of Christ which is done when he is broughte vnder the corruptible elements of this world or is bound to any earthly creatures The other that nothyng be by fainyng applied to his body that agreeth not with the nature of man whiche is done when it is either saide to bee infinite or is sett in many places at ones But these absurdities being taken away I willyngly receiue what soeuer may auaile to expresse the true and substantiall communicatyng of the Body and Blood of the Lord which cōmunicatyng is deliuered to the faithfull vnder the holy signes of the Supper so that they may be thought not to receyue it by imagination onely or vnderstandyng of mynde but to enioy it in dede to the foode of eternall lyfe Why this sentence is so hatefull to the worlde and all defence taken away from it by the vniust iudgementes of many there is no cause at all but for that the deuell hath with horrible bewitchyng madded their myndes Truely that which we teache dothe in all pointes very well agree with the Scriptures it conteineth neither any absurditie nor darknesse nor doutfulnesse it is not agaynst true godlynesse and sounde edification finally it hath nothing in it that may offend sauyng that in certaine ages past when that ignorance and barbarousnesse of Sophisters reigned in the Chirche so clere light and open truthe hath ben vnworthily oppressed Yet because Satā at this day also trauayleth by troublesome Spirites to spot it with all the sclanders and reproches that he can and bendeth himselfe to no other thyng with greater endeuor it is profitable the more diligently to defende and rescue it Nowe before that we goe any further we must entreate of the selfe institution of Christe specially because this is the most glorious obiection that our aduersaries haue that we departe from the woordes of Christe Therfore that we may be discharged of the false cause of malice wherwith they burden vs our fittest beginnyng shall be at the exposition of the woordes Three Euangelistes and Paule rehearse that Christe tooke bread when he had geuen thankes he brake it gaue it to his disciples and sayde Take eate this is my Body whiche is delyuered or broken for you Of the cuppe Mathew and Marke saye thus This cuppe is the blood of the newe testament whiche shal be shedde for many vnto forgeuenesse of synnes But Paule and Luke say thus This cuppe is the newe testament in my blood The patrones of transubstantiation will haue by the pronoune this the forme of bread to be signified because the consecration is made in the whole contente of the sentence and there is no substance that can be shewed But if they be holden with religious care of the woordes because Christ testified that that whiche he reached into the disciples handes was his bodye truely this their deuise that that whiche was bread is nowe the bodie is moste farre from the propre meanyng of them That which Christe tooke into his handes and gaue the Apostles he affirmeth to be his body but he toke bread who therfore can not vnderstande that bread is yet shewed and therfore there is no greater absurditie than to remoue that to the forme whiche is spoken of the bread Other when they expounde this woorde is for to be transubstantiate doo flee to a more enforced and violently wrasted glose Therefore there is no cause why they should pretende that they be moued with reuerence of wordes For this was vnheard of among all nations and languages that the word is should be taken in this sense namely for to be tourned into an other thyng As for them that leaue breade in the Supper and affirme that there is the body of Christ they muche differ among themselues They whiche speake more modestly althoughe they precisely exact the letter This is my body yet afterwarde swarue from theyr precisenesse and say that it is as muche in effect as that the body of Christ is with bread in bread and vnder bread Of the mater it selfe which they affirme we haue already touched somwhat and we shal by and by haue occasion yet to speake more Nowe I dispute only of the wordes by which they say they are restrained that they can not admitte bred to be called the body because it is a signe of the body But if they shunne all figures why do they leape away from the plaine shewing of Christ to their owne maners of speaking farr differing from it For there is great difference betwene this that bread is the body and this that the body is with bread But because they sawe it to bee impossible that this simple proposition might stande that bread is the body they haue attempted to scape away by those formes of speche as it were by croked turnyngs Some more bolde sticke not to affirme that euen in propre speakyng bread is the body and by this meane they truely proue themselues to be litteral mē If it be obiected that therfore the bread is Christ and is God this verily they will denie because it is not expressed in the wordes of Christ. But they shall nothyng preuayle by denyeng it forasmuche as all doo agree that whole Christ is offred vs in the Supper But it is an intolerable blasphemie that it be without figure spoken of a fraile and corruptible element that it is Christ. Now I aske of them whether these twoo propositions be bothe of one effect Christe is the Sonne of God and bread is the body of Christe If they graunt that they are diuers which we will enforce them to graunte whether they will or no then lett them answere whens commeth the difference I thynke they wyll bryng none other but that the bread is after the sacramentall maner called the body Wherupon foloweth that Christes wordes are not subiecte to the common rule nor oughte to bee tried by Grammer Also I aske of all the precise and stiffe requirers of the letter where Luke and Paule do call the cuppe the testament in the blood whether they do not expresse the same thyng which they dyd in the first parte where they call bread the bodye Truely the same religion was in the one parte of the mysterie that was in the other and because shortnesse is darke longer speche dothe better open the meanyng So oft therfore as they shall affirme by one word that the bread is the body I will out of mo wordes bryng a fitt exposition that it is the Testament in the bodye For why Shall we nede to seke a more faithfull or surer expositor than Paule Luke Neither yet doo I tende herunto to diminishe any thing of that communicating of the body of Christ which I haue confessed onely my purpose is to confute that folish waiwardnesse wherby they do so hatefully brawle about words I vnderstand by the authoritie of Paul and Luke that the bread is the body of Christ because it is the couenant in the body If they fight against
the olde testamente dyd shewe onely an image in abscence of the truthe and a shadowe in steede of the bodye But the newe testament geueth the truthe present and the sounde bodie it self And this difference is mentioned commonli whersoeuer the new testament is in comparison set againste the olde but it is more largely entreated of in the epistle to the Hebrues than any where els There the Apostle disputeth againste them whiche thought that the obseruations of Moses lawe might not be taken awaye but that thei sholde also drawe wyth them the ruine of all religion To confute thys erroure he vseth that whiche had been forespoken by the Prophete concerning the presthoode of Christe For whereas there is geuen hym an eternall presthoode it is certaine that that prestehoode is taken away wherin newe successors were dayly put in one after an other But hee proueth that the institution of this newe prestehoode is to be preferred bicause it is stablished with an othe He after addeth further that in the same change of the preestehoode is also conteined the change of the Testament And that it was necessarie so to be he proueth by this reason for that the weakenesse of the law was such that it coulde helpe nothing to perfection Then he procedeth in declaring what was that weakenesse euen this that it had certaine outwarde righteousnesses of the fleshe whyche could not make the obseruers of them perfect according to conscience that by sacrifices of beastes it coulde neither wipe away synnes nor purchase true holynesse He concludeth therefore that there was in it a shadowe of good thynges to come but not the liuely image of the thinges them selues and that therefore it had not other office but to bee as an introduction into a better hope whiche is delyuered in the Gospell Here is to bee seen in what poynte the couenant of the lawe is compared with the couenant of the Gospell and the ministerie of Christe with the ministerie of Moses For if the comparison concerned the substance of the promisses then were there greate dyfference betweene the twoo testamentes but sithe the poynte of oure case leadeth vs an other waye we muste tende to thys ende to fynde oute the truth Let vs then set forth heere the couenant whiche he hathe stablished to be eternall and neuer to peryshe The accomplyshment therof whereby it atteineth to be stablished and continuing in force is Christe Whyle suche establyshment was in expectation the Lorde did by Moses apointe ceremonies to bee as it were solemne signes of the coufyrmation Nowe this came there in question whether the ceremonies that were ordeyned in the lawe oughte to geue place to Christe or no. Althoughe these ceremonies were in deede onely accidentes or verylye additions and thynges adioyned or as the people call them accessarie thynges to the couenaunte yet bycause they weare instrumentes or meanes of the admynistration thereof they beare the name of the couenaunte yt selfe as the lyke ys wonte to bee attributed to other Sacramentes Therefore in summe the olde Testamente is in thys place called the solemne fourme of confyrmynge the couenaunte conteyned in Ceremonies and Sacrifices The Apostle saythe that bycause in yt ys nothynge perfecte vnlesse wee passe further therefore yt behoued that they shoulde bee dyscoâ—tinued and abrogate that place myght be geuen to Christe the assurer and mediatore of better testament by whome eternall sanctification is ones purchaced to the elect and the transgressions blotted oute that remayned vnder the lawe Or if you like it better thus That the olde testament of the Lorde was that whiche was deliuered wrapped vp in the shadowish and effectual obseruation of ceremonies and that therfore it was but for a time bicause it did but as it wer hang in suspense vntyll it myght staye vpon a more stedfast and substantiall confyrmation and that then onely it was made newe eternall after that it was consecrate and stablyshed by the bloode of Christe Wherevpon Christe calleth the cuppe that he gaue at his supper to his Disciples The cup of the newe testament in his bloode to signifie that then the testameÌ„t of God attemeth his trueth by whiche it be coÌ„meth newe and eternal when it is sealed with his bloode Hereby appeareth in what sense the Apostle saide that in the scholynge of the lawe the Iewes were brought vnto Christ before that he was shewed in the flesh And he confesseth that thei were the children and heires of God but yet suche as for their yonge age were to be kept vnder the custodie of a schoolemaster For it behoued that ere the sonne of righteousnesse was yet rysen their sholde neither be so great brightnesse of reuelation nor so great deepe sight of vnderstandynge Therefore God so gaue them in measure the light of hys worde that thei saw it as yet farre of and darkely Therfore Paule expresseth this sclendernesse of vnderstanding by the terme of yonge age whiche the Lords wil was to haue to be exercised with that elements of this worlde with out warde observations as rules of instruction for children vntyll Christe shoulde shyne a broade by whom it behoued that the knowledge of the faithfull people shoulde growe to full age This distinction Christe him selfe meant of when hee saide that the lawe and the Prophetes were vntyll Ihon and that from thenseforth the kingedome of God is preached What did the lawe and the Prophetes open to men of their time euen this thei gaue a taste of that wisedome which in time to come sholde be plainely disclosed and thei shewed it before as it were twinclingely shyning a farr of But when it came to passe that Christ might be pointed to with the finger then was the kingedome of God set open For in him are laied abroade the treasures of al wisdome and vnderstanding whereby wee atteine euen in a manner into the secret closettes of heauen And it maketh not against vs that ther can scarsely any one be found in the Christian Churche that in excellencye of faith maye be compared with Abraham or that the Prophetes excelled in suche force of spirite that euen at this daye thei lighten the whole worlde withall For oure question is not here what grace the Lord hathe bestowed vpon a few but what ordinarie disposition he vsed in teachinge his people suche as is declared in the Prophetes them selues which were endued with peculiar knoweledge aboue the rest For euen their preaching is dark and enclosed in figures as of thinges a farre of Moreouer howe meruellous knoweledge soeuer appeared in them aboue other yet forasmuche as they wer dryuen of necessitie to submit them to the common childish â—â—struction of the people thei them selues also were reckened in the nuÌ„bre of children Fynallye there neuer chaunged any suche clere sfyght to any at that tyme but that it dede in some parte savoure of the darknesse of the time Whervpon Christ saide Many kinges and Prophetes
capacitie of the vnlearned I wyll vndo those knottes wherwith Satan hath endeuored to snare the worlde Fyrst bread and wyne are signes whiche represent vnto vs the inuisible foode whiche we receyne of the fleshe and blood of Christ. For as in Baptisme God againe begettyng vs doothe graffe vs into the felowshippe of his Chirche and by adoption dothe make vs his owne so we haue sayde that he performeth the office of a prouident Father of householde in this that he continually ministreth vs meate that he susteineth and preserueth vs in that lyfe wherinto he hath by his worde begotten vs. Now the only meate of our soule is Christ and therfore the heauenly Father calleth vs to hym that beyng refreshed with common partakyng of hym we maye from tyme to tyme gather liuely force vntill we atteine to heauenlye immortalitie But forasmuche as this mysterie of the secrete vnityng of Christe with the godly is by nature impossible to be comprehended he geueth the figure and image therof in visible signes moste fit for our small capacitie yea as it were by earnestes and tokens geuen he maketh it so assured vnto vs as if it were seen with our eies because this so familiar a similitude entreth euen into the grossest myndes that soules are so fed with Christ as bread and wine do susteine the bodily life Now therfore we haue it declared to what ende this mysticall blessyng tendeth ▪ namely to assure vs that the body of the Lord was so ones offred for vs that we nowe eate it and in eatyng it doo fele in vs the effectual working of that only sacrifice that his blood was so ones shed for vs that it is vnto vs continuall drinke And so sounde the words of the promise there adioyned Take this is my body whiche is deliuered for you The body therfore which was ones offred vp for our saluation we are commaunded to take and eate that when we see our selues to be made partakers of this we may certainly determine that the power of his death which bringeth life shal be effectuall in vs. Wherupon also he calleth the cuppe the couenant in his blood For after a certaine maner it reneweth or rather continueth the couenant whiche he hath ones stablished with his blood so muche as pertaineth to the confirmyng of our faith so ofte as he reacheth vnto vs that holy blood to be tasted of A great fruite verily of affiance and swetenesse may godly soules gather of this Sacrament because they haue a witnesse that we are growen together into one body with Christe so that whatsoeuer is his we may call ours Herupon foloweth that we may boldly promise vnto our selues that euerlastyng life is ours whereof he is heire and that the kingdome of heauen wherinto he is now entred can no more fal away from vs than from him agayne that we can not nowe be condemned by our sinnes from the gyltinesse wherof he hath acquired vs when he willed them to be imputed to himself as if they were his owne This is the maruailous exchange whiche of his immeasurable bountifulnesse he hath made with vs that he beeyng made with vs the sonne of man hath made vs with hym the sonnes of God that by his