example of godlie liuing that God bothe in his pastours and people maie be glorified As cōcerning the second that the scriptures haue doubtes and difficulties Scriptures ful of doubres Yt appeareth by the expresse woorde of God when he saieth Yf ther rise a matter to hard for thee in iudgemēt c. Thow shalt get thee vppe to the preistes the Leuites But forsomoch as this matter ys allready sufficiētlie treacted of and proued yt ys enough here nowe to haue touched yt and so to passe to the third Which ys that the people must be taught and learn the lawes of god of the preistes Which thīg ys so manifestlie declared ād in so plain woordes Doubtes in the lawe of God must be dissolued by the preistes opened in the scriptures alleaged that I shal not nede to make any further declaraciō therof forasmuche as yt ys plainlie ther saied that the doubtes of the people in the lawe of God must be dissolued bi the preistes to whose sentēce and iudgemēt they must in any wise stande and not decline frō yt neither on the right hand nor on the left and that on the pain of deathe In the which saing of God yt ys euidēt howe moche God wolde that the determinaciō of his church in the doubtes of his lawe should be estemed ād reuerēced and his preistes in that respecte obeid Which howe moche yt ys nowe disdained and contēned and gods ordre and cōmaūdemēt neclected his holie faith and religion infringed and violated yt ys more with Sithes and teares to be lamented then beinge so manifest as yt ys nedefull to be opened and declared Of whose mouthe the people should learn the lawe AlmightieGod by his prophete Malachie telleth Likewise that of the preistes the people should aske People must learn of the preistes the lawe God by the Prophete Aggaeus cōmaundeth Who shoulde teach the people the newe Testamēt he also prescribeth Appointing some Apostles some Prophetes some Doctours or teachers who to theise offices are appointed to rule and instruct the people In ijs quae ad Deū pertinēt in those thinges that appertein to God But nowe al this ordre ys inuerted in manie places The people teache the preistes and not the preistes the people The people dissolue the doubts of the lawe the preistes not being asked for The people God his ordre inuerted speake the preistes holde their peace The people make lawes in religion the preistes are cōpelled to obeie The people take in hande the thinges that appertain to God the preistes are put to scilence A moch like state we finde in the time of Moyses emōge the children of Israel in the time when Moyses was in the moūt with God For they perceiuing him to be lōg absent and thinking that he wolde no more come they began to take the rule vpō thēselues And wheras Aarō before cōmaūded and taught thē the religiō of the true God nowe they taking the rule and inuerting the ordre cōmaunded Aaron and taught him soche Religion as lyked them of a false God When the people sawe saieth the booke of Exodus that yt was long er Moyses came downe oute of the Mountain they gathered themselfes togeather Exod 32. vnto Aaron and saied vnto him Vppe make vs Gods to go before vs. For of this Moises the felowe that brought vs oute of the lande of Aegypte we wote not what ys become Hereby maie yt be perceiued what religion shall be when the ordre that God appointed being broken they will teache and commaunde which in matters to godwarde shoulde be taught and commaunded But with all yt ys to be remembred that for this wickednes the wrathe of God waxed hote against the people and notwithstanding that ther was immediatelie Plaguesfor breaking Gods appoincted ordre in religiō and mynisterie a greate slaughter of the people aboute the nōbre of three thousand and that Moyses made intercession to God for the people Yet allmightie God in the ende saied Neuer the latter in the daie when I viset I will viset their sinne vpon them and the Lorde plagued the people bicause of the calfe whiche Aaron made Wherfore seinge that the moche like trangression ys committed emonge the Chrystian people yt ys to be feared that the wrathe of God will waxe hote against vs. But God graūte vs a Moyses that by earnest intercessiō maie yet mittigate the plague of God that shall come for this wickednesse The plague I feare me will be sore vpon Corah Dathan and Abiron and vpon the capitanes of the multitude whiche be the great and famouse mē in the Num. 16. congregacion which haue gathered thē selues together against Moyses and Aaron and cā not contēt thē selues with soche ordre as God hath put in his Church and which by hys pleasure hath so long continued But yet they come to Moyses and Aaron and saie ye make muche to doo seing all the multitude are holie euery one of them and the Lorde ys emonge them Whieheaue ye your selues vppe aboue the Congregacion of the Lorde I must staie my hand I shall ells be to tediouse to the reader in this matter in the whiche I thought not to haue writtē the fourth parte of that that ys written and for expedicion leaue vnto him to reade the strory in the booke of Nombres and so further to consider yt And wher ther be manie stories declaring the displeasures of God to haue commed vppon the people bicause they wolde not submitte them selues to the ordeinaunce of him and his ministres but wolde vsurpe vpon them both Yet I will speake but of one in the first booke of the kinges which ys that where God appointed Samuel his beloued and holie Prophet to be the ruler of the people they being a stiffnecked and disobedient people to gods 1. Reg. 8. ordre so long before vsed al the elders gathered themselues together and came to Samuel and saied vnto him Beholde thowe arte olde and thy Sonnes walke not in thy waies Nowe therfore make vs a king to iudge vs as al other nacions haue See their phantasticall prouidence and therwith their disobediēce They take in hande to prouide for their common wealth as though God coulde not prouide them as good a ruler after Samuel as he did in prouiding of Samuel And therfore the ruler whiche God appointed reiected make vs saie they a kinge But what saied Almightie God to Samuel Heare the voice of the people for they haue not cast thee awaye but me that I shoulde not reign ouer them 1. Reg. 12. And after that they had a kinge Samuel to cause them to vnderstand that their offence was great saied I will call vnto the Lorde and he shall send thunder and rain that ye maie perceaue and see howe that yower wickednesse ys great which ye haue doen in thee seight of the Lorde in asking yowe a king And they saied Praye for vs thy seruauntes vnto the Lorde thy God that
