torment Be ye ioyfull and reioyce to be enrovvled in their bande for to beare vvith them the yoke of Iesus Christ perseuere valiantly in the doctrine that you haue already receiued for no man can hurt you Ought vve not greatly to reioyce of this that the persecuting tyrantes can doe our bodyes no more hurt then a vvolfe or theefe of the vvoods vvhich can but murther or kill vs Let vs reioyce for our names are vvritten in heauen VVe haue yet this good turne thankes be vnto our good God therefore that the persecutors can do vnto vs no vvorse then to to put and place vs vvith our good God in the company of Angelles and all the blessed soules in heauen VVhat is he that vvould not desire to goe playe vvith so happy a company eternally and vvithout ende Yea to be in glory vvhich the eye hath not seene and eare hath not heard neyther hath entred into mans minde the thinges vvhich God hath prepared to such as loue him Againe forasmuch as they esteeme and court vs so vvicked and abhominable and crye so spitefully after vs as after the vvickedest people of all the vvorld to make vs and our doctrine odious vnto the people They commaund them not to heare or harken vnto vs they make the simple people beleeue vvhen they haue them vnder confession that if they doe not accuse vs they shall be damned Their craft subtiltye and enuye agaynste the truth is to be maruayled at In the meane time I vvould vvillingly that they vvould accord and agree vvith vs to conferre their doctrine vvith ours their crosse and persecution vvith ours their lyfe vvith ours theyr church vvith ours By that means vve should plainly see vvhether they be the childrē of God or vve First of all haue not vve the baptisme purely administred as vve doe reade that the Apostles haue administred it vvithout any inuentions of men but onely according to the vvord of God Let one reade the Scriptures and he shall see vvho it is that hath added to the Sacramentes eyther vve or they Furthermore let men behold the persecutions that they suffer for their doctrine the number is soone counted for there is not one vvhich hath suffred death for their doctrine neuerthelesse Iesus Christ hath promised that his church shal haue persecution in the vvorld saying ye shall be hated of all men for my name Hovv can they be hated of all men sith that they be in all places the best vvelcome Hovv commeth it that one shoulde thinke to doe sacrifice vnto God in putting them to death I did neuer knovve any I doe accord and agree in this that they are often times taken prisoners but it is in the good feastes and bankettes and in the best seates of the table and vvhereas the children of God are burned vvith fire they here are burned throughe the heate of VVine Their innocent fleshe is hevven and cut in peeces but it is at the table vpon their treachers They are rotten and consumed vvith the Goute of Naples insomuch that they fall in peces They are melted and melted againe many times in a yeere Besides all the dangers they put them selues into both day and night to runne after other mens vvyues in great danger of their life And yet some vvill say that they are not persecuted It appeareth that they be for one shall see a great many more among them to dye Martyrs of the paines that vve did speake of euen novv then of their naturall diseases or sicknesses They are then Martyres no man can denie yea but it is of the diuell and vvhat is he that doubteth of it And as concerning their life it is knovven vvell inough and manyfested vnto all men Their good vvorkes and godly fruites vvhat it bringeth in all places destroying and corrupting all the vvorlde asvvell spiritually as corporally This I am sure of that forasmuch as I haue touched and medled but vvith the doore of their kitchin they vvill say I am a vvicked Hereticke But vvhat then Shoulde I hold my peace for their menaces and iniuries No no God forbid but rather I vvill crye vvith open mouth after them bicause they haue so corrupted and destroyed the Lordes Vineyard Alas alas my God vvhat is he that ought not but to lament and vveepe vvith bloudy teares seeing all the vvorld to be so led into the bottome of hell so many poore soules led to perdition O Lord regard thy poore people haue some pitie and compassion on them for vvhom thy sonne our Lorde Iesus Christ hath offred to thee his body and bloud in a sacrifice and suffer not that thy poore sheepe be so put as a pray for to be deuoured of al beastes For vve are dayly assaulted vvith so many ennemyes that sathan riseth agaynst vs for to make vs forsake and abandon our Lord Iesus Christ and to renounce his Gospell One day vve haue vvarre agaynst the Heretickes Anabaptistes an other day agaynst Libertines Epicures Arians Dauidistes and agaynst dissemblers and consequently against the vvorshippers of the fathers through vvhose zeale the children of God are put to death Haue not vve then great neede of vveapons It appeareth yea if vve vvould not be taken in their snares as many at this day are through the iust iudgement of God. Therefore if there be any time to pray or to vvatch it is novve Let vs then vvatch and praye to the end vve may auoyde all those dangers and perseuer and continevve to the ende You haue bene the first of your citie dearely beloued I also doe hope in the Lord you shall not be the last But as you haue bene vntill novv the example and myrror of the poore ignorant people to dravve them to the true light of the spirite I doe hope through the grace of God that nothing shall hinder you to continevve vnto the end on so holy a vvorke For the poore ignorant people seeing the peace and vnitie and the promptnesse and good courage that is in you to receiue the holy doctrine are constrayned