geue the thankes vnto God And as touching these sermons iudge of them thy selfe as God shall geue the grace Thus fare thou wel in him y â— liueth for euer Amen The .25 of September ⧠THE FIRST Sermon on the Sunday next before Easter ¶ The sum of the Gospell THe Gospell of this day wel beloued in the Lord conteyneth a narration of suche things as our master Chrisâ— did immediatly before he was through the couetousnes of Iudas enuy of his own nation betrayed vnto death It is a loÌ„g processe as you haue heard worthy of perpetual remembraunce and a worthy matter to be declared to al men and women For it setteth forth plainly afore our eyes as it wer in a scaffolde the sede promised which by many darke ridels and figures is signified shadowed in Moeses and the Prophetes and conteineth the beneuolence the louing kyndnes the great tender mercy and good wil of God the father who so loued vs that for our honor he suffred his honorable and only begotten chylde to be dishonored and oppressed of malicious and couetous men And that so noble and worthy a benefite should not fall out of remembraunce which is the alone author of our redemptioÌ„ and our only comfort against sinne that we should reserue this his louing kindnes in continuall memory not be vnthankefull he hath commaunded vs by the mouth of Christ our Lorde to celebrate a commemoration of his fauour clemency of his sonnes dishonour death and to resorte vnto the holy sacrament of the same that is of Christes honorable body and bloud Because this matter is so long that it caÌ„not be worthely declared in one hower nor â—wayne forasmuch as many be yet ignoraÌ„t of the fruit of the vse and cause of the mary and swetnesse of the Lordes supper knowe not what it meaneth nor what a sacrament is and Easter now draweth nigh at whiche time al men and women dispose them selues to come to Christes banket as I wold wishe they wold also aswell at other times and so come do whose praiers God doth not forget yet because the most part wil not come but at the aforesaid feast therfore and also for as much as it is a member parcel of the gospel of this sonday before Easter I thought it good to speake now of this matter which is an abbridgement of the whole scripture as wel for the erudition of those that be vnlearned as also that suche as be stubbornly wedded to their owne iudgements and are hardned against the truth may not excuse them selues by ignoraunce when to rendre an account of their faithes they shalbe cited to appere at the barre before the diuine maiestie But that you may y e better impresse in your hartes cary away that which I shal speke hereof I wil reherse vnto you that part meÌ„ber of this gospel which coÌ„prehendeth Christes supper Whiles they were eating Iesus toke bread and when he had geuen thankes he brake it and gaue it to the Disciples and saied Take eat this is my body And he toke the cup thanked and gaue it them saying Drink of it euery one for this is my bloud of the newe Testament shed for many to the forgeuenes of synnes I say vnto you I will not drynke henceforth of this fruit of the vyne till that day when I shall drinke it new with you in my fathers kingdome And when they had geuen praises they went out in to mount Oliuete This matter is declared how we doe receiue Christes body and bloud in the sensible sacrament of bread and wyne also without the sacrament is shewed in the sixt chapter of S. Iohns Gospell That I may speake hereof to the promotion of Gods glory finde out suche lessons such doctrine in y e text which may be to your instruction edifying which be assembled here to serue God in praier hering his word let vs aske gods help spirit for the which I shal desire you to say the lords praier after me Our fa. c. This Gospel welbeloued in the lord is ful of spiritual erudition and heaueÌ„ly comfort it hath as many good lessons fruitful matters as wordes yea and as many heresies be gathered of the words therof as good lessons as shalbe declared Lest thorow plenty of matter I be ouerlong and tedious I wil ouerrun it in order as the text leadeth speaking much or litle of euery sentence as I shal see nedeful for your enstruction desiring you not to loke for a learned profound declaration but only for a plain exposition and a faithful confession of the catholike faith First and in the beginning of the supper in that the text saith Whyles they were eating Iesus toke the bread Of this we may learne that Christ his disciples did celebrate this sacrameÌ„t of his honorable body and bloud not after the present vse and maner of the congregation but after other meates and drinkes First he did eate his passeouer and EasterlaÌ„be with his disciples after the custome of the old testament which passeouer and easterlambe was a figure and shadow of our sacramentall bread wyne For as they of the olde lawe did eat yearly an easterlambe in remeÌ„braÌ„ce of their deliueraunce from Egipt and from the expression of Pharao so we of the new testament do receiue sacramentall bread and wyne in remembrauÌ„ce of Christes death passion through which we ar deliuered from the Egipt of sinne from the gates of hell and from the power of the deuil And as the paschal laÌ„be was ordeined and eaten the night before the children of Israel were deliuered froÌ„ Egipt so likewyse this sacrament was ordeined and eaten the night before we were deliuered from our sinnes And as when the Israelites were escaped out of Egipt they did eate neuertheles the paschal lambe which was called stil the passing by or their passouer and pasport because it was a remembrauÌ„ce of their passage out of Egipt and they eating the same hartely reioysed offering him sacrifice and acknowledging with infinit thankes that they were the felowship of them that had such a merciful God So we now being deliuered from sinne doe eate neuertheles the sacrament which is stil called his bodi that once died for our deliueraunce and we hartly reioyce offring to him y e sacrifice of praise acknowledging with infinit thankes that we ar of the feloship of them which haue such a mercifull and mighty God thorowe Christ. And their lambe was a sacrameÌ„t not only of their deliueraunce out of Egipt but also it was a sacrameÌ„t of Christ to come that he thorow death should deliuer both the Iewes and all other men from the tiranny and bondage of SataÌ„ as Iohn the christener taught the Iewes saying Ecce agnus dei qui tollit peccata mundi behold the lambe of God whiche taketh away the sinnes of the world He nameth Christ a
