affectione commodi that is though in regard of holinesse and righteousnesse he were already peâ—â—â—â—y blessed and arrived at his end yet by reason of thâ—â—pprehension of those vnpleasing and afflictiue evills which now were and yet were more to be vpon him the ioyes delights of heauen were not imparted to him So that the fulnesse and complement of Glory he had not yet attained Which being so the third and last enquirie how hee would be glorified may easily be resolued For as appeares by what we haue said he desires the dispelling and remouing of all those thicke mists and clouds which hitherto eclipsed his Deity that is the deposition not of his Humane nature for that is now become an essentiall part of his Person and shall continue therein vnto all eternity but of all humane infirmities and that low condition to which he had humbled himselfe to the end the glory of his Deity might at length appeare and shine forth most perfectly He desires furthermore that his Father would be pleased to glorifie him by preseruing and supporting him in the last act of his tragedy I meane his bitter agonie and passion by loosing the sorrowes of death and raising him from the graue by taking him vp into heaven setting him at his right hand crowned with maiesty and power and finally by conferring vpon him all glorious endowments both of soule and body and ioyning him vnto himselfe not only by the affection of perfect iustice but of comfort and delight also Hee desires lastly to bee glorified by the full manifestation of his Glory both that which already he had and that which yet he was to haue that not only Iewes but Gentiles also by the mission of his holy spirit and the preaching of his Apostles might know him to be the eternall Sonne of God of the same substance with the Father and no way inferiour vnto him Man also but such a man as is assumpted 〈◊〉 the vnitie of the second person in the Trinitie slaâ—â—â—â—ed and condemned yet iust and innocent dead and buried yet raised vp againe and liuing humbled low yet exalted high even to the highest top of all as hauing a name given him aboue every name And that these things being generally knowne of all he might be magnified and adored of all and at the name of Iesus all knees might bow both of things in Heaven and things in earth and things vnder the earth and every tongue might confesse that Iesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father And thus you see how our Saviour would be glorified The consideraâ—ion of all which may be vnto vs of singular vse and comfort For first seeing Christ who cannot be denyed what ever he demands hath prayed for his glorification what vanity is it for any man to thinke or hope that he can hinder or obscure it Let Iewes persecute him put him to death set a watch about his sepulcher to keepe him down yet can they not let but hee shall reviue and rise againe Though tyrants by open violence oppose the profession of his name and Hereticks by Sophistrie seeke to vndermine it and Antichrist assault it both waies by violence and sophistrie yet maugre all their cunning and malice his Father shall surely glorifie him Yea he is God manifested in the flesh iustified in the spirit seene of Angells preached vnto the Gentiles beleeved on in the world and received vp into glory Onely now it remaines to expect and pray for his returne in glory Secondly the Glorification of Christ is the pledge and earnest of our Glorification For had not he risen ascended and beene receiued vp into glory neither should wee The gates of death had beene bard vpon vs and of heaven shut against vs we should haue beene covered with eternall shame and ignominie But now Christ like another Sampson hath broken through the gates of death our head is risen and wee in him Hee is ascended and gone from vs but gone to prepare a place for vs that where he is there we may be also and behold that his glory and beholding it be made like vnto him bearing his glorious image For as now because hee is full of grace wee of his fulnesse receiue even grace for grace so being full of glory of his fulnesse wee shall also receiue even glory for glory Memorable is that saying of Tertullian As he hath left vnto vs the earnest of his spirit so he hath receiued from vs the earnest of our flesh and hath caried it into heaven as a pledge that the whole summe shall one day be reduced thither Rest therefore secure oh flesh and bloud yee haue livery seizan of heauen and the kingdome of God already in Christ. Thirdly Christ so earnestly suing for his Glorification it is our duty by all meanes both to procure and further his Glory which if wee cannot doe in such sort as his Father doth yet are wee to performe it in such a sort as we may If not gloriosum faciendo by bestowing glory vpon him yet gloriosum dicendo by praising and magnifying his glory By faith we are to be assured thereof by confession to acknowledge it by our holy Christian life to testify that the faith of our hearts and the confession of our mouthes accord and agree together and as much as lies in vs to labour that others may glorifie Christ together with vs. Fourthly and lastly as Christ did so are wee warranted by his example to pray for our owne Glorification that God would be pleased to perfect that glory vpon vs which here by grace he hath begunne in vs. Hence is it that the Saints are said not only to loue but also to long for the second comming of Christ as knowing that till then it cannot be obtained that the Church also so earnestly prayes Turne my beloued and be like the Roe or young Hart vpon the mountaines of Bether and againe yea come Lord Iesu come quickly But may we with Christ desire that the Glory begun in vs be manifested vnto others we may For wee are commanded to provide things honest in the fight of all men and to let our light so shine before men that they also may see our good workes Only wee must take heed that wee affect it not from men principally nor make it our maine end for this would be the foule sinne of Vaine-glory but that with Christ wee seeke it of our Father in the first place and to the end that being glorified of him hee may be glorified by vs. For not hee that commendeth himselfe or is commended of others is approued but hee whom God commendeth And so much for Quid what our Sauiour craueth to himselfe Now that he may not be denied his request he presseth his Father with sundry weighty and important reasons all which God willing we will handle in their order The first is drawen from the circumstance of time thus The
his glorious estate to make Intercession for vs. Yet this is not all for it is further to be observed that Christ is not Priest as Man only but as Emanuell on God-man This the Apostle to the Hebrewes carefully demonstrateth The law saith he maketh men high Priests which haue infirmity but the wâ—rd of the Oath which was since the law maketh the sonne who is consecrated for ever more And againe Christ saith he by his eternall spirit offered himselfe without spot to God And if he were a Priest after the order of Melchizedecke as he was without Father or Mother without genealogie hauing neither beginning of daies nor end of life as also being Vntithed in the loines of Abraham it cannot be that he should be Priest as Man only for of Man only these things cannot be verified therefore as God also If so then Prayer being an act of Christs Priest-hood it followeth that it is Emanuel God-man that prayeth and that his Prayer is a Theandricall action as Divines terme it Divinely-humane or Humanely-divine This speech haply may sound harshly in some eares there are who sticke not to charge it with â—tat Arrianisme as if thereby we made Christ inferiour to his Father whereas hee himselfe thought it no robbery to be equall vnto him Giue mee leaue therefore to bestow a few words for the clearing of this difficulty the rather because it is being rightly apprehended the ground of singular comfort vnto vs. It is a Fundamentall article of the Christian Faith that in Christ there are two distinct Natures his Divinity his Humanity that both these concurre to the constitution of one Person God-man Whence it followeth that the Agent or Principle which acteth all the workes of Mediation is but one by reason of the Vnitie of the Person even Christ God-man according to that protrite Maxime Actiones sunt suppositorum all actions issue and proceed from the Subiect or person Howbeit seeing the Person alwaies worketh by his Natures and they as wee haue said in Christ are two it followeth by reason of this Dualitie that there are two distinct Principles by which Christ worketh or mediateth according to that other rule in nature Natura est principium motus quietis nature is the principle both of rest and motion This for further illustration may be exemplified in Humane actions For as it is Man or the Person of Man consisting of Soule and Body that vnderstandeth reasoneth moueth speaketh yet it is the Soule by which he vnderstandeth and reasoneth the Body by which he moueth and speaketh so in the actions of Mediation it is Christ God-man that worketh them all yet some by his Godhead and some by his Manhood Here therefore are wee to distinguish The workes of Mediation are either of Soueraignty and Authority or of Subiection and Ministrie Of Soveraignty and Authrity as to send the Holy Ghost to illuminate the Mind to raise from death of Subiection and Ministrie as to suffer to dy to be raised from death All these things did Christ as he was God-man both doe and suffer but yet the former by the Principle of his deity the latter by the Principle of his humanity It is further to be observed that although both the Natures in Christ remaine distinct and consequently their severall operations also yet as Leo truly saith Agit vâ—raque forma cum communione alterius quod cuiusque proprium est both Natures doe that which is proper vnto them but with Communion of each with other This Communion is the concurrence of both Natures in the same Person by their severall proper actions to the producing of one Apotelesma or outward effect pertaining to our Salvation In which concurrence the Deity is ever the principall and the Humanitie is the Organ or Instrument of the Deity so that it never moueth to any thing but as it is acted and moved by the Deity and from it receiues all its value dignity and efficacy as in Man the Body doth from the Soule These things being thus demonstrated let vs in a word applie them to our particular This Prayer of Christ is an act of his Priesthood Heâ— therefore prayes that is the Priest The Priest as we haue shewed is Christ God-man Christ therefore prayeth as God-man But the act is Ministeriall not Soveraigne He prayeth therefore not by the Principle of his Deity but in his Humanitie Howbeit with Communion of the Deity the Instrument partaking with the Principall Agent and deriuing all its vertue and efficacy from the concurrence thereof Which being so the more either ignorant or malitious are our adversaries of the Church of Rome who slander vs as if we held Christ prayed in his Divine nature Nay we know Prayer is a worke of Ministry and implies inferiority whereas the Word is coequall to his Father If may be the dreame of Iewes in their Talmud that God prayes certaine houres every day or of Turkes in their Alcoran that he prayeth for Mahomet But we know that God hath no superiour to whom he should pray and that his will is omnipotent and the effectuall cause of all things so that he needs not pray But it pleased the sonne of God to assume our nature and in the same to make himselfe lesse then his Father and to become obedient vnto him in all things So that although it bee God-man that prayes yet praying non qua Deus sed qua homo not in the forme of the Word but of a Servant it can be no impeachment to his Deity Now if it be God-man that prayes is it possible hee should misse of his suit Surely he himselfe saith I knowe thou hearest me alwaies And the Apostle affirmes that in his Prayers and Supplications he was still heard If hee bee the only Sonne in whom the Father is well pleased will he thinke you deny him any thing Nay if wee that are so vnworthy are yet heard for his sake how can hee that is of such infinite worth but bee heard when as himselfe praies He is therefore alwais heard What is it then he here sues for To himselfe Glorification to his Apostles to know and teach all sauing truth to vs that beleeue through their word Sanctification Vnion with him Perseverance in grace and the blessed-making vision of his Clory Doubtlesse therefore hee himselfe sitteth at the right hand of his Father and swayeth all things both in Heaven and earth to his Churches good His Apostles both knew and taught all the counsells of God and wee may safely build vpon the Foundation they haue laid As for vs all those things shall surely bee made good vnto vs. And though Sathan desire to winnow vs yet Hell gates shall never prevaile against vs. For he that never faileth to be heard hath prayed for our Faith that it faile not then which what surer ground of peace and ioy to the conscience can there be As it is the ground of comfort so is it
