in the externall worke placing holinesse and remission of sinnes in the deede done and thus the thing signified is little regarded and wholy abolished r Gen. 41 4. as the euill fauoured and leane-fleshed Kine did eate vp the fat well-fauored this was Pharaohs dream and the other is mans deuise For these men giue all to the outward receiuing placing holinesse and remission of sinnes therein and thinking themselues sure and secure when the bread and wine is taken at the Lords table Thus all hypocrites libertines and carnall Gospellers doe for all the religion deuotion and godlinesse of these idle and ignorant professors standeth in outward resorting to the Church and in an outward taking of the communion of the body blood of Christ which is to make an Idoll of the signe and to flatter themselues in their euils to their owne destruction For albeit a man haue beene baptized and haue receiued the Lords Supper yet if hee liue wickedly and walke after his owne lusts the Sacraments shall auaile and aduantage him nothing at all but further his condemnation Vse 3 Lastly hath the Sacrament some partes outward and some inward some seene and some not seene with bodilye eyes Then it giueth occasion both to parents to teach their children the meaning of these mysteries and to declare vnto them the ordinances of God as likewise to children and the yonger sort to aske and inquire of their parents to heare and learne of them the doctrine of the Sacraments thereby to know the mercifull promises that God hath made to his people This appeareth Å¿ Exod. 12 26.27 chap. 13 14 15. directly where the fathers are forewarned to teach their children the hidden mystery of the Passeouer When your children aske you what seruice is this yee keepe then yee shall say It is the sacrifice of the Lords Passeouer which passed ouer the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and preserued our houses So likewise Ch. 13 14. speaking of separating and sanctifying the first borne for the seruice of God hee chargeth parents to whet this doctrine on their children and to instruct them how God with a mighty hand and outstretched arme brought them out of Egypt out of the house of bondage Againe t Iosh 4 6 7.8 21 22 23. wee see when the Lord had parted the waters of Iordan that the people might passe he commanded Ioshua to set vp 12. stones in memoriall of the mighty and miraculous worke of God for his people against their enemies and when their children should aske them in time to come what was meant by those stones they should answere that the waters of Iordan were cut off before the Arke of the couenant of the Lord. Hee would not onely haue themselues to profite by his wonderfull workes but to retaine the remembrance of them he would haue their posterity to know the cause occasion thereof and so glorifie his name for euer Heereunto we may fitly ioyne u Psal 78 2 3 4 5 6 7. what the Psalmist saith I will open my mouth in a parable I will declare high sentences of olde which wee haue heard and knowne and our fathers haue told vs we will not hide them from their children but to the generation to come we will shew the praises of the Lord his power also and his wonderfull workes that he hath done that the posterity might know it and the children which should be borne should stand vp and declare it to their children that they might set their hope on God cannot forget the workes of God but keepe his commandements All these things serue to this purpose to shew that it is a duty and burden laide on the shoulders of all parents to acquaint their children with the workes of God especially with the benefits of our redemption wrought by Christ for our saluation If they aske the question why Infants are baptized and washed with water into the name of the holy Trinity wee must make plaine vnto them the meaning of that mystery Wee must say vnto them My children a How to teach our childâ—en the meaning of the Sacraments this is a signe of the Couenant of Gods mercy to vs and our duty to God it is a mystery of our saluation and teacheth that beeing in our selues vncleane vnrighteous vnholy and sinfull our soules are washed by the blood of Christ euen as the water in baptisme washeth our bodyes wherein the mercy of God is so much the more maruailous in our eyes insomuch as the Iewes were entred into the couenant by cutting lancing and effusion of bloud in circumcision Againe before they come to yeares ro receiue the holy Supper of the Lord we must informe them at home and declare the institution of that Sacrament and the comfortable vses thereof to them so they may afterward come to this Communion with better warrant of their worke with greater comfort to themselues and with lesse danger to their soules Wee must teach them that as the bread is broken and the Wine powred out so the body of Christ was crucified and his blood shed for the remission of our sins and that if we beleeue in the Lord Iesus we are nourished in our soules to eternal life by the passion of Christ our Sauiour as certainly as our bodies are nourished with the creatures of bread wine Notwithstanding there is a generall defect of this duty in many parents neither are children ready to inquire learn at home neither are parents able to answere any thing in these matters of God waywardnes in the one worldlines in the other ignorance in them both hath taken away all care and conscience from them touching these holye and heauenlye mysteries so that neyther the one teacheth nor the other learneth neyther the Childe enquireth nor the father answereth CHAP. IIII. Of the first outward part of a Sacrament THe outward partes of a Sacrament are such things as a What outward parts are vnder a certaine similitude and sikenesse do represent and signifie heauenly thinges to assure vs they are as truely prelent and offered vs as wee behold with our eyes and receiue with our hands the earthly things giuen vnto vs. The outward parts of a Sacrament are in number b Foure outward parts of a Sacrament foure First the Minister Secondly the word of institution Thirdly the signe Fourthly the receiuer All these and euery one of them are needful to the beeing and nature of a Sacrament take them away or any of theÌ„ and you take away the substance and bring in a nullity of the Sacrament If there be no Minister no word no element no receiuer there is no Sacrament If there be wanting eyther Minister to deliuer it or word to institute it or element to represent it or receiuer to take it wee cannot assure our selues to haue any SacrameÌ„t of God but rather a tradition and inuention of our owne In this
mysticall signification therefore there is none in breaking of the bread Answere I answere the former part is false for the pouring out of the wine signifieth the shedding of Christs blood out of his side For as it is said of the bread This is my body which is broken for you so it is said of the cup This is my blood which is shed for you for the remission of sins And what can the separatioÌ„ of the bread and the cup signifie but the separation of the body blood of Christ once made vpon the Crosse whereas his blood is now no longer separated from the body because he can dye no more Obiection Answere To conclude they vrge that in the new testament is no place for figures It is true if they speake of figures shadowing out Christ to come But if they speake of figures signifying Christ already reuealed manifested we feare not to affirme that we haue figures still of Christ and of the benefits purchased by him For I pray you what are our Sacraments but figures liuely setting forth Christ our Sauiour So then to take away signes is to take away the Sacraments which are nothing else but sacred signes The sixt reason Sixtly that which includeth vnder it the mystery of the vnion of the Church among themselues and with Christ the head is by no means to be passed ouer But the breaking of bread hath this mystery in it that many by partaking of one bread broken are made one mysticall body as the Apostle witnesseth 1 Cor. 10 17. We being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread which he declared to be broken in the former verse The vnity betweene the meÌ„bers of the Church which are many is shaddowed out by the bread made compact together of many graines howbeit this is much more euident vnto vs by the bread which is broken and distributed to all that are present Seauenthly we haue the expresse testimony of the Apostle The bread which we breake c. The seauenth reason Now that is to be iudged necessary to be done without which we cannot say with the Apostle in the administration and participation of the Supper The bread which we breake is the communion of the body of Christ but without this ceremony we cannot ioyne with the Apostle and say The bread which wee breake is the communion of Christs body Therefore the rite of breaking and parting the bread into many pieces is necessary They may say the bread which we giue or distribute but not the bread which we breake for to breake is one thing and to distribute is another These two differ so farre the one from another that a thing may be broken which is not distributed and giuen and it may bee giuen which is not broken Eightly The eight reason that which fitly serueth to make the Sacrament perfect and absolute whole and entire may not be neglected or omitted and where it is not it ought to be restored But the breaking of bread maketh the Sacrament instituted of Christ to be more ful and without it to be maimed as a man without an hand Therefore it ought to be restored againe Ninthly The ninth reason it is in the power of no creature to omit or abolish any rite not in it selfe indifferent but commanded by Christ in the celebration of his Supper But the breaking of bread is not indifferent to be done or to be left vndone but is expresly commanded to bee practised as we haue prooued before Therefore no man vnder heauen hath authority to abrogate it For this is a true and certaine rule that a right hauing the commandement of Christ for the vse of it to be continued is not indifferent Tenthly it giueth vs peace of conscience The tenth reason Now that which setteth the conscience at quiet doth more effectually minister comfort in the vse of this Supper that is by no meanes to be neglected But the due obseruation of this breaking according to the commandement of Christ doth quiet the conscience and comfort the heart more forcibly and fruitfully inasmuch as it assureth vs that we keepe the ordinance of Christ purely and entirely without adding any thing vnto it or without taking any thing from it Therefore it is not to be passed ouer The 11. reason Lastly to draw to an end that ceremony ought to be retained and continued in the Church wherby the Idolatrous and false opinion of the corporall presence and eating of the body of Christ is most strongly conuinced and pulled out of the hearts of the ignorant people but such is the ceremony of the breaking of bread Therefore it ought to be practised that the Idoll set vp in the hearts of the multitude may be defaced and pulled downe This carnall and corporall presence profiteth not as we wil make plaine afterward Thus we haue heard the reasons which vrge and require this as a necessary duty belonging to the Minister to breake the bread a duty neglected not onely of the Church of Rome but also of others who maintaining a reall presence of the body of Christ omit the breaking of the outward signe In all this that hitherto hath bin obserued we may note three things First that we do not condemne our brethren or the Churches who haue not this breaking of the bread obserued among them whether it be through error conceiued or any other let and impediment obiected Secondly the defect of this rite cannot destroy albeit it do disfigure the Supper it is as a maime in an whole body or as a scarre in a faire face Lastly that this ceremony is not to be holden indifferent but necessary in respect of Christs commandement and necessary to preserue the comlines and beauty in this Sacrament CHAP. IIII. Of the second outward part of the Lords Supper HItherto of the first outward part of the Lords Supper to wit the Minister who is in the Church not onely as a Steward to prouide but as a Cooke to prepare meate for the children seruants of God now we come to the word of institution a The words of institution are the secoÌ„d outward part of the Supper and promise annexed or contained therein which are the second part of this Sacrament expressed in these words This is my body which is giuen for you or which is broken for you where the name of the thing signified is giuen to the signe it selfe as if it should be said this bread which I haue in mine hands is b Tertul cont Marcio lib. 4. August contr Adâ—m â—n ca. 12. a signe of my body which shortly after shall be crucified for you and deliuered vnto death for your saluation Christ tooke nothing but bread he gaue into his Disciples hands nothing but bread to eate he brake nothing but bread and Paul saith expresly of this SacrameÌ„t c 1 Cor. 10 16 Obiection The bread which we
breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ If any obiect that Christs body neither is d Ioh 1â— 36. Answere nor was broken as Iob. 19 36. Not a bone of him shall bee broken that the Scripture should bee fulfilled I answere the Apostle hath respect to the sence and signification which the breaking of the bread importeth being taken for the tearing tormenting the paines and renting of the body of Christ and the violent sundring of his soule and body one from the other For as the bread is parted and diuided into diuers parts so the soule and body of Christ were sundred separated each from other Againe it is said This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remisâ—â—â— of sinnes or This cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you these speeches are Sacramentall not proper by the confession of the aduersaries themselues where the thing containing which is the cuppe hath the name of the thing contained which is the wine the fruite of the vine So then they which cannot abide figures in the Sacrament must be constrained to confesse a figure and therefore cannot blame vs when we say the words are figuratiuely to be vnderstood But before we come to handle the vses of this part let vs briefly consider the words of Christ deliuered at the institution and administratioÌ„ of this Sacrament that so we may see the true and naturall meaning thereof These words e The words of institution are variably set downe are not recorded reported in so many words in the scripture or in so many sillables but the sence being one the sentence varieth and is not one Mathew deliuereth the words thus f Mat 26 26. Take eate this is my body whereunto g Mar. 14 22. Marke also accordeth Luke is somewhat more ample by way of interpretation h Luk. 21 19. This is my body which is giuen for you do this in remembrance of me And i 1 Cor. 11 14 Paul to the like purpose but in vnlike sound of words Take eate this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me Likewise touching the other signe of this Supper Mathew saith k Mat. 16 â—8 This is my blood of the new testament that is shed for many for the remission of sins Marke is somewhat more short then the rest l Mar. 14 23.24 This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many but he addeth this more then the rest they all dranke of it Luke saith m Luk. 22 20. This cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you But Paul declareth the same more at large This cuppe n 1 Cor. 11 25 is the new testament in my blood this doe as oft as ye drinke it in remembrance of me Thus we see expresly a difference in words by adding by detracting by changing yet inasmuch as nothing is added or detracted or changed in regard of the true meaning let vs come to the interpretation and exposition of the words seeing the Gospell standeth not o Ierem. 〈◊〉 cap. 1 ad Galat. in the words of the Scripture but in the minde and meaning of them Let vs therefore come to the right vnderstanding of the words of Chrst p The words of institution expounded briefly truly 〈◊〉 plainely Take to wit not only into your mouths but into your hands representing the soule and faith of the receiuer Eate that is not gaze and looke on not reserue not adore not offer it but diuide by chewing and preparing to concoction This that is to say not the shewes of bread but this very bread Is my body that is a true signe of my true body and signifieth vnto you my selfe with all that is mine or belonging eyther to my person or office or merits Which is broken for you that is which shortly shall be crucified for you immediately giuen to death for you Do this in remembrance of me that is practise these duties and call to remembrance Christ and his merits oftentimes So that it is in our choyce and liberty to do these duties or not to do them if we be not fit we must presently prepare to make our selues fit and we must do them often so that howsoeuer there be no set time yet the oftner the better due reuerence and regard being had thereunto Moreouer touching the other signe obserue thus much for interpretation This cup that is this wine in the cup Is the new testament in my blood that is this wine is a true signe of shedding my blood which confirmeth ratifieth the new Testament and Gods agreement with mankinde for their saluation This is briefly the mind of Christ and meaning of the Vs 1 words of institution From hence we learne first that Christs words are not properly but figuratiuely to bee taken True it is the words are plaine easie and manifest for tropes and figures were found out q Arist rhetor ad theodeâ—t lâ—b 3 cap. 6. C cer de orat o. lib. 3. not to darker but to open not to hide but to helpe the vnderstanding howbeit they must haue a right construction and a sound interpretation otherwise the plainest sentence may breed error and mistaking Now this is a sacramentall speech and sacramentall words must be sacramentally expounded as proper must be interpreted properly spirituall spiritually and mysticall mystically We may not take the letter in all places for as we haue shewed the Scripture standeth not in words r Hierom. co◠〈…〉 in Cap. 1. ad Gal. but in the meaning of the words not in the reading but in the vnderstanding not in the outward shew but in the inward substance Christ in the new testament is cald a lamine a lyon a way a bride-groome a head a dore a vine a g◠〈◊〉 a rock bread water light such like these words are 〈◊〉 euident yet must they be vnderstood metaphorically not properly spiritually not litterally So to come to the words of institution What did Christ take in his hand bread What did Christ command them to take and eate bread What did he call his body Was it any other thing then the same bread which he had taken which he had broken which he had giuen vnto them Neither is there any other antecedent going before whereunto it can be referred Now the bread and body of Christ are in nature Disparata sundry and diuers things and the one cannot be spoken of the other and verified of the other without a figure as to say one and the same thing should be both bread and Christs body but if it be bread it cannot be his body if it be his body it cannot be bread Wherefore true bread is a true signe seale of his true body Neither is this figure strange or new but common and vsuall when mention is made of the
cannot stand together to wit the blood to be in the body and to be out of the body to be shed for vs not to be shed and that the Sacrament leadeth vs to the consideration of the death and especially of the piercing of the body and pouring out of the blood of Christ we may conclude that this i Concil Trid. sess 3. can 3. vnion of the bodye with the blood and blood with the body flatly crosseth and ouerthroweth the institution of Christ And why I pray you do their sacrificing Priestes receiue the blood twice and the body twice drinking first the blood in the body and againe eating the body in the blood Nay doth not this vnion deuised alter the institution of Christ and confound the seuerall parts of it making him to speake otherwise then the Euangelists expresse For when hee saide This is my body they will haue him meane this is my body and blood Againe when he said this is my blood they will haue him meane this is my blood and my body Last of all this late inuention turneth and ouerturneth the nature of the parts distinguished one from the other while wee eate the flesh they make vs drinke the blood and while we drinke the blood they imagine we eate the body Thus to eate and to drinke shall be all one with them for we shall eate liquid and moist things and we shall drinke dry and hard things And is not this drinking of flesh and eating of blood an inuerting euerting of the nature of things But thus God striketh his enemies with giddinesse of spirit For after they haue broken the pure institution of Christ and brought in a carnall presence of his body one absurdity being granted k Arist phys lib. 1. cap. 2. 3. a thousand follow infinite abuses haue ensued vpon heapes the flood-gates being set open whereof there is no end or measure Let them therefore repent themselues of this sacriledge against God and iniury against his people restoring vnto them the communion vnder both kinds according to the ordinance of Christ direction of the Apostles And thus much of the generall vses arising from both the signes ioyntly considered Now let vs come to the particular vses offered vnto vs Partic. vse 1. in each of the signes And first touching the bread Is bread simply considered the first signe in the Lords Supper Then it is not necessarily required that it be administred in vnleauened bread For bread is oftentimes named and repeated but the word vnleauened is neuer added Wherefore as it is in it selfe indifferent whether the wine be red or white whatsoeuer the kinde or colour be if it be wine so is it not greatly material whether the bread be leauened or vnleuened so it be bread Which ouerthrowes the error of the church of Rome her fauorits who hold it l Beliar. lib. 4. de Eucha cap. 7. necessary that the bread vsed in the Sacrament be vnleauened They pretend rhe institution of Christ who say they made the Sacrament of vnleauened bread instituting it after he had eaten the Passeouer which was to be eaten with vnleauened bread m Exod. 12 8.18 according to the law of Moses neither was there any leauē to be found in Israel seauen daies together Thus they charge vs to breake the institution of Christ But see heere the peeuishnes and partiality of these proud spirits who flye to the institution and sticke precisely to the circumstances of it when it serueth any way to their purpose but when the question is of matters of substance not of circumstance as touching communicating vnder both kinds touching the necessity of eating and drinking and of many receiuing together against their halfe communions priuate masses and reseruations they cannot abide to be tyed and yoked to the institution Indeed we deny not but Christ might vse vnleauened bread at his last Supper hauing immediately before eaten the Paschal Lambe This peraduenture is truly coniectured yet no such thing is expressed in the Gospell nor prescribed as a rule necessarily to be followed The Euangelists teach he tooke bread but make no mention or distinction what bread he tooke nor determine what bread we should take no more then limit what wine we shall vse but leaue it at liberty to take leauened bread or vnleauened as occasion of time place persons and other circumstances serue so we take bread as their owne n Gregor 1. in Registr Prophets haue confessed and their owne Councels o Concil Florent sess vlt. haue concluded Wherefore to consecrate in vnleauened bread is not of the substance of the Supper no more then to eate it at night or after Supper as Christ administred and the Apostles first receiued it For if any would bring in a necessity of that time as well as of that bread which Christ vsed wee see as faire a warrant for the one as for the other nay we haue a more certaine direction for the time which is expressed then for the kinde of bread which is not defined Besides if Christ on this occasion vsed vnleauened bread it was because it was vsuall common and ordinary bread at that time as we also shold vse that bread which is vsuall and common So the Apostle speaketh of that bread which was daily vsed among the Gentiles saying p 1 Cor. 10 16 The bread which we breake he addeth neither leauened nor vnleauened but vnderstandeth that in common and continuall vse Thus then we conclude it is no breach of Christs ordinance nor a transgression of the first originall institution of the Lords Supper to eate eyther the one or the other Partic. vse 2. Againe touching the other signe which is the wine the Church of Rome may iustly be charged with transgressing the ordinance of Christ who by her sole authority would tye vs to mingle water with wine for r Rhem. Test fol. 452. nu 23. great mystery and signification especially for that water gushed with blood out of our Lords side So they condemne all those Churches as doing impudently and damnably that do not mixe water with wine in the Sacrament and say it cannot bee omitted without great sinne True it is the Church in former times where the wine prouided for the Lords Table was of it selfe heady strong hot fiery and fuming was wont to allay it with water that it might be milde temperate least that which was taken to helpe and further the soule should disquiet and distemper the body This began for conueniency not for necessity for fitnesse not for signification for sobriety not for any mystery But the water is no part of Christs institution neither can it bee proued that Christ or his Apostles vsed water with their wine or commanded others to mingle wine and water in this mystery or that Christs Apostles euer receiued it as a matter of faith or taught it to be a necessary part of this Sacramēt For Alexander the
11 25 26. As often as ye shall eate of this bread and drinke of this cup ye shew the Lords death till he come Thus the Lord Iesus speaketh Doe this as oft as ye shall drinke it in remembrance of me And haue we not many worthy and effectuall l Reasons rēdred to moue vs to frequēt the Lords Table considerations to moue such as professe the same doctrine to resort oftentimes to the same Table of the Lord It is the commandement of Christ so that we ought to make some conscience of this duty as of other commandements prescribed vnto vs. It is a commandement of God m Exo. 20 13 Thou shalt not steale Few but doe make some conscience thereof because it is Gods commandement So is this heere often to come to the Lords Table yet what little account is made heereof al the yeare long euery one seeth and the faithfull soule agreeueth The high God possessor n Gen. 14 12. of heauen and earth hath required and commanded it yet who regardeth The Lord hath spoken and yet who obeyeth If a father should command a duty of his sonne or a maister of his seruant he could not patiently endure to be disobeyed o Mal. 1 6. and shall we not thinke that God will require his lawes at our hands Againe to his commandement he hath annexed a promise which maketh our sin and vnthankfulnes the greater if wee shew not our selues ready in yeelding to this duty Besides seeing this Sacrament is a speciall prop to stay vp our saith and bringeth with it Christ and al his merits and heauenly treasures we are vtter enemies to our owne selues to our owne soules and to our owne saluation if we neglect so great mercy offered vnto vs. Wherefore it is not left free vnto vs and committed to our discretion to receiue or not receiue this were no lawfull liberty but vnlawfull licentiousnesse Heerein the faithfull finde very great comfort and an effectuall meanes to strengthen their faith Euen as the sicke man that feeleth his sicknes and knoweth his owne weaknes should haue a special care to looke to his stomack that thereby he may receiue nourishment and gather strength so we are all spiritually diseased assaulted of Sathan tempted of the flesh ouercome oftentimes of sin and must seeke strength of faith from this heauenly nourishment God of his compassion hath set vp his Sacrament as a signe vpon an high hill whence it may be seene farre and neere on euery side to raise vp such as are fallen to strengthē such as stand to comfort such as are weake and to call vnto him such as run away from him whereby he gathereth them vnder his wings It is as the brazen Serpent p Num. 23 9. that comming vnto it with a faith to be healed we might liue and not perish It is as a banner displayed that euery Christian Souldior should resort vnto it as vnto his owne colours to fight the battels of God against sin and Sathan It is as a royal feast of the great King whereunto we must go cheerefully as guests inuited to a comfortable supper to bee had in often vse and continuall remembrance to put vs in minde of his continuall mercy laid vp for vs in the blood of Christ and to ratifie and seale vp the same farre more liuely then the bare word onely When the words of Christs institution are spoken q Mat. 26 26.28 This is my body which is broken for you this is my blood which was shed for you When these words I say are read vnto vs out of the Scriptures they confirme our saith but much more when the Sacrament is seene with our eyes that we behold the bread broken and looke vpon the wine poured out but most of all when we taste and handle when we eate and drinke the outward signes Wee see when one maketh a bare promise to another with words onely betweene thēselues hee beginneth to doubt to whom the promise is made of the performance thereof if he adde an oath for confirmation the promise is more assuredly ratified but if he giue his hand writing and seale it to the party the matter is made out of doubt Thus we doe reason and helpe our faith We haue the promises of God we haue the oath of God we haue the words and writings of God we haue the seales and Sacraments of God these are not reserued in the Lords keeping but are put into our owne hands to see them to keepe them to vse them for our comfort and assurance I speake after the manner of men if we haue a free promise from an honest man penned fairely in writing ratified vnder his owne hand and seale and all giuen vnto vs to locke and lay vp we doubt not of the possession nor of our iust title vnto the same Now let vs consider the Lords doing and see what hee hath done for vs who is not as man that r Num. 23. he should lye nor as the sonne of man that he should deceiue God sent his Sonne ſ Gal. 4 4. into the world to take our nature vpon him to be like vs t Heb. 4 15. euen in his infirmities he named himselfe u Mat. 1 21. Iesus that is a Sauiour because hee should saue his people from their sinnes after his death he sent his Apostles to preach the glad tidings of remission of sinnes and euerlasting saluation he ordained his last Supper immediately before his death to testifie and assure them vnto vs not onely by sounding them in our eares but by beholding tasting smelling feeling and feeding to seale them in our hearts and also daily to be repeated and ministred vnto vs. Seeing then we haue both his promises and oath his word and writings his seales and Sacraments in our keeping what would we haue more He would not make halfe so much ado in assuring his promises if hee loued vs not he would not set such authentike seales to his deed and obligations vnlesse he meant good earnest His bare word and naked promise is very good payment but he respecteth our weaknesse whose mercifull kindnesse must not bee neglected through our vnthankfulnes Thus much of consecration and the vses thereof CHAP. VIII Of the first inward part of the Lords Supper HIther to we haue spoken of the outward parts of this Sacrament by doing whereof consecration is performed a What are the inward parts of the Lords supper now follow the inward parts to be considered For in Sacraments we must consider not what they be of themselues but what b August cont Maxim in li. 3. they signifie vnto vs. These inward parts are foure in number to wit first the Father secondly the Spirit thirdly the body and blood of Christ and fourthly the faithfull All these haue a sacramentall relation to the outward parts and declare the inward truth of them The actions of the Minister are notes of the actions of God the
former bookes CHAP. X. Of the third inward part of the Lords Supper THe third inward part is a The third inward part of the Lords Supper is the body blood of Christ the body and blood of Christ that is the body of our Lord deliuered vnto death for vs and his blood shed for the remission of sinnes and consequently whole Christ This is the chiefest part of this Sacrament For the body and blood of Christ signified by the bread and wine are thus made and separated to bee the liuely meat of our soules and haue that force and efficacy of feeding in our soules which bread and wine haue in our bodies This is the cause why b Ioh. 6 48 50 Christ often calleth himselfe the bread of life Ioh. 6. I am that bread of life this is that bread of life which commeth downe from heauen that hee which eateth of it should not dye I am that liuing bread if any man eate of this bread he shall liue for euer Thus euery receiuer is giuen to vnderstand that as God doth blesse the bread and wine in his Supper to preserue strengthen and comfort the body of the receiuer So Christ apprehended and receiued by faith doth nourish vs and preserueth body and soule vnto eternall life He dyed in the flesh that he might quicken vs and he poured out his blood that hee might clense vs from our sinnes Wherefore c How the sacramentall rites do serue to strengthen our faith whensoeuer as the Lords guests we see the bread on the Lords Table we must set our mindes on the body of Christ when we behold the cup of the Lord we must thinke vpon the blood of Christ when we looke vpon the bread broken and the wine poured out we must consider how the body of Christ was pierced punished crushed crucified torne tormented and his blood poured out for our sakes when we feele that by bread our bodies are nourished strengthened and by the wine our vitall spirits are comforted refreshed we beleeue that by the body of Christ deliuered to death for vs we are fed to euerlesting life and that by his blood poured out vpon the Crosse our consciences are sanctified and we feele his quickening power which doth confirme vs in our communion with him Thus is this part of the Supper spiritually to bee applyed thus are the bread and wine made a Sacrament to vs not bare signes thus the memoriall of Christs death is repeated which albeit it were once finished on the Crosse and now his passion is past long ago yet to the faithfull in regard of the force it is still fresh and alwaies present Now it is not without cause and good consideration that Christ would haue the bread first deliuered as a signe of his body then afterward the wine as a signe of his blood seuerally and apart administred because his body and blood are not represented to vs as his humanity now dwelleth glorious in the heaueÌ„s but as he was offered vp a sacrifice on the crosse his blood being shed out of his body For to the ende it may be nourishment to vs it must bee crucified For as corne of it selfe is not fit food for vs vnlesse it be threshed winnowed ground and baked for vs so is it touching Christ he must suffer be crucified and dye that wee may liue by him and raigne with him This is the truth which in this point is to be considered Vse 1 Now let vs lay open the vses which of vs are to be learned Is Christ the inward part of the Lords Supper represented by the bread and wine offered to all but receiued only of such as are faithfull then his body is not inclosed in the bread or in the accidents of bread nor his blood included in the wine or vnder the shewes of wine d Against the real presence he is not personally locally carnally corporally naturally really substantially and sensually present in the Sacrament The question is not e The true state of the question set downe whether the words of Christ be true for they are knowne confessed and beleeued so that as he is the truth so all his words are words of truth neither is the question whether the Sacrament be a bare signe or bare figure we say Christ is truely represented sealed and exhibited neither is the question whether God be omnipotent almighty this is a part of our faith an Article of christian beleefe neither is the question simply of the presence of Christ whether he be truely and vndoubtedly present in the Sacrament of his last Supper we acknowledge and receiue as much For Christ is present among vs sundry waies by his Spirit by his grace by his diuinity by faith dwelling in our hearts he is present in his word he is present in the ministry of baptisme he is present in the Sacrament of his body we onely deny that grosse and fleshly presence which many go about to fasten vpon vs. But the whole question is of the meaning and vnderstanding of the words of institution and of the manner of his presence We confesse teach the people committed vnto vs that Christs f Confess Gal. lic art â—7 Confess Anglic. art 12. Cal instit lib. 4. cap. 17. body and blood are truely verily and indeed giuen vnto vs that we truely eate and drinke them that we are releeued and liue by them that we are made bone of his bone that Christ dwelleth in vs and we in him yet we say not that the substance of bread and wine is abolished or that Christs body descendeth from heauen or is grosly corporally present in the Sacrament we are taught to lift vp our hearts to heauen g Col. 3 1 2 3 where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God the Father and there to seed vpon him But heere is the state of the question and controuersie betweene vs. The Church of Rome teacheth that after h Con. Trid. sess 13. cap. 1. the words of consecration the bread and wine are abolished and the body and blood of Christ come in place so that they make them corporally present not onely in the Sacrament to be eaten with the mouth but in the pixe in the Masse and in their solemne processions where is neither eating nor drinking Yea Berengarius in his recantation was taught to say and forced to subscribe that i De con dist 2. ego Bereng Christ is in the Sacrament sensibly or sensually is touched with the fingers diuided broken rent with the teeth and not onely the accidents Moreouer they make it to be eateÌ„ not only of euill men but of beasts and to fill vp the measure of blasphemy to be cast out into the draught as some of them haue taught and affirmed Thus then the difference standeth betweene vs they hold that Christs body and blood are carnally eaten of wicked men without faith of brute beasts without reason
but we deny that Christ is thus present in the Sacrament for his body cannot be vnder so little a quantity of bread and wine besides it is impiety to auouch that the person of Christ or his bodye and blood can be truely receiued of Dogges Swine and Mice be chewed with the teeth swallowed downe the throat digested in the stomacke and be cast out into vncleane places This we deny this we do not beleeue this we abhorre and detest from the bottome of our hearts What is it then we teach and professe We deny that the body and blood of Christ are carnally contained vnder the shewes and shaddowes of bread and wine we deny them to be eaten and drunken of wicked men or vnreasonable creatures we deny that they are truely and properly both in heauen and on the earth in pixes and on the Altars These are k Aug tract 25 in Iohan. meate for the minde not for the mouth for faith not for the teeth for our beleefe not for the belly for the soule not for the body For this cause Chrysost hom 24. in 1 Cor. saith well Vbi cadauer ibi aquilae c. that is where the carkasse is there are the Eagles the carkasse is the Lords body because of his death he calleth vs the Eagles to shew that he must flye vp on high that will come neere to that body This carnall eating of Christ is l Sundry reasons rendred to refel the real presence confuted and conuinced by many reasons First Christ sate downe at the Table and the Disciples with him afterward he tooke bread gaue thanks brake it gaue it and said This is my body likewise he tooke and gaue the cuppe and saide Drinke yee all of this whereby we see when the Apostles receiued m Luk. 22 19. the Sacrament Christ sate at the Table with his true body but the body which they tooke sate not at the Table therefore they tooke the signe of his body Likewise the blood which they receiued was not in the body which sate at the Table therefore it was not properly Christs blood which was not as yet really and actually shedde The same body could not sit at the Table and not sit at the Table the same body could not be in their hands and out of their hands the blood of Christ could not be out of his veines in the cup and in his veines within his body hee could not sit visible at the Table and be inuisible in the mouths and bellies of the Disciples Wherefore the reall prsence bringeth with it reall contradictions which cannot stand together Secondly the end of the Lords Supper is to call his death to a continuall remembrance as Luke 22. Do this in n Luk. 22 19. remembrance of me and the Apostle 1 Cor. 11. Ye shew the Lords death vntill he come Now to what end should we neede the remembrance of Christ if hee were corporally present in the Sacrament if he were taken in the hands if he were holden in the mouth if he were eaten with the teeth And to what purpose should wee shew the Lords death till hee come if he come daily and be present bodily in the Sacrament Besides the wisest among the Philosophers teach vs that o Arist lib. de memoria sence is of things present but remembrance is of such things as are abseÌ„t as hope is of such things as are to come not seene p Rom. 8 24. and this the Apostle teacheth Thirdly Christ receiued a true body with all the naturall properties of an humane body like to vs in all things sinne q Heb. 4 15. onely excepted and is therefore called the sonne of Dauid the sonne of Mary the sonne of man our brother partaker of flesh and blood he is said to haue taken vpon him the seede of Abraham and not the Angels nature r Luk. 24 â—9 to be visible Luk. 24 39. Behold my hands and my feet for it is I my selfe handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me haue For if he may be in many places together in some place visible and in some inuisible in some to be handled in others not to be handled hee can haue no true body of a true man And if this were not a strong reason It is not felt and seene therefore no humane body the Disciples might haue answered vnto Christ why doest thou bid vs behold thy hands and see thy feete and handle thy body and therby to try thy humanity seeing thou hast a body which cannot be seene touched or handled â—ourthly Christ hath left the earth with his bodily presence and is ascended vp into heauen farre aboue all principalities and powers and is sit downe Å¿ Act. 1 9. and 3 22. on the right hand of his Father as Act. 1. While they beheld hee was taken vp And Mar. 26. After the Lord had spoken vnto them he was receiued into heauen and sate at the right hand of God So Act. 3. Whom the heauens must containe vntill the time that all things are restored Likewise Phil. 3. Our conuersation is in heauen from whence we looke for a Sauiour And againe Luk. 24. As he blessed them he departed from them and was caried vp into heauen So Ioh. 12. The poore alwayes ye haue with you but me ye shall not haue alwayes I am come out from the Father and came into the world againe I leaue the world and goe to my Father If these things be true that Christ is t Catechism Triden in exposit Simbo Apostol departed from vs if he be no longer among vs if he be taken vp into heauen if he must be contained there vntill the restoring of al things if we must looke for a Sauiour froÌ„ heauen to change our vile bodies if he be carried vp to his Father and haue left the world then he is not now present with vs his body is not in euery Altar he doth not lurke and lye vnder the shewes of bread and wine For to be departed from vs and not to be departed from vs to be contained in heauen and not to be contained in heauen to leaue the world and yet to remaine in the world to sit at the right hand of God and to lye vnder euery Altar cannot stand together any more then to be a man and no man to be Christ and not Christ to be a Sauiour and no Sauiour to be God and not God Fiftly Christ reproueth the Caparnaits because they thought his body was to be eaten in fleshly manner with the mouth of the body should descend into the stomack which is the way that all other meates do passe when they heard him preach of eating his flesh drinking his blood they said u Ioh. 6 60.36 This is an hard saying who can heare it They murmured and departed from him because they thought they must eate him with the mouth and teeth chew him and
