the person of Christ he saith Esay 63.3 Chapter 63.3 I haue trodden the Wine-presse alone and of all people there is none with me Or that which the Authour to the Hebrewes saith of Christ Heb. 1.3 Chapter 1.3 He hath purged our sinnes by himselfe or that which he saith Heb. 9.26 Chapter 9.26 He hath put away sinne by the sacrifice of himselfe Wherefore as I said if we must imbrace their doctrine for truth then must we reiect the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles as erroneous But what saith Saint Ambrose to this partnership in taking away sinne euen thus he saith Å¿ Ambrose in his 9. Booke 76. Epistle The Lord remaineth alone for no man can be partner with God in forgiuing of sinnes this is Christs onely office that hath taken away the sinnes of the World Therefore to restraine the power of Christs sacrifice to that onely one sinne of Adam that so the multitude of our transgressions might be done away by the sacrifice of their Masse is vtterly to ouerthrow the proper prerogatiue of Christ and the whole vertue of his death and passion in which the matter of remission of sinnes iustification and saluation doth onely consist For as the Apostle Saint Paul saith Colossians 1.22 Colossians 1.22 In the bodie of his flesh through death he made vs holy and vnblameable and without fault in the sight of God and set at peace through the bloud of his Crosse both the things in earth and the things in heauen Wherefore to bring in any other sacrifice for sinne but onely the oblation of Christs body broken and his bloud shed and that offered by himselfe once for all is vtterly to ouerthrow all whatsoeuer Christ hath done for mans redemption to cast mens mindes into a doubtfull wauering of their saluation to proue the Prophets and Apostles false witnesses and finally to dissolue the whole harmony of the Scriptures both Propheticall and Apostolicall Hebrewes 9.14 For in that the holy Ghost saith Hebrewes 9.14 Christ offered vp himselfe it is cleare that no sacrifice can serue for sinne but where Christ himselfe is the Priest Also seeing hee saith verse 22. Without shedding of bloud there is no remission of sins Cap. 9.22 if Christ himselfe should come amongst vs and offer himselfe neuer so often and not shed his bloud it could doe vs no good Againe seeing hee saith likewise thus of Christ Verse 25. Not that he should offer himselfe often Cap. 9.25 for then must he often haue suffered since the foundation of 〈…〉 he offering himselfe neuer so often without as 〈…〉 death could doe vs as little good Therefore wâ—â—â—â—eeth not but that the sacrifice of the Masse whereat Christ is not the Priest nor in which the bloud of Christ is shed nor he suffering death how often soeuer it be celebrated for our sinnes profiteth iust nothing at all nor doth any good Nay rather who seeth not what hurt it doth in that men are induced to looke for that there which indeede is not there to be had For whereas they make the multitude to beleeue that they sacrifice in their Masse the very body of Christ for their sinnes the Scripture denieth him to be there or any where else but in heauen Heb. 10.12 For as the Authour to the Hebrews saith Chap. 10.12 This man after hee had offered one Sacrifice for sinnes sitteth for euer at the right hand of God and from thence tarrieth till his enemies bee made his foote-stoole which as Saint Luke sheweth Acts 3.21 is till the end of the World and therefore how can they come by his body to offer in their Masse As for that they say it is easily to be come by because by the words of consecration the bread is transubstantiated into the body of Christ and the wine into his bloud is easily confuted by Saint Chrysostome Theodoret Pope Galasius and their Bishop Fisher Chrisostome saith t Chrisostome Ad Caesatima Monachum The bread when it is sanctified by meanes of the Priest it is exalted to the name of Lords body yet the nature of bread doth still remaine Againe he saith v Hom. 11. on Matthew The very body of Christ it selfe is not in the holy vessels but the mistery thereof is there contained Theodoret saith * Theo. in Diologue 1. The sacramental signes goe not from their owne nature after sanctification Pope Galasius saith x Gala. against Eutiches There leaueth not to be the substance of bread and wine nor the nature of wine Their Bishop Fisher saith y Fisher against Luther No man shall proue by the very words of the Gospell that any Priest in these our dayes doth consecrate the very body and bloud of Christ And a little after hee saith Neither is there any word found here meaning in the new Testament to proue that there is the true presence of Christs flesh and bloud in our Masse So that by this who seeth not how impiously they delude the ignorant in making them to beleeue that they haue the body of Christ in the Pixe or Priests boxe to sacrifice for their sinnes and cause them also to commit idolatry in adoring the bread for Christ 6 Now therefore Christian Reader forasmuch as thou heardest before that the holy Ghost maketh it a necessitie that so often as Christ is offered for sinne hee must as often be crucified to death it is cleare that the Papists necessitie of daily offering bringeth in with it a necessitie of daily crucifying and killing of Christ Wherefore in ordayning an order of daily sacrificers of Christ what else doe they but establish an order of daily crucifiers and killers of him in which therefore it is euident they shew themselues much more horrible and vile then Iudas did in betraying of Christ For notwithstanding Iudas for filthie lucre deliuered his Maister to be crucified yet did he not seeke to procure an order for the continuall crucifying of him neyther to iustifie his action did hee contend with the gaine sayers but with great horrour of conscience condemned it as euill and after a sort repented and brought againe the money the hier of his fact and deliuered it backe to the owners but these murtherers not onely contend for the necessity of that they doe but also haue receiued great summes of money oftentimes to sacrifice and consequently to crucifie Christ and yet haue they not by restoring any part thereof shewed so much as that signe of Iudas his outward repentance Moreouer it is very cleare that this their doings hath a farre worse effect then Iudas his action had for Iudas his action in respect of Gods determinate counsell furthered mans saluation but the necessitie of daily sacrificing for sinne vnder the Gospell vtterly ouerthroweth mans saluation Malac. 1.11 And yet notwithstanding they sticke not to say that this is that Sacrifice of the New Testament which the Prophet Malachie fore-tolde God had appoynted the Christian
they erred Christ himselfe sheweth Verse 64. and the manner wherein they failed hee declared in the 64. verse was because they did not eate him spiritually by faith For said he But there are some of you which beleeue not 4 Thus then we may be fully resolued that the manner of eating which Christ meant was spiritually by faith which hee made plaine vnto them not onely in that 64. verse but almost throughout the whole Chapter for wee may there see that whensoeuer he spake of eating still hee added beleeuing onely to manifest vnto them that by eating Eating and beleeuing is both but one thing he meant beleeuing Also that they might the more plainely haue vnderstood that by eating and beleeuing he meant but one and one onely thing he expounded it vnto them by that one onely effect which he declared both eating and beleeuing hath For as in the 54. verse he said Whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him vp at the last day So in the 40. verse he said This is the will of him that sent me that whosoeuer seeth the Sonne and beleeueth in him should haue euerlasting life and I will raise him vp at the last day Wherefore seeing he shewed them so plainely that the effect of eating and beleeuing was but one and the same thing they might the more easily haue vnderstood that by eating and beleeuing he meant but onely one and the same thing and so consequently that they should eate him spiritually by faith and not after a carnall and corporall manner 5 And thus Christian Reader haue we found out the true meaning of those words of Christ touching the eating and feeding on him euen by conferring place with place and verse with verse which is doubtlesse the most surest way for the bringing the truth to light euen by expounding one