feelinglie thanke him for it For which the Lord complaineth saying I haue loued you yet ye say wherein hast thou loued vs Shewing that we are worse than the Oxe which knoweth his feeder And if we acknowledge all things from God yet we do like Lot Is it not a little one saith he when he craued to go vnto Zoar as though it were not much which he asked so we mince and extenuate the giftes of God before we receiue them and after like them which haue a grace for dinner and none for breakfast as though they had their dinners from God and breakfastes of their owne Our exaÌ„ple did not so Although it was but bread which he receiued yet he was more thaÌ„kfull for bread than many which burie the fowles and fishes and beasts in their belly for if a couÌ„t of all were kept for one that prayeth Giue vs this day our dayly bread a hundred take their bread and meate sleepe to which neuer pray for it After he had giuen thankes he brake it and gaue vnto them and sayd Take eate for when he had giuen thankes to God then it was sanctified and blessed and lawfull to eate So when thou seruest God then it is lawfull for thee to vse Gods blessings then thou mayst eate and drinke as Christ did but not before for these things were created to serue them which serue God if thou doest not serue him for them thou encrochest vpon Gods blessings and stealest his creatures which are no more thine than thou art his for the good God created all things for good men as the deuils possessions are reserued for euill men Therfore as Christ would not breake the bread before he had giuen thankes to the founder so know that there is some thing to be done before thou receiue any benefite of God and presume not to vse his creatures with more libertie than his Sonne did which did not eate without giuing thankes nor rise againe without singing of a Psalme It followeth This is my body Here is the fruite of his thaÌ„ks before he prayed that the bread and wine might be blessed they were blessed As Isaaks blessing shewed it selfe vpoÌ„ Iaakob whoÌ„ he blessed so Christes blessing appeared straight vpoÌ„ these mysteries for it could not be sayd before This is my body because it was meere bread but now it may be called his body because his blessing hath infused that vertue into it that it doth not onlie represent his bodie but conuey his bodie and himselfe vnto vs. The efficacie of this blessing is in this SacrameÌ„t euer since sanctifying it vnto vs as well as it did to the Apostles euen as Christs prayer stayed Peters faith after Christ was dead Now ye haue heard the meaning of these wordes He tooke bread and blessed it and brake it and gaue it you shall see with what a mysticall resemblance they vnite Christ and vs. First as Christ in the Supper tooke bread to feede vs so in his birth he tooke our flesh to saue vs. Secondlie as Christ when he had taken the bread blessed the bread to make it a spirituall foode So Christ when he had taken our flesh powred forth most rich precious graces into it to make it food of life vnto vs. Thirdly as Christ when he had blessed the bread brake the bread so Christ when he had filled his bodie with most precious graces brake it vp like a rich treasure house his hands by the nayles his backe by the stripes his head by the thornes his side by the speare that out of euery hole a riuer of grace and goodnes might issue flow forth vnto vs. Lastly as Christ gaue the bread when he had broken it so Christ by a liuely faith coÌ„municateth his bodie after he hath crucified it Hereby we are taught that when we see the Minister take the bread to feede vs we must conceaue that Christ being God from euerlasting tooke our flesh to saue vs. When we see the Minister blesse the bread to a holy vse we must conceaue that Christ by vniting the Godhead vnto it sanctified his flesh for the work of our redemption When we see the Minister breake the bread to sustaine our bodies we must conceaue that Christ in his death brake his body to refresh our soules When we see the Minister giue the bread to our haÌ„ds we must conceaue that Christ as trulie offereth himself to our faith to be receiued of vs. Because vpon these wordes the Papists ground their Transubstantiation that is that the bread is changed into Christs flesh and the wine is turned into Christes bloud whereby we eate the same bodie which died vpon the crosse drinke the same bloud which issued out of his side that you may see the blindnes of this popish dreame I would haue you but marke euery word of this Scripture how they make against TraÌ„substantiation that you may see them slaine like Goliah with their owne sword EueÌ„ as god made Caiphas speake against himself so the Scriptures which heretickes alleage do make against theÌ„ selues like the Baalites which wounded their owne flesh I may liken their allegations to Sathans when he tempted