est ad eum c. Tu es sacerdos Hebr. 5. in aeternum secundùm ordinem Melchisedech Euen so Chryste also glorified not him self to be made the high pteist but he that said vnto him c. Thowe arte a preist for euer after the order of Melchisedech And declaring the great benefitte that came by him being the high preist to all beleuers he saieth again Et consummatus factus est omnibus obtemperantibus sibi causa salutis aeternae appellatus à Deo Pontifex iuxta ordinem Melchisedech And Ibid. he being perfight was the cause of eternall saluacion vnto all them that obeied him and ys called of God an high preist after the ordre of Melchisedech Likewise he calleth him in the VI. chapiter And the wholl VII chap. he occupieth in applieng Melchisedech to Chryst prouing by this prophecie the abrogacion of the preisthead of the lawe and so consequētlie of the lawe yt self Wherfore he saied Yf nowe therfore perfection came by the preistheade Hebr. 7. of the Leuites for vnder that preisthead the people receaued the lawe what neadeth further that an other preist shoulde rise to be called after the ordre of Melchisedech and not after the order of Aaron For yf the preisthead be translated then of necessitie must the lawe be translated also c. For after this maner dothe he testifie Thowe arte a preist for euer after the order of Melchisedech Then the commaundement that went before ys disanulled bycause of weakenesse and vnprofitablenesse And further declaring the excellencie of Chrystes preisthead aboue the preisthead of Aaron he saieth For these preistes were made withoute an othe but this preist with an othe by him that saied to him The Lorde sware and will not repent him Thowe art a preist for euer after the order of Melchisedech Thus as the lawe of nature hath in Melchisedech figured Chryste And the lawe of Moyses by prophecie forespoken yt So hath the lawe of the Gospell as ye haue nowe learned by sainct Paule fullfilled the same and most plainlie and euidentlie proued yt so to be Yf then Chryste be a preist after the order of Melchisedech we must seke what the order of the preistheade of Melchisedech ys and wherin yt consisteth And therbie shall we knowe the preistheade of Chryste wherin yt consisteth Sainct Paule generallie declareth the order of a preist when he saieth Omnis namque Pontifex ex hominibus assumptus pro hominibus constituitur in ijs Hebr. 5. quae sunt ad Deum vt offerat dona sacrificia pro peccatis Euery high preist that ys taken from amonge men ys ordeined for men in thinges perteining to God to offer giftes and Sacrifices for sinne By whiche description of saincte Paule yt dothe appeare that the order of preisthead standeth in two partes The first he teacheth when he saieth Ordre of preisthead standeth in two partes Pro hominibus constituitur in ijs quae sunt ad Deum He ys ordeined for men in thinges perteining to God Wherby ys ment the preaching to the people and teaching them the lawes of God and ministring the Sacramentes to them as yt was saied vnto Moyses Esto tu populo in ijs quae ad Exod. 18. Deum pertinent vt referas quae dicuntur ad eum ostendasue populo ceremonias ritum colendi viam per quam ingredi debeant opus facere Be thowe vnto the people to Godward that thowe maist bringe the causes vnto God And thowe shalt teache them ordinaunces and lawes and shewe them the waie wherin they must walke and the worke that they must doo The seconde parte of the order of preistheade standeth in offring giftes and sacrifices for the sinnes of the people Then they that be called of God as was Aaron and doo preach and teache one faith of God vnto the people and offer vnto God one maner of sacrifice they be one order of preistheade So that these two must concurre or ells yt ys not a perfight order For Elias the prophet of God and the 3. Reg. 18. preistes of Baall did offer one maner of thinge in sacrifice for they both offred oxen yet they differed in preisthead For Helias was the preist of God the other the preistes of Baall And why was this difference bycause they taught not one faithe in one God Melchisedech and Aaron taught one God and were bothe preistes of Gen. 14. Leuit. 