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
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
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
that they are by chaunse made differente from brute beastes But they pretende a cloke of nature whom they accompte the maker of al thinges and so doe conuey God awaye They see that exquysyte workemanship in al their members from their mouth and their eyes euen to the nailes of their toaes and yet here also they putte nature in place of god But specially the so swift motions the so excellent powers the so rare giftes of the soule do represent a diuine nature that doth not easily suffer it selfe to be hid vnlesse the Epicureans like the Gyauntes Cyclopes wold bearing themselues bolde vppon this hye degre outrageously make warre againste God Do the whole treasures of the heauenly wisedome so mete together to rule a worme of fiue fete long and shal the whole vniuersalitie of the world be wtout this prerogatiue Firste to agree that there is a certaine instrumentall thing that aunswereth to all the partes of man doth so serue nothing at al to obscure the honor of God that it rather doeth more gloriously set it out Let Epicure answer me what meting of vndiuisible bodyes boiling the meate and drinke in man doth dispose part into excrementes part into bloud and bringeth to passe that there is in al the members of man such an endeuorynge to do their offyce eueÌ„ as if so many seueral soules did by coÌ„mon aduise rule one body But I haue not nowe to doe with that â—â—ye of swyne I rather speake vnto them that being geuen to suttelties would by croked conueiaunce wrythe that colde saying of Aristotle bothe to destroye the immortalitie of the soule and also to take from God hys ryghte For because there ar instrumental powers of the soule by pretense thereof they bynde the soule to the bodye that it cannot continue without the bodye and with praises of nature they doo as much as in them is suppresse the name of God But the powers of the soule are farre from beeinge enclosed in those exercises that serue the body For what pertayneth to the body for a man to measure the skye to gather the number of the starres to lerne the greatenes of euery one to knowe what space they be distante one from an other with what swiftnes or slownesse they goe their courses how many degrees they decline this way or that way I grauÌ„t in dede that there is some vse of Astrologie but my meanyng is onely to shewe that in this so depe serching out of heauenly thyngs it is not an instrumental measuring but that the soule hath her offices by it selfe seuerall from the body I haue shewed one example by whiche it shal be easy for the readers to gather the reste Truely the manyfolde nimblenes of the soule by which it surueieth bothe heauen and earthe ioyneth thynges past with things to come kepeth in memory thinges heard long before and expresseth eche thing to it selfe by imaginacion also the ingeniousnesse by which it inuenteth thinges incredible and which is the mother of so many maruelons artes are sure tokens of diuine nature in man Beside that euen in slepyng it doeth not onely rolle and tourne it self but also conceiueth many thinges profytable reasoneth of many thynges also prophecieth of thyngs to come What shal we in this case say but that the signes of immortalitie that are emprinted in man cannot be blotted out Now what reason may beare that man shal be of diuine nature and not acknowledge his Creator Shall we forsoth by iudgement that is put into vs discerne betwene right and wronge and shall there be no iudge in heauen Shall we euen in our slepe haue abiding with vs some remnant of vnderstandyng and shall no God be waking in gouernyng the worlde Shall we be so compted the inuenters of so many artes and profitable thynges that God shal be defrauded of his praise where as yet experience sufficiently teacheth that from an other and not from our selues all that we haue is in diuerse wise distributed amonge vs As for that which some do babble of the secrete inspiracion that geueth lyuelines to the worlde it is not onely weake but also vngodly They lyke well that famous saying of Uergile Fyrst heauen and earth and flovvyng fieldes of seas The shinyng globe of Moone and Tiâ—ans starres Sprite fedes vvithin and throughout all the lymmes Infused mynde the vvhole huge masse dooth moue And vvith the large bigge body mixe it selfe Thense come the kyndes of men and eke of beastes And lyues of fliyng foules and monsters straunge That vvater beares vvithin the marble sea A fyry lyuelynesse and heauenly race there is VVithin those seedes c. Forsothe that the world which was created for a spectacle of the glory of God shuld be the creator of it selfe So in an other place the same author folowyng the common opinion of the Greekes and Latynes sayeth Some say that bees haue part of mynde diuine And heauenly draughtes For eke they say that God Gothe through the coastes of lande and crekes of sea And through depe skye And hense the flockes and heardes And men and all the kyndes of sauage beastes Eche at their byrthe receyue theyr suttle lyues And therto are they rendred all at laste And all resolued are retournde agayne Ne place there is for deathe but lyuely they Flye into nombre of the Starres aboue And take their place vvithin the lofty skye Loe what that hungry speculacion of the vniuersall minde that geueth soule and liuelines to the world auaileth to engender and nourishe godlines in the hartes of men Whiche doeth also better appeare by the blasphemous sayings of the filthy dogge Lucretius which are deriued from the same principle Euen thys is it to make a shadowishe God to driue farre away the true God whome we ought to feare and worshyp I graunt in dede that this may be godlily sayed so that it procede from a godly minde that nature is God but because it is a hard and an vnproper maner of speche forasmuch as nature is rather an order prebed by God therfore in thynges of so great weight and to which is due a singular religiousnes it is hurtfull to wrapp vp God confusely with the inferior course of his workes Let vs therefore remember so ofte as any man considereth his owne nature that there is one God which so gouerneth al natures that his wil is to haue vs to loke vnto hym our fayth to be directed to hym and hym to bee worshypped and called vpon of vs because there is nothing more agaynst conuenience of reason thaÌ„ for vs to enioy those excellent gyftes that sauoure of diuine nature in vs and to despise the authoure that freely doeth geue theym vnto vs. Nowe as concernynge his power with howe notable examples dothe it forceably drawe vs to consider it vnlesse perhappes we may be ignoraunt of howe great a strengthe it is with his onely woorde to vpholde this infinite masse of heauen and earth with his onely becke