receiue the holy sacrament at thy mouth so it is better to take it in thy haÌ„ds as Christ and his Apostles did and the laite of the primatiue church These matters be touched hetherto but onles God inwardly with his spirit do teache you this Phylosophy and wisdome and transforme your hearts and iudgementes leading you into all truthe my preaching is but lost labour Therfore let vs call vpon the name of God with praier and inuocatioÌ„ for his help and holy spirit Let vs pray for the vniuersall company of Christes church throughout all Realmes and dominions whersoeuer they dwel namely for the congregation of Englande and Irelande desiring the eteâ—nall God of his fatherly mercy to coÌ„tinew strengthen both them and vs in the confession and obedience of his worde and truthe Also for al infideles and vnbeleuers that God may turne their hartes to beleue vpon his sonne Iesus Christ our Lorde for S. Paul vnto Timothe commaundeth vs to pray for all men For the kinges maiestie a prince of moste excellent hope that vertue and knowledge may dwell in his noble hart For these thinges for the remission of our sinnes and for Gods helpe hereafter in all our workes words thoughtes I shall desier you to say a praier after me ⸫ The Praier O Eternall God who art the author of al truth didst ordeine this holy sacrameÌ„t of bread and wyne by thy only begotten son in the roum and place of the easterlambe which they of y e old law did eaâ— yerely for a memory of their deliueraunce from Egipt from Pharao by thy mighty power in hope of the comming of Christ whom Iohn the christener Paul do call our easter lambe that we of the new lawe receiuing this new sacrameÌ„t shold reserue thy louing kindnes in continuall remembraunce in that thou hast sent thy only son to become womaÌ„s seed to breake the serpentes head to deliuer vs from the power of the deuill and from the bondage of syn by his crosse and by theffusion of his most honorable bloud Here our praiers and supplications O merciful father and send vs thy syerit from thy holy place to perswade al men women to celebrate thy supper after the example of Christ and of his Apostles disciples and stablish the hartes of the people against false teachers of priuat masses and of supersticious crossing with the contemplatioÌ„ of Christes ensample with the vse of the Oriental church and with the knowledge of thy holy scriptures y t we may be mete gestes for thy table and be partakers of all the benefites of Christes death and passion to whom with the and the holy spirit â—e al honor glory prayse now euer So be it THE SECOND SERMON vpon the Lordes Supper IN my last Sermon welbeloued in the Lord where as I began to declare vnto you y e Lordes supper which was a part and membre of the Gospel and thorow plenty of matter I did not ende the same now occording to my promes I wyll shew you what a Sacrament is and howe Christes body and bloud be present in his holy supper Thus much remaineth yet to be spokeÌ„ of Take eat saith Christ this is my body And likewyse of the Cup he saith Drinke of it euery one For this is my bloud of the newe Testament shed for many to the forgiuenes of sinnes I say vnto you I will not drinke henceforth of this fruit of the vine tyll that day when I shall drinke it new with you in my fathers kingdom And when they had song praises they weÌ„t out into mouÌ„t Oliuet That I may declare this heaueÌ„ly matter to Gods honour and finde out suche lessons and eruditioÌ„ as may be mete for this audience and for your edifying and enstruction which be assembled here to serue God in prayer and hearyng his word let vs aske Gods help and his holy spirit for the whiche I shall desier you to say the Lordes prayer after me Our father which art in heauen c. There is no matter in the holy scripture welbeloued in the Lord more necessary to be knowen and to be discussed then these wordes of our sauiour Iesus Christ This is my body this is my bloud of the new Testament There is no text which hath bene so abused and racked to maintein superstition and diuers purposes And where as Christ ordeineth here a sacrament of vnitie to knit vs together in peace amitie and loue Inimicus homo super senâ—inauit rirania that is the deuill who goeth about to depraue all Godly thinges hath sowen so many tares and such pestiferous opinions and hurtfull sedes and dampnable doctrine in mens harts by his ministers the Papistes the questionistes scholemen the Anabaptisâ—es that nothing nowe is a matter of more contention of more debate strife variaunce not only betwene man and man but also betwene coÌ„tries and kingdomes because euery man is wedded stubbornly to his own iudgement and where as they should reforme their opinions and submit their iudgementes to Gods scriptures as to the touchstone which trieth good from euil they rather do rack wrest Gods word making it a mariners slop or a nose of wax bowyng it vnto euery purpose Therfore I thought it good to vtter my knowledge which is but smal in this matter not to teach such as be enstructed alredy rype in knowledge of whom I am desirous to lerne my self but partly for their sakes and eruditioÌ„ which be vnlearned of y e laite that thei mai know how to prepare themselues to come to Gods borde this holy time of Easter at other times partly also to testifie professe my conscience and faith in this matter Many doe affirme and thinke these wordes of Christ this is my body to be a lyke phrase a like kynde and a lyke maner of speche as when he sayth Ego sum vitis I am the vyne I am the dore I am the way I am the bridgrom They be no like phrases but far diuers and different For the vine is no sacrament nether the dore nor the wey nor the bridgrom be no sacramentes but metaphores and borowed speches The bread of which Christ said this is my body the mine which he affirmeth to be his bloud be not bare and naked metaphores as y e aforesaid phrases are but they be sacramentes of his honorable body comfortable bloud as both the Occidental and OrieÌ„tal the Greke church al writers both new olde do acknowledge confesse with one voyce For al christendom haue always agreed in this point Therfore the nature of a sacrameÌ„t being thorowly knoweÌ„ examined tried it will teach you y e meaning of Christes words how he is present in his supper What is a sacrament I wil not deuise a discription of mine own head nor shew a fantasy of mine own braine I will folowe in this matter the sentence iudgementes
