Christ hath commaunded the faythfull to doo are doone by them with a singuler profit Therefore let no man esteeme the vse of the Sacramentes vayne or superfluous Cornelius did not despyse Baptisme or thinke it superfluous but he receyued it as the washing of regeneration notwithstanding that he did beleeue before Baptisme and had receyued the holy Ghost Neither doo we receyue the Supper in vayne when as we proouing our selues according to the commaundement of the Apostle come to the Supper with fayth and euen with Iesus Christ dwelling already in our hartes For in the celebration of the Supper we continue the communion which wee haue with him in dooing not without great ioye that which the Lord hath commaunded vs to doo in remembrance of him And yet there is no doubt but fayth oftentymes may be poured and geuen euen in the very celebration of the Supper vnto them which come thereunto al though they be not so thorowly prepared as it were meete they should that they may be made by the same fayth partakers of Christ For who dare prescribe or assigne vnto our so liberall a God any tyme or meane Therefore vtterly reiecting all carnall cogitation let vs acknowledge that a misterie is geuen here vnto vs Let vs remember that the holy Apostles and Euangelistes of the Lord haue in such sorte written the woordes touching the cuppe that if any perhaps would tye himselfe vnaduisedly to the bare woordes touching the bread and keepe himselfe close thereunto he should neuertheles be constrayned to come short in the woordes touching the cuppe and necessarily acknowledge a figure therein Now is it meete to interpret the woords as wel of the bread as of the wine with like obseruatiō S. Matthew S. Marke cal the cup playnly Bloud This cuppe is my bloud Is the cuppe then deliuered vnto vs that we should drinke it No say they but the wine which is in the cuppe the wyne is the bloud I vnderstand you wel but I answeare that there is a figure in that you say that by the cuppe we must vnderstand the wyne which is in the cup. But if you vrge vs in these woordes this is my body to rest wholly in the literall sense what should let vs to presse you also in the woordes of the cuppe with the lyke literall sense But if you obiect vnto vs the absurditie in these woordes we will obiect to you the lyke absurditie in those woordes also Saint Paul and Saint Luke say This cuppe is the newe Testament in my bloud What then I demaund of you whether the cuppe shall be the Testament Who knoweth not that the Testament or couenant is the forgiuenesse of sinnes For the propheticall and Apostolicall Scripture dooth so witnesse it also How than Shall the cuppe be rather within the bloud than the bloud in the cuppe Who is he I pray you if he be not blinde but he seeth here the figure For the wine in the cuppe is the Sacrament of the true bloud of Christ shedde for the remission of sinnes the which commeth vnto vs by the testament What shall we say of that which was forbiddē in the Lawe that the aunciēt people of God should not eate of the bloud of any oblation whatsoeuer it were who will then beleeue that in the most perfect Supper of the new Testament we should drinke bloud If it were so the Paynims long agoe sayd truly that the Christians were woont in their assemblies to eate mans flesh in deede and to drynke bloud drawen from the very vaynes of men Moreouer the auncient Christians did vnderstand these mysteries spiritually For me thinketh that the things which wee haue touched when as we are in hande with the doctrine of Christ in the Supper ought here to be remembred For the Lord hath no lesse playnely expressed in the Supper the breade to be his body than expresly sayd foorthwith after the Supper that his body should no longer be in the world but that by his spirit hee would cōtinue with his vnto the worlds end wherefore these woordes of the Lord pronounced in the Supper and incontinētly after ought to be cōferred togeather And that which more is these woordes of the Lord This is my body be figuratiue and sacramentall but the other pronounced after the Supper be not figuratiue neither haue any fruit or vse in the church if Christ remayn corporally in the church hid vnder the kinde or forme of bread These things sayd I not vnto you sayth he at the beginning bycause I was present with you but now I goe my way to him that sent me And agayne I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away that Comforter will not come vnto you Also I went out from the Father and came into the worlde agayne I leaue the world and goe to the Father And now am I not in the world and and they are in the world and I come to thee It may be they will say that they will not affirme so grosse a presence of Christ in the Supper Let them then shewe what manner of presence it is which they doo affirme Surely they will say that they vnderstand a corporall presence but yet notwithstanding spirituall inuisible and ineffable But the body of Christ is and abideth a true body and is not conuerted or changed into a spirit although it be glorified It is very true that it is ioyned to the diuinitie in vnitie of person yet the natures neuerthelesse abide whole and not confounded Therefore all the auncient true and catholike doctors cry euery one with one consent Christ very God and very Man is one Christ who is not diuided but the properties of the natures remayne in him whole in such sorte that as hee is God hee is euerye where and as he is Man he is in one certayne place of heauen and not euery where sauing onely according to the communication of the properties Consequently they accurse and accōpt as accursed all such which thinke the contrary It followeth therefore hereuppon that there can none other spirituall meanes be established in the Supper but that whereby Christ our Lord which hath and retayneth a true body and is resident in heauen is present vnto vs by his holy spirit reuiueth vs feedeth vs refresheth vs and saueth vs and this vertue is diuine and aboue other most excellent and not a thing voyde and vayne For this cause it is not necessary that in treating of the Lords Supper wee should dispute of the corporall presence of Christ in the Supper and of the carnall eating of his body and yet ineffable considering that our Supper is mysticall and not capernaycall that I say no more the which if it were carnall myght be expressed for contraryly if it cannot be expressed it cannot be called corporall Let it not therefore be denied agayne which already is agreed vpon
