when he craved to go unto Zoar as though it were not much which he asked so we mince and extenuate the gifts of God before we receive them and after like them which have a grace for dinner and none for breakfast as though they had their dinners from God and breakfasts of their own Our example did not so although it was but bread which he received yet he was more thankful for bread than many which bury the fouls and fishes and beasts in their belly for if account of all were kept for one that prayeth Give us this day our daily bread a hundred take their bread and meat and sleep too which never pray for it After he had given thanks he brake it and gave unto them and said Take eat for when he had given thanks to God then it was sanctified and blessed and lawful to eat So when thou servest God then it is lawful for thee to use Gods blessings then thou maist eat and drink as Christ did but not before for these things were created to serve them which serve God if thou doest not serve him for them thou encrochest upon Gods blessings and stealest his creatures which are no more thine then thou art his for the good God created all things for good men as the devils possessions are reserved for evil men Therefore as Christ would not break the bread before he had given thanks to the founder so know that there is some thing to be done before thou receive any benefit of God and presume not to use his creatures with more liberty than his Son did which did not eat without giving thanks nor rise again without singing a Psalm It followeth This is my Body Here is the fruit of his Thanks before he prayed that the Bread and Wine might be blessed and they were blessed As Isaac's blessing shewed it self upon Jacob whom he blessed so Christ's blessing appeared straight upon these mysteries for it could not be said before This is my Body because it was meer Bread but now it may be called his Body because his blessing hath infused that vertue into it that it doth not only represent his Body but conveys his Body and himself unto us The efficacie of his blessing is in this Sacrament ever since sanctifying it unto us as well as it did to the Apostles even as Christ's Prayer stayed Peter's Faith after Christ was dead Now you have heard the meaning of these words He took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it you shall see with what a mystical resemblance they unite Christ and us First as Christ in the Supper took Bread to feed us so in his Birth he took our Flesh to save us Secondly as Christ when he had taken the Bread blessed the Bread to make it a Spiritual Food so Christ when he had taken our Flesh powred forth most rich and precious Graces into it to make it Food of Life unto us Thirdly as Christ when he had blessed the Bread brake the Bread so Christ when he had filled his Body with most precious Graces brake it up like a rich Treasure-House his hands by the nailes his back by the stripes his head by the thorns his side by the Spear that out of every hole a River of Grace and Goodness might issue and flow forth unto us Lastly as Christ gave the Bread when he had broken it so Christ by a lively Faith communicateth his Body after he hath Crucified it Hereby we are taught that when we see the Minister take the Bread to feed us we must conceive that Christ being God from everlasting took our Flesh to Save us When we see the Minister bless the Bread to a holy use we must conceive that Christ by uniting the God-head unto it sanctified his Flesh for our Redemption When we see the Minister break the Bread to sustain our Bodies we must conceive that Christ in his Death break his Body to refresh our Souls When we see the Minister give the Bread to our hand we must conceive that Christ as truly offereth himself to our Faith to be received of us Because upon these words the Papists ground their Transubstantiation that is That the Bread is changed into Christ's Flesh and the Wine is turned into Christ's Blood whereby we eat the same Body which dyed upon the Cross and drink the same Blood which issued out of his side That you may see the blindness of this Popish Dream I would have you but mark every word of the Scripture how they make against Transubstantiation that ye may see them slain like Goliah with their own Sword Even as God made Caiphas speak against himself so the Scriptures which Papists and other Hereticks alledge do make against themselves like the Baalites which wounded their own flesh I may liken their alâ—egations to Satan's when he tempted Christ in the Wilderness he alledged but one sentence of Scripture for himself and that Psalm out of which he borrowed it made so plain against him that he was necessitated to pick here a word and there a word and leave out that which went before and skip in the midst and omit that which came after or else he had marr'd his cause The Scripture is so holy pure and true that no word or syllable thereof can make for the Devil or for Sinners or for Hereticks yet as the Devil alledged Scripture tho' it made not for him but against him so do the Libertines Epicures and Hereticks as tho' they had learned at his School Now there is no sentence of