of others whose excellēt lerning singuler vertues ar knowē to al the world S. Austin an elder holy father of Christes church a mā of a most ripe iudgemēt sharpe searching wit in the scriptures in his boke de catechisandis rudibus defineth a sacrament thus Sacramentum est signaculum inuisibilis gratiae a Sacrament is a visible a sensible an outward signe or token of an inuisible grace or benefit And he expresseth the meaning of this definition more plainly in a certain letter verely in his .xxiii. Epistle which he writeth to one Bonifacius .2 Wher he witnesseth all sacramentes to be figures and similitudes of the benefit grace whiche they do represent and signifie saying If sacramētes haue not certain similitudes of these thinges wherof they are Sacramentes then are they no Sacramentes And for this similitude for the most part they take the names of the very things And S. Cyprian hath euen the very same doctrine and the same wordes in a certaine sermon which he made de chrismate of annointing If therfor the bread of which Christ saith this is my body be a sacrament as can not be denied then it hath the name of Christes body because of some similitudes whiche shalbe declared streightwaies and not because of any transubstantiation that is to say it is a sensible and an outward signe of his holy fleshe and the wyne likewyse is a sensible signe of his honorable bloude without any mutation chaunge or alteration of the natures and substaūces either of bread or wyne But because this is a darke and a secret mistery I wil assay to expresse it more euidently and to declare the similitudes and properties which do chaunge the names of bread wyne but not their natures and essence Geue diligent hede ponder well what I shall say for this matter is very hard Whē our sauiour Christ affirmeth bread to be his body and wyne to be his bloud he ordeineth a Sacrament that is he geueth the name of the thing to the signes of bread and wyne so that notwithstanding the matter the nature and subance of the signes do remayne and continue Onles their substaunce and natures do remaine I say vnto you bread wyne can be no Sacramentes For sacramēts as I told you before out of S. Austin ar so called of y e similitudes of those things ▪ to which they be sacramentes Take away the matter the substaunce and nature of bread and wyne and thou takest away all similitudes whiche must of necessitie be in the signes of bread wyne after the consecration and in that thei be sacramentes For all the elder and learned fathers of Christes churche do confesse with one voyce the scriptures do witnesse the same that there must be thre similitudes properties in bread wine a similitude of norishing a similitude of vnitie and a similitude of conuersion for which properties similitudes bread wyne be named Christes body bloud and not for any transubstantiation or alteration of their natures The similitude and propertie of norishing is this that as bread and wyne do norish our bodies and comfort our outward mā so the body and bloud of Christ be the meat and foode of our soules do comfort our inward man Christ expresseth this similitude calling himself Panē vitae the bread of eternall lyfe and professing his fleshe to be very meat and his bloud to be veri drynke That is the foode and spirituall sustenaunce of mans soull and mynde This I say is one cause why Christ affirmeth bread to be his body and wyne to be his bloud as S. Hierom teacheth vs wryting thus of Christes supper vpō Mathew After the eatyng of the mysticall lambe with his Apostles Assumit panem qui confortat cor hominis he toke saieth this holy father he tooke bread which comforteth the heart of man And that this is S. Hieroms meaning Beda doth declare who vpon Luke doeth set out this sentence of Hierom more copiously saying Because bread doeth cōfirme or strengthen the flesh and wyne worketh bloud in the fleshe therfore is the bread referred mistically vnto Christes body and the wyne is referred vnto his bloude Another cause why bread and wyne is named Christes fleshe and bloude is another similitude of vnitie whiche is thus muche to say As the Sacramental lofe of whiche we doe eate commyng to the communiō is made of many cornes of wheat by the lyquore of water knoden into doghe and yet it is but one lofe or one cake And as the holy wyne is made of the iuyce of dyuers and many grapes and yet is but one cup of wyne so all they that eate Christes body and drynke hys bloude through faythe though they be neuer so many yet by the lyquor of charitie and loue they are made one body and one fleshe the mysticall body of the Sonne of God which is his church and congregation not his natural body S. Paul expresseth this similitude witnessing that the bread is a Sacrament not only of Christes natural body but also of the congregation and mistical body saying Vnus panis vnum corpus multi sumus that albeit we be many yet notwithstanding we are one lofe and one body What a lofe are we Verely euen Triticeus panis a wheaten lofe by the similitude and propertie of vnitie which I haue declared S. Cipriā also in his sixt letter which he writeth to one Magnus in his first boke aloweth this similitude wryting thus The Lord saith this holy father calleth bread made of many graines or cornes his body he nameth wyne made of the ioyce of the clusters of diuerse grapes his bloud And S. Austin In sermone de sacra feria paschae in a certen sermone which he made of the holy feast of passeouer alloweth the same similitude or propertie prouing vs by this propertie to be Christes body saying because Christ hath suffered for vs he hath betaken vnto vs in this sacramēt his body bloud which he hath also made our selues For we are also made his body and by his mercy we are euen the same thing that we receiue And afterward he sayth in y e sayd sermon now in the name of Christ you are come as a man would say to the chalice of the Lord there are ye vpon the table and there are ye in the chalice The third similitude of cōuersion for y t which also the Sacrament is affirmed to be Christes flesh and bloud is this that as the bread and wyne are turned into the substaunce of our bodies by fedyng and susteining them so by the receiuinge of Christes body and bloud we are turned into the nature of them we are chaunged and altered and made holy flesh of his flesh bones of his bones as Paul witnesseth And Chrisostom confirmeth the same saying nos secum in vnam massam reducit neque id
