Melchisedech brought forth bread and wine to refreshe Abraham and his seruauntes in their returne from the slaughter of the kinges Yea and for this matter that you make so light of he citeth the Hebrue text translating the Hebrue verbe Hotzi Protulit not obtulit thereby making his iudgement of that place manifest If you can proue that Hierome or any other wryter haue in this place vsed obtulit in any other sense then protulit is here vsed in the plaine text I must be bolde to vse Hieroms owne wordes against himselfe and the rest In his Commentarie vpon Math he sayth Hoc quia de scripturis non habet authoritatem In Math. 23. eadem facilitate contemnitur qua probatur Because this thing hath none authoritie of the scripture it is as easily contemned as alowed And in his Apologie of his bookes against Iouinian he sayeth Apolog. lib. aduers Ioui Commentatoris officium est non quid ipse velit sed quid sentiat ille quem interpretatur exponere Alioqui si contraria dixerit non tam interpres erit quam aduersarius eius quem nititur explanare Certe vbicunque scripturas non interpretor libere de meo sensu loquor The dutie of a good interpreter arguat me cui libet durum quid dixisse contra nuptias It is the duetie of one that doth comment vpon the wrytings of other to expound not what he himselfe lusteth but what the meaning of him is whome he doth enterpret Otherwise if he shall say contrarie he shall rather be an aduersarie then an interpretour of him whome he would explane Truely whensoeuer I doe not interpret the scriptures but doe fréely vtter mine owne meaning let him that lusteth reprehend me as one that hath vttred some hard saying against mariage Yet one other place you cite out of Hierome Hiero. quest in Genesim to vnderprop your Popishe priesthood withall Mysterium nostrum c. By thys worde order he did signifie c. If you had bene disposed to deale plainely you would haue ioyned the former part of the Oration with the latter and not haue picked out the latter to serue your purpose leauing out the first Melchisedechs blessing declared Saint Hierome sayth that the Apostle saint Paule in his Epistle to the Hebrues making mention of Melchisedechs being without father and mother doth referre it vnto Christ and by Christ to the Church of the Gentiles For sayth he the glorie of euery head is referred to the members bicause one that was not circumcised did blesse Abraham that was circumcised and in Abraham he blessed Leui and by Leui he blessed Aaron of whome the priesthood did afterwarde come Whereof he would haue vs gather that the priesthood of that Church that was not circumcised did blesse the circumcised priesthood of the Synagoge And then folow the wordes that you should haue cyted Quod autem ait Tu es sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech Mysterium nostrum in verbo ordinis significatur c as you haue cyted Our mysterie is signified sayth saint Hierome but you tell not vpon what occasion he sayde so Where as the Apostle sayth sayde saint Hierome thou art a priest after the order of Melchisedech our mysterie is signified in the worde order Not by Aaron in offering vp sacrifices of vnreasonable beastes but by bread and wine that was offered that is the bodye and bloud of the Lorde Iesus Thus farre saint Hierome You must néedes graunt that our mysterie is our coupling togither into members of one body in Christ wherof saint Paule speaketh to the Ephesians When he sayth Mysterium hoc magnum est Ephes 5. ego autem dico in Christo Ecclesia This mysterie is great sayth Saint Paule but I speake it of Christ and the congregation Of the same speaketh saint Austen in his Sermon Ad Infantes Where he sayth thus Vos estis corpus Christi membra Si ergo vos estis corpus Christi membra mysterium vestrum in mensa Domini positum est Citatur à Beda in collect mysterium Domini accipitis Ad id quod estis amen respondetis c. You are the body and members of Christ If you therefore be the body and members of Christ your mysterie is set vpon the Lordes table you receyue the Lordes mysterie To the thing that you your selues are you aunswere Amen And in aunswering you doe subscribe This mysterie was not signified by Aarons sacrifices sayth saint Hierome but by the bread and wine that Melchisedech brought forth to refreshe Abraham and his Souldiours withall 1. Cor. 10. August in Ioh. Tract 26. Which bread and wine was the body and bloud of the Lord Iesus euen as the Manna that fell from heauen and the water that issued out of the rock were the same Your application of this place of Hierome might well haue bene spared therfore if you had dealt plainly with your auditory For it is now manifest to the reader that saint Hierome ment nothing lesse then to teache that Christ offered