natures together to the constitution of a man as they doe though infinitely it come short of the reaching to the excellencie of this mysterie that we now speake of may truely be said in diuerse respectes to be a heauenly creature and an earthly mortall and immortall heauenly and immortall in respect of his soule and earthlie mortall in regard of his bodie and diuerse thinges that are proper to the bodie are yet saide of the soule and contrarie they which are speciall to the soule are affirmed of the bodie as for example we say somtimes the soule of man awaketh or sleepeth which are properly saide of the bodie and we say the bodie heareth seeth or vnderstandeth when as in deede the body can doe none of these but by the soule and yet as wee thinke they destroy the nature of man that eyther for the vnion or coupling of these two together to make a man or for any of these phrases woulde eyther turne the one of these into the other confounde one of these with the other or inuest the one nature reallie with the properties that be speciall and peculiar vnto the other so holde we it most firmely in this case that it is plainely hereticall to doe the like These things therfore thus weied and considered we haue iust cause to say and thinke with the Apostle That great is the mysterie of Godlines namely euen this that God is manifested in the flesh and yet iustifyed in the spirit seene of Angels preached vnto gentiles beleeued on in the worlde and receiued vp into glorie 1. Tim. 3.16 And by these thinges we may so clearely see our Christ in person to be verie God and verie man and yet for all that but one person as that both with the Apostle Paul we may call him The mightie and blessed God for euer 2. Tim. 2.13 and the man Christ Iesus 1.2.5 and yet still speake of him as but of the one person as hee doth in both these places And to conclude this pointe heereby also euen sufficientlie we may see and heare all the heretiques and their heresies confuted that euer yet haue sette themselues against anie pointe or parte of the trueth of this doctrine of his person For heereby againste Ebion Cerinthus and Photinus denying his Godheade that hath beene a duouched and against Marcion confessing that and denying the truth of his manhoode that hath beene likewise plainely prooued and consequently Arrius that held rightly of neyther affirming that in respect of the one he was but a created spirit and in regard of the other a bodie onely without any other soule then his created Godhead and Apollinaris that denied that he had the minde or reasonable soule of a man howsoeuer he granted him the sensitiue and growing soule are confounded also especially remembring further that Christ himselfe as plainely to teach them by his wordes that he had a verie soule of a man as by experience they sawe and found he had the very body of a man said not onely that his soule was heauy vnto death Math. 26.38 but dying as Luke reporteth 23.46 cryed with a lowde voyce Father into thy handes I commend my spirit And Nestorius that helde the two natures in him only to be vnited by consociation and assistance and that therefore he had stil a Godhead and a manhood not onely distinct in their natures but also so that in him the sonne of God was one and the sonne of the virgin an other as he was condemned in the counsel of Ephesus for one that was led by the spirit of Antichrist for his so loosing or dissoluing of Iesus so hath the Apostle directly confuted him in this place to the Phillipians and Iohn also as I haue shewed in setting downe plainely that he that was in the forme of God whome Iohn called the worde so tooke vnto himselfe the forme of a seruant that he was made very man or flesh Eutiches also who to ouerthrowe Nestorius taught that the two naturs are so vnited after the incarnation that howsoeuer they were two before after they are but one cannot stand with the apparant distinction that Paule hath made betwixt the assumer and assumed nature both before in and after the assuming of the one by the other vnto himselfe And whereas if this opinion of his were true it should thereupon follow that then eyther the Godhead shoulde be turned into the manhoode or the manhoode into the Godhead for that of the commixtion of both a third thing should growe Euerie one of these absurd consequentes Paule hath refelled also by teaching vs both to remayne without eyther turning of the one into the other or confounding one of them by anie commixtion or otherwise one with an other as we haue hearde And consequentlie heereby both the Lutherans and Papistes who for the maintenance of their grosse reall presence and mouth eating of Christ both God and man doe most eagerlie striue and contende to entitle the manhoode of Christ with the peculiar properties of the Godheade as to be muisible incircumscriptible c. are most plainly prooued to teach heerein hereticall and damned doctrine for that thus confounding the properties with Eutiches in deede and trueth they confounde the natures themselues and therefore let them as they may iustly take the condemnation of Eutiches in the councell of Calcedon to bee also directly their condemnation Vnder this same condemnation come the heretiques 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so called because Eutiches being condemned they durst not say whom they followed though with him they hold but one nature after the incarnation to remaine and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thought the diuine nature was turned into the humaine and that therfore they might say that it suffered and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also which holding that there was nothing lefte but the diuine nature and that the other was absorpte of that yet helde that that nature was ignoraunte of manie thinges and the Aphterdoxitae who helde that the humaine nature was impassible for the coniunxion that it had with the diuine and also the Monothelites who therefore taught that there was but onelie will in the person of Christ For all these stumbled and fell with Eutiches in vrging so the vnion of the two natures that they in effecte one waie or other ere they had done eyther by confounding the natures or the properties left but one in effecte Let vs therefore whatsoeuer heretiques eyther olde or newe haue thought or doe or shall thinke to the contrarie moste constantlie holde this as the verie rocke and foundation whereupon if we bee builte and stande faste the verie gates of hell shall neuer preuaile against vs that Christe Iesus in person is verie GOD the seconde person in the trinitie and also verie man the sonne of the blessed virgine Marie and therefore that both these two are so personally vnited in him that he is one person and that without any conuersion of the one nature into
to deliuer vs from the curse of the law And if the forgiuenes of our sinnes that we looke for at Gods hand stretch not thus far how could they be said to be made as white as snowe or woole Isay 1.18 when they are forgiuen or how could it be said of God when he forgiues thē that he would remember them no more as it is 31.34 Heb. 10.17 Yea that then he castes them al into the bottom of the sea as he promiseth he wil Math 7.19 And yet as necessarie comfortable and certaine as you see this doctrine to be the papists can not find in their harts to let vs goe away with it thus wholie and freely For first they directly hold that sins falne into after baptisme haue a number of fountaines of water to wash them in and meanes to purge the owners thereof besides Christ Iesus and his merits Their sacrament of pennance which they holde to consiste of contrition confession and satisfaction and the priestes absolution thereupon in this case must serue vs as a second planke after shipwracke to fly vnto and to escape the danger of the tempestuous seas of Gods wrath by and if this will not serue then Masses satisfactorie workes done by mans owne selfe and others extraine vnction and lastly the enduring of the paines of purgatory and the mediation of Saints and Angels all laid together shal help them quite to be discharged from those sinnes and the punishments yet by them to be suffered for them from which they durst not for all