death of the body And Paull from the death of the soull before they were with any minister He receyued also Abraham into his fauour before he was circumcised Not withstanding we haue commaundemēt to repaire to the minister for absolution for to them belongeth to loose and to bynde to blesse and to curse as appeareth of y e foresayd ensamples For Paul after that he was lyghtened from aboue was directed vnto Ananias to receyue imposition of handes The Leper also was commaunded to shew himself to the priest for a witnes to the congregation And Lazarus after his vprysing was deliuered to Christes disciples which were priestes to be losed stripped of his graue bondes And the patriark Abraham after that he was iustified and accepted into Gods fauour he receiued the sacramēt of circumcisiō as a seale of the rightuousnes which is by faith So albeit Christes body be receiued in faith many tymes without the sacrament yet thou must come vnto his borde because of his commaundement because of his promises and also to receiue spirituall comfort and encrease of fayth Otherwyse thou doest nether eat his body nor drinke his bloud nether shalt thou be partaker of the fruites of his passion whiche appertaine to those only which by receiuing the memorial of his death do shewe them selues not to be vnkinde or forgetfull but obedient thankefull It is not ynough to receiue it spiritually we must receiue it also sacramentally for both receits be required commaunded and Christ him self with his Apostles vsed both for our eruditiō ensample and enstruction Here a question may be demaunded no lesse necessary to be knowen then hard to dissolue and aunswere If Christes be eate only by fayth how is that true which I rehersed out of Chrisostom that we are transformed into Christ and made his body non solum per fidem not only by faith sed reipsa but also really truly and effectually You shall vnderstande welbeloued in the Lord that when we receiue Christ in faith that this receit ioyneth and coupleth vs effectually really vnto Christ. Not only our hearts and mindes but also our bodies and fleshe be purified be washed and clensed by this receit so that Christ our head and Lord dwelleth and abideth in vs hereby and norisheth and fedeth vs continually with faith in his bloud and with the comfort of his holy spirit making vs liuely holy and very membres of his misticall body This is the affect and meaning of Chrisostoms wordes in which he affirmeth that we ar made the body of Christ really truly and affectually Hetherto I haue declared vnto you two matters what it is to eate Christes body and that thre similitudes or properties be necessarely required in this sacrament as I haue proued aswell by euident textes of the Gospell as with the authoritie of many of the elder and best learned fathers of Christes church whose doctrine interpretatiōs I exhort al men to folow Of these similitudes or properties we may gather y t the matter natures of bread wyne do remaine that Christes words This is my body be asmuch to say as this is a sacrament of my body For these similitudes properties must be in the bread wyne in that they be sacramentes after the consecration els they ar no sacramentes For take away the substaunce matter nature of them and what similitude or propertie remayneth ether of nutrition or of vnitie or of conuertion Ergo the assence nature matter and substaunce of bread wyne is not altered not transformed not transubstantiat but do remayne and continewe as before for these properties and similitudes be in the very substaunce inward nature of bread and wyne The scholemen and Papistes to defend and mainteyne their transubstantiation which is the bishop of Romes kingdom the fortresse and castell of all superstition idolatry they make the accidentes of bread and wyne the sensible outward signe the visible earthly terrenal nature of thys sacrament When thou metest with such a scholemaister that teacheth this doctrine and that the bread is not bread stil ▪ aunswer hym thus Sir there must be thre similitudes and properties in the sacrament a similitude of norishyng a similitude of vnitie another of conuersiō But these thre properties and similitudes can not be in the outward shewe of accidentes that is in the color in the fasion in the breadth and roundnes in the quantitie of bread wyne for these thinges nor no other accidentes do not norishe and fede vs be not conuerted into vs nether haue they any propertie or similitude of any vnitie But the bread wyne haue al these similitudes they doe norysh they be turned into our nature and they doe conteyne a similitude of vnitie Therfor bread and wine is the outward and sensible signe the terrenall nature of this sacramēt and the bread is bread styll and the wyne is wyne styll ▪ aswell after the consecration as afore or els they be no sacramentes and yet not withstanding they be named the body bloud of Christ not because of any mutation chaunge or alteration of their natures and substaūces but because of the thre similitudes properties aforsaid Aunswere papisticall teachers on this wyse and with this reason and thei shal not be able to gainsay thee Now let vs enter somwhat further into the text and in into other matters Christ speaking of the cup saith Hic est sanguis noui testamēti This is my bloud of the newe testament or of the new couenaunt What meane these wordes the new testament and what is a new testament Verely a testament is as much to say as a legacy or behest of goodes So S. Austin defineth it Testimentum est quo defertur bono rum hereditas a testament saith S. Austin is a behest legacy of goods And there is an old testament and a new testamēt as Christ teacheth vs here The old testament is a bequest and legacy of temporall goodes and earthly commodities vnto the sinagoge of the Iewes The new testament is a bequest of eternall heauenly enheritaunce through Christ vnto all men both Iewes and Gentils Or otherwyse The old testament is the axe set to the roote of the trees the lawe whiche causeth anger that is the preaching of the lawe against wicked men for lex iusto non est posita the lawe sayth Paul was not ordeined for good men but for euyl and therfore he defineth it in another place to be ministratiō of death and damnation But the new testament is a sermon of Gods mercy and clemēcy of saluation of redemption and rightuousnes through the effusion of Christes bloud who calleth all men and women from superstition to true holynes from shadowes to light from the letter to the spirit and from the workes to the flesh to labour and worke in his vineyard y t is to honor