Therefore the auncient ministers of the Church were accustomed in the beginning of the Supper to cry to the people Lift vp your hartes Whereunto in like manner the saying of the Apostle may be applyed when as he sayth Our Fathers did all eate of the same spirituall meate and did all drinke of the same spirituall drinke The which we reade in the .x. Chapter of the fyrst to the Corinthians Touching the rest wee will speake some other tyme how the vnfaythfull being partakers of the symboll and Sacrament and not of the thing which it signifieth eat and drinke their iudgement and condemnation The Lord in like manner tooke the cuppe after supper and distributed it amongst them all For he shedde his bloud for them all And as he is the meate of al so is he also the drinke of all Therfore sayd he playnly Drinke ye all of it And in like manner S. Marke affirmeth that they also did saying And they all dranke of it Let then the decrees and ordinaūces of all men whatsoeuer which ordinaūces commaūd that the lay or secular should communicate at the Supper vnder one of the two kindes onely that is to say vnder the forme of breade giue place to these cleare and expresse woordes of the lord Now as he declared before what māner bread it was which he gaue to his so dooth he here in lyke manner shew what manner cuppe or wine this is that is to say sacramentall This is my bloud sayth he of the new testament or This cuppe is the newe Testament in my bloud We haue declared before that in this speech there is a figure For the chalice or the cuppe is the Sacramēt of the bloud of Christ by the which bloud the newe testament is consecrated and dedicated and by the which we haue obtayned remission of sinnes We drinke therefore spiritually the bloud of the Lord by fayth as we also eate his body Furthermore these Sacramentes or symbols serue vs for a seale and for a true testimonie that the sonne of God hauyng takē humane flesh is come into the world who hauyng gyuen his body and shed his bloud hath fully redemed his electe fulfyllyng all thinges promised and written in the lawe and Prophetes The which matter Sainct Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrues doth more at larg expounde vnto vs. The Lorde addeth herevnto So often as you do this do it in remembraunce of me And Sainct Paull sayth Ye do shewe the Lordes death till he come This sentence teacheth vs three thinges First that it is lawfull for the Church of Christe To celebrate this Supper so often as it will and that it is not bound or subiecte to any certayne number And for this cause the sentence of S. Augustine to Ianuarius is commendable The which he vttereth thus Some will say That we ought to receyue the communion euery day and other will say the contrary But he reconcyleth them well which admonisheth them to continue especially in the peace of Christ Let euery one do that which he beleeueth Godly according to his fayth that he ought to do For neyther of them both dishonoureth the body and bloud of the Lorde This foode may no wyse be contemned Consequently the ende of the Supper is shewed when as it is not once only but often tymes repeated This do ye in remembraunce of me For the Lorde by the holy assembly of his people and by this action the which after a sorte speaketh yea and layeth playnely before our eyes these things to be loked vpon by vs woulde that we shoulde retayne and imprinte in our memorie this great benefite and mistery of our redemption and of his passion that is to say that he had delyuered his body to death for vs and shed his bloud for the remission of our sinnes and gyuen them vs also in meate and drinke for our saluation Wherfore in beholdyng the bread and wyne we must not stay our selues only in the beholdyng of them but we must beholde the thinges which they represente vnto vs that is to say the passion of the Lorde and our redemption Our Lorde came once into the earthe he died once and hath purged and clensed vs all Afterwarde he ascended into heauen from thence he shall not come before he come to iudge the worlde Also our Lorde shall dye no more he died once but his only death hath strength and efficacy for euer And the Lorde worketh in vs through his holy spirite sanctification and lyfe To be briefe these thinges which we do serue vs for remembraunces remembraunces I say instituted touching thinges past to confirme refreshe often tymes the remembraunce of the passion of the Lord and of our redemption Wherfore the saying of S. Augustine agaynst a Manichee is prayse worthy The fleshe saith he and the bloud of this sacrifice were promised before the comyng of Christ by the oblations and offeringes Which were figures of them in the passion of Christ they were perfourmed by the trulie it selfe and after the ascentiō of Christ they are celebrated by the sacrament of the memoriall Lo what he sayth hereof Now the same Lorde in auncient tyme ordained the Pascall Supper which he called also a memoriall and commemoration that the benefit of the deliueraunce foorth of Egypte the true image and figure of the vniuersall redemption by Christ might be refreshed and renued euery yere to the remēbraunce of the faythfull There was meate in both the two there were great benefites in both two but yet the truth is here in the Supper the shadow in the other in both two the remēbraunce in both two saluation and lyfe through the Messias finally in both two there were prayses and spirituall reioysyng For in the Supper we are commaūded to shewe the death of the Lord which in deede is nothyng els but the commaundement which is gyuē vs to yeelde prayse and thankesgiuyng to the Lorde for his death And so this parte whereof we haue heretofore spoken is agayne repeated and for this cause we are often put in remembraunce thereof as of that thing which is not the least in that holy bankquet Now we are commaunded to do these thinges vntill he come That is to say vntill the Lorde returne in Iudgement All the sacramētes of the auncient fathers were instituted vntil the tyme of correctiō that is to say vntill the cōmyng of Christ who by hys commyng into the worlde hath fulfilled al the promyses hauyng abrogated and abolished the shadowes and figures Therfore hath he now instituted this sacrament that it might be perpetual and immutable That is to say that it might indure in the Churche vntill the Lorde returne in iudgemēt fully to accomplish that which he promised by his word Who is he than that dare chaunge it If any haue bene so holde to make any such chaunge who is he which seeth not how greately he hath sinned agaynst God