through your holy life and conuersation to come vnto the knovvledge of Iesus Christ and consequently to saluation Forasmuch then as the Lord doth vnto you dayly so much good or shevveth vnto you so much of his grace shevving vnto you from day to day his maruaylous vvorkes set to so your handes in the vvorke of the Lord so long as he giueth you time and life that you doe not leaue for your children that shall come after you an euill example of life but instruct them in that holy doctrine that you haue receiued to the ende they may knovve after your death that they had fathers and mothers that feared God and vvell instructed in his vvord and that they haue not receyued the gospell in their mouthe onely but also in their handes And that they vvere not dissemblers but true confessors of the name of God. Dispose and bestovve then vvhilest you haue time so vvell your affayres and
of this breade hee shall liue for euer the breade that I will giue is my fleshe which I will giue for the life of the worlde c. That which I deliuered vnto you I receyued of the Lorde to wit That the Lorde Iesus the same night in whiche he was betrayed tooke breade and when he had giuen thankes he brake it and sayd Take ye eate ye this is my bodie which is broken for you this doe ye in remembrance of me After the same maner also he tooke the Cup when he had supped saying This Cup is the newe testament in my bloude this doe as ofte as ye drinke it in remembrance of me For as often as ye shall eate this breade and drinke this Cuppe yee shewe the Lordes death till he come Wherefore whosoeuer shall eate this breade and drinke this Cuppe of the Lorde vnworthily shall be guiltie of the bodie and bloude of the Lorde Let a man therefore examine himselfe and so let him eate of this breade and drinke of this Cup. Is not the Cup of blessing whiche we blesse the Communion of the bloude of Christe Is not the Breade which wee breake the Communion of the bodie of Christ Bicause that we whiche are manye are one breade and one bodie in as muche as wee are all partakers of one breade Our fathers haue all eaten the same spirituall meate and did all drinke the same spirituall drinke for they dranke of the spirituall rocke that followed them and that rocke was Christ I am the breade of life he that commeth to me shall not hunger and he that beleeueth on me shal neuer thurst c. This is that breade which commeth downe from heauen that he whiche eateth of it shoulde not die Augustine in his 2. Quinqua vpon the 96. Psalme When the Lorde commaunded this he spake of his fleshe and sayde He that eateth not my fleshe shall not haue eternall lyfe And sayd The words that I speake vnto you are spirite and life Vnderstand spiritually that which I haue sayde vnto you you shall not eate that bodie whiche you do see you shall not drinke the bloud which shall be shedde by them which will crucifie me Augustine vpon Saint Iohn in the 27. treatise vpon the 6 Chapter If ye shoulde see the sonne of man ascend vp where he was before What is this By that he resolueth those whom he hath knowen of that he manyfested the thing whereby they haue ben offended For they did thinke that he would giue vnto them his body but hee sayth that hee will ascend vp into heauen all whole saying when yee shall see the sonne of man ascend vp where he was before at the least you shall see then that he doth not giue his bodie in the same maner as ye thinke and iudge at the least you shal then vnderstand that his grace is not consumed by morsels c. Augustine in his Sermon of the Sacramentes of the faithfull in the 2. ferie of Easter And for this cause as also the men of God haue vnderstoode it before vs our Lorde Iesus Christ hath recommended his body and his blood to the thinges which of many are reduced and brought into one thing For also the one of many Graynes is confecte and made into one and the other of many Grapes is reduced into one he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him Then to eate this meate and to drink this drinke is to dwell in Christ and to haue our dwelling in him And so hee that dwelleth not in Christ and in whome Christ doth not dwell without doubt hee eateth not the flesh and drinketh not the bloud although that he eate and drinke the Sacrament of so great a thing to his iudgement Augustine in his .3 booke of the christian doctrine If you eate not sayth he the fleshe of the sonne of man and drinke not his blood you shall haue no life in you It seemeth that he doth commaund an vnlawful thing or a fault That is then a fygure commaunding that it must be communicated to the passion of our Lorde and gentlye and profitablye to put in memorye that his fleshe hath bene wounded and crucified for vs. Augustine of the words of the Apostle in his .2 sermon Saith If ye eate not my flesh and drinke not my blood ye shall haue no life in you c. The disciples were offended not all truly but many of them saying within themselues This is an harde saying who can abide the hearing of it What doth this signifie Doth this offende you Did you thinke that of this bodie here whiche you doe see I ought to make peeces and that I shoulde deuyde in peeces my members for to giue them vnto you What and if you shoulde see the sonne of man ascende vp where he was before Truly he which is ascended vp all whole cannot be consumed c. What is it to drinke this thing but to liue Eate the lyfe drinke the lyfe thou shalte haue lyfe and thou shalt be the whole lyfe And then this shall be that is to saye that the bodie and bloude of Christ shall be the lyfe of euerye one if that which they do take visibly in the sacrament be in dede spiritually eaten and drunke For we haue hearde the Lorde himselfe saying