thou take the Lords holy body How darest thou drinke of y e cup of his precious bloud These wordes proue that the teÌ„poraltie in this holy fathers time receiued the sacrameÌ„t in both kindes that in their haÌ„des S. Hierom saith priestes which do consecrat the sacrament deliuer the bloud of Christ to the people Chrisostom also obserued in his time this precept at Constantinople For he sayth the priest doth not eat one part and the laitie another part after the maner of the old lawe but vnto all is distributed one body one cup. And Gregory surnamed the great after whose tyme syncere doctrine began to decaie witnesseth that this custome was kepte in the Romain churche in his daies saying you haue learned what the bloud of the lambe is not by hearsay but by drynking it Yea fiue hundred yeares after his death Gelasius bishop of Rome 1118 yeares after Christ made a decree for the confirmation of this custome because then some presumed to take vnder one kynd Nether can it be proued that the laytie were restrained from the Cup of Christ before the rayne of Friderike the first surnamed Barbarossa to whiche restraint notwithstandyng the Orientall churche wold neuer consent but vse kyndes alwayes Yet the Papistes would make it a tradition of the Apostles where as in very dede to cause men to haue an honorable opinion of priuate masses and of their transubstantiation they them selues of late dayes haue taken on them to forbyd that whyche Christ commaunded that whiche the Apostles folowed that whiche the vniuersall churche obserued from tyme to tyme as is declared And because they would not be counted presumptuous for makyng this restraint they cast many perils and daungers whiche myght folowe if the Cup were made common to all men and women Dyd not Christ who fortold many thynges to hys Disciples who is the wysdome of God the father forsee these peryls and daungers If he dyd forsee them why dyd not he make a restraint Or at the least commaunde a restraynt to be made afterward Yea Christ of the bread speaketh not so vniuersally take ye eate ye But concernynge the Cup he geueth a generall precepte drynke ye of thys all as forseing this restraint and enstructing men aforehand not to obey it when it should come Yet some are so impudeÌ„t and so drouned in ignorauncie that they dare defend the one kind by Christes example and the Apostles They say that Christ at the toune of Emaus distributed but bread only to a couple of his disciples it is not mencioned that suche as embraced the felowship of the Apostles receiued any wine the text saith that thei coÌ„tinued in breaking of bread Therfore as it is a laudable custome to vse both bread and wyne so it is not euell to distribute bread only to the temporaltie For both Christ and his Apostles did so in the primatiue churche I aunswere Christ did not consecrate the sacrament to his disciples at the town Emaus but by his mighty power wrought a miracle in the diuision of the bread so Nycholaus Lyranus wryting vpon the sayde text doth vnderstande it witnessing that Christ brake the bread so euen as if he had cut it a sunder with his knife Nowe though bread only be named yet this is no sufficient profe that they did receiue the sacrament but in one kind For vnder the name of bread the scripturs do coÌ„teine meat and drinke and all maner of victualles as in the Lordes praier when we say giue vs this day our daily bread we aske all necessary fode for the norishment of the body Againe we read that Christ went into y e house of one of y e chief Phariseis Manducare paneÌ„ sabbato to eat bread on the sabboth day that is to dine or sup with him as all writers take it The Prophet Esay saith to euery one of vs Frange esurienti panem tuum break thy bread to the huÌ„gry exhorting vs by an Hebrue phrase vnder y e name of bread to minister all bodely fode all necessary sustenaunce to the poore Some make another answer to the aforesaid place of Luke Erasmus in his annotatioÌ„s doubteth whether the bread which Luke saith was broken among the christians of the primatiue churche were common bread or sacramentall and sanctified And many other are likewise in doubte hereof Wherfore no certain doctrine can be stablished of y e aforesaid place Yea though Luke both cap 24. and Act. 2. doe speake of the sacrament yet forsomuche as all victualles are comprehended vnder the word bread who is able to say that the sanctified no wyne It foloweth in the teâ—â— that Christ and his disciples When they had geuen prayses or as some do rede had song an Hymne they went out into mount Oliuet We are taught here by the ensample of Christ and his Apostles two offices which God requireth of vs after the receit of the Sacrament first in that they gaue thankes and prayses let vs learne that it is the office of euery Christen maÌ„ before he depart from Gods table also all his life time to render harty thankes to God the father for his great clemency and mercy for the remission of his syns through the dishonour death of his honorable son To this end purpose this mistery was chifly principally ordeyned y t so noble worthy a benefit shuld not fal out of remembraunce forsomuch as it is our only comfort against damnation and eternall death Therfore many of the elder fathers of Christs church do name this sacrament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a thankesgeuing Folow the ensample of Christ thi high shepeherd of his Apostles which finished not this mistery with out thankes to the diuine maiestie TheiÌ„ coÌ„tinued also in geuing of thaÌ„kes breaking of bread as Luke regestreth wryting their liues after Christes ascention departure What wordes they vsed it is vnknoweÌ„ also whether thei sang an Hymne or only said it The greke word is indifferent ether to singing or saying but though god do not here esteme y e voice but y e hart yet both song instrumeÌ„ts be laudable approued ceremonies in Gods church as I wold proue but only because I wyll not be ouer long If we wyll not honor God with due thankes for his innumerable benefites procured vnto vs through Christ but become vnthankeful vnkind if after that we be deliuered from sin receiued into Gods fauor we turne froÌ„ his holy coÌ„mauÌ„demeÌ„t then is our latter end worse then the beginning For of such S. Paul sayth If any man defile the temple of God hym shall God destroy Behold examples hereof in the newe Testament Iudas after that he had bene longe in the blessed felowship of the Apostles for betrayng the giltles for a brybe and through the detestable vice of couetousnes