say that he brought forth Bread and Wine and not to God as an Oblation but to Abraham for his refection If he had offered vp Bread Wine as a Sacrifice to God how commeth it to passe that the Apostle comparing the Priesthood of Christ and Melchizedeck so particularly maketh no mention at all thereof For certainly the point being so materiall and the place so fit it must needs bee great ignorance or negligence to omit it To say nothing that if your owne reason be good the Sacrifice of Melchizedeck shall be inferiour to that of Aaron Bread and Wine being of lesse value and not so evidently representing the death of Christ as the slaying of Beasts doth Secondly you say that the true Flesh of Christ is contained in this Sacrament and that the ancient Fathers with one consent testifie the same which in your sense and meaning is vtterly false For neither is the Flesh of Christ vnder the Accidents of Bread by Transubstantiation neither doth any of the ancient Fathers testifie it as in the sequele God willing shall more plainely appeare Thirdly where you say and many others as my Author setteth downe it seemeth that in this point you beleeue but by an Attornie pinning your Faith vnto the credit of I knowe not whom The true flesh of Christ say you is contained in the Sacrament How knowe you that By the ioint consent of Fathers And how know you they consent therein My Author tells me so And what may he be Peter or Paul or one of them vpon whom clouen tongues descended I trow no but some equivocating Priest or Iesuite A sure rock I promise you to stay your faith vpon You say lastly that the Bloud of the Testament described Exod. 24. Heb. 9. was fulfilled when Christ said This cup is the new Testament in my Bloud False For then hee did but institute the Sacrament of his death and fulfilled it the day following when really hee suffered death vpon the Crosse. And what reason haue you to thinke it was performed in a Commemoratiue sacrifice wherein your selues confesse there is no effusion of Bloud rather then in the true Sacrifice vpon the Crosse wherein the pretious bloud of the sonne of God was plentifully shed N. N. Out of all which Figures is inferred that for so much as there must bee great difference betwixt the Figure and the thing prefigured no lesse if we beleeue S. Paul then betweene the Shadow and the Body whose Shadow it is it cannot be imagined by any probability that this Sacrament exhibited by Christ in performance of the Figures should be only creatures of Bread and Wine as Sacramentaries doe imagine for then should the Figure be either equall or more excellent then the thing prefigured it selfe For who will not confesse but that Elias his Bread made by the Angell that gaue him strength to walke fortie daies vpon the vertue thereof was equall to our English Communion Bread and that the Manna was much better I. D. The Antecedent being as we haue shewed vntrue it is no matter what Consequence soeuer you deduce from it Neverthelesse let vs for the present suppose it to be true What inferre you therevpon The Real Presence and Transubstantiation How so I pray you Because otherwise the Figure would be either equall or more excellent then the thing prefigured which is absurd and contrary to the rule of S. Paul This indeed I confesse would bee absurd but how doe you shew it to be so in this particular By a double instance of Elias his bread and Manna whereof you say the one was equall the other more excellent then our English Communion Bread But still I deny the consequence the weaknesse whereof if you see not in this I hope you will in the like Argument The Cloud the Red sea and Circumcision were all as you say Figures of Baptisme and the Figure is euer inferiour to the thing Figured If therefore Baptisme be only Water and suffer no Transubstantiation at all the Figure is equall or more excellent then the thing Figured For the Water of the Cloud the Red sea was equall to the Water of Baptisme and the Foreskin in Circumcision is much better as being part of the Flesh of man What say you now Doth this Argument follow yea or no If yea then haue wee a Real Presence also in Baptisme by Transubstantiation of Water which I suppose you will not admit If no then neither doth it follow in the Eucharist for the reason is exactly the same in both Would you yet more plainely see your errour It is this your Disiunction is not sufficient either there is a Real Presence or the Iewish Figures equall our Sacraments For there are diuers other waies wherein our Sacraments excell theirs although there be no such Presence at all What waies will you say Verily not in the worth or value of the outward Elements for therein they may be exceeded nor in the thing signified for it is one the same in both even Christ Iesus Wherein then Even in these particulars First their Sacraments respected Christ yet to be exhibited in the flesh our Christ alredy exhibited Now as the Faith of things future is ever more languid and faint then of things past so is the adumbration and shadowing of them vnto Faith more obscure also Secondly although Flesh may perhaps seeme better to expresse Christs body then Bread the killing of the sacrifice his death then the breaking of Bread yet in regard of the word annexed vnto ours plainly declaring what they are to what end instituted and what proportion there is betweene the signe and the thing signified ours must needs be more evident and cleare then theirs Even as a Picture to vse S. Chysostomes similitude when it is perfected and set forth with liuely colours better representeth the person of the Prince then when no more but the first lineaments thereof are drawne or it is yet but darkly coloured Thirdly in the Eucharist are figured two things the Death of Christ our Communion with him That without this availes no more to our soules health then the sight of meat without touching it to the nourishment of our bodies That is shadowed by the breaking of Bread and powring out of Wine Not so expresly will you say as by the Leviticall sacrifices Suppose it though in regard of the Sacramentall words the cleare knowledge we haue of this mysterie it is far otherwise Yet this I meane our Communion with Christ is as exactly represented by the Eating of Bread and Drinking of Wine as nothing can be more Finally seeiâ—g the Iewes were strictly commanded to abstaine from Bloud and we on the other side are charged Sacramentally in the Wine to drinke Bloud and in the Bread to eate Flesh our Sacrament even in regard of the externall ceremonie is to bee preferred to the Iewish And thus you see wherein our Sacraments excell theirs Now where you affirme that
in these westerne parts of the kingdome he hath not left his equall neither doe I speake any thing to amplifie by way of Rhetorick I speake lesse then the truth His morall wisdome appeared in the checking of his appetite by temperance and sobrietie free he was in the lawfull vse of Gods creatures but neuer excessiue nor euer could be drawne to it either by example or perswasion which in a constitution so crazie was no doubt vnder God a speciall meanes for the drawing out the thread of his life in his carriage he was graue yet sociable enough courteous yet without affectation or vaine complement a sure friend to the vtmost of his power where he professed it yet without flatterie His ciuill wisdome appeared in the gouernment of his parrish and his family in the education of his Children and the Children of his freinds vpon speciall request committed to his charge in his owne matches and the matches of his daughters and lastly in the preseruing managing and disposing of that estate which God lent him in an orderly manner His spirituall or diuine wisdome appeared in his great knowledge in the sacred scripture in which with Timothy he was trained vp from a Child and as another Apollos grew mighty in them whereunto he added the helpe of the best Interpreters both ancient and moderne the serious study of the Fathers the schoole-diuines the Ecclesiasticall story and the controuersies of the present times aswell with the Romanists as among our selues that in matters not only of Doctrine but discipline in all which he was so well studied and vpon all fitting occasions so willing and ready either by writing or speech to expresse himselfe as many and those not vnlearned Divines were content nay glad to draw water from his well and to light their candles at his torch nay some of his aduersaries in his life time haue in open pulpit since his death to Gods glory their owne comfort and his honour confessed as much But the highest point of his spirituall wisdome appeared in the practise of piety in a due conformitie of his actions to his speculation drawing out as it were a faire coppy in the course of his life of those wholesome lessons which he found in his bookes formed in his braine and taught to others And herein indeede doe I take the very marrow and pith of spirituall wisdome to consist in the possession and fruition of supernaturall truths according to that of the great Earle of Mirandula Veritatem Philosophia quaerit Theologia inuenit religio possidet Philosophy seekes the truth Diuinity finds it but religion possesseth it Religion I say which bindes vs to the performance of our duties to God and man One maine branch of this duty and effect of this wisdome was his Teaching He taught euery where euery way by his example by his pen but specially by his tongue by his tongue both priuately and publiquely publiquely by expounding by catechizing by preaching in which he was so diligent that since his entring into the Ministery which he often professed to be his greatest honour and comfort in this world he waded through the whole body of the Bible from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the reuelation And as he was thus diligent in teaching so was he constant in his course as long as his health and strength would giue him leaue and I may truly say beyond his strength resoluing with that vncle of his no lesse good then great that a General should die in the feild a Preacher in the pulpit The manner of his teaching was not by loud vociferation or ridiculous gesticulation or ostentation of wit or affectation of words but in the euident demonstration of the spirit and power it was demonstratiue masculine and mighty through God to the pulling downe of strong holds deepe it was and yet cleare rationall and yet diuine perspicuous yet punctuall artificial yet profitable calme yet peircing pōderous yet familiar so as the ablest of his hearers might alwayes learne somewhat yet the simplest vnderstand all which was a rare mixture and in this mixture hee ran a middle moderate course most agreeable to the Canons constitutiōs of that Church in which hee was borne and bred betwixt the apish superstition of some and the peevish singularity of others betwixt blind deuotion and ouer-bold presumption betwixt vnreasonable obedience and vnwarrantable disconformitie betwixt popish tyranny grounded vpon carnall policie and popular confusion guided by meere fancie the one labouring for an vsurped Monarchy and to turne all the body into head the other for a lawlesse anarchy and to haue a body without a head Now though in his teaching he ranne this middle course yet did it alwayes aime not only at the information of the iudgment but the reformation of the will the beating downe of impiety and the convincing of the conscience to the drawing of his hearers as from ignorance to knowledge and from errour to truth so likewise thereby from rebellion to obedience from prophanenesse to religion And truely I little doubt but many a good soule now a Saint in heauen did they vnderstand our actions and desires and withall could make knowne their conceits to vs would soone giue vs to vnderstand that vnder God he was the instrument for the turning of them to righteousnesse and so for the directing and conducting of them to that place of their blisse and as little doubt I but many a good soule who heares me this day in secret and in silence blesseth God and the memory of this good man for that spirituall knowledge and comfort which they haue receaued by his Ministery once I am sure that a vertuous Gentlewoman of good note and ranke hath since his death by her letters written with her owne hand to some of his neerest freinds testified her turning to righteousnesse to haue beene first wrought by his meanes and noe question but many others might as iustly and truly doe the like were they so disposed or occasion required it This was the course of his life here now for the manner of his departure hence when his last sicknesse first seazed on him he accounted himselfe noe man of this world when he was in his best health though as a pilgrime he walked in it yet as a souldier he neuer warred after it but now being thus arested and imprisoned he professed to his friends who came to visite him holding vp his hands to heauen that though his body was here yet his heart was aboue and consequently his treasure for where a mans treasure is there will his heart be also He likewise assured vs that though he saw death approaching yet he feared it not death being now but a droane the sting thereof taken out during his sicknes he made his household his congregation his chamber his chappell and his bed his pulpit from whence he cast forth many hloy and heauenly eiaculations and made a most diuine confession of