cōming downe into earth he hath made vs a waie to goe vp into heauen that putting vpon him our mortalitie he hath geuen vs his immortalitie that takyng on hym our weakenesse he hath strengthened vs with his power that takyng our pouertie to himselfe he hath conueyed his riches to vs that taking to hym the weyght of our vnrighteousnesse wherewith we were oppressed he hath clothed vs with his righteousnesse Of all these thynges we haue so full a witnessyng in this sacrament that we must certainly determine that Christ is truely geuen vs as if Christ hymselfe were sett present before our eies and handled with our handes For this woorde can neither lye to vs nor mocke vs Take eate drinke this is my bodye whiche is deliuered for you this is the blood whiche is shed into the forgeuenesse of sinnes Whereas he commaundeth to take he signifieth that it is ours Whereas he commaundeth to eate he signifieth that that is made one subslance with vs. Whereas he sayth of the body that it is deliuered for vs of the blood that it is shed for vs therin he teacheth that bothe are not so muche his as ours because he toke and laide away both not for his commoditie but to our saluation And truely it is to be diligently marked that the chefe and in a maner whole pith of the Sacrament standeth in these words Which is deliuered for you Which is shed for you For otherwise it should not much profit vs that the body and blood of the Lord ar now distributed vnlesse they had ben ones geuen foorth for our redemption saluation Therfore they are represented vnder bread wine that we shold learne that they are not only ours but also ordeined for the nourishment of spirituall life This is it that we before saied that from the corporall thynges whych are shewed foorth in the Sacrament we are by a certayne proportionall relation guyded to spirituall thynges So when bread is geuen vs for a signe of the body of Christ we ought by by to conceiue this similitude As bread nourisheth susteineth and mainteineth the life of our body so the body of Christ is the onely meate to quicken geue lyfe to oure soule When we see wyne set foorth for a signe of his blood we must call to mynde what vses wyne bryngeth to the bodye that we may consider that the same are brought to vs spiritually by the blood of Christe those vses bee to cherishe to refreshe to strengthen to make mery For if we sufficiently weye what the deliueryng of this holy body what the shedyng of this holy blood hath profited vs we shal plainly perceiue that these thynges whiche are spoken of bread and wine according to such proportionall relation doo very well accorde with them toward vs when they are communicated vnto vs. Therfore the chefe partes of the Sacrament are not simply without hier consideration to reach to vs the body of Christ but rather the same promise wherby he testifieth that his fleshe is verily meate and his blood is drink with which we are fed into eternall life wherby he affirmeth himselfe to be the breade of lyfe of whiche who so eateth he shall liue for euer to seale I saye and confirme that promyse and for bryngyng the same to passe to sende vs to the crosse of Christ where that promise hath ben truely performed and in all pointes fulfilled For we doo not well and healthfully eate Christ but crucified when we doo with liuely feelyng conceiue the effectualnesse of his death For wheras he called himselfe the breade of life he did not borrow that name of the sacrament as some do wrongfully expounde it but because he was geuē vs suche of the Father and performed
of witt iudgement and mynde doo worship onely their faultes and errors and those thynges which are well spoken they eyther marke not or fayne as if they knew them not or do corrupt them so as a man may say that their care was altogether to gather dong in of the golde of the Fathers Then they oppresse vs with importunate cryeng out agaynst vs as despisers and ennemies of the Fathers But wee doo so not despise them that if it were the mater of my present purpose I could very easily proue by their consentyng voices the greater part of these thynges that we say at this daye But we so reade their writynges that we alway remembre that all thynges are ours to serue vs not to haue dominion ouer vs and that we are Christes alone whome we muste obeye in all thynges withoute exception Who so keepeth not this choise shall haue nothyng certaine in religion forasmuch as those holye men were ignorant of many thynges doo oftentymes striue one with an other yea and sometymes fyghte with themselues Not without cause say they we are warned of Salomō that we passe not the old boundes whiche our Fathers haue sett But there is all not all one rule in the boundyng of fieldes and the obedience of Faith which ought to be so framed that it forget her people and the house of her Father If they haue so great delite to vse allegories why doo they not rather expound the Apostles than any other to be their Fathers whoe 's appointed boundes it is not lawfull to plucke vp for so did Hierome expounde it whoe 's woordes they haue registred among their canons But if they will haue the boundes of the same Fathers whome they meane to be stedfastly kept why doo they so oft as they list so licentiously passe them Of the number of the Fathers were they of whome the one sayd that our God eateth not nor drinketh and that therfore he nedeth neither cuppes nor dyshes the other sayd that the holy thynges require not golde and that those thynges please not with golde whiche are not bought with golde Therefore they passe the bound which are in the holy thynges so muche delited with golde syluer yuory marble precious stones and silkes and thynke that God is not rightly worshypped vnlesse altogether be dissolutely set out with exquisite gorgeousnesse or rather with outragious excesse A Father was he whiche sayde that he therfore dyd freely eate fleshe on the daye in which other absteined because he was a Christian. Therfore they passe the boundes when they accurse the soule that tasteth fleshe in Lent Fathers were they of whom the one sayd that a Monke whiche laboureth not with his handes is iudged as euell as a violent taker or if you will a robber the other sayd that it is not lawful for monkes to lyue of other mens goodes although they be continually busied in contemplations in prayers in studie This bounde also they haue passed when they placed the ydoll and harrell bealies of monkes in stewes and brothelhowses to be fatted with other meanes substance A Father was he which said that it is a horrible abhominatiō to se any image painted eyther of Christ or of any Sainte in the temples of Christians Neither was this pronounced by the mouth of one man alone absteyned from the other and the other Father stoutely mainteyneth that to the Christian people the blood of the Lorde ought not to be denied for the confession wherof they are commaunded to shedde their owne blood These boundes also they haue taken away when they haue by an inuiolable law commaūded the selfe same thyng which the one of these Fathers punished with excommunication and the other reproued with a strong reason A Father was he whiche affirmed it to be rashenesse to determine any thyng of a doutefull mater on the one side or the other without cleere and euident witnessyngs of the Scripture This bound they forgot when they stablished so many constitutions so many canons so many maisterly determinations without any woord of God A Father was he which among other heresies reproched Montanus with this that he was the firste that had charged men with lawes of Fastynges This bounde also they haue farre passed when they commaunded fastyng with moste streyght lawes A Father was he whyche denied that mariage ought to be forbidden to ministers of the Chirch and pronounced a mans lyeng with his owne wyfe to be chastitie and Fathers were they whiche agreed to his authoritie Beyonde these boundes haue they gone when they seuerely enioyned vnmaried life to theyr sacrificers A Father was he which iudged that onelye Christe oughte to be heard of whō it is sayd Heare him that we ought not to haue regard what other mē which wer before us haue sayd or done but what Christ which the first of all hath cōmaunded This bounde neither doo they appoynt to themselues nor doo suffer other to haue it appointed them when they set bothe ouer themselues and other any maisters whatsoeuer they be rather than Christe A Father was he whiche affirmed that the Chirche ought not to sett it self before Christe because he alway iudgeth truely but the iudges of the chirche as men are commonly deceaued They breakyng through this bounde also sticke not to affirme that the whole authoritie of the Scripture hangeth vppon the awardement of the Chirch All the Fathers haue with one harte accursed and with one mouth pronounced it abhominable that the holy woorde of God should be entangled with the suttleties of Sophisters and brawlynges of Logitians Doo they holde themselues within these boundes when they goe about nothyng ells in their whole lyfe but with endlesse striues and more then Sophisticall brablynges to wrappe and encombre the simplicitie of the Scripture so that if the Fathers were nowe raysed to lyfe agayn and shoulde heare suche an arte of brawlyng whiche these men call Speculatiue Diuinitie they woulde beleue that nothyng lesse is doone than any disputation had of God But my talke shoulde sprede it selfe beyonde due boundes yf I woulde recken vp howe boldely these menne shake of the yoke of the Fathers whose obediente chyldren they would seme to be Truly bothe moneths and yeares woulde be to lyttle for me And yet they are of so extreme and desperate shamelesnesse that they dare blame vs for that we sticke not to passe the auncient boundes But nowe wheras they call vs to Custome they nothyng preuayle For we shoulde be moste vniustly dealt with if we should be driuen to yelde to Custome Truely if the iudgementes of men were right Custome should be taken of the good But it oftentymes happeneth that men doo otherwise For that whiche is sene to be done of many by and by obteineth the right of a Custom But the state of men hath scarcely at any time ben in so good case that the better thynges pleased the greater numbre Therefore for the most parte of the priuate vices
that he knoweth not the last day that he speaketh not of himself that he doeth not his owne will where it is sayd that he was seene and felt this wholly belongeth to his only manhode For in respect that he is good neither can he encrease in any thing and he worketh all thinges for his owne sake neyther is any thing hidden from him he doeth all thinges accordyng to the free choise of his owne wil and cā neyther be seene nor felt And yet he doth not seuerally ascribe these thinges to his nature of man only but taketh thē vpon himself as yf they did agree with the person of the mediatour But the communicating of propreties is in this that Paule sayth that God did by his owne bloud purchase vnto him a Church and the Lord of glorye crucified Againe where Iohn sayth that the Worde of life was felte Truely God neither hath bloud nor suffereth nor cā be touched with handes But bicause he whiche was bothe very God and man Christ beyng crucified did shed his bloud for vs those things that were done in his nature of man are vnproperly and ye◠not without reason geuen to his godhed A like example is where Iohn teacheth that God gaue his soule for vs therefore there also the propretie of the māhode is cōmunicate with the other nature Agayne when Christ sayd beyng yet conuersant in earth that no man hath ascended into heauen but the sonne of manne that was in heauen truely accordyng to his manhode and in the flesh that he had put on he was not then in heauen but bycause hymselfe was bothe God and manne by reason of the vnitie of bothe natures he gaue to the one that whiche belonged to the other But most playnely of all do these places set forth the true substāce of Christ which do comprehende both natures together of which sort there are very many in the gospell of him For that which is there red is singularly belonging neither to his godhed nor to his manhode but bothe together that he hath receiued of his father power to forgeue sinnes to rayse vp whom he will to geue righteousnesse holinesse and saluatiō to be made iudge ouer the quicke and the dead to be honored euen as the father is Finally that he is called the light of the world the good shepeherd the only dore the true Uine For such prerogatiues had the sonne of God when he was shewed in the flesh which although he enioyed with his father before the world was made yet he had thē not in the same maner or the same respect which could not be geuen to such a man as was nothyng but man In the same meanyng ought we to take that whiche is in Paule that Christ after the iudgement ended shal yelde vp the kingdome to God the father Euen the kingdome of the sonne of God which had no beginning nor shal haue any ending but euen as he laye hid vnder the basenesse of the fleshe and abaced himselfe takyng vpon hym the forme of a seruaunt and layng aside the porte of maiestie he shewed himselfe obedient to his father and hauyng performed al such subiection at length is crowned with honour glory and auaunced to the hiest dominion that all knees shal bowe before him so shal he then yeld vp to his father bothe that name crowne of glorie what so euer he hath receiued of his father that God may be al in all For to what purpose is power and dominiō geuen him but that the father shuld gouerne vs by his hād In which sense it is also sayd that he sitteth at the right hād of the father But this is but for a time til we may enioye the present beholding of the godhed And here the errour of the old fathers cā not be excused which while thei toke no heede to the person of the Mediatour haue obscured the natural meaning of almost al that doctrine that is read in the gospel of Iohn and haue entangled themselues in many snares Let this therefore be vnto vs the keye of right vnderstandyng that such thinges as belōg to the office of the Mediatour are not spoken simply of the nature of God nor of the nature of mā Therfore Christ shal reigne till he come forth to iudge the world in so much as he ioyneth vs to his father accordyng to the smal measure of our weakenesse But when we beyng made partakers of the heauenly glory shal see God such as he is then he hauing performed the office of Mediatour shall cesse to be the embassador of his father shal be contented with that glory whiche he enioyed before the making of the world And the name of Lord doth in no other respect peculiarly agree with the person of Christ but in this that it signifieth the meane degree betwene God vs. For which purpose maketh that sayeng of Paul One God of whom are al things one Lord by whom are althinges euē he to whom the dominiō for a time is cōmitted by the father vntil his diuine maiestie be to be seene face to face Frō whom so fare is it of that any thing shal decay by yelding vp the dominiō to his father that he shal become so much the more glorious For thē shal God also cesse to be the head of Christ bicause christes godhed shal thē shine of it self wheras yet it is couered with a certaine veile And this obseruatiō shal do no smal seruice to assoile many doutes if the readers do fitly applie it For it is maruellous how much the vnskilful yea some not vtterly vnlearned are combred with such formes of speache which they see spokē by Christ which do wel agree neither with his godhed nor with his manhode bicause they cōsider not that they do agree with his persone wherin he is shewed both God mā with the office of Mediatour And it is alway easy to see how well althinges hang together if they haue a sober expositour to examine so great misteries with such deuout reuerence as they ought to be But there is nothyng that these furious and phrētike spirites trouble not They catche holde of those thinges that are spoken of his manhode to take awaye his Godhed and likewise of those thynges that are spoken of his godhed to take away his manhode and of those things that are so ioyntly spoken of bothe natures that they seuerally agree wyth neither to take awaye bothe But what is that els but to say that Christe is not manne bycause he is God and that he is not God bycause he is manne and that he is neyther manne nor God bycause he is bothe manne and God We therefore doe determine that Christ as he is bothe God and manne consistynge of bothe natures vnited though not confounded is oure Lorde and the true sonne of God euen according to his manhoode though not by reason