this euidence that I haue brought looke fully to be deliuered by the precious blood of Christ Iesus And yet they cannot be ignorant that as in the institution of the sacrament of his body and blood he calde the cup the newe testament in his blood which shoulde be shed for the remission of sinnes Mat. 26.28 that so when it was shed to that end and therefore he euen readie to die that to shewe that by that death of his all meritorious suffering satisfying for sinne had an end he said consummatum est that is it is finished Io 19.30 And that therfore in the epistle to the Hebrwes the absolute sufficiencie of the sacrifice offered by Christ to purchasse vs full and perfect redemption and saluation by the remission of our sinnes once for all by his owne person is so aduouched as though the holie Ghost therein of purpose directed the writer to preuent and to confute all these deuises who may not see The stone that they woulde seeme especially to stumble at and whereby to fall into these conceites is that which we reade 2. Sam. 12. that notwithstanding vpon Danids repentance he tolde him that God had forgiuen him his sinne and put it away verse 13. yet he not onelie denounceth a iudgment against him vpon occasion of that his sinne but also it after followeth and is shewed howe it was in deed executed vpon him For here vpon when other shiftes faile them to countenance their antichristian ecclipsing and defacing the full and stee remission of sinnes ye of all our sinnes originall and actuall before baptisme and after that any way are remissible they imagine yet they may hold thisfast that howsoeuer by and in him we may haue remission of the sins them selues and release of the eternall punishmentes due therefore that yet there may and doeth remaine some temporary to be abid or satisfied for by our selues or other of our good friendes either here in this life or in purgatory in the life to come But alas who seeth not that the ground which they haue from hence is to weake and sandy to build such a huge heape of satisfactory workes and sufferings vpon as here vpon to rob Christ and to aduatire and enrich them selues they woulde faine builde For though this and the like dealing of GOD with his seruantes proue that God may and doth for iust causes known vnto himselfe take occasion by their sinnes to chastise them and to correct them for the same though he haue before forgiuen them their sinnes and neuer meane that they shall therefore be condemned yet neither this nor all the like examples euer can proue that by the enduring of or satisfying for these any way or by any bodie Gods meaning euer was that they shoulde perfect the worke of the remission of their sinnes For doubtlesse his sonne hauing vndertaken the purchasing of this for vs at his handes and there lacking in him neither skill nor power nor affection to go through with the worke which he had taken in hand without doing of him to manifest and open wrong in robbing of him in taking from him that which is his due we must fully be persuaded that for our sinnes he hath so fully satisfied his heauenly father that he will thinke we doe him greate iniurie and much staine his iustice if by any other doing or suffering we shoulde offer him any other price or paiment againe therefore Such punishments therefore either threatned by God or afflicted vpon his children after in Christ their sinnes are forgiuen them they are his fatherly chastisments to teach them the better to see the vilenesse and grieuousnesse of sinne and serue both them and other as Gods sanctified meanes to warne them to take more heed of sinne thereafter and to mortifie them therevnto but in no sort must wee be so foolish as with these kinde of men to imagine that they must either be endured or otherwise bought out by our owne satisfactions or of others to make perfect or to consummate the full remission of our sinnes By these deuises they set their priests and prelats a loft in the consciences of men as though they could absolue them and discharge them from that from which all the blood shed of Christ Iesus though neuer so well beleeued in hath not yet quitte them and so by their deuise of purgatorie and their manner of releeuing of soules there by their pardons masses and dirges c and by doing of these and by their absolution extraine vnction and their taking vpon them to offer Christ againe to his father for them as though his owne offering of him selfe coulde not serue the turne they haue wonderfully enriched themselues What other reasons soeuer they may pretend hereof if these were not the reasons indeede that set them and helde them in this way they had long agoe or would quicly be glad with vs to preach and to beleeue ful remission of all sinnes both in respect of the guiltinesse and punishment also by and thorow the onely sufferings and satisfaction done by Christ For what reason in the worlde can cause them but once to thinke that Christ hath borne the burthen of our sins but so in his owne bodie vpon the tree that he should when he had done returne the same againe vpon vs in some forte to beare and to suffer for Or if they woulde needes holde this to be thus howe can they tell howe much
for the worthinesse of the thinges done or suffered by men as for that they are done of men formally iustified before with God by the infused grace of charity and that they are therefore growne to that efficacie by the bloode and merits of Christ for which beleeued but on as they teach God hath iustified them by infusing the gift of charitie into their soules and mindes let them not once thinke or dreame I say that any or all of these their sophisticall and cunning sleights or shiftes eyther can or shall once darken or blemish the plaine euidence and cleare light of this doctrine of iustification redemption and full saluation freely and effectually by faith in Christ Iesus For as for the first of these they cannot be ignorant that whensoeuer the question is in hande how and wherby man is to be iustified before God the scriptures throughout as plainely teach vs that there is but one iustification or waie thereunto as they teach vs that there is but one God Indeede they shewe sometimes that there is a proceeding and growing forward â—â—eerein from vertue to vertue from faith to faith and so from strength to strength in applying vnto vs according to the increasings of our knowledge more and more of our owne wantes and of Christes person and office and according to our proceeding in the strength vertue power of our faith grounded therupon Christ Iesus his merits and sometimes they speak of iustification in a larger or in another signification therfore then they may and doe vrge him that is iustified to be yet more iustified but heereupon to builde that therefore there are two distinct kindes of iustification of man before the tribunall seate of GOD is both to builde without grounde and foundation and wilfullie in a most serious cause to play and seeke by dallying with ambiguitie of wordes to deceiue the simple Now as for their second shift the vanity falshoode therof will soone appeare to any that with any indifferencie wil but consider Paules wordes when in handling of this point he shutteth out workes of the lawe from hauing any thing to doe in the office of iustifying For writing as he did alwaies when he handled this question not to Iewes that indeede thorowe ignorance both of Christ and of the true meaning and vse of the lawe vsed to seeke by the workes of the lawe in their sence that is by workes taught by the lawe and done before grace to be iustified but to conuerted and beleeuing Gentiles to what purpose had it beene to labour so often and so earnestlie to driue them from seeking iustification by such workes of the lawe whereof they coulde neuer make anie such reckoning in that before their conuersion they were not so much as once acquainted with the lawe If therfore we must thinke as we are bounde that Paule wrote and spoke to the purpose and aptlie to those that he had to deale withall out of all question we must needs be of that iudgement that he taught euen the conuerted and beleeuing gentiles in what measure soeuer the spirit of grace enabled them to haue and to performe