the rods of Aaron the enchaunters were transubstantiat into serpents nether wer the riuers of Egipt transubstantiat into bloud We doe neuer reade throughout the scriptures of any suche mutatiō in any of Gods miracles from the beginning of the worlde Therfore when Ambrose Ciprian or any other of the old fathers doe saye that the nature of bread wyne is chaunged they do not exclude their substaunces and very essence which they teach to remaine after the consecratiō as I haue proued before but thei speake of a mutation of the naturall properties of bread wyne wherby they are no longer common bread wyne but through Gods power and benediction sanctified holy sacramentes chering vs with the comfortable promyses whiche God our father hath made vnto vs for the effusion of his sonnes bloud and for the death of his body The elder fathers do acknowledge confesse and teache no other mutation of y e outward signes As for Theophilact he is not of authoritie to stablish any article for he reproueth the Latyn church for beleuing the procession of the holy spirit and he was the yeare after Christ .1058 In the tyme of Lanfranke Gerengary when the byshops of Rome toke vpon them first stoutly to maintain and to publysh the doctrine of transubstantiatiō which before time was scarfly heard of Albeit his wordes touching the sacrament doe not disagre with the doctrine of the elder fathers if they be well construed When he denieth the bread to be a figure he speaketh of a vaine bare figure for so he expoundeth himself vpō Marke denying that it is figura tantum a figure only whiche we do confesse and graunt But he saith that the bread is transelemented transformed He saith also wryting vpon the said chapter of Iohn that we are transformed transelemented in to Christ and almost all the elder fathers do say the same And yet our natures remaine we ar not transubstantiat we are not made Christes reall flesh but vndefiled and holy flesh of his flesh and suche as shall aryse and be immortal with him for he doth knit cople and incorporat vs to him selfe by his sacramentes Therfore as this word transformed doth proue no mutation of our substaūce no more doth it proue the substaunce of bread and wyne to discontinue There remaineth yet one reason with which they defend their transubstantiation vnto which I thinke necessary to make an aunswer forsomuch as it is commonly in al the mouthes both of lay and ecclesiastical persons which suppose Christes body to be eaten really naturally They say if we doe not eate Christes flesh really why doth S. Paul make such as receiue vnworthely giltie of the Lords body and bloud Why doth he teach such to eat and drinke their own damnation because they make no difference of the Lordes body These wordes do not proue y t Christes body is eaten of vs really or substantially For Paull speaketh there of vnworthy receiuers which do not eate Christes body which is the bread of lyfe but the only figure Sacrament therof and they do eate the sayd only sacrament and only figure to their iudgement and condemnation as I haue proued This is not my doctryne but the doctrine of Hierom Ambrose of S. Austin of Prosper and of Bede as is declared in the beginning of this lesson The contemp of Gods sacrament not y e contract or touching of christes reall body which is now in heauen bringeth dānation causeth this giltines For as he which violētly plucketh down the kings maiesties armes or breaketh the kinges great seale or clippeth his coyne cōmitteth an offence against the kinges owne persone so they which abuse the sacrament of Christes body and bloud presuming to come to it as to common bread not reconciling them to their brethren nor sanctifying them selues to god such presumers and vnthankefull persons do offend against Christ himselfe be giltie of his body and bloud that is of hys death and doe eate their owne damnation To come to Gods holy sacrament vnreuerently without the wedding garment without any examination of thy lyfe past without geuing thankes to God the father for the dishonour and death of his sonne this is Non diiudicare corpuus domini to make no difference of the Lordes body For Paul nameth here the sacrament the Lordes body euen as Christ did when he said of bread wine this is my body bloud For as boeth Cyprian and S. Austin and other elder fathers do teach sacramēts haue the names of y e very thinges which they do represēt signify w t certen similitudes The aforsaid word of thapostle cannot be vnderstād otherwise for he speaketh of vngodly mē which do not eat christs body but the only figure to condemnation He vseth a like phrase in the beginning of the said chapter where he saith that euery mā praying or prophecying with a couered head dishonesteth shameth his head y t is Christ referring to Christ an offence done to mans head because it is a sacrament of Christ. After a like sort necligent and dome pastors whiche doe contemne their flock and neglect the honorable office of preaching ar pronounced of y e prophet Ezechiel giltie of their bloudes which do perishe for lack of enstruction and teaching That vnworthy receiuers are giltie of Christes body and bloud through a like contemt and dissolutnes presumption and neglygence not through any naturall any corporall or real eating of his flesh S. Ambrose declareth expounding Paules aforesaide wordes as it foloweth Dabūt poenas mortis domini quia pro illis occisus est qui eius beneficium irritum ducunt they shalbe promysed for Christes death saith this holy father because he was slaine for them and they do set light by his benefit He doth interprete suche to be giltie of the Lordes body which do not eate his flesh that is the fode of life as I haue proued before but the only figure therof to the condemnation of their contempt presumption and vnkindnes Therfore no transubstantiation can be proued of this place for the defēce wherof they do most shamefully wrest and depraue not only the scriptures but also the elder fathers And to impresse thesame depely into the hartes of al men womē they haue with holden from the laytie many yeares Christes cup for feare as they say of sheading his bloud of which I will speake a few wordes in your gentil eares then I wyll conclude and finishe this matter Christ our maister commaundeth all men and women to drinke of his cup which commaundemēt the Apostles obserued as long as they liued making no prouise nor tradition to the contrary And the vniuersall church folowed and obserued religiously the said precept for the space of a thousād yeres after Christ as many be proued by plaine testimony of auncient wryters For how with such handes saith Ambrose vnto Theodosius the Emperour wilt