himselfe once at two times and after two orders The order of Melchisedech declared but he buyldeth vpon saint Paules wordes who sayth that Christ was not a priest to offer after Aarons order but after the order of Melchisedech an eternall and euerlasting sacrifice Now must Austen help you to patch out this matter August in Psal 33. De Ciuit. Dei li. 17. cap. 20. Vpon the tytle of .33 Psalme he sayth thus Coram Regno Patris sui c. And vpon this sentence of Ecclesiastes Non est bonum homini c he sayth thus Quid credibilius dicere c. If saint Austen should in these two places teach as in your application you doe beare your Auditorie in hande that he doth teache Watson would haue Austen teach false doctrine then were his doctrine most false and contrarie to the Euangelicall hystorie For where as the Gospell sayth that Christ did institute the sacrament of his body and bloud the night before he suffered saint Austen must say if you apply his words aright that he did first suffer and then institute the sacrament of his body and bloud afterward But I will not for your pleasure conceyue such an opinion of Austen for I know he was farre from that shamefull errour and open falshood He taught truely that in the time of the olde lawe among the people of the Iewes Christ was a sacrifice after the order of Aaron for by euery bloudy sacrifice was the death of Christ plainely set forth to as many as had eyes to looke and se thorow the shadow of the law But after al those sacrifices that were offered in the shadow of a thing to come he prepared a sacrifice after the order of Melchisedech that is euerlasting and that of his owne body and bloud which is the foode that féedeth into euerlasting lyfe And that this is saint Austens meaning is
by these his wordes This is my body which is giuen for you And although this oblation may be proued sufficiently otherwise yet to my simple iudgement there seemeth to be no light argument in this worde Datur is giuen for seing the scripture sayth it is giuen for vs and not to vs as Zwinglius and our great Archebishop his Disciple would haue it we must needes vnderstande by giuen for vs offred for vs so that in this place and many other to giue is to offer And although it be true that Christ was giuen and offered for vs to the father vpon the crosse the next day folowing yet because the worde Datur is in Greeke in all the Euangelistes where it is expressed in the present tense and also euery sentence is true for the time it is pronounced therefore me thinke I may certainely conclude because Christ sayth datur pro vobis is giuen for you that euen then in the supper time he offered his body for vs to his father Thirdly Christ did deliuer to his disciples to be eaten and dronken that he had before consecrated and offered Math. 29. and this appeareth by his words Take eate and drinke ye all of this The first and the thirde which be the consecration and receauing be out of all controuersie confessed of all men The second which is the oblation is of late brought in question which I haue partly proued by the plaine words of scripture as it seemeth to me so that I may well reason thus Christs action is our instruction I except his wonderfull workes and miracles specially when his commaundement is ioyned vnto it But Christ in his supper offred himselfe verily and really vnder the formes of bread and wine after an impossible maner and commaunded vs to doe the same till his second comming me thinke therefore that the Masse we doe and ought to doe sacrifice offer Christ vnto his father which oblation is the externall sacrifice of the Church and proper to the new testament CROWLEY The best arguments of the Popes diuinitie schoole Nowe to your purpose c. you will proue by the best arguments in your diuinitie schole that Christs body and bloud offered in the Masse is the sacrifice of the Church c. And as it appéereth the best arguments of your schoole are these thrée The institution of Christ the prophecie of Malachie and the figure of Melchisedech Well I trust the reader shall in that which foloweth sée howe well you doe performe your promise Doe this in my remembraunce sayth Christ that is offer vp this in my remembraunce say you and except you be deceyued Christ hath in these words instituted the sacrifice of the Masse Your newe men you say doe laugh at you c. And you doe pittie them c. Bilyke you haue a delight to be laughed at for you haue in the wordes folowing giuen more occasion to be laughed at as shall appéere in this aunswere Watsons pittie Luc. 23. Your pittie is much like that which was in the women of Ierusalem when they wept to sée the miserable estate of Christ which was condemned to die being an Innocent Watson will make his newe maysters laugh