pleased haue vsed some other meanes for the appeasing of his wrath Yes doubtlesse for he had abundance of spirit wisdome But he chose this as the best course for the declaration of his iustice and mercy justice in the rigorous exacting of satisfaction for sinne yea even from his owne sonne mercy in the free pardon of sinne by the death and passion of his sonne Excellently to this purpose Cameracensis God in the beginning gaue vnto man truth to instruct him iustice to direct him mercy to preserue him and peace to delight him But he rebelling against his creator they all fled from him returned vnto God Where iustice called vpon him for satisfaction and truth required performance of his word but Peace sought mitigation of wrath and mercy sued for pardon In this difficulty wisdome interposed her selfe and found out a meanes to content all namely by the incarnation and suffering of the sonne of God Wherevnto the Father yeelding all were soone accorded and so mercy and truth met together and justice and peace kissed each other For further ratification whereof it pleased the Father solemnely and vnalterably to decree that his sonne should suffer in the flesh Wherevpon our Saviour saith it was so determined and the Scriptures as they foretell it so they affirme that thus it must be and that Christ ought to suffer And according to this determinate counsell and fore-knowledge of God when the houre appointed was come he was delivered and taken and by wicked hands crucified and slaine Of which great worke being now to speake and to enquire into the Punishment fore appointed vnto him by his Father because some extenuate it too much as if he seemed only to suffer or suffered not what indeed hee did others againe too much aggravate it as if he suffered the very paines of the damned in hell wee will as warily and as carefully as we can steere betweene that Scylla and this Charybdis And to this end wee will diligently enquire foure things the species or kinde of punishment he suffered the extention the intention and the duration thereof And of each of these briefely in a word The kind of punishment was that which was due to sin and every way equivalent for the expiation thereof howbeit so farre forth and no further then was convenient for such a person First therefore he suffered not that Punishment of sinne which is sinne for God many times and that iustly punisheth one sinne by another The reason for that then he should haue beene a sinner either by inherent or actuall sinne and so could never haue made sufficient satisfaction for the sinnes of others Neither secondly did he suffer the personall punishment of this or that man as the gout the stone the dropsie and the like For he tooke not the person but the nature of man into him and so made himselfe subiect not to Personall but to Naturall infirmities only To say nothing that those paines are many of them so contrary and repugnant one vnto another as they are incompatible in the same person Nor yet thirdly did he suffer those punishments which proceede either from the conscience of inherent sinne or the eternall continuance of sinne such as are Remorse and despaire For in him was never any sinne whether Originall or Actuall Only it was imputed vnto him inasmuch as he vndertooke to satisfy for it These foreprised and excepted all other sorts of Punishment were laid vpon him And because in Sinne there is a double act an Aversion or turning away from God the chiefest good and a Conversion or turning vnto that which is only a seeming good and consequently the desert of a double Punishment the one of losse to be depriued of the true good in regard of the Aversion the other of sence to feele smart both in body and soule in regard of the Conversion our blessed Lord and Sauiour suffered both The Punishment of Losse being in regard of present comfort and ioy left vnto himselfe and in a sort forsaken of his Father of which againe anon in the due place The punishment of Sence for he felt during the while extreame both torment and paine outwardly in the body and horror and anguish inwardly in the Soule The Extension whereof was also exceeding generall for he suffered from all that any way could afflict him and in all whatsoever belonged vnto him From his Father therefore he suffered who for a time abandoned him and delivered him into the hand of sinners from the powers of darknesse who laid vpon him whatsoever their malice could devise from the Iewes who stumbled at him and despised him from the Gentiles who made a game and laughing-stocke of him from Magistrates who convented and condemned him from the people who arrested and accused him from the Clergie who charged him with cozinage and blasphemy from the Laity who cryed out crucifie him crucifie him from his enimies who cruelly persecuted him from his friends who in his greatest need started aside from him from forrainers who disdainfully shooke the head at him from those of his owne houshold who most treacherously betraied him and in a word from all sorts both of men and women yea from the Heaven which denied to giue him light from the aire which refused to vouchsafe him breath from the earth which would not so much as beare him frō what not And as from all so hee suffered also in all In his goods being stript even of his raiment and lots cast thereon in his good name being esteemed a deceiuer a blasphemer a drunkard a glutton a magitian a traitor to Caesar in his friends who were scattered as soone as the shepheard was smitten in his mother through whose heart a sword was driuen in his soule by strong feare before his passion and extreame sorrow in his passion in all the parts of his body his head being crowned with thornes his face spit vpon his cheekes buffited his hands feet nailed his sides peirced his backe armes scourged and the whole vpon the crosse barbarously stretched and racked in all his sences the touch by wounds the tast with myrre and vineger the smell with the loathsome savour of Golgotha the hearing with shamefull taunts and revilings and the sight with mowes and disdainefull behaviour finally in the whole person by death the separation of the soule from the body The Intension of all which was likewise exceeding vehement even proportionable vnto the desert of sinne wherefore he sticketh not to say Behold and see if there be any sorrow like vnto my sorrow And againe the sorrowes of hell compassed me round about Not that he felt the flames of hell fire or the same kind of torment which the damned suffer in hell farre bee such impiety from our thoughts but that which is equivalent therevnto Had he suffered only the death of the crosse and no more his martyrs might seeme to haue endured more bitter paines and
reserued vnto that day When the creature shall bee deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God and vnto Faith whereby wee see onely as in a mirrour intuitiue beholding of the face of God by vision shall succeed And this is the glory of the Father Now to gloriâ—ie him cannot bee to giue or adde glory vnto him For as we haue shewed he is absolutely Perfect and lacketh nothing and his propertie is to giue vnto all but to receiue from none It is therefore to manifest his glory to make it publikely known throughout the world as if our Sauiour had said Father vnlesse thou glorify me the brightnes of thy glory will exceedingly be eclipsed obscured but if thou glorifie me then shall the Glory bee greatly manifested by me and I shall make it knowne farre and neere among the sonnes of men This being the meaning of these tearmes let vs now examine both the Propositions of the argument aboue propounded trie the truth of them The Maior is That by which I shall glorifie thee and without which I cannot glorifie thee thou maist not deny vnto me An evident and vndoubted truth else never would Christ haue said it especially in a matter so much concerning him For if as Solomon saith the lip of vanity becommeth not a Prince much lesse would it become him who is the wisdome of the Father and very truth it selfe And if nothing can concerne him more then his owne Glorification then certainely to speake sleightly and impertinently in a matter of such moment would haue argued much weaknesse And indeed it is so apparently true that our Saviour only affirmes it without vouchsafing it any confirmation at all as if hee knewe that his Father neither would nor could deny it Neuerthelesse the truth thereof may yet further appeare First by the continuall practise of all the Saints conformable vnto this of Christ. For in all their addresses vnto God they ever vrged him with his Glory as the strongest argument to perswade when the Lord had threatned to smite the people of Israel with the pestilence and to disinherit them because of their murmuring and incredulitie Moses thought nothing would sooner moue him to commiseration and pittie of them then the impeachment otherwise of his honour For saith he the nations which haue heard the fame of thee will speake saying Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware vnto them therefore hath he slaine them in the wildernesse As if he should say thou maist not doe it because it will discredit both thy truth and power Againe Daniel when the seauenty yeares of Iudahs captivity were neere at an end entreateth the Lord to remember them in mercy and to returne theÌ„ backe againe into their owne country But what argument vseth he to perswade For thine owne sake saith he because the citty and thy people are called by thy name As if he should say least otherwise thy Glorie by failing in performance of thy promise towards thy people should bee called into question what Psalme almost is there in which the Prophet David presseth not vpon God this reason Returne O Lord deliuer my soule oh saue mee for thy mercies sake For in death there is no remembrance of thee in the graue who shall giue thee thankes Bring my soule out of prison that I may praise thee the righteous shall compasse mee about for thou shalt deale bountifully with mee Quicken me O Lord for thy names sake for thy righteousnesse sake bring my soule out of trouble It were infinite to quote particular passages In a word did not our Saviour when he taught vs to pray direct vs ever to conclude with this argument For thine is the kingdome the power and the glory And did not St Paul according to this direction end his Prayer with ascribing Glory vnto God in the Church by Christ Iesus throughout all ages If then others haue mightily prevailed with God in vrging him with his Glorie shall we thinke that the Sonne of God can be lesse prevalent with his Father pressing him with the same argument Father glorifie me for so I shall bee able else not to glorifie thee Secondly the manifestation of the Fathers Glory is the architectonicall and soueraigne end of all things This he himselfe principally intended in all his works this he set vp as a marke for all to ayme at The Lord saith Solomon made all things for himselfe even the wicked for the day of evill The predestination also of the Saints and their adoption to be children by Iesus Christ was as S. Paul testifieth to the praise of the glory of his grace yea of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory for euer Amen For to the praise of the glory of his Power all things were created To the praise of the glory of his Wisdome all things are ordered and gouerned To the praise of the glory of his Mercy are wee ransomed in Christ from the bondage of misery And to the praise of the glory of his Iustice are impenitent sinners reprobated and condemned And reason it should bee thus For as out of him all things were educed as being the fountaine and prime cause of all so vnto him it was fit all things should be reduced as vnto the last and chiefest end of all Right even as out of the sea all riuers flow and then reflow back againe vnto it Neither indeed was it possible to be otherwise For God being in himselfe blessed and all-sufficient cannot rest in any thing that is extrinsecall and without himselfe In himselfe therefore he must find it and what other can that be then his Glorie His Glorie therefore did he necessarily propound vnto himselfe as the soueraigne end of all his actions and vnto it here doth our Saviour subordinate his owne Glorification So that hence also the truth of our Maior plainely appeareth that vnlesse the Father will be without his Glory and without his Glory he neither will nor can be he must needs grant to his Sonne that without which hee cannot glorifie him Thirdly and lastly the glory of the Father is most deere and pretious to him It is vnto him as the apple of his eye which at no hand may be touched yea as his very selfe because it is himselfe Hence it is that hee is so iealous of his glory neither can endure that it should be giuen to any other And hence it is also that he threatens never to hold him guiltlesse whosoeuer taketh his name in vaine yea that he will most severely bee revenged of all those that any way dishonour him Because saith S. Paul when they knew God they glorified him not as God nor were thankfull c. therefore God also gaue them vp to vncleannesse through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their bodies
