Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	bread_n	eat_v	manna_n	4,436	5	12.4770	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02359	Three rare monuments of antiquitie, or Bertram, priest, a French-man, of the body and blood of Christ, (written 800 yeares agoe) with the late Romish purging thereof: Ælfricus, Arch-bishop of Canterburie, an English-man, his sermon of the sacrament, (preached 627 yeares agoe:) and Maurus, abbot, a Scots-man, his discourse of the same (820 yeares agoe:) all stronglie convincing that grosse errour of transubstantiation. Translated and compacted by M. VVilliam Guild, minister at King-Edward; De corpore et sanguine Domini. English. Abridgments	Ratramnus, monk of Corbie, d. ca. 868.; Guild, William, 1586-1657.; Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham. Sermo de sacrificio in die Pascae. aut; Rabanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mainz, 784?-856. De sacramento Eucharistiae. aut	1624 (1624)	STC 12492; ESTC S103528	49,280	152

treated of in another place and part we shal now declare to wit that which belongeth to the holie Housell Christen men may not now keepe that olde Law bodilie but it behoveth them to know what it ghostlie signifi●th That Innocent Lambe which the olde Israelites did then kill had signification after ghostlie vnderstanding of Christs suffering who vnguiltie shed his holie blood for our redemption Heere-of sing Gods servantes at everie Masse Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi miserere nobis that is in our speach Thou Lambe of God that takest away the sinnes of the world haue mercie on vs. Those Israelites vvere delivered from sudden death and Pharaohs bondage by the Lambes offering which signifyed Christes suffering thorowe which wee are delivered from ever-lasting Death and from the Devils cruell reigne if wee rightlie belieue in the true Redeemer of the whole Worlde even Christ the Saviour That Lambe was offered in the Evening and our Saviour suffered in the last Age of the Worlde This Age of the corruptible Worlde is reckoned to the Evening They marked with the Lambes blood vpon the Doores and vpper postes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THAV that is the signe of the Crosse and were so defended from the Angell that killed the Aegyptian first-borne And we ought to marke our Fore-heads and our Heartes with the Bloode of our Lordes Suffering Those Israelites did eate the Lambes flesh yearlie at Easter time when they were delivered And wee receiue Christes bodie ghostly and drinke his bloode when wee receiue with true beliefe that holie Housell That tyme they kept yearelie at Easter seaven dayes with great worship when they were delivered from Pharaoh and departed from that I and. So also Christen men keepe Christes Resurrection at the tyme of Easter seaven dayes because thorow his Suffering and rysing wee are delivered and are made cleane by going to this holie Housell as Christ sayeth in his Gospell Verilie verilie I saye vnto you Yee haue no lyfe in you except yee eate My Eleshe and drinke My Blood Hee that eateth My Fleshe and drinketh My Bloode abydeth in Mee and I in him and hee hath that Ever-lasting Lyfe and I will rayse him vp at the last Daye I am that lyuelie Bread which came downe from Heaven not so as your Fathers did eate Manna in the Wildernesse and died Hee that eateth this Bread liveth for ever Hee blessed then Bread before his suffering and divided it vnto his Disciples thus saying Eate of this Bread It is My Bodie and doe this in My rememberance Also he blessed Wine in one Cuppe and sayde Drinke yee all of this This is My Blood which is shedde for manie in forgiuenesse of sinnes The Apostles did also as Christ commanded that is They blessed Bread and Wine to housell againe afterwardes in his rememberance Even so also their Successoures and all Priestes by Christes Commaundement doe blesse Bread and Wine to housell in his Name with the Apostolicke Blessing Nowe men haue often searched and doe yet often search howe Bread which is gathered of Corne and thorowe Fyres heate baked may bee turned to Christes bodie Or howe Wine which is pressed out of manie Grapes is turned thorowe a blessing to the Lordes bloode Nowe saye wee vnto such men That some thinges bee spoken of Christ by signification and some be thinges certayne True this is and certayne That Christ was borne of a Mayde and suffered death of his owne accorde and was buried and on this Daye rose agayne from Death Hee is sayde to bee Bread then by signification and a Lambe and a Lyon and a Mountayne Hee is called Bread because hee is our Lyfe and Angels lyfe Hee is sayde to bee a Lambe for his innocencie A Lyon for strength where-with hee overcame