reade looketh vpoÌ„ a booke be the booke neuer so true neuer so wel written yet because be knoweth not the letters and cannot reade hee looketh vpon it in vayne Hee may turne ouer all the leaues and looke vppon all and see nothing but another that can reade hath iudgement to vnderstaÌ„d coÌ„sidereth the whole story the doughâ—â—e deedes graue counsels discrete answeres examples promises threatnings the very drifte meaning of him that wrote it So do the faithful receiue the fruite comfort by the Sacraments which the wicked vngodlie neither consider nor receiue Thus do the sacraments leade vs instruct vs to behold the secrete and vnknowen mercies of God and to carry our selues to the obedience of his will And this is the other cause why sacraments were ordained Thirdely they are seales and confirmations of Gods promise S. Paul saith Abraham receiued the signe of circumcision as the seale of the righteousnes of the faith which he had when he was vncircuÌ„cised By these we stoy y â— mouth of heretikes For if they denie that our Lorde Iesus Christ was deliuered to death for our sinnes is risen again for our iustification we shew them our sacrameÌ„ts that they were ordeined to put vs in remembrance of Christ and that by the vse of them we shew the Lords death til he come We tell them these are proofes and signes that Christ suffered death for vs on the crosse As Chrisostome saith Laying out these mysteries we stoppe their mouthes What Are they nothing els but bare and naked signes God forbid They are the seales of God heauenly tokens and signes of the grace and righteousnes and mercie giuen and imputed to vs. Circumcision was not a bare signe That is not circuÌ„cision which is outward in the fleshe saith Paul but the circumcision of the heart
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
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
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
est Hoc non dicet nisi pariter caecus He y t is blind in his heart within seeth not Christ that is our bread And is he blessed No man wil say so vnlesse it be one as blinde as he Chrisost saith Where as the carkeis is there are Eagles The carkasse is y â— body of Christ in respect of his death But hee nameth Eagles to shewe that who so will approche to this bodie must mount aloft and haue no dealing with the earth nor bee drawen and creepe downward but must euermore flee vp and behold the Sunne of iustice haue the eye of his minde quicke and sharpe For this is a table of eagles that flie on high not of iaies that creepe beneath So saith Saint Hierome Let vs goe vp with the Lorde in to heauen into that great parlar spread and cleane and let vs receiue of him aboue the cuppe of the new Testament He saith They that rise not vp by faith receiue not the cuppe of Christ So saith Hillary The bread that came downe from heauen is not receiued but of him that hath our Lord and is the member of Christ This is the vndoubted meaning of the olde fathers that the wicked are not partakers of the passion of Christ because they lacke faith whereby onely Christ is receiued of vs. As Augustine saith How shal I holde Christ beeinge absent how shal I thruste my hande vp into heauen that I may holde him sitting there Sende vp thy faith and thou holdest him By this meanes we draw nigh to Christ we hyde our selues in his woundes wee sucke at his breast we feede of his bodie and comfortablye lay vp in our mynde that his flesh was crucified and wounded for our sakes Nowe let vs examine what difference is betweene the body of Christ and the sacrament of the bodie It behoueth vs to take eche part aright as it is least we be deceiued and take one for another Origen saith Simpliciores nescientes distinguere c. Simple meÌ„ not being able to discerne what thinges in the Scriptures ought to be applyed to the outwarde man and what to the inner beinge deceiued by the likenesse of woords haue turned them selues to a sorte of peeuishe fables and vaine fantasies Therefore sayeth Chrysostome Magnum crede mihi bonum est scire quid sit creatura quid sit Creator c. Beleeue me it is a great matter to vnderstande what is the creature and what is God the Creator what are the workes and what is the workman The difference heerein is this A Sacrament is a figure or token the bodye of Christ is figured or tokened The Sacrament bread is bread it is not the bodie of Christ The bodie of Christ is flesh it is no bread The bread is beneath the bodie is aboue The bread is on the table the bodie is in heauen The bread is in the mouth the bodie in the heart The bread feedeth the outward man the bodie feedeth the inwarde man The bread feedeth the bodie the body feedeth the soule The bread shall come to nothing the bodie is immortall and shall not perish The bread is vile the bodie of Christ glorious Such a difference is there betweene the bread whiche is a Sacrament of the bodie and the bodye of Christ it selfe The Sacrament is eaten as well of the wicked as of the faithfull the bodie is onely eaten of the faithfull The Sacrament may bee eaten vnto iudgement the body can not bee eaten but vnto saluation Without the Sacrament we may be saued but without the bodie of Christ wee haue no saluation wee can not bee saued As Saynt Augustine saith Quinon sumit