they vvhich beleeue in him plainly meaning that in the same place where he is in bodie and soule the faithfull are and shal be also first indeede in their soules afterwardes at their time they shal bee with their bodies but the vnfaithful with neither soules nor bodies So wee iudge it great impietie to say that heauen is euerie where sith it is to the vngodlie no where but to the godlie it is onely assigned in the holie scriptures as their proper and euerlasting seate And it must needes be graunted both that bodies are circumscribed with their certaine distances of place yea euen after the resurrection also that soules are cōtained at least as they speak definitely III. There shal be an and of this world all things shal be chaunged though the verie time be vnknowne And although it be vnknowne vnto vs Mat. 24.26 Act. 1.7 Ies 24.23 65.17 66.22 Psal 102.27 Dan. 12.2 Mal. 4.1 2. Pet. 3.13 Apoc. 21.1 Iude. 14.15 Mat. 24 Luc. 25.1 c. whē the ende of this world shal be and that it may not bee knowne yet we beleeue that doubtlesse it shal be and that then shal be chaunged not onely the earth but also the heauens and that there shal be a new heauen a new earth and that all the dead yea the wicked shal rise againe Christ calling them to the generall iudgement by the voyce and trumpe of an Archangell to the assurance of which things it appertaineth that the Lord when he foretold of the desolation of Ierusalem did forthwith apply his speach to these matters namely that we seing what happened to Ierusalem might by those thinges beleeue also that the same should certainely come to passe which he then also spake concerning the ende of the world IV. At length shall all dead men haue life againe and shall rise out of their graues We beleeue therefore that as by Adam all dye so bv Christ all shal bee reuiued 1. Cor. 15.22 yea euen the wicked also in their bodies when as euerie ones soule shall take the bodie againe though we cōfesse that some shall rise to eternall blessednesse and some to euerlasting damnation as Christ saith and they shall come forth Ioh. 5.29 that haue done good to the resurrection of life they that haue done euill to the resurrection of condēnation whereby is confirmed the order also of the resurrection which the Apostle setteth downe saying first they shall rise that are Christes then the rest V. There shall not bee newe bodies created for our soules but the verie same which died shall rise againe But we beleeue that there shall not a newe bodie bee framed for each foule but that the verie same bodies touching the substance of euerie one which died shal rise again though diuersly altered in some qualities euen as the Apostle reacheth of the same bodies of the godlie 1. Cor. 15.36 42 c. by a similitude of the same seede that it is sowne one manner of bodie it riseth another they are sowne corruptible bodies they rise incorruptible and so forth and Iob witnessing of his hope saieth I know that my redeemer liueth Iob. 19.25 and at the last day I shall rise out of the earth J shall see God my sauiour in my flesh whom I my selfe shall see none other and mine eyes shall be hold him For with our corporall eies shall wee see Christ returning in the cloudes in his bodie and also raigning in heauen VI. By the example of our bodies after the resurrection it is shewed that Christs bodie is not euerie where Phil. 3.21 But sith the Apostle saieth that Christ shall transforme our vile bodies that they may bee made like vnto his glorious bodie wee beleeue that if Christs bodie by that glorie which it receiued by rising againe receiued also the power to be euerie where in the proper substance so also our bodies for the same glorie shall also bee euerie where which sith it shall not bee therefore wee beleeue that neither the bodie of Christ is now euery where in it owne substāce how full of glorie and maiestie soeuer being it selfe finite or determinate Ioh. 17.24 the glory therof also finite especially sith he said that where he himselfe is there he will haue vs to be also and we shall not be euerie where in our bodies VII Errors We cōdemne those impious dotages both of the philosophers which taught that mens soules were mortall and of those heritickes which thought that the soules of all men once separated from the bodies were in some close places where they slept that is were depriued of all sense and operation of the minde or els waked but yet rested till they resumed againe new bodies and thē were admitted into heauen or else thrust into hell as also those which dreamed that the soules of many godlie men were cleansed by a certaine fire in purgatory from the reliques of their sinnes and their suffered temporall punishments Wee disallow also those which do not distinguish betweene heauen where we read that the godly are frō hell and the deepes where wee read that the wicked shal be but that make a difference betweene them both only in this that some are made blessed some accursed though they shal be all in one place together Neither can wee allow of those which saye that if not the certaine daye and howre yet the certaine time month or yeare may be known set downe when the Lord will come and end this world notwithstanding that Christ said it is not for you to knowe the times Yea and wee accuse those skorners of whome Peter spake which thinke that the world shall euer remaine thus Act. 17 2. Pet. 3.3 c. denying that there is any life to come laughing at it We also condemne those which denie the resurrection of the dead as also those which dreame that they shall not haue the same but other new bodies Also we condēne those that taught that our bodies after the resurrection shal be so spirituall that they shall be like to a spirite or as the ayre and not bee seene nor felt as some haue also fayned the bodie of Christ was after his resurrection and since haue also forged and impudently lyed that his bodie was as it were chaunged into his diuine nature so that it could no longer be called a creature CHAP. XXIX Of the glorious comming of our Lord Iesus Christ to iudge the quicke and the dead I. Aresurrection of the dead and chaunging of them that are aliue at the comming of the Lord Jesus out of heauen being made Christ shall straight exhibite himselfe to bee seene of them all in the cloudes and all the faithfull shall meete him in the ayre WE beleeue that the dead rising againe by the ministerie of the Angells at the comming of the Lord Iesus they which shall then bee remaining aliue they shall not indeed dye but they shall in