the substance Lastly this Author is so farre from saying that the bread is conuerted into the flesh of Christ that hee saith the contrary to wit that this bread is conuerted into our flesh and our blood and serueth for our life and the increasing of our bodies Thus we see that the ancient Fathers held the same faith that we hold and differ not in iudgement from the reformed Churches nor the reformed Churches from them as we shall shew God willing more at large in another place And thus I haue runne ouer these three poynts which I purposed and proposed to handle in the beginning all which are more at large to be seene in the Treatise following This I offer the second time to your Worships consideration as a witnesse of my loue and a testimony of the sauours I haue receiued My meaning was and yet is that it should first come vnto your view and from you for your sake to the vse of the Church of God euen of as many as can make any vse of these my simple labours I haue prosecuted these points at large but I cease from troubling you any further cōmending you to his good hand who t Ioh. 13 1 loueth them to the end whom once he loueth u Rom. 11 29 whose guifts and graces are without repentance and so wishing all good from the Almighty a Reuel 5 13. that sitteth vpon the Throne and from the Lambe which liueth for euermore both to your selfe to your good Lady to your hopefull Children and to your whole family I ende and rest Your worships euer in the Lord William Attersoll The Praeface to the Reader IT is wel said Aul. Gel. noct Attic lib. 18. cap. 6. that the very title of a book hath a certain pleasant allurement to draw men to the reading therof The argument of this Tretise is of the Sacraments a comfortable portion of the Scriptures a necessary part of the Catechisme There is no knowledge comparable to the knowledge of Gods word there is no parcel of Gods word more holsome and heauenly then the Sacraments There is no Sacrament more excellent and effectuall then the Supper of the Lord which is a medicine to them that are sicke a preseruatiue to them that are whole a cordiall to them that are weake and a precious treasure to them that are in wants being an instrument to conuay vnto vs the benefit of Christs Passion and the assurance of our owne saluation Neuerthelesse there is no ordinance of God more neglected of vs nor lesse regarded among vs. We cannot be ignorant that it was instituted by the Lord of life to giue vs life and in remembrance of his death to take from vs the feare of death and therefore in the words of institution he said to his Disciples This is my body which was giuen for you Math 26 26. this is my bloud which was shed for you to the end we might behold him liuely described before our eies I haue desired and endeuoured not only to teach this trueth to the most simple and to informe the consciences of those that are ignorant but also to bring to light such doubtful and difficult poynts as may any way trouble the vnlearned Here then the discreet Reader shal meet with fit matter both to satisfie sundry not well aduised among our selues and finde sufficient armour to ouerthrow the opē common aduersaries Touching the errours crept in among vs as it were into the bosome of the Church as well in practise as in iudgement I haue aymed especially at two things both to reforme some and to informe others To reforme such as thinks they are left at liberty to receiue when they list and whether they list and to informe such as call in question the lawfulnesse of kneeling at the Communion according to the order established and commanded the one sort erring in action the other being deceiued in opinion First for the better discouering and preuenting of their spirituall danger I haue laboured to set before the faces of all drowsie professors Against negligent commers to the Communion their slacknes and sluggishnes in comming to the Table of the Lord and answered such obiections as they vsually alledge in their own defence for asmuch as there is no sluggard but he is wise in his owne eyes Was Christ made man for vs subiect to our infirmities beaten with stripes crowned with thorns and pierced with nailes that we should despise the blessed Sacrament that resembleth and representeth all these vnto vs which is as a looking glasse wherein we may behold him crucified and hanging vppon the crosse Chrysost hom 60. ad pop An. 〈…〉 Hee is a shepheard that feedeth his Sheepe with his owne bloud and nourisheth them with his owne substance If an earthly Prince should call vs as his guesse to sit downe at his Table would any bee so foolish or so froward as to refuse to come Behold the King of Heauen and earth inuiteth vs to his heauenly banquet and therefore we ought not to stop our eares or to withdraw our selues to perdition True it is all men almost come thicke and threefold at Easter or else they should not think themselues to be good subiects then they offer themselues without difference and distinction howbeit at other times they make no cōscience of their ordinary absence almost continual negligence Such as come not at other times it is to be feared they come not in knowledge at that time For if they come at Easter in conscience of Gods comandement more then for feare of the Princes law and with a feeling of their own wants rather then for forme and fashion sake they would fit themselues for this woorke at all times of the yeare so often as the Sacrament is deliuered Indeede none ought to present themselues being vnprepared presume to handle the outward signes of the body and bloud of Christ comming in impiety impenitency Mat. 22 11. like to the guesse in the Gospell that came without his wedding garment notwithstanding when we haue made our selues ready wee must not abstaine and absent our selues from it at our owne pleasure for then we make our selues guilty of the body and bloud of Christ 1 Cor 11 27. and vnworthy of any mercy to be reaped and receiued Wee may not be weary in well doing Gal 6 9. but must bee forward in the religious exercises of our faith taking all oportunity to performe this commandement of comming often to his Table 1 Cor 11 26. This is one sinne among others that draweth downe heauy iudgements vpon vs and our soules 1 Cor 11 30. for this cause many are weake and sickely among vs and many sleep yea it prepareth the way for farther vengeance except we repent of our euill wayes and amend our former negligence by greater diligence It is not enough that we submit our selues to the hearing of the word vnlesse withall we ioyne
yet if wee bee vncleane and vnpure we make them all vnpure to our selues I say to our selues but not to others For why should they bear the blame of our impurity or why should they bee punished for our iniquity The Apostle speaking of the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. saith He that eateth and drinketh vnworthily eateth and drinketh iudgement to himselfe not discerning the Lords body hee cannot eate and drinke iudgement to other men but hee may to himselfe Likewise the same Apostle writing to Titus saith Chap. 1.15 Vnto the pure all things are pure but vnto them that are defiled and vnbeleeuing is nothing pure but euen their minde and conscience is defiled No man can defile the Sacraments to others but onely to himselfe forasmuch as they take their nature and borrow their force from God not from men and therefore are not to bee esteemed by the vice or vertue of the Minister but by the power and vertue of God If a Prince should send vs a pardon by his letters pattens and deliuer them into the hand of a wicked man as God sent Iudas the son of perdition to the Children of Israel to preach vnto theÌ„ that the kingdome of God was at hand would we refuse the pardon because of the wickednesse of the messenger Or may wee thinke it to bee lesse forcible and auaileable because hee is an vngodly person Woe then vnto those that bring in againe the damnable doctrine and practise of the Donatists long since buried and shaken in peeces who make a schisme in the Church depart out of the church for the faults offences of the Ministers because wee are not baptized into the names of the Ministers neyther are made partakers of the supper of the Ministers but we are baptized in the name of God and we are made partakers of the Supper of the Lord. They are therefore their owne enemies that looke too much vpon the messenger and too Vse 2 little vpon him that sendeth him vnto vs. Secondly is God the true and onely author and appointer of Sacraments Then none must adde vnto or take from the Sacraments instituted by him in the church no more then vnto the c Deut. 4. worde it selfe Deutronomy 4. Yee shall put nothing to the word which I command you neyther shall ye take ought there from that ye may keepe the commandements of the Lord your God which I command you And Reuel 22 18 19. If any man shall d Reuel 22 18 19. adde vnto these things God shall adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this booke and if any man shall diminish of the words of the booke of this prophesie God shall take away his part out of the booke of life If the Sacraments were the inuentions of men they might also fitly receiue the additions and subtractions the changes and the alterations of men but seeing they are the ordinances of God we must be content to haue them ordered by God All Ceremonies therefore and rites deuised by men as parts of Gods worship are so many abhominations and innouations of his seruice As God onely can gratiously promise so hee can onely effectually performe what he hath promised Wherefore we must condemne those as guilty of rebellion against God that bouldly breake out eyther to deuise new Sacramentes or to adde and detract from them that God hath ordained We are commanded to rest in those that he hath appointed to the Church in his worde for as well wee may deuise a new word as deliuer a new Sacrament aswell wee may coyne a new Article of faith as bring in a new confirmation of of faith Thirdly wee learne heereby that they which condemne Vse 3 the Sacraments and will not suffer them to bee of any force with themselues and making small account of them doe esteeme them as trifles or otherwise abuse them contrary to the institution will and commandement of Christ all these do greeuously sinne not against man but against the author of them that is God who hath ordained them and greatly indanger their owne saluation as 1. Cor. 11. He that eateth drinketh vnworthily e 1 Cor. 11 29 eateth drinketh his owne iudgement because hee discerneth not the Lords body If a man contemne or any way contumeliously abuse the seale of a Prince he is punished and therefore such as scorne and make a mocke of the Sacraments which are the seales of God cannot goe scot-free but shall bee indighted of high treason and rebellion against his Maiesty The last point to bee considered in the description of a Sacrament is the end of them where it is added Whereby Christ and al his sauing graces by certaine outward rites are signified exhibited and sealed vp to vs. This is proued directly by the Apostle 1. Cor. 10 16. The f 1 Cor. 10 16 cup of blessâ—ng which we blesse is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we breake is it not the Communion of the bodye of Christ So Peter speaketh Acts 2. of the other Sacrament g Acts 2 38. Amend your liues and be baptized euery one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sinnes and ye shall receiue the guifts of the Holy-Ghost And Paul saith in another place All ye h Gal. 3 27. that are baptized into Christ haue put on Christ Our soules are washed in the bloud of Christ his buriall his resurrection his sanctification his wisedome his righteousnesse his redemption is made ours all his benefits are ours as Christ is ours Vse 1 Let vs make vse of this point and apply it to our selues First is Christ the summe and substance of all Sacraments Then the Church of Rome is heere condemned that say we make the Sacraments bare and naked signes God forbid that we should say so or make them to be so they are the sure seales of Gods promises heauenly tokens spiritual signes and authentike pledges of the grace and righteousnesse of Christ giuen and imputed vnto vs. The Sacraments and sacrifices of the olde Testament were not bare signes Circumcision was not i Rom. 2 28.29 a bare signe as Rom. 2. This is not circumcision which is outward in the flesh but the circumcision of the heart And In Christ k Col. 2 11 12. yee are circumcised with circumcision made without hands by putting off the sinfull body of the flesh through the circumcision of Christ Euen so Baptisme is no bare signe it were great blasphemy so to speake it were very great iniquity so to thinke The grace of God doth worke with his Sacraments and therfore the signes are neuer receiued in vaine of the faithfull and worthy receiuer The water washeth not from sinne the bread and wine feede not to eternall life but it is the precious blood of Christ that doth cleanse vs from al sin and purchaseth for vs all grace which is the life and the truth of the outward signes Againe
a Sacrament is now we are to consider in it two thinges first his parts then his vses for in handling these two points wee shall see what is the nature of a Sacrament The parts of a Sacrament are of two sortes some outward open sensible earthly visible and signifying some are inward hidden spirituall heauenly inuisible and signified For the nature of a Sacrament is partly earthly and partly heauenly If wee had beene wholy a spirite without body hee would giue vs his guifts spiritually without a bodye but seeing wee are soule and bodye he giueth vs his Sacraments that so wee may apprehend spirituall guifts by sensible thinges The outward part is one thing and the inward part is another thing the outward is applyed to the bodye the inward is applyed to the soule and conscience This diuision and distinction of parts a Rom. 2 28.29 appeareth plainely in sundry places of holy Scripture as Rom. 2. Hee is not a Iew which is one outward neâ—ther is that circumcâ—sion which is outward in the flesh but he is a Iew which is one within and the circumcision is of the heart in the Spirite not in the letter where wee see hee maketh circumcision to stand of two parts part in the flesh and part in the heart partly in the spirite and partly in the letter Heereunto commeth b Col. 2 11. that saying Ye are circumcised with circumcision made without hands so that there is a circumcision without and there is another within by the vertue of Christ The same we may say of Baptisme there is a baptizing of the body and there is a baptizing of the soule the body is washed with water the soule is clensed by the precious bloud of our sauiour Christ which is the hidden and mysticall part of the Sacrament This appeareth by many examples recorded in Scripture Simon the sorcerer though he were baptized with water yet his heart was not right in the sight of God he remained c Acts 8 13 21 23. in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity so that albeit hee were baptized yet he was not regenerated The Israelites were partakers of the d 1. Cor. 10 1 2 3 4 5. outward signes not of the inuisible grace They were all baptized vnto Moyses in that cloud and in that sea they did all eate the same spirituall meate they all dranke the same spirituall drinke yet with many of them God was not pleased The like may be saide of Iudas one of the twelue he did eate the Pascall lambe as wel as the rest of the Apostles but he did not eate Christ who is the lambe vndefiled and without spot as the other did This is that also which Iohn the e Mat. 3 11. Baptist teacheth Indeed I baptize you with water to amendment of life but hee that commeth after mee is mightier then I whose shooes I am not worthy to beare hee shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire where as the Baptist maketh two baptizers himselfe and Christ so hee distinguisheth their actions his owne to wash with water and the action of Christ to wash with the Holye Ghost Neither neede wee to seeke farre for reason to perswade any to beleeue this truth that the nature of a sacrament is neither wholy outward or wholy inward but taketh part of both seeing nothing can bee a signe of it selfe but a signe is a signe of another thing and seeing they are mysteries they haue an hidden meaning and spirituall vnderstanding If the water in Baptisme had not grace annexed vnto it it could not be a mystery We see the signe we see not the grace which is inuisible Now let vs come to the vses These parts though distinguished really one from another Vse 1 that the outward parts cannot bee the inward the earthly cannot be the heauenly the seale can not bee the thing sealed the token cannot bee the thing betokened nor contrariwise for this were to alter nature and mingle heauen and earth together yot in respect of the proportion betweene the signe and the thing signified and of the coniunction of them to the faithfull which receiue both the one and the other one part is affirmed of the other For wee must vnderstand that the Scripture in regard of this vnion speaketh of the Sacraments two waies to wit properly and figuratiuely Properly when that which belongeth to the signe is giuen to the signe and when the thing signified is giuen and applyed to the thing it selfe and thus each part hath his owne as Circumcision is called i Gen. 17 11. the signe of the Couenant And the blood of the Lambe is called k Exod. 12 13 a signe these are plaine and proper speeches and without figure Againe when it saith l Lu. 21 19 20. My body which is giuen for you my bloud m 1 Cor. 5 7. which is shedde for many for remission of sinnes we must vnderstand the wordes literally as they lye Figuratiuely when the signe is giuen to the thing signified and called by the name of it as Christ is called n 1 Cor. 5 7. the Passeouer the o Ioh. 1 29. Lambe of God his flesh is also saide to bee meate indeede and his blood drinke indeede the holy Spirite is called p Eze. 36 25. water or else the name of the thing signified is giuen to the signe as bread is called the q Mat. 26 28. body of Christ the cup is called the new Testament These speaches must bee taken figuratiuely and vnderstood by a change of name according to the intention and meaning of the Holy-Ghost so that we must beware that we doe not take or mistake the signe for the thing nor the thing for the signe seeing the parts are distinguished in nature though ioyned in the person Againe albeit by Gods ordinance these parts bee so vnited that by taking of the signe the faithfull are made partakers of the thing signified no lesse truely then the outward signes are receiued of our bodily senses yet wee must conceiue and consider that these outward inward parts remaine distinct and vnconfounded and therefore we must take heed we take not one for another we must not ascribe too much to the outward parts and so take them for the inward which hath beene the occasion of sundry errors from time to time Some attribute too little to the out-ward signe and some ascribe too much both waies the Sacrament is abused and the parts are misapplyed Hence sprang as a ranke weede in the Lords corne the doctrine of transubstantiation or carnall turning of the substance of bread into the bodye whereby the signe is swallowed vp the outward substance with them quite abolished for their fained Christ hath consumed the outward signe as the rich deuoureth and eateth the poore Thus the signe is consumed and too little regarded Others on the other side cleaue too much to the outward signe and rest
baptized and washed with water we shall pay dearely for our defiling that sacred water which God hath appointed to so holy an vse True it is the water of it selfe is as nothing no other in substaunce and nature then that wherewith wee wash our hands but when once it is ioyned to the word and applyed to an holy end it is as it were an authentical seale which God hath engrauen in it Now he that counterfeiteth the seale of a Prince shall he not be punished Behold baptisme is the seale of God which serueth not to seale conueyances of earthly possessions as house and lands but to assure vs that we are called to the heauenly life and bringeth good assurance and warrant with it that we be washed from our sinnes by the blood of our Lord Iesus Christ and borne againe by his holy Spirit Shall we breake all and escape vnpunished Let vs not then boast of our baptisme and Christianity to say oh we are baptized we are christened we weare the badge of God these things these things I say will cost vs deare if we make not our baptisme auaileable to our selues and our owne soules by killing our corruptions for thereby l Eccl. 5 3. wee shew our selues like vnto the foole that maketh a vow and immediately after breaketh it For what a misery is this that scarce one of an hundred knoweth the right end of his baptisme and whereunto it auaileth So that albeit they boast of the outward signe yet they are no more sound Christians indeed then Turks and Pagans Infidels and miscreants inasmuch as they are no way mortified or renewed by repentance no way changed in the inward man but lye rotting in their sinnes and remaine in the condemnation of Adam These shall one day finde by wofull experience what a costly thing it is to take so deare a pawne of saluation at the hands of God in vaine Indeed we beare the name of Christ and we professe the Gospell yet you shall find a great number that know not this vse of baptisme nor to what end it was ordained They doe call it indeede their Christendome but are altogether ignorant of the nature thereof and are vnacquainted with the effect of it yea they bring their children to no other purpose to be baptized then because it is the vsual manner and common custome so to do being led thereunto not by the commandement of Christ but by the example of others forasmuch as they can giue no reason at all of that they do This will cost them deerely for abusing such a pledge-token at Gods hands seeing it is a meanes wherby we are vnited to our Lord Iesus Christ and ingrafted into his death and resurrection Wherefore whereas many haue receiued baptisme in their infancy and haue liued forty or fifty yeares in the world without knowing to what end they were baptized it had beene better for them that they had beene borne dead or perished in their mothers womb as an vntimely fruit then to haue vnhallowed so holy and precious a thing Thus much of the third and last vse of baptisme as also of the parts thereof and generally touching this whole Sacrament The end of the second Booke THE THIRD BOOKE of the Lords Supper being Christs farewel-token to his Church and a sweete pledge of his wonderfull kindnesse toward mankinde wherein the truth of this Sacrament is manifested the parts are deliuered the vses are shewed the Doctrine of the reformed Churches is cleared the errors of the Church of Rome are euidently conuinced and the meanes set downe how euery one is to be prepared to the worthy receiuing thereof with fruite and comfort CHAP. I. Of the names and titles of this Sacrament together with the reasons and vses thereof IN the former Booke wee haue spoken of baptisme the first SacrameÌ„t of the church together with the parts and vses thereof Now we are to set downe the doctrine of the Lords Supper which is the second Sacrament For after that God hath brought vs into his Church by baptisme and made vs as it were of his houshold seruants then as a good father of the family he feedeth vs spiritually with the flesh of his Sonne applying vnto vs the merit of his death and passion This a The Sacrament of the body and blood oâ— christ called by diuers names Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ is declared in the Scripture by diuers names to deliuer the nature thereof vnto vs. Sometimes it is called the communion as 1 Cor. 10. The cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the b 1 Cor 10.16 communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ Sometimes it is called the Lords Supper as 1 Cor. 11 20. When yee come together into one place this is not to eate c 1 Cor. 11 20 the Lords Supper Thirdly sometimes it is called the breaking of bread as Acts 2. They continued in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship d Act. 2 42. and 20 7. and breaking of bread and prayers and cha 20. The first day of the weeke the Dâ—sciples being come together to breake bread Paul preached vnto them ready to depart on the morrow Fourthly sometimes it is called the table of the Lord as we see 1 cor 10. Ye cannot drinke the cup of the Lord and the cup of Diuels ye cannot be partakers of the Lords e 1 Cor. 10 21 table and of the table of diuels Moreouer we shall nothing offend if we call it the testament or will of Christ This cup is the f 1 Cor. 11 â—5 Mat. 26 2â— new Testament in my blood this do as oft as ye drinke it in remembrance of me and our Sauiour thus speaketh Mat. 26. This is my blood of the new testament that is shed for many for the remission of sins These are the chiefe and principal names giuen to this Sacrament in the Scriptures I am not ignorant that the ancient fathers and times succeeding haue giuen vnto it other names and not vnfitly but my purpose being not so much to alledge the counsels or Doctours of the Church as to instruct the simple and vnlearned I will content my selfe with expounding such termes and titles as are penned in the worde of God and pointed out by the Spirit of God Now then let vs render g Reasons rendred of the former names the reasons of such names as this Sacrament is entituled withall It is called the communion because wee haue a communion and fellowship with Christ and h 1 Cor. 10.17 he with vs both which are sealed vp in this Sacrament It is called the Lords Supper both because it was instituted by the Lord Iesus at his last Supper which circumstance of time the Church hath changed because therin is offered to vs a spiritual banket in which the faithfull are spiritually fed and nourished It is called the breaking of
bread both because this is a necessary action vsed of Christ not to be omitted and because it representeth the crucifying of Christ tormenting of his body so that we should neuer be present at this significant ceremony but we must call to remembrance the sorrowes and sufferings of Christ now if Christ were thus tormented for vs surely we ought greatly to bee griped and greeued for our owne sins which was also shewed by the i Exod. 12 8. sower hearbes of the Passeouer Exod. 12. It is called the table of the Lord because he doth feed vs at it as this we know is the end and vse of tables in our houses to set our meats and drinks vpon them prepared for our nourishment and this is the scope and end of the Lords table onely heere lyeth a plaine and maine difference our tables serue for bodily nourishment but the Lords Table is prepared for the spirituall nourishment of our soules Lastly it may be called the testament or will of Christ because it setteth forth vnto vs a solemne couenant betweene God and vs touching forgiuenes of sins and eternal life which couenant is ratified and established by the k Heb. 9 15. death of the Son of God so that heerein we finde all things belonging to a full and perfect testament as wee shall see afterward Out of these seuerall names and titles thus interpreted arise most aptly and fitly sundry vses which in order as they haue beene propounded we will consider The first title is the Communion from whence we deduct l The vses of calling this Sacrament the Communion these necessary conclusions First of all is the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ called a communion And so called of our communicating together Then heereby all the faithfull openly testifie that they be all one body coupled together in Christ Iesus we professe him and all his benefits Vse 1 we receiue him we enioy him we reioyce in him God the Father doth giue him the Holy-Ghost doth assure him faith doth receiue him by this hand we are ioyned to him and haue spirituall fellowship with him Wherfore all beleeuers are made one by Christ and this is not an vnion in imagination but in truth and in deed neither by transfusion of the properties of the God head or man-hood into vs m 1 Cor. 6 17. 1 Ioh. 3 24. but by one and the same Spirit dwelling in Christ and in all the members of Christ as 1 Cor. 6. He that cleaueth to the Lord is one spirit And the Apostle Iohn testifieth that Christ dwelleth in vs and we in Christ by the Spirit He that keepeth his commandements dwelleth in him and he in him and heereby we know that he abâ—deth in vs euen by the Spirit which he hath gâ—uen vs so that the spirits of iust perfect men in heauen and all beleeuers vpon the earth how far soeuer sundred in place hauing one and the same Spirit of Christ dwelling in them are all one in Christ their head God hath giuen his owne Sonne vnto vs freely and fully our faith receiueth Christ n Ioh. 1 12. by beleeuing him and all his gracious benefits to be ours as Ioh. 1 12. As many as receiued him to them he gaue prerogatiue to be the sonnes of God euen to them that beleeue in his name Thus wee see we are one with Christ and Christ with vs. Vse 2 Secondly as this Sacrament being a communion admonisheth that we are all one in Christ so it teacheth that it is to bee receiued of many together in the Church not of one alone and therefore it ouerthroweth the priuate Masses of the Church of Rome where one partaketh all and the rest of the Church nothing at all There is a flat opposition betweene these two so that the Communion cannot be a priuate Masse and priuate Masse cannot be a Communion That which is ordained and prepared for many deliuered vnto many and receiued of many cannot stand with the Masse where the Priest prepareth for himselfe not for the people he speaketh to himselfe not to the Church he receiueth himselfe alone not with his brethren all which are directly contrary to the Apostles o 1 Cor. 11 33 rule Tarry one for another Vse 3 Lastly if it be a communion it teacheth that this is a Sacrament of vnity and concord and wee are thereby put in mind to auoid discord and dissention For Christ neuer communicateth himselfe to the malicious man p 1 Cor. 11 18 20. as the Apostle teacheth 1 Cor. 11 18 20. When yee come together in the Church I heare that there are dissentions among you this is not to eate the Lords Supper Wherefore in that the people communicate of one and the same bread of one and the same wine it signifieth the vnion and agreement betweene all the faithfull in one body whereof Christ Iesus is the head who loued vs deerely and spared not his life for vs. Let vs ioyne our selues together in loue according to the exhortation q Rom. 15 5 6 of the Apostle Rom. 15. The God of patience and consolation giue you that ye bee like minded one toward another according to Chr st Iesus that yee with one minde and with one mouth may praise God euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ All beleeuers must be of one heart and mind the Wolfe and the Lambe the Lyon and the Calfe must dwell together in the kingdome of Christ for al are one in Christ Iesus For the Apostle hauing taught that the cup which we blesse and the bread which we breake are the communion of the body and blood of Christ he addeth Wee that are many are one bread and one body because we are all partakers of one bread and therefore he saith 1 Cor. 11. When ye come together to eate tarry one for another This title then must teach vs all to imbrace true loue and the fruites thereof wherby we thinke well one of another speake well one of another and doe well one to another cutting off all occasions of contentions and testifying our selues to be of the holy Communion that is betweene the Saints For this sacred feast must be a loue-feast because it sheweth our loue one to another The Communion must be a loue feast Mat. 18 22. Obiection and our willingnesse to forgiue one another as Christ saith to Peter not seauen times but euen seauenty tâ—mes seauen times But peraduenture some will say what if my neighbour will not be reconciled vnto me nor be friends with me what then am I to do Or how shall I behaue my selfe May I not in this case lawfully abstaine from the holy Communion I answere Answere our frequenting of it must not depend vpon the forgiuing of others neither must we suspend the discharge of our owne duty vpon the pleasure of another wee must looke what God commandeth vnto vs not what other practise toward vs. It is the saying of
where to lay his head not the kingdomes and gouernments of this world for his kingdome is not of b Ioh. 18 36. this world but the forgiuenes of sins and euerlasting life obtained by the body of Christ giuen and his blood shed for vs and our redemption Wherefore if God haue so loued vs if Christ haue not spared his owne life to giue vs life and saluation how bitter ought our sins to be vnto vs and how ought we to striue against them If we will hate enemies heere are enemies for vs to hate if we will seeke reuenge against enemies let vs fight against them that seeke our ouerthrow and the destruction of our soule and body There is no reconciliation and attonement to be made with these enemies if thou kill not them they wil kill and condemne thee for euer Hitherto of the names giuen to this Sacrament CHAP. II. What the Lords Supper is AS we haue in the former chapter considered the names and titles attributed to this Sacrament so now we wil see what the Lords Supper is For we shall neuer vnderstand the nature thereof except we be able to define or describe it Therefore a What the Lords Supper is the Lords Supper is the second Sacrament wherein by visible receiuing of bread and wine our spirituall communion with the bodye and blood of Christ is represented This description is plainely proued by the b Mat. 26 26.27 1 Cor. 10 16.17 1 Cor. 11 24.25 institution of Christ by the first celebration of it and by other apparent testimonies of holy Scripture First I say it is the second Sacrament because such as haue interest in the Lord Supper must be first partakers of the other Sacrament for Christ and his apostles ministred it to those that were before baptized And how should they be continually nourished and fed at his table who are not knowne to be of his house nor admâ—tted members of his family We must be receiued into his protection and iurisdiction before we sit downe at his table for our refection They then that are in the house must be fed and fostered in the house the seuerall parts of the family haue the priuiledges of the family it is not lawfull to take the childrens bread and giue it vnto strangers Now baptisme is the true bath of our soules to clense our sores and an honourable badge whereby we are dedicated to the seruice of Christ and haue interest in the priuiledges of the Church sealed vp being partakers hereof we come with comfort to the Lords Supper Vnder the law none vncircumcised c Exod 12 4â— were admitted to the Passeouer as appeareth Exodus 12. If a stranger will obserue the passeouer let him circumcise all the maleâ— that belong vnto him If then the vncircumcised had bin admitted the Passeouer had beene prophaned Wherefore it is not enough for vs once to bee baptized and admitted into the number of the people of God we must also be partakers of Christs Supper When as by baptisme we are brought into the Church of God wee are afterward nourished by this heauenly banket to eternall life Againe I say in the former description that by the bread and wine the bodye and blood of Christ are represented Heerein consisteth the substance of this Sacrament he was truely giuen for vs and his blood was shed for the remission of sinnes least our faith should wander least our hope should wauer Therefore he saith to his Disciples d Lâ—ke 22 19.20 Mar. 14 24. This is my body which was giuen for you this is the cup of the new testament which was shed for you and for many for the remission of sinnes Vse 1 Now that the description of the Lords Supper is prooued let the vses thereof in the next place be declared Hereby we learne first that God doth not lye nor dally with vs when we come to his heauenly table but doth truely offer those benefits in Christ which are represented to all that are admitted thereunto and therefore the apostle said e 1 Cor. 10.3 4. they did all eate the same spirituall meate and did all drinke the same spirituall drinke Indeed many of them did receiue onely the outward signes and did refuse or neglect the spirituall grace so liuely represented and truely offered vnto them but the greater was their sinne who laboured for the meate that perisheth f 1 Ioh. 6 27. but reiected the meat that endureth to euerlasting life Likewise Christ in the administration of his Supper saith g Mat. 26 26. take eate this is my body When he biddeth vs take doth he not giue When he chargeth vs to eat and drinke doth he not offer When he commandeth vs to doe this doth he not apply the thing signified If then we come to this Supper and depart away without Christ and without comfort the cause is in our selues he is come neere vnto vs he standeth as it were at the doore knocking being ready to enter he mercifully offereth himselfe vnto vs but we refuse him we will none of him we bid him depart from vs and shut the entrance of our hearts against him Vse 2 Againe we see heere the excellent price and preheminence of the Lords Supper howsoeuer to those whose faith it doth not nourish whose assurance it doth not confirme and whose saluation it doth not further it is turned into most hurtfull and deadly poyson yet it is an holy banket for the Lords guests an instrument of grace a medicine for the sicke a pledge of saluation a comfort for the sinner an assurance of Gods promises a seale of our faith an helpe for the weake meate for the hungry drinke for the thirsty and a refuge for the distressed in time of tentation Is not this a worthy dignity Is not this a great priuiledge and an high prerogatiue So that we must highly regard and reuerently esteeme this mystery of our religion and badge of our profession to the glory of God and our owne comfort He that is not moued heereby to a reuerent regard thereof hath no sparke of Gods Spirit in him but lyeth in darknesse and discomfit Let vs then make good vse of it all the dayes of our lifes and not abuse it to our destruction It is not enough to seeme religious and pretend reformation of our euil waies what time we do receiue it and to hang downe our heads like a bulrush for a day and immediately after to runne into all excesse of riot We see how many abuse themselues and the Sacrament giuing themselues to feasting and banketting and surfetting and haue soone forgotten where they haue bin what they haue done whom they haue serued and how they haue appeared before the presence of the eternall God We see also in others how contentions and brawlings breake out which seemed smothered and suppressed for a time like lightning and thunder out of a Cloud or like fire couered vnder the ashes whose flame kindleth afterward
with much greater force and violence These mē make not the supper an wholesome preseruatiue and as it were the sicke mans salue as indeed it is by Gods institution but a snare to entrap them a thorne to pricke them and a sword to wound them through their owne corruption Thirdly hereby the aduersaries mouths are stopped and Vse 3 they are put to silence and shame who accuse vs to deny the blessed presence of Christ in the Sacrament We confesse and beleeue that we receiue the body of CHRIST verily truely and indeed not a naked figure not a bare signe not an empty shaddow but euen that body which suffered death vpon the Crosse and that blood which was shed and poured out for the remission of our sinnes This Christ h Ioh. 6 55 56 53 57. himselfe teacheth Iohn 6. My flesh is meate indeed and my blood is drinke indeed hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him And againe verse 33. Verily verily I say vnto you except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood ye haue no life in you Hee that eateth me euen he shall liue by mee So then we teach wee preach we publish we professe that there is no other substantiall food of our soules and that whosoeuer is not partaker of his body and blood is void of life of saluation of grace and of Christ himselfe Wherefore we shall shew i Chap. 10. afterward that the difference betweene the Church of Rome and vs is not whether Christ be present in his Supper but about the manner of his presence for we say and will neuer flye from it that as the outward signes of bread and wine are deliuered receiued so they represent and seale vp to euery true beleeuer God the Father offering and giuing the church also taking receiuing and applying Christ crucified with all the promises of his couenant ratified in him vnto eternall life Vse 4 Lastly is this the matter and substance of the Supper to offer and apply Christ for our wholesome nourishment Then we should often desire if we hunger after Christ to sit downe at his Table to come to his banket to feede of his delicates and to be present at his dainties And why should any be absent that haue faith and repentance Why should they not shew that they are one body k 1 cor 10 17 by eating all of one bread Why should not such apply Christ to their iustification We know the Apostles oftentimes prepared offered and deliuered the outward signes of the Lords supper exhibiting Christ to all the faithfull euen euery Lords day or first day of the week and the people receiued oftentimes the same l Act. 2 41 42. as we see Act. 2. There were added to the church about three thousand soules and they continued in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers and cha 20. The first day of the weeke the Disciples came together to breake bread And this was the order and ordinance of the Church many yeares after the apostles times In some places it was receiued m August in Iob. tract 26. euery day in many places n Chrysost in Eph 1. hom 26. euery Sabbaoth day o Aug ad Ianuar epist 119. in all places often in the yeare vntill through the negligence of the Pastors in administring and the slacknesse of the people in communicating these vses were growne out of vsage and a frozen coldnesse in the practise of religion stopped in For it cannot be denyed but it proceedeth from the shoppe and inuention of the Diuell whosoeuer were the instrument to bring in this corrupt custome of once communicating in the yeare and that for the most part for fashiō sake Now to the end we might returne neerer to the ordinance of the Apostles that the often vse of the communion might be retained and maintained and that the backwardnes of the people might in part be redressed it was ordained by the Canons of many churches that euery one should communicate at the least thrice in the year not that men should do it no oftner but least otherwise they would not do it so often or peraduenture do it not at al. And if a suruey and examination were made I feare it would bee found to our great shame and beastly slothfulnes that scarce the tenth person hath satisfied the law in this respect in many places regarding no time of the yeare but Easter But seeing it is so necessary a Sacrament let euery one consider of this holy mystery how fruitefull profitable and comfortable it is to be partaker thereof and how dangerous to neglect and contemne the same Is it not an vnkinde and churlish part among men when one hath prepared with great costs and charges a rich banket killed his Oxen and his fatlings furnished his table with all prouision bidden his guests and set all things in order and readinesse to entertaine them were it not I say an vnkind and vncurteous part for those that are called and bidden vnthankefully and churlishly to refuse to come Which of vs in such a case would not be moued disquieted and discontented Who would not thinke he had wrong and iniury done vnto him Wherefore let vs take heed least by with-holding and with-drawing our selues wee prouoke Gods wrath and indignation When he calleth are ye not ashamed to say ye will not come When he saith p Prou. 9 4 5. Eate of my meate and drinke the wine that I haue drawne wilt thou desperately and dispitefully answere thou wilt not eate thou wilt not drinke thou wilt not do it Or wilt thou say thou art a greeuous sinner thou art vnworthy I would aske thee when thou wilt be worthy Wilt thou lye still in thy sinne as a man in a deep pit and neuer striue to come foorth Why doost thou not returne to God and amend thy waies Why doost thou continue in thy hardnesse and heart that q Rom. 2 5. cannot repent and so heapest vp as a treasure to thy selfe wrath against the day of wrath and of the declaration of the iust iudgement of God Moreouer if thou be vnfit and vnworthy to receiue this supper thou art r Chrysost in Eph. hom 3. vnworthy to pray thou art vnworthy to heare vnlesse thou pray as a Parrat and heare as an hypocrite Consider therefore seriously and weigh earnestly with your selues ſ Numb 9 13. how little such fond fained and friuolous excuses shall preuaile with God When Moyses called Corah and his company to come vp vnto the Lord they answered presumptuously t Num. 16 12. We will not come When the King in the Gospell had inuited his guests they began all with one minde to excuse themselues and some refused saying u Luk. 14 20.24 I cannot come So in these dayes of sinne albeit the supper be prepared the guests called and the table couered many