8. Heb 5. God For Melchisedech was the preist of the most high God as the booke of Genesis wittnesseth and Aaron was called of God as the booke of Leuiticus and saincte Paule to the Hebrues testifie And yet they were not of one order of preisthead bycause their sacrifices were not of one maner By this then yt maie be taken for a trueth that Chryst not being a preist after the order of Aaron but after the order of Melchidech whiche two orders differed not in faith but in maner of sacrifice ys so called a preist after the order of Melchisedech for the maner of the sacrifice For he must agree with Melchisedech in that thing that maketh the difference betwixt the order of Aaron and the order of Melchisedech and that was and ys in the maner of sacrifice For Aaron offred in blood the other in bread and wine But here the Aduersarie will saie that Chryst ys not likened to Melchisedech for anie sacrifice by all the processe of saincte Paule But for Obiection that Melchisedech was Rex Salem kinge of Salem and withall the preist of God and for that he was with oute Father withoute Mother hauing neither beginning of daies nor ending in these pointes he ys the figure of Chryste who ys both king and preist hauing no Father in earth nor mother in heauen neither as concerning his Godhead anie beginning and as touching his Godhead and Manhead no endinge And so ys he a preist for euer To this I saie that the thing that saincte Paule principallie intended ys to be considered And then yt shall easilie be perceaued why he did not Principall entent of S. Paule in his epist to the Hebrues make rehersall of the maner of the sacrifice of Melchisedech nor mencion of the doing of the same in Chryste The principall entent of saincte Paule in this place was to proue and make manifest the excellencie of Chryst and his preisthead aboue Aaron and his preisthead Whiche excellencie in nothing more appeared then in that that Chryst was an euerlasting preist and his preisthead euerlasting and not in the maner of sacrifice For yf he had alleaged that Melchisedech did sacrifice in bread and wine The Hebrues wolde quickly haue saied that their sacrifices in that respecte moche excelled and had a moche more gloriouse shewe and cowntenance then the sacrifice of Melchisedech being but bread and wine And therfor saincte Paule omitted to make mencion VVhie S. Paule spake nothing of she sacrifice of Melchisedech in his epist
who I doubte not will so well and clerely open to vs the trueth of that matter that we seke that except we will not see we shall perceaue yt The holie spirit of God geue vs the gifte of vnderstanding and an humble and docible heart to receaue and embrace his trueth THE NINGHT CHAPITER DECLARING that oure redemption was prenunciated by promisses figures and prophecies and what the promisses be and to whome they were made ALmightie God beholding the miserable ruine of man and mercifullie entending the repaire of the same by his prouident wisdome Sap. 8. quae disponit omnia suauiter which disposeth all thinges louinglie according to his foreknowledge whiche was from euer declared vnto man the mean howe by whom and when hys laps or fall shoulde be restored assuring hym of hys redemption euen by the woorde of hys owne mouthe that wher man through hys fall had experience of the sore burden of Gods iustice he might also haue a taste and hope of his mercie and beholdinge the goodlie contēperament of bothe in God might frame also in him self a right temperature of feare and loue fearing for iustice and louing for mercie and therby in good ordre of spirituall melodie yoifullie finge with the Prophete Dauid Misericordiam et iudicui cantabo tibi Domine Mercie and iudgement will I sing to thee o Lord. Psal 102. For Misericors Dominus et iustus Oure Lord ys mercifull and righteouse Thus I saie Man hauing in practise that God ys a God of iustice lest he Assurāce of mercie promised to man before full sentence of iustice was pronounced shoulde be ouerwhelmed and depressed with desperacion for lacke of mercie Before the ful sentence of Gods iustice was pronoūced assurāce of mercie was made that mā being nowe pressed with the one should be releiued with the other Inimicitias ponam inter te et inter mulierem et semē tuū semē illius ipsa conteret caput tuum I will put enemitie said allmightie God to the Serpēt betwen thee and the woman betwen thie seed and her seed the same shal tread downe thine head By the whiche woordes assuredlie our first Parentes conceaued a firme hope of a Messias of a Redemer and of a Sauiour to come of the seed of a woman that as the Enemie the Deuell had craftelie supplāted and therbie ouerthrowē mā So he by noble victorie wrought on the crosse and accepted and approued by the iustice of God shoulde debel the enemie the deuell and take the spoill from him whiche was mankinde And as our righteouse and neuer the lesse our mercifull Lord God had signified this gladde tidinges of Redēption to oure first Parentes that they might vnderstand the mercie of God and therby conceaue and haue hope and comforth Euen so likewise did he to our Fathers the holie Patriarkes and other our elders notifie the same by diuerse means as by promisses figures and prophecies Of the whiche three I shall by Gods helpe seuerallie speake And first as the order leadeth I will treacte of promisses To our Father Abraham God declared the gladde tidinges of our Redemption by promisse saing thus In semine tuo benedicentur omnes nationes terrae Gen. 22. In thy seede shall all the nacions of the earth be blessed Who was this seede by whom al nacions shoulde be blessed and howe they shoulde atteign Promisse made to Abrahā vnto yt saincte Paule to the Galathians by the teaching of the holie Goste declareth saiēg To Abrahā and his seed were the promisses made He saieth not in thie seedes as to manie but yn thy seed as of one which ys Christe As saincte Paule here by the instruction of the holie Goste expowndeth this promisse to be made of Christe So doubte ye not but the same holie Galat. 