Christ in the Wildernesse he alledged but one sentence of Scripture for himselfe and that Psalme out of which he borrowed it makes so plaine against him that he was fayne to picke here a word there a word leaue out that which weÌ„t before skip in the middest and omit that which came after or else he had marred his cause The Scripture is so holy pure true that no word nor fillable therof caÌ„ make for the deuil or for sinners or for heretickes yet as the deuill alledged Scripture though it made not for him but against him so doe the libertines and Epicures and heretickes as though they had learned at his schoole Now there is no sentence of the Scripture which the wiser Papistes alledge boldlie for their TransubstantiatioÌ„ but this that Christ sayd This is my bodie by which they may proue as well that Christ is a doore because he sayth I am the doore or a vine because he saith I am a Vine for his sayings are like Figuratiue speaches must not be coÌ„sâ—â—ued litterally but this is heretickes fashion If you marke you shal see throughout that all the testimonies which the Papists alledge for their heresies are either tropes or figures or alle gories or parables or allusions or darke speaches which when they presume to expounde allegoricallie or litterallie without coÌ„ference of other Scriptures then they wander and stray from the marke or else it is impossible that the truth shuld maintaine error that is that the Scripture should speake for heresie if it were not peruerted therfore we see that Eue neuer erred vntill she corrupted the text Now we will enter the lists with our aduersaries see whether these
A TREATISE OF THE LORDS Supper in two Sermons Imprinted at London by R. Field for Thomas Man dwelling in Paternoster row at the signe of the Talbot 1591. To the Reader IN the first sermon the aduersarie is confuted In the second sermon the Communicants are prepared In both are many obseruations and the words of the text expounded Now labor for thy selfe as I haue labored for thee I would haue thee profit somewhat more by this booke because it hath weakened me more then all the rest Farwell A Treatise of the Lords Supper in two Sermons The first Sermon 1. Cor. 11. 23. 24. The Lord Iesus in the night that he was betrayed tooke bread And when he had giuen thanks he brake it and said Take eate this is my bodie which is broken for you this dayes in remembrance of me THE Word and the Sacraments are the two breasts wherewith our mother doth nurse vs. Seeing euerie one receiueth and few vnderstand what they receiue I thought it the necessariest doctrine to preach of the Sacramēt which is a witnes of Gods promises a remembrāce of Christs death a seale of our adoptiō therfore Christ hath not instituted this Sacrament for a fashion in his Church to touch and feele and see as we gaze vpon pictures in the windowes but as the woman which had the bloudie issue touching the hemme of Christes garmēt drew vertue from Christ himselfe because she beleeued So Christ would that we touching these signes should draw vertue from himself that is all the graces which these signes represent Therefore as the Leuits vnder the Law were bound to prepare their brethren before they came to the Passeouer so preachers of the Gospel should prepare their brethrē before they come to the Supper of the Lord. For which purpose I haue chosen this place to the Corinthians which is the clearest fullest declaration of this Sacrament in all the scripture The Lord Iesus in the night c The summe of all these words is the institution and vse of the Lords Supper First Paul sheweth the author of it The Lord Iesus then the time when it was instituted in the night that he was betrayed then the manner how he did institute it he tooke bread and when he had giuen thankes he brake it and gaue vnto his Disciples c. then the end why he did institute it for a remembrance of his death Touching the author he which is signified by it was the author of it The Lord Iesus hath bid vs to supper I am not worthy saith Iohn to loose his shoe so we are not worthy to waite at his trencher and yet he wil haue vs sit at his table To him belongeth the power to ordaine Sacraments in his Church because he fulfilled the Sacraments of the Law When Christ came the Passeouer ceased because he is our Passeouer that is the Lamb by whose bloud we are saued When Christ came Circumcision ceased because he is our Circumcision that is the purifier and clenser of our sinnes Now these two sacraments are fulfilled he hath appointed two other Sacraments for them in steed of the paschall Lambe which the Iewes did eate he hath giuen vs another Lamb to eate which Iohn calleth the Lambe of God that is himselfe vpon whom all do feede whosoeuer do receiue this Sacrament with an assured faith that Christ died to possesse them of life The breaking of the