neuer so manie good workes of the lawe yet when they were neuer so full of them to trust perfectly freely to be iustified by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus and not at all by the workes of the lawe Alas who is so simple as to thinke that the false Apostles sought to perswade the Galathians whome Paule had left setled in seeking their iustification freely by faith in Christ to seeke manie so to be iustified in part or in whole by workes of the lawe done without or before grace and yet if this popish glose must stand Paule in his Epistle written of purpose to perswade the Galathians not to listen to these teaching them to seeke any way to be iustified before God by the workes of the lawe therein eyther disputes to no purpose and fightes but with his owne shadowe or else it must be granted that these were the workes of the lawe that they were taught by them to put some trust and confidence in which to imagine were most grosse and absurde for there is no likelihoode therein at all His reasons that he vsed to shut out the workes of the lawe from the office of iustifying are these for by the lawe commeth the knowledge of sinne Rom. 3.20 For that our reioycing is in this case excluded not by the lawe of works but by the lawe of faith vers 27. For that if Abraham were iustified by workes he hath wherein to reioyce but not with God for that the wages is counted to him that worketh not of fauour as he taketh it for graunted it was to Abraham and must be to all the children of Abraham in this case but of debt which likewise he assumeth as graunted to be in this point absurde Rom. 4.2.4 For if they which are of the lawe be heires faith is made voyde and the promise is of none effect For the lawe causeth wrath 14.15 therefore it is by faith that it might come by grace and the promise might be sure to all the seeds 16. As mante as are of the workes of the lawe are vnder the curse For it is written cursed is euery one that continueth not in all thinges which are written in the booke of the lawe to doe them No man is iustified by the lawe in the sight of God it is euident for the iust shall liue by faith and to Abraham and his seede were the promises made he saith not and to thy seedes as speaking of manie but and to thy seede as of one which is Christ Gal. 3.10.11.16 Euerie and all of which argumentes make and serue strongly not onely to debarre woorks done before grace according to the outward letter of the lawe from all office and power to iustifie but also all workes done after grace effectually if mans owne free will in such sort concurre to the working of them as they teach For euen therein and when they are done the lawe findeth such imperfection in the doer as we may see by Paules owne confession Rom. 7.24 that he hath cause to crie O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer mee from this bodie of sinne and death and to acknowledge euen in such a one as then he himselfe was who doubtlesse was then in the state of grace that the lawe is such a reuealer of sin yet to be in him and therfore also of wrath that he is so farre off from hauing any cause by his own works done after grace to thinke that he deserueth to be iustified or saued in any respect that thereby he may iustly with him take occasion to confesse that though the law be spiritual yet he is carnal so sold vnder sinne that in his flesh there dwelleth no good thing for though to will is present with him that he allowe not the euill he doth because in
then to the vniting of Christes bare bodie and bloode and the right communicant togither For as he both in bodie and soule standeth neede of him to be his Sauiour so it is certaine as Christ both God and man perfecte God and perfecte man in one person is the head and husband of his Church and the redeemer and Sauiour thereof so here faith is to feed so vpon his body broken blood shed as that withall it must stedfastly conceiue and beleeue that it was is the body and blood of such an one as was and is both very God and man and yet but one person For thence it cōmeth that the things done for vs by his broken bodie and blood shed though in number and time wherein they were done they were finite are in the sight of the heauenly Father of infinite value and dignitie as once I said before to worke our perfect redemption and saluation that they were done by such a man that had not onely a perfect bodie and soule of a man and in them both was such an one as it became vs to haue that was seperate from sinners Heb. 7.27 but also was and remaineth for euer a true euerlasting God and therefore was able thus to dignifie the workes done for vs in his manhood And to this end it is most heauenly and diuinely noted Heb. 9. that the force that the offring that Christ made of himselfe vpon the crosse for vs to purge our consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing God commeth and riseth from hence that then by his eternall Spirit he offered himselfe without fault to God for vs. And though I am not ignorant that Chrisostome to very good purpose in his 46. Homilie vpon Iohn interpreting those wordes of Christ Iohn 6.63 It is the spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing the wordes that I speake vnto you are spirit and life notes that they were spoken by Christ not to disable his flesh altogether from being profitable because so to thinke is absurd but to warne vs that carnally we vnderstand not his wordes which by his interpretation there we doe if we take his wordes simplie as they sound thinke no otherwise of them for that as he saith all misteries are to be considered with inward eies that is spiritually yet I cannot but thinke with others also that in so saying Christ meante not onely to teach vs that his wordes were not grosly and camally to betaken that he had spoken of the eating of his flesh and drinking of his bloode as the Capernaits and such of his hearers that beleeued not then tooke them but spiritually as his beleeuing disciples who notwithstanding them taried with him when the other murmured or departed by occasion thereof but that therin he had this further meaning and purpose to shew them that if his flesh and blood were as they tooke them but the flesh and bloode of a man then they could not be indeed such foode for their soules as he had taught them to be but beeing as they were the flesh and blood of such an one as withall was a spirit and that an eternall creating Spirit euen very God thence they might be sure that they rightly fed on by faith and the spirite both could and would bring life Thus therefore we teach and exhort all men in the vse of this Sacrament to feede vpon the bodie broken and blood shed of our Christ and Sauiour And yet thus we speake with Christ and according to the phrase vsed in the institution therof because as by Christ God and man as by our onely mediatour we come to the Father so it hath pleased God in his word to reueale him vnto vs that by his manhood and the workes done therin we should grow on to faith in his Godhead vnited thereunto and so shining manifesting it selfe vnto vs therin Thus then I hope by this time euen by this plaine and short declaration onely of our faith and iudgement concerning the doctrine and nature of this Sacrament The conclusion of this our doctrine you may most clearely see and perceiue that we are wonderfully wronged and slandered and that so also are all the Churches of our profession by our aduersaries whiles to discredit vs withal they would make men belecue that we make it but a naked Supper of bread and wine and so seeke to feede our people therein but with bare signes and figures For you may see and heare that most plainely and earnestly we vrge our hearers therein to seeke to feed to their eternall saluation of Christ Iesus himselfe both God and man and so many other notable vses thereof as you heare we teach that euen in respect thereof all the names and titles that any sound antiquitie hath honoured this Sacrament withal may most iustly be giuen vnto it as it is ministred and vsed by vs. We finde it hath beene called the Supper of the Lord the Table of the Lord the Sacrament of his bodie and bloode the Eucharist a Sacrifice and Synaxis and vsually with