It is the spirite that quickeneth the fleshe profiteth nothing The wordes that I speake vnto you are spirite and life Augustine in his Decrees of penance in the 2. distinction Chapiter of Charitie To eate the breade and drinke the wyne that is to beleeue in Christ and in louing him to giue our selues vnto him Bede in his Collection These are also the wordes of Saint Augustine in his sermon made to the children at the aultar of the Sacrament The Cuppe of blessing c. That which ye see in the Aulter ye haue also seene it the night past But you haue not yet vnderstoode what it doth signifie and howe it conteyneth a Sacrament of a greate thing That then whiche ye haue seene is bread and wine the which your eyes doo demonstrate vnto you But that which your faith desireth to be instructed in the bread is the body of Christ and the wine the blood And that truly is brefly sayde in asmuch peraduenture that it suffiseth the fayth but the fayth desireth to be instructed for the Prophet sayth If ye beleeue not you shall not vnderstand Yee may then say vnto me thou hast commanded that we should beleeue expound it to the ende that we may vnderstand it For such cogitacion and thought may enter into the mindes and vnderstanding of euery one we doo know very well from whence our Lord Iesus Christ hath taken his flesh that is to say of the Virgin Mary he was nourished vp in his infancie he was brought vp he became great and came to the age of a young man He
suffered persecution by the Iewes He hath ben hanged on the tree and dyed on the tree and was buryed and rose againe the third day and ascended into heauen the day it pleased him There he eleuated his body and from thence he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead there he sitteth now at the right hand of the father How then is the bread his body And the cuppe or that which the cuppe conteineth how is that his blood My bretheren therefore are these thinges here called Sacramentes because that in them one thing is seene and an other thing is vnderstoode That which we see in a corporall likenesse but that which we vnderstand to a spirituall fruite He that receaueth the mistery of vnity and keepeth not the bond of neace he receiueth not by him the mistery but receaueth a witnesse agaynst him selfe And no man ought in any thing to doubt but that then euery faithfull man is partaker of the body and of the blood of the Lorde As to baptisme he is made a member of Christ and is not depryued from the company of that bread and of that cuppe also when hee which is constituted in the vnitie of the body of Christ shall depart out of this world before he doo eate that bread and drinke the cuppe for also he is not depryued from the participation and from the benefite of that Sacrament whiche hath found that which the Sacrament dooth signifie Prosper in his booke of sentences He that abydeth in Christ and in whom Christ dwelleth hath taken the meate of lyfe and hath drunke the drinke of the eternitie For he whiche discordeth from Christ doth not eate the fleshe of Christ nor drinketh his bloud Although that he doe take euery daye indifferently the Sacrament of so great a thing according to his iudgement Innocent in his thirde booke of the holy Aultar 4. 13. 14. Chapter Iudas sayth he hath eaten the Lordes breade but he hath not eaten the breade which was the Lorde Saint Hilarie in his 8. booke of the Trinitie The breade which descended from heauen is not receiued but of him which hath the Lorde and which is the true member of him Augustine in his 49. treatise vpon Saint Iohn the 11. Chapter If fayth be in vs Christ is in vs For what other thing sayeth the Apostle Christ dwelleth in your heartes through fayth but that through the fayth whiche thou hast of Christ Christ is in thy heart Augustine vpon Saint Iohn in his 25. treatise and 6 Chapter This is then to eate the meate not that which perisheth but which abideth vnto eternall lyfe Wherefore make ready thou the teeth and the belly beleeue and thou hast eaten c. Saint Cyprian in his Sermon of the vnction of Christ. Our Lorde Iesus Christ hath giuen in the table in the whiche he hath made his last banket with his Apostles the breade and the wyne with his owne hands but he hath giuen his bodye for to be wounded on the Crosse by the handes of the souldiers c. Augustine vpon Saint Iohn in the 26. Homely Sayth All we haue very well this daye receyued the visible meate but it is another thing of the Sacrament and of the vertue of the same From whence commeth it that many doe come vnto the aultar and take to their condemnation that which they receyue For the morsell of breade which our Lord gaue vnto Iudas was poyson vnto him not for that it was euill but bicause the man which tooke it was euill he tooke it euill c. A little after he sayth the Sacrament of this that is to saye the spirituall vnitie whiche we haue with Christ is presented vnto vs at the Lordes table to the one to lyfe to the others to death A little before hee hath sayde He which shall eate shall not die but I doe vnderstande it of him whiche shall haue the veritie of the Sacrament and not the visible Sacrament whiche shall eate him inwardlye and not outwardly whiche shall eate him in the heart and not crashe him with the teeth In what sense the auncient Doctors of the Church haue vnderstoode this place Hoc est corpus meum This is my bodye S. Augustine wryting against Adamantius the disciple of Manichaeus in the 12. Epistle Saith after this manner I maye interpret that this commandement cōsisteth in a signe for the Lord hath made it no doubt to say This is my body when hee gaue the signe of his body In the same place he sayth these three thinges The blood is water