which he commanded them to eate he calleth his body This appeareth by the testimony of g Mat. 26 26. Mar. 14 22. Luk. 22 19. the Euangelists and coherence of the words But he tooke bread and brake it therefore he gaue bread he commanded to eate bread he said of the bread This is my body Now if he tooke bread but brake it not or if he brake bread but gaue it not or if he gaue bread to his Disciples to eate but told them not this which he gaue them but some other thing beside that was his body the latter part of the sentence starteth from the beginning and the middle swarueth from them both Secondly the Apostle after the words of consecration doth oftentimes call it bread as 1 Cor. 11. As often as yee shall eate this h 1 Cor. 11.26 27 28. 1 Cor. 10 16. bread and drinke this cuppe yee shew the Lords death till hee come And againe Whosoeuer shall eate this bread and drinke the cup of the Lord vnworthily shall bee guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. And againe Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this cup. These men say it is not bread the Apostle saith it is bread whether of these we shall beleeue iudge you So in the former chapter he saith The bread which we breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ Likewise touching the other signe i Mat. 26 29. our Sauiour expresly calleth it wine after the thanksgiuing Mat. 26. I will not drinke henceforth of this fruite of the Vine vntill that day when I shall drinke it new with you in my Fathers kingdome This fruite of the Vine is wine therefore the substance of it remaineth Now if the bread had bin turned into the body or the wine into the blood of Christ and if the Apostle would haue spoken properly he should haue said As often as ye shall eate not this bread but this body of Christ vnder the forme of bread the blood of CHRIST vnder the forme of wine And againe He that eateth the body and drinketh the blood of Christ vnworthily And againe Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate and take in his mouth the very body of Christ his Creator But thus the Apostle hath not spoken neither could he so speake truely properly and fitly therefore we do truely properly and fitly conclude that there is no transubstantiation Thirdly Christ speaking of the cup saith Take k Luk. 22 1◠19. diuide it among you and of the bread he saith he tooke it and brake it But if the substance of bread be abolished or chāged into the body of Christ and likewise the nature of the wine turned into the blood of Christ there could bee no true distributing or breaking for the blood of Christ is not deuided into parts neither is his body broken Fourthly if the strength or force of transubstantiation depend vpon these words of institution This is my body This is my blood then there can be no reall change before these words be fully finished and pronounced to the end Therefore when they begin to say This is what is it What meane they I say it is Is it any other then bread wine by their owne confession til the words be ended So then these sentences shall not be true when they say This is my body this is my blood except they meane this bread is the body of Christ this wine is his blood wherfore bread and wine remaine their nature is not changed and altered Fiftly these words This is my body must be vnderstood as the words following This cup is the new Testament but the cup is not turned into the new Testament nor into the blood of CHRIST therefore the other words must be figuratiuely vnderstood not literally for there is one respect of them both neither can any reason be rendred why a figure should be admitted in the one part rather then in the other The 6. reason Christ is said to giue to his Disciples that which he said was his body If then this be properly taken we shall thereby make a proper Christ and make him a monster of two bodies as they also make the church a monster of two heads For so there must be one bodye which gaue and another body which was giuen But it is most absurd that he should giue and be giuen hold himselfe and be holden offer and be offered which differeth little from the l Theodoret de sabul haeretic lib 2. August de haeresib cap. 32. heresie of the Helcesaits who held ther were sundry Christs two at the least one dwelling in heauen aboue the other in the world heere beneath so these make Christ to haue a double body visible and inuisible a visible body sitting at the table and an inuisible body made of the substance of bread which as the papists hold was giuen to the Disciples as likewise they teach of the headship of the Church that one head is inuisible to vs in the heauens another visible to vs vpon the earth The 7. reason It destroyeth the nature of a Sacrament which standeth m Iren. lib. 4. cont haer cap. 34. of an earthly and heauenly part one outward the other inward one seene the other vnderstood one a signe the other a thing signified of which we haue spoken before booke 1. chap. 3. But if there be an actuall transubstantiation then the outward part is abolished and disanulled The 8. reason In baptisme the substance of water remaineth though it haue words of consecration and be made a Sacrament of our regeneration and therefore in the Lords Supper the bread and wine are not changed and done away vtterly The Scripture speaketh as highly n Mat 26 26 1 Pet. 3 20 21 of the one as of the other The ninth reason If bread be really turned into the body of Christ and the wine into his blood then the bodye and blood of Christ are really separated for the words are seuerally pronounced first of the bread then of the wine yea the soule of Christ should be separated from his body for the bread is turned onely into his body and not into his soule But his soule his body and his blood are not really separated So then if the bread be his very flesh and the wine his blood and the one really separated from the other then Christ must necessarily bee slaine afresh euery time the Supper is celebrated and we are found to be crucifiers of the Lord of life whereas it is contrary to the doctrine of the Scriptures that he should dye any more being ascended far aboue all principalities and set downe at the right hand of his Father The 10. reason If the bread be turned into his body indeed by force of a few words vttered by a Priest then the Priest should be the maker of his maker so euery massemonger should be preferred before Christ
transubstantiated into water Fiftly they cannot agree with what words their consecration is wrought whether accidents be without their subiect whether the accideÌ„ts nourish no lesse then the substance of bread and wine likewise what the rats and mice do eate how and from whence the wormes are oftentimes ingendered in their Eucharist so consume it whether the shewes of bread be the body without the blood the shewes of wine the blood without the body Sixtly soone after the Apostles had receiued the Supper into their stomackes Luk. 22 44. Christ Iesus did sweate great drops of blood trickling downe to the ground and was afterward buffetted mocked spit vpon and crucified Now they dare not say that this body of Iesus so spitefully and contumeliously intreated swet any drops of blood in the stomacks of the Apostles or was by the Souldiors apprehended and buffetted vnder the formes of bread and wine and therefore they make at one the same time a double Christ one Christ suffering in the garden and on the Crosse another not suffering in the Disciples one Christ apprehended and another not apprehended one Christ sweating another not sweating one Christ buffetted by the Souldiors and another not buffetted Seauenthly they confesse that Christ both administred and participated of this Sacrament with his Apostles whereof will follow that Christ did eate himselfe and did drinke himselfe and seeing they hold his body is in the cuppe they must also hold that hee did drinke his owne body From whence ariseth a flat and expresse contradiction for to say that the body of Christ was all whole in his stomacke is to affirme that that which is within containeth that which is without as if the scabberd were in the sword or the cup in the wine or the purse in the mony Thus they make the outward part to bee within the inner and without the inner that is without and not without yea whereas they affirme that the body of our Lord is greater then the formes of bread which containe it they make that which is contained greater then that which doth containe it that is the treasure wider and larger then the casket in which it is locked contrary to al the rules of reason the principles of nature and the maximes of the Mathematicks Eightly they say that the body of Christ is all whole in heauen and all whole in the pixe and yet they renounce the Vbiquity of his bodye and holde that hee is not in place betwixt both so that they make a distance betweene the body of Christ and the body of Christ and therefore withall they make him lower then himselfe and higher then himselfe and separated from himselfe Ninthly they teach that the body of Christ in the Masse hath all the dimensions and parts of an humane body distinct in their naturall scituation and yet they teach that there is not so small a piece of the host where that body is not whole so that his head shall bee where his feet are and his feet where his head is And touching his blood they say it is shed in the Masse and yet notwithstanding they call it an vnbloody sacrifice so that by their reckoning there is blood not bloody and a shedding of blood not bloody as if a man should say whitenesse which is not white heate which is not hot or coldnesse which is not cold Thus they had rather say and vnsay and be at discord with themselues then to accord with vs and the truth They thinke it reason to deny all reason a sencelesse thing to be iudged by the senses These opeÌ„ and euident contradictions so stifly auouched stoutly defended that an humane body should fill no place and yet should be in an hundred thousand diuers places haue length without being extended be whole in euery crum of the bread are so grosse and palpable absurdities that they do estrange the Turkes and Infidels from imbracing the Christian religion Auerrhoes It is noted of an Arabian Spaniard writing vpon the 12. booke of the Metaphysickes that his soule should hold with the Philosophers since the Christians worship that which they eate The Pagans mocke at this as a brutish conceite Cicer. de nat Deor. lib 3. as among others it appeareth by Tully in his third booke of the nature of the Gods who saith thus Thinkest thou any man to be so mad as to beleeue that that which he eateth is his God So that this monstrous deuice imbraced in the Church of Rome as a maine pillar that holdeth vppe the house hindreth the faith offendeth the ignorant bringeth the doctrine of Christ into reproach hardeneth the hearts of the enemies of the Gospell and mingleth heauen and earth together It were infinite c See D. Sutl de mâ—ss l b. 5. cap. 10. to note out all their contentions and contradictions these may suffice to shew how the enemies of God fight one against another and al of them with their owne shaddowes And thus much of the late doting deuice of transubstantiation which is the soule life of their popish religion the denyers or doubters wherof they pursue with fire and sword more eagerly then such as are enemies to the blessed Trinity The last generall vse is this If Christ deliuered both these signes not onely the bread but the wine also to his Disciples then both kinds by the Minister are to be deliuered f Christs people must receiue the supper vnder both kinds and both kinds by the people are to be receiued not bread alone nor wine alone but bread and wine the bread in token of his body giuen for vs and the wine in token of his blood shed for vs. This is the ordinance of Christ this is agreeable to the Scripture Notwithstanding the church of Rome hath decreed that it is not necessary for the people to communicate in both kinds holdeth them g Con. Trident. sess 21 cap. 2. accursed that hold it necessary for the people to receiue the cup consecrated by the Priest Thus it appeareth they labor nothing more then to take from the faithfull the sweet comfort of the Lords Supper This is a sacrilegious corruptioÌ„ of Christs institution deuised by Sathan broached by Antichrist published by his adherents in the corrupt times of most palpable darknesse as may appeare by these reasons First if none may drinke of the consecrate wine but the Priests then none should eate of the bread but Priests so that they must either exclude the people from both which I trust they dare not or admit them to both which as yet they do not For to whom Christ said h Mat. 26 26.27 Take and eate to those gaue he the cup and said Drinke ye Wherefore the signes being both equall all communicants must drinke of the one as well as eate of the other there being the same warrant for the one that there is for the other and the let that would barre the one will hinder
as the Euangelist Marke accordeth saying They all dranke of it so the Apostle doth not pretermit it but saith All were made to drinke as if the Lord Iesus the Euangelists and the Apostles would preuent before hand the corruption that followed in the Church of Rome Wherefore seeing drinking of the cup doth not properly note out the whole action because no man was euer so grosly blinded to suppose that the cup might be alone administred it followeth that by this member expressed we must vnderstand the other and by one part the whole Furthermore it is a ruled case among themselues that it is flat sacriledge if a Priest consecrate not this Sacrament in both kindes but do it in bread onely If then the former Scriptures Act. 2. and chap 20. proue the receiuing vnder one kinde because bread onely is expressed and so the cup to bee excluded it will likewise follow they consecrated in one kinde because the wine is not expressed and therefore by these places neither Priest nor people should take the cup if they will not admit a trope or figure Neither can they say that Luke describeth not what the Apostles consecrated or receiued but what they deliuered to the people for the Euangelist declareth Acts 20 11. not onely that the Apostle brake the bread but t Act. 20 7. did eate there of himselfe so that they must confesse that Paul also receiued in one kinde and consecrated in one kinde or else necessarily grant one part put for the whole as likewise we see 1 Cor. 11. where he doth expresly touch and teach both kindes u 1 Cor. 11 26 27 28 29. to the eating of the bread ioyning the drinking of this cup yet sometimes a 1 Cor. 11.20 29 33. he expresseth onely the one signe for shortnesse sake and the Church had receiued this vsuall manner of speaking to call the Lords Supper the breaking of bread as verse 20. When ye come together into one place this is not to eate the Lords Supper and verse 33. When ye come together to eate tarry one for another likewise verse 29 He discerneth not the Lords body and yet in the sentence going before he saith that such as eate and drinke vnworthily doe eate and drinke their owne iudgement Wherefore as the Apostles alwayes celebrated the Supper by consecration both of the bread and of the cuppe so the people alwaies receiued in both these kiâ—des to their great comfort and consolation Thirdly they pretend that Christ our Sauiour did eate Obiection 3 with the two Disciples at Emaus Luk. 24.30 where it is onely said Iesus tooke bread and when he had giuen thanks he brake it Howbeit heere is no speech of the cup at all of taking it into his hands and deliuering it into their hands I answere Answere that the Euangelist speaketh not of the Sacrament in this place but of their ordinary repast for the sustenance of the body Secondly suppose and admit that Christ had there administred the holy Supper because here is mention made of taking and blessing and breaking and giuing of bread yet it will not follow by any good consequent that there was no wine at all because Luke speaketh of bread onely for it is said in like manner that Ioseph made Gouernour of the land of Egypt Gen. 43 25. and 37 25. Mat. 14 19. Luk. 9 16. inuited his brethren to eate bread the meaning is not that they were bidden to a dry feast and dranke not at it but one part is put for the whole nourishment So are the words to be vnderstood in this place that they did eate drinke together hauing communed and trauelled together If any man remaine obstinate and will not be satisfied with these things but aske further how it will appeare that there was more then bread vsed among them I referre him to the words of Peter preaching to Cornelius Acts 10. Act. 10 40.41 where speaking of Christ he saith Him God raised vp the third day and shewed him openly not to al the people but vnto vs witnesses chosen before of God euen to vs that did eate and drinke with him after he rose froÌ„ the dead In which words the truth of his resurrection is proued by performing of such actions as were ordinary familiar and albeit he be said not once or twice but oftentimes to eate with them Ioh. 21 13. Luk. 24 33 43. yet Peter testifieth in this place that he did both eate drinke and so we are to vnderstand these words Lastly let them marke what will follow from these words being restrained to eating onely for thereby we gather not onely that the two disciples did not drinke but that Christ himselfe druÌ„ke not who is supposed to deliuer the Supper for there is no speech or mention of it nor one sillable touching any such matter And if Christ did not drinke then the Priestes also should be exempted from the necessity of partaking of the cup which marreth all the market and merchandise of these halfe communions Obiection 4 Lastly they alledge that there is an vnion and coniunction of each signe that the body is in the blood and the blood in the body that Christ is wholy and perfectly vnder each kinde because now in his glorious body b Concomitantia there is no separation of the body from the blood or blood from the body I answere Answere surely if this were so it were a fault and friuolous thing to do that by more which may be done by fewer to vse two kindes which may as well be done and is done vnder one as a wise Philosopher teacheth Besides if one may reason in that sort the whole Supper might be abrogated for we are made partakers of Christ in d Gal. 3 27. baptism and he dwelleth in our hearts by e Heb 3 14 15 Ephe. 3 17. faith which commeth by the word of God Againe were not Christ and his Apostles as wise as they Were they ignorant of this vnion Did they not know this accompanying of the body with the blood and blood with the body Is the present church of Rome wiser then he in whom all the f Col. 1 19. 2 3 9. treasures of wisedome and knowledge are hid If they thinke so let them tell vs plainely if not let them lay their hands vpon their mouth and submit themselues vnto him who administred it in both kinds and commanded his Apostles to doe the like Moreouer Christ would haue vs in his Supper consider his blood separated from his body and set his death before our eyes and his precious blood shed out of his side so that deliuering the cuppe he said g Mat. 26.27.28 Drinke ye all of this for this is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many without which shedding there is h Heb. 9 22. no forgiuenesse of sins as the Apostle teacheth Wherefore seeing these two are contrary one to the other and
Fathers appointing of his Son the Ministers blessing the Fathers separating and setting apart his Sonne to his office the Ministers deliuering of the bread the Fathers giuing of his Sonne If then wee draw neere to the Lords table with faith reuerence and repentance nothing can be more sure and certaine to vs then the taking and receiuing of Christ for when we receiue the bread from the Minister wee withall receiue the body of Christ offered by the hand of God the Father so that as we are assured of the one we need not doubt of the other Vse 4 Lastly the breaking of the bread pouring out of the wine and deliuering of them both into the hands of the Communicants seale vp these actions of God his chastising of his Sonne and breaking him with sorrowes vpon the Crosse for our redemption offering him vnto all euen vnto hypocrites and giuing him truely to the faithfull with all the benefits of his passion Indeed the Minister giueth the outward signes to all receiuers but God giueth and applyeth onely to the faithfull the shedding of Christs blood for the daily increase of their faith and repentance But heere it may be obiected Obiection that not a bone of him was broken t Exod. 12 45 as it was figured by the Passeouer and performed at his passion the verifying and accomplishment whereof we reade Iohn 19 36. I answere Answere there is a double breaking of Christ one corporall whereof the places before doe speake the other figuratiue whereby is vnderstood u Esa 53 4.5 hee was tormented and euen torne with paines as Esa 53. He was wounded for our transgressions and broken for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was vpon him and with his stripes we are healed Lo what is meant by the breaking of the bread his soule was tormented his spirit was crushed his hands and feet were pierced he sweat drops of Water and blood and cryed out aloud vpon the Crosse My Maâ— 27 46. God my God why hast thou forsaken me Wherefore let these rites be rightly marked and obserued of vs for our comfort and consolation Let vs when wee see the bread broken and wine poured out meditate on the passion of Christ how he was wounded and torne for our transgressions Although not a bone of his body was broken in pieces yet hee was broken with afflictions bruised with sorrowes and tormented with bitter anguish of his soule by whose stripes we are healed by whose condemnation we are iustified by whose agonies we are comforted by whose death we are quickened Whosoeuer resteth in the outward workes done before his eyes neuer attaineth to the substance of the Sacrament Thus much of the first inward part CHAP. IX Of the second inward part of the Lords Supper THe second inward part is the a The second inward part of the Lords Supper is the holy Spirit holy Spirit who assureth vs of the truth of Gods promise As we haue in the word of truth the forgiuenes of sins increase of faith groweth in sanctification a great measure of dying to sin and a greater care to liue in newnes of life promised vnto vs so doth the Spirit worke these things b Rom. 8 15. Gal. 3 2 5. in the hearts of all the faithfull This appeareth in many places Rom. 8. Ye haue receiued the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father the same Spirit beareth witnesse with our spirit that we are the children of God To one is giuen by the Spirit the word of wisedome to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit to another is giuen faith by the same Spirit all these things worketh one and the selfe same Spirit distributing to euery man seuerally as he will So then as we are weake in faith and slow to beleeue so wee haue the Spirit giuen vnto vs to helpe our infirmities and to open our hearts to receiue the promises For the Lord Iesus raigning continually in his Church and performing the office of a Prophet doth make the words of his Ministers liuely by his Spirit in our hearts and causeth them to be of perpetuall force and efficacy assuring vs of his promises made vnto vs and vniting the signe with the thing signified This truth being cleared the vses offer themselues Vse 1 to be câ—nsidered And first of all inasmuch as the Spirite worketh these things in the hearts of all the faithfulll from hence we gather that such as neuer finde any change or renewing of the minde or reformation of life after the receiuing of the Sacraments may iustly suspect themselues whether euer they had faith or not and whether euer they repented or not and therefore ought to vse the meanes to come by faith and repentance For the worke of the Spirite accompanieth the outward worke in the elect of God as also we see in the hearing of faith preached he must open the heart that is closed vp before wee can receiue with meekenesse c Iam. 1 21. the word of that is grafted in vs which is able to saue our soules Indeed euery person present may heare the words of institution may see the wine poured out may eat of that bread and drinke of that cup as they may also heare the sound of the voice that commeth vnto them but the whole force effect and power resteth onely in the Spirit of God sealing vp the truth and substance of those things in the hearts of all the Children of God Vse 2 Againe seeing these things are done and performed by the working of the Spirit they are confuted and conuinced that thinke they cannot be made partakers of the body and blood of Christ and be vnited to his flesh vnlesse his body be shut vp vnder the accidents of bread and shewes of wine and so his flesh be giuen vnto vs carnally that we may eate him with our mouths and conuey him into our stomackes But we see heere the Holy-Ghost is the bond of this vnion he worketh in vs faith which pierceth the heauens and layeth hold on Christ It is said of Abraham the Father of the faithfull that d Ioh. 8 56. he reioyced to see the day of Christ he saw it and was glad For as we cannot see him with our bodily eyes nor heare him with our bodily eares nor touch him with our bodily hands no more can wee taste or eate him with our bodily mouths By the hand of faith we reach and apply him by the mouth of faith we receiue and eate him Let vs beleeue in Christ and we e Aug. tract in Iohn 26. 27. haue eaten Christ let vs not prepare our teeth and our belly but a liuely faith working by loue Wherefore albeit the humane nature of Christ goe not out of the highest heauens yet we that liue vpon the earth are partakers of his bodye contained in the heauens and his flesh and blood are communicated to vs as truely and effectually as if he were there
name And 1 Cor. 10. The cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we breake is it not the Communion of the bodye of Christ Wherefore when we do faithfully and worthily take the bread and the cup into our hands we must consider that withall we take and receiue Iesus Christ himselfe offered vnto vs. When we eate the bread and drinke of the cup and so apply them to our bodily vses we must consider that we apply Christ Iesus to our selues euen to our soules particularly that he is meate indeed and that he is drink indeed vnto vs if we bring with vs the hand of faith For faith is like c Faith is like the mouth of a vessell the mouth of a vessell if you poure liquor vpon it all the day long vnlesse the mouth of the vessell be open to receiue it the water is spilt on the ground and the vessell remaineth empty so may a man come to the Lords Table euery month receiuing the bread and wine that represent whole Christ yet except he bring with him faith which is the mouth of the soule he receiueth not Christ vnto a spirituall life to be his righteousnesse and sanctification And this is the reason why we receiue a little portion and a smal quantity as well of bread as wine d Concil Nicen. ex Biblie vatican because the end of our eating and drinking serueth for the sanctification of the Spirit not for the filling of the body Now let vs see what vses are offered to our consideration Vse 1 in the meditation of this truth First seeing onely the faithfull are partakers of the things signified in this Sacrament we see all do not receiue alike there is a difference to bee made among receiuers But as they which snatch after the leaues of the tree and let go the fruite want the profite of their labours so is it among many men in this world who take the signe of Christ but let go Christ Now as Moses intreating of things e Leuit. 11 4. cleane and vncleane noteth out foure sorts of beasts some onely chew the cud and some onely diuide the hoofe some neither chew the cud nor diuide the hoofe some both chew the cud and diuide the hoofe or as in the dayes of the Gospell some were circumcised in heart not in flesh as f Gal 2 â— Titus some were circumcised in the flesh not in the heart as Esau Iudas and many others some were circumcised neither in flesh nor in the Spirit g Eph 2 â—â— as the Gentiles and some were circumcised both in the flesh and in the Spirit h Act. 16 â— as Timothy so there is a difference among receiuers i Foure 〈◊〉 oâ— receiuers some receiue Christ only spiritually not sacrameÌ„tally some onely sacramentally not spiritually some neyther receiue him spiritually nor sacramentally and some receiue him both spiritually and sacramentally Of these we wil speake briefly and in order as they haue beene propounded The spirituall eating is by faith whereby we are made one with Christ and partakers of his benefits without the Sacraments k Ioh. 6 5â— whereof Christ speaketh Hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him Thus to eate him is to beleeue in him and therefore hee vseth these words l Ioh. 6 2â— â—3 35. as being of one force to beleeue in him and to eate him to drinke him and to come vnto him This is the worke of God that ye beleeue in him whom be hath sent I am that bread of life he that commeth to me shall not hunger and he that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst Againe m Ioh. 6 â—â— 40. Christ attributeth the same fruite effect to them that beleeue in him that he doth to them which eate his body and drinke his blood therefore by eating and drinking he meaneth nothing but beleeuing He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternall life And in the 40. verse of the same Chapter hee saith This is the will of my Father that euery one that beleeueth in the Sonne should haue eternall life and I will raise him vp at the last day Heereby we may see that Christ attributeth the same to beleeuing which in the other place he did to eating and drinking so that the meaning of Christ is that to beleeue in him is to eate him And thus many receiue Christ eating and drinking his body and blood that neuer came to the Sacraments Heere peraduenture some will obiect Obiection If this doctrine be true then are the Sacraments needlesse For if we may eate Christ by saith spiritually without any vse or comming to the Lords Supper to what end serueth the Supper Answere It seemeth by this to bee made void and superfluous God forbid for the Sacraments are the holy ordinances of Christ by his blessing appointed for our helpe and benefit so that the most perfect Christians of the strongest faith haue need to seeke the strength of faith against weakenesse and wauering in the promises of God Notwithstanding we must confesse to the glory of God and the great comfort of many persons that the faithfull soule may and doth often feed vpon Christ to saluation beside the vse of the Sacrament For the spirituall grace is not of necessity tyed to the outward signes as if without them God cannot or doth not sometimes bestow the same We see in the Acts of the Apostles n Act. 10 2 44 Cornelius and his company was sealed with the Spirit of God before the receiuing of the outward Sacrament Abraham beleeued the promise being strong in faith o Rom. 4 18.10 18. vnder hope beleeued aboue hope before circumcision was giuen vnto him Thus also the beleeuing theefe vpon the Crosse though he did neuer receiue the Sacrament of Christ yet he did eat the body and drinke the blood of Christ to eternall life so that he beleeued in him p Luk. 23 10 and was the same day with him in Paradise He was not crucified for the professioÌ„ of Christ but was condemned for the merit of his transgression neither did he suffer because he beleeued q Lamb sâ—nt lib. â— dist ca. 1. but hee beleeued while he suffered He was not baptized he receiued not the Lords Supper yet his r Rom. 10 â—0 faith saued him spiritually eating the true food of euerlasting life as Rom. 10. With the heart man beleeueth vnto righteousnesse and with the mouth man confesseth vnto saluation for the Scripture saith whosoeuer beleeueth in him shall not be ashamed According to that in the Prophet The iust shall liue Å¿ Hab. 2 4. by faith And Ioh. 11. I am the resurrection and the life he that beleeueth in me though he were dead yet he shall liue and whosoeuer liueth and beleeueth in me t Ioh 11 25 26. shall neuer dye This ministreth great
of this Sacrament agree not with the institution of CHRIST nor with the former vses set downe which now wee come to handle and to prooue out of the doctrine of the Apostles themselues Touching the first and principall end that is the remembrance meditation and shewing forth the death of Chrst with all thanksgiuing this he commanded to vs at his last departing from vs which ought much to stick in our minds because the last words of a deare friend ready to part from vs do oftentimes leaue behind both deepe impressions and deuout affections in vs. Indeed when we reade of the passioÌ„ and death of Christ it doth much moue vs to heare it opened expounded it moueth in a farther degree but more then these to haue before our eyes a visible representation of the crucifying of Christ in his last Supper doth mooue vs most of all The institution of this Sacrament he did in wisedome reserue till the approching of his death that we might not forget him when he is gone from vs. So God the Father after the vniuersal flood drowning the whol world for a remembrance of his mercy in deliuering Noah and his family from the waters and of his promise made f Gen. 9 14. neuer to destroy it so againe left to them and all posterity the Rainbow When he had iustly smitten the first borne of the Egiptians and gratiously saued the first borne of Israel he commanded Moses g Exo 13 1 2 to sanctifie to him all the first borne that first openeth the wombe to remember the day in which they came out of the land of Egipt When he had miraculously sed the Israelites with Manna from heauen that men did eate Angels food h Exod. 16 32 he would haue a golden pot ful of it to be reserued in the Arke of remembrance for the better remembrance of so great a worke So likewise being deliuered by the precious blood of Christ from the floods of sin that haue gone ouer our heads and eased of the heauy burthen that pressed downe our hearts wee haue receiued baptisme to keepe vs in remembrance thereof that we are cleansed from the filthinesse of sin Againe being nourished with Christs body crucifyed and his blood shed for vs we are commanded to vse this mystery to continue an holy remembrance of his death and passion to our endlesse comfort This end to wit to be to vs a remembrance of Christs sacrifice on the Crosse is taught by the Apostle So often as ye shall eate of this bread and drinke of this cup i Luk. 22 19 ye shew the Lords death till he come In like manner the Euangelist Luke of the bread saith Do this in remembrance of me and of the cuppe Do this as oft as ye shall drinke it in remembrance of me by declaring his death And we declare the Lords death when we publikely confesse with our mouth and beleeue with the heart that our whole hope and affiance for life and saluation is surely set in the Lords death that we may glorifie him by our confession and exhort others by our example to glorifie him because his death is our life his passion is our saluation his suffering is our reioycing We our selues are the principall and proper causes that he was torne and tormented our sins wounded him we our selues crucified him we euen we are the causes for he was chastised for vs that by death he might deliuer vs from death and from Heb. 2 14. him that had the power of death Our euill motions our vile thoughts our corrupt words and our sinfull works did set on worke Pontius Pilate Herod Annas Caiphas Iudaâ— the Gentiles and the Iewes who were but instruments as the Crosse nailes the hammer and speare these were as our seruants and workemen in the euill action of his crucifying We are all of vs ready to accuse and condemne these men wee complaine against them and pronounce sentence vpon them because they offered so great iniuries to our sweet Sauiour We lay all the blame vpon others we sticke not to call Pilat a corrupt Iudge Herod a time-seruer and a man-pleaser Annas and Caiphas brethren in euil Iudas the sonne of perdition the Iewes and Gentiles notorious offendors but all this while we haue forgotten our selues Wherefore to speake the truth not Sathan the tempter not Iudas the traytor not Caiphas the high-Priest not Pilat the chiefe Iudge not the Iewes that conspired against him not the false witnesses that accused him not the band of men that scorned him not the passengers that nodded their heads at him not the souldior that pierced him not the executioners that railed at him and nailed him on the crosse are so much to be accused and reproued for his sufferings as we we I say our selues and our owne sinnes Not that we can excuse those cursed instruments that crucified the Lord of glory who shall receiue according to their works l Zâ—ch 12 10. Iob. 19 37. when they shall see him whom they haue pierced but to teach vs chiefly to accuse and condemne our selues We bound him with cords we beate him with rods we buffetted him with fistes we crowned him with thornes we reuiled him with our mouths we railed at him with reproches wee nodded at him with our heads we thrust him through with speares we betraied him with a kisse we pierced his hands feet with nailes we crucified him between two theeues we condemned him through false witnesses we poured shame and contempt vpon his person we iudged him as plagued and smitten of God For inasmuch as our faults and offences procured these things to bee done vnto him we were the dooers by them and the dealers in them and the causes of them And surely then we are profitably grounded in the doctrine of the m Who they are that profit aright by Christs passioÌ„ passion of Christ when our hearts cease to sinne and we are pricked with an inward griefe of those great and grieuous transgressions n 1 Ioh. 3 6. Esay 53 5 6. whereby as with speares we pierced the side and wounded the very soule of the immaculate lambe of God as Ioh. 3. Who so sinneth neither hath seene him nor knowne him And the Prophet Esay teacheth cha 53. 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 the Lord hath laide vpon him the iniquity of vs all Seeing then Christ was slaine for our sins let vs kill sin in our selues seeing he died for vs let vs labour that sin may be dead in vs seeing he was crucified for vs and our saluation let vs crucifie our own lusts that they raigne not in our mortal bodies seeing his heart was pierced with a speare let vs haue our hearts thrust through pierced and pricked with vnfaigned sorrow for all our iniquities This is the right vse this is the true end this
is the sound comfort following and flowing from the death of Christ To conclude we must learne and hold for euer that wee haue the beginning and chiefe cause in our selues which did crucifie Christ and crush him with most bitter sorrows let vs then be reuenged of our sins and do al despite we can vnto them let vs endite them arraigne them accuse them condemn them and naile them to his crosse let vs kill them mortifie them and bury them in his graue for euer This is the first end of the supper which is signified by the breaking of the bread and powring out of the wine declaring vnto vs that as the body of our Lord was broken and by violent meanes afflicted so his bloud gushed out and flowed plentifully out of his gaping and bleeding woundes This must be our meditation whensoeuer wee come to the Lords table For the passion of Christ as the breaking of his body vppon the crosse the powring out of his bloud and the separating of the Soule from the body must be both spoken of by the Pastor and remembred by the receiuer in the Supper if the one would deliuer it faithfully and the other receiue it fruitfully We must call to minde that Christ humbled himselfe to death for vs euen to the accursed death of the crosse that hee apprehended and felte the whole wrath of God vpon him in Soule and body whereby he was brought into a grieuous agony his body being rent with nayles beaten with scourges pricked with thornes pearced with a speare and his Soule pressed with the burden of all our sins which were cast vpon his shoulders he standing as a pledge and surety in our places What shall wee returne vnto him for this mercy and what loue ought wee to render for this great loue Shal we not crush the very head of sin that hath thus crushed our head Let vs not therefore wound him that hath cured vs nor pierce him with our sinnes that was killed for our sins or crucifie him by the lusts of the old man who was crucified to make vs newe men And thus much of the first end of the Lords Supper CHAP. XIII Of the second vse of the Lords Supper THe second vse of the Lords Supper is our spirituall vnion and communion with Christ 1 Cor. 10 16 This the Apostle declareth The cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the cōmunion of the blood of Christ The bread which we breake is it not the cōmunion of the body of Christ Whereby hee meaneth that the faithfull which come conscionably worthily to the lords table are ioyned and vnited wholy to Christ by the bread Sacramentally by faith instrumentally by the Holy ghost spiritually and by them almost effectually For wee take the bread in our hands and likewise we take the cuppe into our hands as Christ commaunded saying b Mat. 26 26. Take ye eate ye drinke ye deuide ye Neither doe wee lay them apart or hide them aside or reserue them in a boxe or abstaine from them but when we haue taken them we eat them we digest them we are nourished by them and they are turned into our substance So Christ being eatē of the godly by saith is vnited to them by his spirit as wee haue shewed before whereby they are made one with Christ and he one with them And as meate plentifully prepared daintily dressed and onely seene vpon the table doth not nourish the body or take away hunger so if the Gospell be preached and the Sacraments administred except we apply the promises of the gospell and beleeue that Christ with all his guifts is ours they profite nothing towards our saluation Such therefore as lawfully and worthily come to the Lords Supper as to a table richly furnished and to a banket liberally prouided must not onely generally beleeue that Christ suffered in the flesh and dyed for sinners but c Gal. 2 20 particularly for themselues yea communicateth himselfe and all his guifts vnto them aboundantly as certainely as themselues eate of the bread and drinke of the cup. This vnion and communion is neere and wonderfull great and therefore the Apostle fitly calleth it a mystery euen d Eph. 5 32. a great mystery speaking of Christ of the Church For what vnion can be greater then that which is betweene the thing nourishing and the thing nourished We haue nothing in Adam but that which conueyeth death vnto vs so that it is needfull to be ioyned to one which may giue life to vs that as we dye in Adam e Rom. 5 19. so we may liue in him This vnion cannot by reason be expressed or fully vnderstood As Christ in the daies of his flesh had a double kindred one earthly and carnall kinred the other spirituall that by faith receiued his word and beleeued in his name of whom he said f Mat. 12 44. Behold my mother and my brethren for whosoeuer shall do my Fathers will which is in heauen the same is my brother sister and mother so is it in this vnion and fellowship with him one is outward bodily which al mankinde hath with him in that he is partaker of our flesh and blood the other inward spirituall whereby we are made partakers of him and of all his sauing graces to euerlasting life As Christ was borne of the Virgin Mary vnited our nature to him taking vpon him g Heb. 2 16. not the Angels nature but the seed of Abraham euery reprobate hath this vnion with him in that hee tooke vpon him the shape of a man but there is a mysticall and maruellous vnion whereby he dwelleth in vs by faith whereby we are truely coupled to him made partakers of him deliuered from sin and made heires of euerlasting life quickning and sustaining vs as food which preserueth the life of the body If the arme ioyned to the body haue no life no sence no benefit of vitall spirits it is no part of the body though it be vnited to it so the wicked liuing without faith are as it were sencelesse they haue no forgiuenesse of sinnes no sanctification no saluation and therefore are no true members of Christ If he poure not life and grace into them they are not his members if he kill not sinne in them they are not vnited spiritually vnto him The bodily vnion with him shall profite nothing it is the Spirit that giueth life Seeing then the receiuing of the bread and wine which Vse 1 turne into our substance teacheth the mysticall vnion betweene Christ and his members wee learne from hence that all the faithfull and godly are truly made partakers of Christ and his graces as the members receiue life from the head and the tree moisture from the root For euen as the wife ioyned to her husband in marriage is thereby made partaker of his body and goods hath interest with him in the commodities of this life g Gen. 20.16 and looketh