and how vnworthy he is that we shoulde heare him By these thinges we are confirmed to continue in this simplicity keepyng our selues from receyuing at the handes of any person whatsoeuer he be any thing which agreeth not with this institution and holy maner of doyng Let the tradition of Christ suffice vs let vs here do simply that which the Lorde hath commaunded vs to do hauyng herein set foorth him selfe to vs for an example and guyde It resteth that we declare in two woordes what manner of men the Disciples of the Lorde were in this Supper how they behaued them selues therein that hereby we may learne how we ought to behaue our selues also in the celebration of this most holy banquet True it is that they were weake and sinners the which they well declared in the Supper by certayne tokens Neuerthelesse they beleeued by true fayth in the Lorde were receyued into his fauour and clensed from their sinnes they acknowledged theyr weakenesse made theyr supplication to the Lord depended vppon him only and obeyed him simply in all and through all submitting them selues to him and doing simply in the Supper al that which he commaunded them And the Apostles were not defiled by the presence of Iudas the traytor for they were farre from his conditions Therfore least no man thinke himselfe defiled when he seeth in the Supper the wicked and profane receiue it but let him take heede that he him selfe be not wicked Euery one shal beare his owne burden Let vs followe in all things the Disciples of the Lord in simplicitie fayth and obedience dooing that which they did following the commaundement of the Lord beleeuing that we are acceptable to the father through Iesus Christ of whom only it behoueth vs to depend beseeching him to absolue vs to make vs perfect and to conserue vs To him be glory for euer Amen To fill vp these leaues we haue ioyned hereunto this notable place of Saint Vigilius the Martyr foorth of his first boke against heresies It seemeth to me that they are so couered and blinded with the vayle of treason and falsehood that they can neither see nor vnderstand that one thing agreeth to the diuinitie of Christ another thing to his humanitie although they be in like sort common to both the two For he sayth to his Disciples If ye loued me ye would verely reioyce bycause I sayd I go vnto the Father for the Father is greater then I. And againe It is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away that comforter will not come vnto you And vndoubtedly the woorde of God the vertue of God and the wisdome of God hath been alway with the father and in the father euen then also when it was in vs and with vs For in that tyme when by his mercie hee dwelled vppon earth he forsooke not his heauenly dwelling For with the Father he is all in all places of equall Godhead and no place can comprehende him For all things are filled with the Sonne and there is no place voyde of the presence of his Godhead Wherefore then and why sayth hee agayne or how dooth he affirme that he will goe to the Father from whom vndoubtedly he neuer departed But to goe to the Father and to depart from vs was to take foorth of this world the nature which he had taken of vs Thou seest therefore that it was proper to the selfe same nature to be taken hence and to depart from vs the which in the end of times must be restored to vs agayne according to the witnesse geuen by the voyce of the Angels This Iesus which is taken vp from you into heauen shall so come euen as you haue seene him goe into heauen wherefore behold the miracle behold the misterie and the secrete of the two properties The Sonne of God is departed from vs according to his Manhead but according to his Godhead he sayth I am with you alway vnto the end of the world If he be with vs how sayth he The dayes will come when ye shall desire to see one day of the Sonne of man and ye shall not see it But he is with vs and he is not with vs For these whom he hath left and from whom he is departed touching his Manhead he hath not left neither is he departed from Touching his Godhead For by the forme of a seruant which he hath caried from vs into heauen he is absent from vs but by the forme of God which dooth not depart from vs he is present with vs in earth notwithstanding both present and absent he is vnto vs one and the selfe same FINIS Prou. 27.7 2. thess. 3.10 Mat. 26.20 Mar. 14.22 1. Cor. 11.23 Or giuen Luk. 22.20 1. Cor. 11.25 The principal poyntes of this sermon What the mystical supper of the Lord is Of what fort the doctrine of our Lorde in the Supper is The first article of the doctrine of our lord The ende of the Supper The Lorde washeth his disciples feete Iohn 13.8 Iohn 13.10 Rom 8. The Lorde eateth with his disciples the Pascal Lambe Iohn 14.2 Io. 14.3 Io. 14.6 Io. 15.3 The second article The seconde Article The Lorde teacheth vs also repentance in the Supper Luk. 22.31 What the faithfull should do before they come to the Supper 1. Cor. 11.28 The thirde article The doctrin of the lord touching charitie pacience prayers c. Iohn 13.35 Iohn â–ª 15.12 The fourth Article The Lordes doctrine of his body and his spirit Iohn 14.16 Iohn 14.17 Iohn 16.7 A briefe exposition of the Sacraments of the reason of the same Esay 1.12 Iere. 7.20 After that the sacrameÌ„ts of the auncient Fathers had taken an end among the ancient people the new sacraments were instituted for the new people Luk. 22.19 Of the forme and maner of giuyng of thankes in the Lordes Supper 1. Cor. 11.23 Luke 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 25. That which swarueth froÌ„ the worde of God is sacrilege Leuit. 17.4 This testimony is alleged accordyng to the sense of the place wheÌ„ce it is taken epist. 3. Esay 29.13 Mark. 7.7 Iohn 15.14 15. Mart. 17 5. He taketh the bread 1. Sam. 15.22 The ceremonies of the supper are simple and without pompe The fiste Article The Lorde gaue thaÌ„kes and blessed Mat. 26.26 Luke 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 Marke 14.22 The Sacrifice of thaÌ„kes geuyng The sixte Article The Lorde brake the bread Mat. 26.26 The breakyng of bread 1. Cor. 11.44 Luke 22.18 1. Cor. 10.17 Matt. 26.26 Marke 14.22 Luke 22.19 Matth. 26.26 Mark. 84.22 1. Cor. 11.24 He gaue theÌ„ the bread being broken Dan. 12.11 Math. 24.15 Luk. 22.19 This is my body Mat. 26.26 Mark. 14.22 Exod. 12.11 In Hebrue Pesa that is to say a Passage Math. 26.26 Mark. 14.22 The bread is not changed into the substance of the bodye of Christ Matt. 26.26 Marke 14.22 1. Cor. 11.24 Mat 26.26 Marke 14.24 Matt. 26.26 Marke 14.22 1. Cor. 11.24 Mat 26.26 Marke 14.24 The propertie of the body of Christ Actes 1.11 Actes 3.21 Math. 26.26 Mark. 14.22 Luke 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 How we eate the body of Christ Io. 6. from the 27. verse vnto the end of the chapter The lord expoundeth himsefe We doe not â—ache the bare â—eastyng of bread Act. 10.49 1. Cor. 11.28 There is a figure in the woordes of the Lords Supper Math. 26.28 Mark. 14.24 Mat. 26.26 Mark. 14.22 Luke 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 1. Cor. 11.25 Luke 22.20 Leuit. 17.10.11.12.13 14. The Lord as touching his body hath left the earth but he is present in spirit Mark. 14.22 Mat. 26.26 Luk. 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 Iohn 16.4 Iohn 16.7 Iohn 16.28 Iohn 17.11 The vnitie of the person of Christ doth not take awaye the properties of the natures 1. Cor. 10.3 and 4. The seuenth Article He offereth also vnto vs the cuppe Mark. 14.23 Mark. 24.24 Math. 26.27 Luke 22.20 1. Cor. 11.25 The signes and seales of our saluatioÌ„ Luke 22.19 1. Cor. 11.25 1. Cor. 11.26 The eyght Article The celebration of the supper is free The supper is the memoriall of Christ Luke 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 and 25. You shall shew the death of the Lord. The ninth Article Vntill he come What kind of men the Apostles were in the supper Iohn 14.28 Iohn 16.7 Actes 1.11 Matt. 28.20 Luke 17.22 Imprinted at London nigh vnto the three Cranes in the Vintree by Thomas Dawson and Thomas Gardyner for William Ponsonby