bread doth signifie the wounding of his bodie the powring of the wine doth signifie the shedding of his blood The eating of the bread and drinking of the wine doth signifie that his flesh and bloud doe nourish in vs life eternal as the bread and wine do nourish the life present In steed of Circumcision which began at Abrahā he hath ordained Baptisme which began at Iohn a more liuely representation of the true circumcision of the hart because it representeth vnto vs the bloud of Christ which washeth our soules as the water in Baptisme washeth our bodies Touching the time In the night saith Paul therefore this Sacrament is called The Lords Supper because it was instituted at night when they vsed to sup But what night euen that night saith Paul when he was betrayed that night which he should haue cursed as Iob did the day of his birth if he had suffred against his will that night when hee should haue thought to destroy men as men conspired to destroy him that night saith Paul this Sacrament of grace and peace and life began Euen that night when we betrayed him Manie nights did he spend in watching and praying for vs is there a night now for vs to kill betray him That was a darke night when men went about to put out the sonne which brought them light Who can but wonder to see how Christ they for whom Christ came were occupied at one time when they deuised mischief against him sought all meanes to destroy him then he consulted how to saue them and instituted the same night this blessed Sacrament to conuay all his graces and blessings vnto them Euen that night when they betrayed him The reason why this actiō was deferred vntill night is because that was the time appointed by the Law to eate the Passeouer which was like a predecessor of this Sacrament The reason why he deferred vntill his last night was because the Passeouer could not be ended before the fulnesse of time and the true Paschal Lambe were come to be slaine in stead of the other Therefore how fitlie did Christ ende the Passeouer which was a signe of his suffering so presently before his suffering And beside how sweetly did he confirme his disciples faith when as they should see that the next day performed before their eyes which ouernight both in the Passeouer and in the Sacrament was so liuely resembled vnto them If any from this do gather that we ought to eate the Lords supper at night as Christ did he must vnderstand that we haue not the same cause to do so which Christ had because of the Passeouer And therefore the Church which hath discretion of times and places hath altered both the time and the place vsing the temples in stead of the chamber and the morning in stead of the euening for indifferent things are ruled by order decencie Touching the maner He tooke bread and when he had giuen thankes he brake it and gaue it vnto them He would not eate it nor breake it before he had giuē thankes to God What neede he which was God giue thankes to God but to shew vs what we should doe when we eate our selues In all things giue thankes saith Paul whereby we declare that all things come from God but the wicked beleeue easier that God doth take than that he doth giue and therefore they neuer pray heartily vnto him for any thing nor
from this Text for at that time Christ had no glorified bodie When this Sacrament was instituted and Christ said This is my bodie his bodie was not glorified because the Sacrament was instituted before his death and his bodie was glorified after his resurrection Therefore if they receiue the same bodie which the Apostles receiued as they say they do they caÌ„not receiue a glorified body because then Christ had not a glorified bodie to communicate vnto them Thus the rocks and sands are of both sides them they receiue a bodie neither mortall nor immortall if Christ hath any such bodie iudge you Here they stand like a foole which cannot tell one his tale Nebucadnezar dreamed a dreame and knew not what it meant Beside I aske them to whome Christ spake when he said This is my bodie Marke saith he spake to them that is to his Disciples well then if these wordes This is my bodie were not spoken to the signes but to the persons not to the bread and wine but to the receiuers as the words which follow Do this in remembrance of me if these wordes were not spoken to the bread and wine then it is plaine that they doe not change the nature of the bread and wine If the nature of them be not altered then the substance remaineth and then we receiue no other substance with them because two substances cannot be in one place What then is there nothing in the Sacrament but bread and wine like a hungrey nunscion Nay we say not that the Sacrament is nothing but a bare signe or that you receiue no more than you see for Christ saith that it is his bodie and Paul saith that it is the Communion of Christs