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
holy because our God is holye For when we were scattered abrode lyke straying shepe and dispersed abrode in the maze of the worlde he gathered vs together agayne to ioyne vs in one flocke with hym selfe When we heare mention made of our ioynyng with God lette vs remember that holynesse must be the bond therof Not that by the merite of holinesse we come into common with hym where as rather we must first cleaâ—e vnto hym that beyng endued with his holynesse we may folowe whether he calleth but because it greatly perteineth to his glorie that he haue no felowship with wickednesse and vncleannesse Therfore also it teacheth that this is the ende of our callyng whiche we ought alwaye to haue respect vnto if wee wyll answere God that calleth vs. For to what purpose was it that we should be drawen out of the wickednesse and filthenesse of the worlde if we geue our selues leaue all our lyfe long to wallowe in them styll Moreouer it also admonysheth vs that to the ende we maye be reckened among the people of God we must dwell in the holy citie Hierusalem Whiche as he hath halowed to him selfe so is it vnlawefull that it be vnholyly profaned by the vncleannesse of the inhabitantes From hence came these sayinges that they shall haue a place in the tabernacle of God that walke without spot and studie to followe ryghteousnesse c. Because it is not meete that the Sanctuarie wheron he dwelleth should be lyke a stable full of filthinesse And the better to awake vs it sheweth that God the father as he hath ioyned vs to him self in his Chist so hath printed an image for vs in him after whiche he would haue vs to be fashioned Nowe let them finde me a better order among the Phylosophers that thinke that the phylosophie concerning manners is in theÌ„ only orderly framed They when they wyll excellently well exhorte vs to vertue bring nothynge els but that we shold liue agreably to nature But the Scripture bringeth her exhortation from the true welspring wheÌ„ it not only teacheth vs to referre our life to God the authour of it to whome it is bond but also when she hath taught that we are swarued out of kynde from the true originall and state of our creation she immediatly addeth that Christ by whome we come againe into fauour with God is set before vs for an example that we should expresse the forme therof in our life What may a man require more effectual then this one thing Ye what maye a manne require more than thys onelye thynge For if the Lorde hathe by adoption made vs chyldren with this condition that our lyfe shoulde resemble Christe the bond of our adoptioÌ„ if we do not geue auowe our selues to righteousnesse we do not only with moste wicked breach of allegiaunce depart from our creatour but also we forsweare him to be our sauiour Then the Scripture taketh matter of exhortation out of all the benefites of God whiche she reherseth vnto vs and all the partes of our saluation And sheweth that sithe God hath shewed himselfe a father vnto vs we are worthy to be condemned of extreeme vnthankfulnesse if we do not likewise in oure behalfe shewe oure selues children vnto him Sithe Christe hathe cleansed vs with the washing of his blood hath made vs partakers of this cleansing by baptisme it is not semely that we should be spotted with newe filthinesse Sithe he hath graffed vs into his body we must carefullye take hede that we sprincle not any spot or blott vpon vs that are hys members Sithe he him self that is our head is ascended into heauen it behoueth vs that laying awaye earthly affection we doe with all our heart aspire to heauenward Sithe the holy Ghost hath dedicated vs temples to God we must endeuour that Gods glorie may be honorably set out by vs and muste not doe any thyng where by we may bee prophaned with filthynesse of synne Sithe both our soule and our body are ordeyned to heauenly incorruption and an vnperishing crowne we must diligently trauayll that the same may be kept pure and vncorrupted vnto the day of the Lord. These I say be the best layed foundations to bylde a mans lyfe and suche as the lyke are not to be found among the Phylosophers whiche in commendation of vertue doe neuer climbe aboue the naturall dignitie of man And heare is a fit place to speake vnto them that hauing nothynge but the title and badge of Christ yet would be named Christians But with what face doe they boste of his holy name sithe none haue any felowship with Christ but they that haue receiued a true knowledge of hym out of the worde of the Gospell But the Apostle sayeth that all they haue not ryghtly learned Christ that are not taught that they must cast alway the old man which is corrupted according to the desire of errour and haue not put on Christ. Therfore it is proued that they falsly yea and wrongfully pretende the knowledge of Christ although they can eloquently and roundely talke of the Gospell For it is not a doctrine of tong but of life is not coÌ„ceiued as other learnings be with only vnderstaÌ„ding memorie but is then only receiued when it possesseth the whole soule findeth a seate place to hold it in the moste inward affection of the heart Therfore either let theÌ„ cesse to the sclauÌ„der of God to boste of that which they ar not or let theÌ„ shew theÌ„ selues not vnworthy scholars for Christ their maister We haue geuen the first place to the doctrine wherin our religion is coÌ„teined because our saluatioÌ„ beginneth at it but the same must be poured into our hearte passe into our maÌ„ners yea transforme vs into it that it be not vnfrutefull vnto vs â–ª If the Phylosophers do iustly chafe against theÌ„ do with shamefull reproche driue theÌ„ from their coÌ„panie that professing an art that ought to be the scholemaistres of life do turne it into a Sophistical babbling with how much better reason shal we detest these trifling Sophisters that are coÌ„tented to role the Gospel vpon the top of their tonges the effectual working wherof ought to pearce into the innermost affectioÌ„s of the heart to rest in the soul to alter the whole man a hundred times more than the cold exhortations of Phylosophers Yet do I not require that the manners of a ChristiaÌ„ man sauour of nothing but the absolute Gospel which neuerthelesse both were to be wished we must endeuour vs toward it But I do not so seuerely require a gospellike perfection that I wold not acknowledge him for a christian that hath not yet atteined vnto it For so should al meÌ„ be excluded froÌ„ the churche sith there is no man found that is not by a great space distant from it many haue hetherto but a litle way proceded toward it who yet should be vniustly cast