our giltynesse vpon himself he might deliuer vs from them bothe If he had ben murthered by theues or had ben ragyngly slayne in a commotioÌ„ of the common people in such a death there shoulde haue ben no apparance of satisfaction But when he was brought to be arrained before the iudgement seate when he was accused and pressed with witnesses agaynst him by the mouth of the iudge condemned to dye by these tokens we vnderstande that he dyd beare the persone of a gilty manne and of an euell doer And here are two thinges to be noted whiche bothe were afore spoken by the prophecies of the Prophetes and doe bryng a singular comforte and confirmation of fayth For when we heare that Christ was sent from the iudges seate to death and was hanged amonge theues we haue the fulfillynge of that prophecie whiche is alleged by the Euangelist He was accompted amonge the wicked And why soâ— euen to take vpon him the stede of a sinner not a man righteous or innocent bycause he suffred death not for cause of innocencie but for sinne On the other side when we heare that he was acquited by the same mouth whereby he was condemned for Pilate was compelled openly more than ones to beare witnesse of his innocencie let that come in our mynde whiche is in the other Prophet that he repayed that whiche he had not taken awaye And so we shall beholde the persone of a sinner and euell doer represented in Christe and by the open apparance of his innocencie it shall become playne to see that he was charged rather with others offence than his owne He suffred therefore vnder Ponce Pilate and so by the solemne sentence of the President was reckened in the number of wicked doers but yet not so but that he was by the same iudge at the same time pronounced righteous when he affirmed that he founde no cause of condemnation in him This is our acquitall that the giltynesse which made vs subiect to punishment is remoued vpoÌ„ the head of the sonne of God For this settyng of the one agaynst the other we ought principally to holde faste leaste we tremble be carefull all our life long as though the iuste vengeance of God dyd hang ouer vs which the sonne of God hath taken vpon himselfe Byside that the very manner of his death is not without a singular mysterie The Crosse was accursed not onely by opinion of men but also by decree of the lawe of God Therefore when Christ was lyfted vp to the Crosse he made hymselfe subiecte to the curse And so it behoued to be done that when the curse was remoued from vs to him we might be deliuered from all curse that for our sinnes was prepared for vs or rather dyd alredy rest vpon vs. Whiche thynge was also by shadowe expressed in the lawe For the sacrifices and satisfactorie oblations that were offred for sinnes were called Ashemoth Whiche worde proprely signifieth sinne it selfe By whiche figuratiue chaunge of name the holy ghost meant to shewe that they were lyke vnto cleansyng playsters to drawe out to themselues and beare the curse due to sinnes But that same whiche was figuratiuely represented in the sacrifices of Moses is in deede deliuered in Christ the original paterne of all the figures Wherfore he â–ª to performe a perfect expiatâ—o gaue his owne soule to be an ashame that is a satisfactorie oblation as the Prophete calleth it vpon the whyche our fi lt and punishement might be caste and so cesse to be imputed to vs. The Apostle testifieth the same thyng more playnely where he teacheth that he whiche knewe no sinne was by his father made sinne for vs that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him For the sonne of God beyng most cleane from all faulte dyd yet put vpon him the reproche and shame of our iniquities and on the other side couered vs with his cleannesse It semeth that he meante the same when he speaketh of sinne that sinne was condemned in his fleshe For the father destroyed the force of sinne when the curse thereof was remoued and layed vpon the fleshe of Christ. It is therefore declared by this sayeng that Christ was in his death offred vp to his father for a satisfactorie sacrifice that the whole satisfaction for sinne beyng ended by his sacrifice we might cesse to dread the wrath of God Nowe is it playne what that sayeng of the Prophete meaneth that the iniquities of vs all were layed vpon him that is that he entendynge to wype awaye the filthinesse of our iniquities was hymselfe as it were by waye of enterchanged imputation couered with them Of this the crosse whereunto he was fastened was a token as the Apostle testifieth Christe sayeth he redemed vs from the curse of the lawe when he was made a curse for vs. For it is wrytten Accursed is euery one that hangeth on the tree that the blessynge of Abraham mighte in Christe come to the Gentiles And the same had Peter respect vnto where he teacheth that Christ dyd beare our sinnes vpon the tree Bycause by the very token of the curse we doe more playnely learne that the burden wherewyth we weare oppressed was layed vpon hym And yet it is not so to bee vnderstanded that he toke vpon hym suche a curse wherewith hymselfe was ouerloden but rather that in takyng it vpon him he dyd treade downe breake and destroye the whole force of it And so fayth conceyueth acquitall in the condemnation of Christ and blessyng in his beyng accursed Wherefore Paule dothe not without a cause honorably reportâ— the triumph that Christe obteyned to hymselfe on the crosse as if the crosse whyche was full of shame had ben turned into a Chariot of triumphe For he sayth that the hande wrytyng whiche was against vs was fastened to the crosse and the Princely powers were spoyled and led openly And no maruell bycause as the other Apostle testifieth Christe offred vp hymself by the eternall spirit And therupon proceded that turnynge of the nature of thinges But that these thynges maye take stedfaste roote and be throughly settled in our heartes let vs alwaye thynke vpon his sacrifice and washyng For we coulde not certainely beleue that Christe was the raunsome redemption and satisfaction vnlesse he had ben a sacrificed hoste And therefore there is so often mention made of bloud where the Scripture sheweth the manner of our redemyng Albeit the bloud of Christ that was shed serued not only for sacrifice but also in steede of washyng to cleanse awaye our filthynesse It foloweth in the Crede that he was dead and buried Where agayne it is to be seene howe he dyd euerye where putte hymselfe in our stede to paye the pryce of our redemption Death held vs bound vnder his yoke Christ in our stede dyd yelde hymselfe into the power of death to deliuer vs from it This the Apostle meaneth where
God Let therfore appere in our head the very fountayne of grace froÌ„ whome according to the mesure of euery one it floweth abrode into all his members By that grace euery one from the beginnynge of his fayth is made a Christian. by whiche that same man from his beginnyng was made Christ. Agayne in an other place there is no playner example of predestination than the Mediatour himselfe For he that made of the seede of Dauid a man righteous that neuer should be vnrighteous without any deseruynge of his will goynge before euen the same he dothe of vnrighteous make them righteous that are the membres of that hed and so forth as there foloweth Therefore when we speake of Christes deseruyng we doe not say that in him is the beginnyng of deseruyng but we clymbe vp to the ordinance of God whiche is the firste cause thereof bycause God of his owne mere good will apointed him Mediatour to purchace saluation for vs. And so is the deseruyng of Christ vnfitly set agaynst the mercie of God For it is a common rule that thinges orderly one vnder an other doe not disagree And therefore it maye well stande together that mans iustification is free by the mere mercie of God and that there also the deseruyng of Christ come betwene which is conteyned vnder the mercie of God But agaynst our workes are aptly set as directly contrarie both the free fauour of God and the obedience of Christ either of them in their degree For Christ could not deserue any thyng but by the good pleasure of God and but bycause he was apointed to this purpose with his sacrifice to appease the wrath of God and with his obedience to put away our offences Finally in a summe bicause the deseruynge of Christ hangeth vpon the only grace of God whiche apointed vs this meane of saluatioÌ„ therfore as well the same deseruing as that grace is fitly set against all the workes of men This distinction is gathered out of many places of the Scripture God so loued the world that he gaue his only begotten sonne that who so euer beleueth him shall not perish We see how the loue of God holdeth the first place as the soueraigne cause or original theÌ„ foloweth fayth in Christ as the second or nerer cause If any man take exception and saye that Christ is but the formal cause he doth more diminish his power than the wordes may beare For yf we obteine righteousnesse by fayth that resteth vpon him then is the matter of our saluation to be sought in him whiche is in many places playnely proued Not that we first loued him but he firste loued vs and sente his sonne to be the appeasyng for our sinnes In these wordes is clerely shewed that God to the ende that nothing should withstand his loue toward vs apointed vs a meane to be reconciled in Christ. And this worde Appeasyng is of great weight bycause God after a certayne vnspeakeable manner euen the same time that he loued vs was also angry with vs vntil he was reconciled in Christ. And to this purpose serue all those sayenges He is the satisfactioÌ„ for our sinnes Againe It pleased God by hym to reconcile all thinges to hymself appeasyng himselfe through the bloud of the crosse by him c. Agayne God was in Christ reconcilyng the worlde to himselfe not impuâ—yng to men their sinnes Agayne He accepted vs in his beloued sonne Agayne That he might reconcile theÌ„ bothe to God into one man by the crouÌ„e The reason of this mysterie is to be fetched out of the first chapter to the Ephesians where Paule after that he had taught that we were chosen in Christ addeth therwithal that we haue obteined fauour in him How did God beginne to embrace with his fauour them whoÌ„ he loued before the making of the world but bicause he vttered his loue when he was reconciled by the bloud of Christ For sithe God is the fountaine of al righteousnesse it must needes be that maÌ„ so long as he is a sinner haue God his enemie his iudge Wherfore the beginning of his loue is righteousnesse such as is described by Paule He made him that had done no sinne to be sinne for vs that we might be the righteousnesse of God in him For he meaneth that we haue obteyned free righteousnesse by the sacrifice of Christ that we should please God which by nature are the children of wrath by sinne estranged from him But this distinction is also meante so oft as the grace of Christ is ioyned to the loue of God WherupoÌ„ foloweth that he geueth vs of his owne that which he hath purchaced For otherwise it would not agree with him that this prayse is geuen him seuerally from his father that it is his grace and procedeth from him But it is truely and perfectly gathered by many places of the Scripture that Christ by his obedience hath purchaced vs fauour with his father For this I take for a thyng confessed that if Christ hath satisfied for our sinnes if he hath suffred the punishmeÌ„t due vnto vs if by his obedieÌ„ce he hath appeased God finally if he beyng righteous hath suffred for the vnrighteous then is saluation purchaced for vs by his righteousnesse whiche is as much in effecte as to deserue it But as Paule witnesseth we are reconciled and haue receiued reconciliation by his death But recoÌ„ciliation hath no place but where there went offence before Therefore the meanyng is that God to whome we were hateful be reasoÌ„ of sinne is by the death of his sonne appeased so that he might be fauorable vnto vs. And the comparison of contraries that foloweth a litle after is diligently to be noted As by the traÌ„sgression of one man many were made sinners so also by the obedieÌ„ce of one many are made righteous For the meaning is thus As by the sinne of AdaÌ„ we were enstranged from God ordeined to destruction so by the obedience of Christ we are receiued into fauour as rigteous And the future time of the verbe doth not exclude present righteousnesse as appereth by the processe of the texte For he had sayd before that the free gift was of many sinnes vnto iustification But when we saye that grace is purchaced vs by the deseruyng of Christ we meane this that we are cleansed by his bloud and that his death was a satisfactioÌ„ for our sinnes His bloud cleaÌ„seth vs froÌ„ sinne This bloud is it that is shed for remission of sinne If this be the effect of his bloud shed that sinnes be not imputed vnto vs it foloweth that with that price the iudgemeÌ„t of God is satisfied To which purpose serueth that sayeng of Iohn the Baptist Beholde the lambe of God that taketh awaye the sinne of the worlde For he setteth in comparison Christ agaynst all the sacrifices of the law to teache that in him only was fulfilled that whiche those figures shewed
mockerie to leade away the christian people from the grace of God from the life that is in Christ and to turne them from the true waye of saluation For howe could the bloud of Christ be more filthyly prophaned than when it is denied to suffice to the remission of sinnes to reconciliation and satisfaction vnlesse the want therof as being withered and wasted shoulde be otherwyse supplied and profited The lawe and all the Prophetes saith Peter beare witnesse of Christ that by him forgeuenesse of sinne is to be receiued Pardons geue remission of sinnes by Peter Paul and the Martyrs The bloud of Christ sayth Iohn clenseth vs from sinne Pardons do make the bloud of Martyrs the washyng awaye of sinnes Christ sayth Paul whiche knewe not sinne was made sinne for vs that is the satisfaction of sinne that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him Pardons do set the satisfaction of sinnes in the bloud of Martyrs Paul cried out and testified to the Corinthians that only Christ was crucified and died for thē the pardons pronounce that Paul and other died for vs. In an other place he sayth that Christ purchaced the churche with his bloud the pardons appointe an other price of purchace in the bloude of Martyrs The Apostle sayth that Christ with one oblation made perfect for euer them that weare sanctisfied the pardons crye out to the contrary and say that sanctification is made perfect by the Martyrs whiche otherwise were not sufficient Iohn saith that al the saintes washed their gowns in the bloud of the lambe the pardons teache mē to washe their gownes in the bloud of saintes Leo Byshop of Rome writeth notably wel to the Palestines against these sacrileges Although saith he the death of many saintes hathe bene precious in the sight of the Lorde yet the killing of no innocent hath ben the perpetuation for the world The righteous receiued but gaue not crownes and out of the valiauntnesse of the faithfull are grauen exāples of pacience nor giftes of righteousnesse For their deathes weare euery one singular to them selues none of them did by his end pay the det of an other for as muche there is one Lord Christ in whom all are crucified all are dead buried and raised vp againe Whiche sentence as it was worthy to remembred he repeted in an other place There can nothing be required more plaine to destroy this wicked doctrine Yet Augustine speaketh no lesse fitly to the same effect Though saith he we die brethren for brethren yet the bloude of no Martyrs is shed for the forgeuenesse of sinnes Whiche thing Christ hath done for vs neither hath he therin done that for vs that we should folowe him but hath geuen vs a thing to reioyse vpon Again in an other place As only the sonne of God was made the sonne of man to make vs with him the sonnes of God so he alone for vs hath taken vpon him punishment without euill deseruinges that we by him might without good deseruinges obteine grace not due vnto vs. Truely where as all their doctrine is patched together of horrible sacrileges and blasphemies yet this is a more monstruous blasphemie than all the other Let thē remember them selues whether these be not their decrees that the Martyrs haue by their death done more to God and deserued more than was nedefull for themselues and that they had remaining so great a plentie