bodie and bloud Therefore there is more in Sacramentall bread than in common breade though the nature be not changed yet the vse is changed it doth not onely nourish the body as it did before but it bringeth a bread with it which nourisheth the soule for as sure as we receiue bread so sure we receiue Christ not only the benefites of Christ but Christ although not in a Popish maner yet we are so ioyned vnto him as though we were but one body As the spouse doth not marry with the lands goods but with the man himselfe being partaker of him is made partaker of them so the faithfull do not onely marry with Christes benefites but with Christ him selfe being partakers of him they are made partakers of his benefites for Christ may not be diuided from his benefites no more than the Sunne from his light It is said the Father gaue vs his sonne and so the Sonne giueth vs him selfe As the bread is a signe of his bodie so the giuing of the bread is a signe of the giuing of his body Thus he lyeth before vs like a Pellican which letteth her yong ones sucke her bloud so that we may say the Lord inuited vs to Supper and he himselfe was our meate But if you aske how this is I must answere it is a mysterie but if I could tell it it were no mysterie Yet as it is said when three men walked in the middest of the fornace One like the Sonne of God walked amongest them So when the faithfull receiue the Bread and Wine one like the Sonne of God seemeth to come vnto them which fils them with peace and ioy and grace that they maruell what it was which they receiued besides bread and wine For example thou makest a bargaine with thy neighbour for house or land and receiuest in earnest a peece of gold that which thou receiuest is but a peece of gold but now it is a signe of thy bargaine if thou keep not touch with him happelie it will claspe thee for all that thou art worth so that which thou receiuest is bread but this bread is a signe of another matter which passeth bread Againe thou hast an Obligation in thy hand I aske thee what hast thou there and thou saiest I haue here an hundreth pounds why say I there is nothing but paper ynke and waxe oh but by this saiest thou I will recouer an hundreth pounds that is as good So beloued this is as good that vnder these signes you receiue the vertue of Christs body bloud by faith as if you did eate his bodie and drinke his bloud indeede which is horrible to thinke that any should deuour their god thinking thereby to worship him neuer any Heretike nor Idolater conceiued so grosly of their God before the Papist We reade of a people which did eate men but neuer of any people which did eate their God Al the Apostles say that it was needfull that Christ should take our flesh but no Apostle saith that it is needfull that we should take Christs flesh for all the blessings of Christ are apprehended by faith and nothing is fit to appreheÌ„d him whom we see not but faith and therfore one of their own pillars said Beleeue thou hast eaten Faith doth more in Religion than the mouth or else we might say with the woman Blessed are the brests which gaue thee sucke and so none should be blessed but Mary but Mary was not blessed because Christ was in her bodie but because Christ was in her heart and least this should seeme incredible vnto you because Mary is called blessed among women When Christ heard the womaÌ„ say Blessed are the brests which gaue thee sucke he replied vnto her Blessed are they which heare the word of God and keepe it these are my brethren and sisters and mother sayth Christ as though the rest were no kin to him in heauen though they were kin in earth Thus if Christ were in thy body thou shouldest say as this woman Blessed is the bodie which hath thee in it nay would Christ say Blessed is the heart which hath me in it If Mary were no whit better for hauing Christ in her armes nor for hauing him in her bodie how much better art thou for hauing him in thy bellie where thou canst not see him Must the Sunne needes come to vs or else cannot his heâ—â—â— and light profite vs nay it doth vs more good because it is so farre off so this Sunne is gone from vs that he might giue more light vnto vs which made him say It is good for you that I go froÌ„ you therfore away with this carnall eating of spiritual things Many daughters haue done vertuously but thou saith Salomon surpassest theÌ„ all So many hereticks haue spokeÌ„ absurdly but this surpasseth theÌ„ all that Christ must be applied like Phisicke as though his bloud could not profit vs vnles we did drinke it and swallow it as a potion Is this the Papistes vnion with Christ Is this the manner whereby we are made one flesh with Christ to eate his flesh Nay when he tooke our flesh vnto him and was made man