that they ought not to be troubled nor accombred about the obseruations of the law Hetherto it very wel maketh of our syde But the exception that immediatly foloweth neither is any newe law made by the Apostles but the diuine and eternall commaundemeÌ„t of God that charitie ought not to be broken nor doth diminishe one title of that libertie but onely admonisheth the Gentiles how they shold temper themselues to their brethreÌ„ that they abuse not their libertie to the offence of them Let this therfore be the second poynt that the Gentiles should vse a harmelesse libertie and without offence of theyr brethren But yet they prescribe some certain thyng that is they teach and appoint so farre as was expedient for the tyme by what thynges they might runne into the offence of their brethren that they myght beware of those thynges but they adde no newe thyng of their own to the eternall lawe of God whiche forbiddeth the offendyng of brethren Lyke as if the faithfull Pastors which gouerne Chirches not yet wel reformed shoulde coÌ„maunde all their people that tyll the weake with whome they lyue doo growe stronger they should not openly eate fleshe on Friday or openly labor vppon holy dayes or any suche thyng For although these thynges settyng superstition asyde are by themselues indifferent yet when there is added offence of brethren they can not be doone without a faulte But the tymes are suche that the faithfull can not shewe suche a sight to the weake brethren but that they shall sore wounde their consciences Who but a cauiller wil say that so they make a newe lawe wheras it is certayn that they do onely preuent offences whiche are expressely enough forbidden of the Lord And no more can it be sayd of the Apostles whoe 's purpose was nothyng ells but in taâ—yng away the mater of offences to call vpon the lawe of God coucernyng the auoydyng of offence as if they had sayd It is the Lords coÌ„maundement that ye offend not a weake brother Ye can not eate thinges offred to images strangled and blood but that the weake brethren shall be offended Therfore we commaunde you in the woorde of the Lorde that ye eate not with offence And that the Apostles had respect to the same thyng Paule hymselfe is a very good witnesse which writeth thus verily none otherwise than accordyng to the meanyng of the Councell Concernyng meates that are offred to Idols we know that the Idole is nothyng But some with conscience of the Idole do eate it as offred to Idols and their conscience forasmuche as it is weake is defiled See that your libertie be not made an offence to the weake He that shall haue well weyed these thynges shall not afterwarde be deceiued with such a false color as they make that pretende the Apostles for defence on their tyrannie as though the Apostles had begon with their decree to breake the libertie of the Chirche But that they may not be able to escape but be dryuen euen with their owne confession to allowe this solution let them answer me by what right they were so bolde to abrogate the same decree Because there was no more perill of those offences and dissencions which the Apostles meant to prouide for and they knowe that the lawe was to be weyed by the ende therof Forasmuch as therfore this lawe was made in respect of charitie there is nothyng prescribed in it but so muche as perteineth to charitie When they confesse that the transgressyng of this law is nothyng but a breakyng of charitie do they not therwithall acknowlege that it is not a forged addition to the law of God but a naturall and simple appliance to the tymes and maners wherunto it was directed But although such lawes be a hundred times vniuste and iniurious vnto vs yet they affirme that they must be heard without exception for they say that this is not here intended that we shold consent to errors but onely that beyng subiectes we shold beare the hard coÌ„mauÌ„dementes of our gouernors whiche it is not our partes to refuse But here also the Lorde very well resisteth them with the truth of his word and deliuereth vs out of such bondage into the libertie which he hath purchased for vs with his holy blood the benefit wherof he hath more thaÌ„ ones confirmed with his word For that is not here onely intended as they maliciously fain that we shold suffer some greuous oppressioÌ„ in our body but that our coÌ„scieÌ„ces being spoiled of their libertie that is of the benefit of the blood of Christ shold be seruilely tormented Howbeit let vs passe ouer this also as though it made litle to the mater But of howe great importance do we thinke it is that the Lordes kingdome is takeÌ„ away froÌ„ him which he claimeth to himself with so great seueritie But it is takeÌ„ away so oft as he is worshipped with the lawes of mens inueÌ„tions wheras he wil be holden for the only lawmaker of his own worship And least any man shold thinke it to be a mater of nothing let vs heare how much yâ— Lord estemeth it Because saith he this people hath feared me with the coÌ„mauÌ„dement doctrine of men behold I wil astonish them with a great woÌ„derous miracle For wisdome shal perish froÌ„ the wise men therof vnderstaÌ„ding shal depart from the elders In an other place They worship me in vaine teachyng doctrines the coÌ„mauÌ„dements of meÌ„ And truly wheras the childreÌ„ of Israel defiled theÌ„selues with many idolatries the cause of al that euil is ascribed to this vnclean mixture that transgressing the commaundementes of God they haue forged new worshippinges And therfore the holy Historie rehearseth that the new strangers that had ben transplaÌ„ted by the king of BabiloÌ„ to inhabite Samaria wer torne in peces and coÌ„sumed of wilde beastes because they knew not the iudgementes or statutes of the God of that lande Although they had nothing offeÌ„ded in the Ceremonies yet God would not haue allowed a vaine pompe but in the meane time he cessed not to take vengeaÌ„ce of the defyling of hys worship for that meÌ„ did thrust in deuises strange from his worde Wherupon it is afterwarde sayd that they beyng made afrayd with that punishmente receiued the Ceremonies prescribed in the law but because they did not yet purely worship the true God it is twise repeted that they did feare him and did not feare him Wherupon we gather that the part of reuereÌ„ce which is geuen to him coÌ„sisteth in this while in worshipping him we simply folow what he commaundeth with mingling none of our own inuentions And therfore the godly kynges are oftentimes praised because they did according to al the commaundementes and declined not to the ryghte hande nor to the left I go yet further although in some fayned worshipping there do not opeÌ„ly appeare vngodlinesse yet it is seuerely coÌ„demned of the Holy ghost so soâ—e as men depart from the