Scripture by another For as Saint Chrisostome saith a Chrisost in his 12. Hom. Genesis The holy Scripture expoundeth it selfe and suffereth not the Reader to erre And as Saint Augustine saith b August in his Bocke of questions 83. the 69. quest The circumstances of the Scriptures is wont to giue light and to open the meaning As also in another place c 3. Booke 29. Chap. of Christian doctrine Darke places are to be expounded by more plaine places The surest way of expounding the Scripture is to expound one Scripture by another But the Papists refusing to take this course haue most grossely erred in the true vnderstanding of Christ and also most ignorantly charged vs to hold that heresie of those obstinate and blind Capernaites whereas indeede themselues hold the heresie For their heresie was as we see that Christ meant a corporall kinde of eating euen as they hold but we hold cleane contrary and therefore not we but they are of the fellowship of those first Authors of that heresie who as the Text declareth did therein so fall from Christ as that they forsooke his company Wherefore all that will wilfully fall away from Christ let them with those cauilling Capernaites hypocriticall Disciples and our counterfait Catholiques hold that heresie 6 But now forasmuch as it is an vsuall thing with them whensoeuer they see themselues conuicted by Scripture to tell vs that no Scripture is of any priuate interpretation and therefore vnlesse we can shew them that the same Scripture is so expounded by the ancient Fathers they will not admit it be the sense made neuer so plaine Let them therefore heare how the ancient Fathers testimonies doe expound those words of Christ 7 Saint Origine writing vpon those words Except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you saith d Origen in his 7. Hom. vpon Leuiticus Consider that these things written in Gods Booke are figures and therefore examine and vnderstand them as spirituall and not as carnall men for if you vnderstand them as carnall men they hurt you for euen in the Gospell there is found a letter that killeth for if you follow the letter or words of this that Christ said Except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud this letter killeth Againe Origine vpon the same words saith e Orig. in his 7. Booke vpon Leuiticus This letter killeth but if thou take it spiritually it killeth not but in it is a quickning spirit vnderstand therefore spiritually those things that be spoken Also Saint Augustine vpon the same words saith f Augustine in his 3. Booke of Christian doctrine Now this saying of Christ Except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you seemeth to command a haynous and a wicked thing therefore it is a figure Againe writing vpon those words It is the spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing thus he expoundeth them g Vpon the 98. Psalme Ye shall not eate this body that ye see neither shall ye drinke that bloud that they shall shed which crucifie me I haue commended vnto you a certaine Sacrament being spiritually vnderstood it will giue you life Againe h In his 27. Treatise vpon Iohn When you shall see the Sonne of man ascend vp where he was before then shall you vnderstand that he giueth not his body in such sort as ye imagine neither that he is to be consumed by bits and morsels Also fully to resolue all true Christians that Christ meant that none could eate him effectually vnto saluation but such onely as eate him spiritually he saith i In his 26 treatise vpon Iohn He that eateth inwardly not that eateth outwardly he that eateth in heart not that presseth with the teeth to beleeue in Christ that is the eating the bread of life prepare not your mouthes prepare your hearts And againe he saith k In his 26 treatise vpon Iohn Our Lord called himselfe the bread that came downe from heanen exhorting vs to beleeue in him for to beleeue in him that is the eating the bread of life he eateth that beleeueth in him Also in reprouing all those in particular that would eate Christ carnally he saith l In his Booke against the Iewes 9 cap. Why doest thou prepare thy belly and thy teeth beleeue and thou hast eaten Therefore saith Saint Chrisostome m Chrisostome in his 46. Hom. vpon Iohn If any man vnderstand those words of Christ carnally he shall surely profit nothing thereby for what meane these words The flesh profiteth nothing he meant not his flesh God forbid but hee meant of all these that fleshly and carnally vnderstand those things which Christ spake and what is carnall vnderstanding else but to vnderstand them as they be spoken And therefore it is which in another place he saith n In his 14. Hom. vpon Iohn God will not that we vnderstand the words of holy Scripture simply and plainely as they lie but with great
euen Christ himselfe seemeth to giue place to these and these mens rules and orders be preferred aboue the Gospell Dominike say they h Anth. bishop of Florence in hiâ—â— Par. 3. tit 23. 24. shead his bloud daily both for those that were conuersant in earth and for those that are in Purgatory and therefore it is that they also say their church singeth thus of Dominike i Pag 187. O wonderfull hope that thou hast giuen Of Frances thus k Conformities Frances whom typicall Iesus wee call the Captaine and Ruler of Minorities all graunt vs in heauen places perpetuall And they say that whereas Christ endured the torment of nayles in hands and feete but a few houres hee endured nailes in his hands and feete for vs full two yeares Of Becket thus l Becket in a prayer booke By the blood of Thomas which for thee he did spend make vs O Christ to climbe whither Thomas did ascend Of Swithen they say m In Liturgy By him our sinnes are done away 12 Thus doe they make many mediatours of Redemption vnto whom may be added their faith in the Pope and his pardons For he whosoeuer for the time being is in the second ranke or order of whom they write and beleeue that he is a Sauiour as Simon Begnius Bishop of Modrusia sayd thus to Pope Leo n Concil Later Sect. 6. pag. 601. O blessed Leo we haue looked for thee to be our Sauiour Neither is this pressed vpon him but willingly receiued as his due as may appeare in that the Pope himselfe suffered the Ambassador of Cicilia to lie prostrate on the ground before him and to pray o Paulus Aemilius lib. 7. O thou that takest away the sinnes of the world haue mercy vpon vs Thou that takest away the sinnes of the world giue vs peace And to proue that the Pope is of sufficient power to saue an other writeth thus p Bull of Clement the 6. and Anthon. of Fleâ— The Pope hath so great power both in Purgatory and also in Hell that hee may deliuer by his Indulgences and place in heauen as many soules as he will Thus they avowe not onely that euery soule must be saued vnder the Pope but that the Pope must be their Sauiour Neither hee himselfe alone but those also that he will authorize For as one saith q Cardinall Allen in Fulby answere to a false catholike p. 71. The chiefe and principall Pastors by their soueraigne authority may wholly discharge offenders from all paines to come And yet further that Christ might bee quite shut out and there might be many Aberrations they haue set vp for Mediatours and helpers vnto saluation Images prayers to Images Dirges Almes-deedes and Purgatory Vnto the Image of the Crosse thus they pray Å¿ In a prayer booke All haile O Crosse our onely hope in this time of thy passion in faithfull people grace increase and graunt of sinne remission 13 Also notwithstanding hee whom they faine to be their Founder 1. Pet. 1.18 Saint Peter sayth Wee are not redeemed with corruptible things as siluer and gold but with the pretious blood of Christ Directly contrary they teach and say t Allen in Fulke pa. 202. 