distribution of Christes supper this is papistical leueÌ„ supersticious doctrine to make the scriptures a nose of wax a tenes baull and to wrest them to euery purpose To blesse here is to giue thaÌ„kes to God the father for his merciful beholding of our misery for pardoning Adams disobedience and for sending his sonne to be borne of a woman to grind and breake in sonder the Serpentes head that is to destroy the power of the deuill through death thorow his crosse and by theffusioÌ„ and shedding of his bloud And the cup of blessing of which Paul speaketh is asmuch to say as the cup of thankesgeuing For he expoundeth it euen so in the next Chapter himself And where as Marke saith that Christ blessed Mathew and Luke say expouÌ„ding on another that he gaue thaÌ„kes For this vse entent and purpose this sacrament was chiefly and principally ordayned that we should not forget the great clemency and special fauor of the eternal God for the death and passion of Christ our Lord but reserue this his benefit in continuall memory And therfore many of the elder Fathers doe name this holy Sacrament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a renderyng of prayse and a thankesgeuyng It foloweth in the text how after that Christ had geuen thankes That he brake the bread and gaue it to his Disciples and bad them take and eate it and he toke the Cup lykewyse and gaue it them saying Drinke of it euery one Or as Luke saith he toke the cup and sayd Accipite and diuidite inter vos take this and deuide it among you Christ our maister doeth not receiue this holy Sacrament alone but with his Disciples nether do we reade in all the newe Testament that euer any receiued it priuatly or seuerally from others The Actes of y e Apostles testifie that they which beleued resorted together oftentymes to celebrate this Sacrament But they doe not speake of any priuate receit for Christ ordayneth here no priuat Masse but a Communion Let vs folowe hys example and celebrate Christes supper not as our forefathers haue done many yeares and of long tyme but as Christ who is before all tyme and all yeares â–ª did celebrate it first and as his Disciples did vse it in the primatiue Apostolike church You will say there hath bene a custome coÌ„trary many yeares and I haue heard some say that when the deuotion of the layte and temporalte waxed cold that the Apostles and their successors gaue liberte to ministers to receiue it alone I aunswere this custome begon but of late dayes and not many yeares agone For as Cronicles do make plain and euident relation Gregory surnamed the great the first Bishop of Rome of that name was the first founder of priuat Masses who was Anno dom 595 almost for the space of six hundred yeres there was no priuat receit Moreouer this is most certayne and true that the Orientall church neuer vnto this day did allow or vse priuate masses as appâ—reth plainly of the name which thei giue to this sacrament For they cal it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a coÌ„munion or a coÌ„ming and asseÌ„ble together of many in one place And for an euident profe of this you shal vnderstand y t Plinius he that was Profos Bithiniae that is gouernour captain of Bithinia In the time of y e wise Emperor Traianus this Pliny I say in a certen Epistle which he writeth to the forsayd Emperour De ritu christianorum of the rights and fashions of the christians is a witnes hereof that the Grekes in his time had a communion and no priuat masses And other learned writers do credibly report that certain churches of the Venetians within this .xxx. yeares and lesse did not celebrate the Lordes supper alone or any man priuatly by himselfe And it may wel be that they do so stil at this day of these it is euident that priuat masses be not of so auncient and long coÌ„tinuaunce or so vniuersally receiued as the papistes do face and bragge the matter after their accustomed sort But you wil go further with me say If the laite will receiue they may for they were neuer restrained but if they will not thinking themselues vnworthy to receiue it often theÌ„selues why may not the priest receiue it alone for them We may pray one for another so we ar exhorted to do but no man may receiue the sacrament for others but for himself only That which thou receiuest thou receiuest by thine own faith and for spiritual fode to thyne own soul and not to others For it is written iustus ex fide sua viuet the rightuous man shall liue by faith by his own faith and not by an other mans faith nor by anothers receit And as no man hath norishment or sustenaunce of the meat which another doth eat so this spiritual fode doth profit only such as take and eat it themselues according to Christes precept they be not edified nor refresshed with an other mans spirite with an other mans faith or receit no more then they be regenerat renewed with the baptime of others For if it be true that Paul saith Qui enim manducat bibit indigne iudicium sibi manducat et bibit that is he that eateth and drinketh vnworthely eateth and drinketh to his own condemnatioÌ„ not to any other mans condemnatioÌ„ Ergo he that eateth and drinketh worthely eateth but to his own health and saluation and not to the health and profit of others The benefit the fruit and the whole coÌ„modite of this sacrament dependeth vpon the promises which Christ hath annexed to it whiche promises be pronounced only to those that come to his supper themselues as these promisses Whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternal life I wyl raise him vp saith Christ at the last day and he dwelleth in God and God in him these promisses I say be not made to thee onles thou come to Gods table thyself another mans receit doth nothing profit or edify thee Therfore Paul vnto the Corinthians after that he restraineth them from making any banket or refection before this supper afterward speaking of this Sacrament he commaundeth boeth priestes and others not to receiue one for another but one to tary for another saying Alius alium expectate cum conuenitis ad manducandum Tary sayth Paul one for another when ye come together to eate He speaketh these wordes of Christes supper for he forbiddeth the CorinthiaÌ„s in the same Chapter to eate any other meat in the house of prayer then bread and wyne in commemoration of the death of Christ. Ambrose a learned and holy father of Christes church doeth so construe and take this text disalowyng and reprouing al priuat receit and also Theophilact For Ambrose saith vpon this text Ab inuicem expectandum est vt