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
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
But that most nere felowship wherby we are coupled with his fleshe he hath yet set out with a more glorious title when he sayd that we are members of his body and are of his bones and of hys fleshe At the last to declare it to be a mater greater than all wordes he concludeth hys sayeng with an exclamation This is sayth he a greate secret Therefore it should be a pointe of extreme madnesse to acknowlege no communion of the faythfull with the fleshe and blood of the Lord which the Apostle declareth to be so greate that he had rather wonder at it than expresse it Let the summe be that oure soules are so fed with the fleshe and blood of Christ as bred wyne do mainteine susteine the bodily lyfe For otherwise the proportional relation of the signe should not agree vnlesse soules dyd fynde their fode in Christ. Which can not be done vnlesse Christ do truely grow into one with vs and refresh vs with the eating of his fleshe and drinking of hys blood But although it seme incredible that in so great distance of places the flesh of Christ reacheth to vs that it may be meate to vs let vs remember how much the secret power of the Spirit surmounteth aboue al our senses and how foolysh it is to goe aboute to measure hys vnmeasurablenesse by our measure That therfore whiche our mynde comprehendeth not let our fayth conceiue that the Spirite truely knitteth in one those thinges that are seuered in places Nowe that same holy coÌ„municating of his body and blood wherby Christ poureth hys life into vs euen as if he peaâ—ced it into our bones marowes he in the Supper also testifieth sealeth land yâ— not with setting before vs a vayne or voyde signe but bringing fourth there the effectuall working of his spirite wherby he fulfilleth the which he promyseth And verily he there offreth and deliuereth the thing signified to al them that sit at that spiritual banket although it be receiued with frute of the faythfull onely which receiue so great bountifulnesse with true Fayth thankfulnesse of mynde After which maner the Apostle sayd that the bred which we breake is the communion of the body of Christ and that the cup which we hallow with the word prayers to that purpose is the coÌ„munion of hys blood Neither is there any cause why any man should obiect that it is a figuratiue speche by which the name of the thing signified is geuen to the signe I grauÌ„t verily that the breaking of the bred is a signe not the thiÌ„g it selfe But this being admitted yet we shall rightly gather of the deliuerance of the signe that the thing it selfe is deliuered For vnlesse a maÌ„ wil cal God a deceiuer he can neuer be so bolde to say that he setteth before vs an empty signe Therfore if by the breakyng of bred the Lorde doth truely represente the partakyng of hys body it ought to be out of dout that he truely performeth and deliuereth it And this rule is alway to be holden of the godly that so oft as they se the signes ordeined of the Lorde they certainly thinke persuade themselues that the truth of the thyng signified is there present For to what purpose should the Lorde deliuer to thee into thy hande the signe of hys body but to assure thee of the true partaking of it If it be true that a visible signe is geuen vs to seale the gift of an inuisible thing when we receiue the signe of the body let vs no lesse certainly beleue that the body it selfe also is geueÌ„ vs. I saye therefore which both hath ben alway receiued in the Chirch and al they teache at thys day that thynke right that the holy mysterie of the Supper consisteth of twoo thinges that is to saye of the bodily signes which beyng set before our eyes doe represent vnto vs inuisible thinges according to the capacitie of our weakenesse and of spirituall trueth which is by those signes bothe figured and deliuered Of what sort that is when I meane to shewe it familiarly I vse to set thre thinges the signification the mater which hangeth of the signification the vertue or effect which foloweth of both The signification consisteth in the promisses which are after a certayne manner wrapped together with the signe The mater or substance I cal Christ with hys death and resurrection By effect I vnderstande the redemption righteousnesse sanctification and eternall lyfe and whatsoeuer other benefites Christ bringeth vs. Now although all these thinges haue respect to Fayth yet I leaue no place to thys cauillation as though when I say that Christ is receiued by Fayth I would haue hym coÌ„ceiued with vnderstanding only and imaginatioÌ„ For the promises offer hym not that we should sticke fast in the sight alone and in bare knowlege but that we should enioye the true communicating of hym And truely I se not how any maÌ„ maye haue coÌ„fidence that he hath redeÌ„ption and righteousnesse in the crosse of Christ lyfe in hys death but principally standing vpon the true coÌ„munion of Christ himselfe For those good thinges shoulde not come to vs vnlesse Christ first made himselfe oures I say therefore that in the mysterie of the Supper by the signes of bread and wine Christ is truely deliuered to vs yea and hys body and blood in which he hath fulfylled al obedieÌ„ce for purchasing of ryghteousnesse to vs namely that first we should growe together into one body with hym then beyng made partakers of hys substance we may also fele hys power in the communicating of al hys good thinges Now I come down to the excessiue mixtures which superstitioÌ„ hath brought in For herein Satan hath played with maruelous sutteltie that withdrawing the myndes of men from heauen he might fyl them with peruerse error as though Christ were fastened to the elemente of bred And first we must not dreame such a presence of Christ in the Sacrament as the craftesmeÌ„ of the court of Rome haue fayned as though the body of Christ were made present with presence of place to be handeled with handes to be broosed with teethe and swallowed with mouth For this forme of recantation Pope Nicolas endited to Betengarius to be a witnesse of hys repentance namely with woordes so farr monstruous that the author of the glose cryeth out that there is danger if the reders do not wisely take hede to themselues least they should sucke out of them an heresie worse than was that of Berengarius In the seconde distinctioÌ„ in the Chapter beginning thus Ego Berengarius But Peter Lombarde although he trauaile much in excusing the absurdity yet more inclineth to the contrary senteÌ„ce For as we nothing dout that it hath limites accordyng to the perpetual nature of the body of men and is holden in heauen into which it was ones receiued vntill he returne to iugement so to draw it backe vnder these corruptible
