they tearme rem Sacramenti the principall thing exhibited in the Sacrament Thus in the Lords Supper the outward thing which we see with our eyes is bread and wine the inward thing which wee apprehend by faith is the body and blood of Christ in the outward part of this mysticall action which reacheth to that which is Sacramentum onely we receiue this body and blood but sacramentally in the inward which containeth rem the thing it selfe in it wee receiue them really and consequently the presence of these in the one is relatiue and symbolicall in the other reall and substantiall To begin then with that which is symbolicall and relatiue we may obserue out of the Scripture which saith that Abraham receiued the signe of Circumcision a seale of the righteousnesse of the faith which hee had being vncircumcised that Sacraments haue a twofold relation to the things whereof they be Sacraments the one of a signe the other of a seale Signes wee knovv are relatiuely vnited vnto the things which they doe signifie and in this respect ate so neerly conioyned together that the name of the one is vsually communicated vnto the other This cup is the new Testament or the new Couenant saith our Sauiour in the institution of the holy Supper Luk. 22.20 This is my Couenant saith God in the institution of Circumcision in the old Testament Gen. 17.10 but how it was his Couenant hee explaneth in the verse immediatly following Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskinne and it shall be a SIGNE of the Couenant betwixt me and you So words being the signes of things no sooner is the sound of the word conueyed to our cares but the notion of the thing signified thereby is presented vnto our minde and thereupon in the speech of the Scripture nothing is more ordinary then by the terme of Word to note a thing We reade in the fourth of the first of Samuel that the Philistims were afraid and said God is come into the Campe vers 7. when the Israelites brought thither the Arke of the Couenant of the Lord of hosts which dwelleth betweene the Cherubims vers 4. and yet was that no other but this relatiue kinde of presence wherof now we speake in respect whereof also the shewbread is in the Hebrew named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the bread of faces or the presence bread Wee see with vs the roome wherein the Kings câ—aire and other ensignes of State are placed is called the Chamber of presence although the King himselfe bee not there personally present and as the rude and vndutifull behauiour of any in that place or the offering of any dis-respect to the Kings pourtraicture or to the Armes Royall or to any other thing that hath relation to his Maiesty is taken as a dishonour done vnto the King himselfe so heere hee that eateth the bread and drinketh the cup of the Lord vnworthily is accounted guilty of offering indignity to the body and blood of the Lord. In this sort wee acknowledge Sacraments to be signes but bare signes we denie them to bee seales they are as vvell as signes of the Couenant of grace As it vvas therefore said of Iohn the Baptist that he vvas a Prophet and more then a Prophet so must vve say of Sacraments that they be signes and more then signes euen pledges and assurances of the interest vvhich vvee haue in the heauenly things that are represented by them He that hath in his chamber the picture of the French King hath but a bare signe vvhich possibly may make him thinke of that King vvhen hee looketh on it but shevveth not that hee hath any manner of interest in him It is othervvise vvith him that hath the Kings great Seale for the confirmation of the title that hee hath vnto all the lands and liuelihood which he doth inioy And as heere the waxe that is affixed to those letters Patents howsoeuer for substance it bee the very same with that which is to be found euery where yet being applyed to this vse is of more worth to the Patentee then all the waxe in the country beside so standeth it with the outward elements in the matter of the Sacrament The bread and wine are not changed in substance from being the same with that which is serued at ordinary tables but in respect of the sacred vse whereunto they are consecrated such a change is made that now they differ as much from common bread and wine as heauen from earth Neither are they to be accounted barely significatiue but truly exhibitiue also of those heauenly things whereto they haue relation as being appoynted by God to bee a meanes of conueying the same vnto vs and putting vs in actuall possession thereof So that in the vse of this holy ordinance as verily as a man with his bodily hand and mouth receiueth the earthly creatures so verily doth he with his spirituall hand and mouth if any such he haue receiue the body and blood of Christ. And this is that reall and substantiall presence which wee affirmed to be in the inward part of this sacred action For the better conceiuing of which mystery we are to inquire first what the thing is which wee doe heere receiue secondly how and in what manner we are made partakers of it Touching the first the truth which must be held is this that wee doe not here receiue onely the benefits that flow from Christ but the very body and blood of Christ that is Christ himselfe crucified For as none can bee made partaker of the vertue of the bread and wine to his bodily sustenance vnlesse he first doe receiue the substance of those creatures so neither can any participate in the