174. By almes we may redeeme our sinnes and theirs that are in Purgatory also And againe u In thâ— same booke pa. 239. Good workes cleanseth before hand deliuereth the soule from death and lifteth it vp to eternall life And lastly * Ibidem Regard not the iangler that will say good works do not purge sin and winne heauen 14 Last of all to the intent that we should finde more sufficiencie else-where then in Christ they further write x Allen in Fulke pag. 202. The Sacrifices done by vs that are aliue do wipe away the sins of those that be dead Againe y The Popish Doctors The sacrifice of the Masse doth take away the sinnes of the quicke and dead And againe z Allen in Fulke 92. Purgatory paynes doth not onely serue Gods iustice for the punishment of sinne but also cleanseth and quallifieth the soule of man defiled Moreouer a Allen pag. 133 In Purgatory we must be holden from life and libertie till we haue payed the vtmost farthing the toleration of which bonds shall recompence the debt And to knit vp all in a word to the Image of Christ they haue intituled a prayer beginning thus b In a prayer booke O Maker of heauen and earth King of Kings and Lord of Lords which of nothing diddest make mee to thine owne similitude and likenesse and diddest redeeme mee with thy owne bloud whom I a sinner am not worthy to call vpon I desire thee c. And so forwards for all things needefull both for soule and body 15 Wherefore then if the doctrine of the Church of Rome be true namely that Christ by his death and bloudshedding saued vs but from the guilt of that one sinne of Adam and that wee are saued from the malediction of the multitude of all our transgressions by the Popes and their principall Pastours and by the infinite number of true and false Saints and so many names of other means How doe they truely hold that which Saint Peter saith Acts 4.12 Acts 4.12 That among men there is giuen none other name vnder heauen whereby we must be saued but onely by the name of Iesus Or which the Prophet Esay in the person of Christ saith 63.3 Esay 63.3 I haue troden the Wine-presse alone and of all people there is none with me Or if Christ cannot or doth not saue without all other or other helpes why then said the Authour to the Hebrews 1.3 Hee hath purged our sinnes by himselfe Hebr. 1.3 Acts 13.39 Or why said Saint Paul thus of Christ Acts 13.39 By him euery one that beleeueth is iustified Or why did the Angell commaund the Virgine to call her Sonne Iesus but because as he said Math. 1.21 Matth. 1.21 He should saue his people from their sinnes If he then he alone and why then should wee seeke for so many he and she Sauiours Wherefore howsoeuer they seeme in the outward letter of the Scriptures to confesse Christ to be the onely Sauiour yet wee see it is none otherwise then they confesse God to bee the onely God which is instead of one to haue many To conclude it is a true consequent that so many Sauiours so many Christs so many Christs so many faiths so many faiths so many baptismes Therefore whether professing one God one Lord Iesus Christ one Faith and one Baptisme after this Antichristian manner be to hold the foundation sound or not soundly and vtterly to ouerthrow the foundation let the Christian Reader iudge as also whether there bee so neere a coniunction in our profession that they and we may be combined and conioyned together to make one and the same true Church of Christ as also whether this be
vnto them on their bare knees lifting vp both eyes and hands vnto them and putting forth their voyces vpon them with many deuout prayers amongst which this prayer to the Image of Christ a In a prayer booke O maker of heauen and earth King of Kings and Lord of Lords which of nothing diddest make me to thine owne similitude and likenesse and didst redeeme mee with thine owne bloud whom I a sinner am not worthy to call vpon I desire thee c. And so forwards for all things needfull both for soule and body And that indeed it may appeare that this prayer is not made vnto Christ by the Image but euen to the very Image it selfe this Title ouer head A prayer to the Image of the body of Christ doth make it most manifest Therefore whether this be no more to take the Image for God then dogges doe take those Images for the creatures themselues or whether it be possible for people to vse greater meanes or to make a more manifest apparence that by a consequence they take it for God Let the vnpartiall Reader iudge But it is cleare by their common practise that they are of that sort of counterfeit Christians who in Saint Augustines time would haue cloaked their Idolatrie with cunning speeches whom notwithstanding he thus reproued for Idolaters saying b Augustine in his Sermon of the words of Christ in Mat. Let them not say to me they take the Image for no diuine power they know it not to be God I would to God saith hee they so knew it as wee know it but what they haue and what they doe about it the Altar beareth witnesse Wherefore let them say what they will and shaddow their damnable idolatrie as closely as they can vnder the mysterie of iniquitie here in this life their practise shall sufficiently prooue at the day of iudgement whether they be Idolaters or no and whether they be not of that sort which Epiphanius speaketh of * Epiphan lib. 3. in oratione de Fide Catholica Which abhorre the sight of Idols and yet fall downe and worship them 4 The second reason whereby they would proue themselues no Idolaters wee heard to be this namely They worship not the Image but God by it to which wee answere To worship God by an Image is flat Idolatrie and a breach of the second Commandement which vtterly forbiddeth any at all to be vsed in any part of Gods worship in that it forbiddeth any at all to be made for Spirituall vse Therefore it is cleare that if God had not accounted it Idolatrie to be worshipped by Images hee would not haue said Exod. 20.4 Exodus 20. Thou shalt make thee no grauen Image Neither would he haue said Deut. 27.15 Deuter. 27. Cursed be the man that shall make any carned or molten Image which is an abomination vnto the Lord. Therefore seeing the Image maker is accursed and the Image it selfe abominable it must needes be an accursed and abominable Idolatrie to worship God by an Image Also forasmuch as the Lord accounteth the Image abominable and the maker accursed they must needes be abominable and accursed that will compell him to be worshipped by it Yea doubtlesse and they also must needes be abominable and accursed which allow accursed and abominable Images to be holy monuments in the Church and profitable as true Teachers of the ignorant seeing the Lord by the Prophet Ieremie chap. Ieremy 10.8 10. hath said thus of those that make any such reckoning of them They altogether dote and are foolish for the stocke is a Doctrine of vanitie And seeing also by the mouth of the Prophet Habakkuk chap. Habak 2.18.19 2. he hath said What profiteth the Image for the maker thereof hath made it an Image and a teacher of lies Nay seeing he hath also by the same Prophet denounced an euerlasting woe against all those that desire such Teachers saying Woe to him that saith to the wood Awake and to the dumbe stone Rise vp it shall teach thee As also seeing their owne Canonicall Scripture the 15. of Wisedome sayth thus of them and their Images Wised 15.5.6 Whose sight stirreth vp the desire of the ignorant so that hee coueteth the forme that hath no life euen of a dead Image they that loue such wicked things are worthy to haue such things to trust vnto and they that make them and they that worship them and they that desire them That is Esay 57.13 they all are worthy to haue no better helpe in the great day of neede then can come from those Images Therefore the Lord by the Prophet Esay chapter 44. Esay 44.11 hath thus denounced the definitiue sentence against the whole fraternitie of them saying All that are of the fellowship thereof shall be confounded To wit all that * Esay 45.16 make Images for spiritual vses all that vse them as Lay mens bookes to stirre vp their deuotion all that worship God by them all that worship them for God or that vse them in any part of Gods worship or doth but desire them liuing and dying in the same minde shall at the last day be confounded together in the Lake of fire burning with brimstone Reuel 19.2.20 and 21.8 and 22.15 as appeareth in the 19. chapter of the Reuelation and also in the 21. and 22. chapter and Psalme 97. Esay 45.16 verse 5 This diuellish deuice Christian Reader of worshipping one by another was both the father and mother of the whole worlds Idolatrie which as the fourteenth chapter of Wisedome sheweth came first vp in this manner Wisd 14.14 15 When a father mourned grieuously for his sonne that was taken away sodainely he made an Image for him that was dead whom now he worshippeth as a God and ordained to his seruants ceremonies and sacrifices thus in processe of time this wicked custome preuailed and was kept as a Lawe and Idoles were worshipped by the commaundement of tyrants So that hereby we see how Idolatry first crept in among the Heathen which afterwards was imitated amongst the Iewes and after them among the new conuerted Christians as we shall prooue heereafter In the meane time as we see by this first deuice how Images came in time to be worshipped for God among the Heathen so let vs see also what good effect the practise thereof hath wrought among the Papists which we shall finde made manifest in the tenure of the Doctrine of the Romish Church in which it is thus written c In the false Councel of the Greekes Citantur inlibro Caroli Magni Hee that feareth God adoreth an Image as hee would adore the Sonne of God Againe d Tho. Aquin. part 3. quest 25. Since Christ is adored with diuine honour it followeth that his Image must be adored with the selfe-same diuine honour And againe e Iacob Nanclantus in Epist. ad Rom. cap. 1. Wee must therefore confesse that the faithfull in