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
expresseth that he will not be alway with hys disciples in the worlde Thys saying also they thynke that they do gayly wype awaye as though Christ sayd that he wil not alway be poore and miserable or subiect to the necessities of thys frayle lyfe But the circumstance of the place cryeth playnly to the contrarie because there is not entreated of pouertie and nede or of the miserable state of earthly life but of worship and honor The anointing pleased not the disciples because they thought it to be a superfluous and vnprofitable cost and nere vnto riotous excesse therefore they had rather that the price thereof which they thought to be il wasted had ben bestowed vppon the poore Christ answereth that he shall not alway be present that he maye be worshipped with suche honor And none otherwise did Augustine expounde it whoe 's wordes be these which are nothyng doutefull When Christ sayd Ye shal not alway haue me he spake of the presence of his body For according to his maiestie accordyng to hys prouidence according to hys vnspeakable and inuisible grace thys was fulfilled which he sayd Beholde I am with you euen to the ending of the worlde But according to the fleshe which the worde toke vnto hym according to thys that he was borne of the Uirgin according to thys that he was taken of the Iewes that he was fastened to the tree that he was taken downe from the crosse that he was wrapped in linnen clothes that he was layed in the graue that he was manifestly shewed in the resurrection thys was fulfilled Ye shall not alwaye haue me with you Why so Because he was conuersante accordinge to the presence of hys bodye forty dayes wyth hys disciples and whyle they accompanyed hym in seynge not in folowing he ascended He is not here for he sitteth there at the right hande of the Father And yet he is here because he is not gone awaye in presence of maiestie Otherwyse according to the presence of maiesty we haue Christ alway and according to the presence of the fleshe it is rightly sayd But me ye shal not alway haue For according to the presence of the fleshe the Chirch had him a fewe dayes nowe she holdeth hym by Fayth but seeth him not with eyes Where that I may note thys also brefely he maketh hym presente to vs three wayes by maiestie prouidence and vnspeakable grace vnder whiche I comprehend this maruelous communiō of hys body and blood if so that we vnderstande it to be done by the power of the Holy ghost not by that fayned enclosing of his body vnder the elemente For our Lord hath testified that he hath fleshe and bones which may be felt and seen And to Go◠away and Ascende doe not signifie to make a shewe of one ascending and going awaye but to doe in dede that whiche the woordes sounde Shall we then will some man saye assigne to Christe some certaine coast of heauen But I answere with Augustine that this is a moste curious and superfluous question if so that yet we beleue that he is in heauen But what doth the name of ascending so oft repeted doth it not signifie a remouing from one place to an other They denye it because after their opinion by heighth is onely signified maiestie of Empire But what meaneth the very manner of ascending ▪ was he not in sight of his disciples loking on lifted vp on hye Doe not the Euangelistes plainly declare that he was taken vp into the heauens These witty Sophisters do answere that with a cloude set betwene him and them he was conueyed out of their sight that the faithfull might learne that from thense fourth he should not be visible in the world As though to make credit of his inuisible presence he ought not rather to vanishe away in a moment or as though the cloude ought not rather to compasse him before that he stirred his foote But when he is carried vp on hye into the ayre and with a cloude cast vnderneth hym teacheth that he is no more to be soughte in earth we safely gather that now he hath hys dwelling place in the heauens as Paule also affirmeth and from thense biddeth vs to loke for hym After this maner the Angels warned the disciples that they in vaine gazed vp into heauen because Iesus which is taken vp into heauen shall so come as they haue seen him goe vp Here also the aduersaries of sounde doctrine starte awaye with a pleasante shifte as they thynke sayeng that he shall then come visible which neuer wente out of the earth but that he abideth inuisible with them that be hys As though the Angells did there signifie a double presence and do not simply make the disciples witnesses of his going vp seing it with their eyes that no douting mighte remayne euen as if they had sayd he in your sightes beholding it being takē vp into heauen hath claymed to hymselfe the heauenly Empire it remayneth that ye paciently abide in expectation till he come againe the iudge of the world because he is nowe entred into heauen not that he may alone possesse it but that he maye gather together with him you and all the godly But forasmuche as the defenders of this bastarde doctrine are not ashamed to garnishe it with the consenting voyces of the olde wryters and specially of Augustine I will in fewe wordes declare how peruersly they goe aboute it For whereas their testimonies haue ben gathered together of learned and godly men I will not doe a thing alredy done let hym that will seke them oute of their workes I wil not heape together neyther out of Augustine hymselfe al that might make to the purpose but will be contente to shewe by a fewe that he is without controuersie whole on our side As for this that our aduersaries to writhe him from vs doe allege that it is commonly red in his bookes that the flesh and blood of Christ is distributed in the Supper namely the Sacrifice ones offred in the crosse it is but trifling sithe he also calleth it eyther Thankesgeuing or the Sacramente of the body But in what sense he vseth the woordes of fleshe and blood we nede not to seke with long compassing about forasmuche as he declareth himselfe sayeng that Sacramentes take their names of the likenesse of the thinges whiche they signifie and that therefore after a certaine manner the Sacramente of the body is the body Wherewith accordeth an other place whiche is well enough knowen The Lorde sticked not to saye This is my body when he gaue the signe of it Againe they obiect that Augustine writeth expresly that the body of Christe falleth to the grounde and entreth into the mouth euen in the same sense that he affirmeth it to be consumed because he ioyneth them bothe together Neither doth that make to the contrarie whiche he sayth that whē the mysterie is ended the bred is consumed