person touch an holy thing it shall be vncleane The person must be holy that will haue sound profite by the holie things of God the man that is vnholie defileth euery thing he toucheth the polluted person polluteth all thinges For as to m Tit. 1 15. the pure all things are pure but vnto them that are defiled and vnbeleeuing is nothing pure but euen their minds and consciences are corrupted so the prophane person defileth all thinges and turneth wholesome meate into noysome poison We must therefore vse sanctifyed things with sadctifyed hearts and for spirituall meate wee must haue spirituall vessels Furthermore marke the great danger punishment that is procured and purchased by the want of preparation For the vnworthy receiuer is guilty n 1 Cor 11 27 of the body and blood of Christ as the Apostle specifieth 1 Cor. 11. Whosoeuer shal eat this bread and drinke the cup of the Lord vnworthily shal be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. And againe He that eateth and drinketh vnworthily eateth and drinketh his own iudgment because he discerneth not the Lords body for this cause many are sicke and weake among you and many sleepe Where he teacheth that such as come vnworthily vnreuerently and otherwise then such mysteries should be handled do despise tread vnder their feete Iesus Christ himselfe prouoke the Lords wrath and bring on themselues swift damnation Not that be is carnally and bodily present but because the reproach which is vsed to the signes toucheth the bodie and bloode of Christ signified by them Euen as if a man shoulde rent disgrace deface spit vppon treade and trample vnder his feete and villanouslie abuse the image seale and letters patents of a Prince he should be adiudged d Ren. Iaesae Maiestatis guiltie of a greeuous crime against the person of the Prince himselfe not which hee receyueth but despiteth so such as come vnthankefully and vnworthily to this supper are guiltie of his body not which they haue eaten but which they haue refused and reiected being offered vnto them and therefore are guilty of their owne death inasmuch as God with the signes offereth his owne Son Wherefore seeing the presence of God mooueth seeing our owne profit perswadeth seeing our owne practise furthereth seeing the defiling of the Sacrament and the danger of vnwoorthy receiuing teacheth and lastly seeing our owne iudgement in humane affayres when the daunger is not so great nor the losse so certaine cryeth out for this necessary preparation it standeth vs vpon before wee enter into this holy worke whereunto of our selues wee are more vnfit and vnto warde and which in it owne nature is most profitable to set our selues before the Lord who shal examine and iudge the quicke and the dead to search into our owne waies and to keepe a sessions in our owne soules to looke into our secret and hidden corruptions how wee haue gone forward or backeward in godlinesse to try whither wee haue a knowledge feeling and disliking of our sinnes and whether we haue any feare of Gods iudgments or faith in his promises or hope in his mercie to iudge our selues that we may not be iudged of the Lorde to labour to finde our speciall sinnes striuing against them by earnest prayer to God and condemning them for euer in our selues If we would thus iudge our selues we should not be condemned with the worldâ— Let vs be grieued for our naturall blindnesse Let vs acknoledge confusion of faces to be due vnto vs Let vs deepely imprint in our owne hearts the horror of our sins past and present The more we perceiue and discerne our owne vnworthines the greater shall be our fitnes to come to this Sacrament and the lesse we espy our owne imperfections the more we incurre the danger of Gods iudgements So then to touch vs with true humility and to breake our stony hearts in pieces with remembrance of our daily offences let vs often meditate on the death and passion of Christ who was forsaken scorned buffetted and crucified for vs he was led as a lambe to the slaughter and shunned not the shame of the Crosse then the powers of heauen and earth were moued p Mat 27 45 Iudea was darkened the earth quaked the stones claue in sunder the graues opened the Sunne was in the ful-moone eclipsed the vaile of the Temple was rent the dead were raised the theefe repented the Centurion glorified God and the whole order of nature was changed All these things doe set before vs the heinousnesse of our sins and the greatnes of Gods wrath which could not be appeased but by crucifying of the body and by shedding of the blood of Christ which is represented to vs as in a glasse in this Supper Thus we haue shewed by testimonies and effectuall reasons that as in the Passeouer they were commanded to chuse them a lambe q Exod 12 3. on the tenth day but to kill him on the fourteenth so that they had foure dayes liberty betweene the separating and the killing of him for preparation and sanctification of themselues in like manner in the Supper which is the same to vs that the Passeouer was to the Iewes the Spirit of God chargeth this duty vpon vs that we prepare our hearts reuerently thereunto Vse 1 Now as we haue seene the necessity of this examination let vs consider what vses are to be made thereof It is required of all Communicants that come to the Lords table diligently to examine themselues Then from hence it followeth that all men are bound to know the word of God and to be skilfull in the Scripture that thereby they may be able to try their owne hearts and examine themselues by that rule But if the rule be vnknowne the tryall spoken oft cannot be made the examination commanded cannot bee practised Especially there is required of vs the knowledge in the doctrine of the law not onely to be able to rehearse the words but to know the end and meaning of them the speciall braunches of them what are the duties commaunded what are the sinnes condemned for by r Rom 3 20. the Lawe commeth the knowledge of sinne and the Apostle had not knowne sinne Å¿ Rom. 7 7. but by the Law for hee had not knowne lust except the law had sayed thou shalt not lust As then hee that will trie Golde from Copper must haue his touchstone so hee that will rightly examine his obedience must familiarly be acquainted with the Canon of the Scriptures This our Sauiour teacheth t Iohn 5 3â— Search the Scriptures for in them ye thinke to haue eternall life they are they which testifie of me If then we search them they will giue vs light to search our selues And the Apostle requireth the Colossians Col. 3 16. to haue the word of God dwell plentifully in them in all wisedome Wherefore he that said examine your selues ment we should also know the Scriptures and especially
whole volume of such differences howbeit I will leaue them in their owne deuises and come to the third point which is to answere those that pleade the cause of Baal and are bold to speake what they dare for the whore of Babell who albeit they liue among vs and would bee thought to bee of vs yet they are neyther affrayd nor ashamed to affirme n Against such as would not haue it disputed and determined how Christ is present that the controuersie of the Supper is not so manifest as we teach nor the words of Christ so easie as we affirme nor the iudgement of the Fathers so cleer as we pretend nor the maner of eating so necessary to be holden as we define that we are to beleeue that Christ is present but how he is preseÌ„t we should not dispute whether it be carnally or whether it bee spiritually Indeed we feare not to teach that there is no transelementation or transubstantiation that is no reall turning of the bread into the body and the wine into the bloud of Christ but when he said This is my body hee intendeth not to change one substance into another but meaneth This bread is a signe or Sacrament of my body which is deliuered to death for vs and for our saluation And when he saith This Cup is the new Testament in my bloud hee vnderstandeth that the wine in the Cup is a Sacrament of the new Testament of our reconciliation to God and of our communion and participation of Christ with al his benefits therefore we doubt not to call this Sacrament a representation a remeÌ„brance an image a token a type an antitype a signe a figure and such like Now that it may appeare that the wordes of institution are truely expounded and haue the constant consent and full approbation of al antiquity o The ancieÌ„t Fathers teach the same touching the Supper that we doe let vs produce our witnesses and see what the Fathers of the grayest heads before vs haue declared deliuered But before we come to fight hand to hand with these aduersaries and to discharge the volly of shot which we haue in store it shall not be amisse to set downe certaine inducements as it were certaine preparatiues to leade vs to beleeue that the Doctours of the Church are no lesse ours in this cause and controuersie then Caluine and Beza and the later writers For first we shal neuer read in all the monuments of former times any mention of adoration or eleuation of the host or that the maner was to lick vp the drops of the Challice or to sweepe the place where a drop was falne or to burne the wormes which haue corrupted or consumed it or to seeke out the host wheÌ„ it is vomited vp to commend those that will swallow it againe Secondly Ierome teacheth that after the communion they had a common banket in the Church whereat they did eate vp all that q Ierom. vpon 1 Cor. 11. remained after the administration of the Supper If then it were the manner of many Churches to eate the residue at their loue feasts and ordinary bankets doubtlesse they did not thinke it was Christ himselfe which was eaten therein Thirdly the custome was in some places to burne the remainder of the r Hesych lib. 2. in Leuit. ca. 8. Eucharist and therefore it could not bee that they should beleeue that the bread was the very body of Christ forasmuch as it had beene horrible impiety and a most detestable prophanation to burne it as a Å¿ Gregory 7. an Atheist NecromaÌ„cer certaine Pope in his rage and fury cast the Eucharist into the fire because it did not answere to his questions when he consulted with it or else peraduenture the body of Christ seeing the flame of fire comming toward it fled vp into heauen for feare of beeing consumed by it Fourthly another teacheth that in other Churches the custome was to giue the parts that were not spent and vsed to little children t Niceph lib. 17. cap. 25. frequenting the Schoole who are barred from partaking of the Supper by the Apostle because they are not able u 1 Cor. 11.28 to examine themselues and therefore they were not of opinion with the Church of Rome Fiftly the Masse it selfe vsed at this day and the prayers vsed in it do speake for the truth against their Idolatrous practise Heereunto commeth their sursum corda when they exhort to lift vp the heart on high to God and the prayers crauing of God that their oblation may be acceptable which is the figure and signe of the body and blood of our Lord whereas if the Church had beleeued that they did eate Christ with their mouths they might haue stayed their eyes beneath gazing and gaping vpon that which the Priest held in his hands and needed not to haue lifted vp their harts to Christ Iesus which sitteth at the right hand of his Father in the highest heauens Sixtly they teach vniformely that a body cannot be but in one place and that if we take space of place from them we destroy the being of a body and thereupon one saith a Virgil. lib. 1. Contr. Eutich The flesh of Chrâ—st was not in heauen when it was vpon the earth and now because it is in heauen it is not on earth And Augustine in his 57 Epistle to Dardanus hath these words The humane nature of Christ is destroyed if there bee not giuen vnto him after the manner of other bodies a certaine space wherin he may be contained The popish purgers and correcters could not suffer the waight of this sentence and therefore haue b Printed at Paris Anno. 1571. raced it out of some of their late editions and yet Bellarmine doth alledge it and obiect it against himselfe howbeit it is likely he did not remember himselfe but had forgotten to consult with his good companions who blot out that which they cannot answere These sixe considerations are as certaine inducements to sharpeÌ„ our taste to break the Ice and so to prepare the way now let vs set downe the seuerall testimonies themselues and see how they depose for vs. Tertullian one of the most ancient faith c Tertul cont Marci lib. 4. Christ receiuing the bread and the same being diuided vnto his Disciples made it to be his body saying This is my bodye that is to say a signe of my body Theodoret saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that is the mysticall signes depart not from their nature no not after consecration for they remaine in their former substance figure and forme Can any thing be spoken more plainely Doubtlesse Theodoret was in this point a Lutheran or a Caluinist one of those whom the bastard Catholikes call heretickes Augustine is a man of great authority in the Church therfore a sufficient witnesse beyond all exception he saith for vs d Aug. cont Adamantâ— â—2 The Lord made no doubt
or difficulty to say this is my body when he gaue a signe of his body declaring thereby that by these words My body he vnderstood the signe of his body expounding the former by the latter It is also very waighty and worthy to be considered Epist 23. which he writeth in his Epistle to Boniface If the Sacrament had not a resemblance of the things whereof they are Sacraments they should not be SacrameÌ„ts at all but because of this most commonly they take the name of the things themselues so then as the Sacrament of Christs body is after a sort the body of Christ and the Sacrament of Christs blood is after a sort the blood of Christ so the Sacrament of faith is faith If he had verily beleeued that it is really the bodye of Christ he would neuer haue said this Sacrament is after a certaine fashion the body of Christ as euery man would laugh vs to scorne if we should say that Paul was after a sort a man or Peter was after a sort a man who were men truely and indeed And in another place he saith e Tract 50 in Iohan. Wee haue euer Iesus Christ according to the presence of his Maiesty but according to the presence of his flesh hee hath truely sa de to his Disciples Mee shall ye not haue alwayes Mat. 26 11. Origen also is plaine for vs writing vpon Mat. 15 Mat. 16 11 where he saith f Orig hom in Mat. 15. This meat which is sanctified by the word of God by prayer as touching his matter goeth downe into the belly and is voyded into the draught Let vs come to Chrysostome who aboue al the rest is vehement in his amplifications excessiue in the hight of his eloquence being desirous to draw the people to a reuerence of this Sacrament to redresse the abuses thereof crept in of which he complaineth in all places of his workes yet when hee speaketh properly he teacheth as others teach and writeth as others write as when he saith g Chrysost hom 83 in Math. If Christ be not dead wherof is this Sacrament a signe and token And likewise in that place When our Lord gaue the Sacrament he gaue w ne And if he gaue wine then by consequent hee gaue bread also which ouerthroweth such as h Dureus in Whâ—t say he took bread but gaue it not he tooke wine but gaue it not If these places bee not plaine and pregnant enough heare yet much plainer He demandeth i Hom. 24 in 1 Cor. What is this bread He answereth himselfe The body of Christ now least any should imagine some change of substance and the maintainers of Transubstantiation begin to lift vp their eares he addeth immediately And what are they made which partake thereof He answereth The body of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in the same place he telleth vs We must mount on high like Eagles if we will come neare to that body And in the vnperfect worke vpon Mathew if that worke be Chrysostomes k Câ—â—â—â—ost oper inâ—â—â—â—â—r Mat. hom 11. If it bee so dangerous a thing to transferre to priuate vses those sanctisied vessels in which the true body of Christ was not but the mystery of his body how much more the vessels of our bodies which God hath prepared for his habitation But of all other testimonies none is more euident then an Epistle of his written to Caesarius in the time of his banishment which albeit it be not printed among his workes l Pet. Martyr loc class 4. c. 10. sâ—ct 31. yet is auouched to be extant in the Library at Florence Before the bread be sanctified wee call it bread but when the grace of God hath sanctified it it is surely freed from the name of bread and is thought worthy to be called the body of our Lord though the nature of bread remaine in it True it is m Bellar. de Euchar. lib. 2 cap. 22. Bellarmine denyeth that euer he wrote any such thing howbeit Gregory of Valence admitteth the words confesseth the place and yet goeth about to shift it off and to weaken this witnesse as if it were not written by that godly and golden Father n Greg. de Valen lib. de transub but by one Iohn of Constantinople Thus he would delude and deceiue his Reader forasmuch as that Iohn was no other then Iohn Chrysostome and Iohn Chrysostome was Bishop of Constantinople Their owne glosse maketh this exposition o De Cons dist 2. Vocatur corpus Christi id est significat corpus Christi It is called the body of Christ that is it signifieth his body Adde to these the witnes of Maximus the Greeke p In eccles Hierar Scholiast who opposeth the signes to the truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these things are signes but not the truth I will shut vp all these authorities and allegations with the words of Gelasius Bishop of Rome q Gelas in his booke of two Natures Surely the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ which wee receiue are diuine things for that also by them we are made partakers of the diuine nature and yet neuerthelesse the substance nature of the bread and wine do not cease to remaine Can any speake more cleerely and euidently then these do Or haue any of our owne writers written more plainely and distinctly against popish Transubstantiation How then are they deceiued that thinke we wrest the words of Institution Or that we impose vpon the people more to bee beleeued then can be collected concluded out of the Scripture or that we teach and receiue more as authenticall out of Caluine Beza and other later authors then the ancient Fathers euer deliuered I wil briefly answere an obiection which these produce out of Cyprian in his Tract of the Lords Supper Obiect r Cyprian de coen dom This bread is changed not in shape but in nature and by omnipotency of God is made flesh To which I reply 4. things First Answere a change of nature doth not euermore import a change of substance A wicked person when he repenteth and turneth vnto God changeth his nature but the alteration is in quality not in substance there is a kinde of conuersion but no Transubstantiation Secondly this booke is but a bastard it beareth vpon it the name of Cyprian but it is a counterfeit Å¿ Censur patruÌ„ authore Rob. Coco pa. 75 as is sâ—â—ficiently and substantially prooued euen by the confession of the Papists themselues And whosoeuer will vouchsafe to reade the booke it selfe may easily discerne by the style as it were by the smell that it came out of some Couent or Cloister it is in many places so barbarous Thirdly if the word Nature should be taken for Substance in this place it must expresly contradict sundry testimonies of those writers which wee haue alledged before who deny that the nature of bread is changed that is
as we haue seene the truth of the doctrin let vs consider the vses therof First is the Minister of the substance of the Sacram. and a principall part of Christs institution Then he must consider it is his duty being authorised frō God by his Church to sanctifie the outward elements and administer the same to deliuer the outward signes offer thē to the receiuers His workes therefore are to put apart consecrate the signs to an holy vse to open declare the couenant of God to pray for his blessing promised vpon his owne ordinance to giue thanks for the blessed worke of our redemption to offer giue and deliuer aright the cretures so sanctified in baptisme to sprinkle with water wash the body to be baptized in the Lords supper to deliuer the bread to be eaten and the wine to bee drunke to the spirituall nourishment of the Church So then the Minister ought not to refuse to baptize such as are broght vnto him Shall the seruant refuse to doe the worke of his maister When Christ the maister shall say Goe and baptize shall he answere againe I will not when the Centurion saith to his seruant Goe he goeth when he saith Come he cometh If the Lord keeper of the Kings broad seale should proudly and presumptuously disdaine to set the seale to the Princes letters pattents were he not well worthy to bee displaced and remoued So if the Minister through enuy or hatred or any other sinister affection which ought not to be harbored in their breast shall refuse to put the seale to the Lords Couenant and hinder little children from comming to Christ he deserueth iustly to be displaced and to beare office no longer in the citty of God but to be remoued for his contempt q 1 King 2 35 as Salomon put downe Abiathar Vse 2 Secondly is it a necessary point of the Sacrament that it be ministred by a Minister Then it condemneth all those that put these seales into a wrong hand and all priuate persons that violently rush vpon this calling and take vpon them to meddle with the administration of the Sacraments with vnwashen hands seeing the dispensatiō of the word and Sacraments is so linked annexed and ioyned together by God that a deniall of licence to do the one is a deniall to do the other and contrariwise the licence to one is licence to the other Christ neuer gaue to priuate persons any such commandement hee neuer committed to them any such office hee neuer commended to their care these holy actions he neuer called thē to this honor he neuer laide vpon them this charge and therefore they haue no part nor fellowship in this businesse If notwithstanding these restrainings of authority from them they will run and rush forward where they should hang backeward their sinne lieth at the doore their punishment hastneth and their iudgement sleepeth not Lastly if the Minister be an outward part of the Sacrament Vse 3 we must beware and take heede wee ascribe not to the Minister that which is proper to Christ and so rob him of the honour due vnto his name The Minister may offer the signe hee cannot bestow the thing signified hee may baptize the bodye hee cannot cleanse the soule hee may deliuer the bread and wine hee cannot giue the body and blood of Christ Iohn may wash with water hee cannot giue the Spirite Man indeed pronounceth the word but God sealeth vp his grace in the heart man sprinkleth the bodye with water but God maketh cleane the soule by the blood of Christ man may take away the filth of the flesh but Christ must purge the conscience from dead works who is that blessed Lambe of God that r Iohn 1 29. taketh away the sins of the world For as Paul ſ 1 Cor. 3 6. planteth and Apollos watereth but God giueth the increase so the Minister offereth the element and outward signe but God giueth the heauenly grace It belongeth to the Minister to handle the externall part it belongeth as a peculiar dignity to Christ to bestow grace to giue faith regeneration t Mat. 3 11. and forgiuenesse of sinnes and to baptize with the Holy-Ghost This truth Iohn confesseth I baptize with water but one commeth after mee who is mightier then I he shall baptize you with the Holy-Ghost Where we see he maketh a flat opposition betweene himselfe and Christ betweene his baptisme and the baptisme of Christ As on the one side wee must take heede of the contempt of him that teacheth and ministreth the Sacraments because the contempt of the word Sacraments doth necessarily follow the contempt of his person so we must beware we attribute or giue not to him more thē his right lest the power of the word force of the Sacraments be attributed to his person whereby men rob God of his glory spoile themselues of the fruite of them both This was it wherein the n 1 Cor. 1 22. Corinthians offended when they said I am Pauls I am Apollos I am Cephas I am Christs Wherefore to keepe a golden meane betweene too much and too little we must doe as if a Prince should send vs some present by one of the meanest messengers of his house we would receiue him fauourably and entertaine him honourably for the guifts sake which he bringeth vnto vs but the guift it selfe we would receiue for the Kings sake from whom it was sent So it becommeth euery one of vs to doe God hath committed to his messengers and Ministers the word of reconciliation we must haue them in singular loue for their workes sake that labour among vs but the worde Sacraments we must receiue for the Lords sake from whō they come Thus much of the first outward part to wit the Minister CHAP. V. Of the second outward part of a Sacrament THe second outward part of a Sacrament a The word of institution a necessary part of the Sacrament is the word necessarily required to the substance of a Sacrament for b August in Ioh. 13. Tract 18. the word is added and ioyned to the element and there is made a Sacrament This sacramental word is the word of institution which God in each Sacrament hath after a speciall manner set downe consisting partly of a commandement by which Christ appointeth the administration of Sacraments and partly of a promise annexed wherby God ordaineth that the outward elements shal be instruments and seales of his graces as for example when Christ saith c Mat. 28 19. Goe teach all Nations and baptize them there is a commandement to warrant the vse practise of Baptisme the promise likewise is in the next words Into the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost So touching the other Sacrament of his supper when he saith d Mat. 26 26.27 Take ye eate ye drinke ye do this in remembrance of me loe there is the commandement
commanding the continuall vse thereof vntil the second comming of Christ The promise is This is my body which is giuen for you this is my bloud of the new Testament shed for you and for many for remission of sinnes Whatsoeuer signes of holye things God gaue to strengthen the faith of his children we may see discerne that God alwaies added the word to the seale the voice to the signe and doctrine to the sight so that when the signe was seene the worde was heard When one of the Seraphins bearing an hot coale in his hand which he had taken from the alter e Esa 6 6 7. touched the mouth of the Prophet hee said Loe this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity shall be taken away and thy sins shall be purged Now wee know a coale hath not power and force to take away sinne but the word vttered by the Angell did assure him that he should be purged by the Holy-Ghost which was signified by the fire So when Ieremy saw the rod of an Almond tree the Lord saide vnto him Thou hast well seene for I will hasten my word to performe it He ioyneth the signe with the word for a more ample cōfirmation signifying by the rod of almond which first buddeth the hastye comming of the Babylonians against the Iewes Againe when Christ gaue to his Disciples the Holy-Ghost hee breathed on them and said f Iohn 20 22. Receiue the Holy-Ghost The corporall blast and breathing was not the Holy-Ghost but he added his word and promise with the outward signe to assure them that with the breathing hee bestowed a blessing Thus we see that the Sacraments haue the worde alwayes ioyned with them and without the worde whereby their institution and vse is declared they are as a dead bodye without life as a dumbe shew without voice as an empty cloud without water and as a barren tree without fruite Let vs apply this doctrine to our selues First it teacheth that they partake not the Sacraments aright that haue not the knowledge of the word that are ignorant both of the ordinance and institution of God and of the promise annexed to the institution of God of which sort there are many in the world that neuer labour to know what he hath appointed and commanded them to do If they do as others of the Church do therein they rest and seeke no further to be able to warrant their owne worke If they heare the word spoken if they see the body washed the bread broken and the wine poured out and receiue the outward signes they regard no more they go no higher they imagine that they haue done enough g Vnderstanding of the institution required of all they neuer desire to vnderstand the meaning of the words which are necessary to bee knowne comfortable to bee vnderstood and profitable to be marked If a man haue goods befallen or legacies bequeathed vnto him by any will or Testament will he not resort to his learned counsell to be carefull to vnderstand the Testament and know the meaning of the Testator Christ Iesus before his death made his will he hath made his children heires of his promise hee promiseth to them forgiuenesse of sinnes in this life and eternall life in the world to come Doth it not now behooue euery faithfull Christian to search into it and know what is promised and bequeathed vnto him Men of this world for the most part make their eldest and first borne heire of all and leaue little to the other but euery childe of God is as the eldest and as the h Exod. 4 22. first borne most deare to him he shall receiue his double portion the second shall haue no lesse then the first nor the third lesse then the second nor the younger then the elder the first shall be as the last and the last as the first for hee may doe with his owne what he list Againe if a man doe leaue all his sonnes heyres and rich inheritors for the most part lesse is bestowed on the daughters but all the children of God both his sonnes and daughters i Rom. 8 17. Gal. 4 7. shal be heyres euen the Heires of God and heyres annexed with Christ Iesus their share shal be as great as the portion of Sonnes Moreouer when a man hath passed all the dayes of his life in carke care what can he giue to his posterity but earthly riches and a transitory possession a fading inheritance leauing thē inheritors as well of his sorrow as of his substance It is not so with the children of God Christ by his last will and Testament hath promised to make his people sound in faith rich in hope blessed in the pardon of their sinnes heires of the kingdome which hee hath promised to them that loue him This is a great and vnspeakeable comfort to all Gods children whether high or low whether rich or poore So then we ought to bee much more carefull earnest to know throughly vnderstand perfectly the will of Christ then any naturall child is to search the meaning of the wil of his natural father And if men were not wholy carnall they would be thus far spiritually minded Againe is the word an outward part of the Sacrament Vse 2 Then the Sacraments must neuer be separated set apart from the worde They are not dumbe shewes and idle signes but haue alwaies the doctrine of God adioyning vnto them to shew the end vse and profite of them and the purpose of God in them This appeareth in all places where God gaue signes to confirme assure the truth of his promises When he gaue in mercy to Noah and al his posterity the k Gen. 9 11. Raine-bow immediately after the flood as a signe of his couenant hee addeth his word vnto the signe My couenant will I establish with you that from henceforth all flesh shall not be rooted out by the waters of the flood neither shall there be a flood to destroy the earth any more This is it the Apostle meaneth 1. Cor. 11. Ye shew the Lords death till he come Where hee teacheth that the Lords Supper cannot be truely deliuered and rightly administred vnles there be a declaration and shewing foorth of the death of Christ Wherefore it is no Sacrament except the worde and doctrine be ioyned vnto it by way of explication exposition of the outward signe Lastly those Sacraments are proued heereby to be no Vse 3 Sacraments which are foisted and brought in without the warrant of the word For take away the word and what is the outward Element but a bare signe What is the water in baptisme but common water What is the bread in the Lords Supper but common bread What is the wine but common wine such as men vse and all men may take at their ordinary tables Seeing therefore such signes and Sacraments as haue not Gods commandement for their institution nor promise of grace and
g TransubstaÌ„tiation ouerthrowne whatsoeuer ouerthroweth the nature and vse of a Sacrament is not to be admitted but omitted neyther to bee receiued but reiected But transubstantiation ouerthroweth and ouerturneth both the nature and vse of a Sacrament and therefore not to be admitted and receiued into the Church For touching the nature of a Sacrament it is confessed h Iren. lib. 4. contr haer cap. 34. that it consisteth of two parts the one earthly and the other heauenly but if after the words of consecration the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ then the signe is taken away the element is ouerthrowne the materiall part is abolished and consequently the nature of a Sacrament is ouerturned And touching the vse of a Sacrament there must be an analogy and proportion betweene the signe the thing signified As in Baptisme the element of water washeth and purgeth the bodye so the Holy-Ghost through the blood of Christ cleanseth and sanctifieth the soule Likewise in the Lords Supper as the Substance of bread and wine receiued strengtheneth and comforteth the body so Christ i Ioh. 6 33. receiued by faith nourisheth feedeth the soule The very true principall vse of this Sacrament is to confirme our faith that as surely as those earthly creatures taken and applyed feed our bodies to a bodily life so the body and blood of Christ receiued and applyed by faith feed our soules to eternall life And do not all the faithfull feele a sweete comfort so often as they come to the Lords table by this similitude agreement to consider and know assuredly that as the substance of bread serueth to nourish and doth feede our bodyes so Christ doth feede our soules But if wee must beleeue that the substance of bread and wine is changed cleane gone that nothing remaineth but accidents where is this comfort and consolation How can wee bee assured and strengthened that as our bodies are nourished with the materiall elements so in like manner our soules by feeding on Christ Wherefore while they take away the substance of bread which should nourish the body the nature and vse of the Sacrament is destroyed and wee are spoyled of the comfort of our hearts and strengthning of our faith which wee should haue by this notable comparison and resemblance of the parts So then if wee would receiue comfort in comming to this Communion wee must retaine the substance of the signe as a staffe to stay vp our faith that it do not faile Lastly seeing God giueth vnto vs outward signes of his grace it serueth to teach vs that wheresoeuer and among whomsoeuer God continueth his signes he purposeth to bestow vpon them the things signified by the signes on the other side where God denyeth the meanes he also denyeth the thing wheÌ„ he taketh away the sign he taketh away the grace also This we see in the Turkes and Sarazins because he denyeth vnto them saluation hee taketh from them the seales and assurances of saluation and because he refuseth them to be his Church hee vouchsafeth not vnto them the prerogatiues and priuiledges of his Church Thus it falleth out in the preaching of the word vpon those whom God determineth to saue and to bestow vpon them the guift of faith whereby they are entred into the kingdome of heauen hee sendeth vpon them his word and causeth it to be preached vnto them but when he will not shew mercy but leaue a people in their miserable estate and condition he withdraweth the Ministry from them as we see in the Acts of the Apostles Chap. 16. When they were gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia They were forbidden of the holye Ghost to preach the word in Asia and after they were come to Mysia they assaied to go into Bithinia but the Spirite suffered them not Euen as when God will bring a famine vpon a land he with-holdeth the early and latter raine making the heauen to be as brasse and the earth as iron but when he will send plenty and open the windowes of heauen he sendeth a gracious raine and showers vpon the earth so when he will send a famine not of bread nor a thirst of water but of hearing the word of God hee taketh away his word and the meanes of saluation that they shall wander from sea to sea and runne to and fro to seeke the word of the Lord and shall not finde it but faint for thirst If any aske the question wherfore the Lord forbad Paul to preach the word in Asia and to come into Bythinia we cannot assigne this to be the cause that they were vnworthy to haue the doctrine of saluation offered vnto them forasmuch as they were as worthy as the Macedonians to whoÌ„ the Gospell was preached no more vnworthy then the other Gentiles Neither can we say this was the cause that God foresaw how euery one would receiue or entertaine the Gospel that as he saw them ready and inclined to accept of the word or to reiect it so he vouchsafed or not vouchsafed the same vnto them for hee pronounceth openly that he appeared to them of whom hee was not sought and spake vnto them that neuer asked after him Besides this were to ground the cause of saluation vpon our selues which is out of our selues and to ascribe it to our owne merite which is due onely to his mercy We are all by nature the children of wrath and destitute of the guift of faith if there be any willingnesse in vs to obey it proceedeth from the Spirite of God who as he electeth freely so he calleth freely Now that which is spoken of the preaching of the word may also be applied to the vse of the Sacraments When he purposeth to strengthen the faith which hee hath giuen vnto vs hee vouchsafeth the outward signes and seals of his promises that thereby wee should be assured he meaneth to bestow vpon vs the inward grace represented by them He dealeth iustly and vprightly with vs hee hath no purpose to beguile vs and deceiue vs. For they are no bare or naked much lesse false and lying signes but effectual instruments of the Spirite to conuey the mercies of God in Iesus Christ into our hearts and therefore we must bee carefull to vse them conscionably as certaine pawnes and pledges which God hath commended and committed vnto vs that they might be as witnesses of his loue and fauour towards vs. And thus much of the third outward part to wit the signe CHAP. VII Of the fourth outward part of a Sacrament THe last outward paâ—t of a Sacrament is the a The receiuer is an outward part of the Sacrament receiuer which is as needfull as the outward signe We vnderstand and take heere a receiuer in generall for euery one that commeth to the Sacrament whether good or euill godly or vngodly faithfull or vnfaithfull Such a receiuer is likewise a necessary part of the