first vsed to be done in such simple sort as is yet accustomed on Good-Friday and Easter euen with certaine Lessons before it But then Pope Celestinus put to the office of the Masse Thelesphorus Gloria in excelsis But Hilarius of Pictauia made Et in terra Samachus ordayned it to be sung The Salutations which by the tearme of Dominus vobiscum be made seauen times in the Masse were taken out of the Booke of Ruth by Clement and Anaclet and put in in their places Galasius made vp all the rest to the Offertory in the same order they be vsed except the Sequences and the Creede whereof Nicholas put to the first and Damassus the next according to the Synode of Constantinople Another added the Confiteor Gregory linked on the Offertory Leo the Preface Gelasius the great Cannon and the lesse The Sanctus blessed Sixtus and Gregory the Pater noster Sergius tacked on Agnus and Gregory the poste communion The closing vp of all with Ite missa est Benedicamus Deo gratias was Leoes inuention Now forasmuch as themselues witnesse that their Masse was but the inuention of man and not fully framed and finished of more then sixe hundred yeares after the decease of all the Apostles How vntrue must it needes be that Saint Peter and Saint Iames said this Masse or that the antiquitie thereof came from Christ and his Apostles Now that wee may see also whereunto it tendeth and know the better how to answer vnto it let vs obserue their owne definition thus they define it A propitiatory Sacrifice a Sacrifice to satisfie Gods iustice for sinne and to reconcile him and his people together by the daily or often offering the body of Christ for the sinnes of the quicke and dead 4 Now touching this definition wee are aduisedly to consider how it can possibly stand with the truth for if it be of necessity vnto saluation to haue the body of Christ daily or oftentimes offered for sinne then is it certaine that Christ by the Sacrifice of his death vpon the Crosse did not take it away and then are all these Scriptures confounded which denie it needfull to haue any more oblations for sinne or the body of Christ any more offered for the same namely where the Authour to the Hebrewes saith Chapter 10.14 Heb. 10.14 Heb. 10.1 Heb. 9.26 For with one oblation hath he consecrated for euer them that be sanctified and where hee also saith Chapter 10.10 We are sanctified euen by the offering of the body of Iesus Christ once made and againe where he further saith Chapter 9.26 Now in the end of the World hath hee appeared once to put away sinne by the sacrifice of himselfe Heb. 10.18 and also where he concludeth of this point thus Chapter 10.18 Where remission of these things is there is no more offering for sinne Wherefore if it be true that of necessity Christ must continually be offered for sinne then are these testimonies most vntrue but in that they are yea and Amen they most truly declare the definition of their Masse to be false and that the necessity of daily sacrificing for sinne is not grounded vpon the truth Also seeing that vnder the Gospell there must not onely be but one onely oblation for sinne but also but once offered and that by Christ himselfe the Papists are condemned for notorious heretikes that will haue so many thousand oblations and so many times offered by others For doe they not thereby make that one Sacrifice of Christ vpon the Crosse as insufficient for the taking away of sinne as the daily sacrificing the bodies of beasts and shedding the bloud of Calues in Moses Law which were daily offered because they serued onely for sinnes past and not for sinnes to come and therefore as the holy Ghost saith Hebrewes 10. made nothing perfect Wherefore who seeth not but that the bringing into the Church the necessity of daily sacrificing for sinne bringeth in with it the vtter ouerthrow of the efficacie of Christs death and bloud-shedding But forasmuch as the holy Ghost speaking of the daily offering of Christ for sinne saith Hebrewes 7.27 Which needed not daily as those high Priests to offer vp sacrifice first for his owne sinnes and then for the peoples for that did he once when he offered vp himselfe their daily sacrificing for sinne is not onely superfluous and vaine but also most hereticall and blasphemous 5 But what shall we say now haue they nothing to answere yea verily for thus in effect they say r Thomas of Aquine De venerable Sacra Alter cap. We acknowledge and confesse that Christ by the sacrifice of his death freed vs from the guilt of originall sinne that is from that one sinne of Adam but for the malediction of all our actuall transgressions that to be taken away by the blessed sacrifice of the Masse which being true then are wee more beholden to their sacrifice then to Christs sacrifice For if Christ by his sacrifice tooke away onely the guilt of that one sinne and left vs guilty of many thousand sinnes what hath he done for vs but the sacrifice of the Masse 1. Epistle of Iohn 1. chap. 7 verse which taketh away the whole multitude of our sinnes that is it which wee are beholden to indeede But how true it is that Christ by the sacrifice of his death and bloud-shedding cleansed vs but from that one sinne onely these words of Saint Iohn will make it plaine where hee saith 1 Epistle 1 Chapter 7 verse The bloud of Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne and also these words of Saint Paul Titus 2 Chapter 14 verse Titus 2 chap. 14 verse He redeemed vs from all iniquity and likewise these words where hee speaking of our condemnation by originall sinne and the restoring vs againe by Christ saith Romans 5 Chapter 16 verse om 5.16 ver Neither is the gift so as that which entred in by one that sinned for the fault came of one offence to condemnation but the gift is of many offences to iustification 5 Againe if it be true that the suffering and death of Christ serued but for the healing the wound of originall sinne and not also for our actuall transgressions then is not this true which the Prophet Esay saith Chapter 43.5 He was wounded for our transgressions he was broken for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was vpon him and with his stripes we are healed Therefore it is very cleare that if the Papists doctrine be true the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles are meerely false But if we shall beleeue them that Christ by his sacrifice vpon the Crosse did satisfie the wrath and iustice of God for one part and they by their sacrifice vpon the Altar for another part and so Christ with them and they with Christ as fellow-helpers and copartners together doe fully satisfie Gods iustice for all sinne how shall we beleeue the Prophet in another place where in