3. Spiritie had breathed the like breath into the holie Patriarke Abrahā wherbie he vnderstood that Christ after the flesh shoulde descend from him and that this blessing shoulde by him happen to all nacions For all nacions shall atteign to this blessing that beleue with faithful Abraham as saincte Paule declareth in the same chapiter The scripture saieth he seing before hand that God wolde iustifie the heathen through faithe shewed before hande glad tidinges to Ahraham saing In thee shall all nacions be blessed So Ibid. 3. then they whiche be of faith are blessed with faithfull Abraham In the whiche declaracion we maie learn that the promesse was made to Abraham the fullfillinge of the said promisse shoulde be doen by Christe who ys that one seed the receauers of this promisse are the faithfull To kinge Dauid also he opened the same by promisse saienge De fructu ventris tui ponam super sedem tuam Of the frnicte of thy bodie shall I seetevppe vpon thy seat whiche woordes of the psalme are a rehersall of the promisse made to king Dauid in the second booke of the kinges wher yt ys written thus I will sett vppe thy seed whiche shall proceade of thy bodie and will 1 Reg. 7. stablish his kingdom he shall builde an house for my name and I will stablish the seat of his kingdom for euer Whiche promisse although the Ieues wolde haue to be vnderstanded and perfourmed in Salamon yet yt can not so be for that these woordes I will stablish the seat of his kingdom for euer can not be veryfied in Salomon whose worldlie kingdom ys finished and vtterly extingnisshed and was so before the coming of Christe according to the prophecie of the holy Patriarke Iacob who prophecied thus Non auferetur sceptrum de Iuda dux de femore eius Gen. 49. donec veniat qui mittendus est ipse erit expectatio gentium The scepter shall not be taken from Iuda and the lawegeuer from betwixt his feet vntill he comme that shall be sent and he yt shal be whom the gentiles shall looke for By whiche prophecie yt ys manifest that at the coming of Christe the kingdom of the Iewes shoulde ceasse wherby yt ys consequent that the Christ ys the seed Promised to Dauid and not Salemon Rom. 1. promisse of God made to Dauid tendeth not to Salomō and his Successiō whose kingdom must haue an ende as the prophecie of Iacob signified But yt respecteth Christe who lineallie descended from Dauid Qui factus ost ei ex semine Dauid secundum carnem whiche was borne to him of the seed of Dauid after the flesh as sainct Paule saieth whose kingdom ys euerlasting accordinge to the prophecie Super solium Dauid et super regnum eius sedebit vt confirmet et corroboret illud in iudicio et iustitia amodò et vsque in sempiternū He shall sitte vpon the seat of Dauid and in his kingdome to sett vppe the same and to establish yt with equitie and righteonsuesse from hence furth for Esay 9. euermore That this ys to be vnderstanded onely of Christe the rest of the sentence goinge
saieth sainct Paule Thus ye see howe well the thing figured aunswereth the figure And albeit that no mā can bring anie other thing in the newe testamēt that ys figured by the Shewe bread but our heauēlie bread before saied Yet for that I will not chalēge to me any soche credite or Authoritie that by cause I saie yt ys so therfor yt ys so as manie of our Pheudochrystians doe I shall repair to the holie elders of Chrystes parliament house and teache by them what was the enacted and receaued trueth in his matter And first I will heare what sainct Hierom saieth Siautem Laicis imperatur vt propter orationem abstineant se ab vxorum coitu quid de Episcopo sentiendum Hieron ca. ◠ad Titū est qui quotidie pro suis populiue peccatis illibatas oblaturus est victimas Relegamus Regum libros inueniemus sacerdotem Abimelech de panibus propositionis noluisse dare Dauid pueris suis nisi interrogaret vtrum mundi essent pueri à muliere non vtique aliena sed coniuge Et nisi audisset eos ab heri nudiustertiùs vacasse ab opere coniugali nequaquam panes quos prius negauerat concessisset Tantum interest inter propositionis panes corpus Christi quantum inter vmbram corpora inter imaginem veritatem inter exemplaria futurorum ea ipsa quae per exemplaria praefigurabantur Quomodò itaque mansuetudo patientia sobrietas moderatio abstinentia lucri hospitalitas quoque benignitas praecipuè esse debent in Episcopo inter cunctos laicos eminentia sic castitas propria vt ita dicam pudicitia sacerdotalis vt non solùm se ab immundo opere abstineat sed etiam à iactu oculi cogitationis errore mens Christi corpus confectura sit libera Yf the laye men saieth sainct Hierom be cōmanded that for praier they Laie men cōmaūded for praier times to abstein from their wieues abstein frō the cōpanieng with their wiues what ys to be thought of the Bishoppe whiche dailie for his owne sinnes and the peoples shall offer vnto God vndefiled sacrifices Let vs reade the bookes of the kīges and we shall finde that Abimelech the preist wolde not geue to Dauid and his seruātes the shewe breade besore he asked wether the seruātes were cleā not frō a straunge womā but frō their viues And except he had heard that frō yesteraie and the daie before they had absteined from the worke of matrimonie he had not graunted them the bread whiche before he had denied Ther ys as great Difference betwixt the Shew bread and the bodie of Chryst difference betwene the Shewe bread and the bodie of Christe as ys betwene the Shaddow and the bodies betwene the ymage and the trueth betwene the exemplars of the thinges to come and the thinges themselues that were perfigurated by the exemplars Therfor as mekenesse pacience sobrietie moderacion abstinence frō lucre hospitalitie also and benignitie shoulde be chieflie in a Bishoppe and emōg all laie men a surmoūting eminēcie So also a propre or peculiar chaistitie Chastitie required in a preist and as I might saie a preistlie shamefestnes that not onelie he shoulde whith holde himself frō the vnclean worke but also that the minde whiche shall consecrate the bodie of Christe maie from the casting of the eie and from wandring of thought be free Hither to saincte Hierom. In whiche woordes cōcerning the thing which ys nowe principallie