the Scripture which the wiser Papists alledge boldly for Transubstantiation but this that Christ said This is my Body by which they may prove as well that Christ is a Door because he saith I am the Door or a Vine because he saith I am a Vine for his sayings are alike Figurative Speeches must not be construed literally but this is Hereticks fashion If you mark you shall see throughout that all the Testimonies which the Papists alledge for their Heresies are either tropes or figures allegories parables allusions or dark speeches which when they presume to expound allegorically or literally without conference of any other Scriptures then they wander and stray from the mark or else it is impossible that the Truth should maintain Error that is that the Scripture should speak for Heresie if it were not wrested and perverted therefore we see that Eve never erred untill she corrupted the Text. Now we will enter the lists with our adversaries and see whether these words do prove that the Bread and Wine are turned into Christ's Body Paul saith Jesus took Bread well then yet it is Bread when he had taken it then he blessed it what did he bless the Bread which he took well then yet it is Bread when he had blessed it then he break it what did he break the Bread which he blessed
Sacrament to be used for it Christ I say called the Lamb the Passover and yet the Passover was this an Angel passed over the Houses of the Israelites and struck the Egyptians this was not a Lamb and yet because a Lamb was a Sign of this Passover as the Bread and Wine is of Christ's Body therefore Christ called the Lamb the Passover as he calleth the Bread and Wine his Body Again Circumcision is called the Covenant and yet Circumcision was nothing but the cutting away of a Skin but the Covenant is In Abrahams seed all Nations shall be blessed I will be their God and they shall be my people I will defend and save them and they shall serve and worship me This is not Circumcision and yet as though Circumcision were the Covenant it self it is called the Covenant because it signifieth the Covenant so Bread and Wine are called Christ's body because they signifie Christ's body Again Baptism is called Regeneration and yet Baptism is a dipping of our bodies in water but Regeneration is the renewing of the mind to the image wherein it was created This is not Baptism and yet as though Baptism were Regeneration it self it is called Regeneration because it signifieth Regeneration so the bread and wine are called Christ's body because they signifie Christ's body Again the Cup is called the New Testament and yet the Cup is but a piece of mettal filled with Wine but the New Testament is He which believeth in the Son shall be saved This is not a Cup and yet as though the Cup were the New Testament it self it is called the New Testament because it signifieth the New Testament so the bread and wine are called Christ's body because they signifie Christ's body They which knew that the Lamb is not the Passover though Christ called it the Passover that Circumcision is not the Covenant though God calleth it the Covenant that Baptism is not Regeneration though it be called Regeneration that the Cup is not the New Testament though Christ called it the New Testament could they not as well understand that the Bread and Wine were not Christ's body though Christ called them his body As they understood these speeches so they understood this speech therefore they which say that the Bread and Wine are Christ's body because Christ saith This is my Body may as well say that the Lamb is the Passover because Christ calleth it the Passover that Baptism is Regeneration because Paul calleth it Regeneration that this Cup is the New Testament because Christ calleth it the New Testament If every Sacrament was called by the thing which it signified and yet never any Sacrament was taken for the thing it self what reason have they to take this Sacrament for the thing it self more than all the rest It is the consent of all Writers that a Sacrament is a sign therefore not the thing signified no more than the Bush at the Door is the Wine in the Seller If I call the Prince a Phoenix the University a Fountain the Court a Peacock the City a Sea the Countrey an Hermite why can the Papists understand me and not understand Christ What a dark and strange and intricate and incredible speech had this been for them to understand grosly and literally Would they think that they did eat Christ's body when his body stood before them and he had told them before that his body was like their body Nay this would have required more words and made them come again with Master what is the meaning for they were not so instructed yet before the Resurrection to believe every thing without questioning if it were contrary to sense and reason but as they asked who had given him any meat then he said that he had meat and they could see none so they would have asked what meat is this which we see not How can every one of us eat his body and yet he hath but one body and that body is whole when we eat it Loe he standeth before us and saith that his body is like unto ours and yet he takes