Gentiles to offer vnto him in euery place whereas it is cleare it is meant of the whole spirituall worship and seruice of GOD vnder the Gospell which consisteth of preaching praying and thankesgiuing as may plainely appeare by these auncient Fathers interpretations vpon the same place of the Prophet Tertullian saith z Tertullian in his Exhortation vnto Chastitie The pure Sacrifice that Malachie speaketh of that should be offered in euery place is the preaching of the Gospell to the ende of the World Saint Hierome saith a Hierome vpon the first of Malachie The Prophet Malachie meaneth heereby that the prayers of holy people should be offered to God not onely in Iewrie but also in all places Also Iustinus Martyr saith b Iustinus Martyr in Dialoguo cum Triphone Esaias promised not the restoring of a bloudy Sacrifice but the true and spirituall Sacrifice of Praise and Thankesgiuing Therefore we see that the spirituall Sacrifice vnder the Gospel is preaching praying and thank esgiuing To conclude whereas they would haue made the world to belecue that their Masse and the vse thereof is but the application or applying of the Sacrifice of Christs Death and Bloud vnto vs wee see it tendeth to the vtter destroying of Christs Sacrifice for that they make their Sacrifice of the Masse the very substance of the thing it selfe CHAP. X. Tending to resolue all men that the words of Christ in the sixt Chapter of Saint Iohns Gospell touching the eating his flesh and drinking his bloud are onely but figuratiue speeches as also those his other words when he instituted the Sacrament and deliuering the Bread to his Apostles said Take eate this is my body which is giuen for you 1 OVR Sauiour Christ Iohn 6.59 teaching in the Synagogue at Capernaum deliuered these words vnto the Iewes saying I am the liuing Bread that came downe from heauen If any man eate of this Bread hee shall liue for euer and the Bread that I will giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world Verse 51. Againe Except yee eate the flesh of the Sonne of Man Verse 53. Verse 54.55.56.57 and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you And againe Whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him vp at the last day For my flesh is meate indeede and my bloud is drinke indeede he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and I in him As the liuing Father hath sent me so liue I by the Father and he that eateth me euen he shall liue by me 2 Now in these words Christian Reader we are chiefly to obserue these three things First that the scope and drift of our Sauiour Christ was to enduce the Iewes to haue vnderstood that he was the second person in the Godhead equall with the Father and that it was of necessity vnto saluation that they should eate and feede on him as he was God And this is it which he said I am the liuing bread which came downe from heauen If any man eate of this bread he shall liue for euer Secondly he would they should haue knowne that he being the second person in the God-head had taken into his diuine nature flesh and bloud and that it was also of as great a necessity vnto saluation that they should eate and drinke the same and feede on his flesh and bloud And this is it which he also said Christ must be eaten as he is God as hee is man and as he is both God man Except ye eate the flesh of the Son of man and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you Thirdly he would they should haue perceiued that as he was both God and man so it was also of as great a necessity vnto saluation that they should feede on both his natures vnitedly together And this is it which hee further said vnto them He that eateth me euen he shall liue by me By which we see it euident and plaine that none can be saued but those that doe eate Christ not onely as hee is God but also as hee is man and also as he is both God and man Eaten then he must be of necessity as both the Papists and we confesse but the manner how hee must be eaten is all the matter in question whether spiritually by faith or corporally with the mouth and teeth 3 The Iewes supposing Christ had beene man onely when they heard him say hee was the bread of God that came downe from heauen to giue life vnto the World To eate feed on Christs flesh is to beleeue that by the suffering in his flesh hee tooke away the sinne of our flesh and that he that did eate thereof should not die they were offended but when he added further and said And the bread that I will giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the World of which whosoeuer shall eate shall haue euerlasting life they raged and murmured among themselues saying How can this man giue vs his flesh to eate This is an hard saying who can heare it But when our Sauiour perceiued their carnall vnderstanding in which they so grossely erred in the manner of eating by imagining they should haue eaten him with their mouthes and teethes as their Fathers did eate Manna then in the 58. verse fully to resolue them that he meant no such kinde of eating he said The Iewes erring in the māner of eating could profit nothing by the matter they should eate Not as your Fathers did eate Manna And yet more fully to resolue them that indeede he meant a spirituall kinde of eating in the 57. verse he said plainely thus As the liuing Father hath sent me so liue I by the Father and he that eateth me euen he shall liue by me By which words he declared vnto them that as he did not liue carnally by the Father but spiritually so should they liue spiritually by him Howbeit The cause was they would none of his interpretations such was their peruersenesse that they would none of his interpretations but because he had said they must eate his God-head they would no otherwise vnderstand but that hee meant they should eate it carnally and also because hee had said they must eate his man-hood they would no otherwise but that they should eate his flesh corporally then said Christ further vnto them It is the spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing Meaning as they vnderstood it should bee eaten for otherwise his flesh was as profitable as his Godhead vnto those that did eate it after that manner as hee meant else would he not haue said Whosoeuer eateth my flesh hath eternall life and except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you But therefore they failing in the manner could profit nothing by the matter they should eate The manner wherein
wisedome and discretion And that indeed it may more plainely appeare that by retaining more then two it is not the true Church one of the Popes owne Pen-men describing the true Church by her owne notes and markes saith thus * In Ioh. Hom. 39. In this sensible world that is here beneath we must learne by sensible tokens to know the very Church of Christ * Nicol. Cusaenus De potestate Ecclesiae Romana Epist 1. For otherwise we are not able to reach the truth And a little after This Church standeth of them that declare by sensible and outward tokens that they be partakers of Christ as they be that confesse Christ to be the Sonne of God And therefore this Church hath certaine holy tokens or Sacraments ordained to that end that thereby we may know them that be of Christ so farre forth as by such tokens coniectured knowledge may be gathered Therefore I say That this Church of Christ by this coniecturall iudgement is counted holy notwithstanding wicked men and hypocrites couer themselues vnder the same outward tokens And what those tokens are he expresseth in these words following And receiue Baptisme and the Lords Supper as well as the godly And thus much for this point Now let vs see what we can say to the Sacrament of the Altar or Masse And thus we see that those words of Christ are spiritually to be vnderstood and not carnally as the Papists vnderstand them neither doe I see how they can properly apply those words to the Sacrament for that we see the scope and drift of Christ was onely there to draw them to the knowledge of him as he then was to wit both God and man and that he being God was become man to satisfie the wrath and iustice of God for man in the same flesh that man had offended in that so they might haue beleeued that he was the same Messias and Sauiour foretold by Moses on whom they did relie but no one word of the Sacrament therefore it seemeth to me those words doe not directly concerne the Sacrament or Sacramentall eating And the rather also may they be of my minde for that these of their owne side haue thus written Michael vehe o Michael vehe contra Lutherum of eating the Sacrament Christ in the sixt Chapter of Saint Iohn spake nothing And this he there proueth Their Doctor Doring saith p Doring in Psal 110. That saying hath no foundation or warrant in the words written by Saint Iohn Therefore to speake of the receiuing of the Sacrament in true vnderstanding it hath no force And a little after For this was spoken long before the Sacrament was ordained Therefore out of those words they can make no good proofe touching the communion of the Sacrament seeing the Sacrament at that time had no being Wherefore let vs now come to the words which properly and directly appertaineth to the Sacrament or Sacramentall eating Which when Christ deliuered the Sacrament to his Apostles were these 1 Cor. 11.24 Take eate this is my body which is giuen for you or as