can be found more excellent then Christs body both for the vnion with the word and for the wonderfull gifts created in the same and so also for the most perfect glorie and happines wherein he nowe liveth It must needes be that this bodie must exist in some certaine most happie place 31 Neither can it proceede but onely from trupiety and from our true reverence towardes Christ that we should beleeue that his body doth dwell not vnder the earth not in the earth not in the waters not in a peece of bread not in every leafe of a tree not in the ayre or in the celestiall speres but in a place as the most happie faire perfect so the highest of al others which we with Ambrose think the Apostle spake of when he said that he was caught vp 2. Cor. 12.2 4. into the third heaven and into paradise 32 To this the same scripture also teacheth the Catholike faith beleeueth and confesseth that the same Iesus Christ shall come out of that heauen in the cloudes Phil. 3.20 1. Thes 4.16 1. Thes 4.17 to iudge the quicke and the dead and that we beeing raised from the dead shall be caught vp into the aire to meete him in the cloudes and so shall be with him in that heauen for euer 33 And this heauen Ioh. 14.2 which is called the Fathers house and the heauenly citty and by many other names The scripture prooueth to be placed aboue all the visible and mooveable heauēs saying that Christ is ascended aboue all heauens Eph. 4.16 and that he is in heauen 34 For this heauen wherein he is in his body and wherein we shall be in our bodies and soules cannot be some vast and I knowe not what vncreated roome partly because nothing is vncreated but God partly because it is plainely to the Hebr. Heb. 11.10 said to be Gods workmāship 35 Moreover the chiefe and principall efficient cause of that moouing wherein his bodie was carried vp into heauen was the divine nature remaining in him according to that to the Phil. 2. God hath exalted him And he was taken vp of God into glory But a secondary efficient cause was the gift of agility which followed his glorious resurrection bestowed on the humane nature by the diety by which agility that flesh ascended vp not held and sustained by angels or by the cloudes as once Elias was in the fierie chariot but of it owne accord and without trouble or difficultie and therefore that motion was not a violent motion 36 Now this ascention of Christ our head was the cause and the example of our ascension which shal be into heaven For sith the head is ascended it must needes be that the members shall ascend and as his ascension was so ours shall bee For he shall chaunge our vile bodies to be like to his glorious body and we shall be caught vp into the cloudes to meete Christ in the ayre and so we shall be with the Lord for euer 37 If then ours shall be a true ascention and that we shall truely be lifted from the earth into heauen Therefore Christs body also did truely ascend from earth into heauen not imaginarily or putatively 38 And this doctrine of Christs true ascention into that highest heauen and his perpetuall abiding there is most profitable and full of cōsolation 39 For first it serueth to strengthen our faith about the certaine place where with the eyes and hands of our faith we may behold touch and take hold of the body of Christ Then to establish our hope namely that it shall be that before the resurrection of our bodies our soules beeing separated from our bodies they shall neither discend beneath the earth nor shall flote in the waters or the aire nor roule about with the spheres but shall be carried aboue all these heauens to that blessed and heauenly house of the Father into which Christ in his body is already entred that they may be euer with Christ Lastly to kindle in our hearts the loue and desire of a heauenly life and conversation as the Apostle saith If ye be risen vvith Christ seeke those things which are aboue set your affections on thinges vvhich are aboue vvhere Christ sitteth at the right hand of God 40 Of Christs sitting at the right hand of the father thus speaketh the Apostle And hath set him Christ raised from the dead and carried vp into heauen in the heauenly places farre aboue all principallities and power and might domination and euerie name that is named not onely in this vvorld but also in that which is to come and hath made all thinges subiect vnder his feete c. YVhatsoeuer is read otherwise in the holy scripture or confessed by the church in the Creedes concerning this sitting is agreeable vnto this 41 But we cā no where read that for this sitting at Gods right hand either Christ Iesus tooke any other body call it howesoeuer or that in his naturall body there was any chaūge made of the substance of it or of any of those naturall qualities and essentiall proprieties which it retained after his resurrection It is therefore manifest that in what body Christ rose and ascended into heauen namely a visible palpable and circumscribed body in the same he also sitteth at the Fathers right hand in the highest heauens and wheresoeuer he is or pleaseth to be he keepeth still to himselfe such a body 42 The Apostle also witnesseth and the church confesseth in the Creedes that Christ first died was buried raised from the dead and taken vp into heauen before he fare at the Fathers right hand Therefore either it is false that Christs humaine nature thē first receiued a gift for substance of his body to be really euery where or if it be true then it receiued it not by the hypostaticall vnion which was made in his very incarnation 43 Neither is this exception any thing that by the hypostaticall vnion this was giuen him in the first act as that if he would he might be present every where but by the sitting at Gods right hand it was giuen him in the second act that is that he was indeed present every where 44 For besides that the tearmes of this distinction are tearmes not taken from the fountaines of Israel but out of the puddles of sophisters Christ himselfe also refelleth this exception when speaking not of the first act but of the second that is of his actuall presence he said both a little before his death Where two or three shall be gathered together in my name there am I in the middest of them and after his resurrection bofore his ascension he said Beholde I am vvith you even to the ende of the world 45 By those sayings it evidently appeareth that either Christ spake not of the reall presēce of his body but onely of the presence of his diety and power of his spirit or that he is present to vs