to haue made distinction of the maner of presence And verily some had rather with great shame to vtter their ignorance than to yelde neuer so litle of their error I speake not of the Papistes whoe 's doctrine is more tolerable or at the least more shamefast But contentiousnesse so carrieth some away that they say that by reson of the natures vnited in Christ wheresoeuer the Godhed of Christ is there is also his fleshe which can not be seuered from hys Godhed As though that same vniting haue compounded of those twoo natures I wote not what meane thing which was neither God nor man So in dede did Eutyches and after hym Seruettus But it is plainly gathered out of the Scripture that the only one person of Christ doth so consist of twoo natures that either of them hath still her owne propertie remayning safe And that Eutyches was rightfully condemned they wil be ashamed to deny it is maruel that they marke not the cause of hys condemning that takyng away the difference betwene the natures enforcing the vnitie of persō he made of God man and of man God What madnesse therefore is it rather to mingle heauen and earth together than not to draw the body of Christ out of the heauenly Sancturarie For wheras they bring for themselues these testimonies None is gone vp to heauen but he that is come down the Sonne of man which is in heauen Againe The sonne which is in the bosome of the Father he shall declare them it is a poynt of like senslesse dullnesse to despise the communicating of properties which was in olde tyme not without cause inuēted of the holy Fathers Truely when the Lord of glory is said to be crucified Paule doth not meane that he suffred any thīg in his godhed but because the same Christ which being an abiect and despised in the flesh did suffer was both God and Lord of glory After thys manner also the Sonne of man was in heauen because the selfe same Christ which according to the fleshe did dwel the Sonne of man in earth was God in heauen In which sorte he is sayd to haue descended from the sayd place according to hys Godhed not that the Godhed did forsake heauen to hide it selfe in the prison of the body but because although it fylled all thynges yet in the verye māhode of Christ it dwelled corporally that is to say naturally and after a certaine vnspeakable maner It is a cōmon distinction in scholes which I am not ashamed to reherse that although whole Christ be euery where yet not the whole that is in hym is euery where And I wold to God the Scholemen themselues had wel weyed the pith of thys sayeng for so should the vnsauorie inuention of the fleshly presēce of Christ haue ben met withall Therefore our mediator sithe he is whole euery where is alway at hande with his and in the Supper after a speciall maner geueth himselfe present but yet so that whole he is present not the whole that he is because as it is said in his fleshe he is conteined in heauen till he appeare to iudgement But they are farre deceiued which conceiue no presence of the fleshe of Christ in the Supper vnlesse it be made present in bread For so they leaue nothyng to the secrete workyng of the Spirite whiche vniteth Christ hymself vnto vs. They thinke not Christ present vnlesse he come downe to vs. As though if he did lift vs vp to hym we should not aswel enioy his presence Therfore the question is only of the maner because they place Christ in the bread but we think it not lawful for vs to pluck hym out of heauen Let the readers iudge whether is the righter Only let this cauillation be driuen away that Christe is taken awaye from his Supper vnlesse he be hidden vnder the couer of bread For sith this mysterie is heauenly it is no nede to drawe Christ into the earth that he may be ioyned to vs. Nowe if any man do aske me of the maner I will not be ashamed to confesse that it is a hyer secrete than that it can be eyther cōprehended with my witt or vttered with my woordes and to speake it more plainly I rather fele it than I can vnderstand it Therfore I do herein without controuersie embrace the truthe of God in whiche I maye safely rest He pronounceth that his fleshe is the meate of my soule and his blood is the drinke With suche foode I offre my soule to hym to bee fedde In his holy Supper he commaundeth me vnder the signes of bread and wyne to take eate and drinke his body and blood I nothing dout that bothe he dothe truely deliuer them and I doo receiue them Onely I refuse the absurdities whiche appeare to be either vnworthy of the heauenly maiestie of Christ or disagreyng from the truth of his nature of manhode forasmuche as they must also fight with the word of God which also teacheth that Christ was so taken vp into the glorie of the heauenly kyngdome that it lyfteth hym vp aboue all estate of the worlde and no lesse diligently setteth forth in his nature of man those thynges that are proprely belongyng to his true manhode Neither ought this to seme incredible or not consonant to reason because as the whole kyngdome of Christ is spirituall so whatsoeuer he doth with his Chirch ought not to be reduced to the reason of this worlde Or that I may vse the wordes of Augustine this mysterie as other are is done by men but from God in earth but from heauen Such I say is the presence of the body as the nature of the Sacrament requireth which we say here to excell with so great force and so great effectualnesse that it not only bryngeth to our myndes vndouted trust of eternall lyfe but also assureth vs of the immortalitie of our fleshe For it is nowe quickned of his immortall fleshe and after a certaine manner communicateth of his immortalitie They whyche are caried aboue this with their excessiue speches do nothyng but with suche entanglementes darken the simple and playne truthe If any be not yet satisfied I wold haue hym here a whyle to consider with me that we now speake of a Sacrament all the partes wherof ought to be referred to Faith But we do no lesse deintyly and plentifully feede Faith with this partakyng of the bodye which we haue declared than they that plucke Christe hymselfe oute of heauen In the meane tyme I plainly confesse that I refuse that mixture of the fleshe of Christ with our soule or the pouryng out of it suche as they teache because it suffiseth vs that Christ dothe out of the substance of his fleshe breathe life into our soules yea doth poure into vs his owne lyfe although the very flesh of Christ doth not entre into vs. Moreouer it is no doute that the proportion of Faith whereby Paule willeth vs to examine all