Yea to two Righteousnesse and true holinesse And if we will proportion them vnto the operations of the naturall life then first answerable vnto the Intellectuall life there is in the Vnderstanding a spiritual apprehension and knowledge of the things of God at least so farre forth as is necessary and in the Will a holy pursuit of that which is good and eschewing of that which is evill Secondly vnto the Sensitiue a wise direction of all the affections vpon the right obiect and a due moderation of them together with a sanctified vse of the senses as seeing hearing tasting and the rest and a right employment of all the members of the body no more to be the instruments of iniquitie vnto sinne but the weapons of righteousnesse vnto God Lastly vnto the Vegetatiue an earnest desire of nourishment by the Word and Sacraments and a continuall growing from grace to grace vntill we come to our full 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and consistence in Christ Iesus Wherevnto when we are once aspired then beginnes the life of Glory consisting in a glorious being glorious abilities and glorious operations Not that it is another life differing in substance from the life of grace but the same in an higher degree of perfection For Glory is no other then consummate and perfect Grace The excellencie whereof as yet we knowe not but this we knowe that when Christ shall appeare we shall be like vnto him for wee shall see him as hee is And of spirituall life what it is so much For the donation of this life power over all flesh perfect glorification were as my text insinuateth necessary vnto Christ. It is therefore of great consequence and imports vs farre more then our naturall life For that is but our Being this is our Wel being that is nothing but life this is a happy aud blessed life Some sonne of Belial perhaps will deny this esteeming it a sullen sad and miserable life What pleasures say they what delight therein And as for sorrowes besides those the spirituall man as man is subiect vnto as he is spirituall hee hath his proper and peculiar crosses For he is in continuall combate not with flesh and bloud but with Principalities and powers and the rulers of the darknesse of this world and spirituall wickednesses in heauenly places A traiterous Doeg also hee carries about within him ever plotting how to betray him As the two twins in Rebeccas wombe so in him the flesh and the spirit are continually warring one against another that oftentimes as she Why am I thus so he with much anguish cries out O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from the body of this death In a word the feares and horrors and inward perplexities of conscience which times he feeles are intolerable and outwardly he is scorned despised persecuted and troden vnder foot of all So that if it be a life it is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a liuelesse life or as it is said of the bow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it may â—eare the name of life but in effect it is no other then death But all this notwithstanding I affirme that this spiritual life is of all other the most comfortable blessed For true blessednesse standeth in two things a freedome from the true evill and a possession of the true good The true evill is sinne because it is opposite vnto the nature will of God who is the cheefest good and therefore is iustly attended with another evill which is Gods wrath and eternall damnation Now the naturall maÌ„ that liueth not this spirituall life lieth still in sinne and is liable vnto the wofull consequences thereof and therefore in the mids of all their pleasures must needs be most miserable But the spirituall man no sooner receaues his new being and with it his new life but he receaues also pardon of all sinnes past peccata semel dimissa nunquam redeunt sins once pardoned never returne againe to iudgement It is true if afterward he sinne againe as who sinneth not hee incurreth the wrath of God and deserueth condemnation Yet vpon a new act of faith and repentance wherein God out of his meere grace never fayleth him he receaveth actuall pardon for them also So that to them that are in Christ Iesus and liue not after the flesh but after the spirit there is no condemnation at all Yea blessed are they saith David because their iniquitie is forgiuen and their sinne couered Now sinne being remoued which onely seperateth betweene God and man the spirituall man is restored againe into the grace and fauour of God wherein standeth the true good This David saw and therefore said Many say vnto me who will shew vs any good But Lord lift thou vp the light of thy countenance vpon vs. And because vnto the complement of true blessednesse knowledge thereof is necessary for according to the old Senarie Non est beatus esse se qui nesciat hee is not happy who knowes not himselfe to be happy therefore hath it pleased God to giue him the earnest of the spirit by which they may and doe knowe what things God hath vouchsafed to giue them Whence issueth and proceedeth first a contentment with our present state bee it neuer so meane For being possessed of the true good the want of these temporall goods cannot much affect vs. Secondly Christian courage both actiue and passiue to adventure vpon and vndergoe any thing rather then to forgoe the good we are possessed of Thirdly tranquillity and peace of minde even in life and death For knowing that being iustified from our sinnes by Faith wee haue peace with God through Iesus Christ our Lord how can wee bee without that peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding Lastly hope that maketh not ashamed For out of the experience of the present favours of God we gather assurance that we shall not fayle of those eternall ioyes promised vs in heauen The expectation whereof sweetens vnto vs even the bitterest sorrowes of this present life replenisheth our soules with vnspeakable comforts So that howsoeuer carnall and worldly men deeme of it the spirituall life is the most cheerefull and blessed life and a very heaven vpon earth Out of this definition of spirituall life wee may learne first that as by the operations of naturall life wee easily discerne who liues it so may wee as easily by spirituall actions iudge who liues the spirituall life By their fruits saith our Saviour yee shall know them Doth any man heare see talke walke argue and the like hee liues Lies he senslesse without breath or motion he is dead In like manner he whose workes are only carnall and sinfull or at the best but ciuill and morall is though aliue vnto sin yet spiritually dead Were he spiritually aliue hee would proceed further to the acting of holy and spirituall operations Which wheresoeuer they be truly and sincerely acted
fearfull ends And indeede to what end hath God put into the heart of man this passion of feare but to decline and avoid all such euills as would destroy him or afflict him Take away feare and men will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 despise all danger and run headlong into all mischiefe but feare is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a preseruing nature as saith the philosopher inclining and perswading man carefully to keepe himselfe from dangers If then to come to an issue yee will not worke mischiefe vnnaturally vnto your owne selues if yee will avoide the Magistrates fury if yee will not incurre the rigour of the law nor fall vpon the edge of the sword of justice yee must needs be subiect But what need will some man say so much to feare the Wrath of the Magistrate May not a man hide his counsells so deepe and carry his actions so cunningly that nor witnesse nor Iudge shall know them If they come to light and bee discouered doth not greatnesse breake through lawes as wasps doe through cobwebs May not judges jury witnesses by friends fauour bribes be corrupted Are pardons impossible to bee obtained from Princes Nay suppose the worst that the penalty of the law can by no meanes be escaped what care they for fines and amercements who are content to beggar themselues to enioy their pleasures What for shame and ignominy who are growne impudent in all wickednesse What for death who count it worse then death not to liue as they list and to bee barred from their desires For there haue beene who haue said moriar modo regnet let mee dye so he may be King and aut Caesar aut nihil an Emperour or nothing To all this I answere briefly first trust not vnto secrecy but remember what wise Solomon saith Curse not the King no not in thy thought neither the great one in thy bedchamber for the foule of the Heaven will carry the voyce and that which hath wings shall declare the matter Secondly hope not for impunity many as great as gratious as wealthy as thou haue failed thereof and how knowest thou but one time or other thou maist meete with one who will accept nor thy person nor thy fee but will say vnto thee with Saint Peter thy mony perish with thee Lastly if any haue so farre put off naturall affection as not to feare Wrath chusing rather to fall into the hands of justice then to be restrained from his wickednesse let such a one know that what Wrath cannot yet Conscience should worke in him For here it must freely bee confessed that Wrath of it selfe is not sufficient it striketh at the branches not the roote and endeavoureth to reforme outward actions but reacheth not vnto the cause which is inward corruption Which remaining in vs Wrath happily may make vs more wary in offending but cannot worke in vs a loue of goodnesse and a desire not to offend at all Wherefore God in his deepe wisdome hath thought it good to binde vs vnto subiection not by a single but double tie and vnto Wrath to adde Conscience Yee must needs be subiect not only for wrath but also for conscience Conscience is that facultie or power of the Practicall vnderstanding in man whereby he is priuy to all his actions whether they be immanent and conceaued within as thoughts or emanant and issuing forth as his words and workes This Conscience is then said to be bound when by him who hath power and authority ouer it it is charged to performe its dutie that is to beare witnesse of all our actions vnto God and according to the qualitie of them to excuse or accuse vs for that these are the duties of conscience plainely appeareth by that of S. Paul their conscience bearing witnesse and their thoughts accusing or excusing This charge is then laid vpon the Conscience after that by the same authority man himselfe is bound for man being free Conscience also is free but man being bound by a law Conscience stands bound also But who is the binder of the conscience God without question He is the Law-giuer saith S. Iames that can both saue and destroy and he as S. Iohn saith is greater then the conscience But can the Magistrate also by his lawes binde the conscience Papists attribute vnto vs the Negatiue that they cannot themselues hold the Affirmatiue that they can and warrant it by this my Text Yee must bee subiect for conscience Vpon this plaine song sundry of them descant very pleasantly but none plaies the wanton more then Doctor Kellison who inferres that we despoile Princes of authority and superiority and giue subjects good leaue to rebell and revolt that we bring Iudges and Tribunall seats and all lawes into contempt that no Prince can rely on his subjects no subjects on their Prince or fellow subjects in a word that wee take away all society and ciuill conversation To all which I answere breefly First suppose the maine ground were true yet neither can they proue it out of my Text nor doe such absurdities follow therevpon Out of my Text they cannot proue it for that only affirmes that the Conscience is bound but determines not that mans lawes bindeth it Neither doe such absurdities follow for albâ—it wee should deny man to be the binder yet doe wee freely professe that the Conscience is bound which is enough But we answer farther that they much abuse vs for we deny not rem that they binde onely wee differ from them in modo maintaining that they binde not in such manner as they teach They hold that mens lawes binde non minùs guà m lex divina equally with Gods lawes so that were there not any law of God binding to Subiection yet mans law of it selfe and of its owne power would binde This we deny teaching contrarily that humane lawes binde the Conscience not immediatly but mediatly not primarily but secundarily not in themselues of their owne power but in the force and vertue of Divine law Divine law I say whether that which is imprinted in the heart by nature or that which is revealed vnto vs by Scripture both which command Subiection This truth in fâ—w words thus I demonstrate First if mans law immediatly binde the Conscience then is euery transgression thereof without farther respect vnto Gods law a mortall sinne But so it is not for according to St Iohns definition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sin is a transgression of the law meaning not mans but Gods law only in regard whereof St Augustine saith more expresly Sin is dictum factum concupitum any saying doing or coueting against Gods law Besides if man of himselfe without respect vnto Gods law can binde the conscience then either is he Lord of the conscience and may himselfe conuent it examine it take its testimonie and accordingly proceed to sentence either of life or death both vpon body and soule or he hath power to command God to sit in