like as no other but the verie same Christ rose from the dead so he rose in no other but in the verie same bodie in which he suffred died and was buried 14 For he could not be truely said to be raised and to rise from the dead except that which truely died the verie same quickened againe should rise againe 15 Now the bodie wherein Christ suffred died and was buried was a true humane bodie visible palpable circumscribed Therefore Christ after his resurrection had and retained no body but that which was circumscribed in a certaine place and wheresoeuer it was and is might and may be seene and handled 16 Add also that the Apostle carefully discoursing of the qualities with which our bodies being raised vp to eternall life shal be indued he saith not that they shal not be subiect either to the eye or to the touch or not bee circumscribed in a definite place but he rehearseth onely incorruption glorie and power as is the agilitie thereof and that they shall rise spirituall not that the corporall substance shal be chaunged into an incorporeall but that they shal be as the greeks call it immortall and shal be full of the holie spirite dwelling and working in them The Apostle therefore taught that these are qualities neuer to bee seperated from the bodies namely that they shal be circumscribed visible palpable Wherefore neither did Christs body after his resurrection put of these qualities 17 Neither is that exception any thing that Christ after he was risen came in to his disciples the dores beeing shut For it was not therefore either made vnvisible or vncircumscribed or vnpalpable seeing Christ being come in and seene of his disciples presently saide Feele or handle and see Luc. 24. for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me haue And therefore as the Fathers teach there was no chaunge made of Christs bodie no more then there was when he or Peter walked vpon the waters but by the omnipotency of his diety hauing power ouer all things the doores gaue place to the true and firme bodie of the sonne of God 18 Wherefore not without cause did the Fathers condemne not onely Marcion the Maniches and others which taught that Christ tooke not a true and firme humane bodie but a phantasticall one and did all things according to imagination and phantasie but also the Originists Iohn of Hierusalem and Euticius of Constantinople Hier. tom 12. ad PaÌ„mach Greg. in Iob. lib. 24 c. 29. Bishops and others which said that Christs bodie after his resurrectioÌ„ was made so spirituall that it was more thinne then ayre and therefore invisible and vnpalpable 19 Seeing then that in the supper no other bodie of Christ is giuen vs to be eaten but that which was broken for vs that is truely suffered and died it followeth that Christs 〈◊〉 body which we eate in the Supper is truely circumscribed visible and palpable and consequently seeing nothing is seene touched or perceiued in the Supper besides bread the same body cannot in it owne substance really be contained vnder the formes of bread and wine or lie hidden in the very bread and wine 20 Nowe we acknowledge the resurrection of Christ is both the cause and an example of our as well spirituall as corporall resurrection The cause of the spirituall because the Apostle saith to the Rom. 4. he rose againe for our iustification and an example because he saith Rom. 6. we are burâ—ed togither with him by baptisme into his death that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father so we also should vwalke in newenesse of life 21 But that he is the cause of our corporall resurrection we doubt not 1. Cor. 5. for that the Apostle saith If Christ be risen againe we shall also rise againe and for that he also saith Christ is the first fruits of them that rise and an example for that the same Apostle also writeth he shall chaunge our vile bodies Phil 3.21 that they shall be like his glorious bodie 22 Wherupon It also followeth either Christs bodie not to be invisible vnpalpable vncircumscribed and so not spirituall bodies but incorporall spirits 23 For where Christ saith Feele and see for a spirite hath not flesh and bones as yee see me haue hee did not onely conclude that himselfe was no spirite but he especially taught this that there is no flesh nor bones but may bee seene and felt 24 The Scripture teacheth and the church coÌ„fesseth that our Lord Iesus Christ being raised from the dead did shew vnto his disciples for fortie daies space by many arguments that he was truely risen and then euen in the beholding of the Apostles that he was lifted vpp from the earth ascended into heauen Therfore like as no other Christ rose againe then he which died so no other ascended into heauen nor in no other body then he in which that truely rose againe froÌ„ the dead the sonne of God truely humane visible palpable and circumscribed 25 Wherefore as the conuersation of the same Lord Iesus Christ wherein he conuersed amoÌ„g his Apostles after his refurrection for fortie daies space was not fantasticall but reall and true so also his ascension was not onely visible but also truely as the fathers say locall when the Apostles sawe him ascend from the earth vp into heruen 26 But such an ascension and mouing cannot agree to his divine nature therefore he ascended according to his humane nature 27 Yet by the way we denie not this but that Christ as God like as he is said to haue descended from heauen in respect that he abased himselfe taking vpon him the vile forme of a seruant and suffred in it so also it may rightly be said that he is exalted and ascended vp into heauen namely in respect that in the very same forme of a seruant when it was glorified euen the forme of God was after a sort glorified by his ascention and after it that is was made glorious in the wholle world 28 But it is apparent that as this consequence is not good Christ himselfe beeing God and man ascended into heauen in a locall and visible moouing Therefore he in the same sort ascended according to his dietie so neither is this good Christ God and man is with us to the ende of the world truely and in his owne essence therefore he is present on earth as wel in the substance of his body and soule as in the essence of his dietie 29 If also the Apostles sawe with their eies Christan his owne body by chaunge of place ascending from earth into heauen then the heauen into which he did ascend caÌ„not be an vbiquitary heauen but it must needes be farre distant from the earth 30 Moreover nature and all right requireth that for every thing some certeÌ„ place must be assigned as we see god hath done in all the things which he created Seing then no created thing