vs it is called the Cōmuniō And which of these is it not with vs It is the supper of the Lord because as we teach at the last supper he instuted it and it is his Table because therin he feedeth his with himself it is the Sacrament of his body blood because to his it is a sacred meanes of the Lord to nourish strengthen and exercise their faith therein it is the Eucharist because thereby we are so directly forceably occasioned as we are to yeeld all heartie thankes vnto God for the death and passion of Christ lesus whereof it is so notable a memorial and a Sacrifice euen therfore also it may be tearmed also Synaxis it is because it is an excellent bond of our assemblies and meetings together to receiue it and lastly worthily we may and doe call it the Communion be cause it is a seale first of our communion with Christ and then of one of vs with an other in him And yet for all this though this most certainely be the generall doctrine held with one consent by all the Churches that professe the Gospell with vs except of a fewe peeuish and wilfull Lutherans our aduersaries nor these neither will not be satisfied but when we haue said and done what we can all is nothing with them that in this case we say or doe vnlesse we will with them by vertue of Christes wordes spoken by him in the institution heere of hold such a real presence of Christes bodie and blood in this Sacrament as that by the mouthes of all commers thereunto and receiuers thereof haue they true faith or no his verie bodie and blood really be taken in and sed vpon Which beeing a doctrine so directly contrarie to that which lutherto I haue taught you rouching our vnion and communion with Christ by faith and his spirit onely especially seeing also it is to be feared that a number
body blood shed once to our eternall saluation For that falling out sence and succeeding the institutiō of this Sacrament wherin both by audible word and visible action in breaking bread powring forth of wine calling them as he did he promised vs that proues vnto vs inuincibly that whatsoeuer here he offred promised vs either by word or deed that he hath gone through with for vs and so now that he by his resurrection ascention sitting at the right hand of his Father hath begot vs againe to a liuely hope But vnles we would haue Christ otherwise now to be present to vs and our mouthes then he was when he himself ministred it to the disciples and their mouthes in the state and time of his passible and vnglorified bodie let them neuer talke more of the state of his glorified bodie His wordes shew that this was and is a Sacrament of him dying for vs and so a memoriall of his death and abasement that he vndertooke to merit our saluation by and not of his glorie and of the life that he now hath therein and therefore is able to bestow vpon his and to apply vnto them whatsoeuer in his former estate he deserued The bread called his bodie broken and the wine called his bloode shed as I haue said are both heere set before vs seuered the one from the other and by his commaundement we are bound to take as wel the one as the other and yet the one after the other the more forceably thereby to leade vs to the meditation of his death and passion and to feede vpon his bodie and bloode so handled for vs. And as his hauing not yet so suffered letted not the Apostles when he first did institute it from yet taking occasion thereby and by his administring of it vnto them by faith from feeding vpon his broken bodie and blood to the confirming of their communion with him so no more doth his hauing had his bodie broken and bloode shed nowe aboue a thousand and fiue hundred yeares agoe and neuer since hinder vs from feeding vpon the same by faith through the mightie working of his Spirit For the same Christ that then coulde make that which was not yet done as verelie done to their faith and so to bee fed vpon as done the same nowe doubtlesse is able as easily to make that which was done so long agoe present to our faith to nourish vs to eternall life By this then you see both their reall presence that they talke of to be fonde and to too grosse and the groundes that they hold in common for the same to be as bad The speciall groūds of the Lutherans confuted And to goe on now to scan and examine likewise what they holde seuerally in this case against vs it is notoriously knowne the one sorte the fond imitators of Luther I meane would maintaine their reall presence of his body and blood together with bread and wine in this Sacrament when these common groundes of theirs that they haue with the papistes as they feare will not serue their turne by the force and strength of the trueth of the personall vnion of the two natures in Christ Whereupon as it appeares by their bookes extant and confidently published about this matter I speake it with griefe and cōpassion towards thē because otherwise in the chiefest points of Christian faith we account them our brethren and fellow souldiers against the Antichristian Synagogue of Rome they boldly vrge aduouch teach that immediatly vpon this vnion consummate in the Virgins wombe the natures properties of his Godhead were are so vnited vnto his manhood that as the Godhead is eueriwhere almighty of infinite maiesty c. so is the manhood and therfore in this Sacramēt as they teach Especially they insist vpon the being euery where of his manhood as his Godhead is to this purpose Suppose the antecedent were graunted them yet they could neuer thereupon inferre their consequent For when will they be able to prooue that his Godhead is so present heere with bread wine that the receiuer of thē by his mouth alwaies receiues the other But indeede their antecedent is vntrue absurd verie hetetical but that I know it is a most fearful thing before God to haue our faith in respect of persons contrary to the rule of the holy Ghost Iam. 2.1 and that the Lord will therefore most seuerely punish it especially when wilfully men will set themselues to defende that which they haue but receiued from some person or persons whom they haue in admiration against a clearer trueth crossing the same I should neuer make an end of wondring that men otherwise of such learning and iudgement as some of these bee euer should dare in these daies of so great light and after so often and manifest solemne sentences of condemnation giuen of this their conceit in the auncient and primitiue Churches of Christ set abroach such an assertion The vntrueth thereof appears enough euen by that the Angels saying when he was risen He is risen and is not heere Math. 28.6 For seeing that cannot be vnderstood of his Godhead which is euery where and alwaies was it must of necessitie be vnderstood of his manhood But besides that we haue his owne saying The poore ye haue alwaies with you but me ye shall not haue alwaies Iohn 12.8 to backe the speach of his Angels which as they knowe well inough all the auncient Fathers conferring with that of Math. 28.20 also so vnderstand that by this the presence of his manhood they shewe we may not looke for heere in the earth vntill his second comming after once he had left the world and gone to his father as he said he would Iohn 16 28. by the other yet to our comfort they shew heere we inioy his Godhead Let any man but read Fulgentius his second Booke to King Trasimund Vigilius his fourth Booke against Eutiches Chap. 4. and Augustines 57. Epistle and there he shall find notwithstanding they were as soundly and truely perswaded of the vnion of the two natures in Christ as any of these men be the veritie localitie and circumscriptiblenes of Christes manhoode by these and otherplaces and argumentes so vrged that any man may perceiue this their position was counted verie false in those daies The absurditie thereof appeares in that heerein they take that to be the cause sufficient of his beeing euerie where in his manhood that can be no cause thereof indeed For see we not naturally and inseperably the Sunne and light and heat to be conioyned and yet who findes not daily by experience that the globe of the bodie of the Sunne remaining still in heauen yet we heere in earth inioy both the other Yea many other thinges there are which though they be vnited together yet whereof one streacheth and reacheth further then the other as the sight of the eye reacheth further then the eye it selfe the