the strong Devill But Christ is not so not-with-standing after true nature neyther Bread nor a Lambe nor a Lyon Why is then that holie Housell called Christs bodie or his blood if it bee not truelie that which it is called Truelie the bread and the wine which in the Supper by the Priest is hallowed showe one thing with-out vnto humane vnderstanding and another thing with-in vnto believing mindes With-out they are seene bread and wine both in figure and taste and they bee so truelie after their hallowing But Christes bodie and blood by ghostlie mysterie An Heathen Chylde is christened yet hee altereth not his shape with-out though hee bee chaunged with-in Hee is brought vnto the Font-stone sinfull thorowe Adams disobedience And how-be-it hee is washed from all sinne with-in yet hee hath not changed his shape with-out Even so the holie Font water which is called the Well-spring of Lyfe is lyke in shape vnto other water and is subject to corruption but the holie Ghostes might commeth to the corruptible water thorowe the Priestes blessing and it may after wash the bodie and soule from all sinne thorowe Ghostlie might Beholde nowe wee see two thinges in one creature after true nature that water is corruptible moysture and after ghostlie mysterie hath whole-some vertue So also if wee beholde that holie Housell after bodilie vnderstanding then wee see that it is a creature corruptible and mutable but if we acknowledge there-in ghostlie might then vnderstand wee that life is there-in and that it giveth Immortalitie to them that eate it with beliefe Much is between the invisible might of this holy Housel and the visible shape of its proper nature It is naturallie corruptible bread and wine and is by might of Gods word truelie Christes bodie and his blood not so not-with-standing bodylie but ghostlie Much is betweene the bodie of Christ which hee suffered in and the bodie which is hallowed to housell The bodie truelie that Christ suffered in was borne of the flesh of Ma●ie with blood and bone with skin and sinewes in humane limmes with a reasonable soule living But his ghostlie bodie which wee call the Housell is gathered of many Cornes with-out blood and bone with-out limme with-out soule and there-fore nothing is to be vnderstood there-in bodilie but all ghostlie What-so-ever was in that Housell which giveth substance of life that is of the ghostlie might and invisible doing Therefore is that holie Housell called a mysterie because there is one thing in it seene and another thing vnderstoode That which is there seene hath bodilie shape and that which wee doe there vnderstand hath Ghostlie might Certainlie Christs bodie which suffered death and rose againe from death never dieth hence-foorth but is eternall and impassible That Housell is temporall not eternall corruptible and dealed in-to sundrie partes chewed betweene the Teeth and sent downe in-to the bellie how-be-it never-the-lesse after Ghostlie might it is all in everie part Manie receiue that holie bodie and yet not-with-standing it is so all in everie part after Ghostlie mysterie Though some chewe the lesse yet there is no more might not-with-standing in the more parte than the lesse because it is whole in all men after

proceede from the Vine-grape by the sanctification of the holie mysterie is made the blood of Christ not visiblie as is vsuall is substantiall conversions but as the same Father sayeth by the invisible operation of the holie Ghost And because they are a farre more different thing by the invisible power than they appeare outwardlie and are seene to bee hee distinguisheth them while he saith that the bread and wine are therefore compared to the bodie and blood of Christ because as the substance of the visible bread and wine nowrisheth and cheareth the outward man so the worde of God which is the liuelie bread by the participation thereof refresheth in like manner the soules of the faythfull By saying of which things hee confesseth plainlie that whatsoever is taken outwardlie in the Sacrament of the Bodie and Blood of our Lord it is meete for the refreshment of the bodie onelie but the word of God which is the invisible bread beeing invisiblie present in that Sacrament doeth feede the soules of the faythfull invisiblie quickning them by the participation of himselfe Hence it is that the same divine Doctor sayeth that it is a Sacrament in anie celebration when the action is so performed that some thing is vnderstood to be signified which is to bee holielie taken By saying which hee showeth that all Sacramentes in holie matters doe containe some mysticall thing and that it is one thing which is seene by our outward eyes and another thing which is inwardlie to bee vnderstood by our mynds And after this hee showeth what Sacraments are to bee celebrated by the faythfull to wit Baptisme and that of the Bodie and Blood of Christ. Which are called Sacramentes because vnder the covering of the corporall thinges in these Sacramentes the divine vertue more secretlie worketh salvation Whence it is that from their secret and sacred vertue they are called Sacraments And thereafter hee sayeth that in the Greeke they are called MYSTERIES because they haue a secret and hid nature and disposition with them What then are we taught here but that these things which are sayd to bee the bodie and blood of our Lord are therefore called mysteries because they haue a secret and hid disposition and qualitie that is that one thing they show outwardlie and another thing invisiblie they worke inwardlie From this they are also called Sacramentes because by the covering of corporall things the heavenlie power more secretlie dispenseth the salvation of the faithfull partakers Out of all then which hath bene formerlie spoken wee haue showne vnto you that the bodie and blood of Christ which is taken in the Church by the mouth of the faythfull are signes and figures according to their visible shape but according to their invisible substance that is according to the power of the heavenlie word they are the bodie and blood of CHRIST truelie whence it is that according as they are seen as the visible creatures they nowrish the bodie but according to the vertue of the more powerfull substance they both nowrish and sanctifie the soules of the faythfull WE must looke now to the drift of the second Question consider if that same bodie which was borne of the Virgine and suffered died and was buried and sitteth now at the right Hand of the Father bee that which is taken by the mouth of the faythfull daylie in the mysterie of the Sacrament Then let vs aske at Sainct Ambrose what hee doeth thinke concerning this matter for hee sayeth in his first Booke of the Sacramentes Surelie it is a wonderfull thing that God rained downe heavenlie Food vnto our Fathers and that they were daylie nowrished vpon celestiall meat whence it is sayde that Man did eate the bread of Angels and yet they who did eate that bread died all in the Desart But that meate which thou takest and that bread of life which came down from heaven furnisheth the nowrishment of everlasting lyfe and who-so-ever eateth this bread hee shall never die and this bread is the bodie of Christ. Looke then in what respect it is that this holie Doctor sayeth that Christes bodie is foode which the faythfull receiue in the Church for hee sayeth that bread of lyfe which came downe from heaven furnisheth the nowrishment of everlasting lyfe Now I aske if it furnisheth that nowrishment as it is seene or as it is taken corporallie as it is chewed with the teeth swallowed with the mouth and received in the stomacke Not. For that way it should feed the flesh onelie which is mortall neyther giveth it anie immortalitie that way nor can it bee sayde that who-so-ever eateth this bread so shall not die for ever for that which the bodie receiveth is corruptible neither can it availe vnto eternall lyfe because that which is subject to corruption cannot giue eternitie Therfore in that bread there is a lyfe which is not seene with these corporall eyes but which wee beholde with sight of fayth and that is that heavenlie bread which came downe from heaven and concerning the which it is sayd who-so-ever eateth this bread shall liue for ever which is the bodie of our Lord. Also in the wordes following when hee was speaking of the almightie power of Christ he sayeth so The word of God that might of nothing make that which was not can Hee not change these thinges which are into that vvhich they were not For it is not a greater matter to create new things than to change natures Sainct Ambrose then sayeth that there is in the Sacrament of the bodie and blood of our Lord a mutation made marveilouslie because divinelie and ineffablie in respect it is an incomprehensible mysterie Let them tell then sayeth he who will haue nothing vnderstood according to an internall secret vertue but all to bee esteemed after an outward and visible manner onelie wherein this mutation is made for according to the substance of the creatures they are that same thereafter which they were before the consecration they were first bread and wine vnder the which shape they beeing consecrated are seene still so as yet to remaine It must be inwardlie then that they are changed by the mightie power of the holie Spirit and that which fayth beholdeth feedeth the soule onlie and furnisheth the nowrishment of eternall lyfe Also in the words following he sayeth Wherefore seekest thou the order of nature in the bodie of Christ aboue the order of nature our Lord was borne of the Virgine Marie But heere then aryseth the hearer and sayeth that that is the verie bodie of Christ which is seene and that is his blood which is drunken neither that we must aske how it is so but that wee must belieue that it is so Thou seemest for-soothe to thinke well but if thou weigh diligentlie the force of the wordes thou believest indeede faythfullie that it is the bodie and blood of Christ but yet if thou wouldest vnderstand aright thou shalt finde that