then we were vnited to him in the flesh and not now Christ tooke our flesh we take not his flesh but beleeue that he tooke ours therfore if you would know whither Christes body be in the Sacrament I say vnto you as Christ sayd vnto Thomas touch feele and see In visible things God hath appointed our eyes to be iudges for as the spirite discerneth spirituall obiectes so sense discerneth of sensible obiectes As Christ taught Thomas to iudge of his body so may we so should they therfore if you cānot see his body nor feele his body you may gather by Christ saying to Thomas that he would not haue you beleeue that it is his bodie for my body saith Christ may be seene felt And thus Trāsubstātiatiō is foūd a lyer Now if you aske me why Christ calleth the signe by the name of the thing it selfe I aske thee agayne Mayst thou say when thou seest the picture of the Queene this is the Queene and when thou seest the picture of a Lyō this is a Lyon and may not Christ say when he seeth a thing like his bodie This is my bodie I shewed you before that euerie Sacrament is called by the name of the thing which it doth signifie and therefore why should we stūble at this more thā the rest The reason why the signes haue the name of the things is to strike a deeper reuerence in vs to receiue this Sacrament of Christ reuerentlie sincerelie and holilie as if Christ were there present in bodie and bloud himselfe And surelie as he which defaceth the Queenes Seale is cōuicted of contempt and treason to her owne person so he which prophaneth these Seales of Christ doth not worship Christ but despise him and that contempt shall be required of him as if he had contemned Christ him selfe This is the reason why Christ calleth the signes of his body his body to make vs take this Sacrament reuerentlie because we are apt to cōtēne it as the Iewes did their Manna It followeth Do this in remembrance of me that is these signes shal be a remēbraunce of my death when you breake the bread you shal remember the woūding of my body and when you drinke the wine you shall remember the shedding of my bloud If we must do this in remembraunce of Christs body which was broken like the bread it is an argument that his bodie is not there because remembraunce is not of things present but of things absent we remember not but we see that which is before vs. This might put the Papists in remembrance that Christ is not sacrificed now when we do but remember his sacrifice this is not Christes sacrifice but a remembraunce of his sacrifice he was sacrificed before and now it is applied least his sacrifice should be in vayne This was done once reallie when he offered himself vpō the Crosse therfore that offering was called a sacrifice because he was sacrificed indeed but this offering is called a Sacrament because it is but a signe of his sacrifice If Christ in this Sacrament were offered indeed then it should be called a sacrifice as his once offering was but because it is but a remembrance of his sacrifice therfore it is called a 〈◊〉 This is not a sacrifice of Christ but a sacrifice of our selues Least we should take it to be a sacrifice of Christ Christ himselfe calleth it a remembrance of his sacrifice Do this in my remembraunce Here is our worke as Christ hath done so must we doe so we minister and so you receiue we can giue you nothing but that which we haue receiued from him as Paule saith Therfore if Christ did not giue his mortall body which stood before them and could not profit them nor his glorified body which was not glorified thē and when it was glorified ascended vp vnto heauen and there abideth how cā these iugling Priestes make their God again which made them They can no more turne wine into bloud and bread into flesh than they can commaund a Gnat to become a Cammell for it is a greater worke to make God than to make the world Therefore as Christ saith When they tell you here is Christ and there is Christ beleeue them not So when they tell you that Christ is in heauen and that Christ is in earth in this place and that place beleeue them not for Elias ascention was a figure of Christs ascention when Elias was ascended yet some sought for his bodie vpō earth so though Christ be ascended yet many seeke his body vpon earth but as they could not finde Elias body so these can not finde Christes bodie although they haue sought 300. yeares But if his bodie were vpon earth as they say should we handle it and touch it now it is glorified After his resurrection he sayd to Marie Touch me not because his bodie was glorified that is not to be touched with fingers any more but with faith Therefore we read of none which touched his bodie after it was risen but onelie Thomas to settle his faith Thus you see we need to suborne no witnesses for euery word in this text which they alledge for Trāsubstantiatiō doth make against Trāsubstantiatiō whereby if Antichrist doth signifie thē which are against Christ you see