multorum oblatio simul celebretur vt omnibus ministretur That is to say we must tary for others that many may offer vp thankes and prayses and that all the cōgregation may receyue Thankes be vnto God that we haue Christes supper in that fashion and maner which he him selfe obserued yet because all men be not perswaded and some doe murmur and grudge at this Godly reformation and of a stubbornes absent them selues from the holy communion and would flye backe into Egipt agayn to heare Masses as they were wont to do I thought it necessary to touche this matter to reforme their iudgementes if they wylbe reclaymed What word of God what authoritie of scriptures can be alledged for priuate masses Or who is able to shewe that euer any of the Apostles any holy man in the primatiue church or any of the elder Fathers before Pope Gregory did celebrate priuatly If there be nether example of any holy man nor no autorite no text no testimony of the scripture to mainteine them let vs conclude that it is but a dreame and fantasy of man submitting our iudgemētes to Gods boke Moreouer as Christ did not ordeine his supper to be receiued priuatly for benefactors ether dead or aliue or for others no more did he eleuate and lift vp the sacramēt ouer his head to be sene and worshipped of his disciples He gaue it them into their handes to eate and not to honor it to receiue it and not to worship it with holding vp of their hāds knocks on their brestes Only God is to be honored with this kind of reuerence no sacramēt for God is not a sacramēt neither is the sacramēt God What a sacrament is is to longe a matter to entreat nowe because I wil not wery you I wil difer this point vnto the next sermon Then I wil shew you also how Christes body is in the holy sacrament procede further into the text Let vs vse it as Christ his Apostles did If thou wilt be more deuout then they were be not deceiued but beware y t thy deuotion be not idolatry Christ gaue it thē into their handes not into their mouthes Nether be thou afraid to take and hādel it with thy handes as they did Consider not how it hath bene vsed in times past the counsel holden at Rotomage did first forbid men to take it in their hands regard more Christes example and the exāple of his Disciples and of the primatiue churche whiche alwayes did take it into their handes then the late example of our forefathers But thou wylt say the kings boke made by the learned clergy and wyse men of this realme according to Gods word and confirmed by most high authoritie of the Lordes and commons of the Parliament commaūdeth me to receiue the holy Sacrament at the priestes handes into my mouth As the Apostles commaunded all christen men and women to abstain from bloud ▪ and from straungled meates to beare with those that were weake and for other certein considerations which cōmaundmēt S. Paul afterward disanulleth professyng no meat to be vncleane and licensing them to eate both bloud and straungled whiche licence they embraced wyllingly and obediently and as they of the primatiue church commaunded the people to receiue it at their mouthes because some receiuing it in their handes dyd conuey away the Sacrament secretly to abuse it to superstitiō and magical vses So the king commaundeth the same in dede for like considerations for a tyme season for an vniformitie and to beare with thy infirmitie and weakenes vntil thou shalt haue more knowledge by readyng and hearyng Gods sacred word and vntyll thou shallt be growen a strōg and a perfit man in Christes holy religion entending as I take it when thy heart is tilled with the seede of Gods worde and able to digest stronger meat to make an vniforme lawe to the contrary and to commaunde all men women and children to receiue it with their hands as priestes do and as Christ and his Disciples did and the layte of the primatiue church For indifferent thinges the kynges maiestie with his clergie and the aduise of his Parliamēt may do and vndo forbid and commaund and make one lawe this yeare and an other cleane contrary the next yeare Therfore when soeuer the same authoritie shal will thee to take it in thy handes agayne or if thei shall wyll thee to receiue it syttyng thou must as willyngly obey their commaūdement as they of the primatiue church did embrace Paules commaundement touching bloud and straungled meates notwithstanding it was a contrary commaundement to that which all the Apostles had concluded vpon a little before as is regestred In the meane tyme I do not bid thee disobey or breake their first commaundement But if it be an indifferent thyng thou wylt say why may I not do as I list or how may they forbid me to take it with my mouth for then they make it not indifferent It is not euyll to receyue with thy mouth but it is better to receiue it in thy handes for as muche as Christes Disciples did so and in indiffererent thynges the magistrates may commaunde thee to do that is the better yea or that which is worse as they shall see cause and considerations Prepare thy heart therfore to obedience in suche thynges and be as ready to receyue it in thy handes as with thy mouth be as ready to receiue it syttyng as knelyng yea euen to morow if they shall wyll thee so to doe And as thou doest willingly obey them in that thei bid thee take it w t thy mouth so obey them concerning adoration for in that thei commaunde that the Sacrament shal not be heued nor lift vp they forbid thee to honor it Thus I haue declared you my faithe and knowledge that is why God ordeined his supper after y e eating of the lābe that their lambe was a figure of our sacramental bread and wyne a commemoration of the deliueraunce and a Sacrament of Christes death that the Iewes had some cōtinual rites and sacramētes and other some temporal I shewed you how their sacramentes and ours howe their receit ours doth differ why God who is immutable disanulled their rits and ordained new rites and newe ceremonies for vs for what causes men absent them selues from Christes banket to which they should come not annually but continually and that as it is best to come fasting therto so it is not euil to receiue after meat and drinke I haue proued that to blesse is not to make a crosse vpon the sacrament but to render thankes to God the father for the remission of our sinnes through the sede promised that Christ ordeineth here no priuate Masse but a communion and that the scriptures and the Oriental churche and S. Ambrose a godly and learned father of the Latin church disalowe all priuate receit And that as it is not euill to