carnem Christi non habet vitam qui eam sumit habet vitam eam vtique aeternam Hee that receiueth not the fleshe of Christ hath not life he that receiueth the same hath life and that for euer Such a difference maketh Epiphanius Hoc est rotundae figurae insensibile quantum ad potentiam c. This thing that is the sacrament is of a rounde forme for it was a great thick round cake and touching any power that is in it vtterly voyde of sense But wee knowe that our Lord is whole sense whole sensible whole God whole mouing Again S. August saith for the difference of them The Sacrament of Christs bodâ— is receiued of some vnto life of some vnto destruction but the thing it selfe that is the flesh of Christ wherof this is a Sacrament is receiued of all men vnto life and of no man to destruction whosoeuer shall be partaker of it Of the difference which is betweene a figure of any thing and the thing it self Chrysost saith Audisti fuisse figuram ne ergo mirare neque omnia require in typo Neque enim typus esset si omnia quae veritati accidunt haberentur Yee haue heard that it was a figure therefore maruell not being a figure require not al thinges to agree for otherwise it were no figure These and such like reasons no doubte mooued the godly Father to say as wee haue learned to say Aliud est Sacramentum aliud res sacrameÌ„ti The Sacrament is one thing the matter of the Sacrament which is Christes verye body is another thing And therfore he saieth Honorem tanquaÌ„ religiosa habere possunt stuporem taÌ„quam mira noÌ„ possuÌ„t These things speaking of the sacrament of Christes body maye haue honour as things appointed to religion but wonder as things maruellous they can not haue Thus are wee taught by the Catholique Learned Fathers to put a difference betweene the Sacrament and the body of Christe and that the one of them is not really lapped vp or shut within the other that the one as Epiphanâ—us saith is vtterly voyde of sense the other whole sense and whole sensible that the one is receiued 〈◊〉 destruction vnto some as Saint Augustine â—aith the other is receiued of all men vnto life That the one is a figure as Chrysostome sayth the other a trueth It remayneth that wee consider howe wee ought to prepare our heartes and with what faith and reuerence wee shoulde resorte to these holy mysteries Wee may not come as we vse to doe to our vsuall meates For here in a mystery and Sacrament of bread is set before vs the bodie of Christe our Sauiour and his blood in the Sacrament of Wine Wee see one thing wee must conceiue another thing Therefore we must in such manner be affected as if we were present to beholde his death vpon the crosse and the sheading of his blood for our sinnes Let vs set before our eyes that dreadfull tragedie and the causes and effectes of his death that so our heartes may bee the rather mooued to yeelde that allegeance obedience and reuerence which is due Wee were the children of wrath the enemies of God shut vp vnder sinne and the heires of euerlasting
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
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
crucified and his blood shed for the remission of sinnes that if wee beleeue in Christ wee are through the promise of GOD so certainely nourished in our soules to euerlasting life by the passiō of Christ Iesus our Sauiour as our bodies are truely nourished w t the creaturs of bread wine Thus Paul was brought vp at the feete of Gamaliel and instructed according to the perfect maner of the law of the fathers Thus Timothie was brought vp to knowe the holy Scripturs of a childe How are we become so superstitious Why haue we bene so delited in darkenes why is it so harde a matter to remoue vs from the errours wherein wee haue liued Why had wee rather fal downe before dombe things and worship them continue still in ignorance rather then harken vnto the worde of God Why haue we plaied y t parte of the Iewes cried Crucifige vpon our deare frendes and kinsmen vpon those whome we coulde not iustly accuse of any crime who offended vs no wayes but in that they did poynt vs to Christ and called vs to seek saluation onely in him Hereof there cannot any better cause be yeelded then this that wee were ignorantly bred vp without knowledge of God without vnderstanding of his worde The wise man saith Teach a childe the trade of his way and when he is olde hee shal not depart from it And againe Who so awaketh vnto wisedome betimes shall haue no great trauel for he shal find her sittīg at his dores Therefore wicked rulers as Iulianus Licinius Maximinus and such others haue forbiddē that children should be brought vp in the knowledge of God They taught them to blaspheme Christ and holy men and to speake yll of them before they knewe them But let vs looke vpon our children as vpon the great blessings of god They are the Lords vessels ordained to honour let vs keepe thē cleane they are christs lambes and sheepe of his flocke let vs leade them foorth into wholsome pasture They are the seede plot of heauen let vs water them that god may giue the encrease their angels behold y e face of God let vs not offende them they are the temples tabernacles of the holy ghost let vs not suffer y e foule spirit to possesse thē dwell within them God saith your children are my