benefits arising from Christ to his spirituall reliefe except he first haue communion with Christ himselfe We must haue the Sonne before wee haue life and therefore eate him we must as himselfe speaketh that is as truly bee made partakers of him as we are of our ordinary food if we will liue by him As there is a giuing of him on Gods part for vnto vs a Sonne is giuen so there must bee a receiuing of him on our part for as many as reciued him to them gaue hee power to become the sonnes of God And as wee are called by God vnto the communion of his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord so if we doe heare his voyce and not harden our hearts by vnbeliefe wee are indeed made partakers of Christ. This is that great mystery for so the Apostle termeth it of our vnion with Christ whereby we are made members of his body of his flesh and of his bones and this is that eating of the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinking of his blood which our Sauiour insisteth so much vpon in the sixth of Iohn Where if any man shall demand that I may now come vnto the second poynt of our inquiry How can this man giue
Saint Paul teacheth vs to make hereof in 1. Cor. 12.26 which he further amplifieth in the verse next following by the mutuall sympathy and fellow-feeling which the members of the same body haue one with another For whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honoured all the members reioyce with it and then he addeth Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular Shewing vnto vs thereby that as wee are all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concorporated as it were and made copartners of the promise in Christ so wee should haue one another in our hearts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to die and liue together And hereupon is that exhortation in the 13. to the Hebrewes grounded Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and them which suffer aduersity as being your selues also in the Body It being a perillous signe that we be no liuely members of that body if we be not sensible of the calamities that lye vpon our afflicted brethren We know the Woe that is pronounced against such as are at ease in Sion and are not grieued for the affliction of Ioseph with the iudgement following Therefore now shall they goe captiue with the first that goe captiue We know the Angels bitter curse against the inhabitants of Meroz Curse ye Meroz said the Angell of the Lord curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof because they came not to helpe the Lord to helpe the Lord against the mighty Not as if the Lord did stand in need of our helpe or were not able without our assistance to maintaine his owne cause but that hereby he would make triall of our readinesse to doe him seruice and proue the sincerity of our loue If wee hold our peace and sit still at this time deliuerance shall arise to Gods Church from another place but let vs looke that the destruction doe not light vpon vs and ours I need not make any application of that which I haue spoken the face of Christendome so miserably rent and torne as it is at this day cannot but present it selfe as a rufull spectacle vnto all our eyes and if there be any bowels in vs stirre vp compassion in our hearts Neither need I to be earnest in exciting you to put your helping hands to the making vp of these breaches your forwardnesse herein hath preuented mee and in stead of petitioning for which I had prepared my selfe hath ministred vnto mee matter of thankesgiuing A good worke is at all times commendable but the doing of it in fit time addeth much to the luster thereof and maketh it yet more goodly The season of the yeere is approching wherein Kings goe forth to battell the present supply and offer of your Subsidie was done in a time most seasonable being so much also the more acceptable as it was granted not grudgingly or of necessity but freely and with a willing minde God loueth a cheerefull giuer and he is able to make all grace abound towards you that ye alwayes hauing all sufficiency in all things may abound to euery good worke And thus being by your goodnesse so happily abridged of that which I intended further to haue vrged from the coniunction which we haue with the Body I passe now vnto the second part of the Communion of Saints which consisteth in the vnion which we all haue with one Head For Christ our Head is the maine foundation of this heauenly vnion Out of him there is nothing but confusion without him we are nothing but disordered heapes of rubbish but in him all the building fitly framed together groweth vnto an holy Temple in the Lord and in him are we builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit Ephes. 2.21 22. Of our selues wee are but lost sheepe scattered and wandring vpon euery Mountaine From him it is that there is one fold and one shepheard Ioh. 10.16 God hauing purposed in himselfe to gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heauen and which are on earth euen in him Ephes. 