of the natures that there is a true and a reall chaunging of the diuine proprieties into the humane nature of Christ For wee allow that axiome or principle of the Fathers against the Eutychians and Monothelities namelie that they vvhich haue the same essentiall proprieties haue also the same natures and essences and they whose naturall proprieties are confounded they haue also their natures confounded Which being of it selfe true in all things then is it especiallie true in God in whome the essentiall proprieties are indeede nothing else but the essence it selfe that it must in verie deed needs follow if those essentiall proprieties can truelie and properly be communicated to anie created substance so that it may be made such as God is as for example simplie omnipotent then the diuine essence it selfe cā also be communicated vnto it so that it might be made equall to God in substance therefore consubstantiall with God if it might be made equall vnto him in power or anie other proprietie So herein is admitted a double that a grecuous offence One is that when we communicate truelie and properlie to a creature those thinges which belong to God wee make the creature equall to god Neither can this exception serue to shift it that God hath them of himselfe but the humaine nature in Christ taketh them of the Godhead For euen the Sonne is not of himselfe nor hath he his diuine essence of himselfe but of the Father yet is he notwithstanding equall to the father and hath the same nature with the Father Another offence is that vvhile vve attribute diuine and so infinite proprieties to the humaine nature as infinite povver we depriue the same of the ovvne and proper qualitie not othervvise then the glorie of the resurrection shall depriue our bodies of the basenesse of corruption vvhen it shall bee truelie communicated vnto them and not othervvise then the cleare light of the Sunne if it bee let into the ayre vvhich vvas lightened onelie vvith the light of a candell it extinguisheth that light For if the infinite povver vvorketh and doth all thinges the finite shall be idle and therefore none at all But sith this heresie euen in our time is largely and plainly refelled by many learned men we which doe here exhibite this briefe simple confession of our faith to the church of God and to all posteritie will add no more to that which hath bin said XI Hovve great the force of this personall vnion is Meane while wee beleeue and confesse the force of this vnion of the natures in the person of Christ to be so great that first whatsoeuer Christ is or doeth according to the diuine nature that same whole Christ the Sonne of man may be said to be or to doe and againe whatsoeuer Christ doth or suffreth according to his humain nature that same whole Christ the sonne of God God himselfe is said in the holie Scriptures to bee to doe and to suffer As that God that is Christ man and God redeemed the church vvith his bloode Act. 20.28 vvhenas the force of the redemption pertained to the god head the shedding of his blood onelie to the manhood Yet both these actions are ioyned in one and each of them may be spoken alike of whole Christ although they were and are distinct because the natures although distinct yet are coupled together in Christs one person Yea Christ the mediatour according to his humanitie neuer did or doeth anie thing wherin his diuinity did not or doth not work together and he neuer performed anie thing according to his diuinitie whereunto his humanitie was not assisting or consenting that the Fathers verie fitlie called all the works of Christ the Mediatour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is performed both by God and man Secondlie as the force of the vnion is so great betweene the Father and the Sonne that he doeth nothing nor communicateth anie good thing to the world but by the Sonne euen so the force of the personall vnion of the two natures is so great that no grace no saluation no life can come to vs from the deitie but by the humanitie apprehended of vs by faith so that hee must needs be coupled to the flesh of Christ that will be partaker of eternall life whereunto that saying of Christ tendeth Ioh. 6.53 vnlesse ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man ye shall haue no life in you Lastlie it causeth that wee cannot adore the deitie in Christ but wee must also therewith adore the humaine nature and that the diuine and humaine nature must both bee reuerenced with one reuerence onelie according to that same And when he bringeth in his first begotten sonne into the vvoolde Heb. 1.6 he saith and let all the Angells of God worship him Him saith hee that is whole Christ God and man together when as notwithstanding the humaine nature of it selfe and considered alone in it selfe nether can nor ought to bee worshipped for God alone is to bee worshipped but the vnion not whatsoeuer but this personall vnion of the diuine nature with the humaine causeth it Therefore albeit that God dwell in the Saintes yet they are not to bee worshipped nor prayed vnto as is Christ the man Wherfore we confesse this vnion whereof we speak to be of great force yet we saie that it is an vnion which excludeth al confusion and transfusion For if the vnion betweene the father the sonne and the holie ghost in one essence then which vnion there can be none greater thought or imagined doe not take away the distinction of the persons then nether this vnion of the natures and so of the proprieties and actions in one person can take awaye the distinction of the same and bring in confusion XII Christ in that he is man is indued with a very great yet a determinate power and other gifts Finallie wee beleeuē that Christ like as in that he is God he is simplie omnipotent simplie wise and so it may be said of all his other attributes so in that he is man hee is indued of the father with a power and knowledge verie farre yea almost infinitelie exceeding the power and knowledge of all thinges created either in heauen or earth and yet a determinate or finite power and so it may be saide of all his other gifts and vertues loue prudence fortitude iustice grace trueth and the rest of which Esaias saith Esay ii 2 Ioh. 1.14 Luk. 2.52 and the spirit of the Lord shall rest vpon him c And Iohn He was full of grace and trueth Also Luke he grew in wisedome and fauour with God and man For which cause also he is saide Ioh. 3.34 Col. 2.3 in that he is man to be exalted aboue all principalities and povvers also that the spirite is giuen vnto him aboue measure also that in him lye hidden the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Whereby it comes to passe that he in that hee is man is