When Christ sayde doe this c. All that Christ did must néedes be vnderstanded by this worde this and therefore you will sée what Christ did First he consecrated his precious bodye and bloud c. Might not your new men thinke you iustly laugh at you when you alledge that for your purpose that maketh most against you doe this sayth Christ What shall we doe say you Take bread saith Christ And when you haue giuen thanks breake it and distribute it and eate it for it is my bodye Then take the cup and when ye haue giuen thankes drinke ye all of it for it is my bloud of the new testament which is shed for manye for the remission of sinnes Thus farre according as Mathewe wryteth What ground haue you in these wordes for the institution of the Masse He doth not say prepare you ministring garments of a straunge fashion Neyther doth he bid you make those garments holye He speaketh no word of your halowed aultare Superaltare Cup or Corporasse cloth He maketh no mention of your thinne stertch cake nor of myxing water with your wine He hath no worde of your manifolde crossings turnings and halfe turnings with the rest of the Apishe toyes whereof your Masse doth consist But he tooke bread and wine What Christ did at his last supper such as the present occasion did offer And he gaue thankes to his heauenly father and did presently distribute the same to those Disciples of his that were then present commaunding them all to eate and drinke thereof in the remembraunce of his death and passion as often as they should thinke it méete by a sacrament to celebrate the remembrance thereof Assuring them that in so doing they should be partakers of his body and bloud to the nourishing of their soules and bodies to euerlasting lyfe Here is a playne institution of the holye communion of the body and bloud of our sauiour Iesus Christ but for your transubstantiating consecration that you vse in your Masse here is no warrant at all By your owne iudgement therefore your Antichristian Clarkes are but vsurpers hauing no warrant in the worde of God to shewe for your doings in this point The matter therfore is not so playne on your side as you would haue men thinke it to be The lyke foundation you haue founde to builde your oblation vpon Christ hath sayd Which is giuen for you And to your simple iudgement there séemeth no little argument in this word Datur is giuen c. And therfore you conclude that Christ did at his last supper euen in the supper time offer his body for vs to his father Mathew and Marke make no mention of this Datur Mat. 26. Mar. 14. that you builde vpon Bilyke therefore it is not so great a matter as you would make of it For if the church can haue no sacrifice but that which is builded vpon Datur it is to be thought that Mathew and Marke knewe nothing of the Church sacrifice But in Luke you finde Quod pro vobis datur which is giuen for you not to you as Zwynglius and Cranmer his Scholer would haue it You conclude therefore that giuen for vs must néedes signifie offred for vs. So that in this place and many other but you name not one to giue is to offer Many places but none named And because all the Euangelistes haue it in the Gréeke expressed in the present tense c. you thinke you may certainely conclude because Christ sayth Datur pro vobis is giuen for you that euen then in the supper time he offered his body for vs to his father First I must say vnto you that when you shall shewe vs those places wherein to giue is to offer then we will weigh them
intelligi corporis membrorum suorum In Iohā tract 26. quod est sancta Ecclesia in praedestinatis vocatis iustificatis glorificatis sanctis fidelibus suis His wyll is that this meat and drinke should be vnderstanded to be the societie or felowship of his body and members which is the holye Church which consisteth of his predestinated called iustified and glorified saints and faithfull ones To these is the promise of grace made and confirmed by sacraments These beléeuing the promise doe worthily receyue the sacraments And these being preuented by death before they can come to the vse of the outward and visible sacraments shall haue lyfe euerlasting bicause they are elected in Christ before the beginning of creatures Luther and such as be of his sect WATSON Diuision 19 as taking his dreames for the ground of their fayth were much pressed with this argument deduced of the propertie of the sacrament and sawe playnely that it could not be a sacrament of the newe Testament except it had a promise annexed to the worthy vsing of it And yet for all that he would not condiscend to say as the Church sayth that Res sacramenti the thing of the sacrament signified and not conteyned which is the vnitie of the mysticall body were that grace which by Christ in S. Iohn was promised to the worthy receyuer of it but went and sought about for another promise and after much pooreyng at last he brought forth a promise as he thought meete and conuenient which is the wordes of Christ Quod pro vobis tradetur Which shall be giuen for you And in thys point 1. Cor. 11. he shewed with what violence he handled other matters of our fayth that in this great matter so much ouershot himselfe First with what face could he call that a promise which hath no apparaunce of anye promise but that the wordes in latine be spoken in the future tense which in Greeke be written in the present tense both in S Paule and in Saint Luke Quod pro vobis datur Which is giuen for you And if they were spoken in the future tense as they were not yet they be wordes not promising a thing to be done but declaring what shall be done And further if we should graunt them to be wordes of a promise yet they promise not the grace of the sacrament which is to be giuen to the worthy receyuer For the passion of Christ or the gyuing of Christs body vpon the crosse is not a grace giuen by the sacrament to the receiuer but it is that worke that hath deserued grace to bee giuen by the sacrament for all our sacraments take their vertue of the passion of Christ doe not promise the passion of Christ This may suffise for this short time to shewe vnto you the folly of these men that neyther wot nor care what they affirme in these weightie matters I could saye more in it but that I haue more necessarie matter behinde to be sayd Augst in Ioh. tract 15. In Psal 138. Saint Austen in dyuers places and other auncient Authors haue this doctrine in their bookes Elatere Christi fluxerunt duo sacramenta Two sacraments did issue forth of Christs side And in those places he teacheth vs by comparing the creation of Eue the wyfe of Adam the first man and of the Church the spouse of Christ the second man Lyke as God casting Adam into a sleepe tooke forth a bone out of hys side and thereof builded and created him a wyfe euen so when Christ did sleepe by death vpon the crosse vpon water and bloud that came forth of his side when it was opened with a speare God did forme and builde the Church the spouse of Christ in that by water we be regenerated by bloud we be redeemed and nourished Nowe concerning our purpose if two sacraments came out of Christes side we are sure there came out no wine except ye will say the wine of the true vine which Christ shal neuer drinke with vs any more but after a newe sort in the glorie and kingdome of his father Therfore it must needes be that our sacrament is Christs bloud and not wine CROWLEY If you had tolde vs when and where Luther wrote or spake that which you charge him with here something might haue béene sayde to the matter eyther in noting his fault or yours or both But for as much as you doe but saye it I wyll neyther defende Luthers doing therein nor condemne it but passe it ouer tyll ye tell where when and by whome he was so pressed But for your owne dealing I must néedes note that you are verie forgetfull sith yée doe so straightly charge him as with a great fault for that the lyke whereof is to be found euen in your owne assertion concerning this matter Watson is faultie in that which he reprehendeth in Luther The fault that you finde with Luther is for that he alledgeth a promise made in wordes of the present time or tense as you terme it And haue you forgotten what tense Christ spake in when he saide Qui manducat meam carnem bibit meum sanguinem in me manet ego in eo Men say it is a great fault for a man to be found faultie in that thing wherewith he himselfe findeth fault Well if you will promise that you will doe no more so I could be content to winke at this fault Aduertising you to looke better vpon saint Iohns Gospell where you shall finde as I haue sayde before that he which eateth Christ shall liue by the meanes of Christ Here is a promise made to him that eateth Christ not sacramentally onely but by fayth As appéereth by the wordes that Christ spake before saying he that beléeueth in me hath lyfe euerlasting This may suffise for aunswere to that great fault that you finde with Luther till you tell vs where and when he committed that fault c. As touching the doctrine that you say saint Austen and other auncient Authors haue in dyuers places I know saint Austen hath the wordes but the doctrine that you would confirme by the wordes is not saint Austens but yours You cite the fourth treatise of Austen vpon Iohn but in that treatise is not one worde that soundeth any thing that waye You therefore or else your printer haue misreported the place I suppose you would haue noted the .xv. treatise where saint Austen sayth thus Adam qui erat forma futuri praebuit nobis magnum iudicium sacramenti Imo August in Ioh. tract 15. Deus in illo praebuit Nam dormiens meruit accipere vxorem de costa eius facta est ei vxor quoniā de Christo in cruce dormiente futura erat Ecclesia de latere eius de latere silicet dormientis Quia de latere in cruce pendentis laucea percusso sacramenta Ecclesiae profluxerunt Adam which was the shadow or ymage of one to