the invisible might This mysterie is a Pledge and a Figure Christes bodie is Trueth it selfe This Pledge wee doe keepe mysticallie vntill that wee bee come vnto the Trueth it selfe and then is this Pledge ended Truelie it is so as wee before haue saide Christes bodie and his blood not bodilie but ghostlie But now heare the Apostles wordes about this mysterie Paul the Apostle speaketh of the olde Israelites thus writing in his Epistle to faythfull men All our Fore-fathers were baptized in the Cloude and in the Sea and all they did eate the same ghostlie Meate and dranke the same ghostlie Drinke They dranke truelie of the Stone that followed them and that Stone was Christ. Neither was that Stone then from which the Water ranne bodilie Christ but it signified Christ who calleth thus to all believing and faythfull men Who-so-ever thirsteth let him come to Me and drinke from his bowels shall flow liuely water This hee saide of the holie Ghost which they received who believed in him The Apostle Paul saith that the Israelites did eate the same ghostlie Meate and dranke the same ghostlie Drinke because that heavenlie Meate that fed them fourtie yeares and that water which from the Stone did flow had signification of Christs bodie and his blood which now are offered daylie in Gods Church It was the same which wee now offer not bodilie but ghostlie Wee saide vnto you ere-while that Christ hallowed bread and Wine to housell before his suffering and said This is My Bodie and My Blood yet he had not then suffered but so not-with-standing he turned thorow invisible might that bread to his owne bodie and that wine to his owne blood as hee before did in the Wildernesse before that he was borne to be a Man when hee turned that heavenlie meat to his flesh and the flowing water from that Stone to his owne blood Verie manie did eate of that heavenlie Meat in the Wildernesse and dranke that ghostlie Drinke and were never-the-lesse dead as Christ saide and Christ meant not that death which none can escape but that ever-lasting death which some of that folke deserved for their vnbeliefe Moses and Aaron and many others of that people which pleased God did eate that heavenlie Bread and they died not that everlasting death tho they died the common death They saw that that heavenlie Meate was visible and corruptible but they ghostlie vnderstood by that visible thing another Meate and ghostlie received it Our Saviour saith Hee that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath ever-lasting Life Now hee bade them not eate that bodie where-with hee was inclosed nor drinke that blood which he shed for vs but hee meant by these words that holie Housel which ghostlie is his bodie and his blood and hee that tasteth it with a believing heart hath that eternall life In the olde Law faythfull men offered to God diverse Sacrifices which had fore-signification of Christs bodie which for our sinnes hee him selfe hath since offered to his heavenlie Father for sacrifice Certainlie this Housell which wee hallow now at Gods Altar is a Remembrance of Christs bodie which hee offered for vs and so him selfe commanded Doe this in My remembrance Once suffered Christ by him selfe but yet never-the-lesse his suffering is daylie renewed at this Supper thorow the mysterie of the holie Housel Therefore wee ought to consider diligentlie how that this holie Housel is both Christs bodie and the bodie of all faithfull men after ghostlie mysterie as wyse Augustine saith of it If yee will vnderstand of Christes bodie heare the Apostle Paul thus speaking Yee truelie be Christs bodie and his members Now is your mysterie set on Gods Table and yee receiue your mysterie which mysterie yee your selues bee Bee that which you see on the Altar and receiue that which yee your selues bee Againe the Apostle Paul sayeth Wee beeing manie are one Bread and one Bodie Vnder-stand now and rejoyce Manie bee one Bread and one bodie in Christ Hee is our head and wee are his limmes And as the Bread is not of one Corne but of manie nor the Wyne of one Grape but of manie So also wee all should haue one vnitie in the Lord as it is written of the faythfull Armie howe that they were