Behold my body And the rocke was Christ He teacheth these thinges to be sayde as though he spake by figure in signe and by signification Tertullian in his .4 booke against Marcion Sayth after this sort Iesus Christ after he toke the bread and distributed it to his disciples made it his body in saying this is my body That is to say saith he the signe of my body Chrisostome vpon S. Mathewe in the .83 homily the .26 chapter called the symbole of the supper and signe of the body of Christ. Augustine in his first quinquagesima in his prologue of the 3. psalm Saith Christ receiued Iudas vnto his supper in the which he recommended and gaue the figure of his body and of his blood to his disciples Chrisostome vpon S. Mathew in the .83 homelye Saith When the Heritickes say how shall it appeare that Christ hath ben offered We wyll stoppe their mouthes thus if Iesus Christ be not dead to what ende shall that sacrifice be a signe Saint Ierome vpon the 26. Chapter of S. Mathewe After that he acomplished the mysticall Passeouer or Easter had eaten the flesh of the Lambe with his Apostles He toke the breade which comforteth the heart of man and passed further to come vnto the Sacrament of the true Easter That euen as Melchisedech the highe Priest of the souereygne God hath done in the figure of this in offering of breade and wyne Euen so he representeth the veritie of his bodie and of his bloude Saint Ambrose vpon the first Epistle to the Corinthians the 11. Chap. Forasmuch as we are deliuered by the death of the Lorde hauing recordation thereof in eating and drinking wee doe signifie the fleshe and the bloude the which haue bene offered for vs c. Chrysostome vpon the 22. psalme Christ hath ordeyned the table of his holye Supper to the ende that in that sacrament he doe shewe vnto vs daylye the breade and the wine for the similitude of his bodie and of his bloude Saint Ambrose in his 6. booke of the Sacramentes the first Chapter The Priest sayth Make this oblation to bee acceptable vnto vs the whiche is the figure of the bodie and bloude of oure Lorde c. Chrysostome in the 83. Homelie vpon Saint Mathewe If thou haddest bene withoute a bodie hee woulde haue giuen thee all his signes naked and bare but bicause that thy soule is ioyned to a
body he hath giuen thee in the sensible thinges the things which are comprysed by the spirite S. Ambrose in his booke of the Sacraments the 1. Chapter Thou doest receiue the Sacrament for the similitude of the flesh and of the bloud of Christ but thou obteynest the grace of his true nature And in receiuing the bread in that meate thou art partaker of his deuine substaunce c. And he sayth afterward Euen as thou hast receiued at baptisme the similitude of death so likewyse thou hast drunke in that Sacrament the similitude of the precious bloud of Christe c. Bede vpon the .22 chapter of S. Luke After he had ended the solemnitie of the ancient Passeouer the which he made in remembraunce of the auncient deliueraunce out of Egypt he passed foorth to the newe solemnitye the which the church desireth to celebrate in remembraunce of her redemption to the ende that putting the Sacrament of his flesh of his bloud vnder the likenesse of bread and wine in steede of the flesh and of the bloud of the Lambe he sheweth himself to be him vnto whome the Lord hath sworne and wyll not repent thou art a priest for euer c. It followeth after bicause that the breade doth fortefie the flesh and that the wine causeth the bloud in the flesh the bread is referred mistically to the body of Christ and the wine to his bloud c. Druthmarus Monke of S. Benet in his commentary vppon Saint Mathew The wine refresheth and augmenteth the bloud for that cause the bloud of Christ is not vnproperly figured by the same in asmuch as all that commeth vnto vs from him doth make vs glad with a true ioye and increaseth all our goodnesse c. A little before he sayth The Lord gaue vnto his disciples the Sacrament of his body in remission of theyr sinnes and for to keepe loue and charitie to the end that hauing remembraunce of that deede he would doo alwayes in a figure that which he ought to doo for them and shoulde not forget that charytie This is my body that is to say in Sacrament c. Origen vpon Leuiticus in the .7 homely Knowe that these are figures which are wrytten in the holy bookes and therefore they ought to be examined as spiritually and not as carnall and to vnderstand the thinges which are sayd For if you doo receiue those thinges here as carnall they doo hurt you and not nourish you for the letter which killeth is not only found in the old testament but also in the Gospell in the new testament The letter killeth him which considereth not spiritually the thinges which are spoken For if thou follow according to the letter that whiche is sayd except that you doo not eate my flesh and drinke my bloud that letter killeth Wylt thou that I doo aledge vnto thee an other letter of the Gospell which killeth He which hath not a sword saith he let him sell his coate and buy one Doest thou see that letter is of the Gospell but it killeth truely if thou receiue it spiritually it kylleth not but in the same is the quickening spirite and therefore receiue spiritually the thinges which are spoken be it in the Lawe or in the Gospell For the spirituall man iudgeth all thinges but he him selfe is iudged of no man c. Denys in the ecclesiasticall Hierarchia Saith The Byshoppe after that hee shall haue ended by preaching the heauenly giftes he consecrateth and blesseth the holy misteryes and that which he before hath preached he setteth before euery one couert and hidde by venerable signes and tokens And after that he hath shewed his heauenly gyftes in all