judgement vpon the Conscience and to be the executioner of his lawes or finally hee bindes the Conscience in vaine and to no purpose To say that man is in such sort Lord of the Conscience is vnreasonable because his knowledge and power reach no farther then the outward man To say that man may command God is sacrilegious aduancing man aboue God Lastly to say that he bindeth in vaine and to no purpose is withall to say that their opinion is vaine and that man hath no such power at all To shut vp all in a word vnlesse a man may with as much security obey man as God man who is subject to error and injustice as God who is free from both vnlesse we be all as deeply bound to study the laws of men and to knowe them as we are Gods and to subject our selues as absolutely vnto them it is altogether vnconceauable how humane lawes can bind the Conscience equally with diuine This point being thus cleared it is euident that by conscience in this place wee are with St Peter to vnderstand Conscientiam Dei conscience towards God and to interpret this of St Paul yee must bee subiect for conscience by that of the same St Peter Submit your selues vnto every ordinance of man for the Lords sake as if he should say because God hath bound you to be subiect For God hath laid this obligation vpon man appeares by the very institution of Magistracie For although St Peter call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a humane creature yet his meaning is not that it is not from man but for man and his benefit otherwise S. Paul expresly affirmeth that it is the ordinance of God and Solomon that by him kings raigne The reason mouing God to institute the same was partly his soueraigne Lordship ouer man by right of creation by which he may order and dispose of him at pleasure partly the great loue he beareth vnto humane society which his infinite wisdome saw could not so well be maintained if euery man should be left to himselfe and orderly gouernment were not setled among them Herevpon hee ordained some to be in authority some to liue in subiection commanding the one to rule according to justice and equitie the other to submit themselues with all lowlinesse and humility as I meane touching subiection hath in the first part which is the Dutie beene sufficiently declared Now man being thus by the commandement and ordinance of God bound Conscience cannot bee free but as man shall either subject or not subject himselfe so is Conscience bound to testifie for or against him and to excuse or to accuse him If then yee breake the commandement of God and refuse to be subject there is one who will surely accuse you and will not spare a witnesse whose testimony is omni exceptio ne majus better then a thousand witnesses that will testifie against you even your Conscience But to whom will it accuse Vnto that great and dreadfull Iudge of the whole world whose wisdome can not be deceaued whose justice cannot be corrupted and the execution of whose sentence cannot be avoided And what will the sentence be Perpetuall imprisonment in the bottomelesse dungeon of hell therein eternall torments both of body and soule which although it be not presently executed vpon you yet the worme of conscience instantly will begin to gnaw vpon your soules fill you so full of vnspeakable horror and anguish that your life shall be but a death and this world a hell vnto you But if on the contrary side yee shall for the Lords sake and in obedience to his ordinance yeeld subjectiō vnto the higher powers and vnder them liue dutifully in all godlinesse and honestie then shall your consciences testifie nothing but good of you and excuse you vnto God he shall justifie and acquit you your soule shall bee replenished with vnspeakable peace and comfort so as yee shal haue a heaven vpon earth and in heauen it selfe in due time such ioyes as nor eye hath seene nor eare heard nor ever entred into the thought of man To conclude and summe vp all if either we will keepe a good conscience that we may both here and ever be blessed or will avoid the sting of an euill conscience and the miseries that attend vpon it wee must of necessity be subject Yee must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience And thus haue I finished the second part also which is the Necesstie of the dutie It only remaineth now to adde a word or two by way of vse and application There is a generation of whom both St Peter and St Iude speake that despiseth all gouernment and speaketh evill of Dignities cleane contrary vnto the doctrine of my Text which commandeth all to be subject and to honour and obey the Magistrate But these are not all of the same kinde for some despise it out of an erronious judgment others out of an euill habit and custome They that despise it vpon errour are either Anabaptists or Papists The Anabaptists a fanatical fantastical sect vtterly mislike all gouernment and subjection among Christians It is not without cause that S. Iude calleth such kind of people Dreamers for so indeed they are and their dreame is this that Sin is the cause of Subjection and although it were ordained and allowed to the Iewes because they were but infants yet fits it not vs Christians that are in the state of perfection Shall I dispute against this dotage and shew that even among those blessed spirits that are free frō sinne still persist in the truth there are Thrones Dominations Powers Principalities Angels and Arch-angels That if man had continued in his integritie yet government should haue beene inasmuch as man naturally is sociable and disciplinable the morall law commands to honour father and mother the end of gouernment is Peace with Pietie and Honestie and one man euen then should haue stood in need of another That finally there is now as great a necessity thereof as was among the Iews and that the new Testament would neuer haue commanded Subjection or to pray for Magistrates if it were a sin for a Christian to be a Magistrate But I will not vouchsafe them the honour to dispute with them let it suffice in this honourable auditory barely to affirme first that a Christian safely may be a Magistrate secondly that none is fitter then he because no man better knowes the dutie of a Magistrate then he Lastly that no man can so compleatly and perfectly performe the office of a Magistrate but hee because no man vnderstands the true religion which he is to maintaine and by which he is to gouerne but he As for Papists although they doe not thus reject all government yet doe they many waies both in doctrine and practise avile and abase it For first they giue vnto the Pope a supremacie ouer Princes euen vnto Deposition and depresse
Chrysostome doe proue not only this but the Resurrection also of our Bodies by the truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament for that our Flesh ioyning with his Flesh which is immortall shall bee immortall also I. D. The truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament and the Coniunction of our Flesh with his Flesh neither is nor ever was by vs denied And therefore to heap vp Fathers for the proofe thereof is but to spend your labour to no purpose That you should proue is the Presence of Christ by Transubstantiation Which hitherto you haue but little aymed at In the Sacrament say these Fathers our Flesh is ioyned to Christs Flesh Ergo our Flesh shall rise againe The Antecedent is true and the sequele is good But what ioyning doe they meane The taking of Christs flesh into the mouth They neuer dreamt of it And if it were so it would follow that all they that eat Christ Sacramentally among whom how many Reprobates are there shall rise againe vnto life everlasting For I hope you will not say that the sacred Flesh of Christ doth quicken any vnto everlasting death How then is it By eating him not only Sacramentally but also spiritually and by Faith For by this meanes Christ becomes the food of our soules which redounding vpon the Flesh by making it the Temple of the Holy Ghost and an instrument of righteousnes fitteth and prepareth it to a glorious Resurrection Hence our Sauiour He that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud hath life everlasting and I will raise him vp at the last day And the Apostle S. Paul If Christ bee in you the Body indeed is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life because of righteousnesse But if the spirit of him that raised vp Iesus Christ from the dead dwell in you hee that raised vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you And that this is the meaning of the Fathers appeares by that they say Our bodies come not into corruption but partake of life by being nourished with the body bloud of the Lord. For that our bodies in litterall sense should be nourished with Christs body is to make it the food of the belly not of the minde then which saith Bellarmine nothing can bee deuised more absurd And what I pray you is Nourishment properly Only to take meat into the mouth No but the alteration and conversion of the substance thereof into the substance of that which is nourished which to affirme of the Body of Christ is horrible impiety Of force therefore must the Fathers be vnderstood to speake of such a Nourishment by the body of Christ as is spirituall Now if the Nourishment be spirituall such is the Eating also and it is as absurd to say that the soule is nourished by bodily eating as that the body is nourished by spirituall eating Will you haue all in a word The things that wee eat with our mouth in the Sacramēt are not the causes but the pledges of our Resurrection So saith the great Councell of Nice We must beleeue these things to be the symbols or pledges of our Resurrection N. N. And the same S. Irenaeus doth proue farther that the great God of the old Testament Creator of heauen earth was Christs Father For proofe whereof hee alleageth this reason that Christ in the Sacrament did fulfill the Figures of the old Testament and that in particular wherein bread was a figure of his Flesh which he fulfilled saith Irenaeus making it his Flesh indeed I. D. The Marcionites whom Irenaeus confuteth taught that the God of the old Testament was not the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and that the Creator was knowne but the Father of Christ was vnknowne Against this hee endeauoureth to proue that the Father of our Lord was he who created the world That this he intendeth manifestly appeareth by those words where hee saith Others saying that another besides the creator is his Father and offering vnto him those creatures that are here amongst vs shew that he is greedy and covetous of that which is anothers And among other arguments this he vseth for one Bread and Wine are the creatures of the Creator of the world which creatures Iesus Christ vseth in the Sacrament the one to be his Body and the other to be his Bloud and therein are they offered to his Father Ergo the Creator is his Father Were he not his Father he would never haue takē that which belongs vnto another or whervnto he had no right and convert it to his owne vse So that here your Author hath notably deceaued you For Irenaeus proueth Christ to bee the sonne of the Creator not by his omnipotence in turning Bread and Wine into his Flesh and Bloud a thing that neuer came into his thought but from his right and title to the Creatures which maketh nothing for Transubstantiation Touching the Figures of the old Testament and how they prefigured our Sacraments we haue spoken enough already N. N. What is so sacrilegious saith Optatus Milevitanus as to breake downe scrape and remoue the altars of God on which your selues haue sometimes offered and the members of Christ haue beene borne c. What is an altar but the Seat of the Body and Bloud of Christ And this monstrous villanie of yours is doubled for that you haue brokē also the chalice which did beare the Bloud of Christ himselfe When the mixed chalice and the Bread broken taketh the word of God the Eucharist of the bloud and body of Christ is made Bread receauing the calling of God is not now common bread but the Eucharist consisting of two things one earthly another heavenly the earthly thing is the old forme of bread the heavenly is the body of Christ newly made vnder that forme Let vs now consider also the persons to whom this Commandement was giuen they were those twelue Apostles whom Christ at his last Supper taught the new Oblation of the new Testament giuing them authority by this precept to consecrate to make present and to offer to God his body and bloud I. D. Where little or nothing is objected the answer is soone made Optatus saith that the altar is the seat of Christs body and bloud and that the chalice beareth his bloud Irenaeus saith that after consecration the Eucharist of the body and bloud is made that in it there is a heavenly thing and the Apostles had authority to make present the body of Christ. Ergo the body and bloud of Christ is really corporally locally and by way of Transubstantiation present in the Sacrament A poore and silly consequence which all the wity our author hath wil neuer be able to make good For those words of the Fathers may be salued and verified if Christ be Present any other way And Present hee is Sacramentally to the signes and spiritually to the Faith of