who may be called Antichrist There is no question in Poperie except Purgatorie the Popes Publicā tasker about which the Papists are at such ciuill warres among themselues as about this transubstātiatiō They cannot tell whē the chāge beginneth nor what manner of chāge it is nor how lōg the chāge continueth som hang one way some another like the Midianites which fought one against another And no maruaile though their consciēces stagger about it for to shew you the right father of it it was one of the dreames of Innocentius the 3. in the yeare of our Lord 1215. so many yeares passed before Trāsubstātiation was named thē a Pope set it first on foote so it came out of Rome the grādame of all heresies and for wāt of Scriptures hath been defended with fire and sword and swallowed moe Martirs than all the gulfes of the Papall sea beside Now when the doctrines of men go for Scripture you shall see how many errours rush into the Church for graūt but this to Innocentius as the Papists do that the bread and wine are changed into Christes body First it will follow that Christs body is not ascended vp to heauen because it remaineth vpō earth and so one of the Articles of our fayth shall be falsified which saith He is ascēded into heauē or if he be ascēded descended agayne another Article will be falsified which saith that he sitteth at the right hand of his Father that is as Peter saith he abideth in heauen Secondly it will follow that Christ hath not a true body but a fantasticall body because it may be in many places
but to suffer and suffer and euer to suffer all that the diuels would heape vpon vs. Then came the mercie of GOD for Christ which shed his blood like an vmpire betweene God and vs and said as Esaiah said to Hezekiah Thou shalt not die but liue loose him let him go for he is mine So we were stayed like the widdowes sonne when hee was carried to his graue This is the benefite of Christs death and this Sacrament is the remembrance of it and therefore whensoeuer we receiue it this addition commeth with it which is shed for the remission of sinnes our fault was so hainous and grieuous that no ransome could counteruaile it vnlesse GOD himselfe had suffered for vs. Being in this extremitie neither man nor Angel offered his life for vs but the Prince himself which shold haue crucified vs came to be crucified of vs for vs that we might say with stedfast faith I beleeue the remission of sinnes not the satisfaction of sinnes but the remission of sinnes Marke this distinction against Popish merites of works or penance Christ hath satisfied and not we we are remitted and not Christ therfore we say in our Confession I beleeue the remission of sins which I may call the merciful Article because it is the quintessence and sweetnesse of all the twelue Therefore who but Antichrist durst depraue it If there be a satisfaction for our sins by our works or by our Pilgrimages or by our Masses or by our penance let Christ neuer be called a forgiuer but an exchanger like the Pope which selleth his pardons Wretched creatures which will not receiue the Lord when he comes to their dore Christ saith take for nothing and they say no we will not take but buy Vile base miserable men disdaine to take grace of God without satisfaction but they wil cope with the Lord giue him so manie Pilgrimages fast so many dayes heare so many Masses pay so many works for it vntill they haue done as much good as they haue done euill Our sinnes are infinite and God is infinite but our workes are finite in number and measure how can they answere then to that which exceedeth number and measure Therefore be content with Iosephs brethrē to take your money again say that you haue corne for nothing that is you are saued for nothing or else when you say I beleeue the remission of sinnes you lie vnto God because you do not beleeue the remission of sinnes but satisfaction for sinnes like the Papists It followeth As often as yee shall eate this bread and drink this cup ye shall shew the Lords death till he come Here are three inuincible argumēts against Popish Transubstantiation like the three witnesses vnder which euerie worde doth stād First we are said to eat bread then it is not flesh but bread Secondly we are said to shew the Lords death then it is but a shew or representation of his death Thirdly it is said vntill he come if he be to come then he is not come if he be come how can we say vntill he come The effect of this verse was shewed in these words Doe this in remembrance of me for to say Do this in remembrance of me and to say so oft as you do this you shew my death is much at one so that if you call this Sacrament a shew of Christes death as it is called here then it is not Christ or if you call it a remembrance of Christ as it is called there yet it is not Christ but a shew or remembrance of Christ but