1.10 This is the effect of our Sauiours prayer Ioh. 17.21 That they all may be one as thou Father art in me I in thee that they also may be one in vs c. I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one And this is it which we finde so oft repeated by Saint Paul We being many are one body in Christ Rom. 12.5 Ye are all one in Christ Iesus Gal. 3.28 And in the Text wee haue in hand Wee being many are one bread and one body Why because we are all partakers of that one bread namely of that bread whereof he had said in the words immediately going before The bread which we breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ Vnder the name of Bread therefore heere is comprehended both Panis Domini and Panis Dominus not onely the bread of the Lord but also the Lord himselfe who is that liuing Bread which came downe from heauen Ioh. 6.51 For as Saint Peter saying that Baptisme doth saue vs vnderstandeth thereby both the outward part of that Sacrament for he expressely calleth it a figure and more than that too as appeareth by the explication presently adioyned not the putting away of the filth of the flesh euen the inward purging of our consciences by vertue of the death and resurrection of Iesus Christ so Saint Paul heere making the reason of our vnion to bee our partaking all of this one bread hath not so much respect vnto the externall bread in the Sacrament though he exclude not that neither as vnto the true and heauenly Bread figured thereby whereof the Lord himselfe pronounceth in the sixth of Iohn The bread that I will giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world And to shew that by partaking of this bread that wonderfull vnion we speake of is effected Hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him It is a lamentable thing to behold how this holy Sacrament which was ordained by Christ to be a bond whereby wee should be knit together in vnity is by Satans malice and the corruption of mans disposition so strangely peruerted the contrary way that it is made the principall occasion of that wofull distraction which wee see amongst Christians at this day and the very fuell of endlesse strifes and implacable contentions And for as much as these mischiefes haue proceeded from the inconsiderate confounding of those things which in their owne nature are as different as may be for the cleerer distinguishing of matters we are in the first place to consider that a Sacrament taken in his full extent comprehendeth two things in it that which is outward and visible which the Schooles call properly Sacramentum in a more strict acception of the word and that which is inward and inuisible which
the Spirit of Christ the soule as it were of all the rest and that whereby the iust doth liue is Faith For we through the Spirit waite for the hope of righteousnesse by faith saith S. Paul to the Galatians And againe I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in me and the life which I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who loued me and gaue himselfe for me By faith it is that wee doe receiue Christ and so likewise Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith Faith therefore is that spirituall mouth in vs whereby wee eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood that is as the Apostle expresseth it without the trope are made partakers of Christ he being by this meanes as truly and euery wayes as effectually made ours as the meate and drinke which we receiue into our naturall bodies But you will say If this be all the matter what doe we get by comming to the Sacrament seeing we haue faith and the quickening Spirit of Christ before wee come thither To this I answere that the Spirit is receiued in diuers measures and faith bestowed vpon vs in different degrees by reason whereof our coniunction with Christ may euery day bee made straiter and the hold which we take of him firmer To receiue the Spirit not by measure is the priuiledge of our Head we that receiue out of his fulnesse haue not our portion of grace deliuered vnto vs all at once but must daily looke for supply of the Spirit of Iesus Christ. So also while we are in this world the righteousnesse of God is reuealed vnto vs from faith to faith that is from one degree and measure of it to another and consequently we must still labour to perfect that which is lacking in our faith and euermore pray with the Apostles Lord increase our faith As wee haue therefore receiued Christ Iesus the Lord so must wee walke in him rooted and built vp in him and stablished in the faith that wee may grow vp into him in all things which is the Head And to this end God hath ordained publike officers in his Church for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the ministery for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the vnity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Sonne of God vnto a perfect man vnto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of Christ and hath accordingly made them able Ministers of the Spirit that quickeneth and Ministers by whom we should beleeue euen as the Lord shall giue to euery man When wee haue therefore receiued the Spirit and Faith and so spirituall life by their ministery we are not there to rest but as new borne babes we must desire the sincere milke of the Word that we may grow thereby and as growne men too wee must desire to be fed at the Lords Table that by the strength of that spirituall repast we may be inabled to doe the Lords worke and may continually be nourished vp thereby in the life of grace vnto the life of glory Neither must we heere with a fleshly eye looke vpon the meanenesse of the outward elements and haue this faithlesse thought in our hearts that there is no likelihood a bit of bread and a draught of wine should be able to produce such heauenly effects as these For so we should prooue our selues to be no wiser than Naaman