malice and therefore he had no part in the kingdome of Christ Many also as saith Augustine doe eate the bread of the Lord but not the bread the Lord. For as they that heare the gospel are not all made partakers of the forgiuenes of sinne declared therein vnlesse they repent them of their former ill-life and doe beleeue in Christ so neither do they obtaine those things which are represented and offred by the sacraments because they receiue the same sacramentes vnlesse they haue also true repentance and faith XIV By the vnworthinesse of the receiuers the vertue of the Sacraments is not taken away nor weakened Neither yet do we thereby weaken or take away the vertue of the sacraments and the force and power giuen vnto them of God which we acknowledge to depend not vpon the vnworthines of the ministers or receiuers but on the faith and vertue of Christ the institutor of the sacraments For euen as the gospell doth keepe vnto it selfe alwaies both the signification though it bee not vnderstood of all and the power of giuing all things which it offreth though all bee not made partakers thereof euen so the sacraments those visible wordes doe the like namely that as the gospell of it selfe is the power of God to saluation but indeed to none but the beleeuers So also the sacramentes are alwaies the working instruments of the holy ghost to saluatiō howsoeuer none receiue this powerfull working but the true beleeuers For which cause the Apostles feared not to call them all which were baptized 1. Cor. 6.11 holy renued righteousse although they knew that among them were many hypocrits For by such speaches they declared the great power giuen by God vnto the sacraments what we should beleeue they would work vnlesse perhaps our hypocrisie did hinder them In which sence if a man saye that who so doe eate the bread of the Lord they also are made partakers of the Lords body that is it cannot stand with the vertue of the sacrament and with the vertue of the author and distributor thereof but who so be partakers of the sacramēt must needs also be partakers of the thing signified and offered by it such a manner of speach we cannot disallow so that such expositions might be added by which the people might be instructed and those false opinions conceiued before of the worke wrought might be drawne out of their mindes XV. Betvveene the signes and the matters is a sacramentall vnion and what it is And although we saye that the matter of the sacraments is not tied to the sacraments or included in them namely either physically or locally or corporally or also by any knott or bande as though God had simply promised the very matters themselues to euery one that should receiue the sacraments howsoeuer they lacked faith so that he were bound to communicate them vnto vnrepentant and vnbeleeuers yet we take not away all coniunction and copulation of the thing signified with the signes For we acknowledge confesse a sacramentall that is such an vnion as is agreeable to a sacrament with the thinges of the Sacrament And this sacramentall vnion consisteth in a certaine mistical and holy relation namely in as much as the signes do signifie the things and offer them to be receiued the things are signified by the signes and are giuen to be receiued no otherwise thē the vnion is betweene the word signifying exhibiting and betweene the things by the word signified and exhibited But the coniunction aswell that of the sacraments as this of the word with the things themselues hangeth or dependeth vpon the wil and counsell of God the institutor who when he instituted the preaching of the gospell and administration of the sacraments did institute them to this ende and purpose as is declared both that we hearing the word and seeing and receiuing the signes should by by lift vpp the eyes of our minde to the things signified by them beeing offred vnto vs should receiue them with the hands of faith and might indeed be vnited vnto Christ whom they preach vnto vs and shewe as it were with the finger by their signification Therefore as the coniunctiō of vs with Christ is al full of mistery as the Apostle teacheth in the 5. to the Ephe. So also we thinke this vnion both of the word sacramēts with the things wherof they be signes and sacraments to be misticall and spirituall XVI A definition of the sacraments We iudge therefore sacraments in fewe wordes to comprehend manie things to bee externall signes and such as are obiect to our senses ioyned to the word of the gospell according to Christes institution for our ignorance and infirmitie and the more earnestlie to stirre vp and confirme our faith by which all men are seriously called to the true and reall communion with Christ and so with his flesh and blood and consequently to the parking of all the good things which ar in Christ and which are signified offred by the word and by the signes and as for the elect faithfull they are indeed drawne by the holy spirit inwardly working in their mindes that they being incorporated to Christ may accomplish and make vpp the bodie of the whole church preordained of the Father to his owne praise and glorie and their eternall blessednesse XVII The sacraments of the old Testament what in general they had in them common vvith ours Touching the sacraments of the old Testament there is no cause we should speak much seing they are quite abrogated only this that the Fathers had the same God the same promises the same mediatour the same spirite of regeneration the same faith and hope and the same sacraments in respect of the substance which is Christ howsoeuer in cerimonies they were diuerse from ours especiallie sith theirs were deliuered to them for the same ende and purpose for which ours were deliuered to vs namely that they might bee confirmed in the faith of Christ and bee ioyned in communion with him Whereunto belong those sayings The lambe slaine from the beginning of the worlde Apoc. 13.8 1. Cor. 10.4 Heb. 13.8 Also All did drinke of the same rock and the rocke was Christ And Christ yesterday to day and for euer XVIII There be onely two sacraments of Christs church And wee acknowledge two sacramentes which are properly to be called by that name and which haue euer bin common to the vniuersal church of Christ Baptisme the Lords supper of which the one properly belongeth to the beginning of the communion with Iesus Christ the other to the increase whereupon also the one is called the water of regeneration the other the holy banquett and supper XIX Errors Wherefore we cannot allow of those who will haue sacramentes to be there where no word is heard but only the element seene nor those which distinguish not the matter of the sacrament from the sacrament but will haue it come into the mouth aswell