this is such a shew and remembrance that the next verse saith Whosoeuer receiueth it vnworthely is guiltie of the bodie bloud of Christ Will yee know who receiueth vnworthily In verse 29. Paul saith he discerneth not the Lords bodie that is which putteth no difference betweene this bread and other but eateth like a child the meat which he knoweth not and after the bread seemeth stones to him and the wine poyson because his conscience telleth him I haue receiued vnworthily before I could say like Dauid My heart is prepared My sheep saith Christ know my voice as they discerne Christs words so they discerne Christs bodie and therefore so often as they come to the Lords Table they seeme to come into the Lords presence there they greete and kisse and imbrace one another with affections which none cā know but they that feele like Iohn which leaped in the wombe so soone as Christ came neare him Will ye know beside what it is to be guiltie of the bodie bloud of Christ euen as Iudas was guiltie for betraying him and Pilate for deliuering him and the Iewes for crucifying him so they are guiltie which receiue this Sacrament vnworthily as Pilate and Caiphas and Iudas were If they be guiltie of Christs death they are guilty of their owne death to as if they had committed two murthers and therefore Paul saith after that many of the Corinthians died onely for the vnworthy receiuing of this Sacrament As the word is the sauour of death to them which receiue it vnworthily so the Sacrament is the sauour of death to thē which receiue it vnworthily it neuer goeth into their mouth but they are Traitors ipso facto and may say to Hell this day I haue taken possession of thee because I am guiltie of Christs bloud Therefore it followeth immediatly Let a man examine himselfe before he eate of this bread or drinke of this wine as if he should say if he which receiueth this Sacramēt vnworthily be guiltie of Christes death like Iudas which hanged himselfe if these signes be receiued to saluation or damnation like the word the next lesson is to examine your selues before you receiue least you receiue like the sonne of perditiō which swallowed the bread and the diuel togither Therfore Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate that is let him examine first receiue after for if we should receiue the bread of the earth reuerētly how shold we receiue the bread of heauen When Iehonadab came to Iehu his chariot he said Is thy heart vpright as my heart is toward thee So when we come to the Lords Table he would haue our hearts vpright to him as his heart is to vs for who feasteth his enimies and mockers The golden Ring sitteth highest at our table but the wedding garment sitteth highest at this Table It is safer eating with vnwashen hands than with an vnwashen hart The Iewes were taught to choose the Lambe of the Passeouer on the tenth day of the first moneth in which moneth they cāe out of Egypt on the fourteenth day after they were taught to eate him so they had foure dayes respit betweene the choosing and the killing to prepare and sanctifie thēselues for the Passeouer which was a signe of the Lords
with Christs phrase whensoeuer they doubted vpon any of his speeches they were wont to come vnto him and say master what is the meaning but they were vsed to such phrases for it was Christs manner to teach by similitudes shewing one thing by another which is the plainest manner of teaching and most vsed in holy Scripture especially in the types and shadowes of this Sacrament For example Christ calleth the Lamb the Passeouer in place wherof this Sacrament succeeded and therefore presently after they had eaten the Passeouer Christ instituted this Sacrament to be vsed for it Christ I say called the Lambe the Passeouer and yet the Passeouer was this an Angel passed ouer the houses of the Israelites and strooke the Aegyptians this was not a Lambe and yet because the Lamb was a signe of this Passeouer as the bread wine is of Christs body therfore Christ called the Lambe the Passeouer as he calleth the bread and wine his bodie Againe Circumcision is called the Couenant yet Circumcision was nothing but the cutting away of a skin but the Couenant is In Abrahams seede all nations shall be blessed I will be their God and they shall be my people I will defend and saue them and they shall serue worship me This is not Circumcision yet as though Circumcision were the Couenant it selfe it is called the Couenant because it signified the Couenant so bread and wine are called Christs bodie because they signifie Christs bodie Againe Baptisme is called regeneration and yet baptisme is a dipping of our bodies in water but regeneration is the renewing of the minde to the image wherein it was created this is not Baptisme and yet as though Baptisme were regeneration it selfe it is called regeneration because