of deseruinges as did also ouerflowe vnto other and that therfore least so great goodnesse should be superfluous their bloud is mingled with the bloud of Christ of both these bloudes is made the treasure of the churche for the remission and satisfaction of sinnes And y◠so is the saying of Paul to be taken I supply in my body those things that want of the suffringes of Christ for his body which is the churche What is this els but to leaue Christ only his name otherwise to make him but a common pety saint that may scarcely among the multitude be knowen from the rest He only only should haue bene preached he only set fourth he only named he only ben loked vnto when the obteining of forgeuenesse of sinnes satisfaction and sanctification are entreated of But let vs heare their curtalled argumentes Least the bloud of the Martyrs should be shed in vaine therfore lette it be employed to the common benefit of the Churche Is it so was it no profit to glorifie God by their death to subscribe to his truthe with theyr bloud by despisyng this present lyfe to testifie that they sought for a better life by their stedfastnesse to strengthen the faith of the churche and ouercome the stubbornes of the enemies But this is the matter in dede they acknowledge no profit of the Martyrs death if Christ only be the proportiator if he only died for our sinnes if he only was offred vp for our redemptiō So say they Peter and Paul might neuerthelesse haue obteined the crowne of victory if they had died in their beds And where as they haue fought euen to the sheding of their bloude it would not agree with the iustice of God to leaue the same barren and frutelesse As though God could not tell how to encrease in his seruantes their glorie according to the measure of his giftes But the churche receiueth in commune together profit enough when it is by their triūphes encouraged to a zelous desire to fight But how maliciously doe they wrest that place of Paul where he saith that he supplieth in his body those thinges that wanted of the suffringes of Christ For he referreth not that default or supplying to the work of redemption satisfactiō expiation but to those afflictiōs wherw t all the membres of Christ that is to say all the faithfull must be exercised so long as they shall be in this fleshe He saith therfore that this remaineth of the sufferinges of Christ that he daily suffreth in his membres the same that he ones suffred in him selfe Christ vouchesaueth to do vs so great honour to recken and accompt our afflictions his owne Where as Paul added these wordes For the churche he meaneth not for the redemption for the reconciliatiō for the satisfaction of the church but for the edifying and profit of the churche As in an other place he sayth that he suffreth all thinges for the electes sakes that they may obteine the saluation which is in Christ Iesu. And he wrote to the Corinthians that he suffred all the troubles that he suffred for their cōfort and saluation And immediatly in the same place he expoundeth him selfe when he sayeth further that he was made a minister of the churche not for redemption but according to the dispensatiō that was cōmitted vnto him to preache the Gospel of Christ. If they yet require an other expositour let thē heare Augustine The suffringes of Christ sayth he are in Christ only as in
for this purpose deliuered from sinne that we should obey to righteousnesse Can we be pricked forward to charitie with any more liuely argument thā that of Iohn that we shold mutually loue one an other as God hath loued vs that herein his children do differ from the childrē of the Deuell the children of light from the children of darknesse bycause they abide in loue Againe with that argument of Paule that we if we cleaue to Christ are the members of one body which it is mete to be holpen one of an other with mutuall duties Can we be more strongly prouoked to holinesse than when we heare agayne of Iohn that all they that haue this hope do sanctifie thēselues bycause their God is holy Agayne of the mouth of Paule that hauyng the promise of adoptiō we should cleanse our selues from all the defilyng of the flesh spirit than when we heare Christ settyng forth himself for an example vnto vs that we should follow his steppes And these fewe thinges I haue set forth for a taste For yf I should entēd to goe through all I should be dryuen to make a long volume The Apostles are all full of encouragementes exhortatiōs and rebukynges whereby they maye instruct the man of God to euery good worke and that without any mention of merit But rather they fetch their chefe exhortations from this that our saluation standeth vpon the only mercie of God and vpon no merite of oures As Paule after that he hath in a whole Epistle discoursed that there is no hope of life for vs but in the righteousnesse of Christ when he cōmeth downe to morall exhortations he besecheth them by that mercie of God whiche he hath vouchesaued to extēd to vs. And truely this one cause ought to haue ben sufficient that God may be glorified in vs. But if any be not so vehemently moued with the glorie of God yet the remembrāce of his benefites ought to haue ben most sufficient to stirre vp such mē to do well But these men whiche do paraduenture with thrustyng in of merites beate out some seruile and constrayned obediences of the lawe do falsly saye that we haue nothing whereby we maye exhorte men to good workes bicause we goe not the same waye to worke As though God were much desired with such obediences whiche protesteth that he loueth a cherefull geuer and forbiddeth any thyng to be geuen as it were of heauinesse or of necessitie Neyther doe I speake this for that I doe eyther refuse or despise that kinde of exhortation whiche the Scripture oftentimes vseth that it maye leaue no meane vnattempted euery way to stirre vp our mindes For it rehearseth the reward which God will render to euery mā according to his workes But I denie that that is the only thing yea or the chefe amōg many And then I graunt not that we ought to take beginning therat Moreouer I affirme that it maketh nothing to the settyng vp of such merites as these men boste of as we shal hereafter see Last of all I saye that is to no profitable vse vnlesse this doctrine haue first taken place that we are iustified by the only merit of Christ which is cōceyued by faith but by no merites of our workes bicause none can be fit to the endeuour of holinesse vnlesse they haue first digested this doctrine Which thing also the Prophet very wel signifieth when he thus speaketh to God with thee is mercie that thou mayest be feared For he sheweth that there is no worshippyng of God but whē his mercie is acknowleged vpon which alone it is bothe founded and stablished Which is very worthy to be noted that we maye know not only that the beginning of worshippyng God aright is the affiance of his mercie but also that the feare of God whiche the Papistes will haue to be meritorious can not haue the name of merite bicause it is grounded vpon the pardon and forgeuenesse of sinnes But it is a moste vayne sclaunder that men are allured to sinne when we affirme the free forgeuenesse of sinnes in whiche we saye that righteousnesse consisteth For we saye that it is of so great value that it can with no good of oures be recompensed and that therefore it should neuer be obteyned vnlesse it were freely geuen Moreouer that it is to vs in deede freely geuen but not so to Christ which bought it so derely namely with his owne moste holy bloud byside whiche there was no price of value enough that might be payed to the iudgement of God When menne are taught these thinges they are put in minde that it is no thanke to them that the same moste holy bloud is not shed so oft as they sinne Furthermore we learne that our filthinesse is suche as is neuer washed awaye but with the fountaine of this moste pure bloud Ought not they that heare these thynges to conceyue a greater horrour of sinne than yf it were sayd that it is wyped awaye with the sprynklyng of good workes◠And yf they haue any thynge of God howe can they but dred beyng ones cleansed to wallowe themselues agayne in the myre as muche as in them lieth to trouble and infect the purenesse of this fountayne I haue washed my feete sayth the faythfull soule in Salomō how shal I againe defile them Now it is euident whether sort doe bothe more abace the forgeuenesse of sinnes and do more make vile the dignitie of righteousnesse They babble that God is appeased with their owne trysting satisfactions that is their donge We affirme that the giltinesse of sinne is more greuous than can bee purged with so light trifles that the displeasure of God is more heauie than can be released with these satisfactions of no value and that therefore this is the prerogatiue of the only bloud of Christ. They say that righteousnesse if it fayle at any time is restored repaired by satisfactorie workes we thynke it more precious than that it can be matched with anye recompense of workes and that therfore for the restoryng thereof we must flee to the only mercie of God As for the rest of those things that perteyne to the forgeuenesse of sinnes let them be sought out of the next chapter The .xvii. Chapter ¶ The agreement of the promises of the lawe and the Gospell NOw let vs also goe through the other argumētes wherwith Satan by the soldiars of his garde goeth about eyther to ouerthrowe or batter the iustification of fayth This I thinke we haue already wrong frō the sclaunderers that they can no more charge vs as enemies of good workes For iustification is taken awaye from good workes not that no good workes should be done or that those which be done shold be denied to be good but that we should not put affiāce in them not glorie in them not ascribe saluatiō to them For this is our affiance this is our glorie and the only authour of our saluation that
the same is nothing ells but a pronouncing of hys own sentence and that whatsoeuer they do in erth is confirmed in heauen For they haue the worde of the Lord wherby they may condemne the frowarde they haue the worde wherby they may receiue the repentant into fauor They I say that trust that without thys bonde of discipline Chirches may long stande are deceiued in opinion vnlesse perhappes we may want that helpe which the Lord foresaw that it should be necessarie for vs. And truely how great is the necessitie therof shal be better perceiued by the manifolde vse of it There be three endes whiche the Chirch hath respect vnto in suche corrections and excommunication The first is that they should not to the dishonor of God be named among Christians that leade a filthy and sinfull lyfe as though his holy Chirch were a coÌ„spiracie of noughtie and wicked men For sith the Chirch is the body of Christ it can not be defiled with suche filthy and rotten members but that some shame muste come to the hed Therefore that there should not be any suche thyng in the Chirch wherby hys holy name may be spotted wyth any repâ—oche they are to be driuen out of her householde by whoe 's dishonâ—â—e any sclauÌ„der myght redounde to the name of Christians And herein also is consideration to be had of the Supper of the Lord that it be not profaned with geuing it to alwithout choise For it is most true that he to whom the distribution of it is committed if he wittingly and willingly admitt an vnworthy man whom he might lawfully put back is as giltie of Sacrilege as if he did geue abrode the Lordes body to dogges Wherfore Chrysostome greuously inueyeth against the Prestes whiche while they feare the power of great men dare debarre no man The blood sayth he shal be required at your handes If ye feare man he shall laugh you to scorne but if ye feare God ye shal be reuerenced also among men Let vs not feare maces nor purple nor crownes we haue here a greater power I verily will rather deliuer mine own body to death and suffer my blood to be shed than I will be made partaker of this defiling Therfore least this most holy mystery be spotted with sclander in the distributing thereof choise is greatly requisite â–ª which yet can not be had but by the iurisdictioÌ„ of the Chirch The secoÌ„d ende is least as it is wont to come to passe with the continuall company of the euil the good shold be corrupted For such is our redy inclination to go out of the way there is nothing easier than for vs to be ledde by euill examples froÌ„ the right course of lyfe This vse the Apostle touched when he commauÌ„ded the Corinthians to put the incestuous man out of their company A litle leuen sayth he corrupteth the whole lomp of doae And he foresaw herein so great danger that he forbade hym euen from all felowship If any brother sayeth he among you be named either a whoremonger or a couetous man or a worshipper of Idoles or a dronkarde or an euill speaker with suche a one I graunte you not leaue so much as to eate The thirde ende is that they themselues confounded with shame may beginne to repente of their filthinesse So it is profitable for them also to haue their owne wickednesse chastised that with feling of the rod they may be awaked which otherwyse by tender bearing with them would haue become more obstinate The same thing doth the Apostle meane when he sayth thus If any do not obey our doctrine marke hym and kepe no companye wyth hym that he may be ashamed Againe in an other place when he wryteth that he hath deliuered the Corinthian to Satan that hys Spirite might be saued in the day of the Lord that is as I expounde it that he went into a damnation for a tyme that he might be saued for euer But he therefore sayth that he deliuereth hym to Satan because the deuil is out of the Chirch as Christ is in the Chirch For wheras some do referr it to a certaine vexing of the fleshe I thynke that to be very vncertaine When these endes be set fourth nowe it remaineth to se howe the Chirch executeth this part of discipline which consisteth in iurisdiction First let vs kepe the diuision aboue set that of synnes some be publike and other some be priuate or more secrete Publike are those that haue not onely one or twoo witnesses but are committed openly and wyth the offense of the whole Chirch Secrete I call those not which are altogether hidden from men as are the sinnes of Hipocrites for those come not into the iugement of the Chirch but those of the meane kynde which are not without witnesses yet are not publike The firste kynd requireth not those degrees which Christ rehearseth but wheÌ„ any such thing appeareth the Chirch ought to do her dutie in callyng the sinner and correcting him according to the proportion of the offense In the second kind according to the rule of Christ they come not to yâ— Chirch til there be also obstinacie added WheÌ„ it is ons come to knowlege then is the other diuision to be noted betwene wycked doinges defaultes For in lighter synnes there is not to be vsed so great seueritie but chastisemeÌ„t of wordes sufficeth the same gentle and fatherly which may not hardeÌ„ nor confounde the synner but bryng hym home to hymselfe that he may more reioyse than be sory that he was corrected But it is mete that haynous offenses be chastised with sharper remedie For it is not enough if he that by doing wycked dede of euill example hath greuously offended the Chirch shoulde be chastised onely with wordes but he oughte for a time to be depriued of the communion of the Supper til he haue geuen assurance of his repentance For against the Corinthian Paule vseth not only rebuking of wordes but driueth him out of the Chirche and blameth the Corinthians that it had so long borne him The olde and better Chirch kepte this order when rightfull gouernement florished for if any man had done any wicked dede wherupon was growen offense first he was commaunded to absteine from partaking of the holy Supper then both to humble himselfe before God and to testifie hys repentaÌ„ce before the Chirch There were also certaine solemne vsages which were enioyned to them that had falleÌ„ to be tokens of their repeÌ„tance When they had so done that the Chirch was satisfied theÌ„ by layeng of handes he was receiued into fauor Which receiuing is oftentimes called of Cipriane peace who also briefely describeth this vsage They do penance saieth he in a certaine ful time then they come to coÌ„fession and by the laying on of handes of the Bishop and the Clergie they receiue power to come to the communion Howbeit the Bishop and his Clergie had so the ruling