Saint Paul saith Which is broken for you 8 Now touching these words Christian Reader which they would haue also litterally to be taken and not figuratiuely to be vnderstood it will plainely appeare that they are but figuratiue speeches First for that when as Christ deliuered the bread and said Take eate this is my body which is broken for you his body was not then broken but was broken the next day after Secondly for that it was his very bodie that deliuered the bread which he called his body and it is certaine he had not two bodies therefore in calling the bread his body and the wine his bloud they were onely such figuratiue speeches as he vsed at other times as when he called himselfe a doore Iohn 10.7 Iohn 15.1 Iohn 10.11 Apoc. 5.5 Apoc. 14.1 Gen. 33.20 Iudg. 6.24 Rom. 4.17 a vine a shepheard c. and where he is called a Lyon a Lambe c. And as are vsed in many other places of the Scriptures as Genesis 33. Where Iacob called the Altar which he had set vp The mighty God And likewise in Iudges the 6. where Gideon called his Altar Iehouah which were none of them so but figuratiuely And therefore it is which Saint Paul saith Romans 4. God calleth those things which be not as though they were euen as himselfe also did when he called the stonie Rocke Christ which as Saint Augustine saith q August in his 57. question vpon Leuit. Gen. 17.10 Was not Christ by substance but by signification And as God himselfe did Genesis 17. where he called circumcision which was but the Sacrament or signe of his couenant The Couenant Therefore it is certaine that those words of Christ in calling bread his body and wine his bloud were but the like figuratiue speeches And that the Reader may be the more fully resolued that they were indeede but figuratiue speeches let him diligently obserue these testimonies of the auncient Fathers 9 Tertullian saith r In his Booke against Martion Iesus tooke bread and giuing it among his Disciples made it his body saying This is my body that is to say saith he a figure of my body Saint Ambrose saith Å¿ Ambrose 4. Booke 5. Cha. of Sacraments The Priest saith Make vnto vs this oblation to be acceptable which is the figure of the body and bloud of Christ Theodoret saith t Theodoret in his 1. Dialogue It is cleare that they are the figures of those things whereof they beare the name So that howsoeuer as Saint Cyprian saith u Cyprian de vnction Chrismatis Christ in his last Supper gaue to his Apostles with his owne hands Bread and Wine which he called his Body and Bloud yet on the Crosse he gaue his very body to be wounded with the hands of Souldiers that the Apostles might declare to the World how and in what manner bread and wine may be the flesh and bloud of Christ and the manner hee straight wayes declareth thus that those things which doe signifie and those things which are signified by them may be both called by one name And therefore it is also which Saint Augustine saith * August 57. question vpon Leuit. A thing which signifieth is wont to be called by the name of the thing which it signifieth And in another place x In his 23. Epistle to Benifacius For if Sacraments had not some similitudes or likenesse of those things whereof they be Sacraments then they should be no Sacraments at all but for their similitude and likenesse commonly they haue the names of those things whereof they be Sacraments Therefore saith he after a certaine manner of speech the Sacrament of Christs body is Christs body the Sacrament of Christs bloud is Christs bloud And in another place thus y In his 18. Book 48. Cha. of the City of God All signes and tokens seeme in
a manner to beare the persons of the things themselues that they signifie So the Apostle saith The Rocke was Christ for that the Rocke whereof it was spoken signified Christ And thus we see the matter made as cleare as the Sunne that shineth at noone day that those words of Christ in calling bread his body and wine his bloud were onely but figuratiue speeches and therefore the bread and wine are onely but figures of his body and bloud But yet forasmuch as the Antichristians haue so besotted the multitude in making them to beleeue that after the words of consecration the bread and wine is transubstantiated into the naturall body and bloud of Christ let vs heare a little further what the Fathers say more fully to this point 10 Saint Ambrose hereof saith thus z Ambrose in his Booke of those things that are declared by the mist ries the last Chap. Before consecration another kinde is named but after consecration the body of Christ is signified Theodoret saith a Thâ—odo in his 1. Dialogue Christ did honour the visible tokens with the names of his body and bloud not changing the nature but adding grace vnto nature Againe he saith b In his 2. Dialogue The sacramentall signes goe not from their owne nature after sanctification Also Saint Chrisostome saith c Chrisost ad Caesatium Monachum The bread before it be sanctified is called bread but when it is sanctified by the meanes of the Priest it is deliuered from the name of bread and is exalted to the name of the Lords body yet the nature of bread doth still remaine And therefore in another place he saith plainly thus d In his 11. Hom. vpon Mathew The very body of Christ it selfe is not in the holy vessels but the mistery or sacrament thereof is there contained But that which is more then all this the Pope himselfe saith euen Gelasius by name e Gelasius against Eutiches There leaueth not to be the substance of bread and wine or the nature of wine and indeed the image or representation of the body and bloud and the likenesse thereof is published in the ministration of the misteries Therefore it is which their Bishop Fisher saith f Fisher against Luther No man shall be able to proue by the very words of the Gospell that there is the true presence of Christs flesh and bloud in our Masse To conclude Saint Augustine saith g August in his Booke of profit of repentance It is a dangerous matter and a seruitude of the soule to take the signe instead of the thing that is signified And here haue we sufficient experience in the Papists who by taking the signe for the thing it selfe commit most horrible idolatry in adoring the bread for Christ CHAP. XI Tending to resolue all men that wee ought not to pray to Saints but to God onely neither to worship Saints but God alone And that it is Sacriledge to doe either 1. A Great part of the World Christian Reader hath of long time been carried away with the multitude of Popish delusions amongst which this is one Namely to say We must goe to God by the mediation of Saints as by noble men we goe vnto a King Hereby haue they drawne the people to impart the glory of the Creator to the creature euen to pray to Saints whereas they should pray onely to God For so hath the Lord commanded vs saying Psalme 50. Psalme 50.15 Call vpon me in the day of thy trouble and I will heare thee and thou shalt glorifie me Now therefore seeing the Lord commandeth vs to come vnto him why should we goe first to any other yea first or last Againe seeing the Lord accounteth it a part of his glory to be prayed vnto is it not a stealing from him a chiefe part of his glory to pray vnto others yea verily And therefore all those that make any intercessioÌ„ to Saints can no more look to obtaine any good at the hand of God then theeues can looke to obtaine good at the hands of those from whom they robbe and steale 2 Our Sauiour saith Matthew 23. One is your Doctor Matthew 23.8 Acts 3.22 1 Cor. 1.30 euen Christ Saint Luke saith Chap. 3. Him must wee heare in all things Saint Paul saith 1 Cor. 1. He is our wisedome Now if Christ be our Doctor and Teacher and him whom wee must heare in all things and also our wisedome by which we are to be directed then ought we to learne of him both to whom we should pray and also the manner how to pray And hereof haue we a plaine example in the Apostles who knowing that the whole World was to be taught by him desired him to teach them how to pray Luke 11. â— Master said they teach vs to pray as Iohn also taught his Disciples and Christ being as willing to teach them as they were to learne began thus to instruct them not onely in the manner how but also to whom they ought to pray When ye pray said he pray vnto your Father which is in secret and he shall reward you openly Againe said he After this manner pray ye Matthew 6.9 Our Father which art in Heauen c. Now if Christ were