worship a wafer cake in shew and tast for verie Christ I am truely perswaded that there hath beene no one thing that hath more hardned the hearts eyther of Turkes or Iewes from becomming Christians then to heare and see as they doe these men thus to worship these wafer Chrisies of theirs who yet would be accounted the onely good Christians And it is certaine euen for this the heathen Philosooner and Phisition Auerois though he by trauelling and reading was acquainted with wonderfull many foolish fond kindes of Idolatrie liuing and florishing about the yeare of Christ noo iudged Christians to be the most foolish Idolaters in the world And without all doubt this hath beene averie God Manzim that is of power and riches to them For the people beeing perswaded that their priests can turne so quickly a poore wafer into Christ their Sauiour and that they can at their pleasure offer him vnto his Father for their soules health both whiles they are aliue and when they are dead they haue not cared what honour and riches they haue bestowed vpon them And therefore not vnfitlie may that of Daniell be as well verified of them euen for this as of them of whome he spoke most properlie and litterally That they honour the God Mauzim a God whom their Fathers knew not Dan. 11.38 And yet behold if we goe on but a little further more iniquitie and impietie in their Maste then all these For therein they haue quite contrarie to Christes institution by absurdlie taking it to be a sacrament of Christes life That they minister it but in one kinde and so of his bodie and bloode now togither in his manhood in heauē wheras he left it to be a sacrament of his death and so of the sundring therby of the one from the other as I haue shewed and by a new deuise of Concomitance that is of the going of his bodie blood now alwaies together robd the common people of the one half of the Sacrament denying thē the cup telling them that in taking the hoast they take al for his body blood are goe now togither But if it were thus why do they themselues take both or would they haue vs to think it needful for thē to eat him once vnder the form of bread after to drink him againe vnder the forme of wine that the one is inough for the people Euident it is in the words of the institution and by the practise therof in Pauls time 1. Cor. 11. that al were as expresly cōmanded to drinke of the cup as to eate of the other But Christ being the wisedome of the Father had not so much wisdom forecast as these men belike to foresee that his body blood go togither therfore for lacke of foresight he ordained a superfluous thing What an intollerable pride and presumption is this that dust and ashes and sinnefull man shall thus vndertake to alter to controule the ordinance of our Lord and sauiour Before the Councel of Constance which was in the yeare 1414. we finde not the administring of this Sacrament vnder both kindes generally and publiklie forbid the common communicant And in the councell of Basil about some 16. years after for all that it was permitted to the Boemians againe De consecratione dist 2. Gratian alleages a decree of Gelasius a Bishop of Rome a thousand yeares agoe to binde all men to receiue in both kinds saying either let him that receiueth receiue both or neither because the diuision of one misterie cannot be without sacriledge By this let them that hold their Popes solmne sentences for Oracles learne what manner of persons now their Popes and priestes in this point are become that now openly professe and practise the contrary hereunto That their priests take it alone And because they haue also in their Masses as they say so often consecration and yet none receiue but the priest himselfe for the most parte what shift will they make with that that we find in the same distinction Cap. Peracta alleadged there as the solemne sentence of Pope Calixt in the yeare 223. or thereaboute consecration being done saith he all that will not be shut from the Church should communicate for so the Apostles taught and the fashion of the Romane Church was Loe heere is both a Popes decree and that grounded both vpon the Apostles practise and the ancient Romane Churches also flatly against the practise of the Romane Church that now is And in verie deed no man can reade that which Saint Paule hath written of this matter 1. Cor. 11. but he must needs most plainly see that it was then the Apostles practise not onely to administer it in both kindes but also openly in the assemblies and to al that could and would trie and examine themselues and this man beeing Bishoppe of Rome was not ignorant what the fashion of the ancient Romane Church had bene Wherefore as in many other thinges so in this it appeares for all their great bragges and countenance of antiquitie that the Romane Church that now is Lastly their Cōsubstantiation is confuted is become an Apostata and runnagate from the ancient Apostolique Romane Church indeed Al these abhominations a number moe in their Masse which here without too to much tediousnesse I cannot stande vpon they are so manie arise grow from their speciall minion and paragon Transubstantration and therefore vntill her braines be dasht out there will neuer be any hoe of their foolishnesse and madnesse in this masse and Chaos of confusion of theirs They would beare the world in hand that she is most ancient and yet indeede and trueth how long soeuer before they were in conceiuing of her yet she was neuer growne ripe to the birth or borne before Innocent the thirdes time For neuer before the Laterane councell which was in his time and in the yeere 1211. as I haue said before was this decreed to be a Catholike trueth amongst themselues And this their owne greate Doctor and Bishop Tonstall in a booke of his written of this matter confesseth adding that perhaps it had beene better to haue less the manner how Christ becommeth present in this Sacrament as it was before that councell Now before this the Greeke Church was departed from the Church of Rome and therefore this was rather the decree of a priuate and particular conuenticle then of the vniuersall Church of God and therefore not onely wee but still vnto this day the Greekes reiect both this councell and decree though I know much tempering hath beene with them since to the contrary Scotus is not onelie of the same minde with Tonstall but if you reade him dist 11 quaest 3. vpon the 48. booke of Sentences you shall not only finde that he bringeth a number of obiections against this which he neuer answereth to anie purpose but also that in the end he setting downe his sole determination for it that yet
vse and estimation Bertram in a set treatise written of this matter as it is thought in Carolus Calunus time by manie argumentes proues bread and wine still to remaine And Elfricke about the yeare 996. as Fox noteth in two Saxon Epistles which to that ende he recordes therein taught bread and wine heere no otherwise to be the bodie and bloode of Christ then Manna and the water of the rocke in the wildernes were Christ which all men knowe they were but by representation and signification and not really for that then Christ was not become man And the same man as maister Fox noteth translated a sermon out of Latine into the Saxon tongue which he insertes wholly in his story also by him then appointed to be red on Easter day to the Saxons inhabiting then this land which who so readeth shal finde that it contains much direct matter proofe both against transubstantiation and grosse reall presence built thereupon In Bedes time also who died about the yeare 734. the same doctrine was continued heere and elsewhere as it appeareth by that which he hath written vpon the institution as it is set downe by Luke 22. where he shewes as I haue noted before not onely the likelyhoode of the vse of bread and wine in nourishing and cheering our bodies to be the cause they beare the names of the bodie and blood of Christ which semblablie nourish and feede our soules but also he so speaketh and writeth thereof that yet he shewes he tooke them to be bread and wine still And as by