bread and breaks it and gives it unto us to eat and when we eat it he saith This is my body and yet his body stands before us still If his body be like ours as he saith how can it be eaten and be there for ours cannot Thus they would have questioned if they had not been used to such phrases but as they could understand him when he called himself a Stone a Rock a Door a Window and a Vine so they pickt out his meaning when he had said that Bread was his body for he had told them before that he was the Bread of Eternal Life Now the bread of Eternal Life is not eaten with teeth for the body cannot eat spiritually no more than the Soul can eat corporally and therefore he is such a Bread as is eaten with Faith and so himself saith in the Gospel of St. John. Mark this eating by Faith and all the strife is ended Flesh and Blood indeed need not faith to chew them for the teeth can chew them well enough Therefore if the Bread and Wine were the body of Christ then we need not faith to eat it but all those which have teeth might eat Christs body yea the Mice might eat it as well as Men for they eat the same Bread that we do as well after it is consecrated as before If this bee not enough to batter the ruines of this upstart Heresie I will come to Interrogatories and see whether they have learned it by rote or by reason If they ground their Transubstantation upon these words of Christ This is my Body which he spake to his Disciples I ask them whether they receive that body which was mortal or that body which is glorified because one of these bodies they must needs receive either his mortal body or his glorified body If they say that it is his mortal body the mortal body will not profit them for you see that mortal food is but for this mortal life neither hath Christ a mortal body now to communicate unto them because it is changed to an immortal body therefore they cannot receive the mortal body because Christ hath not a mortal body to give unto them If they say that they receive his glorified body then they must fly from this Text for at that time Christ had not any glorified body When this Sacrament was instituted and Christ said This is my Body his body was not glorified because the Sacrament was instituted before his Death and his body was glorified after his Resurrection Therefore if they receive the same body which the Apostles received as they say they do they cannot receive a glorified body because then Christ had not a glorified body to Communicate unto them Thus the Rocks and Sands are of both sides them they receive a body neither mortal nor immortal If
Body nor feel his Body you may gather by Christ's saying to Thomas that he would not have you believe that it is his body for my body saith Christ may be seen and felt And thus Transubstantiation is found a lyar Now if you ask me why Christ calleth the sign by the name of the thing it self I ask thee again Maist thou say when thou seest the picture of the Queen this is the Queen and when thou seest the picture of a Lyon this is a Lyon and may not Christ say when he seeth a thing like his body This is my Body I shewed you before that every Sacrament is called by the name of the thing which it doth signifie and therefore why should we stumble at this more then the rest The reason why the signs have the name of the things is to strike a deeper reverence in us to receive this Sacrament of Christ reverently sincerely and holily as if that Christ were there present in body and blood himself And surely as he which defaceth the Queens Seal is convicted of Contempt and Treason to her own Person so he which prophaneth the Seals of Christ doth not Worship Christ but despite him and that contempt shall be required of him as if he had contemned Christ himself This is the Reason why Christ calleth the signs of his body his body to make us take this Sacrament reverently because we are apt to contemn it as the Jews did their Manna It followeth Do this in remembrance of me That is these Signs shall be a remembrance of my Death When you break the Bread you shall remember the wounding of my body and when you drink the Wine you shall remember the shedding of my blood If we do this in remembrance of Christ's body which was broken like the Bread it is an Argument that his body is not there because remembrance is not of things present but of things absent we remember not but we see that which is before us This might put the Papists in remembrance that Christ is not Sacrificed now when we do but remember his Sacrifice this is not Christ's Sacrifice but a remembrance of his Sacrifice he was Sacrificed before and now it is applied lest his Sacrifice should be in vain This was done once really when he offered himself upon the Cross therefore that offering was called a Sacrifice because he was sacrificed indeed but this offering is called a Sacrament because it is but a sign of his Sacrifice If Christ in this Sacrament were offered indeed then it should be called a Sacrifice as his once offering was but because it is but a remembrance of his Sacrifice therefore it is called a Sacrament This is not a Sacrifice of Christ but a Sacrifice of our selves