grace they went out Now Mark speaketh it thus And as they eat Jesus took bread blessed and brake it and gave it to them and said take eat this is my Body and he took the Cup gave thanks and gave it to them and they all drank of it and he said unto them this is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many Verily I say unto you I will drink no more of the fruit of the Vine untill that day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God Here Matthew and Mark do agree not only in the matter but also almost fully in the form of words saving that for this word in Matth. gave thanks Mark hath this word blessed which signifieth in this place all one and whereas Mat. saith Drink ye all of this Mark saith and they all drank of it and where Mat. saith of this fruit of the Vine Mark leaveth out the word this and saith of the fruit of the Vine Now let us see likewise what agreement in form of words is betwixt St. Luke and St. Paul Luke writeth thus He took Bread gave thanks brake it and gave it to them saying this is my Body this do in Remembrance of me likewise also when they had supp'd he took the Cup saying this Cup is the New-Testament in my Blood which is shed for you St. Paul setteth forth Christ's Supper thus The Lord Jesus in the same night in the which he was betrayed took bread and gave thanks and brake and said take eat this is my Body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me After the same manner he took the Cup when Supper was done saying this Cup is the New-Testament in my Blood this do as often as you drink it in Remembrance of me for as often as you shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup you shall shew the Lords Death untill he come c. Here where Luke saith which is given Paul saith which is broken and as Luke addeth to the words of Paul spoken of the Cup which is-shed for you so likewise Paul addeth to the words of Luke this do as often as you shall drink it in the remembrance of me the rest that followeth in St. Paul both there and in the 10th Chap. pertaineth to the right use and doctrine of the Lord's Supper Thus the Evangelists St. Paul have rehearsed the words and Works of Christ whereby he did institute and ordain this holy Sacrament of his blessed Body and Blood to be a perpetual remembrance of himself untill his coming again Of himself I say that is of his Body given for us and of his Blood shed for the remission of sins But in this remembrance thus ordain'd as the Author thereof is Christ both God and Man so by the almighty power of God it far passeth all kinds of Remembrance that any other man is able to make either of himself or of any other thing For whosoever receiveth this holy Sacrament thus ordain'd in remembrance of Christ he receiveth therewith either Death or Life In this I trust we do all agree for St. Paul saith of the godly receivers 1 Cor. 10th The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the partaking or Fellowship of Christ's Blood and also he saith the Bread which we break he meaneth at the Lord's Table is it not the partaking or fellowship of Christ's Body now the partaking of Christ's Body and Blood unto the faithfull and godly is the partaking and fellowship of Life and immortality And again of the bad and ungodly receivers St. Paul as plainly saith thus He that eateth of this Bread and drinketh of this Cup unworthily he is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. O how necessary then is it if we love Life and would eschew Death to try and examin our selves before we eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup for else assuredly he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh his own damnation because he esteemed not the Lords Body that is he reverenceth not the Lords body with the honour which is due unto him And yet by that which was said that with the receit of the Holy Sacrament of the blessed Body and Blood of Christ is received of every one good or bad either Life or Death it is not meant that they which are dead before God hereby may receive Life or the living before God can hereby receive Death For as none is meet to receive natural food whereby the natural life is nourished except he be born and live before so no man can feed by the receit of this holy Sacrament of the food of eternal Life except he be regenerated and born of God before and on the other side no man here receiveth damnation which is not dead before Thus hitherto without all doubt God is my witness I say so far as I know there is no controversy among them that be learn'd in the Church of England concerning the matter of this Sacrament but all do agree whether they be new or old and to speak plain as some do odiously call each other whether they be Protestants Papists Pharisees or Gospellers And as all do agree hitherto in the aforesaid Doctrine so all do detest abhor and condemn the wicked Heresy of the Messalians which otherwise be called Trip. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 11. Euchits which said that the holy Sacrament can neither do good nor harm All do also condemn the wicked Anabaptists which putteth no difference betwixt the Lords Table and the Lords meat and their own And forasmuch as Charity would if it be possible and so far as we may with the safeguard of good Conscience and maintenance of the Truth to agree with all men therefore methinks that it is not charitably done to burden any man either new or old farther than such do declare themselves to dissent from that we are persuaded to be the Truth or pretend there to be controversies whereas none such are indeed and so to multiply the debate the which the more it doth increase the farther it doth depart from the unity that the true Christian should desire And again this is true that Truth neither needeth nor will be maintain'd with lies and it is sin to lie against the Devil for tho by the ly thou dost seem never so much to speak against the Devil yet in that thou lyest indeed thou workest the Devils work thou doest him service and takest the Devils part Now then whether they do godly and charitably which either by their pen in writing or by their words in preaching do bear the simple people in hand that those which thus do teach and believe do go about to make the holy Sacrament ordain'd by Christ himself a thing no better than a piece of common broken bread or that do say that such do make this Sacrament of the blessed Body and Blood of Christ but a bare sign or figure to represent Christ none otherwise than an
or fellowship of the Lords Body whereupon it followeth that after the Thanksgiving it is Bread which we break And how often in the Acts of the Apostles is the Lords Supper signified by breaking of Bread They did per severe in breaking of Bread And again They brake Bread in every house And again When they were come together to break Bread St. Paul who setteth forth most fully in his writing both the doctrine and the right use of the Lord's Supper and the Sacramental eating and drinking of Christs Body Blood call'd it 5 times Bread Bread c. The second Reason The Sacramental Bread is the mystical body and so is called in Scripture 1. Cor. 10. as it is called the natural Body of Christ. But Christs mystical Body is the Congregations of the Christians Now no man was ever so fond as to say that That Sacramental Bread is Transubstantiated and changed into the substance of the Congregation Wherefore no man should likewise think or say that the Bread is Transubstantiated and changed into the natural substance of Christs human nature But my mind is not here to write what may be gathered out of Scriptures for this purpose but only to note here briefly those which seem unto me to be the most plain places Therefore contented to have spoken thus much of the Sacramental Bread now I will speak a little of the Lords Cup. And this shall be my third argument grounded upon Christ's own words The natural substance of the Sacramental Wine remaineth still and is the material substance of the Sacrament of the Blood of Christ. Therefore it is likewise so in the Sacramental Bread I know that he that is of the contrary opinion will deny the former part of my argument But I will prove it thus by the plain words of Christ himself both in Matth and in Mark Christ's words be these after the words said upon the Cup I say unto you saith Christ I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the Vine-tree untill I shall drink that anew in my Fathers Kingdom Here note how Christ calleth plainly his Cup the Fruit of the Vine-tree but the fruit of the Vine-tree is very natural Wine wherefore the very natural substance of the Wine doth remain still in the Sacrament of Christ's Blood And here in speaking of the Lord's Cup it cometh to my remembrance the vanity of Innocentius phantastical Invention which by Pauls words I did confute before and here did promise somewhat more to speak and that is thus If the Transubstantiation be made by this word Blessed in Mark said upon the Bread then surely seeing that word is not said of Christ neither of any of the Evangelists nor of Paul upon the Cup then there is no Transubstantiation of the Wine at all For where the cause doth fail there cannot follow the Effect But the Sacramental Bread and the Sacramental Wine do both remain in their natural Substance alike and if the one be not changed as of the Sacramental Wine it appeareth evidently then is there no such Transubstantiation in either of them both All that put and affirm this change of the substance of Bread and Wine into the substance of Christ's Body and Blood called Transubstantiation do also say and affirm this change to be made by a certain form of prescript