reuerence he turneth him selfe to the holy communion of them admonishing all other to communycate and after that the holy communion is receyued of euery one rendring thanks vnto God he maketh an end of the mistery Obiec Hoc est corpus meū this is my body Aunswere When God gaue the circumcision to Abraham he made his couenant before the circumcision and yet he called the circumcision his couenant or alliance saying Hoc est pactum meum This is my couenant S. Paule expoundeth the same saying Abraham hath receyued the signe of circumcision as a seale of the righteousnesse of fayth God sayd to the Prophet Ezechiel thou sonne of man take a tyle stone and laye it before thee and describe vpon it the citie of Ierusalem after he saith this same is Ierusalem Hoc est corpus meum Augustine vpon Leuiticus 9. .7.57 also he wryteth agaynst Adamant The thing whiche signifieth hath of custome bene called of the name of the thing which is signified As it is wrytten the seuen eares are seuen yeeres The Scripture sayth not that they signifie seuen yeeres And the seuen kyne are seuen yeeres and many such thinges In lyke manner sayth S. Paule that the Rocke was christ and not that it signified Christ but as if it had ben him in very deede the which notwithstanding was not Christ by substance but by figuration c. Augustine wryting to Boniface Epistle 23. If the Sacraments haue no certayne similitude or agreeing with the things of which they are sacramentes they shall be in no maner of wyse Sacramentes For they take oftentimes the names of the things themselues by reason of that similitude As the Sacrament of the bodie of Christe is after one fashion or maner the bodie of Christ and the sacrament of the bloude of Christ the bloude of Christ Also the Sacramente of Fayth is the fayth Irenaeus agaynst the heretike Valens in his 4. booke 34. Chapter The breade with the which wee render thanks vnto God although that it be of the earth yet neuerthelesse when the name of God is inuocated and called vpon it is not the common breade but of giuing of thankes hauing two things in it the one earthly and the other heauenly c. Gelasius writing against Eutyches and Nestorius and also to the Counsell of Rome in the Chapter Comperimus de consecrat Distin. 2. The Sacramentes of the bodie and of the bloude of the Lorde Iesus Christe which we take they are heauenly things whereby we are made partakers by them of the diuine nature And yet neuerthelesse the substance of the breade and of the wine remayne there still and trulye the image and the similitude of the bodie and of the bloude of Christ are celebrated in the doing of the mysteries Then that is euidently shewed vnto vs which we must fele in Iesus Christ our Lorde yea the same which we protest celebrate and are in his image to the ende that euen as the natures are conuerted and chaunged into the diuine substance by the meanes of the holye spirite and yet neuerthelesse they abyde in their natures Also the same principall ministerie whose efficacie and vertue is trulye represented vnto vs by the things whereof it consisteth whiche abide
properly in their being doe demonstrate vnto vs that onely Christ abydeth altogither wholy and in his veritie The Councell of Nice Let vs not staye here belowe on the breade and wyne whiche are sette on the Lordes table but let vs lift vppe our spirites on high through fayth Let vs consider that the lambe of God whiche taketh away the sinnes of the world is in that holy table the whiche is not offered in sacrifice by the Priestes after the manner of beastes And in taking his precious bodie and his bloude let vs beleeue that they are the signes and tokens of our resurrection And for the same cause we eate not much but a little to the ende we may know that the same is not ordeyned for to fill our bellye withall but for to serue to sanctitie and holynesse c. Saint Ambrose in his booke of those which are dedicated to the mysteries Before the consecration one kinde or likenesse is named but after the consecration the body of Christ is signified Christe sayth that his bloud before the consecration is called an other thing but after the consecration is signified the bloud of Christe c. S. Ciprian in his sermon of penitent sinners Speaking of the mayd which did vomit out the Sacrament The drinke sanctified in the bloud of the Lord issued out of the polluted entrailes Chrisostome wryting to Caesar the Monke Before the consecration of the breade we doo call it bread but when the grace of God hath sanctified it by the priest it is deliuered from the name of bread and is exalted to the name of the body of the Lorde although that the nature of the bread abydeth alwayes and is not called two bodyes but one body of the sonne of GOD. Augustine vppon S. Iohn in his 80. homelye Iesus Christ sayth not that you are cleane bicause of the baptisme by the which you haue ben washed but he sayth it bycause of the word which I haue sayd vnto you That is for none other cause but that the word doth wash and clense you in the water If one doo take away the word what shall the water be but water Which if the word be ioyned to the element it shall be made a Sacrament and the word it selfe is made as visible from whence commeth so great vertue to the water that in touching the body it washeth the hart but by meanes of the word Not alwayes bicause that the word is pronounced but bicause that one beleeueth For in the worde it selfe truly there is a difference betwene the sound passing and the vertue abyding The Rubrycke wrytten in redde letters whiche is called cautela Missae If the body of the Lord be found within the armorye or pyxe to be rotten or mustye through to great moystnesse of the armorye or