the Syrian was who hauing receiued direction from the man of God that he should wash in Iordan seuen times to be cleansed of his Leprosie replied with indignation Are not Abana and Pharpar riuers of Damascus better then all the waters of Israel May I not wash in them and be cleane But as his seruāts did soberly aduise him then If the Prophet had bid thee doe some great thing wouldest thou not haue done it How much rather then when hee saith to thee Wash and be cleane So giue mee leaue to say vnto you now If the Lord had commanded vs to doe some great thing for the attaining of so high a good should not we willingly haue done it How much rather then when hee biddeth vs to eate the bread and drinke the wine that he hath prouided for vs at his owne Table that by his blessing thereupon wee may grow in grace and be preserued both in body and soule vnto euerlasting life True it is indeed these outward creatures haue no naturall power in them to effect so great a worke as this is no more then the water of Iordan had to recouer the Leper but the worke wrought by these meanes is supernaturall and God hath been pleased in the dispensation both of the Word and of the Sacraments so to ordaine it that these heauenly treasures should bee presented vnto vs in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power might be of God As therefore in the preaching of the Gospell the Minister doth not dare verba and beate the aire with a fruitlesse found but the words that hee speaketh vnto vs are Spirit and life God being pleased by the foolishnesse of preaching to saue them that beleeue so likewise in the administration of the Lords Supper he doth not feed vs with bare bread and wine but if we haue the life of faith in vs for still we must remember that this Table is prouided not for the dead but for the liuing and come worthily the Cup of blessing which he blesseth will be vnto vs the communion of the blood of Christ and the bread which hee breaketh the communion of the body of Christ of which precious body and blood wee being really made partakers that is in truth and indeed and not in imagination onely although in a spirituall and not a corporall manner the Lord doth grant vs according to the riches of his glory to bee strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man that we may bee filled with all the fulnesse of God For the Sacraments as well as the Word be a part of that ministration of the Spirit which is committed to the Ministers of the New Testament for as much as by one Spirit as before we haue heard from the Apostle wee haue been all baptized into one body and haue been all made to drinke into one Spirit And thus haue I finished the first part of my taske my Congregatio homogeneorum as I call it the knitting together of those that appertaine to the same body both with their fellovv-members and vvith their Head vvhich is the thing laid dovvne in the expresse vvords of my Text. It remaineth novv that I proceed to the Apostles application hereof vnto the argument hee hath in hand vvhich is Segregatio heterogeneorum a disseuering of those that bee not of the same communion that the faithfull may not partake
their Images be no Idoles and as vainely also doe they spend time in curiously distinguishing the seuerall degrees of worship the highest point whereof which they call Latreia and acknowledge to be due onely vnto God they would be loth wee should thinke that they did communicate to any of their Images But here wee are to vnderstand first of all that Idolatry may be committed by giuing not the highest onely but also the lowest degree of religious adoration vnto Images and therefore in the words of the Commandement the very bowing downe vnto them which is one of the meanest degrees of worship is expresly forbidden Secondly that it is the receiued doctrine of Popish diuines that the Image should be honored with the same worship wherewith that thing is worshipped whose Image it is and therfore what adoration is due to Christ and the Trinity the same by this ground they are to giue vnto their Images Thirdly that in the Roman Pontificall published by the authority of Clement the VIII to omit other testimonies in this kinde it is concluded that the Crosse of the Popes Legate shal haue the right hand vpon this very reason quia debetur ei latria because the worship proper to God is due to it Now whether they commit Idolatry who communicate vnto a senselesse thing that worship which they themselues confesse to be due vnto God alone let all the world iudge They were best therefore from henceforth confesse themselues to be Idolaters and stand to it that euery kinde of Idolatry is not vnlawfull Their Iesuite Gregorius de Valentia will tell them for their comfort that it is no absurdity to thinke that Saint Peter when he deterreth the faithfull by name ab illicitis Idolorum cultibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saint Peter calleth them that is abominable Idolatries doth insinuate therby that some worship of Images is lawfull Iohn Monceye the Frenchman in his Aaron Purgatus dedicated to the late Pope Paul the fifth and in his twenty questions propounded to Visorius stretcheth yet a straine higher For howsoeuer hee cannot away with the name of Idols and Idolatry yet he liketh the thing it selfe so well that he vndertaketh to cleare Aaron from committing any error in setting vp the golden Calfe and laboureth to purge Laban and Micha and Ieroboam too from the