this you may see then that both Scriptures and Fathers are against them herein so questionles is all sound reason most stronglye which as long as it is not controwled or crost either by the doctrine of faith or good manners taught in the Scriptures is worth the listening vnto Now reason and all our sences and the experience that we haue had and may haue of the sowreing of the wine of the mouling and corrupting of the hoasts so that wormes may and haue bred thereof and that Dogges Battes Rattes and Mise and so not onely vnbeleeuers can feede thereof are most sure euidence vnto vs that for all their great brags to the contrary with all their crossing whispering breathing becking and doucking and demure pronuncing of the words they cānot neither once remoue the substances of bread and wine away nor bring Christes bodie or blood into the romphs thereof For neither can these things that I haue spoken of all or any of thē be incident to bare accidents neither yet to the most precious body blood of Christ Iesus God and man For who knoweth not that bare accidents are not nor can be subiectes of such accidents as these bee Neither can they be matter to nourish and feed eyther man or beast withal or to breede any such thinges vpon And howsoeuer these men can finde in their heartes to grant that the bodie of the Christ whom they serue may be subiect to all these thinges sure I am the bodie of the true Christ that the saying of the Psalmist might be verified therof Thou wilt not suffer thy holie one to see corruption Psal 16.10 could not possiblie be helde of death vntill it rotte and therefore much lesse will the heauenly Father now that it is glorified let it be eyther meat for such filthie vermin or for the mouthes of wicked men or to be subiect to putrefaction that wormes shal breede theron But I knowe though some of them haue not beene ashamed to saie that he can and may be eaten of such beastes as well as of such men whereof none of them now doubt yet generally they say when such thinges fall out with the outward elements as I haue spoken of then Christ by his almightie power conueyeth himselfe away and lets the olde substances come againe and ioyne themselues with their accidentes In the meane time then I would the best studied of them in this point could eyther tell vs what was becomde in the meane time of the substances or how their accidentes were kept or vnderpropt without substances and so subiectes to be in And if it were granted then that Christ to exempt and to preserue his bodie from these inconueniences remoues it away before any of these can fal out vnto it yet then they graunt that the best shift that their popish Christ hath in this case is to runne away or to giue place Such a Christ may become such kinde of Christians but surely the wise hearted Christians would be loth to trust to such a Christ for their saluation whose best shift is thus to flie that a Mouse eate him not and I would aduise them not to trust themselues too much to such a dastardly Christ I would thinke that they should would rather hold that he driues all these away then that indeede he should be driuen away of any of them and that therefore when any such thing seemeth to fall out otherwise eyther the priest consecrated not well and so failed and came short of transubstantiation or that the sences are deceiued in thinking any such thing in haue happened But seeing they like better to prouide for their Christ by his suddaine departure I would haue them to tell mee whether they worke a greater miracle in transubstantiating breade and wine into him or these kinde of cattell in trasubstantiating him againe into the old bread and wine And I would be glad once to here a substantiall reason why Christs wordes should not or did not proue as powerfull to driue the accidents away as the substance or why they beleeuing notwithstanding Christs plaine wordes that accidents of bread and wine remaine because the senses telles them so they should not or will not beleeue the same senses as plainly assuring them that the substances themselues also remaine that therefore they are there also But what should I trouble my selfe by reason and sense to confute them which as it should seeme haue herein for the maintenance of their owne wilful conceit pride pompe cōmoditie lost both sense reason and religion Notwithstanding to all such as haue these I trust I haue said sufficient to make not onely the verity of our owne doctrine touching this Sacrament sufficiently to appeare but also to the full displaying disgrasing for euer with such of the vanity of both these our aduersaries herein Wherefore to returne to my text and so to goe on againe therewith I hope yet by this that I haue saide of this matter you now plainly perceiue that notwithstanding the doctrine and vse of this Sacrament the vnion and communion that we must seeke to haue with Christ though it be true reall in respect of him and vs the persons things to be vnited that yet it is not grosse carnall to be attained vnto by the instruments or members of our bodie at all as these our aduersaries teach but that by the worde Sacraments God offers him
law of GOD forgetting belike that the law is so spirituall that it made Paule to crie out of himselfe O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer mee from this bodie of sinne and death Rom. 7.24 and that Christ most flatly hath said that they worship him in vaine that teach for doctrines mens preceptes Math. 15.9 We vse often to terrifie our hearers from ill workes and from omitting of good by making it manifest vnto them by the iudgements of GOD therefore threatned and executed that so to doe is so daingerous as that thereby they deserue all Gods heauie iudgments to be executed vpon them both in this life and in the life to come and that vndoubtedlye they shall if they repent not Wherein also we goe further than these our aduersaries for they teach that a number of sinnes euen for the littlenes thereof are not deadly or such as deserue damnation which may easily be satisfied for and put away Lastly we forget not to teach them what promises of reward God hath made to such as will carefully walke before him in holinesse and righteousnesse both concerning this life and that which to come assuring them with Paule That godlinesse is profitable vnto all thinges and hath the promise hoth of this life present and of that which is to come 1. Tim. 4.8 wherein we goe so farre that also with Christ we confidently tell them that they shall not lease their rewarde in heauen no not of a cup of colde water bestowed aright in his name vpon any of his Mat. 10.42 For though all that we doe or can doe be infinitelie lesse than we owe to God and are bound to doe for in many things we sinne all Iam. 3.2 yet all that approue themselues to be in Christ by walking not after the flesh but after the spirite in bringing forth the right fruites thereof as Paule teacheth Rom. 8.12.13 c. vndoubtedly for Gods promises sake in Christ Iesus shall both heere and in heauen finde themselues and their workes so liberally rewarded that they shal haue no cause to complaine but rather to wonder at Gods most bountifull crowning of his owne blessinges and graces with further both heere and there Thus then you see that though when the question is in hande why men shall be saued we dare sende them to no other meritorious cause thereof but onelie to Christ and the thinges done by himselfe for vs because we know that his name is the one lie name whereby commeth saluation Act. 4.12 yet when it is demaunded who they are which for Christes sake shall indeede be saued and so rest in Gods tabernacle and for euer dwell vpon his holy hill we are boulde to teach that none but they that according to the time and occasion they haue after they be in him proue themselues to be such by the riuers of water of life flowing out of their bellies as you haue heard and therefore are such as are described to that ende Psalm 15.2 c. And beeing such we counte it no presumption but most commendable faith in them to be fully perswaded because they haue not onelie Gods worde and promise generally offered vnto them and particularly sealed in the administration of the worde and Sacramentes