wise enough to teach his Apostles then are wee to learne by his directions not onely not first to goe to Saints but not at all but onely to God the Father of Heauen Wherefore then this vtterly condemneth the Papists of most wretched impiety that will teach men first to goe to Saints Also it flatly condemneth them of arrogancy in taking vpon them to be wiser then Christ who in his heauenly wisedome knew best how to instruct Gods children in the right way for the most speedy and surest obtaining their petitions 3 It was not without great cause Christian Reader that St Paul said Christ is our wisedome For had â—e sent vs to the Saints departed yea had hee picked out of all the Patriarks and Prophets Abraham the Father of the faithfull to haue prayed vnto that by his mediation we might haue come to God what had it auayled seeing the Prophet Esay saith Chap. Esay 63.16 63. Abraham is ignorant of vs and Israel knoweth vs not Yea seeing Salomon the wise saith The dead know nothing at all But therefore wee see Christ did it not otherwise hee should haue condemned himselfe of Popish ignorance in sending vs to seeke helpe at their hands who are ignorant of vs and knoweth not how to doe vs any good Saint Augustine reprouing those heretikes of his time which sought for helpe of the dead declared plainely vnto them that they did but delude themselues and spend their labour in vaine for said he a August in his Book of the spirit soule 29. The soules of them that be dead are there where they doe not see nor heare what things are done or chance in this life Such is the care they haue for the
but saue his life For if Saint Paul should haue spoken those words to haue maintained a place of purging sinne then should hee haue vtterly confounded all his owne doctrine throughout all his Epistles where he so laboureth to proue that our sins are wholly purged by the bloud of Christ onely For first in the third Chapter to the Romans he saith thus of Christ Whom God hath set forth to be a reconciliation through faith in his bloud Rom. 3.25 Rom. 5.9 And in his 5. Chapter thus Being now iustified by his bloud we shall be saued from wrath through him And in the first to the Colossians thus Colos 1.13 Who hath deliuered vs from the power of darkenesse and hath translated vs into the Kingdome of his deare Sonne in whom wee haue redemption through his bloud that is the forgiuenesse of sinnes And in the same Chapter Verse 19.20 For it pleased the Father that in him all fulnesse should dwell and by him to reconcile all things vnto himselfe and to set at peace through the bloud of his Crosse both the things in earth and the things in Heauen And for a full conclusion of this point namely that wee are absolutely made perfect by Christs death and bloud he saith verse 22. In the body of his flesh Verse 22. through death he made vs vnblameable and without fault in the sight of God Now then this being true to wit that we are fully and wholly reconciled to God by faith in the bloud of Christ and our sinnes cleane washed away thereby so as that we are made vnblameable and without fault in Gods sight how absurd had it beene for Saint Paul to haue taught any other kinde of purgation Therefore it is cleare that those his words in the third Chapter to the Corinthians cannot be vnderstood of Purgatory 9 Furthermore as touching the truth of this doctrine namely that our sinnes are washed and cleansed onely by the bloud of Christ Saint Paul is not singular in this point for as we heard before out of the seauenth Chapter of the Reuelation that it was confirmed to Saint Iohn by the Angell of God from Heauen so likewise whosoeuer will reade the first Chapter of that Booke shall finde these words set downe concerning Christ Vnto him that loued vs Reuel 1.5.6 and washed vs from our sinnes in his bloud and made vs Kings and Priests vnto God euen his Father be glory and dominion for euermore Amen And in the 1 Chapter to the Hebrewes thus Heb. 1.3 Who being the brightnesse of the glory and the ingraued forme of his person and bearing vp all things by his mighty Word hath by himselfe purged our sinnes And in the first Epistle and the first Chapter of Saint Iohn thus Iohn 1. Epist 1. chap. 7. The bloud of Iesus Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne Wherefore then seeing that of the bond slaues of Sathan we are made Kings and Priests to God by the bloud of Christ and that Christ of himselfe and by himselfe hath so purged our sinnes as whereby wee are made vnblameable and without fault in Gods sight why should we nay rather how dare we beleeue it is done by Purgatory Againe seeing the holy Ghost saith By the bloud of Christ Verse 9. wee are cleansed from all sinne and in the verses following From all vnrighteousnesse And that Saint Paul saith Titus 2. Titus 2.14 He redeemed vs from all iniquitie why should we suffer our selues to be so deluded to thinke that there is any sinne vnrighteousnesse or iniquity at all left to be purged by their imagined Purgatorie or that there can be any vse at all thereof or be any such place 10 Saint Cyprian speaking of the matter of our purging saith thus m Cyprian of Christs passion Thy bloud O Lord seeketh no reuenge thy bloud washeth our sinnes and pardoneth our trespasses Also to shew that there can be none other purgation nor any place for the purging of sinne after this life he saith else-where n In his first Treatise against Demetrian After we be once departed out of this life there is no more place of repentance there is no more effect or working of satisfaction life is here either lost or wonne Also to the very same effect are those words of Saint Augustine o August vpon the 25. Psalme Let onely the price of the bloud of my Lord auaile me to the perfection of my deliuery And in another place thus p In his 10. Booke 22 Ch. of the City of God The victory is gotten in his name that hath taken man vpon him and that hath liued without sinne that in him and through him being both the Priest and the sacrifice remission and forgiuenesse of sinnes should be obtained and giuen that is to say saith he by the Mediatour of God and man that man Iesus Christ by whom the purging of our sinnes being made we are reconciled vnto God Well then if onely the bloud of Christ be auaileable to the perfection of our deliuerance from sinne and that the purgation thereof be so effectually made thereby as that our sinnes are washed away and all our trespasses pardoned and wee reconciled vnto God in this life and that here in this life euerlasting life is either lost or wonne and that after this life repentance comes too late and no satisfaction can be made to what end should God prouide a place after this life for the better perfecting of our saluation But therefore it is which Saint Augustine in another place saith q In his 54. Epistle to Macidonius There is no other place to correct our manners and conditions but onely in this life euery man shall haue that which he hath purchased vnto himselfe in this World And what vse then can there be of Purgatory Saint Ignatius saith r Ignatius in his 6. Epistle Alwayes reason requireth that whiles we haue space and time we should amend and correct our faults whiles in this life wee haue occasion giuen of repentance for it is truly said after death there is neither time nor place to confesse our sinnes And why then should wee beleeue that there is both place and time Saint Ambrose saith s Ambrose vpon good death He that here in this life receiueth not remission of his sinnes shall not be there in the life to come meaning Heauen Also Saint Hierome speaking of the same point saith thus t Hierome in his Booke vpon the 95. of Esay He that doth not obtaine remission of his sinnes whiles he yet liueth in the body doth perish to God and abideth to himselfe vnto euerlasting damnation And what auaileth Purgatory after this life then Saint Chrisostome likewise speaking of the same point saith u Chrisost in his 2. Sermon of Lazarus Whiles we be yet here we haue a godly hope but as soone as we are departed hence it lieth no more in vs for to repent nor