speaking of the communion table there springeth a Fountayne of spirituall commodities and thou leauing this table doest forthwith runne to the water and doest beholde women swymming and the very marke of their sexe set out to the eyes of all that be present that thou mayest beholde this thing I say thou leauest Chryst sitting by the Fountayne of heauenly giftes For euen now also he doth sit vpon the Fountaine not speaking to one Samaritish woman but to the hole Citie For euen nowe also there is none that attendeth vpon him sauing that some be present with their bodies but without doubt some other not so much as with their bodyes Yet for all that he departeth not but he taryeth still and requireth drink of vs not water but sanctimonie or holynesse of lyfe For Christ doth giue holy things to them that be holy He doth not giue vs water out of this Fountayne but lyuing bloud which though it be receyued to testifie the Lordes death yet it is made vnto vs a cause of lyfe But thou doest leaue the Fountayne of this bloud and the cup that is to be had in reuerence and wyth spéede thou renuest to that deuillish Fountayne that thou mayest sée an Harlot swim and suffer shipwrack of thine owne soule c. Thus farre Chrysostome You should proue that the Masse is no derogation to the passion of Christ but you haue concluded that we receyue lyfe by receyuing of that which is offered in the Masse If this be no derogation to Christes passion then is there no derogation of it at all in any thing that can be done For what other thing is the fruite of Christes death but our euerlasting lyfe You had forgotten your selfe bylike when you alledged thys place for if Chrysostome ment so grossely as you vnderstand him he did set vp the Masse as much to the derogation of Christes passion as possibly he could Watson wold not see Chrisostomes meaning But Chrysostome had another meaning then you woulde sée when you read his wordes He teacheth the christians of Antioche that those holy things that Christ giueth to them that be holy are made vnto them instrumentall causes of euerlasting lyfe yea euen that mysticall bloud that is receyued to be a testimonie of the death of him that is Lorde of lyfe Thys meaning might you haue séene in the wordes of Chrysostome if affection had not blinded you But I marueile where you found in Chrysostomes words offered in commemoration for euen in the Latine text that you your selfe cite it is Sumitur is receyued But you might at that time say what you would to the aduauncement of that Idole of Rome and all Romishe Idolatrie To those two places of Gregory that you alledge I must aunswere as I haue learned of saint Hierome Hiero. in Math. 23. Hoc quia de scripturis c. Because this thing hath none authority of the scripture it is as easily contemned as allowed And least you should think that not being able otherwise to aunswere I doe reiect the authoritie of so auncient and godly a father I will shewe you the reasons that mooue me to thinke that these workes that are extant vnder the name of Gregorius Magnus were neuer of his writing Gregories bookes burned First Sabinianus that succéeded him next in the Papacie caused all his bookes to be burned And it is not to be thought that there were many copies in so short tyme when there was no way to encrease them but by hande wryting Another thing is the fond fables that in those workes are vsed in the probation of weightie assertions and no proufe made eyther by scriptures or authoritie of such as had before his dayes written of those matters Three reasons to proue Gregories workes coūterfaite but bare assertions contrarie to the scriptures and fathers that had bene before him And last of all the straunge maner of finding out the copie of his morral exposition of the history of Iob which is to ridiculous to haue any credite with such as haue any knowledge in christian religion and haue séene the hystories that make report of the liues and doings of those that had béene Byshops of Rome before the time of the finding out of that booke These authorities therefore doe not proue that the Masse is no derogation to the passion of Christ but rather the contrarie For if all these authorities that you haue alledged were as good as you make them and were so ment by the authors as you haue applied them what other thing should they teach but that