sought wher as he saieth ther ys as great differēce betwene the Shew bread and the bodie of Christ as betwē the shaddow ād the bodies betwen the ymage and the trueth What ells dothe he geue vs to vnderstāde but that the Shew bread ys the figure ād the bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament the thing figured Whiche thing figured yf yt were also but a figure as of late the people be taught howe coulde ther be so great differēce betwne a figure and a figure as betwene the shaddowe and the bodie betwene the ymage and the trueth Wherfore contrarie wise let euerie man perceaue that as this holie learned mā in the statutes of Chrystes enacted faithe doth teache as the Shewe bread was the shaddowe So ys the bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament a verie bodie and as the Shewe breade was the ymage So ys the thing represented the verie tueth Obiection But peraduēture some captiouse false Chrystā will saie I adde more then my Authour speaketh of and wrest him to my pourpose For wher this Authour saieth that ther ys as moche difference betwene the shewe bread and the bodie of Chryst I adde and saie the bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament Whiche sainct Hierom speaketh not Answer I adde nothing to the Authours mening For although he saieth the bodie of Chryst absolutelie withoute anie addicion of the maner of the bodie here or ther in plain vision or in mysterie whiche maner whatsoeuer yt be the substance ys all one yet he meneth of the bodie of Chryst in mysterie or in Sacrament For by the example of the puripuritie of life that was required to the eating of the Shewe breade in the olde lawe he moueth the Bishopps of the newe lawe to soche puritie and cleannesse of life as to that lawe ys meet to be had And forsomoche as the office of a Bishoppe aboute the Sacrament Preistes must consecrate offre ād receaue standeth in thre pointes that ys yn consecracion oblacion and reauing he frameth an exhortaciō to this pourpose thus that seing they in the olde lawe which shoulde eate of the Shew breade must haue soche puritie that they might not for a time knowe their one vieues moche more they that cōsecrate offer and receaue the bodie of Cryste whiche as farre excelleth the Shew bread as the bodie dothe he shaddowe must excell them of the olde lawe in puritie and cleannesse of life Nowe then when saincte Hierom speaketh of the bodie of Chryste that ys cōsecrated by the Bishoppe and so offred in sacrifice and receaued dothe he not meen of the bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament And when he speaketh of the bodie consecrated dothe he not meen the verie bodie of Chryst reallie in the Sacrament as the holie Churche doth teache and beleue In this sentence also sainct Hierom doth not onelie impugne the heresie of the Sacramētaries in that he teacheth the veritie of Chrystes bodie in the Wanton lustes of Bishoppes and preistes reproued Sacrament but he also reproueth the fleshlie wanttōnesse of our Bishoppes and preistes in these daies who against all lawe and ordre being preistes take wieues as they terme thē and vnder the countenāce of pretensed matrimonie continewe their vnchaist and viciouse life who shoulde excell all the people in puritie and cleannesse of life to thintent they might cōsecrate the bodie of Chryste and dailie offer pure sacrifice to God for thē selues and for Cōsecraciō and sacrifice put awai
benefittes shewed and doen saieth thus And the readde Sea didest thowe diuide before them 2. Esd 9. in sundre so that they went through the middest of the Sea drie shooed and their persecutours threwest thowe in to the depth as a stone in mightie waters and leddest them on the daie time in a clowdie piller and on the night season in a piller of fire to shewe them light in the waie that they went Thowe gauest them bread from heauen when they were hongrie and broughtest furth water for them oute of the rocke when they were thirstie The diuision of the read sea wherof Esdras first maketh mencion The read Sea shall be perceaued to be a great wonderfull worke of God and a great benefitt to the Israelites yf the historie of the same be considered In the booke of Exodus we read that when Pharao king of Egypt Exod. 14. had according to gods commaundement sent vnto him by Moyses permitted the children of Israell to departe oute of Egypte he being a man of wicked heart when they were goen with might and force prepared to folowe them and to persecute them Whose mighttie armie and great nombre of horses and chariettes when the Israelites sawe poursewing them and with all considering the great strait that they were in hauing Pharao and his hoste behind them at their backe and the readd sea before them So that ther appeared vnto them nothing but wofull distresse and ineuitable perill of death they were sore afraied and caried oute to God And Moyses stretched oute his hand ouer the read Sea and God caried awaie the Sea by a verie strong east winde all that night and made the Sea drie land so that the children of Israell went through the middest of the Sea with drie feet hauing the waters as a wall vnto them bothe on the right hand and on the leste And the Egyptians folowed after them into the middest of the Sea and God caused the waters to return vpon them and drowned them with their horses and chariettes For whiche great wonder Moyses sange in prayse to God Flauit spiritus tuus operuit cos mare submersi sunt quasi Exod. 15. plumbum in aquis vehementibus The winde blewe and the Sea couered them they sanke like lead in the mightie waters Filij autem Israell ambulauerunt per siccum in medio â—eius But the children of Israell went on drie land in the myddest therof As ye maie perceaue by this what a great worke of God and howe great a benefitt to the Iewes yt was that sainct Paule in these fewe woordes spake The clowde that all passed through the redde Sea So was yt likewise that he saied that all the Fathers were vnder the cloude Of the beginning of this clowd we read also in Exodus that when the children of Israell departed oute of Egypt that theyr iourney should not be vncerten and they wander without Exod. 13. 