vse to be a signe of the cleansing of the soule Bread and wine at mens tables in their houses are set before them for the nourishment of their bodies but at the Lords Table they are ordained of God to an higher and holier vse euen to bee signes of the body and blood of Christ This is noted by the Euangelists and by the Apostle Paul that b Mat. 26 26. Mar. 14 22. Luke 12 19. 1 Cor. 11 24. the Lord Iesus before he brake the bread and gaue it hee blessed and gaue thankes to his Father that hee had appointed him to bee the redeemer of the world and giuen him authority to institute this Sacrament in remembrance of his death and passion For whereas the Euangelist Mathew saith he blessed the other by way of exposition say Hee gaue thankes so that the blessing heere spoken of is Giuing of thankes which also appeareth Luke 9 16. compared with Ioh. 6 11. And the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 4. Euery creature of God is good if it be receiued with thanksgiuing for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer We see then that Consecration is when a thing is separated from a common and ciuill vse to a more speciall vse Iustin in Apol. 2 which is done by the authority of the word and by the vertue of prayer whereby it hath his ful force power and vertue The knowledge of this point serueth to cleere our Vse 1 doctrine to ouerthrow sundry errors of the Church of Rome First it sheweth that we hold and teach a consecration that is a sanctifying of the water in Baptisme and of the bread and wine in the Lords supper by the word by prayer and by thanksgiuing The bread â—â—d wine are changed not in nature but in quality not in substance but in vse not in essence but in the end not by force of certaine words but by Christs institution We acknowledge and confesse a consecration not a conuersion a sanctification of the signes not a transubstantiatioÌ„ of the substance into the body and blood of Christ Hee blessed and praised his Father as Mediator of the Church for the mystery of the redemption of mankinde and he g 1 Cor. 10 16 blessed the creatures that they might bee effectuall signes and serue for the confirmation and increase of our faith Secondly we are taught that consecration is not a bare and historicall reading of the Scripture neither a magical Vse 2 charme and incantation by force of certaine wordes as though these words This is my body being murmured and spoken ouer the bread and This cup is the new testament in my bloud whispered ouer the wine did fully finish a consecration and made the elements to bee immediately changed into the body and blood of Christ without any other obseruing of the institution For the Lord Iesus in pronouncing these words did not speake to the bread or to the wine but to his Apostles And hence it is that the forme of Christs giuing of thankes is not set downe by any Euangelist because our corruption and superstition is so great that if wee had the words we would ascribe power force to the words sillables and letters therfore the manner of his thanksgiuing is pretermitted This inclination of the heart is apparantly seene in the Romish Church who ascribe efficacy operation to the pronouncing of certaine words which is a part of sorcery a point of witchcraft Wheras we auouch that the whol action of taking breaking pouring out distributing eating drinking praying praising and rehearsing the institution of Christ are the consecration that is the separation of these creatures to this vse Thirdly if after the Sacramentall actions if after thanksgiuing to God if after prayer that we may vse the Creatures to the confirmation of our faith there doe follow consecration sanctification and change of the elements to another vse then the power effect and working of the Sacrament dependeth not vpon the intention of the Minister and therefore the h Concil Trident. sess 7. can 11. popish opinion is to bee refused and reproued that holdeth it to bee no Sacrament if the Minister haue not an intent and purpose in the administration thereof at least to do that which the church doth that is to consecrate the elements and to make a Sacrament If his mind bee not on his matters and his heart on his businesse in hand they holde it can be no Sacrament For otherwise saith Bellarmine If a Priest should reade the Gospell at the table of Prelates and religious men and in reading should pronounce these words This is my body this is my bloud then all the bread and wine vpon the Table should bee consecrate and changed into Christs body and blood which is not so because his intent is wanting Againe if a father should leade his son to the bath and there dip him in the water And say I wash thee in the name of the Father and though he think nothing of baptizing him yet it should be baptisme if an intent of baptizing were not required But I would gladly haue him answere this question What if a father should intend Baptisme by dipping his child in the bath whether that were baptisme or not Or suppose the Priest we spake of reading at the Prelates table should haue a minde and meaning to consecrate all the bread and wine vpon the table must it of necessity be a Sacrament and reall change of al Or admit the former Priest being in the saide Prelates wine celler supposing himselfe to bee in the Church and to stand at the Altar should pronounce the words of consecration with a purpose and intent to make a Sacrament should al the wine in that celler be turned into the blood of Christ Or if he being in a Bakers shoppe should there solemnely say This is my body with the foresaide resolution should all that bread be changed into the bodye of Christ Let them speake plainely let them tell vs directly what they hold I thinke they will not say so I am sure it is not so For other things are wanting that are needfull in this matter We haue shewed that a Sacrament is not made by bare pronouncing of certain words ascribing force to them after the manner of enchanters but the whole institution of Christ must be obserued k The Sacrament dependeth not vpon the intention of the Minister there must be distributing and receiuing there must bee prayer and thanksgiuing and from the vse of these followeth Consecration all which are wanting in the former examples and suppositions there is no taking no breaking no distributing no pouring out no receiuing no praying no thanksgiuing Wee see touching the word of God with what intent and vnder what pretence soeuer l Phil. 1 18. Mat. 23 2 3. it be preached if the Minister teach Christ crucified howsoeuer hee bee affected it may haue his effect in the heart and worke faith in the
to God o Reuel 3.15.16 as it is said to the Church of the Laodiceans I know thy workes that thou art neither cold nor hot I would thou werest cold or hot therefore because thou art luke-warme and neither cold nor hot it shall come to passe that I shall spew thee out of my mouth Wherefore let vs not bee discouraged in wel-doing but walking through good report and euill report let vs remember that as Christ is our Lord and Maister so our profession and the Sacraments are our badges Vse 4 Lastly we see what our estate and condition is that we are not our owne but are subiect to Christ to serue him For do we beare his badge Then he is our maister If hee be our Maister Maâ— 1 6. where is the feare and reuerence due vnto him Is it not meete wee should shew our selues thankefull for so great mercies and guifts Were it not intollerable vnthankfulnesse and vnsufferable pride for any man to weare the cognizance of another and yet to scorne his seruice and deny him duty Might not one worthily checke and controule him as Christ did the Iewes who vnwillingly paide such taxes and tributes as were laid vpon them He called for a penny q Mat. 22 19.20 21. and said vnto them Whose image and superscription is this They said vnto him Caesars He answered Giue therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesars and giue to God the things that are Gods So likewise might one say fitly Whose badge wearest thou whose Armes bearest thou on thy sleeue Doth not this put thee in minde of thy state and condition and of the seruice and honour thou owest thy Maister In like manner may it be said to vs Whose badge bearest thou Is it not Christs we are not therefore our owne men as the Apostle reasoneth and concludeth 1 Cor. 6 19 20. Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy-Ghost which is in you whom ye haue of God and ye are not your owne For you are bought with a prâ—ce therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirite for they are Gods So many therefore as come without knowledge and true repentance breake their faith giuen to Christ and betray the body of Christ as much as in them lyeth Wherefore to the right vse and partaking of the Sacraments ther is required the knowledge of God in three persons especially of the person of Christ perfect God and perfect man and of his three offices to saue his people to be their Priest perfectly by sacrifice to reconcile and iustifie them to be their king by the gouernment of his Church to kill sinne in them and to sanctifie them to be their teacher to instruct them in the will of his heauenly Father After these is required true faith and earnest repentance otherwise we cannot receiue r Without faith and repentance we cannot receiue Christ Christ in the Sacraments Put food into the mouth of a dead man it cannot nourish him So if one that is vnworthy and vnfit lying dead and rotting in his sinne do come to the Sacraments certainely they do not giue him life and worthinesse Å¿ 1 Cor. 11 27 29. but such a one doth lade himselfe with a greater burden of sin and punishment as 1 Cor. 11. Whosoeuer shall eate this bread and drinke the cup of the Lord vnworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord he eateth and drinketh his owne iudgment because he discerneth not the Lords body CHAP. XVI Of the number of Sacraments HItherto we haue spoken of the chiefe vses of the Sacraments now we are come to speake a The number of Sacraments of the number of Sacraments according as we take the name and haue declared the nature of them Let vs see then how many such visible signes and seales of spiritual grace in the new Testament were instituted of God to set forth the benefits of Christ for the continuall vse of the Church Many liue in the bosome of the Church heare the word come to publike prayer take themselues to be goodly Christians offer themselues to the Lords-table are made partakers of the SacrameÌ„ts who yet are ignorant how many Sacraments there are and what they are None almost so simple but he can number his sheepe and cattell he knoweth their markes he knoweth their differences but aske him how many commandements of the law how many Articles of faith how many petitions of the Lords prayer or how many Sacraments of the new Testament hee can answere nothing They know no difference betweene commandement commandment betweene the first Table and the second betweene article and article and betweene one petition and another Such haue their wits wholy exercised on the world and on worldly things which iustle out religion and the knowledge of heauenly things If we haue eares to heare let vs heare what is the faith of the Church in this point grounded vpon the infallible rule and rocke of the word of God The Sacraments of the Church ordained by Christ to assure our communion with him are onely two b Christ instituted onely two Sacraments Baptisme whereby wee are receiued into the couenant of God in stead of circumcision and the Lords Supper whereby we are nourished maintained and retained therein in stead of the Passeouer For albeit the couenant be but one yet the scales thereof are two to assure vs that by vnion with Christ we are regenerated and shall bee nourished to eternall life Hee hath deliuered vs a few Sacraments in stead of many he could haue instituted moe if hee had thought it good for the benefit of the Church These are as it were the two eyes whereby we see and behold the promises of God These are as the two hands wherby we after a sort do handle Christ crucified lay holde on the graces of saluation Christ hath appointed no moe Sacraments he hath laide on vs an easie yoke and a light burden That these two are the onely Sacraments of the new Testament may appeare by these reasâ—ns c Reasons why there are only two Sacraments following First Christ taught no more to his Apostles the Apostles deliuered no moe to the Churches the Churches imbraced no moe for many yeares When thâ— Lord Iesus liued on the earth Luke 1 76. and 33. he instituted baptisme by the ministry of Iohn Baptist who as hee was sent to prepare the hearts of the people so he preached the baptisme of repentance Afterward the Lord Iesus establish it with his owne mouth in the commission giuen to his Disciples So he appointed and himselfe first administred his last Supper in remembrance of his death vntill his second comming againe with power great glory These two true Sacraments of the Church to wit baptisme the Lords Supper were instituted and warranted by the mouth of Christ himselfe and none other beside these These we receiue because Christ ordained them other
in what multitudes the people in such dangers resort to the Church some desiring they may be baptized some that they may be reconciled from excommunication some that they may bee admitted to shew their repentance for their open crimes euery man desiring comfort euery man desiring the participation of the Sacrament In which case if there bee no Minister to be had what misery then followeth them that depart this life vnbaptized or bound in their sinnes Heereby hee meaneth the lawfull Minister of the Church inasmuch as hee ioyneth baptisme and reconciliation from the sentence of excommunication together If any man further shall aske the question Question seeing baptisme is limitted and as it were confined vnto the Minister whether baptisme ministred by hereticks bee auaileable or not For many incline to thinke that it is rather good which is ministred of a lay-man being a member of the Church then by him that is an hereticke Answere I answere hereticks are of two sorts some are remoued out of the Church some are tollerated in the Church and suffered to enioy their ministry So long as a Minister that is an hereticke keepeth his place and is not deposed from his function albeit hee should erre in the foundation yet he is a member of the Church though an vnworthy member and a Minister of the Church though an vnworthy Minister If he should depraue the institution and corrupt the essentiall forme which Christ hath appointed inuiolably to be vsed and obserued then were the baptisme void because the forme being changed the thing it selfe is abolished What is to be â—hought of â—he popish Baptisme Hence it is that the Baptisme celebrated in the Church of Rome is true baptisme because albeit the papacy be not the true Church yet the true Church is in the papacy God preseruing the remnants of it in the middest of the bowels of Anti-Christ as God continued light in the middest of the darkenesse of Egypt Baptisme therefore is in the papacy as the purse of a true man in the hand of a theefe or as an honest mans inheritance in the possession of an vsurper And albeit they haue no ministry rightly and lawfully called yet such as occupy the place of Pastors and hold the publike ministry are not to be accounted as priuate persons or meere lay-men and therefore the baptisme performed by them is not voide or of no effect both because they baptize in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy-Ghost not in their owne name and because their ministry is not to be esteemed according to the persons but as seruing to the Church that yet lurketh secretly in the papacy What then Whether we may bring our children to be baptised of popish Priests may such as professe the reformed religion lawfully and with a good conscience offer their children to be baptized of popish Priests and Masse-mongers I answere albeit it be lawfull baptisme which they deliuer it followeth not that they may lawfully deliuer it or we lawfully seeke it at their hands and albeit it be auaileable wheÌ„ it is done yet neither haue they warrant to do it nor wee to goe for it True it is they haue a calling whereby they differ from priuate men but it is so faulty and corrupt that by no meanes we ought to vse it We ought not to do euill that good may come thereof Rom. 3. Rom. 2 8. 1 Thes 5 22. but it becommeth vs to abstaine from all appearance of euill 1 Thes 5 22. We may not by our practise and example allow and iustifie the horrible prophanations of the Sacraments the detestable corruptions of doctrine and the abhominable superstitions vsed in the worship of God and wee are bound and straightly charged to take heed we do not make our selues partakers of other meÌ„s sinnes 1 Tim. 5 22. We must beware we do not offend the weak brother for whom Christ dyed who may be imboldened by our example to approue of the reliques of Anti Christ and in the end to ioyne with that false Church Lastly 2 Cor. 6 14. 1 Ioh. 5.23 wee are commanded to flie from Idols temples to keep our selues from Idols the sheep of Christ heare his voice but the voice of a stranger they wil not hear It is better for vs to defer the baptising of our children theÌ„ to resort to their baptisme blended and mingled with so many toyes and impieties and though our Children in the meane season should dye yet we must comfort our selues in the Lord and lay hold on his couenant who hath promised to be both our God and the God of our seed and remember that it is not the want of the Sacrament that condemneth but the contempt from which we are free so long as we are ready and desirous to haue our children partakers of it when it may bee had orderly rightly and conueniently Obiection 4 The last Obiection deserueth not the name of an obiection much lesse any answere vnto it sauing that the ignorant may stumble at it some great Doctors of the church of Rome labour to add force vnto it and as it were to put life into a dead carkasse For Thomas Aquinas the darling of the Pope the Oracle of Schooles and the God of the Papists Gal. 3.27.23 alledgeth the words of the Apostle Gal. 3. As many as haue beene baptized into Christ haue put on Christ there is in Christ neither male nor female and therefore as wel women as men may baptize Answere I answere this is a most foolish and vnlearned collection and a plaine wresting and straining of the Scripture and therefore no maruaile if the saying of the wise man be verified heerein Surely the churning of milke bringeth forth Butter Prou. 30 33. the wringing of the nose bringeth foorth blood So the forcing of wrath bringeth foorth strife The popish diuinity is full of such conclusions I will giue thee a taste of them and then come to answere the obiection They reason on this manner Christ walked vpon the waters therefore the body of Christ may be shut vp in a piece of bread Peter walked vpon the waters therefore the Bishop of Rome hath authority ouer all Churches The Saints in heauen are like the Angels therefore they heare the prayers of all men Ioseph wrapped the body of Christ in fine linnen therefore the Priest must lay vp the body of Christ in the Altar The women came to the Sepulcher to see Christ therefore we must go on pilgrimage to visite the holy Sepulcher But I will passe ouer these fooleries and come to the place that is obiected The Apostle meaneth that in partaking of saluation there is no difference betweene male and female Iew and Grecian bond and free but there is great difference betweene man and man in the dispensation of the word and Sacraments Againe if this conclusion were necessary then a man might reason against the Apostle In Christ is neither
vouchsafeth to entertaine vs to receiue vs and to acknowledge vs for his children therefore wee must in euery estate depend vpon him honour him as our God serue him as our Maister obey him as our Lorde and looke for saluation from him as from our redeemer Againe as we haue beene baptized not in the name of one person alone not in the name of the Father alone or of the Sonne alone or of the holie Ghost alone but in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost so we must all beleeue and confesse as an article of our faith that the Trinitie in vnity and vnity in Trinitie is to bee worshipped For albeit there are three reckoned vp as speaking of many yet heere is also mentioned their name as speaking onely of one not of their names baptize them in the name of the three persons So many as deny the doctrine of the Trinity are iustly to be condemned of falshood and heresie Such is the Religion of the Iewes Greekes Turks Persians and in some sort the Papistes albeit in wordes these last acknowledge one God in three persons The Greeke Church at this day denieth in effect the God-head of the holy Ghost inasmuch as it holdeth him to proceede from the Father onely The Turks and Iewes do vtterly deny the deity both of the Sonne and of the Holy-Ghost the present Church of Rome more glorious in shew but not much more sound in faith hath defiled the whole Trinity with their Imagerie and set vp a false Christ partly denying him to bee GOD of himselfe and partly repealing all his offices so that howsoeuer they professe him in words and leaue him the name of a Sauiour yet they mâ—ke a mocke of his sacrifice and haue turned Christian religion into Anti-christian superstition Wherefore as we are baptized into the most worthy name of the blessed Trinity let vs hold fast the true profession thereof and renounce al errors and heresies oppugning our holy faith and depriuing vs of the sweet comfort we haue therein Vse 3 Thirdly are these words of institution baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost the outward forme of baptisme Then we hold that manner of baptizing must be retained this ought not to be changed no other ought to be vsed then this prescribed by Christ our Sauiour We must not therefore let passe or leaue out any of the three persons in Trinity as some hereticks haue done though we shal vnderstand the other by naming and speaking of one Obiection If any say that the Apostles baptized in the name of Christ as Act. 2.38 and chap. 10 48. Answere and 19 5. To this obiection I answere the Apostles do not set downe in those places the forme of baptisme or the words of institution but the substance and end which is to assure remission of sinnes in the name of Christ They shew not the forme but the fruite not how it should bee ministred but what spirituall grace is signified thereby For why should the disciples change the ordinance of their maister who deliuered nothing to the Churches but what d 1 Cor. 11 23 they receiued of the Lord Againe it cannot be denyed but that the Apostles e Act. 10 47. and 15 2. baptized in this forme in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy-Ghost as Acts 10 ver 47. Can any forbid water that these should not be baptized which haue receiued the holy-Ghost as wel as we As if he should say these haue receiued the guifts of the Holy-Ghost therfore they may be baptized in the name of the Holy-Ghost And more plainely Act. 19. when the Disciples had answered Paul that they knew not whether there were an Holy-Ghost he saith Vnto what were yee then baptized Whereby he sheweth it was the manner and custome to baptize in the name of the Holy-Ghost and consequently of the whole Trinity The Euangelists also teach that at the baptisme of Iohn the Father Sonne and Holy-Ghost were present And as he baptized with the same matter why should we imagine hee obserued not the same forme that Christ commanded expresly to his Apostles Nay seeing in the baptisme of Iohn we haue proued there was the same promise the same grace the same vertue the same signe the same signification which was in the baptisme of the Apostles as we haue proued before why shold we only doubt of the words of institution Or why should we imagine that the forme should be altered and changed Wherefore we conclude that the Apostles would not alter any thing of the direct and expresse words of their Lord Maister f Mat. 28.19 prescribed Math. 28. where he chargeth them both what to preach and how to baptize For as he enioyneth them to teach the Nations to obserue whatsoeuer he commanded them so he willeth them to baptize in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the Holy-Ghost And as they altered nothing in the matter of teaching no more did they in the maner of baptizing considering that as the doctrine they preached was the doctrine of God so the Sacraments they deliuered were the SacrameÌ„ts of God and they had no more leaue in the one then liberty in the other If then any should baptize otherwise then in the name of the Trinity or should name the Sonne to be vnequall to the Father or should deny the proceeding of the Holy-Ghost or should baptize in the name of the Virgin Mary and the Saints this cannot be the Sacrament of Baptisme instituted by Christ but a ceremony made void and frustrate by our owne inuentions CHAP. V. Of the third outward part of Baptisme THe third outward part of Baptisme a Water another outward part of Baptisme is the element of water which is the matter whereof baptisme consisteth This truth is taught in diuers places of the new b Mat. 3 â— Iohn 1 31 33. Testament as Math. 3 9. Indeede I baptize with water And Ioh. 1 Because he should be declared to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with water I knew him not but he that sent mee to baptize with water he saide vnto me vpon whom thou shalt see the spirit come downe and tarry still on him that is hee which baptizeth with the holy Ghost So Acts 8 36. As they went on their way they came vnto a certaine water and the Eunuch sayde See heere is water what doth let me to be baptized Then hee commanded the Chariot to stand stâ—ll and they went downe both vnto the water both Phillip and the Eunuch and hee baptized him And Chap. 10. Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized which haue receyued the holy Ghost as well as wee Nothing is so apt to set forth the bloode of Christ and his merits as water which is fit to clense and wash and leaueth no filth behinde vpon the body by which
as Christ sometimes did to that slothfull person c Luk. 19 12. Thou euill seruant out of thine owne mouth will I iudge thee These make three sorts of baptisme of water of blood of the Spirit whereby they confesse that the want of baptizing with water is not damnable in al seeing that want may be supplyed either with shedding of their blood for testimony of the truth or by spiritual regeneration ingrafting into the body of Christ To conclude do we desire the custome and practise of the Church It is well knowne that in Thessalia d Socra lib. 5. cap. 22. Bellar. de sacra bap cap. 26. the Sacrament of baptisme was celebrated but once in the yeare namely at Easter In other places thrice in the yeare and sometimes not vntill the houre of their death when they were going the way of all flesh Constantine the great was the first christian Emperor that reformed the Church yet he was not baptized till e Tripart hist lib. 3 câ—p 12. the time of his death And Valentinianus a christian Emperor died without baptisme yet doth Ambrose giue him his due commendation f Orat. de obit Valentâ—n and doubted nothing of his saluation Shal we do these good men these worthy Emperors these godly Christians this wrong as to thinke they were damned who were the chiefe pillars and protectors of the true Christian and Catholike religion Or if the Churches aboue mentioned had holden this hard opinion that the want of baptisme was a signe of reprobation would they haue deferred it in the houre of death whereby sometimes they were preuented or administred it at certaine times onely of the yeare True it is that custome is not to be followed neither the negligeÌ„ce of those Bishops to be allowed but it teacheth thus much that in deferring baptisme they differed in iudgement from the now-Church of Rome and concurred in opinion with the reformed Churches for which causes their practise is alledged The reasons vsed to maintain the absolute necessity of this Sacrament to saluation are weak not worth the answering First they obiect g Gen. 17 14. Obiection Answere the threatning annexed to circumcision The vncircumcised male shal be cut off froÌ„ his people To this I answere first God commandeth infants to be circumcised the eight day before which time they were forbidden to circumcise Wherfore infants that dy before the 8. day were not bound and obliged by this law And seeing there h Rom. 5 13. can be no transgression where there is no law they are not damnd because they are vncircumcised seeing God called many out of this life before they were capable of this Sacrament Againe the commination and threatning is not to bee vnderstood generally of all but of such as are growne vp not of children but of men as appeareth by the reason For he hath broke my couenant This cannot be applyed to infants i Caietan in cap. 7. Genes who albeit they haue not actuall faith yet cannot be said to contemne grace to refuse the couenant to reiect the promises or to lye in infidelity and hardnesse of heart Wherefore it belongeth vnto those onely that being growne vp and come to yeares shall approue the negligence of their parents and will not suffer themselues to be circumcised Therefore the childe of Moses whose circumcision was through negligence deferred was not punished but the fault was imputed vnto Moseâ— himselfe Exod. 4 24. Now as to Peter saying Thou shalt k â—â—hn 13 8. neuer wash my feet Christ answered If I wash thee not thou hast no part in me so to the Israelite that should haue saide I will neuer be circumcised this threatning might fitly be applyed If thou wilt not be circumcised thou hast no part in God no portion in his blessing no assurance of his promises in this life or of his kingdome in the life to come Lastly to be cut off from the people doth not signifie to be condemned for euen the negligence and contempt of the Sacrament is pardonable where repentance followeth as we see of such as came vnreuerently and vnworthily to the Lords Supper among the Corinthians l 1 Cor. 11 30 31. who were punished with diseases and death it selfe yet the soule no doubt was saued in the day of the Lord. Sometime therefore that phrase of speaking signifieth temporall iudgements of God on men their families m Psal 55 24. for their wickednes Sometimes it signifieth the Magistrates iustice inflicted on malefactors n Deut. 13 59 who beareth not the sword in vaine which is expounded afterward Thou shalt surely kill him Sometimes it signifieth to be cut off from the bosome of the Church o Exod. 12 15 19. which is done by the high and dreadfull censure of excommunication Whosoeuer eateth leauened bread from the first day vntill the seauenth day that person shall be cut off from Israell the interpretation of which words is added verse 19. That person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israell So the Apostle speaketh 1 Cor. 5. Hee which hath done this thing should be p 1 Cor. 5 2.13 put from among you that is from your company fellowship as verse 13. Put away from among your selues that wicked man Thus wee are to vnderstand the threatning in this place that such as contemne circumcision eyther themselues or allow the same contempt and negligence of others shall no longer bee reckoned and reputed among the people of God but be separated from them and to be as an heathen and a publican Againe q Ioh. 3 5. they obiect Iohn 3. Obiection 2 Vnlesse a man be borne of water and the Spirite hee cannot enter into the kingdome of God therefore say they it is necessary to saluation to be baptized This is the reason of r Bellar. lib 1 de bapt ca. 4. Bellarmine and Å¿ Hosij confess cap. 35. Answere of others I answere first it is not necessary in this place by water to vnderstand materiall water but the grace of Christ purging and cleansing as water doth which interpretation may be gathered by conference of a like place Math. 3.11 He shall baptise t Ioh 3 11. with the Holy-Ghost and with fire that is by the Spirite of God which is as it were fire lightening our hearts with the knowledge of God inflaming them with his loue and purging them from euill affections So when wee are saide to be borne againe by water and the Spirite he meaneth by the Spirite shewing forth in vs the force power and property of water as if he should say we are borne of water which is the Spirite u Ioh. 7 38 39 4.21 as Ioh. 7 38 39. Againe if it were ment of water in baptisme it must be vnderstood according to a like a Ioh. 6 53. sentence Ioh. 6. Vnlesse you eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud yee shall not
as the Lord our God shall call Obiection Answere Neuerthelesse will some say we reade not directly that any infants were heere baptized in these places But do we reade that any were excluded And seeing the scripture expresseth all the houshold who shall dare to debar infants Are not they a principal part of the house Besides if the baptisme of children be not to be beleeued because it is not named and expressed wee might with as good reason shut out women from the Lords Supper if any were as great an enemy to the communicating of women as many are to the baptizing of Children seeing we do not expresly reade that they were admitted to the Lords table in the Apostles times Besides by like reason we may say that the Apostles were not baptized because we do not reade it But the argument is weake and nothing worth to argue from not written to not done forasmuch as many things were done which are not written Iohn 20.30 and 21 25. Wherefore childrens baptisme is no humane tradition no apish imitation no ancient corruption of this Sacrament but is grounded on the vnblameable practise of the Apostles which hath the force and strength of a coÌ„mandement Thirdly Christ by his owne example alloweth and approueth their baptisme as we see Mar. 10. when the Disciples rebuked those that brought little children to Christ that he might touch them he said o Mar. 10 13 14 15. Suffer little children to come vnto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdome of God verily I say vnto yâ—u whosoeuer shall not receiue the kingdom of God as a little child he shall not enter therein Where we are to obserue that he saith not of these only is the kingdome of heauen but of such like infants which shall be in al ages and times of the Church In this act of Christ embracing the Infants brought vnto him and sharply rebuking his Disciples that forbad them we are to consider that he commandeth children to be brought vnto him addeth a reason To such belongeth the kingdome of heauen If any obiect Obiection It is said he imbraced them it is not said he baptized them or if any reply and say that there is no agreement and resemblance betweene baptizing and imbracing I answere Answere he layeth his hands vpon them he prayeth for them hee commendeth them to his Father and saith The kingdome of heauen is theirs All this is a great deale more then to giue them the outward signe For if reason require they should bee brought to Christ why should they not bee receiued to baptisme which is a signe of our vnion with Christ If the kingdome of heauen belong vnto them why should the signe be denied vnto them whereby the doore of entrance into the church is opened Why should we driue them away from Christ whom Christ calleth himselfe Neither let any say these children were of yeares growne vp in age able of themselues to come and repaire to Christ For the Euangelist vseth such * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words as signifie such young Infants as are babes and hang vpon their mothers breasts p Luk 2 12.16 and 1.44 therefore by comming in this place he meaneth to draw neere or to haue accesse Againe they were such as were brought to Christ by q Luk. 18 15. others Luk. 18.15 they were caried in their armes they walked not on their feete and Christ also tooke them in his owne armes Besides heereto agreeth the practise and custome of the primitiue church for no Teacher so profound no Doctor so learned no Writer so ancient which doth not refer the beginning heereof to the r Orig. lib. 5. comment ad Rom. Hieron in fine lib. 3. contra Pelag. August de bap paruuâ— cap. 20. libri de Origen animae precise times of the Apostles Let the Anabaptists and aduersaries of this truth tell vs who was the first author and inuenter of childrens baptisme if they refer it not to Christ who first administred it What was his name if they can tell let them not hide it Let them declare the time when it began Let them shew the place where it was deuised Let them name the childe first baptized and in what assembly or church it was If they cannot do these or any of them let them acknowledge the baptisme of children to be the ordinance of God and not of man warranted both by doctrine of the Scripture and practise of the church Moreouer if there were no writer to auouch this ancient truth yet is it in it selfe very right and reasonable For do we not see and behold daily very babes and infants Å¿ ChildreÌ„ admitted to câ—ppi holds by custoâ—e of the Mâ—nour among men oftentimes among men admitted to their inheritance haue they not liuery and season of land and haue they not the wand or turfe taken into their hands according to the vse of the country or custome of the Manour of which they holde They know not what is done they perceiue nothing what the Lord of the Manour or stewarde speaketh vnto them yet we see among the wisest men in this world this is not thought foolish neither is such an admission called into question but they are afterward instructed what they haue done what they haue vndertaken taken vpon them what seruices and duties they owe what their Lord requireth of them and how they hold their lands Thus they are admitted in their infancy to a temporall inheritance and possession this they hold to the ende of their life and of the validity of such entrance no tenant maketh doubt Why then should it seeme vnreasonable to giue them baptisme the signe of the couenant beeing borne heires of the promise that after they come to discretion they may make vse of it as the rest of the members of the Church They shall vnderstand afterward that which they vnderstand not for the present yet if it please God to take them in mercy to himselfe from the miseries of the world before they know the mystery of their baptisme he worketh extraordinarily by waies best knowne to himselfe the force of their baptisme in their hearts and sealeth vp their engrafting into Christ Iesus If then children haue the white wand deliuered vnto them to assure them of the inheritance which they hold let none deny vnto them the partaking of this Sacrament whereby they are assured of an eternal inheritance howsoeuer for the present time they are not capable of the knowledge thereof Lastly the priuiledges and prerogatiues of children are no lesse then those of elder yeares For infants are a part of the Church of God t Children are Christs sheepe and members of his body they are the sheepe of Christ they are the children of the heauenly Father they are inheritors of the kingdome of heauen they are redeemed with the blood of Christ and engrafted into his body why then should they not beare the marke
of Christ seeing they are a principall part of his possession If they be a part of the houshold they ought to haue entrance into the house if they belong to the Citty of God who shall dare to shut the gates against them Or if they bee in the number of the sheepe of Christ who shal presume to keepe them from the sheepefold Or if they be sound members of the body of Christ who shall cut them off as rotten members Wherefore then u Gen. 17 7. Acts 2 39. 1. Cor 7 14. should they not receiue the seale whereby the promise is confirmed vnto them seeing they haue the promise it selfe of saluation Why should they not bee partakers of the outward signe a Mat. 19 14. seeing they are partakers of the thing signified Why should they be put backe from the figure seeing they haue the truth it selfe Why should they not be partakers of the Sacrament with the faithfull seeing they are enrolled in the fellowship of the faithfull And who shall depriue them of the seale of the couenant seeing they are partakers of regeneration and remission of sinnes Heereupon thus we reason whosoeuer are in the couenant and Church of God vnto them belongeth baptisme which is the seale of the couenant but Infants are in the Couenant and of the Church therefore to them belongeth baptisme which is the seale of the Couenant Againe to whome the promise appertaineth they may and ought to bee baptized but the promise was made euen to Infants therefore they may and ought to be baptized Furthermore to whom forgiuenesse of sinnes and the Holy-Ghost are promised and giuen they ought by no meanes to be denied the outward signe but forgiuenesse of sinnes and the Holy-Ghost are promised to Infants and giuen vnto them therefore infants ought not to be kept from the element of water no more then such as are of yeares of discretion Thus much of the first point putting Children into the right and possession of Baptisme as if it were the right heires into their inheritance from which they haue beene wrongfully and vniustly dispossessed Hauing now sufficiently proued by the Scripture that children are to be baptized it remaineth that we should maintaine this assertion against b Obiections of Anabaptists impugning childrens baptisme anâ—wered the cauils of the Anabaptists For as the former reasons grounded vpon the euident demonstration of the worde as vpon a pillar that cannot be shaken may perswade vs to embrace the truth so the weakenesse and sophistry which appeareth in the Obiections of the aduersaries serueth to confirme vs in this perswasion But let vs examine what is the strength of them First they obiect Obiection it was neuer commanded that Infants should be baptized I answere Answere vnblameable examples practises not contradicted are in the nature of precepts Againe the will of God approuing and appointing childrens baptisme appeareth c Col. 2 11.12 in that it came in place of circumcision Baptisme is our circumcision Besides we d Mat. 28 19. 1 Cor. 10 1 2. haue a generall commandement Go teach all nations and baptize them And the apostle saith all were baptized in the cloud and in the sea and he comprehendeth the whole Church when hee saith it was clensed with the washing of water Ephesians 5. verse 26. Christ saith all nations the Apostle saith all the Israelites let them shew where infants are excepted and exempted for we hold this as a certaine principle that a general commandement includeth the particular and comprehendeth the same vnder it as well as if it were by name expressed Secondly they obiect if infants may be baptized Obiection then they may be admitted to the Lords Supper for why should not the Supper be giuen to the whole church as wel as baptisme I answere Answere there is not the like reason and respect of both There is great difference betweene these two Sacraments For baptisme is a signe of our entrance and receiuing into the church so that the Supper is to be granted to none but to such as are baptized and are fit to beâ—r strong meat being instituted for our confirmation and sealing vnto vs that God hauing once receiued vs into the Church wil also euermore preserue vs in it that we neuer fall from it nor forsake it and will nourish and châ—â—â—sh vs by the body and blood of Christ Wherfore the Lord Iesus to shew that his Supper was not for children but for men would not administer it in the element of milke which is for infants and for new borne babes but in bread and wine which are for strong men that are of age Againe sundry conditions and considerations are required in the supper which debar yong infants that although they are to be baptized yet they ought not to be admitted to the Lords supper seeing by their young yeares they are excluded For it is required of all those that come to this supper e 1 Cor. 11.26 28 29. to shew foorth the Lords death to discerne the body and blood of Christ and try themselues whether they haue faith and repentance But infants cannot doe these things they cannot shew forth the Lords death they are not apt to discerne his body and blood they are not able to examine themselues and therefore infants for good causes are excluded from this Supper If any say Is this a good reason the promise doth belong to infants and therefore the Sacrament of Baptisme Then why may not the Lords Supper be as well giuen vnto them vpon the same ground This will not follow howsoeuer some of the ancient Fathers were of that opinion Cyprian Ser. 5. de laps August de eccl dogm cap. 52. Ioh. 6 6 5â— applying this Scripture to their purpose Ioh. 6 53. Except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood yee haue no life in you But this place is to be vnderstood of spirituall eating by faith not of the Sacramentall eating as wee shall shew in the next booke They were therefore deceiued that thought the Supper of the Lord did belong to infants And touching this consequence The promise of grace belongeth to children Therefore the outward signe of the Sacrament it is true being rightly vnderstood to wit according to the limitation and the appointment of God proper to euery Sacrament who hath ordained that the Sacrament of entrance should be receiued both of men and children Gen. 17. howbeit only the males in the old Testament and not before the eight day but in the new Testament both of male and female without restraint of time And touching the Supper of the Lord which is the Sacrament of our norishment it can appertaine to those onely that are come to yeares of discretion first because the end thereof is to shew the Lords death vntill he come 1 Cor. 11 26. 1 Cor. 11 28. Secondly because euery one that commeth vnto it is commanded to examine himselfe Mat. 26 26.