it signified regeneration so the bread and wine are called Christes bodie because they signifie Christs bodie Againe the Cup is called the new Testament and yet the Cup is but a peece of mettall filled with wine but the new Testament is He which beleeueth in the Sonne shall be saued this is not a Cup and yet as though the Cup were the new Testament it selfe it is called the new Testament because it signifieth the new Testament so the bread wine are called Christes bodie because they signifie Christs body They which knew that the Lambe is not the Passeouer though Christ called it the Passeouer that Circumcision is not the Couenant though God called it the Couenant that Baptisme is not regeneration though it be called regeneration that the Cup is not the new TestameÌ„t though Christ called it the new Testament could they not as well vnderstand that the bread and wine were not Christs body though Christ called theÌ„ his bodie As they vnderstood these speeches so they vnderstoode this speech therfore they which say that the bread and wine are Christes bodie because Christ saith This is my bodie may as well say that the Lambe is the Passeouer because Christ calleth it the Passe ouer that Baptisme is regeneration because Paul calleth it regeneration that the Cup is the new Testament because Christ calleth it the new Testament If euerie Sacrament was called by the thing which it signified and yet neuer any Sacrament was taken for the thing it selfe what reason haue they to take this Sacrament for the thing it selfe more than al the rest It is the consent of all writers that a Sacrament is a signe therefore not the thing signified no more then the bush at the dore is the wine in the seller If I cal the Prince a Phoenix the Vniuersitie a Fountain the Court a Peacocke the Citie a Sea the Countrey an Eremite why can the Papists vnderstand me and not vnderstand Chrst What a darke and strange and intricate and incredible speech had this beene for them to vnderstand grosly literally Would they think that they did eate Christes body when his bodie stoode before them and he had told them before that his bodie was like their bodie Nay this would â—aue required moe words and made â—hem come againe with Master what 〈◊〉 the meaning for they were not so â—structed yet before the resurrection â—o beleeue euerie thing without queâ—â—ioning if it were contrarie to sense and reason but as they asked who had giuen him any meate when he said that he had meate and they coulde see none so they would haue asked what meate is this which we see not How can euerie one of vs eate his bodie and yet he hath but one bodie and that bodie is whole when we eate it Loe he standeth before vs and saith that his bodie is like vnto ours and yet hee takes bread and breakes it and giues it vnto vs to eate and when we eate it he saith This is my bodie and yet his bodie standeth before vs still If his bodie be like ours as he saith how can it be eaten and be there for ours cannot Thus they would haue questioned if they had not beene vsed to such phrases but as they could vnderstand him when he called himselfe a stone and a rock and a dore and a window and a Vine so they could picke out his meaning when he said that bread was his bodie for he had told them before that he was the bread of eternall life Now the bread of eternall life is not eaten with teeth for the bodie cannot eate spiritually no more then the soule can eate corporally and therefore he is such a bread as is eaten with faith and so himselfe saith in the Gospel of Iohn Marke this eating by faith and all the strife is ended Flesh and bloud indeed need not faith to chew them for the teeth can chew theÌ„ well enough Therfore if the bread and wine were the bodie of Christ then we need not faith to eate it but all which haue teeth might eate Christs bodie yea the Mice might eate it as well as men for they eate the same bread that we do as well after it is consecrated as before If this be not enough to batter the ruines of this vpstart Heresie I will come to interrogatories and see whether they haue learned it by rote or by reason If they ground their Transubstantiation vppon these wordes of Christ This is my bodie which hee spake to his Disciples I aske them whether they receiue that bodie which was mortall or that bodie which is glorified because one of these bodies they must needs receiue either his mortall bodie or his glorified bodie If they say that it is his mortall bodie the mortal bodie wil not profite them for you see that mortall food is but for this mortall life neither hath Christ a mortall bodie now to communicate vnto them because it is changed to an immortall bodie therefore they cannot receiue the mortall bodie because Christ hath not a mortall bodie to giue them If they say that they receiue his glorified bodie then they must she