enough to be numbred among the ancient Fathers In regard whereof as also because of those many shamefull errors and fabulous narrations every where appearing in his writings hee is one of little or no authority in the Church of God He was the first that removed the bounds of the ancient Doctors in this matter bringing in sundry new strange terms never heard of in former times the misvnderstanding of which by little and little prepared a way to that deformed monster of Transubstantiation Neverthelesse it is certaine that howsoever many of his speeches may seeme harsh and inconvenient and great advantage hath beene taken of them that way yet himselfe was cleane of another mind Let vs therefore heare what hee saith It is made saith hee by the Holy Ghost even as our Lord made for himselfe a body out of the Virgin mother If so then is it not made by Transubstantiation for Christ assuming a body turned not his Deity into it Yet was the worke of the Holy Ghost necessary for he alone is able to sanctify the Naturall element and to invest them with Supernaturall graces The same saith he of Baptisme He hath ioyned the Grace of the Holy Ghost to oile and water and hath made it the washing of Regeneration And Leo yet more fully vsing the selfe-same comparison Christ gave vnto water that which he gaue vnto his mother for the power of the most high and over shaddowing of the holy Ghost which made that Mary brought forth the Saviour hath made water to regenerate the beleeuer Whereby you see that the same power of Gods Spirit by which the blessed Virgin conceived may be emploied in a Sacrament without that change and conversion that you imagine of And that Damascen though hee aknowledged a change of the Bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ yet was not acquainted with your change may appeare by these words Because it is the manner of men to eat bread and to drinke wine with water he hath conioyned his divinity with them and made them his body and blood that by vsuall things and which are according to nature we might be setled in these things that are aboue nature Here you see hee conioyneth the Divinity with bread and wine Now coniunction is only of those things that are and haue a being Bread and Wine therefore still are If they be then are they not abolished And if they be not abolished then is Transubstantiation gone Adde herevnto that Accidents without Substance are not Vsuall things nor according to Nature and therefore not they but true bread and true Wine are the things which in Damascens judgement raise vs vp to those things that are aboue Nature But of him enough N. N. The perishing meat and pleasures of this world please me not I long for Gods Bread the heauenly Bread the bread of life which thing is the flesh of Christ the Sonne of God I. D. That Ignatius wrote an Epistle to the Romans both Eusebius and Hierom testify and that this which now passeth vnder that title may be the right Epistle I deny not Howbeit it is confessed of all that those Epistles which are granted to be his are not come vnto our hands perfect For some passages are cited out of them by some of the ancients as Hierom Theodoret and others which now are not found in them and some are manifestly corrupted and depraved as appeareth So that if Baronius and Bellarmine might challenge them of corruption in those places which make for Saint Pauls marriage and against halfe Communions I hope I haue as much liberty to challenge the place by you alleaged if it made any thing against vs. But it needs not for Ignatius speaketh not there of the Sacrament and therefore it maketh nothing to the purpose Neither doth it follow The bread is flesh Ergo by Transubstantiation N. N. We ought so to communicate with our Lords table that wee doubt nothing of the verity of his Body and Bloud seeing he said Except yee eat the Flesh of the Son of man c. I. D. Leo disputeth in this place against the Eutychians who denied the truth of Christs body and thus he argueth The Eucharist is a symboll of the body of Christ Ergo Christ hath a true body and whosoever will rightly communicate must nothing doubt thereof So reasoneth also Theodoret. For Orthodoxus demanding whether Bread and Wine were Symbols of the true body blood of Christ or no and being answered yea he thus concludes If the divine mysteries be samplars of the true body then the body of the Lord is now also true and not changed into the nature of the Divinity Hence may you see the weaknesse of your Argument Communicants may not doubt that Christ hath a true body or if you will that the true body of Christ is in the Eucharist Ergo bread is transubstantiated into body Ridiculous N. N. As therefore our Baptisme is made by reall washing with water and reall renewing of the Holy Ghost so now in the Supper of Christ it behooueth wee bee really fed with the fruit of the tree of life which is none other thing besides the flesh of Christ. I. D. If we yeelded Euthymius vnto you the matter were not great For he liued vpward of eleven hundred yeares after Christ and your owne Chronologers place him after Gratian and Peter Lombard Yet what saith hee It behooueth that in the supper wee be really fed with the flesh of Christ. Really fed Who doubteth of it But you are to know that Reall doth not necessarily import your Carnall manner For Spirituall is also Reall vnlesse you will say a spirit is no thing N. N. It is a remembrance of Christs death by the presence of the body which died It is the Body and Bloud of Christ covered from our eyes revealed to our Faith feeding presently our body and soule to everlasting life I. D. This Nicephorus also liued eleauen hundred yeares after Christ and therefore is none of the Fathers nor of any great authority Neither doth that which hee saith conclude your purpose For Christs Body may bee and is present Sacramentally and to our faith and presently feed both soules and bodies to everlasting life and yet Bread and Wine remaine still in the Sacrament Else where hee calleth the outward Elements symbolls and signes of the Passion of Christ. If symbolls and signes then not the Body it selfe N. N. They receiue not the fruit of Saluation in the eating of the healthfull sacrifice They eat the healthfull Sacrifice which surely is nothing else but the naturall body of Christ but the frute they receiue not As many men take an healthfull medicine but because their bodies bee evill affected it proueth not healthfull to them I. D. Thus you reason The healthfull Sacrifice is the naturall body of Christ Ergo Bread by Transubstantiation is made the body of Christ. How
retaining the forme of bodily substance by invisible working proueth the Presence of Gods power to be there would you from hence conclude Transubstantiation I knowe you would not No more can you from this And indeed the word species which you translate Forme yea and outward Forme too though the word outward be not in the text doth not signifie shew without substance or Accident without subiect but in the writings of the Fathers vsually it signifieth the truth nature or kinde of a thing So Ambrose I see not speciem the truth of bloud speaking of the Lords Cup but it hath the resemblance which afterward repeating I see the resemblance saith he but I see not veritatē the truth of bloud Again the word of Christ changeth the species of the Elements What is that The Formes or Accidents of the Elements No for they you say remaine What then but the Elements or things thēselues And St Augustin Their meat was the same with ours but the same in signification not in specie that is in kinde So that when your Author saith it keepeth the species of bodily substance it is not necessary to render it by Forme that is Accident or Shew void of substance for you may as well turne it thus it still retaineth the nature or truth of its bodily substance N. N. This graue Father and Martyr doth plainely shew how Mr Downe hath wrested Pope Gelasius For the Popes and the Doctors of the Church did agree alwaies in matters of Faith notwithstanding the great shew M. Downe hath made to the contrary For here S. Cyprian sheweth you that this food of immortality keepeth the outward forme of the Bodily Substance but prouing that there is present a divine power which is confessed by Gelasius And therefore when Gelasius saith the nature of Bread and Wine ceaseth not to be his meaning is the outward forme of the corporall Substance And with this agree many of the Fathers which are also wrested from their true meaning as appeareth manifestly by the manifold plaine places of the Fathers by me here set downe I. D. If to neglect the Premisses and to contradict the Conclusion by the right way of answering arguments then haue you taken the right course and made vp my mouth for ever replying vpon you For whereas M. Downe as you say hath made a great shew to proue that the Fathers disagree among themselues in some points you passing by all the proofes thinke it sufficient to affirme the contrary that the Popes and Doctors of the Church doe agree Wherevpon you farther inferre that M. Downe hath wrested Pope Gelasius For although hee haue proued by the expresse words of Gelasius that the Bread is not transubstantiated because the substance thereof stil remaineth yet is the conclusion false For Popes and Doctors Gelasius and Cyprian must needs agree But questionlesse if Cyprian for for the present wee will suppose him to bee the right Cyprian doe by Forme of bodily substance vnderstand nothing else but shew without Substance it is impossible to make him agree with Gelasius For Gelasius saith The Substance or nature of Bread and wine cease not to be and Substance cannot possibly be shew without substance So to interpret is to expound white by blacke and light by darknesse and would argue extreame either stubbornesse against the truth or brutishnesse But Cyprian by Forme vnderstandeth not as wee haue shewed Accidents miraculously subsisting without Subiect but them together with the Subiect or the verity and truth of the thing And so hee perfectly agrees with Gelasius and the rest of the Fathers and all of them against Transubstantiation For as for those manifold plaine places by you here set downe I hope by this time they appeare not so plaine vnto you but are all of them fully answered and that without wresting any one of them from his true meaning N. N. Therefore though the Fathers doe sometimes call the Sacrament a Figure or Signe Representation or Similitude of Christs Body death passion and bloud they are to bee vnderstood in the like sense as those places of St Paul are wherein Christ is called by him a Figure the substance of the Father and againe an image of God and farther yet appearing in the likenesse of man all which places as they doe not take away from Christ that he was the true substance of his Father or true God or true man indeed though out of every one of those places some heresies haue beene framed by ancient heretiks against his Divinity or Humanity so doe not the foresaid Phrases sometime vsed by the ancient Fathers calling the Sacrament a Signe Figure Representation or Similitude of Christs Body exclude the truth or Reality thereof I. D. That the Sacraments by the Fathers are called Signes Figures Representations Similitudes and the like is so cleare that you cannot deny it and I feare it greeueth you much to read it in them because it maketh so directly against you Wherefore to salue all some pretty shift or colour must be devised those tearms must bee vnderstood as St Paul meaneth when he saith Christ is the Figure of his Father the Image of God and appeared in the likenesse of man For as here they deny not either the Godhead or Man-hood of Christ so neither in the Fathers doe they exclude the Body or Blood of Christ from the Sacrament And doe they not indeed Why then when Cyprian ere while said Retaining the forme of Corporall Substance did you so hastily exclud Substance and fancy to your selfe shewes subsisting of themselues without it But let vs examine this a little farther A Symbole saith Maximus is some sensible thing assumed insteed of that which is intelligible as Bread and Wine for immateriall and divine nourishment and refection And againe These are Symbols not the truth Sacraments saith Augustine are signes of things being one thing and signifying another It were no figure saith Chrysostome if all things incident to the truth were found in it And Saint Augustine againe If Sacraments haue not a resemblance or Similitude of those things whereof they are Sacraments they are not Sacraments These sayings of the Fathers plainely shew that in Sacraments they never conceiued the Figure and the Truth to be one and the same thing but that the signe is one thing and the thing signified cleane another And herevpon in expresse tearms they affirme that they are two not one The Eucharist saith Irenaeus consisteth of two things an earthly and an heauenly And Saint Augustine The sacrifice of the Church is made of two and consisteth of two things the sacrament or sacred signe and the thing of the Sacrament And it is to be noted that they speake generally of all Sacraments so as in the Lords Supper the Figure is no more the same with the Truth then it is in Baptisme And indeed vnlesse you can make Sensible and Insensible Corporall and Spirituall Earthly and