and afterwarde beyng choked is marred because he there entreateth of what value the faith is whiche endureth but for a tyme which they do not think to be necessary to the eatyng of Christes flesh and drinkyng of his blood that in this behalfe do make Iudas egally felow with Peter But rather by the same parable their error is cōfuted where Christ saith that some sede falleth in the hie waie other some vpon stones neither of them taketh roote Wherupō foloweth that to the vnbeleuers their owne hardnesse is a let the Christ atteineth not to them Whosoeuer desireth to haue our saluation holpen by this mysterie shall fynde nothyng fitter than that the faithfull being led to the very fountaine shold draw life out of the Sōne of God But the dignitie of it is honorably enough set out when we keepe in mynde that it is a helpe wherby we be graffed into the body of Christ or beyng graffed do more and more growe together till he do fully make hymself one with vs in the heauenly lyfe They obiect that Paule ought not to haue made them giltie of the body and blood of Christ vnlesse they wer partakers of them But I answer that they ar not therfore condemned because they haue eaten them but only because they haue prophaned the mysterie in treadyng vnder feete the pledge of the holye conioynyng with God which they ought reuerently to receiue Now because Augustine among the old writers chiefly hath affirmed that article of doctrine that nothyng is abated from the Sacraments nor the grace which they figure is made void by the infidelite or noughtinesse of men it shal be profitable to proue clerely by his owne wordes how vnfittly peruersly they do draw that to this present cause which cast the body of Christ to dogges to eate The sacramentall eating after their opinion is wherby the wicked receiue the body blood of Christ without the power of the Spirit or any effect of grace Augustine cōtrariwise weyeng wisely those words He that eateth my flesh drinketh my blood shal not die for euer saieth Namely the power of the sacrament not only the visible sacrament verily within not without he that eateth it with harte not he that presseth it with tooth Whereupon at length he concludeth that the sacramēt of this thing that is to say of the vnitie of the body blood of Christ is set before men in the Supper of the Lorde to some vnto life to some vnto destruction but the thing it selfe wherof it is a sacrament to al men vnto life to none vnto destruction whosoeuer be partaker of it That none shold here cauill that the thing is called not the body but the grace of the Spirit which may be seuered frō the body the cōtrarie comparison betwene these two wordes of addition Uisible Inuisible driueth away al these mystes for vnder the first of them can not be cōprehended the body of Christ. Wherupon foloweth that the vnbeleuers do communicate only of the visible signe And that al douting may be better taken away after that he had said that this bread requireth the hunger of the inward man he addeth Moses Aaron and Phinees many other that dyd eate Manna pleased God Why so because the spirituall meate they spiritually vnderstoode spiritually hungred spirituallye tasted that they myghte bee spiritually fylled For we also at this daye haue receiued spiritual meat but the Sacrament is one thyng and the power of the sacrament is an other A litle after And by this he that abideth not in Christ and in whom Christ abideth not without doute neither eateth spiritually his fleshe nor drinketh his blood though carnally and visibly he presseth with teeth the signe of the body and blood We heare agayne that the visible signe is set in cōparison as contrary to spiritual eating Wherby the error is cōfuted that the body of Christ inuisible is in dede eaten sacramētally though not spiritually We heare also that nothing is graūted to prophane vncleane mē beside the visible receiuyng of the signe Hereupon cometh his famous sayeng that the other disciples did eate the bred the Lord but Iudas did eate the bread of the Lord wherin he plainly excludeth the vnbeleuers frō the partakyng of the body blood Neither tendeth it to any other end which he sayth in an other place What meruailest thou if to Iudas was geuē the bread of Christ by which he might be made bond to the deuel when thou seest on the cōtrary side that to Paul was geuen the angel of the deuell by whome he might be made perfect in Christ He saith verily in an other place that the bread of the Supper was the body of Christ to them to whom Paule said He that eateth vnworthily eateth and drinketh iugement to himselfe and that they haue not therfore nothyng because they haue receiued noughtily But in what sense he declareth more fully in an other place For takyng in hand purposely to define howe the wicked euell doers which professe the christian faith with mouth but with dedes do deny it do eate the body of Christ and that against the opinion of some which thought that thei did not eate in sacramēt only but in very dede But neither saith he ought it to be said that they eate the body of Christ because thei ar not to be reckned among the membres of Christ. For to speake nothing of the rest they can not together be the mēbers of Christ and the membres of a harlot Finally where himselfe saith He that eateth my fleshe and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in hym he sheweth what it is not sacramentally but in very dede to eate the bodye of Christ. For this is to abide in Christ that Christ may abyde in him For he so sayd this as though he had sayde he that abydeth not in me and in whom I abide not let hym not say or thinke that he dothe eate my body or drynke my blood Let the readers weye the thynges sett as contraries in the comparison to eate Sacramētally and in Uery dede and there shall remaine no dout He confirmeth the same no lesse plainly in these wordes Prepare not your iawes but your hart Herupon is this Supper commended Loe we beleue in Christ when we receiue by faith in receiuyng we know what to thinke We receiue a little and are fatted in hart Therfore not that which is sene but that which is beleued dothe fede Here also that whiche the wicked receiue he restraineth to the visible signe and teacheth that Christ is none otherwise receiued than by Faith So also in an other place pronoūcyng expressly that the good and the euell do communicate together in the signes he excludeth the euell from the true eatyng of the fleshe of Christ. For if they receyued the thing it self he wold not vtterly haue left that vnspoken which was more fitt for his