iustly denie Tho. 3. p. q. 2. ar 4 For what proportion can there bee betweene that which is finite and the infinite betweene the creature and creator But by the way confessing with the auncient fathers that it maye be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 compounded in that sense as the scripture saieth the word was made flesh and that he which was in the shape of God was now made in the likenesse of man And this is nothing else but that this eternall Hypostasis doth now subsist in two natures so as Christ is no lesse true man then true God Hereunto tendeth it which before we said of the similitude of the soule body for of these two as true and essentiall partes consisteth the person of man how the same doeth not agree fitly euerie way and yet we allow of the same similitude in that sense which Athanasius and other fathers vsed it to shew the true and substantiall vnion of the two diuerse natures although it do not fully agree in all things to this great misterie as Iustinus in his exposition of faith and other fahters haue freely cōfessed The similitude of the garment is much vsed of the auncient fathers especially of Athanasius and it is agreeable to the scriptures For the flesh of Christ wherewith his deitie was couered the Apostle calleth a vaile Heb. 10. ve 20. And most excellently by this similitude of the garment that opinion of the reall imparting and communication of the diuine proprieties with the humaine nature is quite ouerthrowne which some doe much labour to prooue by the similitudes of a fire-hoatiron and of a bodie with life in it which they can neuer doe The seuenth aphorisme We haue said that the bodie and the soule are two existenees which is manifestly prooued in Adam whose bodie did first subsist by it selfe then the soule being also a substance subsisting by it selfe was ioyned vnto it The same is also prooued by the separation of the soule from the body whereof each doeth remaine subsisting by it selfe But seing they are the essentiall partes of a man each of them indeed seuerally are existences but yet vnperfect and being ioyned they make a perfect existence that is the person of man But thus standeth not the case in Christ touching the diuine and humaine natures for his humaine nature neuer subsisted by it selfe any waies before he took it on him nor subsisteth yet after the taking but onely in the word which word was euer by it selfe a most perfect existence The 10. aphorisme The similitude of the sunne doth not altogether so fittly agree as that similitude of the glorie which our bodies shal receiue because that glorie shal cleane take away al the shame and reproch of our flesh but the sunne doeth onely dimme the light of a candle and not cleane put it out yet notwithstanding this similitude of the sunne doth plainly shew what we meane namely that by the reall communication of the sunne with the ayre the light of the candell is made altogether vnprofitable and so as it were put out and to be no light at all yet that the essentiall proprieties of the flesh are neuer quite taken away or so weakened by the personall vnion that they serue to no vse it is manifest And yet this indeede could by no meanes be auoyded if the humaine nature should really participate with the diuine omnipotencie so that it could doe whatsoeuer God could doe For the word the sonne of God neuer tooke vnto him held or holdeth any thing in vaine Therefore by this similitude of the sunne is strongly confirmed that which is prooued by the similitude of the glorie which shall take awaye all ignominie from our bodies The 11. aphorisme That same whole Christ c. Here in the first part to the name of Christ is added the sonne of man in the other parte the sonne of God God that we might shewe how that diuine attributes are spokē of Christ the man and humaine of Christ God seing the very person of Christ is ment in either part For the same Christ one and the same person is whole God whole man though not wholy as Damascene speaketh for in two distinct natures he subsisteth one and the very same This doth Damascene thus declare lib. 3. cap. 7. The whole Christ is perfect God but the vvhole subsistance of Christ is not onely God for it is not onely God but also man And the vvhole Christ is perfect man but the whole subsistance of Christ is not onely man for it is not onely man but also God For the whole subsistance doth represent the nature but whole Christ the person But whereas we spake of his actions done by him either according to his humane nature or according to his diuine that yet one and the same and whole Christ performeth the same it depēdeth vpon this that the actions were as the schools say of supposite natures But the diuersitie of the actions proceedeth from the diuersnesse of the natures or formes by which they were done Sith therefore there is in Christ two natures and but one person thereon it comes that there is but onely one worker namely whole Christ two natures that can worke and two kinde of actions Now these actions are called the actions of God and man not so much for that they proceede from one agent which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and man as that not onely the deitie but also the humanitie meet together for this worke of our saluation each ioyning his actions with the others actions And this is the first and principal force of this hypostaticall or personall vnion namely that by it the two natures and their properties actions are so vnited in one and the same person that he who by the forme of God wherin he hath frō the beginning subsisted is God and by the forme of a seruant wherein he now subsisteth is man and the same being whole God is whole man and being whole man is whole God and consequently is wholy omnipotent and euerie where present whole inomnipotent and existing in a certen place and the same whole died and whole by dying destroyed death And thus it finally followeth that to the obtaining communicating applying of our saluation not onely his diuine nature worketh but also the humaine worketh with it The secōd force followeth of the first namely that the humaine nature was made the deities instrument vnited personally thereunto and therefore a most forcible and effectuall instrument to bestow all benefites vpon vs. The third that by this vnion this masse or lumpe of humaine nature is lifte vpp to such dignitie that we neither can nor ought to bēd our actions of adoration faith prayer loue to the onely deitie of Christ as is declared in the confession For we are cōmaunded to worship the sonne himself that is the person Heb. 1. and to beleeue in him The fourth force is that because this humaine nature is