Heavenly Corruptible and Immortall to bee all one neither shall you ever be able to make the signe and the Thing signified in any Sacrament to be the same Adde herevnto that the Fathers not only say that Bread is a Figure of Christs body but also that when wee are commanded to eat his Body or drinke his Bloud the speech is Figuratiue For as Saint Augustine saith Hee seemeth to command an evill and wicked act it is a figure therefore instructing vs to communicate with his passion c. Now to vnderstand a Figuratiue speech literally is very dangerous for the letter killeth and it is the Death of the soule If therefore Figuratiue and Proper cannot bee the same and in Sacraments when the thing signified is affirmed of the signe the speech be Sacramentall that is Figuratiue it followeth necessarily that the signe and the thing signified are not the same And if not the same then haue you wronged the Fathers saying they are so to bee vnderstood as if they were the same N. N. I will now conclude with two authorities more The first Counsel of Nice one of the foure Counsells allowed by Protestants for sound The words of the Counsell are these Let vs faithfully beleeue with an exalted mind that there lyeth on the holy table the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world which is sacrificed by the Priests I. D. This Canon here by you alleaged came but very lately to light for it is found neither in Ruffin nor in Balsamon nor any of the Tomes of the Counsells heretofore published except those of the newest impression And in them it is set forth in a different letter signifying that it was but newly found and that in the Popes Vatican Library vnder the name of one Gelasius Cyzicenus All which cannot but breed great suspicion and much weaken the authority thereof But what saith the Canon There lyeth on the Table the Lamb of God What Corporally and Really No but Symbolically and Sacramentally Neither doth it say as you translate Let vs faithfully beleeue with an exalted mind that the Lamb of God lyeth on the table But thus Let vs not basely attend the Bread and the Cup set before vs but lifting vp our mind by Faith vnderstand the Lamb of God vpon the table which rather maketh against Transubstantiation then for it For first he plainely telleth vs it is Bread that is there then secondly it commandeth vs to lift vp our mind which needed not if Christ himselfe were there Really on the table where obserue by the way that it is a table not an altar And thirdly that wee are to conceiue Christ Sacramentally to be on the table though Really hee bee there whether wee are to advance our thoughts The last clause of the passage is cut off by the wast and mangled by you I thinke to intimate that the Masse is a Sacrifice truly and properly so called But the words at full are these which is sacrificed by the Priests without being sacrificed manifestly insinuating that it is not Properly a Sacrifice but Representiuely and by way of commemoration Not much vnlike to these words is that of Saint Chrysostome which may serue insteed of a commentarie vnto them teach you that all which the Fathers say speaking of this Sacrament is not alwaies litterally to bee vnderstood What doest thou o man saith he at the houre of the mysticall table Didst thou not promise to the Priest who said lift vp your hearts saying wee lift them vp vnto the Lord And fearest thou not nor blushest that in that very houre thou art found a Lyar The table is furnished with mysteries and the Lamb of God is sacrificed for thee the Priest is troubled for thee a spirituall fire flowes from the sacred table the Seraphins stand by couering their faces with sixe wings all the incorporeall vertues together with the Priest make intercession for thee a spirituall fire comes downe from Heaven the Bloud in the cup is drawne out of the immaculate side for thy purification Thus he N. N. Saint Cyril saith that in this mystery wee should not so much as aske how it can bee done for it is a Iewish word and cause of everlasting torment From which good Lord deliuer vs. I. D. In this mystery wee may not inquire How What of that Ergo Christ is present by Transubstantiation Indeed if the doubt had beene how Bread might be made the body of Christ or how the substance of bread might be turned into substance of his body and then resoluing that it is so Cyril had advised in any case not to inquire How as being derogatory to Gods omnipotence here you had a pregnant testimony for Transubstantiation But Cyril handling those words The bread which I will giue is my Flesh exagitateth the Iewes for demanding How hee could giue his flesh to eat For seeing Christ by his miracles had demonstrated himselfe to be God it was their duty simply to beleeue his words and to know that hee who had spoken them was able to find a meanes by which to make them good and that without such immanity and anthropophagy as they imagined Now if in these Mysteries wee may not be so sawcie malapert as to demand How how cometh it about that your selues take vpon you so magistrally to define it that it is done after an Orall manner and by way of Transubstantiation Your Cutbert Tonstall saith Perhaps it had beene better as touching the manner how it is done to haue left every one that would be curious to his owne coniecture even as it was free before the counsell of Laterane Yet I must doe you to wit that the Question how is not alwaies evill and forbidden The blessed virgin her selfe demanded of the Angell How may this be seeing I know not man And Saint Ambrose This therefore wee say How can that which is bread be Christs body Saint Augustine some may thinke with himselfe how is bread his body Neither did they offend in asking How because firmely beleeuing the thing it was only out of admiration or desire of learning that they moued that Question That How Which is forbidden is that which is demanded ouâ— of Incredulity Such as was this of the Iewes who beleeued not Christ but reiected his saying as requiring some savage or inhumane thing to be done Hence Cyril It had beene meet that they had first set the roots of Faith in their minds and then to haue enquired those things that are to bee â—uquired but they before they beleeued enquired out of season For this cause our Lord did not expound how that thing might be brought to passe but exhorteth that it be sought by faith By all which you may perceiue that these words of Cyril are obiected to little purpose For your words are not Christs words neither hath he taught vs any such Reall Presence by Transubstantiation His words wee stedfastly
it is said in expresse words that he tooke Bread and what he tooke he blessed what he blessed he brake and what he brake he gaâ—e to his Disciples and what he gaue he bid them take and eat of what they tooke and eat he said This is my body Of bread therefore he said it there being nothing before spoken of nor nothing else present whereof it could be spoken but only Bread And if our Saviour himselfe made no scruple at all to call his Body bread why should you think it strange if he vouchsafe also to call bread by the name of his body Adde herevnto the testimony of the Fathers Iustin Martyr We be taught that the sanctified food which nourisheth our flesh and bloud and what is that but Bread is the flesh and bloud of that Iesu. Irenaeus How shall it appeare to them that the bread on which they giue thankes is the body of their Lord and the cup his bloud if they grant not Christ to be the sonne of the Creator of the world Tertullian So Christ taught vs calling bread his body And againe Why doth Christ there call bread his body Cyprian Christ called bread made of many graines his body and Wine prest out of many grapes his blood Hierom Let vs learne that the bread which the Lord brake and gaue to his Disciples is the Lords body himselfe saying to them Take yee eat yee this is my body Athanasius or the Comment vnder his name What is the bread The body of Christ. Epiphanius Of that which is oblong or roule figure and senselesse in power the Lord would say by grace this is my body Cyril Christ thus avoucheth and saith of bread this is my body Theodoret In the very giuing of the mysteries he called bread his body Thus the Fathers To whom I may adde some of your owne men also as Gerson Wee must say that the article This doth demonstrate the substance of bread And Stephen Gardiner Christ manifestly saith This is my body demonstrating bread And the Canon Qui manducat bread is the body of Christ. This being so I assume but bread properly and without Figure is not Christs body The reason because Disparates cannot bee so predicated or affirmed one of another An egge is not a stone nor a stone an egg Besides if Bread properly be Christs body then is it of the seed of David conceaued of the Holy Ghost and borne of the blessed Virgin then was it also crucified and died it was buried and descended into hell it rose againe and ascended into heauen and now sitteth at the right hand of God for all these things are truely affirmed of Christ. The grosse absurdity or rather horrible impietie whereof your men well perceauing they are driuen of force to grant vs our Assumption For saith your Canon Law It is impossible that bread should be the body of Christ. Thomas of Aquin It cannot properly be said that of bread the body of Christ is made And Bellarmine It is altogether absurd and impossible for it cannot bee that bread should be the Body of Christ. Out of which Premisses thus I argue That which Christ saith is vndoubtedly true But Christ saith Bread is his body as wee haue shewed Ergo it is vndoubtedly true But it is not literally and in proper signification true as wee haue also demonstrated Ergo after some other manner What manner Let Bellarmine himselfe tell you Either saith hee it is to be vnderstood tropically that Bread is the Body of Christ significatiuely or it is altogether absurd and impossible Now certainly it is absurd and impossible that bread literally should be Christs body Ergo it is so Tropically and Significatiuely And this may yet farther appeare by that which Christ immediatly added This is my body which is broken for you Whence I thus reason As Christs body is broken in the Sacrament so is bread his body But Christs body is broken therein Sacramentally not literally Ergo so is bread Christs body It is farther added Doe this in remembrance of me If the Breaking of Bread be the Remembrance of Christ of his Death then is not bread properly Christ himselfe for nothing is the Remembrance of it selfe Figuratiuely therefore Herevnto the Fathers agree Tertullian Augustine Ambrose Hierome as is already declared With whom I could easily joyne many others but that it is needlesse seeing your selfe confesse that the Fathers call the Sacrament a Figure Signe Representation Similitude of Christs Body If any yet demand why our Saviour then did not rather chuse to say This signifieth my body I answere two things First the language in which he spake knoweth not the word Signifie but alwaies insteed of it vseth the word is as appeareth by these places The seauen fat kine and the seaven full eares of corne are seauen yeares of plenty The seaven leane kine and the seaven empty eares are seven yeares of Famine These bones are the whole house of Israell It is thou o King that art the head of Gold The tree which thou sawest is thou o King The foure great beasts are foure Kings The ten hornes are ten Kings The Ramme with two hornes are the Kings of Media Persia. The goat is the King of Grecia The like Hebraisins haue wee also in the new Testament The Rocke was Christ. Agar and Sara are two Covenants The seaven Heads are seaven hills The woman is the great citty Secondly being about to institute a Sacrament Sacramentall speech was best in which it is vsuall to call the signe by the name of the thing signified as is aboue declared To summe vp all the Article This either demonstrateth bread or doth not If not then can you not hence proue Transubstantiation thereof for that only is Transubstantiated whereof he spake If yea then is the speech Figuratiue and Bread remaines For if it be Sacramentally Christs body then it is and being it is not abolished by Transubstantiation I conclude with the determination of your owne law The Heauenly Sacrament which truly representeth the flesh of Christ is called his Body but improperly not in the truth of the thing but in a signifying mystery Secondly it overturneth the Articles of Faith particularly the verity of Christs Humanity A point so materiall Fundamentall that the razing thereof draweth with it the ruine of the whole Christian Religion For this is the only ground of that great mystery of godlinesse God manifested in the flesh And if Christ be not as well true Man as true God then hath hee not suffered for vs nor redeemed vs then are wee yet in our sinnes and stand liable vnto the eternall wrath of his Father Wherefore according to the counsell of Saint Augustine Wee must carefully beware that wee doe not so maintaine the Divinity of the man Christ as to take from him the truth of his