¶ A MOST excellent Sermon of the Lordes Supper wherein briefely and yet plainly yenough is liuely set foorth the matter of the Supper of the Lorde Iesus By Henry Bullinger Translated out of Frenche into English by I. T. Matthew 17.5 This is my beloued sonne in whom I am well pleased heare yee hym Imprinted at London nigh vnto vnto the three Cranes in the Vintree for William Ponsonby ¶ To the reuerend Father in God Thomas Bishop of Couentrie and Lichfielde FInding mee self vnable in all respects reuerend Father to requite the least benefit receiued at your Lordships hands I haue long intended to present your Lordship with some thing whereby you might at the leaste perceyue my grateful mynd in accepting your vndeserued goodnesse often vnto me shewed And finding nothing which might pleasure your Lordship being no lesse skilful in learnyng than godly in life for as Salomon saith He that is ful abhorreth an hony combe I thought I coulde not better please you which are no lesse carefull for the Christian Congregation than is the Father for his children than by taking in hande some such matter wherby I mee selfe might be well occupied the Christian common Wealth edified and God glorified For this cause that the vnlearned not onely of your Diocesse but also of all places els in England which are destitute of painfull Preachers of Gods woord for who knoweth not that the labourers in Gods Vineyarde be verye fewe might be instructed at the leaste by reading in the true profession of Iesus Christ I haue presumed to translate foorth of Frenche a Sermon of the Lordes Supper made by the learned and graue Father mayster Henry Bullinger Neither dyd I perceyue whereby I might more profit all mē than by handelyng the Lordes Supper which yerely and often ought to be receyued of al men nor wherein I might better serue my carnall and transitory countrey than in setting foorth that foode whereby we are fed to out spirituall and euerlasting countrey For if we ought to trauaile painefully for the foode of the body according to the admonition of the Apostle Saint Paul That if any would not worke the same should not eate whiche although we haue in abundance mainteyneth vs not alwayes being by syn made subiect to death howe much more painefull ought we to be for the atchieuing of the foode of the soule Christe Iesus which is the bread of life wherof if we eate by faith we shall not die being by grace made partakers of euerlasting life Wheras there be many which haue learnedly godly handeled this argument I am moued to thinke my labour best bestowed vppon this authour because there is none which I haue read that dooth in so briefe a summe in my simple iudgement more plainly set foorth the doctrine of the Lordes Supper to the comfort of the professours of the Gospel or more sensibly disclose the errours thrust into the Church of God concernyng the same to the griefe of the aduersaries of the truth both the which poyntes he hath so aptly handled that I knowe not in whether he hath vsed more facilitie It may be that some which haue not only trauailed of purpose into Frāce the hithermost coastes whereof I neuer saw there to learne the french tongue but also at home haue diligently studied to attayne the finenes of the Englishe tongue wherein I confesse I was neuer curious might haue translated this Sermon much more finely than by me it is I enuie not their skill neither disdaine I their trauaile I haue done myne indeuour so neare as I could to vse my selfe like a faithful Interpretour in yeelding the sense of the Authour truely and yet in such sort as best might be vnderstood by the vnlearned Reader Touchyng the testimonies of holy Scripture alleged by this authour in this Sermon I haue thought good rather to set them down after the last translation of the Bible set foorth by aucthoritie than to translate them foorth of the French that I might the rather hereby cut of the cauilles of the aduersaries of the truth whith they are woont to make vpon the diuersitie of Translations And that the diligent Readers if it shal please them to conferre the Testimonies with the Text may the more easily find forth the same I haue quoted in the Margent both chapter and verse whence they are taken Thus haue I yeelded vnto your Lordship the causes of my bold enterprise with the order of the handeling of the same which if it may please God to blesse with the increase of the Readers knowledge I haue my desire God long preserue your Lordship to the comforte of his Church Your Lordshyppes to commaund I. T. ¶ A Sermon of the Supper of our Lorde Iesus Christe the Sonne of God. THe Apostles the Euangelistes Paul also the vessel of election and Apostle of the Gentiles haue diligently and perfectly described the holy and mysticall Supper of our Lorde and Redeemer Iesus Christ in these wordes When the Euen was come the same night in which Iesus was betrayed he sate downe with the twelue And as they dyd eate Iesus when he had taken bread and geuen thankes brake it and gaue it to his Disciples saying Take yee eate yee This is my body which is broken for you This doo in the remembrance of me Likewise also when he had supped he tooke the Cuppe and when he had geuen thankes he gaue it to them saying Drinke ye all of it and they all dranke of it Then he saide to them This is my bloud of the new Testament Saint Luke and Saint Paul haue This Cuppe is the newe Testament in my bloud which is shedde for you and for many for the remission of sinnes As often as you shall doo this doo it in remembrance of me For as often as yee eate this beead and drinke this Cuppe yee doo shewe the Lordes death tyll he come In the holy and mysticall Supper of our Lorde Iesus Christ we must not onely consider the woordes of the Institution presently recited but also we muste here ioyne the things going before with those whiche come after as such whereby the whole mysterie is more clearely and amply set foorth And first we must consider the doctrine which the Lord taught his Disciples in the Supper Secondly what he did and how he instituted this Supper that is to say howe the Lord celebrated it and ordeyned it to be celebrated by the Church vnto the ende of the world Finally of what sort the disciples were in this supper and how they behaued them selues therein that we may learne hereby howe we ought to behaue our selues in celebrating this most holy banquet and also that by the declaration of all these poynts we may vnderstand truely what the mysticall Supper of the Lord is that is to say speaking in the first place of the summe of the matter although it be inwrapped in shadowes and figures and proposing the