14. ordre the Lord went before them by daie in a piller of a clowde to lead them the waie and by night in a piller of the fire to geue them light that they might go both by daie and by night The piller of the clowde departed not by daie nor the piller of sire by night oute of the sight of the people Benefites of the Clowde This clowdie piller was not onelie a guide and a leader vnto the people but yt was also a bullwarke of defence For when Pharao with hys armie did persecute the children of Israell the aungell of God whiche went before the hoste of Israell remoued and began to go behinde them And the clowdie piller that was before the face of them began to stand behind theÌ„ and came betwen the host of the Egyptians and the hoste of Israell Yt was also a darke clowde and gaue light by night and all night long the one came Num. 9. not at the other Thys clowde did not onely nowe serue for the commoditie of the Israelites but further on their iourney in the wildernesse yt was a great benefitt vnto them as we read in the booke of Nombres wher we learn that yt couered the Tabernacle allwaie by daie and the similitude of fire by night And yt happened that when the clowde abode vpon the tabernacle from euen vnto the morning and was taken vppe in that morning then they iourneied Or yf the clowde taried two daies or a moneth or a long season vpon the tabernacle and remained theron the children of Israell aboad still and iourneied not And as sooen as the clowde was taken vppe they iourneied Of thys clowde also speaketh the Prophet Dauid in the psalme reck ninge yt amonge other as a great benefitte of God geuen to the Israelites Expandit nubem in protectionem eorum ignem vt luceret eis per noctem Manna He spred oute a clowde to be a couering and fire to geue them light in the night season Exd. 16. Thus this goodlie benefitt somwhat opened and declared we shal do the like aboute the next which ys Manna Of the whiche we read that the xv daie of the seconde moneth after the departing of the children of Israell oute of the lande of Egypte the wholl multitude of the children of Israell murmured against Moyses and Aaron in the wildernesse and the children of Israell saied vnto them wolde to God we had died by the hande of the Lorde in the lande of Egypte when we sett by the flesh pottes and when we did eate bread our bellies full For ye haue brought vs out into this wildernesse to kill this wholl multitude with honger Then saied the Lorde vnto Moyses Be holde I will rain breade from heauen to yowe and the people shall go oute and gather daie by daie And in the same chapiter yt foloweth And in the morning the dewe laie rownde aboute the host And when the dewe was fallen beholde yt laie vpon the grownde in the wildernesse small and rownde and when the children of Israell sawe yt they saied euery one to his neighbour yt ys Manna For they wist not what yt was And Moyses saied vnto them this ys the bread which the Lord hath geuen yowe to eate Thus God fedde the children of Israell in the wildernesse wher they did neither sowe ne reape with this bread from heauen of the whiche they had no lacke This ys the meate that sainct Paule speaketh of that all the fathers did eate of This ys yt that ys spoken of in the Psalme Et Psalm 77. pluit illis Manna ad manducandum panem caeli dedit eis He rained downe Manna also vpon them for to eate and gaue them foode from heauen Of the wounders of this bread more shall be saied in the next chapiter The last benefitt recited of sainct Paule in this place ys that they all dranke Mater of the Rocke of one drinke that came oute of the rocke Of this miraculouse drinke we read that when
of the which all they cā be parkers but the bodie of Chryst Wherfore in the Sacrament ys the bodie of Chryst of the which all Chrystians receauing woorthilie be as this authour saieth made one in Chryst In this vnion we are not onelie one bread but also by S. Paule one bodie Which distinction of vnion this authour semeth to refer or applie to the seuerall vnions before treacted of as to the vnion spirituall by faith and to the vnion naturall of vs to the naturall bodie of Chryst As touching the first he saieth that although we be manie yet we are all one bread by the vnion of faith hope and charitie As for the seconde he saieth that we are one bodie of that head which ys Chryst The fitst ys mere spirituall and ys and maie be doen withoute the Sacrament although not so certenly nor so perfectlie For Dionysius Areopagita saieth this Sacrament ys omnium sacramentorum consummatissimum of all Sacramentes yt ys most consummate both for that yt ys Dionys Areop Eccle. Hielar 1. part ca. 3. so perfect in yt self and also for that yt perfecteth all other Sacramentes as the same Dyonise also more at large saieth Dicimus ergo caetera sacrarum rerum signa quorum nobis societas indulgetur huius diuinis profectò consummantibusue muneribus perfici Neque enim fermè fas est saccrdotalis muneris mysterium aliquod peragi nisi diuinum istud Eucharistiae augustissimumue sacramentum compleat We saie therfore that the other signes of holie thinges the societie of the whiche ys geuen to vs to be perfected by these diuine and consummating giftes Neither ys yt laufull allmost anie mysterie of the preistlie office to be full doen except this diuine