possibly be true at once For truth evermore agreeth with truth and never crosseth it and whatsoeuer resisteth or contradicteth truth is Falshood Hence the rule and the infallible rule of your owne Schoole that God cannot doe those things that imply contradiction For contradiction is not in the bosome of God seeing he is essentially Truth it selfe And being not yea and nay but yea and Amen hee cannot say yea is nay or nay is yea And if hee cannot say it neither can he will it to be so If he cannot will it neither can it be so For what God cannot will cannot bee done Neither doe we herein derogate from the Power of God for whatsoeuer is against his Truth is against his Power and therefore as St Augustine saith Powerfully hee cannot doe it Which being so let vs see whether this Doctrine of yours imply such contradictions or no. First you say that Bread is made the Body of Christ and yet that the Body of Christ was before Bread was made his Body Now if to vnmake that which never was imply contradiction by the same proportion to make that which already is implies it also That which is not made as yet is not and that which is already made is and is and is not be direct contradictories Is it possible to kill a dead man Or to beget the child that is already borne As impossible is it to make him of Bread who was long before he is pretended to be made Secondly to be locally in a place and not locally in a place is a contradiction But that Christs Body is locally in heauen you all confesse and that at the same time he is not locally in the Sacrament you likewise acknowledge Can you reconcile this contradiction Besides what confusion of speech is this Christ is in a place but not locally or as in a place As if a man should say such a one is reasonable but not reasonably or as reasonable and learned but not learnedly or as learned How then Certes as vnreasonable and vnlearned Thirdly I hope you will not deny vnto Christ as much power as you grant to every pettie Masse-Priest But you grant power vnto them to reserue the consecrated Hoste vntill the next day yea vntill it beginne to corrupt and putrify If then our Saviour instituting his supper the even before his Passion had deliuered vnto his Apostles any part of the Eucharist to be kept vnto the end of the next day I demand whether the Body in the Pixe should haue beene scourged crucified thrust through and slaine together with that which was fastned to the Crosse If no as your Church concludeth then haue we here another contradiction Christs Body is at the same time scourged and not scourged crucified and not crucified thrust through and not thrust through slaine and not slaine Fourthly you say that the Body of Christ is contained vnder the Accidents of Bread yea that the whole Body is in every the least crum of the Hoste Yet you say it is much greater then that which containeth it and elsewhere besides the Accidents You say also that Christ at his last supper ate himselfe and swallowed downe his owne body into his stomacke so that his stomacke containing himselfe hee was both within and without himselfe Which in effect is a meere contradiction the Accidents the stomacke containeth and not containeth Christs Body is contained not contained Fiftly you confesse that the Body of Christ then when hee celebrated his Supper did see and heare and moue and breath was weake and passible and subiect vnto death Yet you say that the same time the Body of Christ in the Eucharist could neither see not heare nor moue nor breath but was vtterly insensible impassible and without infirmitie And is not this a manifest contradiction If you say he is passible in the Sacrament but after an impassible manner you shall pardon vs if we answer it with no other then laughter For it is as if you should say the crow is blacke after a white manner or that the world is square after a round manner Sixtly before Transubstantiation was invented it went for currant in Philosophie that the very essence and being of an Accident is to be in the subiect Yet you say that in the sacrament the Accidents of Bread are in no subiect But for an Accident to be and not to be is a contradiction for not to be in is not to be As well may you say a substance subsisteth not or the shining shineth not or the liuing liueth not as that the Accident doth not accidere or befall the subiect Seauenthly every creature is measured by time and place If therefore it bee a contradiction to say such a thing is and yet is in no time it is as cleare a contradiction to say such a thing is and yet it is limited in no place Neverthelesse you say that the body of Christ in the Sacrament occupieth no place Againe if it be a contradiction to say that a man at the same instant of time liueth in the fifteenth and sixteenth hundred yeare of Christ because there is a great distance betweene them and they are not the same number as palpable a contradiction is it to say the Body of Christ is at once both in Heauen and Earth seeing earth is not heauen nor heauen earth and there is such a vast space betwixt them Eightly Aristotle maintaineth that vacuity or emptinesse is impossible if you should grant it infinite contradictions would follow But your doctrine establisheth it For what is vacuitie but a space vnfilled by a Body I aske then when the Cup is consecrated wherewith is it filled With wine So indeed it seemeth but after consecration you say it is not Wine that which is not there filleth it not With bloud then Nor that For that which filleth the Cup must every way be as large as the hollow surface of the Cup. But the bloud is not so for it wanteth Dimensive quantitie Unlesse therefore the Accidents help and they cannot being no Bodies the Cup must needs bee empty and void which cannot but imply contradiction For voidnesse as the Philosopher saith is the root of infinite contradictions Ninthly and lastly if one and the same Body may be in mo places then one at once why not in a thousand And if in a thousand why not in a thousand thousand millions If so then a little point or droppe continuing still in the same Quantitie may occupie as much space as the greatest mountaine or the whole Ocean For so many may the severall places be that all put together may make a greater space then which what plainer contradiction Vnto these few I might easily adde six hundred other as grosse absurdities as that Christ at the same time is to himselfe both neere and farre off aboue beneath within and without before and behind at his right and at his left hand that he is also elder and younger sooner and
were crept into the Church as needed Reformation and many worthy men that feared God earnestly wished and longed for it yet because it could not be obtained at the hands of those that then swayed in the Church it is true some Heroicall spirits of our side not without the singer of God attempted it and by Gods blessing effected that which the Saints of God reioyce to see and none but Superstitious and Idolatrous Papists greeue and repine at Howbeit they never tooke vnto themselues the name of Reformers but ascribed the whole worke vnto God and wee blesse his holy name for vsing them as instruments therein In regard whereof I see no reason why wee hauing reiected and pared off all those errours wherewith you had corrupted the true religion may not tearme our selues Reformed Catholikes as well as you still retaining them and resoluing to settle vpon your dreggs call your selues by the name of Roman Catholikes But a Roman Catholike you say you meane to keepe your selfe during life and it is likely you will doe so indeed First to avoide the imputation of inconstancie if you should returne to vs againe secondly because I see how obstinately you refuse to beleeue whatsoever wee say though never so strongly proved You adde that so doing if otherwise your life hinder not as you hope it shall not you shall enioy everlasting life after this Wherein I Will not be your Iudge You are servant vnto another and for me you shall stand and fall to your owne Master Only I would advize you not to be too confident For first whatsoever your life bee as I haue said it is as hard for you to attaine everlasting life in a Church so fearfully infected with so many pestilent and deadly heresies as it is for a man to escape with his life in a pest-house Secondly adhering vnto the Church of Rome conforming your selfe vnto the practise thereof you must needs make your selfe guilty of horrible idolatries many waies Whereof vnlesse you timely repent it cannot be but such a life must needs hinder your salvation Lastly although perhaps to many simple people that liue in Spaine or Italy where such meanes of knowledge cannot so well be had it may please God to be mercifull and gracious if they hold the Foundation and bee willing to know if they had the meanes yet I feare much of our English Recusants who liue in the bright sunshine of the Gospell and haue the meanes daily offered vnto them least their obstinacy in reiecting thereof and refusing to see worke vnto them in the end everlasting destruction Certainly if any of you be saued it is not by those doctrines wherein you differ from vs but those only which you hold in common with vs. Especially for that when you lye vpon your death-beds and perceiue that shortly you must yeeld an account of all whatsoever you haue done in the flesh you then thinke it good with all speed to turne Protestants that is to renounce all your owne works as insufficient to iustify you before God and to put your whole affiance vpon the mercies of God through the merits and obedience of Christ alone both for Iustification and Salvation For indeed this is a sure and a safe way even by the confession of Bellarmine himselfe By reason saith he of the vncertainty of our owne righteousnesse and the danger of vaineglory it is the safest course to set our whole affiance on the mercy and goodnesse of God alone And the like safety doe others of your side yeeld vs in other things also as namely in forbearing to make any image of God in worshipping none but the holy Trinity in praying vnto none saue only God in Christ in the marriage of Ministers and other such things as it is easy to demonstrate but that it is now high time to come to a conclusion Only I would haue you carefully to obserue that even they who perswade you to stick close vnto the Popish Faith sticke not themselues to acknowledge the Protestants Practise both in life and death to be many waies the more safe And thus much in Answere vnto this second Schedule It remaineth that I earnestly intreat you in the name of the Lord Iesus and as you tender the everlasting salvation of your soule that you would please to bethinke your selfe a little better of your present estate then heretofore you seeme to haue done You haue suffered your selfe now a long time to be lead vp and downe in the mist of I know not what generalities a path which they that loue to deceiue vse much to tread in They tell you of Vniversality Antiquity Succession Consent and the like and you presently beleeue them But what security haue you in so doing for infallible they are not If they bee matters of so great consequence it were good you knew thē yourselfe that you need not trust the vncertaine reports of others Know them your selfe you cannot vnlesse you acquaint your selfe with all the records of former times and search into them with much diligence and attention for otherwise you may herein also soone bee deceiued But this would proue too long and tedious a course for you and alas the well is deepe and you haue not wherewith to draw What then Surely you haue a shorter way if you would follow it For as Moses saith The commandement is neither too high for you nor farre off You need neither to mount vp into heaven nor to passe beyond the seas for it It is very neere vnto you For you haue at hand the Scriptures of God search them and therein shall you surely finde eternall life By them and no other did the ancient Fathers confute all the heresies of their times vnlesse happily they had to deale with such Hereticks as reiected the Scriptures And to this end were they written that the man of God might bee made perfect and wise vnto salvation Yea but they are obscure darke equivocall ambiguous subiect to divers constructions and each sect pretendeth to confirme their errours by them Strange that they should be the testament of our Father and the instrument of contract betweene Christ and his Spouse and yet they should bee drawne vp so perplexedly and doubtfully that by them neither can the children certainly know what legacies are bequeathed to them nor the Spouse what conditions are agreed vpon betwixt her and her husband But marke what farther followeth hereof For if the Scriptures bee indeed such as you say then haue not Papists any certain ground at all for their Faith Yes will you say the Church But shee speaketh not by her selfe but her heralds and particular messengers and I would faine know what assurance you can haue that they passe not beyond their commission or deliuer not some other errant besides that they are charged withall The Authority also and Vnerring power of this Church had neede to bee most soundly demonstrated I doubt of it how can you