and in the Supper wherby they are to prepare them selues thereunto it is necessary that the first part be an earnest accusation of the former disordered and wicked life with a most diligent admonition to repentance to the ende that al may know them selues and acknowledge their sinnes that they may confesse them selues to God purely in their hartes that they may aske full pardon of the high priest Iesus Christ and that they may change their filthy and vngodly life into an honest and godly life and also that they may throughly repent them selues and be ashamed of their sinnes committed and lastly that they may all by stedfast faith refourme thē selues and beholde the grace of Christ Hereunto without doubt apperteineth the saying of the Apostle Paul Let a man examine hym selfe and so let hym eate of this bread and drinke of this Cuppe Moreouer the doctrine of repentaunce may not cease after the Supper For it must often be repeated vnto men that they keepe them selues from committing any thing vnwoorthy hym whose members they be made in the holye Church This selfe same doctrine of our Lorde Iesus Christ bringeth to our remembrāce fayth and repentaunce mutuall loue and charitie the which without ceasing it requireth of all those who being the Disciples of Christe are made in like manner brethren of thē whiche cal vpon his name By this shall all men knowe saith the Lorde that yee are my Disciples if yee haue loue together as I haue loued you This is my commaundement that ye loue together as I haue loued you And many other things to the like effect Moreouer he teacheth vs constancie in true faith and pacience in aduersities and afflictions declaryng the griefes which the faythfull must suffer in this world for Iesus Christ The doctrine of the Lorde is manifest in S. Iohn in the xv and .xvi. chapters There he exhorteth the faithfull to continue firme and fast in hym by a sure hope and not to be plucked thence by any meanes Also he admonisheth them that in his name as in the name of the only and true Mediator they call vpon God without ceassyng In so doing he promiseth them most certaine and most ready helpe By the which things we learne to exact the whole according to the doctrine of the Euangelists and of the Churche of all them which be partakers of the Lordes Supper That is to wyt that they be in loue and charitie one with another that they be constant in faith pacient in afflictions which they suffer for Iesus Christ and finally that they continue stedfast in hope and that they separate not them selues from Christe and all his members to commyt them selues ouer to to straunge Religions and moreouer that they continue in prayers To be briefe there is nothing which the Lord repeateth more diligently nor more often vnto his Disciples in the Sermon which he made vnto them after the Supper than this That he woulde no longer be neither with them nor with his Church bodyly and yet notwithstandyng that he would not forsake his in any thing but that he would alwayes be carefull for them And I wyl pray the Father saith Christ and he shall giue you another Comforter that he may bide with you for euer euen the spirit of truth and he shal teach you all things and bring al things to your remembrance whatsoeuer I haue said vnto you It is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away that comforter wyll not come vnto you but if I depart I wyll sende hym vnto you And the rest which foloweth in the .xvi. of saint Iohn Whereby we gather necessarily that this doctrine ought to be continuall in the Churche the which must be often tymes inculcated and brought to mynd in the Supper of the Lorde that the church of Christ may vnderstād that those things which are spoken of the presence of the Lord in the church and of the eating of hym must not be expounded carnally nor corporally but spiritually and that the heauenly foode eaten spiritually profiteth Hytherto I haue intreated briefely of the diuers plentiful and wholesome doctrine of our Lorde Iesus Christ proposed to his disciples in his mystical Supper deliuered by him to be alwaies set forth in his supper to his church vntyl the worlds ende And now we come to the other part of this Sermon to shewe with suche breuitie and facilitie as possibly we may not onely that which the Lorde spake but also that which he dyd that is to say how he instituted this ceremoniall supper if it may so be called and howe the Sonne of God hym selfe hauyng distributed the breade and the wine celebrated the Supper and instituted it to be celebrated in his Churche vntyl the ende of the worlde This hath been from the beginning receiued and the Lorde our God hath alwayes vsed to ioyne signes to his promise or woord whereby he bringeth to remembraunce his great and free benefites bestowed vppon men before or to be bestowed vppon them after by the which signes he gathereth men together into one company wherein those benefites may be declared solemnly by the woorde of God and that also they may as a man woulde say be renued and imprinted perpetually in their memorie And moreouer that such graces may be set foorth to our viewe by pledges and signes to be beholden of vs and to bee fastened more deepely in our hartes Also that they may be confirmed by a witnesse and that the faithfull maye vnderstande what it is that the Lorde requireth againe at their handes also what the duties exercises of godlynes are Wherefore the signes take the names of the things signified are called moste certaine and true seales markes and Sacramentes of the promises and benefites of God because they represent them signifie them bring them to remembrance and seale them according to their propertie These therfore consist in the word of God by the thing signified through the signe or Symbol which is the outward thing ioyned to the woorde of God. Such were the Sacramentes of the auncient people as the Passeouer the sundry sacrifices of the Fathers instituted partly for the acknowledging callyng to remembraunce and setting foorth of Gods benefites partly to signifie that Christ should come and dye by whose innocent death mankinde shoulde be deliuered from euerlasting death the which most excellēt and free benefite for all ages was bountifully bestowed in Christ vpon the faithfull in these latter tymes Wherefore we must not onely consider in such holy Sacramentes or Symbols the outward custome and facion of doyng I meane the maner of eating and sacrifising neither yet the things set before our corporall eyes but much rather ought we by the contemplation of the signe being instructed by his woorde and inwardly lightened by the holy Ghost to lift vp our selues and to pierce vnto the consideration and ful fruition of the spiritual