examples when he shewed to Abraham a lighte in a smoking ouen when he watered the flece with dew the earth remayning dry againe he watered the earth the flece being vntouched to promise victory to Gedeon when he drew the shadowe of the diall .ix. lynes backeward to promise safetie to Ezethias These thinges when they were done to relieue and stablishe the weakenesse of their Faith were then also Sacramentes But our presente purpose is to discourse peculiarly of those Sacramentes whiche the Lord willed to be ordinarie in his Chirch to nourishe his worshippers and seruantes into one Faith and the confession of one Faith For to vse the wordes of Augustine men can be congeled together into no name of religion either true or false vnlesse they be bounde together with some felowship of visible signes and Sacramentes Sithe therefore the moste good Father foresawe thys necessitie he did from the beginning ordeine certayne exercises of godlinesse for his seruantes whiche afterwarde Satan by turning them to wicked and superstitious worshippinges hath many wayes depraued and corrupted Hereupon came those solemne professions of the Gentiles into their holy orders and other bastarde vsages which although they were full of error and superstition yet they also were therewith a profe that men could not in profession of religion be without suche outwarde signes But because they neyther were grounded vppon the worde of God nor were referred to that trueth whereunto all signes oughte to be directed they are vnworthy to be rehearsed where mention is made of the holy signes whiche are ordeined of God and haue not swarued from their fundation that is that they should be helpes of true godlinesse They consist not of bare signes as were the boaw and the tree but vpon Ceremonies or rather the signes that be here geuen are Ceremonies But as it is aboue sayd that they be on the Lordes behalfe testimonies of grace and saluatiō so they be againe on our behalfe markes of profession by which we openly sweare to the name of God for our partes bynding our Faith vnto him Therefore Chrysostome in one place fittly calleth them couenātinges wherby God byndeth hymselfe in league with vs and we be bounde to purenesse and holinesse of life because here is made a mutuall forme of couenanting betwene God and vs. For as the Lorde therin promiseth that he will cancell and blot out whatsoeuer giltinesse penaltie we haue gathered by offending and doth reconcile vs to himselfe in his only begotten Sonne so we againe on our behalfes do by thys profession bynde oure selues vnto hym to the folowing of Godlinesse and innocence so that a man may rightly say that such Sacramētes are Ceremonies by which God wil exercise his people first to the nourishing stirring vp and strēgthening of Faith inwardly then to the testifieng of religion before men And euen these Sacramentes also were diuerse after the diuerse order of tyme according to the distribution whereby it pleased the Lorde to shewe hymselfe after thys or that manner to men For to Abraham and his posteritie Circumcision was commaunded wherunto afterwarde purifienges and Sacrifices and other Ceremonies were added out of the law of Moses These were the Sacramentes of the Iewes vntil the comming of Christ at which comming those being abrogate twoo Sacramentes were ordeined whiche nowe the Christian Chirch vseth Baptisme and the Supper of the Lord. I speake of those that were ordeined for the vse of the whole Chirch For as for the layeng on of handes whereby the ministers of the Chirch are entred into their office as I do not vnwillingly suffer it to be called a Sacrament so I doe not recken it among the ordinarie Sacramentes As for the rest which are commonly called Sacramentes what they are to be accompted we shal se by and by Howbeit the olde Sacramentes also had respect to the same marke wherunto ours doe tende that is to directe and in a maner leade by the hande to Christ or rather as images to represent hym and shewe hym fourth to be knowē For wheras we haue alredy taught that they are certayne seales wherwith the promises of God are sealed and where it is most certaine that there was neuer offred any promise of God to men but in Christ that they may teache vs of some promyse of God they must nedes shewe Christ. Wherunto perteineth that heauenly paterne of the tabernacle and of the worshipping in the law which was geuen to Moses in the mount One only differēce there is that those did shadowe out Christe being promised when he was yet loked for these doe testifie him alredy geuen and deliuered When these thinges shall all be particularly and eche one seuerally declared they shal be made much playner Circumcision was to the Iewes a signe whereby they were putt in mynde that whatsoeuer commeth of the sede of man that is to saye the whole nature of man is corrupte and hath nede of proyning Moreouer it was a teaching and token of remembrance whereby they should confirme themselues in the promyse geuen to Abraham concerning that blessed sede in whome all the nations of the earth were to be blessed from whome they had their owne blessing to be looked for Nowe that healthfull sede as we are taughte of Paule was Chirst in whome alone they hoped that they shoulde recouer that whiche they had loste in Adam Wherefore Circumcision was to them the same thyng whiche Paule sayth that it was to Abraham namely the seale of the righteousnesse of Fayth that is to saye the seale whereby they shoulde be more certainly assured that their Fayth wherewith they loked for that sede shoulde be accompted to them of GOD for righteousnesse But we shall vppon a better occasion in an other place gooe throughe with the comparison of Circumcision and Baptisme Baptisinges and purifienges did sette before their eies their owne vncleannesse filthinesses and pollution wherwith they were defiled in their owne nature but they promised an other washing wherby al their filthinesses should be wiped and washed away And this washing was Christ with whoe 's blood we beeing washed do bryng hys cleannesse into the sight of God that it maye hyde all our defilinges Their Sacrifices did accuse them of their owne wickednesse and therewithall did teache that it was necessarie that there shoulde be some satisfaction whiche shoulde be payed to the iugement of God That therefore there shoulde be some one chefe Bishop a mediator betwene God and men which should satisfie God by sheding of blood and by offring of a Sacrifice whiche should suffice for the forgeuenesse of synnes This chefe Prest was Christ he himselfe shed hys owne blood he himselfe was the Sacrifice for he offred himselfe obediente to hys Father vnto death by which obedience he toke awaye the disobedience of man whiche had prouoked the displeasure of God As for oure Sacramentes they doe so muche more clerely presente Christe vnto vs as he
himselfe suche when being made partaker of our humane martalitie he made vs parteners of his diuine immortalitie when offring himselfe for sacrifice he toke our accursednesse vpon himself that he might fil vs with blessing when with his death he deuoured swalowed vp death when in his resurrection he raised vp this our corruptible flesh which he had put on to glory vncorruption It remaineth that by appliance all the same maye come to vs. That is done bothe by the Gospell and more cleerely by the holy Supper where bothe he offreth himselfe to vs with all his good thynges we receiue him by faith Wherfore the sacramēt maketh not that Christ first beginneth to be the bread of life but when it bringeth into remembrance that he was made the bread of life whiche we continually eate and when it geueth vnto vs the taste and sauor of that breade then it maketh vs to fele the strength of that bread For it promiseth vs that whatsoeuer Christ did or suffred the same was done to geue life to vs. Then that this geuing of life is euerlasting by which we may without ende be nourished susteined and preserued in life For as Christ should not haue bene to vs the bread of life vnlesse he had bene borne and had dyed for vs vnlesse he had risen agayne for vs so now he should not bee the same vnlesse the effectualnesse and fruite of his birth death and resurrection were an euerlasting and immortall thing All which Christe hath very well expressed in these wordes The bread which I wil geue is my flesh which I wil geue for the life of the world By which wordes without dout he signifieth that his body shoulde therfore bee to vs for bread to the spirituall life of the soule because it shold be geuen forth to death for our saluatiō and that it is deliuered to vs to eate of it when by faith he maketh vs partakers of it Ones therfore he gaue it that he might be made bread when he gaue foorth himselfe to be crucified for the redemption of the world daily he geueth it when by the word of the Gospell he offreth it vnto vs to be receiued so far as it was crucified where he sealeth that deliuerance with the holy mysterie of the Supper where he inwardly fulfilleth that which he outwardly betokeneth Now herein we must beware of twoo faultes that neither doing to muche in abaring the signes we seme to pluck them frō their mysteries to which they are in a maner knitte fast nor that being immeasurable in aduancing the same we seme in the meane tyme somwhat to darken the mysteries themselues That Christ is the bread of life wherewith the faithful are nourished into eternal saluation ther is no man but he graunteth vnlesse he be altogether without religiō But this point is not likewise agreed vpon among al men what is the maner of partaking of him For there be that in one worde define that to eate the fleshe of Christe and to drinke his blood is nothing els but to beleue in Christ himlsefe But I thinke that Christ meant some certainer and hyer thyng in that notable sermon where he cōmendeth to vs the eatyng of his fleshe namely that we are quickned by the true partaking of hym whiche also he therfore expressed by the woordes of eatyng and drynkyng least any man should thynke that the life whiche we receiue of hym is conceyued by bare knowlege only For as not the syghte but the eatyng of bread suffiseth the body for nourishment so it behoueth that the soule be truly and throughly made partaker of Christ that by the power of hym it may be quickened into a spirituall lyfe But in the meane tyme we confesse that there is no other eatyng but of faith as there can no other be imagined But this is the difference betwene my wordes and theirs that with them to eate is only to beleue but I say that the flesh of Christ is eaten with beleuing because by faith he is made ours and I say that eatyng is the fruite and effect of faith Or if you wil haue it plainer with them eatyng is faithe and I thynke it rather to followe of faith In wordes verily the difference is but smalle but in the thyng it selfe not small For though the Apostle teacheth that Christe dwelleth in oure hartes by Faithe yet no manne will expounde this dwelling to be Faith but all men doo perceyue that there is expressed a singular effect of faith for that by it the faithful do obteyne to haue Christ dwellyng in them After this maner the Lorde meant in callyng hymselfe the bread of lyfe not only to teache that in the faith of his death and resurrection saluation is reposed for vs but also that by true partakyng of himselfe it is brought to passe that his life passeth into vs and becometh oures like as bread when it is taken for foode ministreth lyuelinesse to the body Neither dyd Augustine whom they bryng in for their patron in any other meanyng write that we eate by beleuyng than to shewe that this eatyng is of faith not of the mouthe Which I also denye not but yet therwithall I adde that we do by faith embrace Christe not apperyng afarre of but makyng hymselfe one with vs that he may be oure head and we his membres Yet do not I vtterly disalow that maner of speakyng but only I deny it to be a full declaration if they meane to define what it is to eate the fleshe of Christ. Otherwyse I see that Augustine hath ofte vsed this forme of speche as when he saith in the thirde boke Of Christian doctrine Unlesse ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man this is a figure teachyng that we must communicate with the passion of the Lorde and muste sweetely and profitably laye vp in remembrance that for vs his fleshe was crucified and wounded Agayne when he sayeth that the three thousande menne whyche were conuerted at Peters sermon dyd drynke the bloode of Christe by beleuyng whyche they had shedde by cruell dealyng But in manye other places he honorably setteth out that benefyte of Faith that by it oure soules are no lesse refreshed with the communicatyng of the fleshe of Christe than oure bodies are with the breade whiche they eate And the same is it whyche in a certayne place Chrysostome wryteth that Christe doeth not onely by Faith but also in dede make vs his body For he meaneth not that we doo from any other where than from Faithe obteyne suche a benefite but this onely he meaneth to exclude that none when he heareth faithe to be named shoulde conceyue a naked imagination As for them that will haue the Supper to be onely a marke of outwarde profession I do now passe them ouer because I thinke that I haue sufficiently confuted their error whē I entreated of Sacramentes generally Only thys thing let the reders marke that when the
cup is called the couenant in the blood there is a promise expressed that may be of force to confirme Faith Wherupō foloweth that vnlesse we haue respect to God and embrace that which he offreth we doe not rightly vse the holy Supper Moreouer they also do not satisfie me which acknowleging that we haue some communion with Christ when they meane to expresse it doe make vs partakers only of the Spirite without making any mention of flesh and blood As though al those thinges were spoken of nothing that hys flesh is verily meate that his blood is verily drinke that none hath life but he that eateth that flesh and drinketh that blood and such other sayenges that belong to the same ende Wherfore if it be certaine that the full communicating of Christ procedeth beyonde their description as it is to narowly strained I wil now go about to knit vp in few wordes how large it is and how farr it extendeth it selfe before that I speake of the contrarie fault of excesse For I shal haue a longer disputation with the excessiue teachers which when according to their owne grossnesse they frame a maner of eating drinking ful of absurditie do also transfigure Christ stripped out of hys fleshe into a fantasie if yet a man may with any wordes comprehende so great a mysterie whiche I se that I can not sufficiently comprehende with minde and therfore I doe willingly confesse it that no man should measure the hynesse therof by the smal proportion of my childishnesse But rather I exhorte the reders that they do not restrayne the sense of their minde within these to narrowe boundes but endeuor to rise vp much hyer thā they can by my guiding For I my selfe so oft as I speake of this thing whē I haue trauailed to say all thinke that I haue yet sayd but litle in respecte of the worthinesse therof And although the minde can do more in thinking than the tong in expressing yet with greatnesse of the thing the minde also is surmounted and ouerwhelmed Finally therefore nothing remaineth but that I must breake fourth into admiration of that mysterie whiche neither the mind can suffise to thinke of nor the tong to declare Yet after suche manner as I can I wil set fourth the summe of my sentence which as I nothing dout to be true so I trust that it will not be disallowed of godly hartes First of all we are taughte out of the Scripture that Christe was from the beginning that life bringing worde of the Father the fountaine and original of life from whense all thinges euer receiued their hauing of life Wherfore Ihon somtime calleth him the worde of life and somtime writeth that life was in him meaning that he euen then flowyng into al creatures poured into them the power of breathing and liuing Yet the same Ihon addeth afterwarde that the life was then and not tyll then openly shewed when the Sonne of God taking vpō him our fleshe gaue himselfe to be seen with eyes and felte with handes For though he did before also spred abrode his power into the creatures yet because man beyng by synne estranged from God hauing lost the communion of lyfe saw on euery side death hanging ouer hym that he myght recouer hope of immortalitie it behoued that he should be receiued into the communion of that worde For how small a confidence mayest thou