Sacrament and most full of maiestie do finish or performe yt Wherfore as by Chrysostom and other yt maie be perceaued in the primitiue church they that were baptised were brought frō baptisme to the receipt of the blessed Sacrament of Chrystes bodie as therbie to be perfected in Chryst and certenly to be vnited to him bothe by faith and also by hys blessed bodie Although then by faith we be spirituallie vnited to Chryste without the Sacrament yet as yt ys saied we be not so certenly vnited as when this noble Sacrament which perfecteth other Sacramentes cometh also but spirituallie vnited we be Nowe as touching the seconde vnion whiche this authour speaketh of yt ys not likewise mere corporall as the other ys mere spirituall but yt ys so corporall as yt ys neuerthelesse spirituall According as the bodie of Chryst ys which we receaue which although yt be a verie true and perfect bodie Amb. de init myste cap. 9. yet yt ys spirituall as S. Ambrose saieth Corpus enim Dei corpus est spiritale Corpus Christi corpus est diuini spiritus The bodie of God ys a spirituall bodie The bodie of Chryst ys the bodie of the diuine spiritte Yt ys also spiritually receaued for that yt ys doen onely by the knowledge of faith and not of anie sense Although the office of senseis and also of the bodie be required to the receipt therof So then as the bodie of Chryst ys so corporall as yt ys also spirituall and the receipt of the same bodie so corporall as yt ys neuerthelesse spirituall Receipt of Chrystes bodie both corporal ād spirituall so also the vnion brought to effect by the same receipt yt ys verilie corporal altho withall yt ys spiritual This vniō he signifieth vnto vs whē he saieth that we be the bodie of that head which ys Chryst For as cōcerning the spiritual vniō he saied before that we are al one bread ād therfor for the corporal vnion he saieth that we be one bodie For proof wherof that he so plainly ment the allegacion of S. Paule to the Ephesians declareth which he bringeth to open the true sense and mening of S. Paule here For saieth he we are membres of his bodie of his flesh and of his bones ▪ whiche woordes that they be vnderstanded of our corporall vnion with Chryst yt ys more manifestlie declared by Iraeneus then by the Aduersarie yt can Li. 5. aduers heres be denied Thus hetherto of so manie auncient and learned authours ye haue heard no dissonante but a consonante voice all sownding one thing that by the receipt of the blessed bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament we be vnited to Chryst and made one with him THE EIGHT AND TWENTETH CHAP. PROceadeth vpon the same text by Oecumenius and Anselmus I Reade in the fourth booke of the Kinges that the King of Syria 4. Reg. 6. who was in warre against the King of Israell for somoche as he vnderstoode that Eliseus the Prophet disclosed to the kinge of Israell the secrett counsells intentes and pourposes of the saied King of Syria that he sent an armie of men to the cittie wher the Prophet laie to take him And when the seruante of the Prophet went furth in the morning and sawe so great a multitud with horses and chariottes compassing the cittie rownde aboue he cried and saied Alas master what shall we dooe The Pprophete saied vnto him Feare not here be mo with vs them with them And when the Prophete had praied the eies of his seruaint were opened and he sawe the mowntain full of horses and chariottes of fire rownde about the Prophete As the Prophete was thus strenghtned with so great a multitude that his enemies were not able to preuaill against him though his seruante knewe yt not and therfor feared and cried Euen so the verie prophet of God in the Churche of Chryste who hath geuen him self ouer to the seruice of God that he ys fullie become the man of God therfore ys lightned and illumined with the wholsome knowledge of the catholique faith wherby he seeth God and his holie will and pleasure he doth well see that though the Kinge of Syria hath now moued warre against the King of Israell that ys Sathan against Chryst the Kinge of verie Israell and his catholique kingdom his Churche and hath for the better expedicion of his pourpose sent an armie to kake awaie the prophete and godlie learned man that he shoulde not warne the people of Israell of the assaute of Sathan whiche he entendeth to moue by heresie schisme diuision and subuersion of all good ordre in the Churche of Chryste He doth I saie well see that the prowde and cruell kinge ys not able to carie him awaie oute of the kingdom of Chryst into his kingdome For he ys compased abowte with a most mightie armie of the noble soldiers of God all the holie catholique fathers godly writers and noble Martirs whiche stand by him mightilie in the confession of Chrystes holie faith whiche nombre being infinite he maie as euery learned catholique also maie vnto the vnlearned faithfull man the seruante of God saie Feare not ther be mo with vs then with these enemies of Israell with these Aduersaries of