things signified whereof commeth greate profite if they be receiued by faith They which beholde onely the outward custome and facion of the Sacramentes of the olde Fathers without the woorde faith and the inwarde lightenyng of the spirite and doo consider none other thing in the Pascal supper nor in the sacrifices of the Fathers but that which we beholde outwardly with our eyes what difference thinke you may they put betweene those things and a commō banquet or a slaughter wherin the beastes are slaine before the bouchers table euen in such sort as vppon the holy Aultar Contrarily it wyll seeme to our fleshe that these holy things haue no maiestie at all but that they be rather to be mocked at For this cause we reade that the most holy and most wise Prophetes of God dyd greatly reproue them which esteemed the sacrifices by the outward appearance onely without faith and the spirit saying Who hath required this at your handes Heape vp your burnt offerings with your sacrifices and eate the fleshe For when I brought your Fathers foorth of Egypt I spake no woorde vnto them of burnt offerings and sacrifices The rest is in Ieremie the seuenth chapter Nowe because all the sacramentes of the auncient Fathers dyd promise that Christ should come and redeeme his elect and also considering that the Lorde Iesus Christ is already come into the world being geuen of his Father for the saluation of all the faithful it had been very vnseemly that the signes shoulde continue in the church which should witnesse that Christ should come who already was come Wherefore Christ after that he had abolished the Symboles and ceremonies of the auncient fathers to wyt Circumcision the feast of the Passeouer and the sacrifices in stead of Circumcision placed Baptisme and in stead of the Sacrifices and of the Pascall Supper ordeyned his mysticall Supper for a perpetual signe and vnchaungeable memorial of his body yeelded vp and geuen to the death and of his bloud shedde Therefore you must not only regarde in this our misticall supper the signe the fashion of dooing and the outward act but rather the thing signified The symboll or the signe in the Supper is the breade and wine and the holy banquet it selfe and the misticall action which Iesus Christ hath geuen vs The thing signified is the body of our Lord deliuered for vs and his bloud shedde for the remission of sinnes and the passion of the Lord it selfe and the remembrance thereof and our redemption which ensued thereof This doo saith the Lord in remembrance of me The companie therfore of the faythful assemble them selues togeather to celebrate the misteries of Christ In the which according to the auncient custome the simbols of bread and of wine borrowe the names of the things signified and be called the body and the bloud of the Lord Iesus Hereby are we called backe from visible things to behold heauenly things which are spiritually communicated vnto vs. For if thou behold onely the breaking of the breade and the distribution of the the cuppe with the brotherly feast and if thou knowe not what this breade is what this wine is and what things they represent vnto vs in refreshing our memorie therewith this Supper will not seeme to differ much from a common supper The sacrament therefore of Iesus Christ deliuered to death and of his passion and in lyke manner our redemption is deliuered here vnto vs And that we may the better vnderstand these things we wil proceed in searching out throughly that which the Lord did in this Supper and that which he commaunded vs to doo It is not needefull that I be tedious vnto you in speaking more of the forme maner of the Institution of the Supper for the Lorde our Sauiour instituted it and he did not institute the Masse And if the Masse seeme vnto any to be worthy of commendation price and estimation because it was ordeyned by the auncient Popes of Rome howe muche more I beseeche you ought the Supper to be renoumed and esteemed which was instituted by the great and onely priest Iesus Christe before all Popes and before Rome had receyued the faith from Hierusalem Moreouer it is most certaine and out of all controuersie that the Lord ordeyned this forme and none other And for this cause we reade that saint Paul Doctor of the Gentiles said That which I deliuered vnto you I receyued of the Lorde Truely the Euangelistes and the Apostles are witnesses that the Lord said often tymes This doo yee I say this doo yee this doo yee that is to say This which you see me first doo We haue then the expresse commaundement of God and the cleare woorde whereunto not without cause we are obedient We haue a famous and notable example which if we should not folow we should woorthily be called transgressors And truely that which is deliuered vnto vs by the Sonne of God hymself which is the wisedome of the Father and the light of al the world deserueth well to be preferred before the aucthoritie of the most excellent personage of the world And if the aūcient Fathers be in great estimation among you whose aucthoritie knowledge holynesse and auncientnesse hath woonne vnto them a great renoume in so much that in consideration of them the Masse is taken to be an excellēt thing ought not the Apostles the Father of Fathers to be much more esteemed of you who in holynesse and learnyng and in all things are to be preferred before all men and before all that is in the worlde They knewe not what the Masse ment but they celebrated the Supper in the same forme as the Gospell here teacheth vs For as much then as the Masse was as it were vnknowen vnto the aūcient Fathers them selues as we said let vs setting it apart approch to the Supper of the Lorde and let the Institution of the Sonne of God please vs Let vs thinke that without the word of God there is no holynesse Wherfore that which repugneth the ordinaunce of God and is not done as God hath appoynted may rightly be called cursed sacrilege These things are confirmed by the aucthoritie of God and man For the Lord saith in his Lawe Who soeuer offereth not at the doore of the Tabernacle an offring vnto the Lord shal be giltie of bloud and shal perish as if he had shed bloud Consider wherfore in the histories of the kynges the high places are reiected with so great indignation And in like manner Paul accurseth and pronounceth euery thyng cursed which agreeth not with the Gospell or which is contrarye thereunto Saint Cyprian also the Martyr saith that euery thing which is deuised by mans madnesse to breake Gods ordinaunce is adulterous wicked and full of sacrilege In his first and seconde booke of his Epipistles We ought not saith he to followe the custome of man but the truth of God for so much as God speaketh and