words and none others but what they be which make the change either of the one or of the other undoubtedly even they which write most sincerely in these our days almost confess plainly that they cannot tell For altho' they grant to certain old Authors as Chrysostom and Ambrose that these words This is my Body are the words of Consecration of the Sacrament of the Body yet say they these words may well be so called because they do assure us of the consecration thereof whether it be done before these words be spoken or no. But as for this their doubt concerning the Sacrament of the Body I let it pass Let us now consider the words which pertain unto the Cup. This is first evident that as Matthew much agreeth with Mark and Luke with Paul in form of words concerning the Sacrament of the Body so in this Sacrament of the Cup the form of words in Matthew and Mark is divers from that which is in Luke and Paul The old Authors do most rehearse the form of words in Matthew and Mark because I ween they seemed to them more clear But here I would know whether it is not credible or no that Luke and Paul when they celebrated the Lords Supper with their Congregations that they did not use the same form of words at the Lord's Table which they wrote Of Luke because he was a Physitian whether some will grant that he might be a Priest or no and was able to receive the order of Priesthood which they say is given by vertue of these words said by the Bishop Take thou Authority to Sacrifice for the Quick and Dead I cannot tell but if they should be so straight upon Luke either for his craft or else for lack of such power given unto him by vertue of the aforesaid words then I ween both Peter and Paul are in danger to be deposed of their Priesthood for the craft either of Fishing which was Peter's or of making Tents which was Paul's were more vile than the science of Physick and as for these Sacramental words of the order of Priesthood to have authority to Sacrifice both for the quick and the dead I ween Peter and Paul if they were both alive were not able to prove that ever Christ gave them such Authority or ever said any such words unto them But I will let Luke go and because Paul speaketh more for him himself I will reherse his words That which I received of the Lord I gave unto you for the Lord Jesus c. and so he fetteth forth the whole institution and right use of the Lords Supper now seeing Paul here saith that he received of the Lord that which he gave them and that which he had receiv'd given them before by word of mouth now he reherseth and writeth the same in his Epistle it is credible that Paul would never have used this form of words upon the Lords Cup except as he saith he had received them of the Lord and that he had given them before and now reherseth the same in his Epistle I trust no man is so far from reason but he will grant me that Paul did use the form of words which he writeth let us then consider Pauls words which he saith Christ spake upon the Cup This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood this do as often as you shall drink it in remembrance of me Here I would know whether that Christ's words spoken upon the Cup were not as mighty in work and as effectual in signification as they that were spoken upon the Bread If this be granted which I think no man can deny then further I
Iterum Incognitus mihi quidam de Ridleus scribarum numero ut opinor nihil ibi de Transubstantiatione decreverunt sed eam materiam tanquam Ecclesiarum concordiae minime convenientem intractatam reliquerunt quem vera dixisse Ridleius confirmabat Id nos adoramus quod Magi in praesepi adoraverunt Weston Chrysost. Hom. 20. in 1. Cor. sed Magi adoraverunt in praesepi positum verum naturale corpus Christi Ergo Et rursus ibidem Non hic Dominum in praesepi sed in altari nec mulierem in ulnis tenentem sed sacerdotem Adoramus nos fateor eundem verum Dominum Ridley servatorem mundi quem adoraverunt magi in praesepi Nos inquam adoramus eundem in mysterio in sacramento caenae Dominicae Sed eum adoramus spirituali libertate ut ait August lib. 3. de Doct. Christ. c. 10. non carnali servitute hoc est non adoramus serviliter signa pro rebus quod esset ut ille ait servilis Infirmitatis sed mente in caelum elevata illum sursum sedentem qui ab angelis adoratur eundem nos oculis fidei praesentem secundum gratiam spiritualiter in mensa sua assidentem intuemur adoramus Assistit enim semper Christus suis mysteriis ut habet Augustinus divina Majestas ut ait Cyprianus nunquam se absentat divinis mysteriis sed haec assistentia praesentia Christi quemad modum in Baptismo tota spiritualis est per gratiam non autem per carnis corporalem substantiam Ita plane habetur in mensa Domini legitime juxta verbum Dei rite administrata Sub finem Dominus Proloquutor hostiliter in me debacchatus Wiston est inimicum hominem