the Masse is a derogation to the passion of Christ For what greater derogation can there be to Christs passion then to make it a matter of so small power that it could not of it selfe be effectuall to any vnlesse it be applyed by the mediation of some sacrificeing priest And that it must néedes be effectuall to such as it shall by such mediation be applyed vnto eyther in this lyfe or after Wée haue learned both by the scriptures and auncient fathers that the passion of Christ is of effect to take away the sinnes of the whole world The way to apply Christes passion and that it doth take away the sinnes of all that repent and beléeue the Gospell And that there is none other way to apply the passion of Christ to any but only the faith of those to whome it is applyed Furthermore they say we make our owne workes meaning the Masse a sauiour beside Christ WATSON Diuision 30 which is nothing so but by this sacrifice of the Masse we declare that we beleue there is no sauiour but onely Christ For what doe we in the Masse We confesse our sinnes our vnworthinesse our vnkindnes our manifold transgresions of his eternal law we graunt that we be not able to satisfie for the least offence we haue done therfore we run to his passion which after this sort as he hath ordayned we renew and represent We besech our most mercifull father to looke vpon Christes merites and to pardon our offences to loke vpon Christes passion and to releue our affection We knowledge that whatsoeuer we haue done is vnperfite and vnpure and as it is our worke doth more offend his maiestie then please him therefore we offer vnto hym his welbeloued sonne Iesus in whome we knowe he is well pleased most humbly praying him to accept him for vs in whome onely we trust accompting him all our righteousnesse by whome onely we conceiue hope of saluation And therefore in the ende of the canon of the Masse we say thus Non aestimator meriti sed veniae quaesumus largitor admitte per Christum dominum nostrum O Lord we besech thee to admit vs into the companie of thy saintes not waying our merites but graūting vs pardon by Christ our Lord. Also whatsoeuer thing we lacke all plagues all misfortunes all aduersitie both ghostly and temporall we require to be released of them not through our
that haue most frequented it Yea they that will but enquire of the lyfe and conuersation of them that at this day be Massemongers shall soone sée how great an enimie the Masse is to the Deuils kingdome Yea though there were none other euill in them The Masse alone is able to holde vp the Deuils kingdome then onely that they say and heare Masse which is ydolatry yet were this one euill sufficient of it selfe to holde vp the kingdome of the Deuill But admit that the Masse were no ydolatry yet it is alwaies accompanied with a multitude of grosse ydolatries As the inuocation of creatures the opinion of meryting by mens owne workes the representing of God to the bodily eye by an Image made lyke a man the bowing of the knées and burning of Wax and Incense before the Images of creatures trust confidence in the holynesse of creatures made holy by men and such lyke Thus is the Masse the greatest aduersarie that the Deuils kingdome hath But least some of your Auditorie should take paynes to read Luthers booke and so perceyue that you haue not sayde truely of him you thinke to preuent that matter by speaking a fewe wordes of that part of the booke that openeth the meaning of the hole and knitting vp your tale with this exclamation O what a cloke of mischiefe is this and all grounded vpon lyes and falsehood He sayth the Deuill lyeth not when he accuseth c. And if this saying of Luther be true then there will folow a number of as great inconueniences as vpon the wordes of Dauid when he sayth Omnis homo mendax Euery man is a lyar Psam .. 115. If Luther were in this lyfe he would not sticke to graunt all that you conclude vpon that proposition that you call his principle For which of the two may be thought better the fayth of a Turke or of a Massemonger Seing the one denieth Christ in wordes denying him to be his sauiour and the other in déedes in séeking saluation by other meanes then by Christ which is to denie him And wherein shall Hieroboams priestes be found worse then the Popes Massing priestes If you wil read the prophecie of Oseas and vnderstande it you shall finde that they had as good a colour of obseruing Moses his lawe as the Popes priestes haue of kéeping Christs institution And so of the reast that you doe name damnable heresies c. Now because the time is farre past shortly to conclude I shall most humbly beseech you to consider and regarde the saluation of your soules WATSON Diuisiō 44 for the which Christes Gods sonne hath shed his precious