imputation of Idolatry hauing found indeed that nothing had beene done by them in this kinde which is not agreeable to the practice of the Romane Church at this day And lest the poore people whom they haue so miserably abused should finde how farre they haue beene misled wee see that the masters of that Church doe in the Seruice books and Catechismes which come vnto the hāds of the vulgar generally leaue out the words of the second Commandement that make against the adoration of Images fearing lest by the light thereof the mystery of their iniquity should be discouered They pretend indeed that this Commandement is not excluded by them but included onely in the first whereas in truth they doe but craftily conceale it from the peoples eyes because they would not haue them to be ruled by it Nay Vasquez the Iesuite doth boldly acknowledge that it plainely appeareth by comparing the words of this Commandement with the place which hath beene alledged out of the 4. of Deuteronomy that the Scripture did not onely forbid the worshipping of an Image for God but also the adoration of the true God himselfe in an Image He confesseth further that he and his fellow Catholikes doe otherwise What saith hee then to the Commandement thinke you Because it will not be obeyed it must be repealed and not admitted to haue any place among the morall precepts of God It was saith he a positiue and ceremoniall Law and therefore ought to cease in the time of the Gospell And as if it had not beene enough for him to match the Scribes and Pharises in impiety who made the Commandement of God of none effect that they might keepe their owne tradition that he might fulfill the measure of his fathers and shew himselfe to be a true childe of her who beareth the name of being the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth he is yet more mad and sticketh not to maintaine that not onely a paynted Image but any other thing of the world whether it be without life and reason or whether it be a reasonable creature may in the nature of the thing and if the matter bee discreetly handled be adored vvith God as his Image yea and counteth it no absurdity at all that a very vvispe of stravv should be thus vvorshipped But let vs turne yet againe and vve shall see greater abominations then these We heard hovv this blessed Sacrament vvhich is here propounded by the Apostle as a bond to vnite Christians together in one body hath beene made the apple of strife and the occasion of most bitter breaches in the Church we may now obserue againe that the same holy Sacrament which by the same Apostle is here brought in as a principall inducement to make men flee from Idolatry is by our Aduersaries made the obiect of the grossest Idolatry that euer hath been practised by any For their constant doctrine is that in worshipping the Sacrament they should giue vnto it latriae cultum qui vero Deo debetur as the Councell of Trent hath determined that kinde of seruice which is due to the true God determining their worship in that very thing which the Priest doth hold betwixt his hands Their practice also runs accordingly for an instance whereof we neede goe no further then to Sanders booke of the Lords Supper before which he hath perfixed an Epistle Dedicatory superscribed in this manner To the Body and Blood of our Sauiour Iesus Christ vnder the formes of Bread and Wine all honour praise and thankes be giuen for euer Adding further in the processe of that blockish Epistle Howsoeuer it be with other men I adore thee my God and Lord really present vnder the formes of Bread and Wine after consecration deuly made Beseeching thee of pardon for my sinnes c. Now if the conceite which these men haue concerning the Sacrament should proue to bee false as indeed we know it to be most absurd and monstrous their owne Iesuite Coster doth freely confesse that they should be in such an error and Idolatry qualis in orbe terrarum nunquam vel visus vel auditus fuit as neuer was seene or heard of in this world For the error of them is more tolerable saith he who worship for God a Statue of gold or siluer or an Image of any other matter as the Gentiles adored their gods or a red cloth lifted vp vpon a speare as it is reported of the Lappians or liuing creatures as did sometime the Egyptians then of those that worship a piece of bread We therefore who are verily perswaded that the Papists doe
vs his flesh to eate He must beware that he come not pre-occupied with such dull conceits as they were possessed withall who moued that question there hee must not thinke that we cannot truly feed on Christ vnlesse we receiue him within our iawes for that is as grosse an imagination as that of Nicodemus who could not conceiue how a man could bee borne againe vnlesse he should enter the second time into his mothers wombe but must consider that the eating and drinking which our Sauiour speaketh of must be answerable to the hungring and thirsting for the quenching whereof this heauenly Banquet is prouided Marke well the words which he vseth toward the beginning of his discourse concerning this argument I am the bread of life hee that commeth to me shall neuer hunger and hee that beleeueth on me shall neuer thirst But I said vnto you that ye also haue seene me and beleeue not And compare them with those in the end It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speake vnto you they are spirit and they are life But there are some of you that beleeue not Now obserue