Least we should take it to be a Sacrifie of Christ Christ himself calleth it a remembrance of his Sacrifice Do this in my remembrance Here is our work as Christ hath done so must we do so we Minister and so you Receive we can give you nothing but that which we have received from him as Paul saith Therefore if Christ did not give his mortal Body which stood before them and could not profit them nor his glorified body which was not glorified then and when it was glorified ascended up into Heaven and there abideth How can these juggling Priests make their God again which made them They can no more turn Wine into Blood and Bread into Flesh than they can command a Gnat to be a Camel for it is a greater Work to make God than to make the World. Therefore as Christ saith When they tell you here is Christ or there is Christ believe them not So when they tell you that Christ is in Heaven and that Christ is in Earth in this place and that place believe them not for Elias's ascension was a figure of Christ's ascension when Elias was ascended yet some sought for his body upon Earth so though Christ be ascended yet many seek his body upon Earth but as they could not find Elias's body so these cannot find Christ's body altho' they have sought 300 Years But if his body were upon Earth as they say should we handle it and touch it now it is glorified After his Resurrection he said unto Mary Touch me not because his body was glorified that is not to be touched with fingers any more but with Faith. Therefore we read of none that touched his body after it was risen but only Thomas to settle his Faith. Thus you see we need to suborn no witnesses for every word in this Text which you seem to alledge for Transubstantiation doth make against Transubstantiation whereby if Antichrist doth signifie those which are against Christ you see who may be called Antichrist There is no question in Popery except Purgatory the Popes Publican and Tasker about which the Papists are at such civil Wars among themselves as about this Transubstantiation They cannot tell when the change beginneth nor what manner of change it is nor how long the change continueth Some hang one way and some another like the Midianites which fought one against another And no marvel though their Consciences stagger about it for to shew you the right Father of it it was one of the Dreams of Innocentius the Third in the Year of our Lord 1215. So many Years passed before Transubstantiation was named and then a Pope set it first on foot so it came out of Rome the Mother of all Heresies and for want of Scriptures hath been defended with Fire and Sword and swallowed more Martyrs than all the gulfs of the Papal Sea beside Now when the Doctrines of men go for Scriptures you shall see how many Errors rush into the Church for grant but this to Pope Innocentius as the Papists do that the Bread and Wine are are changed into Christ's body First it will follow that Christ's body is not ascended up to Heaven because it remaineth upon Earth and so one of the Articles of our Faith shall be falsified which saith He is ascended into Heaven or if he be ascended and descended again another Article will be falsified which saith That he sitteth at the right hand of his Father that is as Peter saith he abideth in Heaven Secondly It will follow that Christ hath not a true Body but a fantastical Body because it may be in many places at one time for if his Body be in the Sacrament he must needs have so many bodies as there be Sacraments nay he must have so many bodies as there be bits in every Sacrament Thirdly It will follow that his Body is divided from his Soul and consequently is a dead Body because the Bread is only changed into his Body and not into his Soul. Fourthly It will follow that the wicked and prophane and reprobate may receive Christ as well as the godly because they have a Mouth to eat as well
this is a poor and weak Testament which gave nothing Oh the goodliest Testament that ever was made for it bringeth to us the remissions of sins it is such a matter to forgive sins Yea the greatest benefit in all the world nay a greater benefit than all the world For thus it stood Thou hadst committed High Treason against the Queens Person thou art detected apprehended accused convicted and condemned upon it to be hanged and drawn quartered and thy Quarters to be set up for a spectacle like a Carcass which thou hast seen hanging upon a Gibbet and the Crows pecking upon it What a horror and shaking to thy mind to think of that day when all these torments and shame and fear shall surprize thee at once which would make thee quake and tremble if thou shouldst see but another so dismembred before thy face Thou hast no comfort now but this when I have suffered I shall be free before to morrow at this time all my pain will be past though my shame continue and my Children be beggers What grace what favour what mercy now to pardon thee all this and save thy life and set thee at liberty as though thou hadst never offended So I and thou and every one here had committed Treasons against the King of Kings and stood condemned for it not to suffer and then be free like them