outwardlie but also most effectually inwardly testified vnto their spirites by Gods owne Spirit by these newe fruites thereof to appertaine particularly vnto them to ground this their perswation vpon that for Christes sake vndoubtedly they shal be saued These arguments therefore we doubt not will bee sufficient to moue and to perswade all that vnfainedly be the Lordes euen of loue and thankefulnes towardes him for his vnspeakable loue and mercies towardes them to striue both day and night by all possible meanes so to stirre vp the graces of the spirit in them that indeede worthylie they may bee counted as Riuers of waters of life flowing out of their bellies Thus then at last welbeloued in the Lorde we haue hearde first the circumstances of a notable sermon made by Christ our Sauiour himselfe as where when vpon what occasion and in what manner he made it namelie at Hierusalem in the temple in and vpon the last and most solemne day of the feast of Tabernacles to draw them that were there from their owne vaine superstitions that led them from him to himselfe vttered by him standing and that with a crying voice Secondly you haue heard that he spoke therein to all that be thirstie and to none else that is to all that are truely broken and contrite hearted vnder the burthen of their sinnes and so earnestly long for redemption and deliuerance from the same Thirdly you haue heard that he commaunded such what to ease them of this their spirituall thirst they shoulde doe and that that was and is first to come vnto him that is to know and acknowledge him what he is in person and office and then to drinke of him that is rightlie to beleeue in him and so thereby to make him with all the mercies of God prouided for mans saluation in him their owne which they hauing done lastly you haue heard that he promiseth all such that his Spirit in them all should be as riuers of water of life flowing out of their bellies which was not nor had not beene as yet then because when Christ made this sermon hee was not yet glorified And in handling of all these withall you haue beene shewed what we are to learne euerie one of vs thereby both ministers and people which haue beene such and such and so manie good thinges as that if we haue heard as we ought to doe we haue all of vs I hope euen sufficiently to our saluation learned both howe to beleeue and how to liue to be saued For first we haue beene taught howe by the lawe we are to be humbled and throwne downe that we may be fit patients for Christ Iesus secondly we haue heard by the Gospell how we are to rise againe and to recouer a better standing than euer we had in the first Adam by knowledge and faith of the second Christ Iesus our Lord and Sauiour For we haue beene shewed how the Spirit of God by the ministrie of the worde and Sacramentes through this faith of ours grounded vpon sounde knowledge vnites Christ Iesus himselfe and vs togither though after a spirituall manner yet most truelie and effectually to our saluation and the contrarie doctrine hath at large bene confuted And by the way it hath most plainely beene laide before vs howe we ought to be qualified both in faith and manners both in hearing of the worde and in the vse of the Sacraments that thereby still we may growe vp in the house of GOD in Christ Iesus to be perfect men and acceptable in the sight of his heauenlie father Lastlie by the viewe of the promise we haue beene I trust thorowlie taught what manner of liues we ought to leade as long as we liue after that once we bee got
matter most cleare that that might be trusted to to worke and to procure these effectes he is so cooled that he concludes the matter but thus that he allowes confidence to be put in good works indeed so that pride therein be auoyded but yet for that that pride is so hardly auoided in this case as it is we are alwaies so vncertaine as we must needes bee whether we haue attained to that measure and manner of righteousnesse that to this purpose is necessary he thinketh it most safe when we haue done all the good works we haue or can that yet we put all our trust and confidence in the onely mercy and goodnesse of God Which what is it else but whē he hath done his worst against the imputation of Christs righteousnesse to make the beleeuer in him righteous by for the establishing of this their own inherent righteousnes in the romphe therof euen then to cast vs the bucklets and for shame to take his heeles and to run away from his cause and to leaue vs both the field the victory But alwaies great is the trueth and it will preuaile Wherfore howsoeuer they thinke of themselues we may plainely inough see that their case is pitifull and lamentable in their striuing thus to darkē to obscure the glorie of Christ for the maintenance and setting vp of themselues and their owne deuises in his romphe and yet when all comes to all to be enforced thus in effect to confesse that all the while they haue but kicked against the prickts and for that whervnto they dare not trust in conclusion God of his mercy make them to see their grosse errours heerein and in the meane time let vs runne by the light of the gospell this way be Christ by acknowledging him both in person and office to be such an one as I haue thereby proued and manifested him to bee which when we haue done then we haue made a good beginning to obey Christes commaundement heere but yet the chefe is behinde for he further addeth and drinke By this drinking Christe must be caten and drunken and there fore there must be had a true cōmunion with him he doubtlesse vnderstoode drinking of himselfe thereby implying eating of himselfe also for as he said in the former chapter Except yee drinke his blood so withall he saith except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man yee haue no life in you and whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternall life and I wil raise him vp at the last day vers 53. 54. By which figuratiue metaphorical kinde of speach he would teach vs that as it is not inough for him that is hungry and thirsty to come where meate and drinke is to see and behold them yea perfectly to knowe them and be able to say what euery thing is and to what vse it serueth but if he would haue his hunger and thirst satisfied he must thereof both eate and drinke euen so is it in this case For it is not inough to come vnto Christ though we come from point to point as I haue shewed vnlesse that done we goe further yea so farre as that we as surely and verily take him vnto vs and into vs and so make him as certainely our own as meate drinke receiued in and wel digested may be said to be our owne Wherby it most clearely appeareth that as no benefite can arise to the maintenance of this present life by meat and drinke vnlesse they be eaten vpon drunken and as neyther the sap and iuice that is in the meate nor the power nor force of the drinke can be made ours to nourish strengthen our bodies vnlesse we eate drinke the meat and drinke themselues wherein they are lodged contained euen so is it betwixt Christ vs. And therefore Though he be the bread of life his flesh meat indeed his blood drink indeed as we are plainly taught by him they are in the former chap. ver 53 55. yet we can be neuer the nearer therby to the maintenāce of our spiritual life before God vnles by an eating drinking of him fit for that purpose we feed vpon him cat drink himself so cōsequētly by making him wholly God man our very own and so growing into vnion communion with him we attaine vnto all those good things that are prepared for vs in him And to put vs out of al doubt hereof Saint Iohn in his first Epistle Cap. 1.3 sheweth vs that the whole scope of his ministrie and of his fellow Apostles was that there by this communion and fellowship with Christ might be attained saying That which wee haue seene and heard declare wee vnto you that ye may also haue fellowship with vs and that our fellowship may be with the father and with his sonne Iesus Christ Againe most plaine it is to this purpose that he writeth Cap. 5. of that Epistle vers 11.12 where he saith That God hath giuen vs eternall life he that hath the sonne hath life and he that hath not the sonne hath not life For heerby