owne hearts so often as we see it administred let vs not rest in it as in a worke done to another and nothing concerning our selues but euermore helpe our inward affection by the outward action and alwayes as the eye of the body beholdeth the Minister let the eye of our faith be fastened â—iâ—mely vpon the Father who maketh the Sacramentall rites auaileable which are openly done before vs for our edification Vse 2 Againe it teacheth that we must not rest in the outward washing not in the externall actions of the Minister but euer consider what is offered to our considerations therin and when the Father offereth to vs his Sonne let vs not refuse him For he that satisfieth himselfe with the outward worke is as he that catcheth after the shaddow and regardeth not the substance or as one that maketh much of the garmeÌ„ts but respecteth little the body it selfe which ought to be had in greatest price and estimation The Minister taketh the water and washeth the bodye which is a pledge of a farther thing for then doth the Father apply the promise of remission of sinnes and life euerlasting to the person baptized as if he should speake with a loud voice and call the party by his name while the outward signe is powred on the body I freely wash away thy sinnes and giue vnto thee the pardon of them and bestow vpon thee eternall life so that thou turne vnto me and beleeue in Christ thy Sauiour Let vs then as true beleeuers by a speâ—iall faith reâ—eiue and apprehend his mercifull promises and rest in them Let this cause vs to turne vnto him by vnfained repentance and to walke with all obedience in his waies Seeing therefore he doth so graâ—iously assure vs of his great mercies with his owne hand seale woe vnto vs if we be not muâ—h moued and affected with it Vse 3 Lastly is God the Father an inward part of baptisme Then we must take heed wee giue not that to the Minister which is proper to God the Father whereby he iâ—â—obbed of the honour and glory due to his great name The Minister may wash the body and cleanse the flesh but can goe no further he medleth not with sanctification of the conscience from dead workes which is not in the power of mortall man to do so that God giueth the thing and men giue the signe yea while the Minister ofâ—â—eth the one God the Father giueth the other CHAP. IX Of the second inward part of Baptisme THe second inward part of baptisme a The second inward part of baptisme iâ— the holy Spirite is the Spirite of God hauing relation to the word and promise of God Thiâ— b Mat. 3 11.10 appeareth Mat. 3 11. He baptiâ—eth with the Holy Ghost and with fire And verse 10. When Christ waâ— baptized the heauenâ— were opened vnto him and he saw the Spirit descending like a Doue and lighting vpon him So the apostle 1 Cor. 6. saith Ye are washed ye are sanâ—tified ye are iustâ—fied in the name of the Lord Iesus and by the Spirit of our God And chap. 12. of the same Epistle By one Spirite wee are all baptiâ—ed into one body whether we be Iewes or Grâ—eâ—ianâ— whether we be bond or free and haue beene all made to drinke into one Spirite And Tit. 3. According to his mercy he saued vs by the washing of the new both and the renewing of the Holy-Ghost which he shed on vs aboundantly through Iesus Christ our Sauiour All these testimonie teach vs that the holy Spirite of God iâ— a necessary inward part of this Sacrament and that the baptisme of the Spirite ioyned to the word giueth force vnto it who worketh in our souleâ— that which water doth in our bodies so that without the Spirite it is nothing From hence we learne that it is not the dipping of vs Vse 1 into or the sprinkling of vs with water by the Minister that maketh vs partakers of Christ but it commeth from the vertue of the Spirite who in time performeth what is represented by outward signes and promised by the word Againe we learne heereby that the Spirite is true God Vse 2 equall with the Father and the Sonne For who is able to make the word and Sacraments auaileable but onely God Seeing then this is the proper worke of the Holy-Ghost to open the heart to teach the conscience to seale vp to the day of redemption and to helpe our infirmities in hearing in praying and receiuing the Sacraments hee must needs be acknowledged to be true God the c 1 Cor. 12 4.5 8 9 10 11. Reuel 1 4. giuer of these graces So we see that in the forme of the administration of this Sacrament the blessed Spirite is named and rehearsed d Mat. 28 19. and hath his order together with the Father and the Sonne This therefore is a principle of our faith to be learned confessed and beleeued Vse 3 Thirdly we are heereby to take heede and beware that we giue not to the word that which is proper to the Spirit he ingrafteth vs into Christ he keepeth vs that we fall not from Christ he maketh the word and promise of the institution profitable vnto vs without whom it should be vnto vs as sounding brasse or a tinckeling Cymball Wherefore as GOD the Father in mercy maketh the promise so his Spirite must assure it to the Consciences of all the faithfull Vse 4 Lastly let vs learne whensoeuer we come to the word or Sacraments to craue the gracious assistance of the blessed Spirit to guide direct and regenerate vs to eternall life to sanctifie vs e 1 Ioh. 5 7. and to assure vs of Gods endlesse fauour in Christ Iesus as 1. Ioh. 5. There be three which beare witnesse in heauen the Father the Word and the holy Sp rit and these three are one The Holy-Ghost by his grace and vertue worketh in vs stedfastly to beleeue the truth of Gods word and the gracious promises of saluation as he is the author beginner and begetter of faith in vs so he increaseth it maketh vs fit to receiue Christ and to apply him with all his guifts vnto our soules and sendeth vs into the full fruition and possession of Christ He is our comforter to certifie vs of our reconciliation to God and to make vs reioyce vnder the Crosse knowing that f RoÌ„ 5 3 4 5. tribulation bringeth foorth patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the loue of God is shedde abroad in our hearts by the Holy-Ghost which is giuen vnto vs. He is the earnest and seale of our inheritance by whom wee are sealed vp to euerlasting life Thus we see that howsoeuer the increase and strength of faith is assigned to the Sacraments yet this grace proceedeth from the Holy-Gkost who is vnto our faith as marow vnto the bones as moysture vnto the tree and as a coÌ„fortable raine vnto the fruites of the
earth If this inward maister and teacher be wanting the Sacraments g The Sacraments profit not without the Spirit can work no more in our mindes then if the bright Sun should shine to the blinde eyes or a loud voice sound in deafe eares or fruitefull corne fall into the barren wildernes or a shower of raine fall vpon the hard stones Wherefore least the word of saluation should sound in our eares in vaine and Sacraments ioyned to the word should bee present before our eyes in vaine the Spirit worketh in vs whensoeuer we come vnto them aright he mollifieth the hardnesse of our hearts he frameth vs to new obedience and assureth vs that God offereth to vs his owne Sonne for our iustification and saluation For euen as the seede that falleth into a barren soile dyeth and rotteth yet if it be sowne in fruitfull ground wel tilled and manured it bringeth forth good increase with gaine and aduantage so likewise the word and the Sacraments if they hit vpon an hard necke and fall into a barren heart become vnprofitable and vnfruitefull but if the effectuall worke of the Spirite accompanieth the hearing of the one and receiuing of the other they are profitable auaileable and comfortable Thus much of the second part CHAP. X. Of the third inward part of baptisme THe third inward part of baptisme a The third inward part of baptisme is Christ Iesus is Christ represented and signified by the water For as the Apostle teacheth b Heb. 10 4. That the blood of buls and calues cannot take away sin so the water in baptisme cannot wash away sinnes It toucheth the body washeth it cleanseth and purgeth it but it can proceed no further Nay al the water in the riuers and in the Sea cannot scowre and make clean the conscience it is another water euen the Spirit that must do it Hence it is Ier. 2 22 that the Lord saith by his Prophet Ieremy chap. 2. Though thou wash thee with nitre and take thee much sope yet thine iniquity is marked before me saith the Lord. To this purpose speaketh Iob Iob. 9 30.31 chap. 9. If I wash my selfe with snow-water and make my hands neuer so cleane yet shalt thou plunge me in the Ditch and mine owne clothes shall abhorre me It is not therefore the outward water but the inward water that auaileth vs. For this c Act. 2 38. 10 â—8 19 5 cause the beleeuers are said to bee baptized in the name of Christ as Act. 2 38. Be baptized euery one of you in the name of Christ So chap. 19 5. They were baptized in the name of the Lord Iesus Not meaning heereby the forme and manner of baptizing but the fruit foundation and end of baptisme Likewise d 1 Pet. 3 21. the Apostle sheweth the same 1. Pet. 3 21. Baptisme answering to the figure of the Arke saueth vs by the resurrection of Iesus Christ There is no force in outward baptisme to saue the whole vertue and force floweth from the streame of Christs blood as the true materiall cause thereof wherein the power of inward baptisme doth consist The truth beeing euident that the pouring out of the blood of CHRIST is one of the inward partes of Baptisme let vs see the vses Vse 1 The vse of this part teacheth diuers points First that the outward washing with water is not the washing away of sins for theÌ„ whosoeuer were dipped in it should receiue forgiuenesse of sinnes repentance from dead workes and sanctification of the Spirit whether he beleeued or not e Acts 8.22 which is otherwise as we see Acts 8 22. Also they should not and could not be Christians and eternally saued which are not outwardly washed but departing this life without baptisme they should perish in the next world without redresse or redemptioÌ„ and so our condition were worse then the Iewes their condition in times past and the grace of God more restrained vnder the Gospell then it was vnder the law Moses offering more mercy then Christ himselfe So then the washing with water serueth to ratifie the shedding of Christs blood for the remission of our sinnes and the imputation of his righteousnesse to our iustification f 1 Ioh. 1 7. as 1. Ioh. 1 7. The blood of Iesus Christ his Sonne doth cleanse vs from all sinne So Reuel 1 5. He hath loued vs and washed vs from our sinnes in his blood and made vs Kings and Priestes vnto God euen his Father And Col. 1 14. the apostle saith In him we haue redemption by hâ—s blood that is forgiuenesse of sinnes Againe when we see with our bodily eyes the water Vse 2 poured vpon the body of the baptized wee must behold and consider with the eyes of faith the blotting out of all our sinnes as well originall as actuall as well after baptisme as before baptisme by the precious blood of Christ that we may assure our selues it is no idle action For we must not behold the Sacramentall rites as certaine dumbe gestures or stage-like shewes without substance and signification but we must make them serue to further our faith and edification or else we do horribly abuse them to the great dishonour of God and to the fearefull destruction of our owne soules Lastly it teacheth vs not to be led by the outward senses Vse 3 to measure the truth or to iudge of the substance of baptisme by the outward signe and visible parts but to haue our faith fixed on Christ crucified on the Crosse and signified in baptisme The Infidell seeing children solemnly baptized in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the Holy-Ghost will rashly and ignorantly coniecture nothing to be there but naked rites and bare water but the faithfull and true Christian doth behold the washing of the soule and cleansing of the heart by the dearest blood of Christ So in the Lords Supper to the vnbeleeuer appeareth nothing but Bread and Wine because we see with our eies wee receiue with our hands wee taste with our mouth no more but the beleeuer knoweth that together with these signes God the Father offereth the body and blood of his Sonne to be spiritually receiued and digested Euen as he that is vnlettered and vnlearned if he looke g Esa 29 11 12. vpon the face of a booke beholdeth onely blacke colours and spots vpon the Paper seeth certaine figures and characters of Letters differing each from other but cannot reade the writing or comprehend the meaning but he that hath learned his Letters and is able to reade them reapeth great profite and instruction thereby So is it in the Sacraments He that resteth in the outward signe deceiueth himselfe but hee that respecteth the thing signified receiueth the profit and aduantage The Crosse of Christ and preaching of the Gospel h 1 Cor. 1 23.24 are a stumbling blocke to the Iewes and foolishnesse to the Graecians For the Infidell hearing that Christ was crucified
and nailed vpon the Crosse is offended at him accounting it a foolish and weake meanes to saue mankinde that life should spring out of death glory come out of shame power proceed out of weakenesse and triumphant victory arise out of his contemptible sufferings but the faithfull soule acknowledgeth in this mystery of godlines the high hand and vnsearchable wisedome of God It may seeme ridiculous vnto some men i Gen. 17 10. that God should require circumcision of Abraham and of his houshold young olde bond and free maister and seruants to vncouer all their shames and to open the hidden parts of nature yet Abraham submitted himselfe to the ordinance of God Naaman the Syrian thought it a toyish precept and prescript when he was bidden to wash himselfe seauen times in Iordan hauing many Riuers in his owne country as good as that yet by k 2 Kings 5 11 12 14. obeying the Prophet he was cleansed of his leprosie The inhabitants of Iericho scorned Ioshua and the men of Israell when they saw them compasse their Citty strong walled l Iosh 6.20 and to blow with their Rammes hornes yet by this weake meanes the wall fell downe the enemies were destroyed the Citty was sacked and the people of GOD preuailed Christ seeing a blinde man and willing to heale him he spat on the ground m Ioh. 9 6. and made clay of spittle and annointed the eyes of the blinde with the clay and said vnto him Go wash in the poole of Siloam he obeyed he went he washed he returned seeing Thus doth God by simple base and weak things oftentimes confound the mighty strong and wise of the world that no flesh should reioyce in his presence and crosseth all the high conceits and proud imaginations of mans wil and wit Wherefore we must not follow our owne vnderstanding nor measure the matters of God by the crooked rule of our carnall reason Whosoeuer will yeeld obedience to God must deny himselfe and renounce his owne wisedom n 1 Cor. 3 18.19 and become a foole that he may be wise in God as 1. cor 3. Let no man deceiue himselfe if any man among you seeme to be wise in this world let him be a foole that he may be wise for the wisedome of this world is foolishnesse with God Thus we see that in the Sacraments we must vnderstand more then we see and beleeue more then we can behold Such as are without knowledge and faith comprehend no more of baptisme then the bodily eye directeth them vnto but the faithful conceiue the blood of Christ to be offered to purge the soule and conscience from all sinne o Gen. 2 10. as the riuer watered the garden of Eden CHAP. XI Of the fourth inward part of baptisme THe last inward part of baptisme is the soule a The soule clensed is the last inward part of baptisme cleansed most liuely represented by the bodye that is washed For as the outward receiuer giueth his body to be washed so the faithfull receiuer doth consecrate himselfe to God with ioy and forsake the flesh the world and the Diuell and feeleth the inward washing of the Spirit as Titus 3 5. According to his b Tit. 3 5. Eph. 2 26 27 mercy he saued vs by the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy-Ghost And the same apostle Eph. 5. Christ gaue himselfe for the Church that hee might sanctifie it and cleanse it by washing of water through the word that he might make it vnto himselfe a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinkle Wherefore this outward washing of the body commanded by Christ signifieth vnto me that I am no lesse assuredly cleansed in his blood by the working of his Spirit from the spots of my soule that is from all my sins then I am outwardly washed by water whereby the staines of the body vse to be washed away and it bindeth vs that we ought euer afterward by our workes and deeds to declare newnes of life and fruites of repentance Vse 1 Let vs now come to the vses of this last part of baptisme Doth the washing of the body represent the clensing of the soule And doth the soking vp of the filthines of the flesh signifie the remouing of the remnants of rebellion Then we are all by nature vnwise vncleane vnrighteous vnregenerate vnholy disobedient disordered deceiuing and being deceiued we are the vessels of wrath the children of death the bond-slaues of Sathan the heires of damnation we haue our part and portion in the offence of Adam c Rom. 5 10. 7 23 24. as Rom. 5. By one man sin entred into the world and ch 7. I see another law in my members rebelling against the law of my mind and leading me captiue vnto the law of sin which is in my mēbers O wretched man that I am who shal deliuer me from the body of this death Hereunto also commeth that which the d Ioh 3 5 6 7. Euangelist setteth downe in the conference betweene Christ and Nicodemus Ioh. 3. That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is borne of the Spirit is Spirit maruell not that I said vnto thee ye must be borne againe For this cause are infants baptized because they are conceiued in sin borne in iniquity and cannot become spiritual but by a new birth wrought by the Spirit which is sealed vp by the water in baptisme Vse 2 Againe this serueth to strengthen our faith whē we behold the outward washing pouring out of the water and baptizing of the body it assureth the inward clensing of the soule by the blood of Christ offered to all and receiued of those that are elected to eternall saluation This then is the right and holy vse of baptisme Doest thou feele inwardly in thine heart that through the corruption of thy nature strength of concupiscence thou art moued tempted and prouoked to commit sin And doost thou feele thy selfe ready to yeeld to Sathan and so to fall from God into euill Begin to haue some holy meditation of that solemne vow which thou madest to God in baptisme when thou diddest consecrate and giue vp thy selfe wholy to his seruice and didst renounce obedience to the suggestions of Sathan to the allurements of the world and to the corruptions of the flesh For baptisme is the e Baptisme is a Christian mans ensigne to fight vnder it the battels of the Lord. Christian mans ensigne giuen of God to vs that we should fight as it were vnder it against al the enemies of our saluation ouercome It is the badge and banner of our Captaine that we shrouding our selues vnder his colours should not cowardly turne our backe in the skirmish but couragiously looke the enemy in the face nay tread him vnder our feete for euer For we must learne that when we are once baptized whereby wee put on the profession of Iesus Christ and receiue his cognizance we
with all care before the Lord of whom wee ought earnestly to beg and desire his Spirit to teach vs the truth of our Baptisme the assurance of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes and the purging of our consciences from dead workes We come oftentimes and ordinarily to this Sacrament we see children incorporated into the Church and sealed vp to be members of Christ and yet sildome or neuer remember what vow we haue made to God and whose we are by our profession no not in the present worke doth any such cogitation or consideration enter into the hearts of many yea the most sort see the water sprinkled and heare the words pronounced but esteeme it little as a matter belonging nothing at all vnto them There is none that come to heare the word and to receiue the Lords Supper but they thinke it pertaineth no lesse if not more to them then it doth vnto others but touching baptisme and making any vse at all of it they put it farre from them they know they are already baptized and are to be baptized no more they turne it passe it ouer slightly to the infant that is brought to the well-beloued friends and neighbours that bring it saying to themselues as the Pharisies did in another case to Iudas Mat. 27 4. what is that to vs see thou to that But we cannot so shift ouer the matter our baptisme will cleaue more closely vnto vs it hath made such an impression in vs and sticketh so neere vnto vs that it can neuer be blotted out nor wiped away it summoneth vs to God and telleth vs that we are not our owne but he challengeth vs wholy to himselfe and will not let vs no from him Vse 4 Lastly is the cleansing and purifying of the foule represented by the washing of the body Then from hence ariseth vnto vs great comfort in baptisme namely that it is no idle no needlesse nor superfluous thing but of great power force and vertue For the water is not bare water but the water of regeneration being rightly vsed and administred by those onely that are lawfully called to the office and haue a warrant from God and commission from the Church to that purpose It belongeth not to any priuate persons men or women much lesse to children to make a toy or sport of it as it is said of Athanasius that being yet a childe not knowing what he did Ruffin lib. 1. cap 14. 1 Cor. 13 11. or with what he medled hee baptized Of whom we may say as Paul doth 1. Cor. 13. When I was a child I spake as a châ—lde I vnderstood as a childe I thought as a childe but when I became a man I put away childish things Or as the wise man doth Eccl. 11. Eccl. 11.10 Baptisme admiâ—istred in sport is no baptisme Childhood and youth are vanity Heereby can come no sanctification nor cleansing of the soule and therefore are they deceiued that receiue it for good and ratifie it for authenticall forasmuch as euery such baptisme vndertaken by priuate persons in case of necessity or by children after an apish imitation is no baptisme at all neither is that water consecrated water but common and prophane and therefore consequently that washing or sprinkling is to bee accounted as common and prophane also If a Child should take vpon him to minister the Supper of the Lord that knoweth not what it meaneth and charge the people to examine theÌ„selues that hath not learned as yet to examine himselfe all men must confesse this were a great prophanation of this SacrameÌ„t by no meanes to be suffered or if he should step vp into the chaire of Moses and offer fondly and childishly to vtter the word of God who would regard it Or who would care for it Shall we say this were to administer the Supper of the Lord or to preach the Gospell of Christ Or shall we imagine that any fruit or benefit can come hereby So may we say of Baptism it is prophaned by vnfit persons not profitably administred But to leaue these abuses which we haue touched conuinced before let vs see what are the comforts that arise from this inward part of this Sacrament which are of diuers sorts for hence floweth as from a plentifull spring comfort to the whole Church comfort to the parents of the persons baptized comfort to the infants themselues Comfort to the whâ—le Chuâ—ch It reacheth to the whole Church because when it beholdeth water sanctified and set apart for baptisme and spirituall washing of the soule represented by the outward cleansing of the body they may see as it were Christ crucified and his blood poured out before their eyes When we feele our hearts at any time cast downe by the sight of our sins and finde the burthen of theÌ„ to be intollerable vnto vs we must lift vp our eyes to heauen and in a sweet meditation of this holy sprinkling of the blood of Christ assure our consciences therby that he hath washed them all away that they shall not be imputed vnto vs nor be able to worke our condemnation We are also put in minde heereby that we are fellow-members of one and the same body forasmuch as we haue all one baptisme Ephe. 4. Eph. 4 5. as we haue all one Lord and Father all one faith and hope of eternall life Hence it is that at the birth of Iohn the Church reioyced comming together to haue him circumcised Let vs therfore be ready to ioyne together in this worke in praier and thanksgiuing let vs addresse our selues to be as witnesses and approuers of it that wee may receiue comfort by it being euermore taught and confirmed in the truth of our baptisme and remembring what we haue promised to God that we may be carefull to performe our promise and fearefull to breake couenant with him In this respect the Church is said to circumcise * Luke 1 59. 1 Cor. 11 5. and to prophesie and make prayer because it ioyneth together in these holy actions We haue all of vs one entrance into the Church whereby we professe to go al one way to walk one course to leade one manner of life to serue the same God Comfort to parents Secondly this comfort extendeth more principally particularly toward the parents themselues then it doth in generall to the whole Church For they see their seed together with themselues ioyned to the Church and washed with the blood of Christ they haue the ancient promise of God verified vnto them I will be thy God and the God of thy seed GeÌ„ 17. which ministreth great matter of ioy vnto theÌ„ so that they should reioyce more in this mercy shewed toward them then if they could make theÌ„ heires of the world and leaue them owners of a kingdome Howbeit this comfort carrieth with it sundry duties putteth them in minde to be thankfull to God who hath verified his couenant to them and their
no life in you If Christ be present to vs life and all things accompanying saluation are present to vs. If Christ bee absent from vs death is present wrath lyeth at the doore life and saluation are absent so that wee are neuer partakers of his graces except wee be as neerely coupled to his humanity as meate and drinke are coupled with our body which of all other is a most neere vnion and inward coniunction Thus we see we are seuered from the world to haue fellowship with Christ and are set once in him for euer l 1 Ioh. 2 19. Rom 8 33 34 35 37 38 39. because he that commeth to Christ once he casteth him not away he shall neuer hunger he shall neuer thirst hee shall not be lost but liue for euer as the Apostle saith 1. Iohn 2. If they had beene of vs doubtles they had continued with vs. And Paul to this purpose saith Rom. 8. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods chosen It is God that iustifieth who shall condemne Who shall separate vs from the loue of Christ Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or perill or sword In all these wee are more then Conquerours through him that loued vs for I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall bee able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. If once we be ioyned to him in spirituall mariage notwithstanding the difference and disparagement betweene him and vs nothing shall be able to worke our diuorcement from him True it is God findeth vs wallowing m Ezek. 16 4.5 6. in our owne filthinesse polluted in our owne blood defiled by our owne vncleannes he hath made an eternall couenant with vs he hath spoken peace vnto our soules saying Thou shalt liue euen when we were sunke downe in sinne to death he said vnto vs Thou shalt liue so that he will neuer turne from vs to do vs good but we shall be his people and he will bee our God he will giue vs one heart and one way that wee may feare him for euer and that it may be well with vs and with our children This made the Apostle to write Eph. 5 30 32. We are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones this is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and concerning the church Where he seemeth to allude to the n Gen. 2 21. first creation of the woman made of one of the ribs of the man shaddowing and shewing our knitting and coniunction with Christ which we haue by faith not by nature by vertue of the Spirit not of the flesh Now as we haue shewed that this coniunction is made by Gods Spirit and by our faith which he hath giuen vs so the meanes and instruments to worke it are the word and Sacraments This is a dignity peculiar and proper to the elect to haue perpetuall fellowship with Christ and to grow vp into one body with him as he teacheth Ioh. 17 20 21. I pray for all them which shall beleeue in me through their word that they all may be one as thou O Father art in me and I in thee euen that they may be one with vs that the world may beleeue that thou hast sent me If then there be not an vnion betweene Christ and vs we haue no accesse to God the Father being quite cut off from all hope of life and saluation As then all the substance and nourishment of the tree commeth frō the roote and all the vitall powers of a true naturall body come from the head so it is betweene the Son of God and vs we haue not so much as one drop of the heauenly life in vs of our selues o Ioh. 14 6. Christ is the way the truth and the life no man commeth vnto the Father but by him To conclude this first vse seeing such as come to this sacrament p Mar. 16 16. must be Christians before it appeareth to bee a very corrupt custome of the people when they require baptisme of the Pastor for their children to say God hath giuen me a Pagan I desire you to make him a Christian For Baptisme cannot make a Christian but signifie the Sacraments cannot make that which is not but assure that which is already made as seales do not giue the right but confirm it Thus much of the first vse of Baptisme the second followeth CHAP. XIII Of the second vse of Baptisme BEing made one with Christ wee are partakerss of the benefits of his death to wit a The second vse of baptism is to assure forgiuenes of sinnes of forgiuenes of sinnes and of regeneration or new birth So then the second vse of Baptisme is to assure vs of the remission and pardon of our sins that we may bee vnblameable and acceptable to God This is signified by the outward ceremony of washing and sprinkling to wit the sprinkling of our soules with the blood of Christ for the forgiuenes of all sins b Acts 2 38 22 16. as appeareth Acts 2. Then Peter said vnto them Amend your liues and be baptized euery one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for remission of sins And Act. 22. Ananias said vnto Paul immediately after his conuersion Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins in calling on the name of the Lord. So the Euangelist witnesseth Marke 1 4. that Iohn did baptize in the wildernesse and preach the baptisme of amendment of life for the remission of sins And the apostle maketh this vse Col. 2 12. Ye are buried with him through baptisme in whom yee are also raised vp together through the faith of the operation of God which raised him vp frō the dead and you which are dead in sins and in the vncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him forgiuing you all your trespasses The meaning of these places is not that baptism c Baptisme doth not of it selfe conferre grace bestoweth or giueth forgiuenes but only signeth sealeth and assureth our pardon euen as remission of sins and the righteousnes of faith were not in the old Testamēt by circumcision conferred but confirmed vnto the faithful The grace of pardon and forgiuenes of sins is not attained but by faith in Christ so that the worke of baptisme will not effect it Moreouer we haue proued that it is not lawfull to baptize such as are in yeares vnlesse they make open profession of their faith in Christ and repentance from the works of the old man wherefore they obtaine them not by the outward washing with water in baptisme So then we are no lesse assuredly washed by the blood of Christ frō the spots of our soules then outwardly we are washed with water from the filth of the body For the force of his
and therefore if the bread be broken howsoeuer the example of Christ is followed Besides we are altogether ignorant what forme of words Christ vsed in his blessing of the bread and in giuing thanks to his Father forasmuch as it is not expressed by any of the Euangelists may we then from hence cauill and conclude we know not his manner of blessing therefore blessing is indifferent and may be safely omitted No we cannot reason in that sort As then we do blesse and giue thankes aright albeit we know not how Christ did it so we do well to breake the bread albeit we know not which way he did it The second reason The second reason is from the commandement of Christ Doe ye this And againe So often as ye shall do this heere is an expresse precept and a direct commandement without this the Sacrament is as a body lame of his limbes From hence we reason thus That which Christ hath commanded vs to do as wel as blessing and giuing that is necessary to be done but he hath commanded vs to breake bread in the vse of the Supper as well as to blesse it and giue it to them that are present Therefore to breake bread is necessary and not indifferent The third reason is drawne from the example of the Apostles The third reason 1 Cor. 11 1. who following Christ are to be followed of vs as 1. Cor. 11. Be ye followers of me euen as I also am of Christ Neyther did they vse this ceremony according to the custome of the country of Iudea for they vsed it as well out of the borders of Iudea as in them as appeareth in many places Acts 2.42 and 20.7 1 Cor. 10. So that they respected nor the custome of the place but the commandement of Christ This is a good precedent for the Churches that professe the Gospell to follow Fourthly the whole Sacrament is called by this name The fourth reason and hath this title giuen vnto it to be called The breaking of bread as we may see in the places before expressed Doubtlesse the Apostles would neuer call it thus if this rite that we speake of were not truely necessary and Sacramentall The f ft reasoÌ„ Fiftly this mysticall rite serueth notably to the comfort of our hearts and the strengthning of our faith and therefore is not to be omitted seeing it shaddoweth out vnto vs the breaking of the body of Christ and witnesseth that Christ was as truely broken for vs vpon the Crosse as the bread that is blessed is truely broken and deuided into pieces this the Apostle noteth saying 1 Cor. 11. Which is broken for you 1. Cor. 12 24 Luk. 22 19. that is which shall shortly be killed and crucified according to that which Luke saith cha 22. Which is giuen for you to wit vnto death euen the death of the Crosse To take from vs and to rob vs quite and cleane of this comfort and consolation expressed by breaking of the bread Obiection they obiect diners things First that breaking signifieth to deale it and distribute it as Esay 55. Breake thy bread to the hungry Answere but it cannot haue that signification in this place as appeareth by the words following he gaue it whereas if they were both one it should be a needlesse and fruite-lesse repetition which the Scripture vseth not Againe Obiection they say that Christs body was not broken if wee speake properly not figuratiuely for not a bone of him was broken Answere I answere this maketh directly against themselues For if Christs body were broken figuratiuely then it is euident that this bâ—eaking hath a similitude and resemblance with the breaking of the bread so that the one holdeth proportion with the other Besides they confesse that by breaking the Apostle would expresse the most greeuous torments which our Sauiour suffered and the most shamefull kinde of death which he endured as the word is taken else-where as Esay 38. where Hezekiah complaineth that his bones were broken as it were of a Lyon Esay 38 13. Obiection Againe they say farther If Christ would haue his passion represented by this meanes he would not haue abrogated the ceremony of the Passeouer which beyond all compassion did more euidently represent the passion of Christ theÌ„ the bread otherwise Christ should haue abolished a type that was clearer and haue ordained another that was darker whereas the new Testament and all things done in it and belonging to it are compared to the light of the day in respect of the shadowes of the old Testament Answere I answere the cleare light of the new testament consisteth chiefly and principally in the forme of the doctrine of the Gospell which is an euident testimony touching the worke of our redemption already finished The Sacraments are dependances vpon it and borrow their light from the Gospell as the Moone doth from the Sun so that the Sacraments of the new testament are clearer then the old in this respect Piscat in Maâ— cap. 26. not in regard of the forme of the ceremony For the legall washings did no lesse represent in regard of the outward forme the washing away of our sins by the blood of Christ then the baptisme of the Gospell So the passion of Christ and the fruite and benefit of his passion was no lesse but rather more represented by killing of the Paschall Lambe and the eating of it then by breaking of the bread by eating of the bread If these had bin vsed in the time of the law as they are in the time of the Gospell they had not bin so significant pregnant as the slaying of beasts but the breaking of bread in the Sun-shine of the Gospell and plenty of knowledge reuealed to the world being a signe of a thing already done and finished must needs be more liuely in representation then the killing of sacrifices in the law which were shaddowes of things to come whereas Christ was not yet reuealed nor the mystery of the Gospell opened Besides the words of institution pronounccd in the Sacraments of the new Testament are clearer and more significant then any set downe in the law so that Paul saith his Gospell was not hid 2 Cor. 4 3. Gal. 3 1. 2 Cor. 4 3. and that Christ Iesus was by his preaching discribed in their sight Gal. 3 1. Lastly heere is produced a false cause of abrogating the Paschall Lambe in stead of a true For it was not abrogated by the holy Supper because it is a more cleare manifest and euident type but because it was instituted and ordained to continue vntill Christ the true Lambe of God figured by it was killed When he was once crucified the other killing must cease and giue place forasmuch as his blood had force to stanch all other blood which was wont to be shed both in circumcision and in the sacrifices Obiection Furthermore it is obiected that in powring out of the cup there is no mystery or
be the food of life Psal 81 16. Thirdly as this naturall life is sustained by bread so through Iesus Christ the bread of life our soules are nourished to a spirituall and eternall life Fourthly Psal 104 15. as the heart of man is strengthened and fortified by bread so the merit of Christs body doth sustaine support the soule to eternall life Gen. 18.5 Fiftly as bread slaketh the hunger of the body so the force and efficacy of Christs body doth asswage and alay the hunger of the soule Sixtly as bread profiteth such as are hungry Esay 58 7. Prou. 27 7. but doth no good to them that are already filled and glutted so the merit of Christs body bringeth a benefit to them onely that hunger after righteousnesse but as for such as are proud and puffed vp with a conceit of their owne righteousnes it yeeldeth no profit at all vnto them 1 Cor. 10 17. Seauenthly as the bread distributed and diuided among many is a signe of vnity and concord so the body of Christ offered vp for many vpon the Crosse is a pledge vnto vs of his loue toward vs and of the loue that ought to bee among our selues 1 Cor. 10 16 17. Lastly as one loafe is made of many graines so we that are many are become one mysticall body of Christ which are partakers of one bread Thus we haue seene a similitude and likenesse betweene the properties and effects of bread and of the body of Christ Reasons why Christ made choice of wine now let vs see wherefore Christ vsed wine and commanded it to be vsed after his owne example why he preferred it before all other things and what is the resemblance betweene it and the blood of Christ First of all as wine is the sweetest liquor proceeding from the Vine Iudg. 9 13. so the blood of Christ is the most pleasant drinke of the soule that was shed for vs and flowed out of his side who is the true Vine Ioh. 15 1.7 Secondly Prou 9 5. as wine doth quench the thirst of the body so the merit of Christs blood doth take away the thirst of the soule that it shall neuer thirst againe Ioh. 4. Thirdly as wine doth cheere vp the heart of man Psal 104 16. so the promises of Christ do cheere and refresh the soule Fourthly Prou. 31 6. as wine doth warme the body and make it more apt and fit to do businesse so the blood of Christ receiued by faith doth stirre vp and inflame the soule to all good motions and maketh vs more prompt and ready to euery good worke Fiftly as wine taketh away fearefulnes Prou. 23 32. and causeth men to be more bold and secure so doth the blood of Christ applyed to the conscience by faith assure vs of Gods fauour ease vs of the curse of the law and make vs constant in the confession of Christ Lastly Prou. 21 29 30. as wine putteth away the palenesse of the face and maketh the countenance shine so the blood of Christ turneth the colour of the soule into a comely hue which before was pale and wan through feare of death that is it quieteth the conscience Rom. 5 1. appeaseth the wrath of God and maketh vs gracious before him so that we appeare righteous and acceptable in his sight This being the plaine and euident truth let vs see the vses first such as concerne both the signes ioyntly and in generall then such as belong to each of them in seuerall and in particular To begin we learne from hence to acknowledge a difference betweene baptisme and the Lords supper in baptisme we haue one signe as the materiall part in the Supper we haue two signes e Why we haue two signes in the Lorâ—s Supper aâ—d only one in baptisme partly to note out our whole full and perfect nourishment in Christ hauing whatsoeuer is requisite for our saluation and partly to shew a fuller remembrance of his death for the wine which is a figure of his blood doth as it were present it and represent it before our eyes So then albeit the same participation of Christ and the same washing away of sins by his blood are sealed vp in baptisme and in the Supper yet the manner of sealing them in each is diuers Againe baptisme is a signe of our entrance into Gods Couenant the Supper is a sign of our abiding and continuing in that couenant Touching baptâ—sme it is sufficient for infants if they bee borne in the Church in the Supper the condition of examining our selues and remembring the Lords death is required They differ also in often celebration of them baptisme is to bee receiued but once onely in all our life because the promise once made is alwayes firme and forcible to such as beleeue and repent but the Supper is oftentimes to be receiued because an often renewing of that Couenant and calling it to our remembrance is necessary to increase and strengthen faith They differ also in the order which is to be obserued in the vse of them for baptisme is to be giuen before the Supper and the Supper may not be giuen to any except to such as are knowne to haue beene first baptized or are at least reputed so to be As first a Child is borne before he be fed so must Baptisme go before whereby our new birth is sealed then the Supper must follow after whereby our daily nourishment is declared and confirmed Lastly they differ in the signes there is onely one signe in baptisme which is the water but there are two signes in the Lords Supper to wit the bread and wine The second generall vse is that if Christ tooke gaue and deliuered the substance of the bread and wine then they must needs retaine their former nature their proper substance as well as their qualities as sight taste smell bignesse whitenes sweetnes rednes roundnes and such like properties But the Papists turne all things g Against the bare shewes of bread and wine and accidents without subiect vpside downe matter into forme substance into accidents creatures into shewes and subiects into things adioyned they bring in new shifts and fables against all diuinity philosophy reason sence and experience setting vp their owne inuentions and building Castles in the ayre Let them prooue the annihilation and remouing of the substance of bread wine away and the h Arist phis lib. 1. cap. 3. consisting of accidents without subiect which they are neuer able to do For as the water in baptisme remaineth in his nature and substance so do the bread and wine in the Lords Supper And albeit in both the Sacraments the signes be changed to a speciall vse yet are they not corrupted into shewes and turned into shadowes The heauens i Psal 102 26. shall be changed at the end of the world yet hence it followeth not that they shall be cleane abolished and consumed to nothing
as much as the creator hath more honour then the creature the builder then the house the worke-man then the worke But they are not ashamed to publish it in their owne wordes and writings o Stella clericorum that the Priest is the creator of his Creator He that created you hath giuen you power to create him he that hath created you without your selues p Creatura â—ob â—lliâ—d antâ—bas vrbâ—s is created by you by the meanes of you These are the speeches of their wise men if they be not ashamed of their owne words of which all wise men are worthily ashamed The 11. reason the bread in the Sacrament after the words of consecration is subiect to as many changes and chances as it was before the bread may mould putrifie breed wormes q 〈…〉 Leuit 〈…〉 cap. 3. Hâ—â—â—he l. co â—t â—aet and was accustomably in many places burned the wine may being immoderately taken make drunken it may waxe sharpe and turne into vinegar yea both of them may be boyled and made hot both of them may be vomited vp as certaine leapers did both of them may be mingled with very rancke poyson as a certaine r 〈…〉 5. Monke gaue the poysoned host to Henry the seauenth a noble Emperor of famous memory which when he had taken he dyed The like may be said of Victor the third a Pope of Rome who was poysoned after the same manner Å¿ 〈…〉 in the chalice as the Emperor was in the bread But the precious body and blood of Christ cannot be mingled with poyson but is an excellent counter-poyson against the biting of the old Serpent and all infection of sin whatsoeuer the body cannot mould or putrifie the blood of Christ cannot become sharpe or sowre as the outward signes may therefore the substance of bread and wine remaineth The 12. reason there is something in the Sacrament materiall and substantiall which goeth the way of all meates according to that saying of our t Mat. 15 17. Sauiour Mat. 15 17. Perceiue ye not yet that whatsoeuer entreth into the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out into the draught But none of the accidents as shape colour quality taste and such like are auoyded because they are altered in the stomacke before they come to the place of auoydance u Oâ—igen in Mat. cap. 15. and it were blasphemy to thinke that the bodye of Christ either entreth into the mouth or goeth downe into the belly or is cast out into the draught howsoeuer many of them haue also maintained this monstrous impiety Therefore the substance of the bread and the wine remaine in their owne nature in the Sacrament The 13. reason If there were a miraculous conuersion of the bread wine it would appeare to the outward senses as Ioh. 6. The multitude a Ioh 6 26. saw his miracles There was neuer miracle wrought by any bodily creature but sense iudged it to be so but seeing our eyes see and our taste discerneth that it is bread we cannot imagine there is any miracle The miracles that Moses did in Egypt when hee turned water into blood and his rod into a Serpent The miracles b August de Trinit lib. 3. cap. â—0 that Christ did when he turned water into wine the eye saw the taste discerned heere was no deceit no fraud no collusion And thus euery hedge-priest should be a worker of miracles that onely can reade his portuise and say ouer his Pater-noster with an Aue-mary This is an honour that may be challenged but cannot be granted vnto them The 14. reason If there were any transubstantiation there should be an actuall conuersion of the bread into the body of Christ but this cannot stand For when one thing is changed into another the matter remaineth the forme is altered but heere they make the forme to abide and the matter to be changed A strange Metamorphoâ—is and fitting the fable of this counterfeit turning Now the matter of bread is not in the body of Christ because it is perfect in it selfe and so glorified that it can receiue no accesse Besides nothing can be conuerted or changed into a thing before being and preexisting which was really before the change or conuersion as Christ turned the water into that wine which was not before c Exod 4 3. Iohn 2 8. Gen 1â— 26. and Moses turned his rod into that serpent which was not before and Lots wise was turned into that pillar which was not before But the body of Christ is before their transubstantiation whereupon it followeth that the bread cannot be changed into his body The 15. reason If Christ did transubstantiate the bread into his body when he said This is my body then in like manner the Apostle did transubstantiate the Church of the Corinthians into the body of Christ when he saith Now ye are d 1 cor 12 27. the body of Christ and members for your part And Theophylact vpon the sixt chapter of Iohn saith We our selues are trans-elemented or transubstantiated into the body of Christ What reason can they then alledge why transubstantiation should be in the one sentence more then in the other For the whole colledge and company of Diuines of Rome and Themes and all the multitude of Papists throughout the world shal neuer be better able to proue their transubstantiation out of these words This is my body then out of the other Ye are the body of Christ The 16. reason If the bread were turned into the body of Christ and receiued in the mouth it should go farre better with our bodyes then with our soules because our bodies should really receiue the body of Christ but our soules should not being spirits bodies cannot be mingled and intermedled with spirits Wherefore we cannot beleeue and receiue this reall conuersion of one substance into another The 17. reason If the bread be transubstantiated into the body of Christ and so receiued by vs then eyther it is turned into our bodies or vanisheth away into nothing or returneth and departeth backe into heauen For what fourth thing they should imagine cannot bee imagined But it is not turned into our bodily substance for then we should grow bodily into one person with him hee should walke with vs and rest with vs he should eate with vs and sleepe with vs he should be whole with vs and sicke with vs finally he should liue with vs and dye with vs al which are absurd Neither doth his body vanish to nothing for this were horrible blasphemy once to affirme or conceiue of the body of Christ Iesus who by this fancy shal be made Iesus and no Iesus Christ and no Christ a Sauiour and no Sauiour And if once we admit this we shall also haue religion and no religion heauen and no heauen yea God and no God Neither doth it depart into heauen for hee was there before Act 3 21. and the