conceiue therof if thou heare that the worde of God in dede from which thou art most farr remoued cōteyneth in it selfe the fulnesse of lyfe but in thy selfe and rounde about thee nothyng offreth it selfe and is present before thine eyes but death But sins that fountayne of lyfe beganne to dwell in our fleshe nowe it lyeth not a farr of hydden from vs but presently deliuereth it selfe to be partaken of vs. Yea and it maketh the very fleshe wherein it resteth to be of power to bryng lyfe to vs that by partaking therof we maye be fed to immortalitie I am sayth he the bred of lyfe that am come downe from heauen And the bred whiche I will geue is my fleshe whiche I will geue for the lyfe of the worlde In whiche woordes he teacheth not onely that he is lyfe in respecte that he is the eternall woorde of God whiche came downe to vs from heauen but that in comming downe he poured the same power into the fleshe whiche he did put on that from thense the communicatyng of lyfe mighte flowe fourth vnto vs. Hereupon also these thinges nowe followe that his fleshe is verily mente and his blood is verily drinke with whiche sustenances the faythfull are fostered into eternall life Herein therfore consisteth singular comfort to the godly that nowe they finde life in their owne fleshe For so they doe not onely with easy passage atteine vnto it but haue it of it selfe layd abrode for them and offring it selfe vnto them Only let them holde open the bosome of their hart that they may embrace it beeyng present and they shall obteyne it But although the fleshe of Christe haue not so greate power of it selfe that it can geue life to vs whiche bothe in the owne firste estate of it was subiecte to mortalitie and nowe being endued with immortalitie liueth not by it selfe yet it is rightfully called lifebringing whiche is filled with fulnesse of lyfe to poure it into vs. In which meaning I doe with Cyril expounde that sayeng of Christ As the Father hath lyfe in himselfe so he hath also geuen to the Sonne to haue life in himselfe For there he properly speaketh of his giftes not whiche he from the beginning possessed with the Father but with whiche he was garnished in the same fleshe in whiche he appeared Therefore he sheweth that in hys manhode also dwelleth the fullnesse of lyfe that whosoeuer partaketh of his flesh and blood may therwithall also enioy the partaking of life Of what sort that is we may declare by a familiar example For as out of a foūtaine water is somtime drōk somtime is drawen somtime by forrowes is conueied to the watering of groundes which yet of it selfe doth not ouerflow into so many vses but from the very spring it selfe which with euerlasting flowing yeldeth and ministreth vnto it from tyme to tyme newe abundance so the fleshe of Christ is like a riche and vnwasted fountaine whiche poureth into vs the life springing from the Godhead into it selfe Nowe whoe seeth not that the communion of the fleshe and blood of Christe is necessarie to al that aspire to heauenly lyfe Hereunto tendeth that sayeng of the Apostle that the Chirch is the body of Christe and the fulfilling of it and that he is the hed oute of whiche the whole body coupled and knit together by ioyntes maketh encrease of the body that our bodies are the members of Christ. Al which thinges we vnderstande to be impossible to be brought to passe but that he must whellye cleaue to vs in Spirite and body
verily a substaÌ„ce of an earthly and corruptible element and suffreth no change in it selfe but hath vnder it selfe the body of Christ enclosed If they did so declare their meaning that when the bred is deliuered in the mysterie there is adioyned the deliuering of the body because the trueth is vnseuerable from the signe I would not much striue with them But because they placing the body in the bred do faine to it a beyng euery where contrarie to the nature thereof and in adding vnder the bred they wyll haue it lye there hiddeÌ„ it is necessarie a litle while to draw such suttelties out of their deÌ„nes For my mynde is not yet as of set purpoÌ„se to go through with all this point but only that I may lay the fundations of the disputation which shall by and by folowe in place fit for it They wil therfore haue the body of Christe to be inuisible and immeasurable that it may lie hid vnder the bread because they thinke that they do not otherwise communicate with hym than if he descende into bread but they comprehend not the maner of descending wherby he lifteth vs vpward to himself They lay vpon it all the colors that they can but when they haue said all it sufficiently appereth that they staye vpon the locall presence of Christ. Whense commeth that euen because they can abide to conceiue no other partakyng of the fleshe and blood but whiche consysteth either of ioynyng and touchyng of place or of some grosse enclosyng And that they may obstinately defende the error ones rashly conceiued some of them sticke not to say that the flesh of Christ had neuer any other measurynges but so farr and wide as heauen and earth is brode Whereas he was borne a childe out of the wombe whereas he grewe wheras he was spred abrode on the crosse whereas he was enclosed in the sepulchre the same was doone by a certaine dispensation that he myght be borne and dye and performe the other dueties of man Where as after his resurrection he was seen in his wonted forme of body wheras he was taken vp to heauen wheras last of all also after his ascension he was seen of Stephen and Paule it was doone by the same dispensation that it might appere to the sight of men that he was made a kyng in heauen What is this ells but to raise vp Marcion out of hell For no man can dout that the body of Christ was a fantasy or a fantasticall thyng if he was of suche state Some slip away somewhat more suttelly with sayeng that this body whiche is geuen in the Sacrament is glorious and immortall and that therfore it is no absurditie if it bee conteined in many places if in no place if with no forme vnder the sacrament But I aske what maner of body Christe gaue to the disciples the day before that he suffred doo not the wordes sounde that he gaue the same mortall body whiche was within a little after to be deliuered He had already before say they shewed his glorie to be sene to thre of the disciples That is true in dede but his will was by that brightnesse to geue them a taste of immortalitie for an houre In the meane tyme they shall not there fynd a double body but that one body which Christ did beare garnished with newe glorie But when he distributed his body at his first Supper the tyme was nowe at hande when he beyng striken of God and humbled shold lie without glorie as a leprous man so farre is it of that he then wold shew forth the glorie of his resurrection And howe great a wyndowe is here opened to Marciâ—n if the body of Christ was seene in one place mortall and base and in an other place was holden immortall and glorious Howebeit if their opinion take place the same happeneth daily because they ar compelled to confesse that the body of Christ beyng visible in it selfe lyeth hyd inuisibly vnder the signe of bread And yet they that vomite out such monstruousnesse are so not ashamed of their own shame that they do vnprouoked hainously raile at vs because we do not subscribe to them Nowe if they lyst to fasten the body and blood of the Lorde to bread and wyne the one shall of necessitie be plucked in sunder froÌ„ the other For as the bread is deliuered seuerally from the cup so the body vnited to the bread muste nedes be diuided from the blood enclosed in the cup. For when they affirme that the body is in the bread and the blood in the cup and the bread and wyne are by spaces of place distant the one from the other they can by no shift escape but that the body must be seuered from the blood But wheras they are wonte to allege that by accompainyng as they faine in the body is the blood and likewise in the blood is the body that verily is to triflyng forasmuche as the Signes in whych they are enclosed are so seuered But if we be lifted vp with our eies and myndes to heauen that we seke Christ there in the glorie of his kingdome as the signes doo allure vs to hym whole so vnder the signe of bread we shal be fedde with his bodye vnder the signe of wyne we shall seuerally drynke his blood that at length we may enioye hym whole For although he hath taken awaye his fleshe from vs and in his body is ascended vp into heauen yet he sitteth at the right hande of the Father that is to say he reigneth in the power and maiestie and glorie of the Father This kyngdome is neyther bounded with any spaces of place nor compassed aboute with any measurynges but that Christ may shewe foorth his myght wheresoeuer it pleaseth him both in heauen and in earth but that he may shewe himselfe present with power and strength but that he may alway bee at hande with them that be his breathing his lyfe into them may liue in them strengthen them quicken them preserue them safe euen as if he were present in body finally but that he may fede them with his owne bodye the communion wherof he dothe by the power of his Spirite poure into them After this maner the body and blood of Christe is delyuered to vs in the Sacrament But we must appoint such a presence of Christ in the Supper as may neither fasten hym to the element of bred nor shut hym vp in the bred nor by any meane compasse hym in for it is playne that all these thynges abate his heauenly glorie fynally suche as may neither take from him his owne measure nor diuersly draw hym in many places at ones nor faine to hym suche an vnmeasurable greatnesse as is spred abrode throughout heauen and earth for these thynges are playnely agaynst the truthe of the nature of manhode Let vs I say neuer suffer these two exceptions to be taken away from vs. The one that nothyng bee abated from the glorie
lesse obediently embrace than they and do wey them with more godly reuerence Yea their negligent carelesnesse sheweth that they doo not greatly care what Christe ment so that it geue them a buckler to defende their obstinatie like as oure earnest searchyng ought to be a wytnesse howe muche we esteeme the authoritie of Christ. They odiously spread abrode that naturall sense of man withholdeth vs from beleuyng that which Christ hath vttered with his owne holy mouth but howe maliciously they burden vs with this sclander I haue a great part already made playne and hereafter it shall more clerely appere Therfore nothing withholdeth vs from beleuing Christ when he speaketh nor from obeying so soone as he dothe but with becke will this or that Only this is the question whether it be vnlawful to enquire of the naturall meanyng These good maisters that they may seme wel lettred do forbid men to departe be it neuer so litle from the letter But I on the other syde when the scripture nameth God a warlike man because I see that with out figuratiue translation it is to rough a maner of speakyng doo not dout that it is a comparison taken from men And truely vpon none other pretence in the olde tyme the Anthropomorphites troubled the true teaching Fathers but that catching fast hold of these sayings The eies of God do see It went vp to his eares His hand stretched out The earth his footestole they cried out that God had his bodye taken from hym whiche the Scripture assigneth vnto hym If this law be receiued outragious barbarousnesse shal ouerwhelme the whole light of faith For what monsters of absurdities may not phrentike men picke out if it be graunted them to allege euery small tittle to stablishe their opinions That whiche they obiect that it is not likely that when Christ prepared for his Apostles a singular comfort it aduersities he did then speake in a riddle or darkly maketh of our side For if it had not come in the myndes of the Apostles that bread was figuratiuely called the body because it was the signe of the body they had without doute ben troubled with so monstrous a thyng Almost at the same moment Iohn reporteth that they did sticke in perplexitie at euery of the least difficulties They whiche striue among themselues howe Christ will go to the Father and do moue question howe he wyll goe out of the worlde they which vnderstande nothyng of those thynges that are spoken concernyng the heauenly Father till they see hym how wold they haue ben so easy to beleue that whiche all resō refuseth that Christ sitteth at the boorde in their sight and is enclosed inuisible vnder bread Whereas therfore they in eatyng the bread without doutyng testified their consent hereby appeareth that they toke Christes wordes in the same sense that we do because they remēbred that which ought not to seme strange in mysteries that the name of the thing signified is transferred to the signe Therfore it was to the disciples as it is to vs a certaine and clere comfort entangled with no riddle Neither is ther any other cause why some should depart from our exposition but because the enchauntment of the deuyll hath blynded them namely that they shoulde faine darkenesse to themselues where the exposition of an apt figure offreth it self Moreouer if we precisely stande vpon the words Christ shold wrongfully haue spoken in one place seuerally an other thyng concernyng the bread than he speaketh of the cup. He calleth the bread his body he calleth the wyne his blood either it shal be a confused vaine repetition or it shal be such a partition as shall diuide the body from the blood Yea it shall as truely be sayd of the cuppe This is my body as of the bread it selfe and it may likewyse enterchangeably be sayd that the bread is the blood If they answer that we muste consider to what ende or vse the signes were ordeined I graunt it in dede but in the meane tyme they shall not vnwynde themselues but that their error must drawe this absurditie with it that the bread is the blood and the wyne is the bodye Nowe I wote not what this meaneth when they graunt the bread and the body to be diuers things yet to affirme that the one is spoken of the other proprely and without any figure as if a man shold say that a garment is in dede a thyng differyng from a man and yet that it is proprely called a man In the meane while as though their victorie consisted in obstinatie railing they say that Christ is accused of liēg if an exposition be sought of the wordes Now it shal be easy for vs to shew to the reders how vniust wrong these catchers of syllables do to vs when thei fill the simple with this opinion that we withdraw credit from the wordes of Christ which we haue proued to be furiously peruerted and confounded by them but to be faithfully and rightly expounded by vs. But the sclaunder of this lye can not be vtterly purged till an other crime be wiped away For they spread abroade that we be so addicted to naturall reason that we geue no more to the power of God than the order of nature suffreth and common sense teacheth From so malicious sclaūders I appelle to the very doctrine it selfe which I haue declared whiche dothe clerely enough shewe that I do not measure this mysterie by the proportion of mans reason nor doo make it subiect to the lawes of nature I beseche you haue we learned out of naturall philosophie that Christe dothe so from heauen feede our soules and bodies with his fleshe as our bodies ar norished with bread and wyne Whens cometh this power to fleshe that it may geue lyfe All men will say that it is not doone naturally It will no more please mans reason that the fleshe of Christe reacheth to vs that it maye be foode vnto vs. Finally whosoeuer hath tasted of our doctrine shal be rauished into admiration of the secrete power of God But these good men that be so zelous of it forge to themselues a miracle which beyng taken away God hymselfe vanisheth with his power I desire to haue the readers ones agayne warned that they diligently wey what our doctrine bringeth whether it hang vpon common sense or with the winges of Faith surmounting the worlde climbeth vp beyond it into the heauens We say that Christ as well with the outwarde signe as with his Spirite descendeth to vs that he may truely quicken our soules with the substance of his fleshe of his blood In these fewe wordes he that perceyueth not to be conteined many miracles is more than senslesse forasmuche as there is nothyng more beside nature than that soules should borrow spiritual and heauenly life of the fleshe which toke her beginnyng of the earth and which was subiect to death Nothing is more incredible than that thinges distant and asunder by the