he accuseth them that they so were and in facte they did so but to Gods pleasure and the wealth of their soules they coulde not do so For yt ys proprely saied that we maie doe that that we maie doe well And that we can not doe whiche we can not doe well To this sense also Chrysostome by his interrogatiue including soch a negatiue saied The blaspbemers of Gods name coulde not with the same mouth and toung that they blasphemed with receaue the bodie of our Lorde receaue the sacrifice of our Lorde Whiche his sainge yet rebuketh them bicause they did so Wherfore yt ys not a negatiue absolute A like sainge ys ther ascribed to Origen for yt ys vncerten whether yt Origenes be his worke or no oute of the which yt ys taken and yt ys this Multa porrò de ipso Verbo dici possunt quod factum est caro cibusue verus quem qut comederit viuet in aeternum quem nullus malus potest comedere Manie thinges also maie be saied of the Sonne of God himself that yt was made flesh and verie meat whiche whosoeuer shall eate shall liue foreuer whiche no euell man can eate Thus moche Origen As S. Paule and S. Cypriane saied that they that were parteners of Idolathites A place of Origen opened coulde not be partakers of our Lordes table And as Chrysostom saied that vain swearers by Gods holie name coulde not with the same mouthe and tounge receaue the holy sacrifice whiche ys the bodie of our Lorde whiche ys the table that S. Paule and S. Cyprian spake of in whiche their sainges they haue made mencion but of two vices that shoulde let them from the partaking of the holie and blessed meate of our Lordes table So Origen declareth that all vices that be mortall and whiche make a man an euell man do diuide him from the same table And saieth that soche a man can not eate of the meat of our Lorde not that soche a one doth not eate yt but that soche a one dothe not eate yt to his profitte but raither to his condemnacion bycause with the offence of God he doth abuse the bodie of Chryst with moche irreuerence ioining yt as yt were in the house of his bodie with Sathan betwixt whom and Chryst as betwixt God and Beliall ys none agreement A liuely argument wherof ys declared in the first booke of kinges where 1. Reg. 5. we read that the Azotyans hauing the Arke of God put yt into the temple of Dagon And forasmoche as they accompted yt as the Arke of the God of Israell of whose great might and power they had heard moche they set yt by their Idoll Dagon But in the morning when the Azotians came into the temple they fownde Dagod lieng grooueling vpon the grownde They set him vppe again and the next daie coming into the temple they fownde him lieng before the Arke of God like a trunke cast downe to the grownde his head and palmes of his handes cutte of By this ys signified vnto vs that although yt pleased God through his great sufferance so to be abused as to be ioined with Sathan Behall or Dagon yet to declare that he ys offended withall he throweth down Dagon and causeth him to be fownde lieng like a stocke or trunke and with all striketh the people with a great glague By this then as by that that ys before saied yt maie be perceaued howe this scripture of S. Paules epistle ys to be vnderstanded and the doctours also whiche haue ben hetherto alleaged for the exposition of the same or shall hereafter be alleaged THE ONE AND THIRTETH CHAP. ENDETH the exposition of this text by Theophilact and Anselmus I Shoulde not nede to alleadge so manie holie Fathers and doctours vpon euery scripture as I doe so to seke oute the true vnderstanding of them but that the impudencie of the Proclamer hath thervnto enforeed me He saieth the catholike Churche hath not one scripture nor doctour for them but yt ys and shall be made manifest that yt hath not one in dede alone but yt hath all the scriptures and holie doctours that treacte of the blessed Sacrament But bicause vpon this tenth chapiter of Sainct Paule a long exposition by diuerse and manie doctours ys allreadie made by whom being made plain howe these scripturs going before are to be vnderstanded yt ys the easier to perceaue the vnderstanding of this nowe in hande depending of them therfor I will cuttof some parte of my pourpose and nowe vpon this text bring in but one coople more of the which Theophilact shall be the first Who for that that S. Paule willed the Corinthians to consider the Iewes who vsed to offre sacrifices and be partakers of the aultar to the entent that they being chrystians might perceaue that of soche sacrifice as they offred they were partakers by expresse woordes openeth and declareth what S. Paule ment that the Corinthians were partakers of Thus he saieth De Iudaeis namque nil intulit Theoph. in Dec. 1. Cor. quod de eo participarent sed Altaris sunt participes dixit in quo quod immolandum suisset impositum igni consumebarur De Christi autem corpore haud quaquam res ita se habet sed Christi corporis fuit participatio Non enim altaris sumus sed Dominici corporis ipsi participes Of the Iewes he saied nothing that they shoulde partake of yt meninge the sacrifice but he saied that they are partakers of the aultar We are partakers euen of the bodie of our Lord offred on the aultar vpon the which aultar that that was to be offred in sacrifice when yt was put vpon yt yt was consumed with fire But of the bodie of Chryst the matter ys not so but ther was a participacion of the bodie of Chryst For we are not partakers of the aultar But we are partakers euen of the bodie of our Lorde Thus moche Theophilact In whome this cometh woorthilie to be noted that S. Paule speaking of VVhie S. Paule saied not that the Iewes were partakers of their sacrifices as the chrystians of theirs the sacrifices of the Iewes doth not name anie thing by speciall name wherof they shoulde be partakers but onely vseth the generall tearme of the aultar saing that they be partakers of the aultar And whie bicause in some of these Sacrifices yt was ordeined that they shoulde be burnt and consumed And therfor he saied not that they shoulde be partakers of the thing offred but of the aultar But when he spake of the bodie of Chryst saieth Theophilact he did not handle the matter so but by expresse and speciall woordes saied allwais that ther was a partaking of the bodie of Chryste Nowe yf the bodie of Chryst by his ascension were absumed frō vs as the sacrifice of the Iewes was consumed from them by fire so that we did no more by no nearer partaking by presence receaue Chryst then they did their