sayth by Esay the Prophet In vayne doo they worshippe me teaching doctrines the commaundementes of men For if in the sacrifice which is Christ none but Christ only is to be followed then verely ought we to heare and doo that which Christ did and which hee commaunded to be done considering that he himselfe sayth in his Gospell Ye are my friendes if ye doo whatsoeuer I commaund you Hencefoorth call I not you seruants And that Christ onely ought to be heard the Father also beareth witnes from heauen saying This is my beloued sonne in whom I am well pleased heare yee hym Wherefore if Christe onely be to be hearde we must no tregard what any before vs hath supposed shoulde be done but what Christ who is before al men dyd first Al this saith S. Cyprian Therefore let vs goe foreward to examine diligently that which the Lord dyd before all and that which he hath inioyned vs to doo by his commaundement and example yea and inculcated and often repeated by his Apostles Iesus hauing partly ended the wholesome admonitions tooke bread and the cuppe also he tooke I say of the breade which then was vpon the table of the Pascall Supper He tooke also of the wyne Nowe my brethren when we heare these things let not the simplicitie of our Supper without pompe without worldly ornament and without any great ceremonies ingender in vs a contempt thereef For our lord celebrating these holy things with his Disciples had on but comely and common apparell There was not seene any Aaronical attyre nor any Ephod nor any priestly vestures There was neither glittering of gold nor of syluer Neither was there to be seene any precious stones Let vs therefore esteeme all these thyngs by the authour thereof I meane by the sonne of God who is the wisedome of the Father whom since this simplicitie pleased it ought also to please thee seeing that if he would he could haue giuen to all this matter a forme much more famous and precious then all the things of this world And also remember the wordes of Samuel saying to Saul To obey is better then Sacrifice Verily our Lorde hath taken away the painfull ceremonies of the lawe and hath instituted a newe forme without labour or sumptuousnesse and easie to be furnished Also all things apperteynyng to the Gospel haue more efficacie of the spirit and of spirituall vertue than of shewe as also they are more simple and easie to be prouided than are the figures and ceremonies of the Lawe And Lactantius an auncient Authour in the sixt booke and fiue and twenty chapter of his Institutions saith He which thinketh that God hath pleasure in garmentes precious stones and other things which are greatly set by is vtterly ignorant what God is c. That more is this simple Institution is the true blessyng and consecration of the Supper hauing the woorde of God for an expresse marke and commaundement Neyther must we here depend of the Minister neyther looke for the breathing of a Priest consecrated by a Bishop recityng distinctly the fiue woordes of Consecration and thereby takyng vpon hym to consecrate the Sacrament For the first consecration of our Lord restraineth yet effectually her vertue and efficacie testified by the woorde of truth and endureth styll hauyng euen nowe full force in our celebration wherin we doo none other thing but that which he hymselfe dyd and cōmaunded to be done We haue then yet hytherto the consecration of the Lorde and we haue nothing to doo with these Massemumblers because we celebrate the supper of the Lord and a most straunge Supper For euen nowe we receyue the whole from the very handes of Christe by the ministerie of a lawful and Ecclesiasticall Minister To be briefe we doo iustly esteeme this consecratyng and blessyng of our high Prieste Iesus Christ the sonne of God more precious than the cōsecration of all Bishops which hath no testimonie nor confirmation by the woord of God and for this cause we greatly abhorre it After this the Lorde gaue thankes let vs therefore geue thankes to God the Father also He blessed and let vs blesse hym also in like maner Notwithstanding the other Euangelist expoundeth this blessyng by geuyng of thankes Euen so is there often tymes afterwarde mention made thereof Therfore it is no marueile if the auncient Writers haue geuen it especially the name of Eucharist that is to say Thankes geuing although besides this it haue diuers other names For the which cause they called it A Supper a Sacrifice For inuocation prayse and geuyng of thankes is a Sacrifice acceptable vnto God But the fleshe and the bloud of the Lord are not offered in the Masse eftsoones for the sinnes of the quicke and the dead For since they haue been once offered they retayne alwayes their vertue for the saluation of the faythfull Moreouer the Lord brake the breade which he tooke and which he blessed or ouer the which he gaue thankes Wherfore the auncient writers named the whole holy misterie by this parte of the action thereof the breaking of bread Let vs then breake the bread hauing receyued it at the Ministers handes or rather let vs receyue it being broken by him The hand sinneth not here by touching for so much as neyther the tongue nor the mouth which likewise touch the same doo sinne any whit at all Superstition sayth Tast it not touch it not But the breaking of the bread bringeth to our remembrance the passion of the lord For that which Saint Paul vttereth thus Which is broken for you Saint Luke vttereth thus Which is geuen for you Admonishing vs also of our vnitie and dutie Because we which are many make one body for so much as we are all partakers of one bread as the Apostle expoundeth this misterie in the first to the Corinthians the tenth Chapter Moreouer the Lord gaue vnto his Disciples the bread being broken and commaunded them to eate And for this cause the ministers ought in the Supper of the Lord to geue the bread vnto the faithfull people that they may eate it And verely the Disciples in the first Supper tooke the bread which was geuen them and did eate it Let vs therefore doo the lyke Neyther must we inclose it in the closeds pixes or boxes neither ought we to beare it this way and that way for a shew neyther may we woorship it bowing our knees in singing this Hymne Tantum ergò Sacramentum veneremur cernui That is to say Let vs woorship so great a sacrament bowing our selues downwarde ▪ c. The Lorde in his institution to his Apostles hath taughte vs nothing touching these matters For these things were ordayned long tyme after by the Popes of Rome and their ministers that that which was forespoken by Daniell and by our Lord Iesus Christ myght be accomplished Nowe because hee gaue them breade to eate he expoundeth foorthwith