that such as our hungring is such is our eating But euery one will confesse that the hunger heere spoken of is not corporall but spirituall Why then should any man dreame heere of a corporall eating Againe the corporall eating if a man might haue it would not auaile any thing to the slaking of this hunger nay we are expressely told that the flesh thus taken for so we must vnderstand it profiteth nothing a man should neuer be the better nor one iot the holier nor any whit further from the second death if he had filled his belly with it But that manner of feeding on this flesh which Christ himselfe commendeth vnto vs is of such profit that it preserueth the eater from death and maketh him to liue for euer It is not therefore such an eating that euery man who bringeth a bodily mouth with him may attaine vnto but it is of a farre higher nature namely a spirituall vniting of vs vnto Christ whereby he dwelleth in vs and we liue by him If any doe further inquire how it is possible that any such vnion should be seeing the body of Christ is in heauen and wee are vpon earth I answere that if the manner of this coniunction were carnall and corporall it would bee indeed necessary that the things conioyned should bee admitted to bee in the same place but it being altogether spirituall and supernaturall no locall presence no physicall nor mathematicall continuity or contiguity is any way requisite thereunto It is sufficient for the making of a reall vnion in this kinde that Christ and we though neuer so farre distant in place each from other bee knit together by those spirituall ligatures which are intimated vnto vs in the words alledged out of the sixth of Iohn to wit the quickening Spirit descending downeward from the Head to be in vs a fountaine of supernaturall life and a liuely faith wrought by the same Spirit ascending from vs vpward to lay fast hold vpon him who hauing by himselfe purged our sinnes sitteth on the right hand of the Maiesty on high First therefore for the communion of the Spirit which is the ground and foundation of this spirituall vnion let vs call to minde what we haue read in Gods Booke that Christ the second Adam was made a quickening spirit and that he quickeneth whom he will that vnto him God hath giuen the Spirit without measure and of his fulnesse haue all we receiued that he that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit and that heereby wee know that we dwell in him and he in vs because hee hath giuen vs his Spirit By all which it doth appeare that the mystery of our vnion with Christ consisteth mainly in this that the selfe-same Spirit which is in him as in the Head is so deriued from him into euery one of his true members that thereby they are animated and quickened to a spirituall life We reade in the first of Ezekiel of foure liuing creatures and of foure wheeles standing by them When those went saith the Text these went and when those stood these stood and when those were lifted vp from the earth the wheeles were lifted vp ouer against them Hee that should behold such a vision as this would easily conclude by that which he saw that some inuisible bands there were by which these wheeles and liuing creatures were ioyned together howsoeuer none did outwardly appeare vnto the eye and the holy Ghost to giue vs satisfaction heerein discouereth the secret by yeelding this for the reason of this strange connexion that the spirit of the liuing creature was in the wheeles Ezek. 1.21 From whence wee may inferre that things may truly be conioyned together though the manner of the coniunction bee not corporall and that things distant in place may be vnited together by hauing the spirit of the one communicated vnto the other Nay if we marke it well we shall finde it to be thus in euery of our owne bodies that the formall reason of the vnion of the members consisteth not in the continuity of the parts though that also be requisite to the vnity of a naturall body but in the animation thereof by one and the same spirit If we should suppose a body to be as high as the heauens that the head thereof should be where Christ our Head is and the feet where we his members are no sooner could that head thinke of mouing one of the toes but instantly the thing would be done without any impediment giuen by that huge distance of the one from the other And why because the same soule that is in the head as in the fountaine of sence and motion is present likewise in the lowest member of the body But if it should so fall out that this or any other member proued to be mortified it presently would cease to bee a member of that body the corporall coniunction and continuity with the other parts notwithstanding And euen thus is it in Christ although in regard of his corporall presence the heauen must receiue him vntill the times of the restitution of all things yet is he here with vs alway euen vnto the end of the world in respect of the presence of his Spirit by the vitall influence whereof from him as from the Head the whole body is fitly ioyned together and compacted by that which euery ioynt supplieth according to the effectuall working in the measure of euery part Which quickening Spirit if it be wanting in any no externall communion with Christ or his Church can make him a true member of this mysticall body this being a most sure principle that He which hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his Rom. 8.9 Now among all the graces that are wrought in vs by