most plainely first we are taught that the chiefe vse that we are to make of the ministrie is thereby to attaine to haue communion with Christ and then as clearely he shewes vs the better to prouoke vs to striue to make that vse thereof indeede that God in his mercy hauing prouided eternall life for vs which we by the fall of Adam and our owne sinnes had lost in his sonne Christ Iesus that yet he would haue the case so stande with vs in respect thereof that we can neuer haue that vnlesse we haue the sonne himselfe in whom it is treasured coffered vp for vs. Wherby questionlesse the Lorde in his wisedome euen of loue towardes vs hath so ordered the matter for our verie best For when Adam and Eue had life in their owne handes in paradice we haue found by experience they very quickly lost it God therfore hauing so costlie and dearely compassed it againe for vs by the death and passion of his owne welbe loued sonne he sawe it in his wisedome neither good nor safe for vs liuing in this dangerous world to trust it any more in our owne handes and therefore he that is the author and purchaser thereof for vs as he hath the best right therunto by his appointment hath it still lodged for vs in himselfe and that so surely and inseparably that none euer shal or can be partaker thereof but by the communication of his verie selfe first and so once beeing sure of him then also he may withall be assured of the other For these two now by Gods ordinance goe alwaies so togither that where Christ is had there the partie in him is sure of euerlasting life and where he is not had there can be no assurance thereof The blessed sacrament of the bodie and blood of Christ was Instituted by him euen
of purpose not onely to keepe still fresh in our remembrance his precious death with all the fruites thereof both generally and particularly but also without all doubt to offer to deliuer and to feale the doliuery to as many as rightly as they should receiue the same a most certaine vnion and communion with whole and full Christ himselfe And to teach vs plainly so much Paule saith 1. Cor. 10.16 The cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the communion of the blood of Christ the breade which we breake is it not the communion of the bodie of Christ As certainely therefore as by bodily eating and drinking in that sacrament or elsewhere the eater and drinker of bread and wine makes himselfe partaker of all the force and goodnesse therein by making themselues first his owne to the chearing and strengthening of this life in the bodie so by such eating and drinking of the bodie broken and blood shed for him of Christ which are the thinges in this sacrament signified and offered vnto him as is fit to make such foode his owne by as verily the worthy and right receiuer in soule feedeth vpon and is nourished to eternall life with the broken bodie and bloodshed of Christ Iesus And to assure al such of this by Christ the bread is faid to be his body broken and the wine his blood shed for the remission of their fins and both so termed and called by his ordinance broken and powred forth are particularly to be giuen to euery such communicant and they are likewise to receiue them and therefore doubtlesse thereby taught not only by that which they see and he are in the administration herof with thankfull and penitent hearts to remember his death and sonowe therein his bodie was broken and his blood shed and seuered from his body and that therefore these so handled are the heauenly and spirituall foode prepared for the maintenance of their spirituall life before God but also by that which further is deliuered and they receiue that they are to assure themselues euerie one in particular that Christ died for them and therefore shall nourish and feede them to eternall life by vniting himselfe most certainely vnto them to that ende and purpose Further yet to teach vs that this moste certaine and reall vnion with Christe is for the whole Church and for the saluation thereof most necessary those other metaphors also serue whereby be is compated to the heade and husband of the Church as of his bodie and wife Ephes 1.12 Cap. 5.32 or to the vine stocke whereinto his heauenly father engrasteth all those branches that euer shall being forth much fruite that he may be glorified Io. 15.5.6.7.8 For hereby we are taught that as it is with these heade husband and stocke in respect of the bodie wife and branches so is it betwixt Christ and all those that shall be saued As therefore vnlesse the head really growe and be vnited to the bodie yea though there can but a haire goe betwixt the one and the other the bodie can haue no life from the head and as mariage beeing consummate it maketh them that were strangers before one bodie one flesh yea one selfe fame Ephes 5.28.29 and that otherwise vnperfected it hath no such effect and lastly as it is not inough for the braunches to touch the vine stocke yea nothing to haue life from thence vnlesse they so growe therin that it and they be as it were one euen so is it in this case betwixt Christ and all those that would be saued by him And therefore to expresse as much Paule saith That such as are his they are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Ephe. 5.30 yea 1. Cor. 1.13 he maketh the Church and Christ but as one perfect man whereof Christ is the heade and the Church his bodie in so much as Ephes 1.23 he calleth the Church his fulnesse to shew that such loue there is betwixt Christ and his Church and that there is also such a perfect vnion betwixt them that though he be he that filleth all thinges and is the perfection thereof that he accounteth himselfe as a heade without a bodie without the true vnion and connexion of the Church with him And therfore Iohn 17.23 he was an earnest suter vnto his father that he might be in his as he his father was in him that so they might be made perfect in one and heerein he knew he was so heard that he accounteth the affliction of any sound member of his Church as the persecution of his owne self and therefore when Saule persecuted such he said vnto him Saul Saul why persecutest thou mee Act. 6.4 And yet better to assure them thereof he also reckoneth his owne ioyes to be theirs as well as their sorrowes to be his that will open vnto him and be his and therefore to encourage such so to doe and bee he said vnto them Reue. 3.22 that to such he would giue to sit with him vpon his throne and that he woulde sup with them and that they likewise should sup with him The cuidence of this doctrine beeing most strong and apparant as you he are and the papistes themselues not seeming to doubt thereof at all but that theiudgements of God are vnsearchable and that they haue deserued for their wilfull seeking to darken the light of the gospel will they nill they shining amongst them to be made drunke and so quite to be caried away in the most just iudgement of God by a strong dilusion of the enchanted cup ful of formications profered vnto them vged vpon them by the garish whore of Babilon it is a wonder that withal they are not enforced to see to perceiue the most of the absurdities heresies they hold tou ching the article of iustificatiō saluation For how can it otherwise bee but that they that are thus vnited to Christ he to them must needs most certenly as it were sensi bly vnderstād it so to bee by the wonderful alteration that therupon thorowout both in body soule wil grow in thē by the inseparable graces of the spirit alwaies accōpanying his vnion with his And therfore in him there being also as alwaies there is full and certain remission of sins prepared for al them that be so nilie his he neuer going without his perfect righteousnes being as he is the very fountaine of al Gods fauours mercies towards man how is it possible that he should be a mans owne he know it also but that he may and must without any wauering or doubting thereof fully and firmly be assured that his sins are forgiuen him that his righteousnes is his that therfore he may haue a most speciall assurance and confidence of the mercy of God to his most perfect faluation For these graces and fauours of God are neuer seuered frō the person of Christ therfore wheras he is once really truely