heauens containe him vntill the times of restitution of all things Besides he should euery day ascend which ouerthroweth our faith and withall ouerturneth the truth of his ascension and bringeth in a strange maner of his taking vp neuer beleeued or receiued or deliuered or dreamed of in the Church Furthermore as the body of Christ is first supposed to be receiued and then the blood so the body should first asceÌ„d without the blood and afterward the blood alone without the body Lastly as wel we may hold and beleeue that he dyeth often riseth againe often is conceiued and borne oftentimes as hold his continual and daily ascension Thus also we may reason coÌ„cerning the wine If it be turned into the blood of Christ what becommeth of that blood Either it must necessarily passe into our substance and then Christs blood should be mingled with our blood as the blood of the Galileans was mingled with their sacrifices Lu. 13. Luk. 13 1. Or else it must perish and come to nothing and then it should dry vp as water and vanish away as smoake consume as a vapour Or lastly it must returne into heauen which doth ouerturne his ascending from the earth in as much as it was there before And as there can no other way be deuised so none of these can stand either with diuinity or philosophy either with faith or reason either with Scripture or nature and therefore th se pillars being remoued this tower of Babell I mean the doctrine of transubstantiation must of necessity fall to the ground The 18. reason If the Disciples had not vnderstood Christ to cal the bread his body sacramentally they would haue bin greatly troubled who ofteÌ„ doubted of the least things demanded the vnderstanding of theÌ„ As the hearers of Christ I h. 6. supposing he had spoken of a carnall manner of eating his e Ioh. 6 52 60 flesh were troubled and offended saying How can this man giue vs his flesh to eate And ver 60. This is an hard saying who can heare â—t Wherfore who seeth not that they would haue maruelled and required farther if they had vnderstood Christ to haue changed the bread into his body and the wine into his blood But they doubt not they demand not they maruell not they murmure not therefore beleeue not this iugling of transubstantiation or turning of one substance into another And if they beleeued it not how should we receiue it If they receiued it not how should we beleeue it The 19. argument It ouerturneth sundry Articles of ouâ— Christian faith We beleeue that Christ Iesus was begotten of the Father before al worlds and borne in time of the Virgin Mary this the Scripture teacheth this the Creed deliuereth this euery true Christian professeth beleeueth But if the bread bee transubstantiated into the bodye of Christ and the wine into the blood of Christ then his body is made and borne of bread and wine and the Priest after the words of consecration may say a little pretty son is borne vnto vs and newly made Wherefore in the Missal of Sarum after that the Priest hath consecrated hee maketh a low leg worshipping the worke of his owne hands and saith Aue which is as much as God saue you Sir or you are welcome to towne Againe we beleeue that Christ was crucified and dyed for our sinnes that he was buried rose againe ascended sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty But if the body of Christ be made of bread as often as the Eucharist is celebrated then Christ being on the Crosse might be elsewhere then on the Crosse when he dyed he might be where he suffered nothing lying in the graue he might be out of the graue yea he might be in the graue after his resurrection and rising out of the graue wherof notwithstanding the Angels said f Mat 28 5. he is not heere Lastly wee beleeue that Christ shal come from heauen to iudge the quick and dead and that in the same manner he ascended g Reuel 1 7. whoÌ„ we doubt not but men shall see as Reuel 1.7 Euery eye shall see him yea euen they which pierced him through But if Christs body be made of bread he shall stare and start out of the pixe and not come from heauen and that in another shape then when he ascended nay thus he should come daily vnto vs and yet no man can see him nor perceiue his comming All these deuices ouerthrow the foundation of faith sauour of nouelty and bring in heresie against all certaine grounds of true religion The 20 argument If by vertue of Christs words transubstantiation were brought to passe and the true bodye of Christ were really present on the earth then the bread should be changed into whole Christ that is into his body indued with his magnitude quantity quality colour all his dimensions For Christ said not at his Supper this is the substance of my body without accidents but h Luk. 21.16 1 Cor. 11 24. This is my body wh ch is giuen for you and which is broken for you Therefore the body was visible and seene of them al it was felt it had all accidents agreeable thereunto and the substance of Christs body alone without his qualities was not crucified on the Crosse neither yet could be crucified Notwithstanding we see not Christs body vpon the earth nor any adioynt thereof is perceiued or discerned Where are they then Are they in the substance of Christs body which is in heauen And not in the substance of his body which is on the earth Then they make Christ to haue two distinct bodies for one and the same body cannot haue his properties and dimensions and yet be without them which necessarily implyeth a contradiction consequently falsehood especially considering how great a difference they make betweene the body of Christ in heauen and this body that lyeth and lurketh vnder the accidents and shewes of bread in their boxe The 21. reason It destroyeth the nature of a true body it taketh away the defence vsed against hereticks bringeth in the heresies of Marcion of Eutyches and the Manichies which i August ad Quod vult de denyed Christ to haue a solid and true humane body and held that he had onely a phantasticall body without any materiall flesh blood or bone in appearance and sight somewhat but in deed and substance nothing For they teach that his body is in infinite places at once and those discontinued void of quantity and quality not circumscribed not visible nor any way sensible that being in heauen he is really and corporally on earth though not in the distance betweene heauen and earth nor in those places where the host is not which is to assigne innumerable bodies to our Sauiour Christ and consequently to make him no body which is in effect as much as to deny he is come in the flesh k 1 Ioh 4 3. and
5. Byshop of Rome was the first that Å¿ Barth Caranza sum Concil Florent p. 458. mingled water with wine at consecration ordained that the oblation should be of vnleauened t Polid. Virg. de inuentor Rerum lib. 5. cap. 9. bread and not of leauened as till that time had beene vsed Wherefore let vs retaine and maintaine the plaine and simple institution of Christ who in his last Supper gaue wine not water to be drunke for he calleth it the fruite u Mat. 26 29. of the vine which is wine and not water Againe they may be pressed and hampered with their owne dreames and deuices For whereas they hold that the wine must be mingled with water that the elements after the words of consecration are transubstantiated and remaine in their owne nature no more I would aske this question of these Watermen rowing in the troubled sea of their owne decrees who are neere of kin a Papists are neere of kin to the old hereticks called Aquarij to the old hereticks called Aquarij whether the water mixed with the wine be turned into blood If they say it is not then they deny transubstantiation of all that is within the cup and so shake the vertue of their consecration in pieces if they say it is then will they make Christ a watery body and elemeÌ„tall besides it cannot be by vertue of Christs institution where water is neither expressed nor included So then their best defence is to answere with the Pharisies b Mat. 21.23 We cannot tell To conclude let vs not seeke to be wiser theÌ„ Christ nor to mingle together more mysteries then we haue learned of him as Paul saith of his owne practise c 1 Cor. 11 23 That which I receiued of the Lord I haue deliuered vnto you Neither Prophet nor Apostle nor Angel from heauen is to teach otherwise then Christ himselfe hath taught as he charged his disciples Teach them to obserue all things whatsoeuer I haue commanded you He hath supreame authority in the Church his doctrine alone should be heard as the Father himselfe witnesseth from heauen d Mat. 17 5. This is my beloued Son in whom I haue delight heare h m. We are not to regard what other before vs haue thought meete to do but what Christ did who is before all other and called himselfe the truth e Cyprian epist and not custome Thus much of the third outward part of the Lords Supper to wit the two signes of bread and wine CHAP. VI. Of the fourth outward part of the Lords Supper THe last outward part remaineth which are the a The fourth outward part are the communicants communicants whose actions are outward to take the bread and wine into their hands then to eate the bread drinke the wine to the nourishment of their bodyes b Mat. 26 26. as is directly proued by the institution of this Sacrament where Christ gaue the bread and cup into their hands the Disciples receiued the one and the other they did eate the bread and all dranke of the cup. These being the necessary actions of euery receiuer to take to eate to drinke it beateth downe many false doctrines of the Church of Rome as their reseruation ostentation eleuation adoration circumgestation procession and priuate communion it teacheth also many necessary truths to direct our knowledge and increase our obedience which we will consider in order Vse 1 First of al did Christ command his Disciples to eate and drinke that he deliuered and posted them not ouer to eate thereof when they were departed neither willed them to defer their eating vntill afterward then all keeping reseruing of bread in boxes pixes and other vessels of the Church for dayes weekes and months all shewing it to the people c Con. Trid. sess 3. can 5. lifting it ouer the Priests head and going with it in procession is vtterly vnlawful For it is no Sacrament vnlesse it be vsed according to Christs institution and coÌ„mandement but to the institution it belongeth as on the behalfe of the Minister to take to blesse to poure out and to distribute so on the behalfe of the communicants to take to eate and to drinke in them all to shew therby the Lords death and to do it in remembrance of him which cannot be performed but by obseruing the whole action For how can they shew the Lords death or do it in remembrance of Christ vnlesse they take and eate And as the Paschal lambe was not that passeouer vnlesse it were killed and eaten no more is the bread and wine a Sacrament except they be receiued and digested The Passeouer was the same in effect with the Lords Supper d Reuel 13 8. who was the lambe slaine from the beginning of the world Now God commanded that none of it should remaine vnto the morning but the remnant e Exod 12 10 should be consumed with fire The like may be saide of Manna the same in substance with this Sacrament it was not to be kept caried about Let no man f Exod. 16 19 reserue therof till morning Besides there is the same reason of the cup of the bread but they reserue not the wine they carry it not about to shew the people why then should they keepe the other part Likewise when Christ said to his Apostles g Mat. 28 20. Goe baptize the nations it was no baptisme by the h Hâ—â—si Confess de Euchar st cap. â—9 confession of the aduersaries themselues vnlesse there were some person baptized so when Christ said Take and eate there is no Sacrament vnlesse there be a receiuing and eating For as the one standeth in washing so doth the other in eating and drinking not in keeping and reseruing not in carying in procession on a white horse not in hanging it vp vnder a Canopy nor in bearing it to the sicke with bell and candle Christ tooke bread and gaue it to his Disciples saying i Mat. 26 26.27 1 Cor. 11 26. Eate ye he tooke the cup and when he bad giuen thanks he said Drinke ye all of this do this in remembrance of me as often as ye shall eate this bread and drinke of this cup ye shew the Lords death till he come But they hang it in the pixe beare it in boxes and carry it about in publike triumphes and in common calamities when any iudgement of war plague pestilence and famine and like visitation is among them then their Iacke in the boxe goeth abroad in solemne k Concil Trid sess 13. cap. 5. processions to be seene which is the way to increase not to slacke to kindle not to quench to prouoke not to reuoke the iudgments of God gone out against them Besides they shew this Sacrament to the simple people to fal downe to it as to a God they put it vpon the breasts of the dead and sometimes lay it in the graue with them I thinke
the quicke the dead abolishing the fruite and remembrance of the death of Christ disanulling his Priest-hood giuing him to his Father whereas the Father hath giuen him to vs and imagining thereby to pay a price to God which he shold receiue as a satisfaction for our sins True it is the Lords Supper may afâ—er a sort be called a sacrifice not as the Church of Rome meaneth a In wine â—eaâ— Ch â—ists Suâ—pâ—◠〈◊〉 be caâ—led a â—acâ—ifiâ—e but because therein we offer vp praises thanksgiuings to God for that sacrifice of attonemeÌ„t once made vpon the Crosse which is most acceptable to God and because such as come aright thereunto offer vp themselue wholy to God a reasonable holy and liuing sacrifice and lastly because therby we cal to our remembrance the bloody sacrifice of Christ with all the circumstances thereof the shame of the Crosse the darkenesse of the heauen the shaking of the earth the renting of the ayre the cleauing of the rocks the reproches of the Iewes the taunts of the Souldiors the opening of the graues and the conquering of the Diuell For the Christians in former times b The Fathers of the church liuing among the Gentile called thâ— sâ—pper a saâ—â—â—â— perceiuing that many both Iewes and Gentiles refused to imbrace the faith of Christ and to ioyne themselues to the Church because they pretend the want of sacrifices among thâ—m and nature engrafted in all nations this principle that we haue no free accesse to God no true peace to our selues without a sacrifice the Fathers to win such as were without affirmed that the Church had also a sacrifice and thereupon entituled the Sacrament of the Supper with the name of a sacrifice for the causes before remembred But for a mortall man whose breath is in his nostrils to presume in the pride of his heart vnder the formes of bread and wine o offer vp Christ the Sonne of God in sacrifice to his Father and to dare to desire the Father fauourably to behold and accept his owne Sonne is idolatry blasphemy horrible impiety to be detested of all true hearted Christians Touching the originall of d The originall of the word Masse the word Masse it seemeth to come from an ancient custome of the Church sending away such as communicated not For the Deacon was accustomed to bid theÌ„ depart that were nouices in the faith and such as by Church-discipline e Folid 〈◊〉 de inuent Rerum lâ—b 5. c 19. were remoued from the Communion This dimission of them was noted by the word Mâ—ssâ— signifying a sending away and licensing to depart and thus some of f Suctâ—â— in Calâ—g cap 24. the heathen vsed it The name then being in it selfe not euill is turned into an euill practise and therefore as it is vsed and vnderstood of our aduersaries we reiect both the name and thing it selfe for these causes First no Angell no man no creature is of that dignity and worthines that he may offer vp and sacrifice the Sonne of God for the Priest is aboue the sacrifice they therefore that will be the Priests to offer Christ aduance lift vp themselues aboue Christ Secondly if Christ bee really offered in the Masse then hee is killed truely and indeed for a reall sacrifice proueth a reall death and when Christ was sacrificed really he dyed really as when the beasts were sacrificed they were killed And Holâ—â—t one of the schoolemen saith If there had beene a thousand hosts n a thousand places at the same time that Christ d d hang vpon the Crosse g 〈…〉 lâ—b sent â—â— 3. Christ had beene crucified in a thousand places Wherefore they that really sacrificed our Sauiour Christ did in that act really and wickedly kill him so that the Priests of Baal if they will be sacrificers of Christ must acknowledge themselues therein the reall murtherers of Christ Thirdly new sacrifices are not to be instituted by men without commandement of God as Moses teacheth Deut. 12. We must not do what seemeth good in our own eyes but take heed and heare all these words which he commandeth vs. Now Christ neuer said Sacrifice ye my body and blood to God Fourthly Christ tooke the bread and gaue it to his Disciples he did not offer it vp to God the Father he tooke the cup and bad them all drinke of it he did not turne himselfe to God end desire him then to accept the sacrifice of his body and blood Fiftly if the bread and wine remain in their former substance in the Lords Supper then bread and wine onely are offered not the body and blood of Christ but they remaine for Christ deliuered i 1 Cor. 10 16 bread to his disciples and Paul teacheth that it is the bread which is broken and that as often as they shall eate this bread and drinke of this cup they shew the Lords death therefore their reall Sacrifice is reall Idolatry Sixtly it appeareth in the institution of the Supper that Christ consecrated the bread apart and the wine apart and afterward deliuered them both apart but the body of Christ was neuer sacrificed without the blood nor the blood without the flesh for Christ offered vpoÌ„ the Altar of the Crosse the sacrifice of his body and blood together this is the cause that he saide Take ye eate ye drinke ye not take ye to offer and to sacrifice Seuenthly the Scripture teacheth vs one offering and sacrifice for sin once performed and offered Heb. 10. We are sanctified by the offering of Iesus Christ k Heb. 10.12 once made ver 12. This man after he had offered one sacrifice for sinnes sitteth at the right hand of God And the Apostle 1 Tim. 2. There is one meditator betweene God and men the man Iesus Christ who gaue himselfe a ransome for all men So 1 Ioh. 2. If any man sinne we haue an aduocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous and hee is the propitiation for our sins Likewise Heb. 9. By his owne blood he entred in once vnto the holy place obtained eternall redemption for vs not that he should offer himselfe l Heb. 9 12 25 often as the high Priest entred into the holy place euery yeare with other blood for then must he haue often suffered since the foundation of the world but now in the end of the world hath he bin made manifest once to put away sin by the sacrifice of himselfe We haue plentifull testimonies of this truth in this Epistle as chap. 10. Where remission of these things is there is no m Heb 10 18 more offering for sin If then we haue remission by the sacrifice of Christ all other sacrifices are superfluous and abrogate his al-sufficient sacrifice So Rom. 6. In that he dyed he dyed for sin n Rom. 6 10. once And 1. Pet. 3. Christ also hath once suffered for sins the iust for the vniust If then this perfect offering were
swallow him vp But Christ expoundeth himselfe and declareth that he meant not carnally but spiritually I◠is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speake vnto you are spirit and life that is the flesh of Christ thus eaten thus chewed thus digested bodily carnally and grosly cannot profit but truely and spiritually taken it is meat indeed Whereby it appeareth that the flesh and blood of Christ are not bodily nourishment for then we should hold his body in our hands eate it with our mouths teare it with our teeth swallow it downe our throats concoct it in our stomacks and haue it distributed to our fleshly parts Now to shew a What it is to eate the body of christ spiritually what it is to eate spiritually and to pull off the garment of this similitude that the truth may more plainely appeare by spiritual eating we do not vnderstand that which is fained standing in a conceit opinion or imagination neither that the body and blood of Christ are turned into a spirit but we meane by spirituall eating such a communion and participation of Christ as is wrought by the powerfull working of the Holy-Ghost inasmuch also as it is attained by faith onely and pertaineth to a spirituall and eternall life And howsoeuer the benefit of this coniunction reach vnto the body which thereby is mortified and sanctified and afterward shall be glorified yet this fruition of Christ is not called corporall but spirituall because this food doth not pertain to the maintaining of this present life but it is referred to the life which is eternall Now this life euerlasting is called spirituall albeit the bodies themselues shall be partakers thereof which therefore b 1 Cor. 15 44 by the Apostle are called spirituall bodies Thus then standeth the comparison as there is a present life that is bodily c Sadcel de Spirit Mand. cap. 1. so there is another life to be thought vpon which is spirituall and eternall as we are borne to this present life so are we borne againe to life eternal as this bodily life is sustained by bodily meat and drinke so Christ with all his merits and mercies is the food of the spirituall life as the body hath d Comparison betweene the bodily spiritual eating his mouth whereby the meat and drinke is receiued and so passeth into the body by bodily feeding so the soule hath her mouth namely faith which apprehendeh the most holy nourishment of the body blood of Christ and lastly as the meat by a naturall force is concocted and digested that it may passe disperse it selfe into the whole body so the efficacy of the Spirit beginning faith in vs doth so powerfully and mightily worke in our soule that it quickeneth vs through Christ to whom we are neerely vnited Thus we see we haue no carnall communion with Christ nor bodily eating of Christ Wherefore let the capernaiticall Papists or popish Capernaits prepare their faith not their teeth their soules not their bellies to eat the flesh of Christ and drinke his blood And if they be ashamed of the name of the Capernaits let them also be ashamed of the error of the Capernaits but if they cleaue to their error they must bee content to borrow their name for the name and opinion must go together Sixtly Christ exhorteth the people to beware of false Prophets that come in sheepes cloathes e Mat. 7 15. but indeed haue Wolues hearts saying If any shall say vnto you Loe heere is Christ or there f Mat. 24 23. beleeue it not behold he is in the desart go not forth behold he is in the secret places beleeue it not And the Apostle Paul exhorteth Col. 3. To seeke those things that are aboue where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God But if Christ lurke and lye hid vnder the accidents of bread and wine thē we might beleeue such as say Loe heere is Christ there is Christ he might be pointed out with the finger on euery Altar and so often as the Priest lifteth vp his Idoll he might say to the people behold heere is Christ whom wee haue newly made looke vpon him whom wee haue newly fashioned but then we must answere with Christ beleeue i◠not Seuenthly the Fathers vnder the law did eate the same spirituall meate and drinke the same spirituall drinke that the g 1 cor 10 1 2 Corinthians and other Christians did though they had differing signes they had the same Christ signified But they did not eate the flesh of Christ and drinke his blood bodily for as yet he was not come in the flesh therefore he is not present in his natural body in our Sacraments This Paul setteth downe 1 Cor. 10. They did all eate the same spirituall meat they did all drinke the same spirituall drinke for they dranke of that spirituall rocke that followed them and that rocke was Christ Where the Apostles purpose is to proue h Aug. tom 6. tract in Ioh. 26 and in Psal 77 Gratian can inquit 80. that the Israelites were not in feriour to the Corinthians in respect of the Sacraments of Gods fauour and therefore had no more to boast of then the Israelites had whereupon he saith they had the same meat the same drinke the same Christ Now if they did not eat the same in substance which the Corinthians did eate then the Israelites were farre inferior to them touching their Sacraments and so the Apostles reason should be of no force Eightly Christ is in such sort in heauen in his humanity as that he is not on the earth i Mat. 9 15. Ioh. 13. c. with his body and consequently not in the Sacrament as we see Mat. 9. Can the children of the bride-chamber mourne as long as the bride-groome is with them But the daies will come when the bride-groome shall be taken from them and then they shall fast But if hee were remaining on the earth and contained in the pixe the bride-groome could not nor would not be takē away And the same Euangelist Mat. 26 11. chap. 26. saith Ye haue the poore alwaies with you but me ye shall not haue alwaies Likewise Ioh. 13. Ioh. 13 1. and 14.2 3.28 17 11 12 13. When Iesus knew that his houre was come that hee should depart out of this world vnto the Father he riseth from Supper cha 14. I go to prepare a place for you but I will come againe If I go away to prepare a place for you I will receiue you vnto my selfe that where I am there may ye be also and verse 28. Yee haue heard how I said vnto you I go away and will come vnto you And chap. 17. Now I am no more in the world but these are in the world and I come to thee Againe Act. 1. Yee men of Galile why stand ye gazing into heauen This Iesus which k Acts 1 11. is taken vp from
you into heauen shall so come as yee haue seene him goe into heauen If then Christ according to his humane nature be not on earth how can his true body bee on euery Altar How can they eate him with their teeth How can they swallow him downe their throat Ninthly such an eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ must be holden as is profitable and comfortable to the receiuers for nothing is more auaileable fruitefull then these being rightly receiued Mat. 26 26. hauing thereby remission of sinnes assured and eternall glory sealed vp vnto vs. But no fruite to our faith can come vnto vs by this kind of bodily eating the body carnall drinking the blood of Christ for wicked men haue as great a portion in this as the godly Nay by their owne doctrine it may bee eaten of Birds of Beasts of Mice of Dogs of Hogs of vermine to whom no profit no comfort no benefit can come whereas God would haue the flesh m Ioh. 6.50 of the Sonne of man to be eaten of those to whom it shall be auaileable to life and saluation as Ioh. 6. I am the liuing bread which came downe from heauen if any man eate of this bread hee shall liue for euer and the bread that I will giue it my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world Tenthly nothing can be more grosse barbarous or inhumane then to deuoure mans flesh and to drinke mans blood What doth more transforme men into sauage and cruell beasts Nay worse then beasts which deuoure not their owne kinde What is more contrary to the purenes and holines of Gods law n Psal 12 6 and 19 9. then this The words of the Lord are pure words as the siluer tryed in a furnace of earth fined seauen fold The feare of the Lord is cleane the law of God is spirituall holy iust and good And the Gospell bringeth saluation to all degrees and teacheth vs that we should deny all vngodlines and worldly lusts and that we should lâ—ue soberly râ—ghteously and godly in this present woâ—ld But what can be more repugnant to godlines sobernes and righteousnes then to teare with the teeth o Cyril anot 11. and iawes mans flesh and to drinke his blood from which the Capernaus abhoâ—red What more crosseth the religion of Christ the law of God the light of nature then man to deuoure man and the bowels of one to be in the bowels of another And are not their stomacks strong to digest this meat Did not God in the law coÌ„mand p Leuit. 17 13 to abstaine from eating the blood of beasts from strangled Did not the Apostles for a time renue it q Act. 15 20. among the Christians in respect of the weakenes of the Iewes because Moses was read in their Synagogue euery Sabboth day To what end should this be done if the Church had tasted the blood of Christ with their mouth or swallowed his bodye in their bellies And do not the Scythians and all the Gentiles that are not vtterly voide of humanity abstaine from mans blood and from deuouring his flesh Wherefore these men are worse r Hom Odis li. 10. Virg aeneid lâ—b 3. Plin. nat hist lib. 7. cap 2 â—â—â—d Mâ—t. li. 3. then the Scithians Barbarians Gentiles yea worse then the Canibals and Indies that eate their enemies but these deuoure Christ whom they call their Lord and Maister like Acteons hounds to compare one fable with another onely heere lye the differences they deuoured their Lord vnder the shape of a Stag or Hart they eate their maister vnder the formes of bread wine these fastened their mouths vpon their maister because they thought him absent and not present vnder that shape they openly confesse their Maister to be present and yet odiously professe to deuoure him with their iawes and swallow him in their stomacks wherefore these men are more cruell then they yea heerein they passe the Idolatrous Gentiles for the Egiptians did not eate those creatures which they adored as Gods but these doe deuoure their God and Sauiour like bread Eleuenthly if Christ be present in the Sacrament bodily and carnally in what body shall he be present Whether in his glorified body as he is in the heauens or in his mortall body as he was vpon the earth In one of these he must be present necessarily if hee bee present fleshly Whatsoeuer they answere they are taken on both hands and are strokeÌ„ downe as with a sword that hath two edges Dare they say he is present in his mortall body This cannot be For it is certaine he hath not now a mortall body but a glorified body this corruptible hath put on incorruption t 1 Cor. 15 54 this mortall hath put on immortality and death is swallowed vp in victory This the u Rom. 6 9.10 Apostle confirmeth this the Scripture teacheth this Christian faith beleeueth Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more death hath no more dominion ouer him For in that he dyed he dyed once to sinne but in that he liueth he liueth to God Likewise Heb. 7 25. This man because he endureth euer hath a Priesthood which cannot passe from one to another seeing he euer lâ—ueth to make intercession for them And chap. 9. of the same Epistle he is entred into heauen not that he should offer himselfe often but he was once offered to take away the sins of many These testimonies duely considered hee cannot bee present in a mortall body What then will they be helped to say he is present in his glorified body Then he cannot now be present in the Sacrament of the Supper as hee was present to the Apostles sitting at the table with them and preaching vnto them of his death he cannot be present in the same body that he did deliuer to his Disciples in the institution of his last Supper For the body of Christ was then mortall and not glorified then he had not suffered death vpon the Crosse he was not risen and ascended into the heauens to sit at the right hand of his Father so that they must seeke another place then these words of Christ a Mat. 26 26. This is my body this is my blood to build their reall presence and transubstantiation for they pointed out his mortall body because his body was not yet glorified when the Sacrament was instituted Besides what a miserable glorified body should this be to be subiect to the pleasure of euery Priest to come at his call to stay till he commandeth nay to suffer himselfe to be torne with the teeth of euery receiuer Wherefore the presence of his glorified body cannot be grounded vpon these words of Christ touching the Sacraments This is my body Neither let them say as Campâ—on that boasting Champion like another Goliah b 1 Sa. 17.10 challenging the hoast of God sometimes said in the Tower-conference that this is a fallation
c Conferēc◠day 3. inasmuch as his glorification maketh it not a diuers body and that a man whole a man sicke at sundry times make not a seuerall man This Iesuiticall deuice hath no colour of reason but a tricke of euasion For we speake not of the difference between Christs glorified and mortall body but of the meaning of the words This is my body whether Christ vnderstand his naturall and mortall body wherein shortly he was to be glorified or whether he vnderstand it of his body glorified Either it must be vnderstood of the one or of the other or of both or rather indeed of neither except they will haue the words taken and spoken one way to the Disciples and another way to vs. Thus the meaning of them when they were first vttered should be This is my mortall body but now spoken to vs they should be taken in another sense of vs to the end of the world This is my glorified body So then the same words spoken to the Disciples should be false as we are to vnderstand them and the Disciples should be deceiued vnderstanding them as we do take them What is this but to bring vs back againe to the reproachfull comparisons and blasphemous assertions d Pighi Hierar lib. 3 cap 3. Consur colon dial 4. pa 112. Cusan epist 2. and 7. of sundry popish writers to compare the Scriptures to a nose of wax and a rule of leade that they may be expoūded diuersly and framed to times so as at one time they may be vnderstood one way and at another time they may be interpreted another way These things being duely considered we may safely conclude that Christ is not present in his naturall body Lastly the presence of Christ in his naturall body abolisheth the light of reason and confoundeth the nature of things and bringeth in an heape of absurdities and impossibilities For what is more repugnant to reason then for a man to beare himselfe in his owne hands that a man should eate vp himselfe that another should eate him yet he remaine vntouched vntasted and vncorrupted that one and the same man should be visible and inuisible present and absent in the teeth of the Disciples and at the table with the Disciples be a man of stature and yet be contained and comprehended in a little Cake and cantle of bread Now as by these reasons and sundry other that might be alledged the reall presence is sufficiently conuinced so the arguments brought to maintaine and vphold it are easily e Obiections alledged to maintaine the real presence are answered answered For as the doctrine is false so the reasons are weake and foolish First they obiect the words of institution for the defence of this cause For as in questions of the supremacy of Peters pretended of the Popes vsurped which are many they alwayes alledge the words of Christ to Peter Pasce oues meas f Bellar. tomo primo feed by sheepe so do they deale in controuersies of the Supper where we misse not Obiection 1 long Hoc est corpus meum This is my body His words say they are true therefore we must beleeue them he is a man of his word therefore we must credite him if then we be deceiued holding his body to be present he hath deceiued vs. I answere Answere the question is not of the truth of the words whether they be true or false but of the interpretation and meaning thereof which we say is figuratiue and yet no other then is vsuall when the Scripture speaketh of other Sacraments of the Church g Gen. 17 11. as circumcision is the couenant the lambe is the Passeouer the cuppe is the new testament the breaking of the bread is the communion of the body of Christ the rocke is Christ baptisme is the washing of our new-birth Are not all these places like to the words of Christs institution Or can they deny them to be vnderstood figuratiuely and not properly So the meaning of those words is that the bread which he had taken broken and giuen is a signe and figure of his body it is now no longer common bread but a representation of his body truely offered to all and truely giuen to al the faithfull Our Sauiour Christ spake many things vnto his Disciples figuratiuely not litterally to be taken he said h Math. 5 13. they were the salt of the earth the light of the world a citty set on a hill he speaketh of cutting off the hand pulling out the eye he calleth himselfe i Iohn 10 9. a doore k Iohn 15 1. a vire l Iohn 14 6. a way are not these figuratiue and metaphoricall speeches Againe the circumstances of the text the nature of a Sacrament and the Articles of our faith will not suffer vs to take them properly besides this that they should command vs an horrible and wicked thing to eate mans flesh drinke his blood and therefore when we are commended to eate his flesh and to drinke his blood it is a figure as Austine teacheth requiring of vs to be partakers of his passion to keepe in remembrance that his flesh was crucified for vs. Moreouer the Euangelists neuer say the bread is transubstantiated into his body or the wine into his blood or that the body and blood of Christ are in the bread or vnder the bread or with the bread all the circūstances teach that the bread is a Sacrament of his body the wine is a Sacrament of his blood as circumcision was a signe of the couenant the lambe a signe of the Passeouer the rocke a figure of Christ Lastly as Christ speaketh to the euill seruant m Luk 19 22 Out of thine owne mouth will I iudge thee so the aduersaries thēselues giue sentence on our side and one arch-papist condemneth another Bishop Fisher writing against Luther affirmeth that n Fish cont capti Babilon no man can proue by the words of the Gospell that any Priest in these dayes doth consecrate the very body and blood of Christ and therefore o Lindan pa. nopl lib. 4. Liudanus among the rablement of traditions which he reckoneth rehearseth the real presence Likewise Tonstall another Bishoppe of the same birth holdeth that it were p Tonst lib. 1. de Sacr p 46. better to leaue euery man to his owne coniecture as they were before the counsel of Lateran then to bring in such questions And Biel a man of the same stampe not inferior to the rest q Gab. Biel in can lect 40. confesseth that it is not found in the canonicall Scriptures that Christs body is in the Sacrament And let them tel vs their opinion whether that Hildebrand held this bodily presence r Ben. in vit Greg. 7. when he cast the Sacrament into the fire contrary to the liking of certaine Cardinals present with him Thus wee see Counsels Fathers Reasons Doctors Schoole-men Bishops Cardinals Popes
others of the aduersaries themselues fight against the carnall presence of Christ and the Scriptures themselues ouerthrow it Obiection 2 Secondly they obiect the words of Christ Except ye eate Å¿ Ioh. 6 53. the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood yee haue no life in you I answere Answere these words are not vnderstood of the Sacrament they were vttered long before the institution of the Supper and therefore could not be referred vnto that which as yet was not so that Christ speaketh of spirituall eating not of carnall by faith not by the mouth whereby we abide in him and he in vs but many eate the Sacrament of his body that haue not him abiding in them nor themselues in him Againe without this eating of his flesh heere spoken off t Ioh 6 54. no man can attaine eternall life but many have eternall life that never are partakers of the Lords Supper as the theefe crucified with Christ and many others Besides how absurd is it for those to imagine that Christ naming bread speaketh of the Sacrament of the Altar for they would haue no substance of bread to remain but onely the figure shew and likenesse of bread so that according to the deuice of their new-found doctrine hee might more truely say I am no bread or I am the shewes of bread then as he doth r Ioh. 6 32. I am the true bread Moreouer if Christ promising to giue bread for the redemption of the world had pointed out the Sacrament of his Supper then he should haue giuen his flesh for the saluation of mankind not vpon the Crosse but in his last Supper Wherefore then serued his death What neede was there to shed his blood on the Crosse Furthermore if these words be referred to his Supper then the Supper may be celebrated without materiall bread and wine without giuing of thankes without blessing without consecration without breaking and distributing of the bread without pouring out and deliuering of the wine and without remembrance of the death of Christ For in this place we haue no mention of these things And shall wee imagine that the Sacrament is spoken off where neither the matter nor forme nor word of institution nor Minister nor externall rite is once remembred Lastly to eate the flesh of Christ and to drinke his blood is nothing else but to come to Christ and to beleeue in Christ as appeareth in the Text Å¿ Ioh. 6 35 4â— I am that bread of life he that commeth to me shall not hunger and he that beleeueth in me shall neuer thâ—rst And speaking of faith he saith No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him This truth t Bleâ— sect 84. super camâ—â—â— is so cleere and euident that many of the aduersaries are driuen to confesse it howsoeuer some of them seeke to cast mistes before the eyes of men that they may not espie it among the which are Sanders and Bellarmine And as we haue shewed before how the Schoole-men and Doctors of the Church of Rome are together by the eares in sundry controuersies about the Supper so are they about the true interpretation of Ioh. 6. Some vnderstanding it of the sacramentall eating some of the spirituall eating u Hos Câ—â—â— de â—uâ—â—â— and some of both Thirdly they obiect the omnipotency of God that he Obiection 3 is able to turne the bread into the body and the wine into his blood he is able to make it really present in heauen earth aâ—d wheresoeuer Masse is said he is able to make a body to be in many places at once and yet not occupie a place I answere Aâ—swere when all other reasons faile they slye to Gods omnipotency as vnto a sanctuary and place of refuge But this will not proue a reall presence For albeit God be omnipâ—tent and almighty must he therefore doe all things yea offer violence to his owne body to maintaine their aâ—â—urd and hereticall opinions of the reall presence and of transubstantiation Must his power attend vpon their fancies and dreames Cannot he be omnipotent except their positions and assertions be granted There is no â—eâ—e of Gods power albeit we withstand their carnall presence For touching the omnipotency of God a Two rules to obseruâ—◠〈◊〉 Gods oâ—â—â—poâ—ency we must obserue these two rules and conclusions First Gods power is neuer to be opposed and set against his expresse wâ—ll plainely and certainely knowne for God is not contrary to himselfe Now then it is not enough to prooue that God can turne bread and wine into the bodye and blood of Chrâ—st vnlesse they proue he will turne them into his flesh and blood We our selues can doe many things which we do not and which we will not do so we must know it is with God he câ—uld haue added wings to man hee might haue made many worlds if it had plâ—ased him Christ of b Mat 3.9 the stones could haue raysed vp children vnto Abraham Christ could haue prayed to his Father in his afflictâ—on to send him c Mat. 26 3. more then 12. legions of Angels but how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled Wherefore we â—â—e nâ—t to reason of his power vnlesse we be assured oâ— his wâ—ll reuealed in his word as we see Christ disputing against the â—â—duâ—es saith Ye are deceiued not knowing the â—â—r ptures nâ— the power of God d Mat. 22 9. Where we see he ioyneth the Scriptures and the power of God together so that he is truely said to be omnipotent e A 〈…〉 1â— because he can bring to passe whatsoeuer he will neither can the effect of his will be hindred or resâ—â—ed Now it is the knowne will of God that Christ shoulâ— haue a true body that he might be a true man with his quantity and dimensions The second rule to be remembred is f No contradiction is in God that in God there is no contradiction and that whatsoeuer necessarily implieth a contradiction is an argument not of power but of weaknesse This the Scriptures decree this the Fathers dâ—liuer this their owne Schoolemen determine For g 2 Cor. 1.59 in God is not yea and nay he abideth saithfull he cannot deny himselfe hee cannot dye he cannot lye he cannot deny his word he c nnot sin he cannot deceiue hee cannot be deceiued These and such like he cannot do which if he should doe he were not omnipotent For this h Aug de trin cap 15 lâ—b â—◠〈◊〉 lâ—b 2. cap 1â— were a token of impotency not of omnipotency of debility not of ability of want and weakenesse not of strength and power For in euery contradiction i Arist 〈◊〉 â—â—terp li 1 ca. 5. there is â—aâ—shood and a lye which cannot agree to God who is truth it selfe and therefore he cannot make affirmation and negation truth and falshood yea and nay to be true together which things are impossible Yea the