owne exāple that we shoulde mutually dedicate deliuer our selues one to an other but in so much as he maketh himselfe common to al he maketh al vs also one in himselfe But hereby is that very well confirmed whiche I haue sayd in an other place that the true ministration of the Sacramente standeth not without the worde For whatsoeuer profit commeth to vs of the Supper requireth the worde whether we be to be cōfirmed in Faith or to be exercised in confessiō or to be stirred vp to dutie praier is nedeful Therfore nothing can be more disorderly done in the Supper than if it be turned to a dumme actiō as hath ben done vnder the tyranny of the Pope For they would haue the whole force of consecration to hang vpon the intent of the Prest as though this nothing perteined to the people to whom it most of all behoued that the mysterie shoulde be declared But therupon hath growen this error that they marked not that those promises wherw t the consecration is made are directed not to the elemētes thēselues but to them that receiue them But Christe speaketh not to the bred that it may be made his body but cōmaūdeth his disciples to eate and promiseth to them the communicating of hys body and blood And none other order doth Paul teach than that together with the bred and the cup the promises should be offred to the faythful Thus it is truely We ought not here to imagine any magical enchauntment that it be sufficient to haue mūbled vp the wordes as though the elemētes did heare them but let vs vnderstande that those wordes are a liuely preaching whiche maye edifie the hearers which may inwardly pearce into their myndes whiche may be emprinted and settled in their hartes which maye shewe fourth effectualnesse in the fulfilling of that which it promiseth By these reasons it clerely appeareth that the layeng vp of the Sacramēt which many do earnestly require that it may be extraordinarily distributed to the sicke is vnprofitable For either they shal receiue it wtout rehersing of the institutiō of Christe or the minister shall together with the signe ioyne the true declaration of the mysterie In silence is abuse and fault If the promises be rehersed and the mysterie declared that they which shal receiue it maye receiue it with frute there is no cause why we shoulde doute that thys is the true consecration To what ende then wil that other consecration come the force wherof commeth not so farr as to the sicke men But they that doe so haue the example of the olde Chirch I graunt but in so great a mater and in which we erre not without greate danger nothing is safer than to folow the truth it selfe Now as we see that thys holy bred of the Supper of the Lord is spiritual meate no lesse swete and delicate than healthful to the godly worshippers of God by the taste wherof they fele the Christ is their lyfe whom it rayseth vp to thankesgeuing to whome it is an exhortation to mutuall charitie among themselues so on the other side it is turned into a moste noysome poyson to all them whoe 's Fayth it doth not nourishe and confirme and whom it doth not stirre vp to confession of praise and to charitie For as bodily meate when it fyndeth a stomach possessed with euill humors being it selfe also therby made euil and corrupted doth rather hurt than nourish so thys spiritual meate if it lighte vpon a soule defiled with malice and noughtinesse throweth it down hedlong wyth greater fal verily not by the fault the meate it selfe but because to defyled and vnbeleuing mē nothing is cleane though otherwise it be neuer so muche sanctified by the blessing of the Lorde For as Paule sayth they that eate and drynke vnworthily are gylty of the body and blood of the Lorde and do eate and drinke iugement to themselues not discerning the body of the Lorde For suche kynde of men as without any sparcle of Fayth without any zele of charitie do thrust thēselues fourth lyke swyne to take the Supper of the Lorde doe not discerne the bodye of the Lorde For insomuche as they doe not beleue that that body is their life they doe as muche as in them lyeth dishonor it spoiling it of al the dignitie therof and finally in so receiuing it they prophane and defyle it But in so much as being estranged and disagreyng from their brethren they dare myngle the holye sygne of the bodye of Christe with their disagreementes it is no thanke to them that the body of Christ is not rent in sonder and limmemeale torne in peces And so not vnworthily they are gyltie of the body and blood of the Lorde whiche they do with vngodlinesse ful of sacrilege so fowly defile Therfore by thys vnworthy eating they take to themselues damnation For wheras they haue no Fayth reposed in Christ yet receiuing the Sacramente they professe that there is saluation for them no where ells thā in him and do forswere al other affiance Wherefore they themselues are accusers to themselues they themselues pronounce witnesse againste themselues and they themselues seale their own damnation Againe when they being with hatred and euil wil diuided and drawen in sōder from their brethren that is from the members of Christe haue no parte in Christ yet they do testifie that this is the only saluation to cōmunicate with Christe and to be made one with him For this cause Paule commaundeth that a man proue himselfe before that he eate of this bred or drinke of this cup. Wherby as I expounde it he meant that euery man should descende into himselfe and weye with himselfe whether he doe with inwarde affiance of hart rest vpon the saluatiō which Christ hath purchaced whether he acknowlege it with confession of mouth then whether he do with desirous endeuor of innocence and holinesse aspire to the folowing of Christ whether after his example he be redy to geue himselfe to his brethren and to cōmunicate himselfe to them with whō he hath Christ common to hym whether as he himselfe is accompted of Christ he do likewise on his behalfe take al his brethren for members of his own body whether he couet to cherishe defende and helpe them as his own members Not for that these duties both of Fayth and charitie can now be perfect in vs but because we ought to endeuor this and with all our desires to long towarde it that we may daily more and more encrease our Fayth begonne Commonly when they goe about to prepare men to such worthinesse of eating they haue in cruell wise tormented and vexed poore consciences and yet they brought neuer a whit of all those thinges that myghte serue to the purpose They sayd that those did eate worthily which were in state of grace To be in state of grace they expounded to be pure and cleansed from al sinne By which doctrine all the men that
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