palam appellans praefractum singularis audaciae Clamabat etiam Hereses jam sub ipsorum conspectu protritas conculcatas quamobrem omnes vehementer adhortabatur ad carmen victoriale 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concelebrandum ipso Doctore Proloquutore voce praeeunte Vicit veritas Vicit veritas Adque ad hunc modum triumphali applausu celebri acclamatione sanctissimorum sacrificorum Dominorum Doctorum qui pro aris focis pro Laribus Diis penatibus strenue dimicassent terminata est haec gloriosa Disputatio A Brief Treatise of the most blessed SACRAMENT of the Body and Blood of Christ. THE PREFACE MANY Things confound the weak memory a few places well weighed and proved lighten the understanding Truth is there to be searched with Diligence where it is to be had Tho God doth speak the Truth by man yet in mans word which God hath not revealed to be his man may doubt without mistrust in God Christ is the Truth of God reveal d unto man from Heaven by God himself and therefore in his word the truth is to be found which is to be embrac'd of all that be his Christ biddeth us ask and we shall have search and we shall find knock and it shall be open'd unto us Therefore O Heavenly Father Author and Fountain of all Truth the bottomless sea of all true understanding send down we beseech thee thy holy Spirit into our Hearts and lighten our understanding with the beams of thy heavenly grace We ask thee this O heavenly Father not in respect of our deserts but for thy dear Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Thou knowest O heavenly Father that the controversy about the blessed Body and Blood of thy dear Son our Saviour Christ hath troubled not of late only the Church of England France Germany and Italy but also many years ago The fault is ours no doubt thereof for we have deserved thy Plague But O Lord be merciful and relieve our misery with some light of grace Thou knowest O Lord how the wicked World rolleth up and down and reeleth too and fro and careth not what thy Will is so it may abide in wealth If Truth have wealth then who is so stout to defend the Truth as they but if Christ's Cross be laid on Truth 's back then they vanish straight away as wax before the fire But these are not they O Heavenly Father for whom I make my most moan but for those silly ones O Lord which have a zeal unto thee those I mean which would and wish to know thy will and yet are letted holden back and blinded by the subtelties of Satan and his Ministers the wickedness of this wretched world and the sinful lusts and affections of the flesh Alass Lord thou knowest that we are of our selves but flesh wherein there dwelleth nothing that is good How then is it possible for man without thee O Lord to understand thy Truth indeed Can the natural man perceive the will of God O Lord to whom thou givest a zeal of thee give them also we beseech thee the knowledge of thy blessed Will suffer not them O Lord blindly to be led for to strive against thee as thou didst those alass which crucified thine own dear Son Forgive them O Lord for thy dear Son's sake for they know not what they do They do think alass O Lord for want of knowledge that they do unto thee good service even when against thee they do extreamly rage Remember O Lord we beseech thee the Prayer of thy Martyr St. Stephen of thy holy Apostle Paul which wisheth him accursed from thee for the salvation of his brethren the Jews Remember O Heavenly Father the Prayer of thy dear Son upon the Cross when he said to thee O Father forgive them they know not what they do With this forgiveness O good Lord God give me I beseech thee thy grace so briefly here to set forth the sayings and sentences of thy dear Son our Saviour Christ of his Evangelists and Apostles that in this foresaid controversy the light of thy truth by the Lanthorn of thy word may shine to all them that love thee Amen OF the Lords last Supper speak expressly three of the Evangelists Matthew Mark and Luke but none more plainly and more fully declareth the same than doth St. Paul partly in the 10th c. Cor. 1st As Matthew and Mark agree in form of words so doth likewise Luke and Paul but all four no doubt as they were altogether in one school and inspir'd with one spirit so taught they all one truth God grant us to understand it well Matthew setteth forth Christ's supper thus When Even was come he sate down with the Twelve as they did eat Jesus took Bread and gave thanks brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said take eat this is my Body and he took the Cup gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink ye all of this for this is my Blood of the new Testament that is shed for many for the remission of Sins I say unto you I will not drink of the Vine-tree untill that day when I shall drink it new in my Father's Kingdom and when they had said