Eutychians which on the contrary side as Christ is but one onelie person so they leaue him but one nature onelie namelie the diuine teaching that the humaine nature which he assumed either is wholy turned into the diuine or els so mingled and confounded with the diuine that they make no difference at al in him between the proprieties and actions of his diuine and humaine natures Wee condemne also those which haue proceeded from the former as Macarius with his followers which make but one onelie will in Christ namelie the diuine and therefore admit no proper action at al of the humane wil in Christ We condemne likewise the Cerdonians also in this pointe that they said Christ did not truelie suffer nor was truelie dead but that he fained a suffring or as some heritiks say he suffred and died putatiuelie and therefore with these we also cōdēne all which taught or teach the like things as namelie that Christ rose not againe truelie in the same flesh wherein he died but in another of a diuerse nature or else that if he rose in the same yet that he did not truelie ascend into heauen and carrie the same into heauen and chaunge the place of it Wee also also with Hierome Cyrill and other of the fathers condemne the Originists and their like who taught that Christ rose againe with a bodie like vnto a spirite most subtill and in it owne nature inuisible and not subiect to the senses all those likewise as Iewes and Turkes which denie that the worlde is redeemed by the benefite of Christes death Also all those lastlie which goe about to proue our saluation to be grounded vppon any other thing either in parte or altogether then onelie in Christ and blasphemouslie doe auouch that sinnes may bee expiate or remitted by anie other sacrifices then that one sacrifice of Christ onelie For wee acknowledge one onelie redeemer Iesus Christ without whome as there is no true God so no true saluation and one onely sacrifice the oblation or offring wherof being once made not onelie all the sinnes of the elect were once washed awaie in the person of Christ but also beeing yet continuallie washed away euen vnto the ende of the world are remitted to them that beleeue CHAP. XII Of the true dispensation of the Redemption the saluation life which is laid vp in Christ alone and therefore of the necessarie vniting and participation vvith Christ I. Saluation and eternall lise is laid in Christ that from him it may bee communicated to be WE beleeue that euen as the sinne of Adam and death which followed the same remained not in Adam alone but from him as from the head of all mankinde it did and doth flow into all men which by a common generation haue bin and are borne of him so likewise that the righteousnesse of Christ and the eternall life due vnto him is not holden in Christ alone but is deriued into all those who by the regeneration of the holie spirite are made one with him and as true members are ioyned vnto him as head of the whole church and that to this ende and purpose Christ came in the flesh and that all our saluation and life consisteth in him as in our head that it may indeed be bestowed and communicated vppon all the elect of God which are vnited vnto him II. The grace of redemption and saluation is offred vnto all men but indeed is not communicated but to the elect who are made one vvith Christ For we beleeue Mar. 16.15 16 that although the grace of redemption saluation and eternall life which God bestoweth be earnestly propounded and offered vnto all men by the preaching of the gospell for that very manie are not made partakers of the same it is through their owne fault yet is it not indeed communicated but vnto those who beeing from the beginning chosen and predestinate vnto it in Christ as in the head of all the elect that they should bee his members and so made partakers of saluation were afterwards in their time called by the gospell indued with faith and so grafted into Christ and made one with him III. To the true participation of eternall life howe necessarie this true vnion or communion is with Christ For euen as the braunch can draw no liuelie sapp from the vine Ioh. 15.1.2.3.4.5.6.7 nor the bough from the tree nor the members anie motion sence or life from the head vnlesse they be ioyned to the vine tree and these to the head euen so cannot men receiue anie saluation or life from Christ in whome onelie it consisteth vnlesse they be grafted into him coupled in a true and reall vnion and being coupled doe abide in him IV. That we cannot be vnited vnto Christ vnlesse he first vnite himselfe to vs. Sith therefore the whole participation of true righteousnes saluation and life hangeth and dependeth vppon this most necessary cōmunion with Christ and vnto the same is referred both the preaching of the gospell and administration of both the Sacraments yea the whole Ecclesiasticall ministrie Therefore what our faith cōcerning the same is we purpose to declare witnes to the whole church as brieflie and plainelie as may be in certaine assertiōs or positions which after follow Of the communitie with Christ 1. Ioh. 4.10 And first we beleeue that as we therefore loue Christ as Iohn saith because he first loued vs. we come vnto him by our spirite because he came first vnto vs by his and therefore wee imbrace him by faith because he first by vertue of his spirite imbracing vs stirreth vs vp to faith so we also can by no meanes cleaue and bee vnited vnto him vnlesse he first doe ioyne and vnite himselfe vnto vs. For the one is the cause of the other the first of the latter Wherefore we must pray vnto him Ioh. 14.23 that he will come vnto vs and make his abode with vs. V. How many fold is the vnion of Christ with vs and of vs with Christ and how they are ordered in themselues We acknowledge furthermore this coniunction of Christ with vs and likewise of vs with Christ to bee threefold one which was once made in our nature another which is dailie made in the persons of the elect which yet goe astraie from the Lord and the last which shall be likewise with the Lord in our persons when they shall be present with him namelie when God shall be all in vs all And the first is referred to the second the second to the third euē as nature is ordained to grace and grace to glory For the first is also made by assuming of our nature into the vnitie of the person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of the word The second is made by assuming of our persons into grace and into one misticall bodie with him and as Peter speaketh into participation of his diuine nature The third shall likewise bee made by assuming of vs