popish Schoole-men k Thom contra gent. lib. â— cap. 84 â—nâ— lib. 2 â—a 25. confute this popish fancy of the reall presence when they teach that God cannot doe any thing wherein a contradiction is implyed and that al other things he can do and therefore is omnipotent Now who seeth not that heerein is a manifest and notable contradiction that Christs body is made visible and inuisible together finite and infinite circumscribed and vncircumscribed to haue dimension and to want dimension to be coÌ„passed in one certaine place and to be in a great number of Sacraments in many places to be included in a litte bread on earth which is contrary to the nature of a mans true body and not to be contained therein as sitting in heauen and there hauing the naturall properties of a true body which cannot be brought within so narrow a compasse as the waâ—er-cake Wherefore the absurd conceit of the reall presence cannot be maintained without many contradictions For if Christs body be visible how can it bee inuisible If it haue all the properties of a naturall body how can it be without the properties of a naturall body If it be finite how can it be infinite Lastly if it be an inseparable and necessary adioynt to a true body to be contained in one certaine place how then can it be true that his body is in ten thousand places without any circumscription So then Gods omnipotency cannot build vp the moÌ„strous worke of the reall presence inasmuch as the body of Christ cannot be brought within the slender compasse of a piece of bread without falshood and destruction of all the properties incident vnto a true and naturall body Obiection 4 Lastly as an effect of Gods omnipotent power they obiect the bread and wine are turned into the flesh and blood of Christ appearing bread and wine still by a wonderful miracle which is wrought by the words of consecration and by a mighty worke of God This obiection hath beene sufficiently answered already Answere Wee haue proued that euery miracle may bee seene and discerned by the outward senses as the miracles of Moses of the Prophets of Christ and the Apostles and therefore the I wes said vnto Christ l Ioh. 1 18. Shew vs a miracle teaching that miracles are to be iudged by sight and sense When Moses turned m Eâ—o â—â— c the waters of the Egiptians into blood the sight perceiued the taste discerned it The miracles n Ioh. 2 9. of Christ appeare euidently and were apprehended by the senses of the body He turned water into wine the taste iudged thereof ' the dumbe spake the eare heard them speake The lame walked the dead were raised the eyes perceiued the motion all maruelled and were astonied In like manner if the bread and wine were changed either the eye or taste should perceiue it and all the Disciples would be astonied Againe after the Gospell was plentifully confirmed and had taken roote and the Apostles were dead such miracles ceased as experience teacheth Besides the holy Supper is an ordinary Sacrament of the Church but euery miracle is extraordinary or else it is no miracle so that vnlesse we will turne ordinary into extraordinary and make miracles as common as Sacraments o No miracle in the Lords Supper we must remoue miracles from the Supper Furthermore if the real presence were wrought by a miracle euery Priest should be a worker of miracles wonders and an ordinary calling should alwayes bee accompanied with extraordinary guifts But their office of Priesthood hath not this guift in their owne iudgement generally giuen vnto it Wherefore miracles being p Chrysost in 5. Cor. ca. 2. hom 6 now ceased are not found in the Supper Lastly Augustine gathering all the miracles written in the Scripture q Aug. de Trin. lib. 3. cap. 10. yet speaketh not of this nay he not onely omitted it but flatly denyeth any miracle to be in the Sacrament when hee saith It may haue honour or reuerence as an holy thing but cannot be wondred at as a strange or miraculous thing If then it be a miracle it must bee in the number of lying miracles spoken off by the r 2 Thes 2 â— Apostle so that transubstantiation and the reall presence are reall contraries or contradictions repugnant to the Scripture to faith to reason to learning to sense to nature to Gods ordinance absurd and impossible and therefore of all Gods people to be abhorred and abiured being a renewing of the olde heresie of Å¿ The errors of Eutiches Marcion Eutiches who held that Christs body after his incarnation was made equall with his diuinity and likewise of Marcion who held that Christ appeared not in the very natural body of a man but onely in a fantasie or shew of a mans body To conclude this vse we do not exclude all presence of Christ out of the Sacrament but distinguish the manner of his presence which we haue shewed to bee in the Supper truely not grosly effectually not fleshly spiritually not bodily sacramentally not carnally mystically not naturally The former vse was touching knowledge and faith instructing Vse 2 what to hold of the reall presence The next vse is touching our obedience and duty For is Christ the chiefe substance of this Sacrament and his body and blood giuen vs for the food of our soules a guift farre aboue heauen and earth Then we are bound to hunger after him to desire him with an earnest appetite and desire as wee come to our meate and drinke Hunger is a great thing and we say it maketh men leaâ—â—e ouer a stone well he that is hunger bitten will eate his owne flesh from his armes In this corporall hunger then are two things that pine and pinch men first a paine in the lower part of the belly arising from emptinesse Secondly an exceeding appetite to be filled and satiâ—fied such haue t Deut 28.53 57. killed dressed and deuouted their owne children rather then they would starue King 6 29. Lam 4 10 this paine hath beene so great this longing hath bin so extraordinary So must it be with vs in the spirituall hunger after Christ we must be inwardly pained in soule for sinne and for the wrath of God kindled for our sinne and then haue an hungring desire longing appetite that we may possesse Christ and lay hold on him to our saluation Whosoeuer commeth to his ordinary meat without hunger it were better not to eate it ingendreth grosse and euill humors and bringeth a surfet to the body So whosoeuer desireth not Christ with an hungry soule earnestly longing after him and crauing nourishment from him cannot be filled with good things The want of this hunger is a cause why so few receiue Christ and profit not by the meanes ordained to that end as the word and Sacraments these come to them of custome rather then with conscience and for fashion rather then with faith
comfort in trials and tribulations to consider that howsoeuer by sicknesse by persecution by imprisonment wee may be separated from the Supper of Christ u Rom. 8 35. yet we cannot be separated from Christ though we may be hindred from eating him sacramentally yet wee cannot bee hindred from eating him spiritually though we may be kept from eating the bread and drinking of the cup of the Lord yet we cannot by the malice of Sathan or violence of his instruments be kept from feeding vpon Christ by faith to saluatioÌ„ And in this case God will accept the will for the deed if there be in vs a desire to be partakers thereof for as the word of God is not bound so his grace is not tyed vp Againe other receiue Christ onely sacramentally and not spiritually who are partakers of the outward Elements of bread and wine and so receiue the bare signes of the body and blood of Christ For as they are said to eate the true body of Christ spiritually which receiue Christ with the mouth of the soule that is by a true faith and are truely ioyned to him so they eate him sacramentally that handle eate and drinke the signes and seales of his true body but because they want faith they want the meanes to receiue Christ himselfe Thus many haue bin baptized that were neuer regenerated and inwardly purged a Act. 8 23. appeareth in Symon the sorcerer whose heart was not vptight so that albeit he were partaker of the Sacrament of regeneration and repentance yet he remained in the gall of bitternes and in the bond of iniquity So many haue resorted to the Lords Supper that neuer drew nourishment or strength of faith from him to life and saluation and thus many thousands in the world come to the Sacraments but because they come vnworthily they depart away vnprofitably Let no man therefore slatter himselfe in the worke done but labour to come aright that so he may finde comfort to his soule Moreouer some neither receiue Christ spiritually nor sacramentally and such are they that neuer come to Christ nor receiue the sacraments of Christ such are they that liue cut of the bosome of the Church as it were out of the Arke of Noah as Infidels Iewes Turkes Sarizens Persians and such like these must needs perish in the deepe floods of Gods endlesse iudgements For as Christ is the fountaine of life and the well-spring of all b Câ—â— 1 19 â— â— heauenly treasures that accompany saluation and the Sacraments his instruments whereby these graces are conueyed vnto vs the Church the parties to whom both these belong so such as are without Christ without the Sacraments without grace without the Church and consequently without the priuiledges that pertaine to the heires of his eternall kingdome lye in darkenesse and in the shaddowe of death c Mat â—5 26. and are as Dogges to whome the childrens bread doth not belong Lastly other receiue Christ both spiritually by faith sacramentally with the mouth who are partakers both of the signes and of the things signified who â—â—g Tract â—5 â—4 Iohan eate of the bread of the Lord and the bread which is the Lords And thus the Apostles that sate at the table with Christ at his last Supper did receiue him applying the outward part to their bodies and the inward part to their soules Also thus all the faithfull that come to the table of Christ to the end of the world doe receiue him spiritually and sacramentally to the great comfort of their owne soules and thus must euery one of vs seeke to come to Christ whensoeuer wee come to the Sacrament of Christ Wherefore we see what difference distinction is to be made betweene those that receiue Christ that we be not deceiued in the manner of the receiuing of him Againe seeing onely the faithfull are the inward part of Vse 2 this Sacrament it is not to be administred to such as shew themselues vnfaithful and vnrepentant so farre as they may be knowne so to be Such as are without faith without repentance without sanctification haue no right and interest in this blessed communion For if euery one should without difference be admitted and receiued the Church of God which is a blessed fellowship of Saints should be turned into a stye of vnclean swine a stable of vncleane beasts a cage of vncleane birds and as Christ speaketh the e Ioh. 2 16. Luk 19 46. house of God should be made a denne of theeues God did shut out of his f Ezek. 44 9. sanctuary euery stranger vncircumcised in heart and in the flesh he commanded also the Priests to put a difference betweene the holy and prophane betweene the cleane and vncleane Hitherto belongeth that saying of Christ Mathew 7. Giue ye not that which is holy to dogges neither cast ye your pearles before swine least they tread you vnder their feet and turning againe all to rent you If therefore such as remaine in grosse and open sinnes of blasphemy swearing contempt of Gods word adultery fornication vncleannes wantonnesse drunkennesse maliciousnesse and such like offer themselues at any time with the rest of the members of the Church to partake this Supper and as it were infectious leapers come into the Lords host g Leuit. 13 â— 45 46. Num. 5 â— 3. to bee admitted to the sacrifices it is the Pastors duty to vse the power of the keyes and barre them from this Sacrament vntill there appeare in them the testimonies of repentance and the confession of their offences Should not the shepheard seuer the rotten and infected sheepe from the rest of the fold Doth not h 1 Cor. 5 6. a little leauen sower the whole lump Will an housholdder admit into his house euery one that vanteth himselfe to be of the houshold The Idolaters by the light of nature i Hesiod liber oper dier Eustath in Iliad lib. 1. Virg. Aeneid lib. 2. 6. would not suffer all to approach to their sacrifices their heathenish sacrifices but cryed out that prophane persons should be packing and get them thence and not i presume to offer with vnwashen hands Such as haue a very cleere fountaine and spring of waters committed vnto them if they see filthy swine come toward it k Chrys hom 83 in Mat cap 37. must not suffer them to trouble the spring and annoy the water Shall they then that haue the sacred and hallowed spring not of common water but of the precious blood of Christ springing vp to eternall life committed vnto them l Zeph. 3 4. suffer such as are notoriously defiled with sin to prophane the blood of Christ and make a mocke of him to their owne destruction Wherefore such as are open wicked persons are not without opeÌ„ repeÌ„tance to be admitted to the Sacram. of the Supper but to be separated from the Church as dead members from the body as withered branches from the tree and
the eye the heart It would be strange in nature to see the hands beate and teare the face or the feet then what is it but euen monstrous in religion for one Christian to deuoure another to pray vpon another to swell against another and to do hurt one to another There is no difference of grapes when they are all in the wine-presse so there is no difference of Christians in respect of Christ comming to his Table so that being made one body in Christ there ought to be no diuision or contention among vs but we should be knit together in loue with so firme and fast a knot as may not bee broken Thus much of the third and last end of the Lords Supper CHAP. XV. Of Examination before the Lords Supper WHat the Supper of the Lord is what are the parts and vses thereof and what an heauenly banket it is for all worthy receiuers hath hitherto beene sufficiently declared now it followeth to set down a Examination necessary before we come to the Lords Table the way means how we may come worthily For the whole fruite of this Sacrament standeth in the right partaking thereof The right manner standeth in preparing our selues to come and in examining our selues before we come No great thing can be done well without good care and endeuour In all humane b Cicer de â—sâ—sic lib. 1. things of any importance nothing is attempted or atchiued without some preparation more or lesse going before according to the nature of the matter Before men sit downe to eate or drink their ordinary food before they sleepe before they wash before they walke before they worke some preparation goeth before Before the c rem 4 4. ground is tilled it is prepared Before the law was deliuered before the d Exo. 19 10. Sabboth was sanctified before the sacrifice was offered before the Passeouer was killed before the word was receiued before prayers were vttered the hart was in some sort prepared One of the greatest duties required of vs is to dye well whereunto all our life should be a preparation and euery day should be a meditation of death that we may not be found vnready vnprepared e Mat. 25 13. when the bridegroome shall come So the Supper of the Lord being an excellent mystery and the food of our soules whereby we receiue Christs body and blood there is required of euery one a trying prouing and examining themselues least seeking comfort by their comming they bring vpon theÌ„selues iudgement through want of preparing This truth deliuered hath the witnesse and consent f 2 Chr. 35.6 of many Scriptures for the confirmation thereof The Prophet 2. Chron. 35. saith Kill the Passeouer and sanctifie your selues and prepare your brethren that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses And the holy man Iob when the dayes of the banketting of his children were gone about sent and sanctified them and rose vp earely in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all Also the wise man Eccle. 4. Take heed to thy foote when thou entrest into the house of God and be more neere to heare then to giue the sacrâ—fice of fooles for they know not that they do euill Likewise the Prophet Ieremy Lament 3. Wherefore is the living man sorrowfull Man suffereth for his sinne let vs search and try our wayes and turne againe to the Lord. To the same purpose the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 4. Tremble and sinne not examine your owne heart vpon your bed and be still and Psal 119. I haue considered my waies and turned my feet into thy testimonies The Apostle Paul is very direct in this point as Gal 6.4 Let euery man proue his owne worke and then shall he haue reioycing in himselfe onely and not in any other Also 1. Cor. 11. Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this cup where he speaketh of purpose of the Lords Supper So then it is a duty required of all persons that come to the Lords Table or any other exercise of religion to search their owne hearts and consciences narrowly how they be affected disposed touching the discharge of this duty And if we would farther consider the necessity of this examination we should finde it standeth vpon many sufficient g Reasons of this duty of examination reasons and causes as vpon certaine foundations that cannot be remoued Do we not see men when they come into the presence of some honourable and noble person h Gen. 41 14. to addresse themselues to do it with all reuerence Ioseph being sent for to come before Pharaoh King of Egipt shaued his head and changed his rayment and Prou. 23. When thou sittest downe with a Ruler at meate consider diligently what is before thee Therefore when we sit at the Lords Table to sup with him and are admitted to be his welcome guests we ought much more to be carefull to sanctifie our soules with all solemnity Consider with me a little our owne practise We will not put our ordinary meates in a dish vnwashed nor our common drinks into a cup vncleansed and shall wee put the signes of bread and wine which are chosen instruments to conueigh Christ vnto vs into vnsanctified soules vnprepared hearts and filthy consciences Doth not our Sauiour Christ reproue such hypocrisie when he saith i Mat. 16 3. Ye can discerne the face of the skie and can you not discerne the signes of the times And if that vpper chamber where the Supper was first administred were trimmed and garnished should not our hearts bee prepared into the which it is receiued Shal Christ himselfe offer to come into our houses and shall not we sanctifie our hearts to entertaine such a guest This were too great carelesnes and contempt Moreouer waigh with me the profit that commeth to our selues to moue vs to this examination The comfort is great the fruite is excellent the benefit is vnspeakeable to those that partake the mystery of the Supper worthily they receiue Christ they receiue remission of sins they receiue saluation they receiue assurance of eternall life For if the woman diseased l Math. 9 20. with an yssue of blood loe twelue yeare comming behind Christ and touched onely the hemme of his garment was made vvhole then assuredly the spiritual receyuing of the body and bloode of Christ shall not bring lesse profit if the faith be equall which notwithstanding is wholy lost without preparation Ponder with me also how by neglect of this triall of our selues not onely this profite is lost but the Sacrament it selfe is after a sort defiled For howsoeuer it be in it selfe by the ordinance of God an holy and heauenly banquet yet vnto the vngodly vnregenerate and vnsanctified it becommeth vnholy and wholy earthly l Hag. 2.14 as the prophet Haggai teacheth Chapter 2. If a polluted
of Christ Howbeit it is not so needfull and behooueful as that without preaching it should bee no baptisme or that for want of this it should be reiterated and the former made voide And therefore the Priests that circumcised children in the Temple did not alwaies preach the law to the people for then they must preach not onely vpon the Sabaoth but euery day in the weeke and peraduenture oftentimes in the day forasmuch as children were brought at all times to be circumcised being precisely tied vnto the eight day and therefore as children were borne euerie day of the week so doubtlesse they were brought to be circumcised euery day of the weeke And what Sermon could there be at the circumcision of Iohn Baptist the fore-runner of Christ Luke 1 62. his Father for his vnbeleefe being striken dumb and so not able to speake Luke 1 62 Againe we confesse that seales without writings are like waxe set to a blanke and therefore baptisme without the word is altogether vnauaileable and vnprofitable Notwithstanding by the word we do not vnderstand the solemne interpretation of the scriptures with doctrine and application but a declaration of the institution of Christ and a commemoration of the promises of the Gospel Thus we make the word necessarie and otherwise then thus we do not make it to be necessarie The third outward part is the element of water The 3. outward part of Baptisme which is the matter whereof baptisme consisteth Whosoeuer therefore baptizeth with any other liquor then with water as with blood with sand with snow with milke or such like matter doth frustrate baptisme and maketh it an ydle Ceremony Againe all popish corruptions superfluously added and annexed to this Sacrament contrary to the simplicity of the Gospell as Creame Crosses Censers Tapers Spittle Salt and such like vnsauoury trumpery are vtterlie condemned hauing also a superstitious opinion of holines and worship ioyned with them Lastly seeing water is an outward part the want of washing with water cannot hinder the saluation of such as die without baptisme All perished not vnder the Law that died without Circumcision God is not more rigorous vnder the Gospell neither did Christ come to condemne those whom the law saued This therefore is a bloody and discomfortable doctrine to be abandoned and abiured of all parents of all children of all christians God saide at the first to Abraham when he instituted circumcision I will be thy God and the God of thy seede Gen. 17 7. And the Apostle Paul speaking of children born of faithfull Fathers and Mothers saith That they be holie 1. Cor. 7 14. By the strength and vertue of this couenant so graciously made and faithfully kept it commeth to passe that the children of beleeuers so soone as they be borne do belong to God and to his kingdome The absolute necessitie of Baptisme How baptism is absolutelie necessary we acknowledge in two pointes first it is necessary to haue it celebrated in the church to the end of the world Christ hath commaunded it and the Church ought to keepe this commaundement without spot and without rebuke vntill the appearing of our Lord Iesus Christ For as the Apostle teacheth that wee must shew the Lordes death vntill hee come so we are to baptize the members of the Church vntill hee come againe to iudge the quicke and the dead Secondlie it is necessarie in this respect because who soeuer dooth voluntarily depriue himselfe of baptisme the Sacrament of regeneration and the seale of the righteousnesse by Faith and dooth wilfully contemne it as the Pharisees did against themselues cannot be saued For it is the refusing not the wanting the contempt not the depriuation of baptisme that bringeth with it condemnation according to that which the Lorde speaketh touching circumcision Gen 17. The vncircumcised male whose flesh of his foreskinne is not circumcised that soule shall be cut off from his people he hath broken my Couenant But to say Gen. 17 14. that God cannot or will not saue children without baptisme or to beleeue that being carried towardes baptisme and dying in the way they are excluded from eternall saluation Children dying vvithout baptisme are not damned is a rash and cruell sentence of corrupt and partiall iudges First it is a false accusing of our mercifull God of extreme rigor and seuerity as if he did badlie prouide for the saluation of children borne vnder the olde testament who were restreined circumcision before the eight day Secondly it committeth the saluation or damnation of children into the power of a man or a Midwife for if they list to baptize them they shall goe into Paradise if they please not to doe it then they shall neuer come vnto Heauen Thirdly our aduersaries themselues that vrge so much the necessitie of Baptisme do teach in their writings that many are saued without the Baptisme of Water as sundrte Martirs that were neuer baptized but that the shedding of their blood hath the force of true baptisme And yet as it is well obserued this baptisme of bloode is contrarie to their owne Cannons which conclude and determine that it can be no Sacrament if hee that baptizeth hath not an intent to baptize but they dare not auouch that the persecuters and executioners conferred baptisme or euer had any intent to baptize And howe is the intent requisite in him that doth baptize more then in him that is baptized To omit this that manie haue ended their daies by martyrdome that neuer had their blood shedde and powred out of their bodies Fourthly it is agreed vpon on both sides that baptisme is once onely to be administred to one and the same person and not to be iterated or repeated what reason then can bee rendred by them why Martyrdome of a person alreadie baptized should bee no Sacrament and that the Martirdome of a person not yet baptized should bee a Sacrament For he that hath beene once baptized may bee baptized no more by anie other baptisme And thus Martyrdome shall be a greater honour and dignity in him that is not baptized then in him that hath liued and continued in the Church and beene baptized Fiftly circumcision in the olde Testament and baptisme in the new are all one and of like necessitie yet infinite people were saued vnder the olde Testament without circumcision as all the faithfull women and such as truelie repented amongst the Niniuites at the preaching of Ionas Lastly our aduersaries are constrained to ioyne with vs in that they confes that the power of God is not tied to the Sacraments Lumb l 4. dist 4 insomuch that manie partake the trueth of the Sacrament which do not receiue the outward signe of the Sacrament and that there is a baptisme of the spirit which supplieth the depriuation and default of the baptism of water And this is as much as we desire so that they teach that which wee teach and beleeue that which wee beleeue The fourth outward
part of baptisme The 4. outward part of Bapt. is the bodie that is washed Now such as are to be baptized must be within the Couenant Not to all and euery of them that haue life nor all that haue sense nor all that haue reason haue right to it and a priuiledge in it but the people of God by Couenant These are either men and women of riper years or else the infants of such who haue interrest in baptisme as well as the parents of whome they are borne This condemneth the Romish practise of Baptizing Belles as a most horrible prophanation of this Sacrament and serueth to set foorth the great loue of God vnto all beleeuers who vouchsafeth to bee their God and the God of theyr seede Hence likewise it appeareth d Infants haue interest in baptisme as well as their parents that infants are to be baptized For baptisme succeedeth in place of Circumcision the Apostles baptized e Colos 2 11. whole houses Christ calleth infants and sucklings f Act. 16 15 33 vnto himselfe and saith that vnto such belongeth the Kingdome of Heauen they are Christs sheepe and members of his body Hence we learne that the baptisme of Infants is no vnwritten tradition but a written and diuine institution taught in the Scriptures Consider also heereby the difference betweene baptisme and the Lords Supper g 1 Cor. 14 16 Mar. 10 13 14 15. and that all are conceiued in originall sinne Acknowledge also a difference betweene them and the children of Infidels and let parents be incouraged h Psal 51 5. to bring vp their children in the instruction and reformation of the Lord. Hitherto of the outward parts now follow i Eph. 6 4. the inward parts which also are four in number First k The inward parts of baptism are four God the Father represented by the Minister whereby our faith is greatly strengthned For whensoeuer the eie seeth the Minister powring water on the body faith beholdeth God the Father clensing the soule with the precious blood of his Son Christ The second part is the Spirit l Mat. 28 19 of God hauing relation to the word and promise of God and therefore whensoeuer we come to heare the word or to receiue the Sacraments we must craue the assistance of the Spirit to open our harts m 1 cor 12 12 as he opened the hart of Lydia If this inward teacher be wanting the eare heareth and the hand handleth but the hart is hardned The third inward part of baptism n Act. 16 14 is Christ represented by the water This serueth greatly to confirme our faith to consider with our selues when we behold with our bodily eyes the water poured vpon the body baptized o Act. 2 38. the blotting out of all our sins by the blood of Christ Iesus The 4. inward part is the soule clensed p 1 Pet. 3 21. most liuely and effectually represented by the body washed For the washing of the body representeth the clensing of the soule This teacheth that by nature we are corrupt and abhominable q Ep. 5 26 27 so that God must worke in vs both the will and the deed These are the foure inward parts of baptisme The agreemēt between these outward and inward parts r The proportion betwixt the outward and inward parts of baptisme is very euident Fot as the Minister by the word of institution applieth water to the washing of the body so the Father through the working of the Spirit applieth the blood of Christ to the clensing of the soule This distinction and proportion of the parts to wit the outwarde with the inwarde serueth to determine manie Controuersies vntimely raised hotly pursued and vncharitably continued among vs. For if we did aright discerne the outward baptism from the inward that which the Minister doth deliuer from that which God doth giue and bestow it might be a good meanes to dissolue sundrie doubts touching the sufficiencie and efficacy of this Sacrament whether it be impeached or abolished by the euill of the Minister which is of three sorts of heresy impiety and ignorance The first question is touching heresie Touching the baptis of the Heretickes whether baptisme ministred by an Hereticke be true baptisme or not I aunswere If Heretiques keepe not the substance of baptisme but erre in the foundation of religion and the doctrine of the Trinity their baptisme can be no baptisme Hence it is that Nicephorus Niceph. hist lib. 3. cap 33 maketh mention of a Minister that in the want of water baptized with sand but the party was again baptized and that most iustly But if they keepe the Doctrine of the Sacrament sound in substance and faile not in the essentiall partes of it such baptisme is good baptisme and ought not to be repeated For as the truth taught by Heretickes is Gods truth and auaileable to edification so long as they preach out of Gods word so baptisme administred by them is true baptisme so long as they obserue the institution of God entire and vncorrupt The second Question is touching the scandalous life prophane heart of the Minister whether it hinder the effect of the Sacrament or not Touching the baptisme of euil Ministers I answere it dooth not for as good prayers conceiued by euill men haue also audience vvith God so it is with the Sacraments albeit they be administered by euill men yet haue they acceptance with God And albeit the sonnes of Eli did occasion the people to abhorre the offerings of the Lorde yet it is their sinne to abstaine Iudas beeing sent out to preach ministered Baptisme also which was no doubt effectuall and sufficient to the Receyuers albeit he were a damnable hypocrite and the child of perdition True it is he receiued no benefit by the word or the Sacraments yet he might bee a meanes of doing good to others The light of the Sunne passeth by myrie and vnclean places and yet it is not defiled so the dignitie of the Sament is not hindred by the lewdnesse of the Minister The Sacraments brought vnto vs by loose Ministers which are no better then stumbling-blockes laide before the weake Aug. in Iohan. tract 5. are like water that passeth thorough a Chanell into a Garden it selfe receiueth no benefit by it howbeit the garden is watered and made fruitfull thereby Manie of the Priests and Leuites among the Israelites were vngodly and vnsanctified yet they both offered sacrifices and celebrated Sacraments which to the right partakers were feales of the Couenants and meanes to encrease faith Again there is no difference in respect of God between him that is prophane in heart and him that is prophane in life betweene him that is prophane outwardlye and him that is prophane inwardly forasmuch as they are both alike knowne vnto him But no man knoweth what is in the heart and therefore if prophanenesse did hinder the fruitfulnesse of the
Sacrament no man could be assured that at any time he receiued a Sacrament but must alwaies hang in suspense and doubt of the matter Let no man therfore refuse or abhorre the Lords ordinances for the euil demeanour of the Ministers as no man will reiect the guifte of a Prince albeit a wicked person should drawe the conueyance The third and last question remaineth which is whether the ignorance or vnabilitie of the Minister to preach Touching the bapt of ignorant ministers do disanull the sufficiency and efficacy of the Sacrament to the receiuer that beleeueth It were to bee wished that euery Congregation had his learned Pastor that so the occasion of this Question might be cut off but because wee cannot haue so flourishing a Church we must consider the matter as the case standeth with vs and know that his actions are not nullities For the Apostle requireth that the Minister should be vnreprooueable in life 1 Tim. 3.2 as well as apt to teach 1 Tim. 3. If then his euill life doe not disanull his worke why should his ignorance be a greater bar If then any reason thus Euery Ministery of the New-Testament is a preaching Ministery Therefore Sacraments are voide that are deliuered by no preachers Why may we not reason in like manner and as strongly Euery Ministerie of the New-Testament is an vnblameable ministery Therefore Sacraments are void that are deliuered by them that are not vnreprooueable Indeede euery good ministerie is a preaching ministery but not euerie ministery in generall and therefore it will not follow that the action of him that is no preacher is a nullityâ— But of these Questions wee haue spoken more at large elsewhere Thus farre of the parts â— Baptisme both the outward and the inward parts now wâ— come to the vses therof Å¿ Three vses of Baptisme which are principally three First to shewe the placing and planting into the body of Christ to râ—maine in him for euer This coniunction with Christ is not bodily or naturall but mysticall and maruellous in our eies for we are made one with Christ t 1 Cor. 6 17. by the same Spirit dwelling in Christ and in all the members of Christ So then the Saintes triumphing in heauen and all the beleeuers fighting vpon earth as soldiers in warefare haue one and the same spirite of Christ dwelling in them and therefore are one with him Secondly to assure vs of the remission of our sinnes that we may be able to stand in the presence of God u Gal. 3 17. hauing put on the garments of Christ as Iacob receiud the blessing clad in the garments of his elder brother This ouerthroweth the doctrine or rather doting of the Church of Rome which teacheth that baptisme abolisheth all sinnes going before it and leaueth nothing that hath the name or nature of sinne If this were a trueth of God not a dreame of men it is not onely decent but greatly to be desired to haue baptisme deferred vntill olde age nay vnto the houre of death that fo we may depart hence in peace with greater assurance of Gods fauour in the pardon of our sinnes Thirdly a Marke 1 1. to slay the olde man and to kill our naturall corruption by the power of the death and buriall of Christ besides to raise vs vp againe to holinesse and newnesse of life by his resurrection Hence it is that the Euangelists call it the Sacrament of Repentance admonishing euerie one of vs to expresse the strength power of baptisme as the Prophets oftentimes exhort the Iewes to b Deut 10 15. circumcise the foreskin of their harts and to harden their neckes no more So wee ought not to content our selues to be baptized in bodie but must labour to be baptized in soule by a daily proceeding in regeneration by bringing foorth the fruites of sanctification and applying Christ Iesus to our full iustification Thus much of baptisme the honourable badge of our profession and dedication to Christ that dyed vppon the Crosse what it is what are the parts and vses thereof Now wee come to d The sum of the 3. Booke the Sacrament of the bodie and bloode of Christ which is called by diuers and sundrie names in the New Testament Sometimes it is called the f 1 Cor. 10 16 Communion teaching that wee are one bodye coupled togethet in Christ shewing that it is to bee receyued of manie together and admonishing vs of vnitie and concord among our selues Sometimes it is g 1 Cor. 11 20 called the Lordes Supper hence wee see who is the authour of it no Man no Angell but the Lord Iesus leauing it for a fare-well token of his Loue towards vs. Wee must also come with an earnest desire hungring after Christ that we may be satisfied with his righteousnesse Sometimes it is called the h Actes 2 42. breaking of bread this sheweth that the substance of breade remaineth after the words of consecration that figuratiue speeches are vsed in the Sacrament and that this externall rite of breaking the bread vsed by Christ practised by the Apostles obserued by the pastors of the Church ought not to bee omitted and ouer-passed Sometimes it is called the i 1 Cor 10 21 Table of the Lord this teacheth that Christ and his Apostles at the celebration of it vsed a table not an Altar that it is a Sacrament not a Sacrifice and that we ought to draw nere vnto it with all regard and reuerence Lastlie it is called the New testament or Will of Christ This title teacheth that there is a double Couenant betweene GOD and man the one old the other new the one of the law the other of the Gospell the first of workes the second of grace Againe it serueth to condemne the cursed sacriledge of the Church of Rome which addeth and detracteth altereth and mingleth it with the leauen of her owne inuentions This is a great comfort to all Gods children to consider that all faithfull Christians are the heires of Christ to whoÌ„ he hath promised saluation of their soules and forgiuenes of their sinnes As we haue seene the seuerall names of this Sacrament which shew the nature thereof vnto vs so now we will set downe k What the Lords Supper is what the Lords Supper is The Supper of the Lord is the second Sacrament wherein by visible receiuing of bread and wine is represented our spirituall communion with the body and blood of Christ Heere God is present and sitteth as president at this Table he offereth vnto vs his owne Son for our iustification and therefore this Supper must be reuerently regarded and diligently frequented of vs. In this Sacrament l In the lords Supper consider hiâ— parts and his vses we are in like manner to consider the parts and the vses thereof The parts are partly outward and partly inward For it fareth no otherwise with the Sacrament then it doth with man considered in his
partes A man is a compound creature made of flesh and of a reasonable soule as Athanasius speaketh in his Creede If the question were asked whether man were a mortall creature or immortall earthly or heauenly visible or inuisible No man coulde rightly answere without a distinction to wit that he is earthly touching his body heauenly touching his spirit In like sort we must consider touching the lords supper which is made of an earthly and an heauenly thing and therefore if the question be demaunded whether it be an earthly or an heauenly thing Wee must resolue that in part it is earthly and in part heauenly earthly in the figure and heauenly in the matter that is signified We must acknowledge from hence the diuers natures and partes of it distinguishing the one from the other Then had neuer risen so great contētion confusion in the Church of Christ touching this Supper if this distinction had heene wisely obserued and if what is proper vnto the outward parts and what proper to the inwarde had beene duely marked The ignorance of this point hath bred much debate and kindled a fire that will very hardly bee quenched The outward parts are m The outward parts are foure foure First the Minister who is to take the bread and wine into his handes n 1 Cor. 11 23 after the example of Christ to separate the Bread and Wine so taken from their common vse to an holy to breake the bread to poure out the Wine and deliuer them both into the handes of all the people present for it is not for euerie man to minister in the Church of God and to bestowe and dispose the Mysteries of Christ The Apostles were present at the Supper not as dispensers but as communicants not as Ministers but as ghesse Christ was as the maister and maker of the Feast instituting with his owne hands the Sacrament of his grace So then they are not consecrated to be Priestes of the New testament but preachers of the Gospell and ministers of the Sacraments and therefore priuate persons may not take this Supper to themselues or deliuer it to others The second part is the word of Institution o Luke 22 19 This is my body that is this bread is p Tertul. lib. 4. cont Marcio august conr adimant cap. 12. a signe of my bodie which shortly shall be crucified for you this cup is a true signe of my Bloode presently to be shed to confirme the new Couenant of GOD touching forgiuenesse of sins and eternall life These words are not properly but figuratiuely to be vnderstood beeing Sacramentall speeches Thus the Scripture speaketh of q Gen. 17 10 Circumcision of the Paschall Lambe The third outward part are bread wine fit signes to signify our spirituall nourishment by eating the body and drinking the bloode of Christ In baptisme wee haue one onely signe but in this supper r Mark 14 12 we haue two to note out our full and perfect nourishment by Christ Neither did Christ deliuer the deceiueable shewes of bread and wine or cast a mist before the eies of his Disciples to make them thinke it Bread which was no bread or wine which was no wine but he gaue them true bread and the true fruite of the vine ſ 1 cor 10 16 as the Apostle calleth them after the blessing breaking consecration Heereby falleth to the ground the mystery of transubstantiation the most mishapen monster that euer liued or was deuised It bringeth in a false Christ and turneth him into an Idoll it maketh Sacraments without signes it maketh Christ to haue an infinite body who is like to vs in all things t Heb. 4 15 sinne onely excepted Lastly it confoundeth heauen and earth together Obiection Neither let any obiect that Christ hath now a glorified body sitting at the right hand of his Father and therfore his body hath a great priuiledge aboue ours to bee in diuers places at the same time Answere For first when the holy Supper was instituted the body of Christ was not glorified Againe glorification doth not take away the nature of a true body but taketh away the infirmity and weaknes thereof Take away space of place from a body and it remaineth no longer a true body but the essence of it is abolished u Aug. epist 57. ad Dardan as Austine hath well determined Againe if Christ deliuered both signes the people ought to receiue vnder both kindes so that they may be iustly called Church-robbers who haue takan frō the people the vse of the cup and a Gal. 3 15. wretched deprauers of Christs testament depriuing the right heires of their inheritance ingrossing into their hands the goods of others They make it of the essence of the Sacrament to vse vnleauened bread and to mingle water with wine which Christ neuer ordained or commanded but that which is necessary they esteeme as needles and superfluous thus transgressing the commandement of God by their owne traditions The fourth outward part are the Communicants whose duty it is c Mat. 26 26. to take the bread and wine into their hands to eate the bread and to drinke the wine to the nourishment of their bodies He did not bid them to reserue the outward signes to hold them vp and adore them or cal the Sacrament their Lord and their God he did not command them to offer them vp to God the Father as a propitiatory sacrifice for the quicke and dead as is vsed in their vnbloody or rather most bloody Masse which hath caused so much innocent blood of the blessed martyrs to be shed d Reu. 6 7.10 who being killed for the word of God and the testimony which they maintained their soules vnder the Altar cry day and night with a loud voice vnto the Lord holy and true to iudge and auenge their blood on them that dwell on the earth Lastly heereby are ouerthrowne the priuate Masses of the Church of Rome which now grow to be too commō e 1 Cor. 11 10 and cannot stand with the Communion of Christ who deliuered the signes of bread and wine to all the Disciples that were present they did not stand by and gaze one vpon another but receiued the Supper of the Lord together The outward parts haue bin hitherto handled which being rightly performed f What Consecration is there followeth consecration which is a separation of the outward signes from their ordinary vse to an holy and spirituall vse that whereas before they serued for the body now they are made instruments of grace and seales of the righteousnes by faith The inward parts follow g The inward parts of this Supper are foure which are foure First God the Father who appointed his Son to performe the gracious worke of our redemption and in the fulnesse of time sent him into the world h Rom. 4 2 5 who dyed for our sinnes and rose againe for our
iustification Secondly the Holy-Ghost who assureth vs of the truth of Gods promises This sheweth that he is true i Reuel 1 4. God equall with the Father and the Son proceeding from the Father and the Son This confuteth such as suppose no partaking of the body and blood of Christ except he bee giuen vs in a carnal and fleshy manner wheras the Spirit worketh faith in our hearts k Heb. 11.1 which is the ground of things which are hoped for and the euidence of things which are not seene The third inward part of the Lords Supper l Luk. 22 19 is the body blood of Christ deliuered for vs vnto death This conuinceth such of a spirit of error who make vnbeleeuers and reprobates partakers of Christs body and blood thus his body should be prophaned m Ioh 6 5 and his sauing graces separated from his person But euen as where Sathan dwelleth possesseth the heart there alwaies raigne the works of darknes and damnation so the gifts of Christ accompanying saluation are inseparably ioyned with the person of Christ This also condemneth the reall presence and carnall eating of Christ which forgeth many Christs and reuiueth the heresie of Eutiches it crosseth sundry Articles of the Christian faith and maketh faithfull men like the vnfaithfull Barbarians that deuoured mans flesh and drunke his blood True it is Christ is truely present in the Sacrament howbeit not carnally and corporally but spiritually and mystically He hath giuen himselfe to be the food of our soules let vs hunger and thirst after him and lay hold on him to our saluation for n â— Ioh. 5 12. he that hath the Sonne hath life he that hath not the Son of God hath not life The last inward part is the faithfull receiuer who stretcheth forth the hand of faith so layeth hold on Christ and al his sauing graces For no maÌ„ can communicate with his body but the same is made partaker of his benefits Let vs all prepare the true and liuely faith o Tit. 1.1 of Gods elect and assure our selues that hypocrites and vnbeleeuers cannot possibly be partakers of the body and blood of Christ These are the foure inward parts also of the Lords Supper The similitude and relation p The proportion betwixt the outward and inward parts of the Supper of the outward and inward parts one to another standeth in this manner euen as the Minister by the words of institution offereth and giueth bread and wine to the Communicants to feed thereupon bodily so the Father by the Spirit offereth and exhibiteth the body and blood of Christ Iesus to the soules of the faithful to feed vpon them spiritually Thus much of all the parts of the Lords Suppeer now follow the vses to be vnfolded The q The vses of the lâ—d supper are three vses and profit which we reape by the Lords Supper are specially three First to shew forth with praise and thanksgiuing the death and the sufferings of Christ who his owne selfe bare our sins in his body on the tree by whose stripes r 1 Pet. 2 24 we are healed so that we haue the chiefe cause in our selues which did crucifie Christ Secondly to teach our communion with Christ being made flesh Å¿ Eâ—h 5 30. of his flesh and bone of his bones Hence we learne that al the godly and beleeuers are made partakers of Chrst and his graces This is matter of great comfort in our manifold trials and tentations that we are ioyned to Christ as members to the head t Rom. 8. â—3 and therefore neither life nor death nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things preseÌ„t nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shal be able to separate vs from the loue of GOD which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. But on the other side the vngodly and vnbeleeuers haue no part or portion in Christ and his graces they are as branches u Ioh. 15 6. cut off which wither and men gather them to cast them into the fire and to burne them Thirdly to declare and testifie our Communion fellowship and a 1 Cor. 10 17 agreement with our brethreÌ„ meeting together at the same Table and partaking together of the same Supper Wherefore seeing we haue not onely an vnion with Christ but a Communion among our selues we are the seruants of the Church to serue one another in all duties of loue to instruct them that are ignorant to raise them that are fallen and to binde vp the broken hearted to reconcile our selues one toward another and to keepe the vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Hitherto we haue handled the doctrine of the Lords Supper declaring what it is what are the parts and vses thereof the preparation to this worke followeth b 1 Cor. 11.28 consisting in the examination of our selues and trying our owne hearts by the touchstone of the law of God This duty is very necessary to be performed of vs c Ier. 17 9. for the heart of man is deceitful aboue al things and the secret corners of it past finding out We haue to deale with God in this businesse Great is the profit which we reape and receiue if we come rightly and reuerently prepared Great is the punishment procured by want of this tryall and examination And the d Hag. 2 14 Sacrament it selfe is defiled by vnworthy receiuing This preparation principally standeth in these foure points in the e Ioh. 17 3. knowledge of God and of ourseluess especially of the whole doctrine of the Sacraments in a f 2 Cor. 13 5 liuely faith in Christ seeing euery one receiueth so much as he beleeueth he receiueth in repentance g Psal 26 6. from dead workes and lastly in h Mat. 5 23. reconciliation toward our brethren hauing peace i Rom. 12.18 with all men and loue toward our enemies Thus I haue opened plainely yet truely the doctrine of the Sacraments deliuered in the Scriptures and taught in the reformed Churches I haue disclosed some part of the mystery of Iniquity and discouered and laid open the skirts of that great Idoll of the Masse the reproach of Christians the scorne of the Gentiles the offence of the weake and the occasion of ruine to many that stumble thereat to their own confusion The Lord God high possessor of heauen and earth and preseruer of his people that call vpon him put it into the hart of al Christian Princes and Rulers of the earth to pull downe this abhominable Idoll that hath aduanced it selfe against the kingdome of Christ and to deface this filthy monster that hath deceiued many who trusted in it The same Lord vouchsafe to reueale his truth to the ignorant to establish them that are weake and to confound all obstinate enemies to his truth to their Prince and to their Country for Iesus Christs sake Amen Amen FINIS A Table of the principall