bloud which saluation can not bee atteyned without knowledge and confession of Gods truth reueled to his holy Church and by her to euery member of her and childe of God whose sentence and determination is sure and certaine as proceeding from the piller of truth and the spirite of God by whome we be taught and assured in Gods owne worde that in the blessed sacrament of the aultar by the power of the holy ghost working with Gods word is veryly and really present the body and bloud of our sauiour Christ vnder the formes of bread and wine which is by Christes owne commaundement and example offered to almightie God in sacrifice in commemoration of Christes passion and death whereby the members of the Church in whose fayth it is offered both they that be aliue and departed perceaue plentuous and abundaunt grace and mercy and in all their necessities and calamities reliefe and succour Our most mercifull father graunt vs to persist stedfast and constant in the true Catholike fayth and confession of this most blessed Sacrament and sacrifice with pure deuotion as he hath ordeyned to vse and frequent this holye mysterie of vnitie and reconciliation that we may thereby remaine in him and he in vs for euermore To whome be all glory and praise without ende Amen To make a short conclusion CROWLEY I will ioyne wyth you in making humble request to the readers of these your sermons and mine aunswere that they will haue an earnest regard to the saluation of their owne soules for which Iesus Christ the only begottē sonne of God hath fréely shed his most precious hart bloud Which saluation can not be attayned vnto without the knowledge and confession of Gods truth which he hath by his worde reuealed to his Church and doth daylie by the faythfull and diligent ministerie thereof reueale it to euery member thereof and child of God Which Church is and euer hath bene the pyller of truth In. 1. Timo. Capit. 3 wherein onely the truth is séene and doth playnely appéere to the worlde as saint Hierome hath sayde and hath hir foundation vpon truth which is hir onely stay and piller to leane vnto as Chrysostome hath written Which truth being the determination of God before the beginning this piller of truth doth still cleaue vnto neuer séeking to determine otherwise then God hath by his sonne Christ determined taught In whose worde we are assured that at his last supper with his holy Apostles he did institute a most comfortable sacrament of hys owne body and bloud to be frequented and vsed in his Church in the remembraunce of his death and passion till his comming agayne in our nature to iudge both the quick and the dead In which sacrament is lyuely represented vnto vs yea euen vnto our senses that vnity that he hath and doth by his almighty power make betwixt himself and vs and amongst our selues one with another which vnitie the nature of the bread and wine wherein this sacrament is instituted doth plainely expresse and signifie In vsing whereof his Church doth not onely call to memorie the benifits that she hath receyued by him but also shewe hir selfe thankfull in offring hir selfe a sacrifice of a swéete sauour vnto God by ready good wyll to glorifie him both by lyfe and by death as the holy saintes that be departed thys lyfe did whilste they lyued here assuring themselues of his contynuall presence to comfort help and succour them in all the necessities and calamities of thys lyfe and after thys lyfe of euerlasting ioye and felicitie in euerlasting lyfe through him Which they haue alreadie attayned vnto in part being delyuered from the burden of the fleshe and we shall in the ende of this lyfe attayne vnto in lyke maner if we contynue faythfull to the ende as they did And when the day of the generall resurrection shall come we with them and they with vs shall through Christ receyue our owne bodyes agayne incorruptible immortall glorious and spirituall euen such as his blessed body is nowe in the throne of maiestie to reigne wyth him in his fathers kingdome for euermore Our most mercifull and louing father graunt vs to contynue stedfast and constant in the true Catholike fayth and confession of our hope of forgiuenesse of all our sinnes by that one onely sacrifice that Christ Iesus made in offering hymselfe on the Crosse once for all as by his holy worde and sacraments he doth daylie teache vs to doe And that we may so frequent and vse this holy misterie of vnitie and reconciliation that we may daylie more and more be assured thereby of his dwelling in vs and our abyding in him To whome be all prayse honour and glory for euer Amen FINIS ¶ Imprinted at London by Henry Denham dwelling in Pater-noster Rovve at the Signe of the Starre SVBLIME DEDIT OS HOMINI Anno Domini 1569. Cum priuilegio