that which is signified by this bread least peraduenture any should lyghtly esteeme this bread and make as litle accompte thereof as of vsuall and common bread therefore sayth he This is my body which is geuen for you Which kinde of speech is altogeather like vnto that of the pascall Supper that is to say Of this manner shall ye eate it with your loynes girded and your shoes on your feete and your staffe in your hand and ye shall eate it in hast For it is the Lordes Passouer Euen so dooth the Lord speake in this place in lyke sort Take ye eate ye this is my body Howbeit this speech is sacramentall and misticall wherefore it ought to be expounded simbollycally and according to the meaning For the breade is a sacramēt signe or pledge of the body of Christ And truely the auncient Doctours of the Churche haue so expounded these wordes of our lord And in deede we doo not deuise any newe matter in saying that the bread signifieth the body of Christe For we haue els where shewed at large that the auncient Interpreters of the Scripture as wel Greekes as Latines haue vsed this exposition Also we haue geuen you to vnderstande by many euident reasons that these words of our Lord This is my body This is my bloud ought not to be taken accordyng to the grosse literall sense but to be expounded mystically or sacramentally For the bread remayneth in his substance and is not chaunged into the substance of the body of Christ In like maner the naturall body of Iesus Christ the which being geuen once for vs and raysed from death is ascended into heauen is not hyd nor inclosed vnder the kinde or forme of bread For the Angels of God speakyng of this body beare witnesse thereof and say This same Iesus which is taken vp from you into heauen shall so come euen as you haue seene hym goe into heauen In like maner S. Peter saith The heauē must receiue Iesus Christ vntyl the tyme that all things be restored c. S. Paul sayth also Iesus Christ after he hath offered one sacrifice for sinnes is set down for euer on the right hand of God from hencefoorth tarying tyll his foes be made his footestoole Wherfore we reade that S. Augustine writing to Dardanus said rightly and accordyng to the Scriptures Christ as he is God is all wholy present in euerye place but accordyng to the measure propertie of a true bodye he hath his place in some one place of heauen He hath giuen immortalitie to his body in the glorification therof After this forme he is not to be thought to be diffused and spread abrode euery where Wherfore we must take good heede that we doo not so affirme the Diuinitie of the man Christe that wee take awaye the truth of his body For one person is God and man and one Christe Iesus is both two being euery where in that he is God but being in heauen in that he is Man. Yea and this Authour hath left in his bookes these things and many other like both Catholique and according to the true sense of the Scripture agreeable to this matter Moreouer the Catholique veritie suffereth vs not to faine that Christ hath two bodyes But if thou take the woordes of the Lorde after the Letter This is my body without doubt the blessed body of the Lorde being set at the Table with his Disciples gaue vnto them also I knowe not what other body for he could not geue hym self with his own hāds vnto his Disciples Therefore with his true body and with his handes he deliuered vnto his Disciples the Sacrament of his onely bodye Hereuppon it foloweth that the faythfull acknowledging the Sacrament and misterie receiue with their mouth the sacramental bread of his body but with the mouth of the spirit they eate the very body of the Lord. He is eaten in suche sort as he may be eaten that is to say spiritually by fayth as the Lord hym selfe expoundeth this misterie vnto vs at large in S. Iohn the sixt chapter Neyther haue the purest Doctours of the auncient Church taught any otherwise Yea and this place may wel be applyed to the woordes of the Supper of the lord For seeyng our Lord hath but one true bodye the which he gaue vp to death for vs that in these two places he speaketh of this selfe same body it seemeth vnto me that this place of Saint Matthewe ought to be expounded by that of S. Iohn seeing that S. Augustine also in his third booke of the agreement of the Euangelistes supposeth that S. Iohn speaketh not of the Institution of the Supper of the Lord because in another place he had set foorth this matter at large Al the auncient Doctours of the Church speaking of the Supper allege the woords of the Gospel of S. Iohn and apply them to the supper of the Lord. To be short me thinketh that there cannot be found a better interpretour or expounder of the Lordes woord then the Lord himselfe who for so much as he saith in the .vi. Chapter of Saint Iohn that his flesh being eaten to wit corporally as the Capernaites tooke it profiteth nothing It is most certayne that hee would not geue in the .xxvi. of Saint Matthewe that which profiteth nothing and that he hath not ordayned here that which he reiecteth and reprooueth there Therefore the Lord Iesus Christ sitting in his true body at the ryght hand of the Father in heauen maketh vs partakers of lyfe which he purchased for vs by giuing his body for vs and by shedding his bloud and we receyue the same lyfe of Christ by true fayth that is to wit all the heauenly giftes of Christ that Christ may lyue in vs and we in him And there is none other meane to receyue Christ but by fayth Euen as bodily foode cannot be taken to conserue the bodyly lyfe but by the mouth of the body so spiritual foode cannot otherwyse be receyued of vs to bring vs to the spirituall and eternall lyfe but by the mouth of the soule that is to say by fayth Hereby all men may see that we doo not acknowledge in any respect the naked and prophane eating of bread as some doo wrongfully charge vs For we doo acknowledge and confesse Christ to be the meate and the drinke of lyfe the which conceyue spiritually by fayth as it hath been foreshewed not being able to eate him present with the corporall mouth carnally and corporally We doo acknowledge that the faythfull are partakers of Christ truly and that they doo receyue him And yet doo not the faythfull so restrayne or tye this partaking eyther to certayne tyme or element as though they did not confesse that it myght be obtayned without the Symboll or Sacrament In both the two Sacramentes there is one reason of the communion of Christ and in both the two those things which