in so great an vnitie as tho all of them were one soule and one heart So Christ hallowed on his Table the mysterie of our peace and of our vnitie Hee which receiveth that mysterie of vnitie and keepeth not the band of true peace receiveth no mystery for him selfe but a witnesse against him selfe It is verie good for Christen men that they goe often to housell if they bring with them vnto the Altar Vnguiltinesse and innocencie of heart if they bee not oppressed with sinne To an evill man it turneth to no good but to destruction if hee receiue vnworthilie that holie Housell Holie Bookes commaund that water bee mingled with that wine which shall bee for housell because the water signifyeth the people and the wine Christes blood And there-fore the one with-out the other shall not bee offered at the holie Housell that Christ may bee with vs and wee with Christ the head with the limmes and the limmes with the head Wee would before haue intreated of the Lambe which the olde Israelites offered at their Easter time but that we desired first to declare vnto you of this mysterie and after how wee should receiue it I. That signifying-Lambe was offered at the Easter and the Apostle Sainct Paul sayeth in the Epistle of this present day that Christ is our Easter or Passe-over who was offered for vs and this daye rose agayne from death II. The Israelites did eate the Lambes flesh even as GOD had commaunded them with vnleavened bread and wilde Lettuice So should wee receiue that holie Housell of Christes bodie and bloode with-out the leaven of Sinne and Iniquitie For as Leaven turneth the creatures from their nature so doeth Sinne also change the nature of Man from Innocencie to Vncleannesse And the Apostle hath taught howe wee should feast not in the Leaven of Evilnesse but in the sweete Dough of Puritie and Trueth III. The Hearbe which they shoulde eate with the vnleavened bread is called Lettuice and is bitter in taste So wee shoulde with bitternesse of vnfeigned repentance purifie our myndes if wee will eate Christes bodie IIII. Those Israelites were not wont to eate rawe flesh and therefore God bade them to eate it neyther rawe nor sodden in water but roasted with fyre Hee shall receiue the bodie of God rawe that shall thinke with-out reason that Christ was onelie Man lyke vnto vs and was not God And hee that will after mans wisedome search of the mysterie of Christes Incarnation doeth lyke to him that seetheth Lambes flesh in water because that water in this same place signifyeth mans vnder-standing But wee should vnder-stand that all the mysterie of Christes humanitie was ordered by the power of the holie Ghost And then

which thinges it is showne evidentlie vnto vs that nothing is vnderstood in that meat and drinke corporallie but all is to bee taken spirituallie for the soule of man which is signified by his heart is not fed with corporall foode but is nowrished and quickened by that word of God Which the same Doctor showeth more manifestlie in his fift Booke of the Sacraments saying It is not that bread wich entereth into the bodie but that bread of lyfe which giveth quickning to our soules And that Sainct Ambrose spake not this of the common bread but of the bread of the bodie of Christ the next words manifestlie declare for hee speaketh of the daylie bread which the faythfull desire to bee given them and therefore hee subjoyneth these wordes If it bee our daylie bread why take yee it onelie at the ende of a whole yeare as the Grecians in the East vsed to doe Take then that daylie which will bee profitable to thee daylie and liue so that thou mayest bee worthie daylie to receiue it It is manifest then concerning what bread hee speaketh to wit concerning the bodie and blood of Christ which nowrisheth not in that it goeth downe into the bodie but because it is the bread of everlasting lyfe By the authoritie then of this most learned man wee are admonished that there is a great difference betweene the bodie of Christ which suffered and his blood which gushed foorth out of his syde on the Crosse and betweene this bodie which is celebrated daylie by the faythfull in the mysterie of the Lords Passion and that blood which is taken by the mouth of the faythfull seeing it is the mysterie onelie of that blood wher-with the whole world was redeemed That bread and that drinke therefore according to that they are seene are not the bodie and blood of Christ but according to that they furnish the nowrishment of lyfe spirituallie But that bodie of Christ wherein he was crucified carried none other shape or appearance than wherein it did consist truelie for it was truelie that bodie which was seene which was touched which was crucified which was buried lyke-wyse that blood