which break the laws of Men but to suffer and suffer and ever to suffer all that the Devils would heap upon us Then came the mercy of God for Christ which shed his Blood like an Umpire between God and us and said as Esay said to Hezechia Thou shalt not die but live loose him and let him go for he is mine So we were stayed like the Widows Son when he was carried to his grave This is the benefit of Christs death and this Sacrament is the remembrance of it and therefore whensoever we receive it this addition cometh with it Which is shed for the remission of sins Our fault was so heinous and grievous that no Ransom could countervail it unless God himself had suffered for us Being in this extremity neither Man nor Angel offered his Life for us but the Prince himself which should have crucified us came to be crucified of us for us that we might say with stedfast saith I believe the remission of sins not the satisfaction of sins but the remission of sins Mark this distinction against Popish Merits of Works or Penance Christ hath satisfied and not we we are remitted and not Christ therefore we say in our Confession I believe the remission of sins which I may call the quintessence and sweetness of the Twelve Therefore who but Antichrist durst deprave it If there be a satisfaction for our sins by Works or by Pilgrimages or by our Masses or by our Penance let Christ never be called a Forgiver but an Exchanger like the Pope which selleth his Pardons Wretched creatures which will not receive the Lord when he comes to their door Christ saith Take for nothing and they say no we will not take but buy Vile base miserable Man disdain to take Grace of God without satisfaction but they will cope with the Lord and give him so many Pilgrimages fast so many days hear so many Masses and pay so many Works for it untill they have done as much good as they have done evil Our sins are infinite God is infinite but our Works are finite in number measure Therefore be content with Josephs Brethren to take your money again and say that you have Corn for nothing that is you are saved for nothing or else when you say I believe the remission of sins you lie unto God because you do not believe the remission of sins but satisfaction for sins like the Papists It followeth As often as ye shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shall shew the Lords death till he come Here are three invincible Arguments against Popish Transubstantiation like the three Witnesses under which every word doth stand First we are said to eat Bread then it is not Flesh but Bread. Secondly we are said to shew the Lords Death then it is but a shew or representation of his death Thirdly it is said until he come if he be to come then he is not come If he be come how can we say untill he come The effect of this Verse was shewed in these words Do this in remembrance of me For to say Do this in remembrance of me and to say So oft as ye do this you shew my death is much at one So that if you call this Sacrament a shew of Christs death as it is called here then it is not Christ or if you call it a remembrance of Christ as it is called there yet is it not Christ but a shew or remembrance of Christ but this is such a shew and remembrance that the next verse saith Whosoever receiveth it unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of Christ. Will ye know who Receiveth unworthily in the 29th verse Paul saith he discerneth not the Lord's Body i. e. which putteth no difference between this bread and othes but eateth like a Child the meat which he knoweth not and after the bread seemeth stones to him the wine poyson because his conscience telleth him I have received unworthily before I could say like David My heart is prepared My Sheep saith Christ know my voice as they discern Christs Body and therefore so often as they come into the Lords Table they seem to come into the Lords presence there they greet and kiss and imbrace one another with affections which none can know but they that feel like John which leaped in the Womb so soon as Christ came near him Will ye know beside what it is to be guilty of the body and blood of Christ even as Judas was guilty for betraying him and Pilate for delivering him and the Jews for crucifying him so they are guilty which receive this Sacrament unworthily as Pilate and Caiphas and Judas were If they be guilty of Christs death they are guilty of their own death too as if they had committed two murthers and therefore Paul saith after that many of the Chorinthians died only for the unworthy receiving this Sacrament As the Word is the savour of death to them which receive it unworthily so the Sacrament is the savour of death to them which receive it unworthily it never goeth into their mouth but they are traitors ipso facto and may say to Hell this day have I taken possession of thee because I am guilty of Christs blood Therefore it followeth immediately Let a man examine himself before he eat of this bread or drink of this wine as if he should say if he which receiveth this Sacrament unworthily be guilty of Christs death like Judas which hanged himself if these signs be received to salvation