childrē They are the sonnes of God They are borne a new are wel shapen in beautiful proportiō make thē not mōsters He is a mōster whosoeuer knoweth not God By you they are borne into the world be careful also that by your meanes they may be begotten vnto God you are careful to traine thē in nourture and comely behauiour of the bodye seeke also to fashiō their mindes vnto godlines You haue brought them to the fountaine of baptisme to receiue the marke of Christ bring them vp in knowledge watch ouer them that they be not lost So shal they be confirmed and wyll keepe the promise they haue made wil growe vnto perfite age in Christ Of mariage I shall neede say y e lesse the matter is so knowne cōmon This felowship was first ordeined by God himselfe in paradise God himself said It is not good that man shoulde be himselfe alone I wil make him an helper meete for him God which fashioned man and breathed in him the breath of life knoweth his very heart raines said it is not good it is not fit that man should be hymselfe alone Although man were in Paradise although he were in the perfection of vertue yet saith God he hath neede of a helper Christ disdayned not to be at a mariage he honoured it both by his presence by y e working of a miracle S. Paul saith Mariage is honorable in al men the bed vndefiled In al men sayth hee in the Patriarkes in the Prophets in the Apostles in Martyrs in Byshops That al the Apostles S. Iohn onely excepted were maried appeareth by Ignatius Clemens Eusebius Spiridiō was a maried Bishop yet he was therby nothing hindred nether to discharge his dutie nor to any other godly purpose Tertullian was a Priest and married as appeareth by his owne Booke written to his wyfe Gregorie S. Basils brother was Bishop of Nyssa yet married Another Gregorie was Byshop of Nazianzū yet maried neuertheles a faithful seruāt steward of y e mysteries of God Hilarie was Bishop of Poitiers yet married All these were holy and Godly and chaste in bedy and in spirit and yet were married Gregorie Nazianzene saith Mariage is worthy of praise for y e quietnes and contentation that is in it And Clemens Alexandrinus saith As well mariage as also chastity haue their peculier offices pertaining to God Chrysost saith marriage is voide of fault and is no hindrance to vertue Againe So precious a thing is matrimonie that with the same thou maiest be promoted euen to a Bishops chaire What are they then that call mariage vncleanes filthines a worke of the flesh that say it defileth a man therefore Gods ministers may not be maried How can they thus speake that haue any knowledge of y t which God hath spoken May we not worthily say vnto such despisers of lawfull matrimonie y t which S. Bernard in like case said Fingunt se amore castitatis ista dicere cum ea magis causa turpitudinis fouendae multiplicandae adinuenerint They Beare vs in hande that they speake these things for loue of chastitie where as in deede they haue deuised the same to the ende to nourish to increse their filthines Or as Augustine sometime said to y e Manichees Non cōcubitum sed vt ab Apostolo longe antè dictum est vere nuptias prohibetis Ye forbid not copulatiō but as it was lōg ago forespoken by the Apostle in deede yee forbid verye marriage If you marke these fewe wordes which I deliuered it wyll easely appeare how reuerent an accompte is to bee made of that state of lyfe For if you regarde the necessitie thereof God founde it good to giue man a wyfe if the antiquitie it was ordained in the beginning of the worlde if the place in Paradise if the time in the innocencie of man If you regarde any thing the rather because of him that ordeined it God was the authour of marriage euen God which made heauen and earth and which is the father of our Lorde Iesus Christ If you seeke the allowance Christe approued it by his birth in marriage and by his presence at marriage if the dignitie it is honourable if among whome in all men of all estates of all callinges in Prince in subiect in minister in Priest and in people It is honourable in Prophetes honourable in Apostles in Martirs in Bishops Marriage is honourable in all men but whoremongers and adulterers God wil iudge Their portion shalbe with the infidels they shal bee cast into vtter
handekerchifes sometimes by laying on of handes and by touchinge sometimes with oyle as is in the sixth of S. Marke they cast out many deuils they anointed many y â— were sicke with oyle healed theÌ„ euen as Christ also by many sundrie wayes healed many He healed sometimes though he were absent sometimes by his worde sometimes by mourning and sorowinge sometimes by hys garment sometimes by touching sometimes with specle dust for at that time the Church had the especial gift of working miracles Therefore S. Iames putteth them in mynde that they dispise not to vse the meanes whiche God hath appoynted that whosoeuer falleth into sickenes he call for the Elders and that they vse their gift of healinge and anointe him with oyle because it hath pleased GOD thereby to worke health This was the maner and order of those times Euen as christ vsed dust and spetle so S. Iames willeth them to vse oyle for the restoring of health As the Corinthians dyd abuse the gift of tongues were taught by S. Paul how to vse it better so dyd many abuse