all into euerlasting glorie with Christ Neither doe wee doubt but Christ purposed to foreshew vnto vs the second by the first and the third by the second that by that which was alreadie made we might bee confirmed in the hope of that which was to be made VI. As the first vnion was made that satisfaction might bee made for our sinnes so the second is made that vve might bee partakers of that satisfaction Wee beleeue therefore that letting passe those things which pertaine not to this matter in hand wee may come neerer that the Sonne of God by the euerlasting will of the Father and therefore of himselfe also and of the holy ghost like as he tooke vpon himselfe into vnity of his person our flesh that is mans nature conceiued by vertue of the holy ghost in the wombe of the virgine that he might in himselfe purge vs of our sinnes and in that flesh he most perfectlie fulfilled the lawe of God for vs beeing made obedient vnto his Father euen vnto death and at the length the same flesh being offred vp in sacrifice for our sinnes he obtained in himselfe eternall saluation for vs so also that he might make vs partakers of this saluation by sacrifice of his flesh assumed for vs he was willing accustomed to take vnto him and to knitt and ioyne all his elect vnto him in another kinde of vnion namelie in such a coupling as in it wee may bee vnited with him though not into one person yet into one misticall bodie whereof he is the head and euerie one of vs members and may be made partakers of his diuine nature VII As the first is made by vertue of the holie ghost so is the second As we certainelie knowe that as the Sonne of God our Lord Iesus Christ in the first vnion coupled vnto himselfe our flesh and blood by vertue of his spirite for he was conceiued man of the holie ghost and therefore without sinne for which cause also he is called the man from heauen so also in the secōd vnion he doth communicate his flesh and his blood and his whole selfe vnto vs and in the same communion doth knitt ioyne and incorporate vs into him by the power of the same his spirite that alwaies the bonde where with Christ is coupled with vs and we with Christ might bee the same spirite of Christ which as it did bringe to passe in the wombe of the virgine that the sonne of god should be made flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones so also by working in our hearts and incorporating vs into Christ it bringes to passe that wee likewise by participation of the bodie blood of Christ should be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh especiallie seeing hee stirreth vp that faith in vs whereby wee acknowledge and embrace him for true God and man and therefore a perfect Sauiour VIII The vnion of vs with Christ is spirituall yet so as it is true and reall So we beleeue that this other vnion also is almost no lesse then the former so spirituall if we may so speake that yet it is true reall Because that by the spirite of Christ wee allthough remaining on the earth yet are truely and reallie coupled with the bodie blood and soule of Christ raigning in heauen so as this misticall bodie consisting of Christ as the head and of the faithfull members sometime is simplie named Christ So great is the coniunction of Christ with the faithfull and of them with Christ that surelie it may seeme not to be said amisse that as the first vnion was made of two natures in one person so this is made of many persons as it were into one nature 2. Pet. 1.4 Eph. 5.30 according to those sayings That ye should be made partakers of the diuine nature And Wee are members of his bodie of his bones and of his flesh IX A confirmation of the former opinion hovve straight this vnion is For like as the soule in a man because it is one and the same and no lesse whole in the head and in each member then it is in all the bodie together it causeth that all the members do vnite and ioyne themselues into one bodye vnder one head euen so by vertue of Christs spirit because it is one and the same in Christ and in euery of the faithfull it causeth that all of vs knitte spiritually together both in soules and bodies into one we are all one and the selfe same body with Christ our head a body I say misticall and spirituall because it is ioyned and compact by a secret band of the same spirite X. This vnion because it is made by vertue of the holie spirit cannot be hindred by anie distance of place Whereupon it followeth that this true and reall vnion though spirituall of our bodies soules with the bodie and soule of christ can be letted by no distance of place though neuer so great because that spirite is so mightie in operatiō as it reacheth from earth to heauen and beyond and ioyneth in one no lesse strictly the members of christ being on earth with their head in heauen sitting at the right hand of the Father then the soule of a man ioyneth together the hands and leggs and other members into one bodie with the head yea though that man were so great that his head did reach vnto the ninth spheare and his feete stand fast in the center of the earth So great is the vertue of the soule thē how great is that of the holie spirit the true and almightie God XI The spirit by whome this vnion is made is giuen of Christ to the preaching of the gospell and administration of the Sacraments Furthermore wee beleeue that his spirite whereby christ both coupleth himselfe vnto vs and vs vnto him ioyneth his flesh with ours and ours with his is communicated of the same christ vnto vs by his meere grace when and where and how he please yet ordinarily at the preaching of the gospell and administration of the Sacramēts Of which thing was a visible testimonie which we read how that they in the primitiue church which imbraced the gospell by faith and were baptised in the name of christ or vpon whomsoeuer the hands were laid besids the inuisible grace receiued also diuerse sensible giftes of the spirite XII This vnion is the especiall ende of the gospell and Sacraments Whereuppon we do easily gather which is the principall end both of preaching the gospell and administring the Sacraments namelye this communion with christ the Sonne of God incarnate who suffered and died for vs but now raigneth in heauē and imparteth saluation and life to his chosen which communion was begonne here but was to be perfected in heauen so that we by this true reall copulatiō of our selues with his flesh blood and his whole person may also be made partakers of eternall saluation which was purchased by him and stil remaineth and