the sinnes of others Thirdly to stay their soules from death Fourthly to purchase Heauen And lastly to lift vp and place their soules in Heauen They will haue all by their owne deseruings or they will haue none all by merits or else no bargaine therefore let vs see what wee can say further vnto them touching this point 25 Our Sauiour Christ Matthew 5. saith Blessed are the poore in spirit for theirs is the Kingdome of Heauen Now this word Poore is a metaphor taken from a man that is so very poore as that hee hath not wherewith to sustaine his owne life but is faine to seeke to others for succour And such are they which finde themselues so greatly destitute of soules sustenance as that they are glad to seeke to others for reliefe euen to God for his mercy and to Christ for his merites 26 Such a blessed poore man was Saint Basil as may appeare by these his words h Basil vpon the 32. Psalm He that trusteth not in his owne good deeds nor hopeth to be iustified by his workes hath the onely hope of his saluation in the mercies of God Also such a blessed poore man was Saint Augustine as appeareth by these his words i Aug. vpon the 142. Psal Lord for thy name sake shalt thou quicken mee in thy righteousnesse Not in mine not because I haue deserued it but because thou hast mercy on me Also such a blessed poore man was Saint Hierome as appeareth by these his words k Hier. 64. of Esay If we behold our owne merits wee shall be driuen to desperation Yea and notwithstanding Saint Bernard acknowledgeth himselfe also to be one of these poore Publicans in that he saith of himselfe l Ber. vpon the Psal qui habitat My merites is the mercy of God yet they will rather be condemned with the proud Pharises then be iuslified with the poore Publicans To be briefe whereas their Master Harding saith m D. Harding in his booke A direction of sundry soule errours lies c. in fol. 357. Wee are iustified freely without workes that may deserue the grace that God giueth Here he hath condemned their doctrine of iustification by workes to be most false and erroneous but in that that hee includeth that workes may deserue the grace that God giueth he hath proued himselfe a notable heretique For as Saint Augustine saith n Aug. in his 46. Epistle Vnderstand that the forenamed Epistle to Sixtus an Elder of the Church of Rome is written against the Pelagians the new heretiques which affirme the grace of God to be giuen according to merits that he that glorieth should not glorie in the Lord but in himselfe that is in man and not in the Lord. And therefore in another place hee saith o In the same Epistle Let no man say that for the merits of his workes or for the merits of his prayers or for the merit of his faith the grace of God is giuen vnto him And so that which those heretiques say be counted true namely that according to our merits the grace of God is giuen then the which nothing can be more false But as he saith in another place p In his booke of predestination of Saints chap. 9. They that glorie should not glorie in their owne merits which they perceiue to be like vnto the merits of them that shall be damned but should glorie in the Lord. Whereupon saith Saint Ambrose q Ambrose in his 1. booke and 5. chapter of the calling of the Gentiles Like as there is none so detestable outragious as can restraine the free gift of grace so can there be no worke so excellent that this which is freely giuen should be due vnto them by action of debt for then the redemption of Christ should in deed be no thing worth neither should the worthinesse of mans workes be inferiour to the mercie of God Whereupon their Writer Waldensis saith r Walden in his booke against Wilelesse I take him therefore to be the sounder Diuine the faithfuller Catholique and more agreeable to the holy Scriptures that vtterly denieth all such kinde of merits And thus much for the conclusion of the twelue Chapters referring the whole matter to be iudged by all that shall reade them Whether they can possibly be true Catholique Christians which in stead of one God will haue hundreds as appeareth in our first Chapter and in stead of one Sauiour to haue many thousands as appeareth in the same Chapter That will haue the Pope to be the very Vicar of Christ whom in our second Chapter wee proued to be that great Antichrist shewed by Saint Paul 2 Thessa 2. to be the Arch-enemie of Christ and all true Christians That will haue Rome to be the Mother of all Christian Churches which in our third Chapter we proued to be that Babylon which the Angel in the seauenteenth Chapter of the Reuelation calleth The mother of Whordomes and abhominations of the earth That will haue his Church as it is now Christian to be the true Church of Christ Which in our fourth Chapter we proued to be the same idolatrous Church professing Christ mentioned by the Angell in the 13. Chapter and 17. Chapter of the Reuelation That will haue their Church to be the most auncient Apostolique and Catholique Church which in our fifth Chapter we proued had no being at all for the space of sixe hundred and sixe yeares next after Christ That will haue the succession of Vniuersall Popes to descend from Saint Peter which we proued in our sixth Chapter to descend but from Boniface the third Bishop of Rome of that name made Vniuersal Pope by that Murtherer Phocas â—he Emperour in the yeare of Christ 607. In which yeare the first Vniuersall Pope being made the Popish Church must needes first begin For as before Christ was there could be no Christian Church so before there was an Vniuersall Pope there could be no Popish Church Therefore their Church hauing her first beginning but sixe hundred and seauen yeares after Christ the antiquity thereof is ouerthrowne our Church proued to be more ancient by sixe hundred and sixe yeares That will haue the Popes supreame title and dignitie approued of by generall consent of Councells and Fathers which in our seauenth Chapter we proued to be gain said and withstood by Councells and Fathers till the yeare of Christ 607. That will haue Peter to be made supreame Head of all the Apostles by Christ himselfe the contrary whereof wee proued in our eighth Chapter by Christs expresse Commaundement and therefore the Pope cannot claime his Supremacie from Peter That will haue the true Church knowne by retaining seauen Sacraments which in our ninth Chapter we proued that to Saint Chrisostomes time which was about foure hundred yeares after Christs Incarnation it was knowne by retaining onely two Sacraments and afterwards no Christian Church knowne by the iust number of seauen till Antichrist was borne in Rome That will haue the idolatrous Masse to be the ordinance of Christ which in the same Chapter we proued cannot be because it tendeth to the vtter ouerthrow of the power of Christs death and passion as also because it was not begun to be framed till about one hundred and nineteene yeares after Christ and not finished of more then sixe hundred yeares after And confessed by their Iohannes Boemos to be inuented by certaine Bishoppes of Rome whose names wee haue produced in the same Chapter as himselfe nominated them That will haue those words in the sixt chapter of Saint Iohns Cospel touching the eating his flesh and drinking his bloud to bee meant of a corporall kinde of eating which heresie wee proued in our tenth Chapter Christ reproued the carnall Capernaites for As also will haue those words in the sixe and twentieth Chapter of Saint Matthews Gospel Take eate this is my Body to be literally vnderstood that they might worship the bread for Christ and make an Idoll of it That will haue Saints prayed vnto and worshipped which as we proued in our eleuenth Chapter is to robbe God of two speciall parts of his glory Lastly that will haue men to make a better satisfaction for sinne then Christ hath made for them be better purged from their sinne in the fire of Purgatory then Christ hath by his bloud or be holden from life and libertie for euer which as we proued in our twelfth Chapter tendeth to the vtter ouerthrow of all that Christ hath done for the saluation of man kinde To conclude we see in this Chapter of Conclusion they will haue men to seeke iustification by the workes of the Law that so they might be brought vnder the curse and condemnation of it for not fulfilling all that the Law requireth They will haue men to purchase heauen by their owne deseruing thereby to proue his death to be needlesse and faith in him of none effect And notwithstanding that case to stand cleare that these be paâ—â— of those Antichristian lies wherewith Saint Paul 2 Thess 2. shewed the great Antichrist should deceiue those that loued not the truth But had pleasure in vnrighteousnesse They bash not to say The Pope cannot be holden with any Religion of a lie FINIS