through to great negligence in not changing it If none can be founde which wyll receiue it that the sayd body of the Lorde be burned and the asshes put in a certayne halowed place Item if the sayd body of the Lorde be found within the sayd armorye to be eaten parte of it with Myce or Spiders if none can bee found which wyll receiue it that it be burned and the asshes put in a halowed place Item if any that is sicke who hauing receiued the sayd body of the Lord and through the infirmitie of his stomacke is constrayned to vomite it vp agayne if none can be found which wyll take that refection that the sayd body of the Lorde be burned and the asshes put into an halowed place S. Peter aunswereth to the same in his sermon Thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption S. Paule sayth asmuche in his sermon that he made to the people of Antioche saying He whome God raysed agayne sawe no corruption also God hath raysed him from death for to returne no more to corruption How our Lord Iesus Christ according to his Humanite cannot be but in one place S. Ambrose wryting vpon S. Luke in his 10. booke We ought not to seeke thee vpon earth nor in the earth nor according to the flesh if we wyll finde thee For we may not knowe now Iesus Christ after the fleshe S. Stephen did not seeke him vpon earth who did see him at the right hand of god But Mary which sought him in the earth had not the power to touche him Stephen hath touched him for he sought him in heauen Augustine in his 2. Quinquagesima psalme 54. Vntill such time as the heauen shal end the Lord shall be alwayes on high but the truth of the Lord is here with vs For it must nedes be that the body with which he rose agayne be in one certayne place but his truth is spread abroad euery where Augustine wryting to Dardanus in the 67. Epistle Doubt not that Iesus Christ as touching his manhod is not there where we doe looke for him And doe remember that which we confesse in our crede That he rose agayne and ascended into heauen and that he shall come from thence and not from any other place to iudge the quick and the dead And he shall come according to the witnesse of the Angell as they haue seene him ascend in that same visible form and in the same substance to the which he hath giuen immortalitie But he hath not taken frō him his nature according to the forme and substance of his body we must not think that he is dispersed euery where for we must take heede so to affirme his deytie that we destroy not his humayne nature Therefore it followeth not that all which is in God is God. Augustine vpon S. Iohn in his 30. treatyse The body of Christ is raysed vp from death and it must needes be that it is in one place If ye then be rysen agayne with Christ seeke those thinges which are aboue where Christ sitteth at the righ hand of god Thinke on the thinges which are aboue but not on those which are on earth Iesus Christ sayth I am yet a little while with you and then goe I vnto him that sent me Also the poore ye haue alwayes with you but me ye shall not haue alwayes My little children yet a little whyle am I with you ye shall seeke me and as I sayd vnto the Iewes wheither I goe thither can ye not come Again I go to prepare a place for you I wyll returne agayne and receiue you euen vnto my selfe that you may be there where I am also I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I goe away For yf I goe not away that comforter wyll not come vnto you But if I depart I wyll send him vnto you I came out from my father and came into the world Againe I leaue the world and goe to my father Also the Angell sayde vnto the women I knowe that ye seeke Iesus whiche was crucified he is not
and remembrance of the fleshe of Christ which he offered for vs and of his bloude which he hath shed Augustine in his 10. booke of the Citie of god Chap. 5. The visible sacrament is the testament that is to saye the holy signe of the inuisible sacrifice Chrysostome in the 7. homilye vpon the Epistle to the Hebrues We doe offer in deede but that which we doe offer we doe it in remembraunce of his death for that which we doe is done in remembraunce of that which hath bene done For he sayth doe this in remembraunce of me we doe not make it any other sacrifice as the priest doth But wee doe alwayes the very same and for to tell you better we doe the remembraunce of the sacrifice which hath ben done The Apostle vnto the Hebrues we doe by him offer the sacrifice of laude alwayes vnto God that is to say the fruite of those lippes which confesse his name I beseche you therefore bretheren by the mercifulnesse of God that yee make your bodies a quick sacryfice holy and acceptable vnto God which is your resonable seruing of God. The prophet Oseas O forgiue vs all our sinnes receiue vs graciouslye and then wyll we offer thee bullockes of our lippes vnto thee S. Paule sayth I was filled after that I had receiued of Epaphroditus the which came from you an odour that smelleth sweete a sacrifice acceptable and pleasant to God. Lactantius Firmianus in his 6. booke the .24 .25 chapters Iesus Christ sa yt I haue pleasure in mercy and not in offring Math. 9. Mat. 12. Oseas .6 and the 1. of Samuel 15. Pope Gregory in his .16 decretall the .7 question Pope Gregory in his decretals adiudgeth him culpable of Idolatry which shall heare the masse of a priest that is a whore monger or which shall communicate at his Sacramentes and Sacrafices Francis Maro in his suffrages for the deade He which causeth a masse to be sayde by an vnchast or whore maister priest or which is in deadly sinne it profiteth nothing neyther to the liuing nor to the deade The Apostle to the Hebrues the lawe which hath but the shadowe of good things to come and not things in their owne fashion can neuer with the sacrifices which they offer yearely make the commers therevnto perfect Agayne it is impossible that the bloud of Oxen and of Goates should take away sinnes Also Lo I come to do thy will O God c. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the bodie of Iesus Christ once for all Moreouer This man after he had offred one sacrifice for sinnes sat him downe for euer on the right hand of God. Likewyse with one offring hath hee perfected for euer those that are sanctified Agayne theyr sinnes and iniquities wyll I remember no more And where remission of these thinges is there is no more offring for sinnes Also he sayth not that Iesus Christ doth offer him selfe often as the hie priest entred into the holy place euery yeere with strange bloud for then must he haue often suffred sence the world began c. That there is but two Sacramentes in the church of Iesus Christe Augustine in his .3 booke of the christian doctrine the .9 chapter But in this time hereafter that the manyfest iudgement of our liberty is reuealed by the resurrection of the Lorde wee are not ouermuch charged through heauy operacions and workinges of signes which we already doe vnderstand But the same Lord hath giuen by the doctrine of the Apostles a certayne little number in steede of many which are easye to doe and good to vnderstand and most chast to keepe As is the Sacrament of baptisme and the celebration of the body and bloud of the lord And when euery one doth vse them being instructed to what ende they serue he shall acknowledge them not with a carnall seruitude and bondage but to honor them in the liberty of the spirite And as it is a seruyle infirmytie to follow the letter and to take the signes for the thinges which are signified by them so is it an euill error to interprete vnprofitably the signes c. Augustine wryting to Ianuarius in the 118. Epistle I would that thou shouldest knowe that our Lorde Iesus as he him selfe saith in the Gospell hath submitted vs to an easie yoke and light burthen And therefore he hath ordayned in the christian church a fewe Sacramentes in number easie to be kept excellent in significacion as the Baptisme consecrated in the name of the Trinitie and the communication of the body and bloud of the lord And if there be any other thing commaunded in the Scripture c. Augustine vpon S. Iohn in the .80 homelye The word being adioyned to the Clement it shal be made a Sacrament How we ought to vnderstand this word Sacrament Sacrament Mystery Secrete is all one and is vnderstoode for an hidde and vnknowen thing the which notwithstanding is reuealed at a certayne time when it pleaseth the goodnesse of God. Reede Tob. 12. Daniell 2. Sapien. 2. 1. Cor. 4. Ephe. 5. Ephes 1. Ephes 3. Collos 1.1 Timoth. 3. Apocal. 7. Of confession to God and of auricular confession Dauid sayth in the .32 psalm I haue acknowledged my sinne vnto thee and mine vnrighteousnesse haue I not hydde I sayd I wyll confesse my sinnes vnto the Lord and so thou forgauest the wickednesse of my sinne Againe I acknowledge my faultes and my sinne is euer before me Agaynst thee only haue I sinned and done this euill in thy sight If we acknowledge our sinnes he is faythfull and iuste to forgiue vs our sinnes and to clense vs from all vnrighteousnesse Acknowledge your faults one to an other and pray one for an other Eccles 28. Ephe. 4. Collos 3. If thy brother trespasse against thee c. Reade Luke 17. Deut. 17. 1. Cor. 5.2 Cor. 13. Augustine in his 10. booke of confessions the 2. chapter What haue I to doe then with men that they should heare my confessions As though they should heale my griefes That is a curyous kinde of people to know another mans life and slowe to correct and amend their owne wherefore doe they demaund of me to heare what I am where they wyll not heare of thee what they are And how doe they know when they doe heare me wheather I doe speake true when in deede no man knoweth that which is done in the man but the spirit of the man which is in him c. Chrysostome in the 12. chapter to the Hebrewes 3. homily and in the 4. tome 41. homily I doe not say vnto thee that thou accuse thy selfe openly nor before others But I would that thou shouldest obay the Prophet which saith reuele vnto the Lorde thy way acknowledg then thy sinnes before God pronounce thy vnrighteousnesse with prayer to the true Iudge not with the tongue but by the
commeth from man will not haue that whiche commeth from one only God and therfore in seeking it outwardly they haue no glory in them selues but rather in an other Sixtus Pope of Rome in his Epistle to the first tome of the Councels He that is doubtfull in the faith is an infidell wherefore let vs esteeme and iudge those which doe commaund vs to doubt of the fauour of God towardes vs not only to contende and striue againste the sentence of the true Catholicke church but also to giue euill counsell to the health and saluation of the church S Barnard in his .5 Sermon in Quadragesima It may be that some doe not seeke through humilitie euerlasting life but as in the trust and confidence of their workes and merits I do not say this that grace receiued doth not giue boldnesse to praye but it must not be therefore that in the same they haue their hope and trust to obtayne it for that only doth giue the giftes promised to the ende that of the mercy of God which giueth those thinges we may hope yet for greater thinges Let then those thinges which doe belong to our only necessities be restrayned the prayer which is made for the temporall thinges and that which is made for the vertues of the soule sequestred from all impurite and vncleanenesse be only attentife towardes