exposition of Scripture dothe in this behalfe very well agree with me As for them that speake agaynst so euident a truthe let them looke after what rule of faith they fashion themselues He that dothe not confesse that Iesus Christ is come in the fleshe is not of God These men althoughe they cloke it or marke it not doo spoile hym of his fleshe Of communicatyng is to be likewise thought whiche they acknowlege none vnlesse they deuoure the fleshe of Christe vnder bread But there is no small wrong done to the Holy ghost vnlesse we beleue that it is brought to passe by his incomprehensible power that we communicate with the fleshe and blood of Christ. Yea if the force of the mysterie such as it is taught of vs and as it was knowen to the old Chirch from fower hundred yeres agoe were weyed accordyng to the worthinesse of it there was enough and more wherupon we myght be satisfied the gate had ben shut against many fowle errors out of which haue ben kindled many horrible dissensions wherwith both in olde tyme and in our age the Chirche hath ben miserably vexed while curious men do enforce an excessiue maner of presence which the Scripture neuer sheweth And they turmoyle aboute a thyng fondly and rashely conceiued as if he enclosyng of Christ vnder bread were as the prouerbe is the prowe and poupe of godlinesse It principally behoued to know howe the body of Christ as it was ones deliuered for vs is made ours how we are made partakers of his blood that was shedde because this is to possesse whole Christ crucified that we may enioy all his good thyngs Nowe these thynges in which was so great importance beyng omitted yea neglected and in a maner buried this onely crabbed question pleaseth them howe the body of Christ lieth hidde vnder bread or vnder the forme of bread They falsly spread abrode that whatsoeuer we teache concernyng spirituall eatyng is contrarie to the true and eatyng as they call it because we haue respecte to nothyng but to the maner which among them is carnall whyle they enclose Christ in bread but to vs it is spirituall because the secrete power of the Spirite is the bonde of our conioynyng with Christ. No truer is that other obiection that we touche onely the frute or effecte which the faithfull take of the eating of the fleshe of Christ. For we haue said before that Christ himselfe is the substance of the Supper and that therupon foloweth the effect that by the sacrifice of his death we ar cleansed from sinnes by his blood we are washed by his resurrection we are raised vp into hope of the heauenly lyfe But the foolishe imagination whereof Lombarde was the author hath peruerted their myndes while they thinke that the eating of the fleshe of Christ is the Sacrament For thus sayth he The Sacrament and not the thyng are the formes of bread and wyne the sacrament and the thyng are the fleshe and blood of Christe the thyng and not the sacrament is his mysticall fleshe Agayne within a littell after The thyng signified and conteined is the propre fleshe of Christ the thyng signified and not conteyned is his mysticall body Wheras he maketh difference betwene the fleshe of Christ and the effectual power of norishyng wherwith it is endued I agree but whereas he faineth it to be a sacrament yea and conteined vnder bread it is an error not to be suffred Hereupon hath growen the false exposition of sacramentall eatyng because they haue thought that wicked men also and euell doers doo eate the fleshe of Christ howe muche soeuer they bee strangers from hym But the fleshe of Christ it selfe in the mysterie of the Supper is no lesse a spirituall thyng than eternall saluation Wherupon we gather that whosoeuer be voide of the Spirite of Christ can no more eate the fleshe of Christ than they can drinke wine wherwith is ioyned no taste Truely Christ is to haynously torne in sonder when that dead body and which hath no lyuely strength is geuen foorth in common to vnbeleuers and his expresse wordes are directly against it Whosoeuer eateth my fleshe and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in hym They answer that in that place is not entreated of the sacramental eatyng which I graunt so that they wyll not nowe and then stomble agaynst the same stone in sayeng that the fleshe it selfe is eaten without fruite But I would knowe of them howe long they hold it when they haue eaten it Here in my iudgement they shall haue no waye to gett out But they obiect that nothyng can bee withdrawen or faile of the promises of God by the vnthankfulnesse of men I graunt in dede and I say that the force of the mysterie remaineth whole howsoeuer wicked men doo as muche as in them lyeth endeuor to make it voyde Yet it is one thyng to be offred and an other thyng to be receiued Christ reacheth this spirituall meate and offreth this spirituall drinke to all men some do gredily eate of it some do lothingly refuse it shall these mens refusyng make the meate and the drynke to lose their nature They wil say that their opiniō is holpen by this similitude namely that the fleshe of Christ though it be vnsauorie is neuerthelesse his fleshe But I denie that it can be eaten without the taste of faith or if we list rather to speake as Augustine doth I say that men beare away no more of this sacramēt thā thei gather with the vessel of faith So nothing is abated from the Sacrament yea the truth and effectualnesse therof remaineth vnminished although the wicked depart emptie frō the outward partakyng of it If they agayne obiect that this worde this is my bodye is diminished if the wicked receiue corruptible bread and nothyng ells we haue a solution ready that God will not be acknowen true in the receiuyng it selfe but in the stedfastnesse of his owne goodnesse when he is ready to geue yea liberally offreth to the vnworthy that whiche they refuse And this is the fulnesse of the Sacrament which the whole world can not breake that the flesh and blood of Christ is no lesse geuen to the vnworthy than to the chosen faithfull ones of God but therewithall it is true that as water lightyng vpon a hard stone falleth away because there is no entrie open into the stone so the wicked do with their hardnesse driue back the grace of God that it cā not perce into them Moreouer that Christ should be receiued without faith is no more agreeyng with reason than sede to bud in the fyre Wheras they aske how Christe is come to damnation to some vnlesse they receiue him vnworthily it is a very cold question forasmuch as we no where rede that mē do procure death to themselues by vnworthily receiuyng Christe but rather by refusing him Neither doth Christes parable helpe them where he saith that sede groweth vp among thornes
mater Also in an other place entreating of the eatyng and the frute therof he concludeth thus Then shall the body and blood of Christ be life to euery man if that which in the Sacrament is visibly receiued be in the truth it selfe spiritually eaten spiritually drōk Therfore whoso make vnbeleuers partakers of the fleshe and blood of Christ that they may agree with Augustine let them shewe vs the visible body of Christ forasmuche as by his iudgement the whole truthe is spirituall And it is certainly gathered out of his wordes that the Sacramentall eatyng when vnbelefe closeth vp the entrie to truthe is as much in effect as visible or outward eatyng If the body of Christ might be eaten truely and yet not spiritually what shold that meane whiche he sayth in an other place Ye shall not eate this body which ye see drinke the blood which they shall shedde that shall crucifie me I haue commēded a certaine sacrament vnto you beeyng spiritually vnderstanded it shall quicken you Uerily he woulde not denie but that the same body which Christ offred for sacrifice is deliuered in the Supper but he dyd set out the maner of eatyng namely that being receiued into heauenly glorie by the secrete power of the Spirite it breatheth lyfe into vs. I graunt in dede that there is oftentymes founde in hym this maner of speakyng that the body of Christ is eaten of the vnbeleuers but he expoundeth himselfe addyng In Sacramente And in an other place he describeth spirituall eating in whiche out biringes consume not grace And least myne aduersaries should saye that I fighte with them with a heape of places I wold know of them how they can vnwynde themselues from one saieng of his where he saith that Sacraments do worke in the only elect that which they figure Truely they dare not denye but that the bred in the Supper figureth the body of Christ. Wherupon foloweth that the reprobate are debarred from the partakyng of it That Cyrill also thought none otherwise these wordes doo declare As if a man vpon molten waxe do poure other waxe he wholly tempereth the one waxe with the other so is it necessary if any man receiue the fleshe and blood of the Lorde that he be ioyned with hym that Christe may be founde in hym and he in Christ. By these wordes I thinke it is euident that they ar bereued of the true and real eatyng that do but sacramentally eate the body of Christ which can not be seuered from his power and that therfore faileth not the faith of the promises of god which cesseth not to rayne from heauen although the stones and rockes conceiue not the liquor of the raine This knowledge shall also easily drawe vs away from the carnal worshipping whiche some haue with peruerse rashnesse erected in the Sacrament because they made accompt with themselues in this maner If it be the body then bothe the soule and the godhead are together with the body which now can not be seuered therfore Christe is there to be worshipped First if their accompanieng whiche thei pretende be denied them what will they do For how much soeuer they crie out vpon an absurditie if the body be seuered from the soule and the godhed yet what soūdwitted and sobre man can persuade himself that the body of Christ is Christ They thinke themselues in dede gaily to proue it with their logicall argumentes But sith Christ speaketh distinctly of his body and blood but describeth not the maner of presence how will they of a doutfull thing gather certainly that which they would What then If their consciences chance to be exercised with any more greuous felyng shal not they by and by with their logicall arguments be dissolued melt namely when they shall see themselues destitute of the certaine word of God vpon which alone our soules do stand fast when they are called to accompt without which they faint at euery first moment when thei shal call to mynde that the doctrine and exāples of the Apostles are against them and that themselues alone ar to themselues the authors of it To suche motions shal be added other not small prickynges What Shall it be a mater of no importance to worship God in this forme where nothyng was prescribed vnto vs When it concerned the true worshyp of God ought they with so great lightnesse to haue attēpted that of which there is no where red any one word But if they had with such humblenesse as they ought holden all their thoughtes vnder the word of God they wold truly haue harkened to that which he said Take eate drinke and wold haue obeyed this cōmaundement wherin he biddeth the Sacrament to be receiued not to be worshipped But they which as it is cōmaunded of God do receiue it without worshippyng are assured that they do not swarue from Gods cōmaūdement than which assurednesse there is nothing better when we take any worke in hande They haue the example of the Apostles whom we reade not to haue fallen downe flatt worshipped it but euen as they were sitting to haue receiued it eaten it They haue the vse of the Apostolike Chirch wherin Luke reporteth that the faithfull did communicate not in woorshyppyng but in breakyng of bread They haue the Apostles doctrine wherwith Paule instructed the Chirch of the Corynthians professyng that he had receiued of the Lorde that whiche he deliuered And these thyngs verily tend to this end that the godly readers shold wey how perillous it is in so hye matters to wander frō the simple worde of God to the dreames of our owne braine But those thyngs that are aboue said ought to deliuer vs from all doute in this behalfe For that godly soules may therin rightly take hold of Christ they must nedes be lifted vp to heauen If this be the office of a sacrament to help the mynd of man whiche otherwise is weake that it may rise vpwarde to reache the height of spirituall mysteries then they which are holden downe in the outwarde signe do stray from the right way of sekyng Christ. What then Shall we denie that it is a superstitious worshippyng when men do throwe themselues downe before bread to worship Christe therein Doutlesse the Nicene Synode meant to mete with this mischiefe whē it forbade vs to be hūbly intentiue to the signes set before vs. And for none other cause was it in olde tyme ordeined that before the consecration the people shold with a loude voice be put in mynde to haue their hartes lifted vpward The Scripture it selfe also beside that it diligently declareth vnto vs the ascension of Christ wherby he conueyed away the presence of his body from our sight conuersation to shake away from vs all carnal thinkyng of hym so oft as it maketh mention of him cōmaūdeth vs to be in myndes raised vpward to seke him in heauen sittyng at the right hand of the
Father According to this rule he was rather to be spiritually worshipped in heauēly glorie thā this so perillous a kinde of worshippyng to be deuised full of carnall and grosse opinion of God Wherfore thei that haue inuēted the worshipping of the sacramēt haue not only dreamed it of thēselues beside the Scripture in which no mention of it can be shewed which yet shold not haue ben ouerpassed if it had ben acceptable to God But also al the scripture crieng out against it they haue framed to thēselues a God after the wil of their own lust leauing the liuing God For what is idolatry if this be not to worship the gifts in stede of the geuer of himself Wherin they haue doblely offended For both the honor taken frō God was conueyed to a creature and he himself also dishonored in the defilyng and prophanyng of his benefite when of his holy sacramēt is made a cursed idole But let vs contrarywise least we fall into the same pit throughly settle our eares eies hartes myndes and tonges in the holy doctrine of God For that is the schole of the Holy ghost the best scholemaister in whiche suche profite is atteined that nothing nede more to be gotten from any where ells but we willingly ought to be ignorant of whatsoeuer is not taught in it But nowe as superstition when it hath ones passed the right boundes maketh no end of sinning thei fel a great wai further For thei haue deuised Ceremonies altogether strange frō the institutiō of the Supper to this end only that they might geue diuine honors to the signe We yelde say they this worship to Christ. First if this wer done in the Supper I wold say that that worshipping only is lawfull which resteth not in the signe but is directed to Christ sittyng in heauen But now by what pretense do they bost that they worship Christ in that bread whē thei haue no promise therof They consecrate an host as they call it which they may carie about in pompe which they may shew foorth in a cōmon gazing to be loked vpon worshipped and called vpon I aske by what power they think it to be rightly cōsecrate Uerily they wil bring forth those words This is my body But I will obiect to the cōtrary that it was therwithall said Take eate Neither will I do that of nothing For whē a promise is knit to a cōmaūdement I say that the promise is so conteined vnder the cōmaundement that being seuered it is made no promise at all This shal be made plainer by a like exāple God gaue a cōmaundement when he said Call vpon me He added a promise I wil heare thee If any mā calling vpon Peter Paule do glorie vpon this promise wil not al mē crie out that he doth wrongfully And what other thing I pray you do they which leauing the cōmaūdement concernyng eatyng do catch hold of a maimed promise this is my body to abuse it to strange ceremonies from the institution of Christ Let vs therfore remembre that this promise is geuen to them which kepe the cōmaundement ioined with it but that they be destitute of all the word which remoue the Sacrament to any other way We haue heretofore entreated how the mysterie of the holy supper serueth our Faith before God But forasmuch as the Lord doth here not only bring into our remembrance so great largesse of his boūtie as we haue before shewed but doth as it were from hande to hande bring it