which gushed foorth out of his side seemed not one thing outwardlie and mysticallie covered another thing inwardlie therefore it was true blood which sprang from that true bodie But that blood of Christ which now the faythful drinke and the bodie which they eate is one thing according to their shape and another thing according to their signification for it is one way wherby they feede the bodie with corporall foode and another where●y they fill our soules with the substantiall nowrishment of eternall lyfe Concerning which thing Sainct Ierome in his Commentarie vpon Sainct Paules Epistle to the Ephesians writeth so The bodie and blood of Christ sayeth hee may be vnderstood two māner of ways either spirituallie concerning the which hee sayeth My Flesh is Meat indeed and My Blood is Drinke indeede or corporallie according to that flesh which was crucified and that blood which was shed by the Souldiours Lance. It is not then by a small difference that hee maketh such a distinction of the bodie and blood of Christ for while he saith That this flesh or blood which is taken by the faythfull is spirituall but that flesh which was crucified and that blood which was shed by the Souldiours Lance is not spirituall hee insinuateth thus much that there is great difference betweene these as there is betweene corporall things and spirituall visible and invisible naturall and supernaturall and in respect that they differ so it followeth that they are not one Therefore that spirituall flesh which is taken by the faythfull onlie and that spirituall drinke which is exhibited vnto the believers daylie to bee drunken differeth from the flesh which was crucified and the blood which was shedde by the Souldiours Launce as the authoritie of this holie Man testifieth and therefore I say they are not all one thing For that flesh which was crucified was made of the Virgines flesh joyned with Bones and Sinewes distinguished by the Lineamentes of humane Members quickened with the spirite of a reasonable soule to the vse of a proper life and agreeable motions But that spirituall flesh which feedeth the believers spirituallie according to the outward shape it consisteth of the graines of Corne made by the hand of the Baker joyned with no sinewes nor bones distinguished with no varietie of members quickned vvith no reasonable soule and which can exercise no proper motions for what-so-ever in it giveth lyfe is of a spirituall power of an invisible efficacie and of an heavenlie vertue for it is a farre more different thing as it is believed in a mysterie than as it is seene outwardlie More-over the flesh of Christ which was crucified shewed no more outwardlie than it was in it selfe because it was the flesh of a true man onelie to wit a true bodie vnder the shape of a true bodie But we must not onelie consider in that bread this bodie of Christ but also the bodie of the whole believers in him must be represented for which cause it is made vp of manie graines of Wheate because so the bodie of the Church is made vp of manie believers by the word of Christ for which cause as in the mysticall bread the bodie of Christ is vnderstood so also in the same mysterie the members of the Church are represented to bee one in Christ and as not corporallie but spirituallie that bread is called the bodie of the Church or believing people So also of necessitie it must bee vnderstood to be the bodie of Christ not corporallie but spirituallie So also in the wine which is called the blood of Christ it is commanded to bee mixed with water neither is it suffered that one of them bee offered without the other because the people can-not be without Christ nor Christ without his people even as the head cannot be with-out the members nor the members with-out the head for the water in that Sacrament signifieth the people Then if that wine which is sanctified by the office of the Ministers thereof bee turned corporallie into the blood of Christ the water also which is mixed with it of necessitie must bee converted corporallie into the blood of the believers For where there is one sanctification there is one operation and where there is a-lyke reason there is a-lyke mysterie But wee see in the water nothing to be changed corporallie and therefore consequentlie neither in the wine So that what-so-ever in the water is signified concerning the people it is taken spirituallie Then of necessitie what-so-ever in the wine is meaned concerning the blood of Christ must be taken spirituallie Also these thinges which differ amongst them selues are not one the bodie of Christ then which hath died and is risen and is made immortall dieth not now for Death hath no more dominion over it for it is eternall neither is it now passible