y â— gift of healing were therfore warned by S. Iames howe they should vse it better As the gift of tongues was not to last for euer but only for a time so y â— gift of healing was not to continue euer but for a time Christ saith When thou fastest anoint thine head wash thy face Hee dooth not in these words giue an vniuersal commandement that must euer be kept in our fasting that wee vse the ceremonie of anointing but meaneth thereby that in our faste we bee fresh and mery Euen so S. Iames in saying anoint him with oyle doth not set downe an order wherunto hee would haue the Church of God tyed for euer it is not an vniuersal commandement that the after ages should do the like but onely a particular ordinance for the time to vse the gift of healing This is the meaning of his words Let vs marke what abuses haue growne by mistaking them S. Iames speaketh of bare and simple oyle They vnderstande it of their oyle which they consecrate and halow in vnaduised order For these wordes the Bishop vseth when hee consecrateth it Aue sanctuÌ„ oleum chrisma balsamum Haile O holy oyle chrisme and balsame Againe exerciso te immuÌ„de spiritus in nomine patris filii spiritus sancti vt recedas ab hoc oleo vt possit effici vnctio spiritualis vt spiritus sanctus possit in eo habitare I adiure thee thou vncleane spirit in y â— name of the father and of the sonne and of the holy ghost that thou depart from this oile y t it may be a spiritual ointment and y â— the holy ghoste may dwell in it Agayne Emitte quaesumus sancte pater spiritum sanctum paracletum tuum de coelis in hanc pinguedinem oliuae ad refectioneÌ„ corporum sanationem animarum O holy father we beseeche thee send downe thy holy spirit y â— comforter froÌ„ heauen into this fatnesse of y â— oliue to the refreshing of body soule In like sort they are taught to pray ouer y â— sicke Per hanc sactam vnctionem suam piissimam misericondâ—â—m ignoscat tibi deus vt per hanc vnctioneÌ„ habeas remissionem omniuÌ„ peccatorum By this holy anointing by his great mercye God pardon thee that by this anointinge thou maiest haue remission of al thy sinnes I deuise not these thinges I imagine them not of my selfe nor reporte them vntrulye The Byshop in such wordes blesseth the oyle with such wordes doeth the Priest anoynt the sicke with oyle In their Bookes it is easie to bee seene Now iudge you if this were S Iames doctrine or if this order were kept in the church in the time of the Apostles Would you thinke that S. Iames gaue curtesie by bowing his bodie and saying Aue to the oyle dyd he speake wordes of coniuration to driue foorth the euyll spirite woulde he euer say that the Oyle doth heale both bodye and soule or that remission of al sinnes is giueÌ„ by annointing S. Iames knew that remissioÌ„ of sinnes is not giuen by any creature that there is no name in heauen or earth by which wee are saued but the name of Iesus onely that the holy ghost resteth not nor dwelleth in oyle but in the hearts of the faithful that God giueth health not in respect of the corruptible creature but at the praiers of the Church which are offered vp to hym by his sonne our sauiour So great difference is there betweene the late meaning and the meaning of S. Iames. Such vse of y â— oyle we haue not neither doth the Church of God allow it Yet holde we the rule of the Apostle in visitation of the sicke When any is sicke among vs the Minister coÌ„meth vnto him and discretlye instructeth hym in what sorte he should prepare hymselfe to depart this life so leadeth hym to comforte and laboureth to make hym stronge in the certayne hope of euerlasting lyfe Thus he saith Brother you are entringe the way of al flesh Al y â— sonnes of Adam are heires of this sentence of God vpon Adam thou arte duste and to dust thou shalt returne Man that is borne of woman is of short continuance and ful of trouble He shooteth foorth as a floure is cut downe hee vanisheth also as a shadowe and continueth not Humble thy selfe vnder the mightie hand of God Hee is our good father dooth correct those children whome hee loueth Blessed is he whom the Lord doth chastise and instruct in his wayes Here is the proofe trial of your patience faith remember the patience of Iob in al his miseries he praised y â— name of the Lord. Although saith hee he shoulde kill me yet wyl I put my trust in God Although my bowels be consumed within mee and my members of my body bee rent a sunder and the pangues bee neuer so great yet can I not but trust in him Loue not the world nor y t things that be in the world The world passeth away the lust therof The wise man saith I haue coÌ„sidered al the works that are done vnder the sun behold al is vanitie vexatioÌ„ of spirit Againe great trauel is created for al men an heauy yoke vpoÌ„ the sonnes of Adam froÌ„ the day y e thei go out of their mothers wombe til the day y t they return to y e mother of al things Christ hath therfore willeâ— vs to wake bee ready because wee know not in what houre our master will come He saith Behold I come as a thief blessed is he which watcheth kepeth his garments least he walk naked men see his filthines Examine your selfe consider howe and in what thinges you haue offended God make a true and humble confession of your sinnes say with Dauid I haue sinned against the Lorde