foorth stirreth vs to acknowlege it he doth therwithal warne vs that we be not vnthākfull to so plētiful liberalitie but rather that we shold publishe it with such praises as it is mete and aduance it with thankesgeuyng Therfore when he deliuered the institution of the Sacramēt it self to the Apostles he taught them that they should doo it in remembrance of him Which Paul expoūdeth to declare the Lords death That is publikely altogether with one mouth opēly to confesse that al our affiance of life saluatiō is reposed in the death of the Lord that we may glorifie him with our cōfessiō may by our exāple exhorte other to geue glory to him Here againe it appeareth wherunto the marke of thys Sacramēt is directed namely to exercise vs in the remēbrance of the death of Christ. For this that we are commaunded to declare the Lordes death tyll he come to iudge is nothing ells but that we should publishe that with cōfessiō of mouth which our Fayth hath acknowleged in the Sacramēt that is that the death of Christ is our life This is the seconde vse of the Sacrament which perteineth to ourwarde confession Thirdly the Lorde also willed it to be to vs in stede of an exhortatiō than which none other can more vehemētly encourage and enflame vs bothe to purenesse and holinesse of life and also to charitie peace and agreement For the Lord doth therin so communicate his body to vs that he is made throughly one with vs and we with him Now sithe he hath but one body whereof he maketh vs all partakers it is necessarie that al we also be by such partaking made one body Whiche vnitie the bred which is deliuered in the Sacrament representeth which as it is made of many graynes in such sort mingled together that one can not be discerned from an other after the same manner we also oughte to be conioyned and knitt together with so great agreement of myndes that no disagreement or diuision come betwene vs. This I had rather to be expressed with Paules wordes The cup of blessing sayth he which we blesse is the communicating of the blood of Christ and the bred of blessing which we breake is the partaking of the body of Christ. Therefore we al are one body that partake of one bread We shall haue very well profited in the Sacramēt if this thought so shal be emprinted engrauen in our mindes that none of the brethren can be hurt despised refused abused or in any wise be offended of vs but that therewithal we do in so doing hurt despise and abuse Christ with our iniurious dealinges that we can not disagree with our brethren but that we muste therewithall disagree with Christe that Christe can not be loued of vs but that he muste be loued in oure brethren that what care we haue of oure own body such also we ought to haue of our brethren whiche are members of our body as no part of our bodi is touched with ani felīg of grefe whiche is not spred abrode into al the other partes so we must not suffer our brother to be greued with any euill wherof we shoulde not also be touched with cōpassion Therfore Augustine not wtout cause so oft calleth thys Sacramēt the bonde of charitie For what sharper spur could be put to vs to stirre vp mutual charitie amōg vs thā whē Christ geuing himselfe to vs doth not only allure vs with hys
and wheras it was necessarie that they which were mingled with prophane men and idolatrers should by some outwarde signe testifie their Fayth the holy man for order and policies sake appoynted that day wherin the whole people of Christians should by partaking of the Lordes Supper vtter a confession of their faith The ordinance of zepherinus being otherwise good hath ben euel wrested of them that came after when a certaine law was made of one communicating yerely wherby it is come to passe that almost al men when they haue ones communicate as though they had gaily discharged themselues for al the rest of the yere slepe soundly on bothe eares It ought to haue ben farr otherwise done Euery weke at the least the Lordes table shoulde be sett before the assemblie of the Christians the promises should be declared which might fede vs spiritually at it none should in dede be compelled by necessitie but all should be exhorted and prycked forwarde the sluggishnesse also of the slouthfull should be rebuked All should by heapes as hungry men come together to such deynties Not without rightfull cause therefore at the beginning I complayned that by the craft of the deuil this custome was thrust in which whē it apointeth one certaine day of the yere maketh men slouthfull for all the reste of the yere We se in dede that this peruerse abuse was crept in euen in the tyme of Chrysostome but we may also therewithall see how muche it displeased hym For he complaineth with greuous wordes in thesame place whiche I euen nowe alleged that there is so great inequalitie of this mater that often in sometimes of the yere they came not euen whē they were cleane but at Easter they came euē whē they were vncleane Then he cryeth out O custome O presumption Then in vaine is the daily offring vsed in vaine we stande at the altar there is none that partaketh together with vs. So farr is it of that he alowed it by his authoritie adioyned to it Out of the same shop proceded also an other ordinance whiche hath stolen away or violently taken away the halfe of the Supper from the better nūber of the people of God namely the signe of the blood which beyng denyed to lay and profane men for with such titles forsothe they set out Gods inheritance became a peculiar possession to shauen anoynted men It is the commaundement of the eternall God that al should drynke which commaundement man dare discontinue and repelle with a new and contrarie law commaunding that not all shoulde drynke And that these law makers should not seme to fight wtout reson against their God they pretende perils that myght happen if this holy cup were commonly geuen to all as though those dangers had not ben foreseen and marked of the eternal wisdome of God And then suttelly forsothe they reson that the one is enough for both For if say they it be the body it is whole Christ which can not now be seuered frō hys body Therfore by Accompanieng the body conteineth the blood Loe how our wit agreeth with God when it hath neuer so litle begon with loose reines to be wanton and wilde The Lord shewing bred saith that it is his body when he sheweth the cup he calleth it his blood The boldnesse of mans reason crieth out contrariwise that the bred is the blood and the wine is the body as though the Lord had for no cause seuered his body from his blood bothe in wordes and in signes or as though it had euer ben heard spoken that the body or blood of Christ is called God man Uerily if he had ment to signifie whole himselfe he might haue sayed it is I as he is wont to speake in the Scriptures and not thys is my body thys is my blood But he willing to helpe our weaknesse did set the cup seuerally from the bred to teache that he sufficeth no lesse for drinke than for meate Nowe let one part be taken away then we shall finde but the one halfe of the nourishmentes in him Therfore although it be true which they pretende that the blood is in the bred by way of Accompanieng and againe the body in the cup yet they defraude godly soules of the confirmation of Fayth whiche Christe deliuereth as necessarie Therefore bidding their suttelties farewell we muste holde faste the profit whiche is by the ordinance of Christe in the twoo earnestes I knowe in dede that the ministers of Satan doe here cauil as it is an ordinarie thing with them to make mockerie of the Scriptures First thei allege that of one bare doing ought not to be gathered a rule wherby the Chirch should be bounde to perpetual obseruing But they lye when they say that it was but a bare doyng for Christ did not only deliuer the cuppe but also did institute that his Apostles should in tyme to come doo the same For they are the wordes of a commaunder drinke ye all of this cuppe And Paule so reherseth that it was a dede that he also commendeth it for a certain rule An other starting hole is that the Apostles alone were receiued of Christ to the partaking of this Supper whome he had already chosen and taken into the order of the sacrificyng prestes But I would haue them answere me to fiue questions from which they shall not be able to escape but that they shall be easily conuinced with their lies Fyrst by what oracle haue they this solution reueled beyng so strange from the worde of God The Scripture reckeneth .xii. that sate with Iesus but it dothe not so obscure the dignitie of Christ that it calleth them sacrificing prestes of which name we will speake hereafter in place fit for it Though he gaue it then to the .xii. yet he commaunded that they should do the same namely that they shold so distribute it among them Secondely why in that better age from the Apostles almost a thousand yeres were al without exception made partakers of bothe the signes was the old Chirche ignorant what gestes Christ had receiued to his Supper It were a point of moste desperate shamelesnesse here to sticke and dally in graūtyng it to bee true There remayne the ecclesiasticall hystories there remayne the bokes of the old writers which minister euident testimonies of this matter The fleshe sayth Tertullian is fed with the body blood of Christ that the soule may be fatted with fedyng vpon God How sayd Ambrose to Theodosius wilt thou receiue with suche handes the holy body of the Lorde With what boldnesse wilte thou with thy mouthe partake of the cup of the precious blood And Hierome sayth The prestes whiche make the Thankesgeuing and do distribute the blood of the Lorde to the people Chrysostome Not as in the olde lawe the prest did eate parte and the people part but one body is set before all and one cuppe Those thynges that perteine to the Thankesgeuing are all cōmon betwene the
be dayly sacrificed that he may somewhat profit vs. The Supper shoulde haue bene distributed in the coÌ„mon assemblie of the Chirch that it might enforme vs of the communion whereby we all cleaue together in Christ Iesus The sacrifice of the Masse dissolueth and plucketh in sonder this coÌ„munitie For after that the error grew in force that there must be sacrificers that shold sacrifice for the people the Supper of the Lord as though it were posted ouer to them cessed to be coÌ„municated to the coÌ„gregatioÌ„ of the faithful according to the commaundement of the Lord. An entrie was made open to priuate Masses which might rather resemble a certaine excommunication than that same communitie ordeined of the Lorde when â—â—pety sacrificer wylling seuerally by hym selfe to deuoure his sacrifice doothe seuer hymselfe from the whole people of the faithfull I call priuate Masse least any man be deceiued wheresoeuer there is no partaking of the Lordes Supper among the faithful although otherwise a great multitude of men be present And whense the very name of Masse first sprong I could neuer certainly iudge sauyng that it semeth to me likely that it was taken of the offringes that were geuen Whereupon the olde writers vse it commonly in the plural number But to leaue stryuyng about the name I saye that priuate Masses are directly against the ordinance of Christe and therfore they are a wicked prophanyng of the holy Supper For what hath the Lorde commaunded vs not to take and diuide it among vs What maner of obseruyng of the commaundement doth Paule teache not the breaking of bread which is the communion of the body blood Therfore wheÌ„ one taketh it without distributing what liknesse is there But that same one maÌ„ doth it in the name of the whole Chirch By what coÌ„maundement Is not this openly to mocke God when one maÌ„ priuatly taketh to hym selfe that which ought not to haue ben done but amoÌ„g many But bicause the wordes of Christ Paul ar plain enough we may brefely coÌ„clude that whersoeuer is not breaking of bread to the coÌ„munion of the faithful there is not the Supper of the Lord but a false and wrongfull counterfaiting of the Supper But a false counterfaityng is a corrupting Now the corrupting of so great a mysterie is not without wickednesse Therfore in priuate Masses is a wicked abuse And as one fault in religion from time to tyme bredeth an other after that that maner of offring without communion was ones crept in by litle and litle they beganne in euery corner of Chirches to make innumerable Masses diuersly to draw the people hether and thether which should haue come together into one assemblie that they might reknowlege the mysterie of their owne vnitie Now let them goe and deny it to be ydolatrie that in their Masses they shew forth bread to be worshipped in stede of Christ. For in vaine they bost of those promises of the presence of Christ which howsoeuer they be vnderstode verily wer not geueÌ„ to this purpose that wicked and prophane men so oft as they will and to whatsoeuer abuse they list may make the body of Christ but that the faithfull when wyth religious obseruation they do in Celebrating of the Supper follow the commaundement of Christ may enioy the true partaking of him Beside that this peruersnesse was vnknoweÌ„ to the purer Chirch For howsoeuer the more shamelesse sort among our aduersaries do here goe about to disguise the mater with false colors yet it is moste sure that all antiquitie is against them as we haue afore proued in other things it may more certeinly be iudged by the coÌ„tinual reding of old writers But ere I make an ende of speaking of it I aske our Massing doctors sithe they knowe that obedience is more estemed of God than oblations and that he more requireth that his voice be harkened to thaÌ„ that sacrifices be offred how they beleue that this maner of sacrificing is acceptable to God whereof they haue no certaine commaundement and which they see not to be allowed by any one syllable of the Scripture Moreouer when they heare the Apostle say that no maÌ„ taketh to himself the name honor of sacrificing presthode but he that is called as AaroÌ„ was yea that Christ himself did not thrust in himself but obeyd the calling of his father either they must bring forth God the author ordeiner of their sacrificing presthod or they must coÌ„fesse that the honor is not of God into which they have with wicked rashnes brokeÌ„ in vncalled But they caÌ„ not shew one tittle of a letter that mainteineth their sacrificing presthod Why therfore shal not their sacrifices vanish away which caÌ„ not be offred without a prest If any maÌ„ do thrust in short senteÌ„ces of the old writers gathered here there and do by their authoritie trauail to proue that the sacrifice which is done in the Supper is far otherwise to be vnderstaÌ„ded thaÌ„ we do expound it let him be brefly answered thus if the question be of allowyng the forged deuise of sacrifice suche as the Papistes haue fayned in the Masse the old writers do neuer speake in defeÌ„se of such sacrilege They do in dede vse the worde Sacrifice but therwithal they expounde that they meane nothing ells but the remembrance of that true and onely sacrifice which Christ our only sacrificing preste as they eche where report of him made on the crosse The Hebrues sayeth Augustine in the sacrifices of beastes which they offred to God did celebrate a prophecie of the sacrifice to come which Christ offred the Christians doe with the holy oblation and partaking of the body of Christe celebrate a remembrance of the sacrifice alredy made Here verily he teacheth altogether the same thing which is written in moe wordes in the boke of Fayth to Peter the Deacon whosoeuer be the author of it The words be these Beleue most stedfastly and dout not at al that the only begotteÌ„ himself being made fleshe for vs offred himselfe for vs a sacrifice and oblation to God into a sauor of swetenesse to whoÌ„ with the Father and the Holy ghoste in the tyme of the olde testamente beastes were sacrificed and to whom now with the Father and the Holy ghost with whoÌ„ he hath one Godhed the holy Chirch throughout the whole world cesseth not to offer the sacrifice of bred and wyne For in those fleshly sacrifices was a figuring of the fleshe of Christ which he should offer for our sinnes and of hys blood which he should shed to the forgeuenesse of synnes But in this sacrifice is thankesgeuing rehearsal of the fleshe of Christ whiche he offered for vs and of his blood whiche the same he hath shed for vs. Wherupon Augustine himselfe in many places expoundeth it to be nothing ells but a sacrifice of prayse Finally you shal commonly fynde in him that the Supper of the Lord is for no other