the good will of god And that whiche is made bicause of eternall life let it be made or done in all humilitie presuming as he must of the only deuine mercie Grace be with you and peace from God our father and from the Lord Iesus Christe O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death The grace of God through Iesus Christe our Lorde Euen so at this time the remnante is left through the election of grace if it bee of grace then it is not of workes or els were grace no more grace But if it be of workes then is it no more grace or els were workes no longer workes By grace are ye made safe throughe fayth and that not of your selues it is the gift of God not of workes least any man shoulde boast of himselfe Also That we being iustified by his grace shoulde be made heyres according to the hope of eternall lyfe Saint Peter sayth why tempt ye God to laye a yoke on the Disciples neckes which neyther our fathers nor we were able to beare but we beleue that through the grace of the Lorde Iesus Christ wee shall be saued euen as they doe God doth not saue vs of the deedes of righteousnesse which we wrought but of his mercie He which began a good worke in you shall go forth with it vntill the day of Iesus Christ Vnto you it is giuen for Christe that not onely ye shoulde beleeue on him but also suffer for his sake He sayth agayne And as touching the righteousnesse whiche is in the lawe I was without reproche But the thinges which were vauntage to me I counted losse for Christes sake yea doubtlesse I thinke all things but losse for that excellent knowledge sake of Christ Iesus my Lorde for whome I haue counted all things losse and do iudge them but dung that I might winne Christ and might be founde in him that is not hauing mine owne righteousnesse which is of the law but that whiche is throughe the fayth of Christ I meane the righteousnesse which commeth of God through fayth c. I am nowe ready to be offred and the tyme of my departing is at hande I haue fought a good fight and haue fulfilled my course and haue kept the fayth From henceforth is layde vp for me a crowne of righteousnesse which the Lorde that is a righteous iudge shall giue me at that day not to me only but vnto all them also that loue his comming But nowe in Christe Iesus ye whiche once were farre of are made nye by the bloude I say of Christ It is God which worketh in vs bothe the will and also the dede euen of his free beneuolence To as many as receyued him to them he gaue power to bee the sonnes of God euen to them which beleeue in his name which are borne not of bloude nor of the lustes of the fleshe nor of the lust of man but of God. In thy light shall we see light Your eyes haue seene great miracles and wonders and yet the Lorde hath not giuen you an heart to perceyue nor eyes to see nor eares to heare O Lorde giue me vnderstanding open myne eyes for to beholde the wonderous things of thy lawe Gzechiel speaking in the person of God sayth A newe heart will I giue you and a newe spirite will I put into you as for that stonie heart I will take it out of your bodie and giue you a fleshie heart I will giue my spirite among you and cause you to walke in my commaundements to kepe my lawes and to fulfill them As for men they are but vayne if they be put in the ballaunce they are lighter than vanitie it selfe Conuert thou me and I shall be conuerted for thou art my Lorde God yea as soone as thou turnest me I shall reforme my selfe Therefore we gather that a man is iustified by faith without the deedes of the lawe Againe Abraham beleeued God and it was counted to him for righteousnesse To him that worketh the rewarde is not reckened of fauour but of duety But to him that worketh not but beleeueth on him that iustifieth the vngodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse Also for if they whiche are of the lawe bee heires then is faith but vaine and the promise of none effect c. Therefore by faith is the inheritance giuen that it might come of fauour and the promesse might be sure to all the seede that is not to them only which are of the lawe but also to them which are of the faith of Abraham Then being iustified by faith we haue peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom also we haue accesse through faith vnto this grace wherein we stand and reioyce in hope of the glorye of God. Bicause of vnbeleefe they are broken of and thou standest stedfast by faith Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne We know that a man is not iustified by the deedes of the lawe but by the faith of Iesus Christ euen we I say haue beleeued in Iesus Christ that we might be iustified by the faith of Iesus Christ and not by the deedes of the lawe bicause that by the deedes of the lawe no flesh shal be iustified I doe not abrogate the grace of God for if righteousnesse commeth of the lawe then Christ dyed without a cause So ye knowe that they which are of faith are the children of Abraham for the Scripture sawe afore hand that God would iustifie the
ovvn conscience vvhether vve be the ennmies of the fathers or they The auncient fathers haue sayde that the breade of the supper abideth alvvayes breade not being transubstantiated or chaunged I doe demaund of you in good faith vvherefore or vvhat is the cause that they shead dayly so abundantly the bloude of the poore children of God Is it not vpon this only poynte or for this cause that the fathers haue beleeued and mayntayned vvith a common consent as you shall see in that booke vpon the artycle of the Lordes supper I leaue it to your ovvne iudgement Furthermore vve doe reade that the ancient fathers of vvhom these here doe aduance and bost them selues to keepe and mayntayne their doctrine haue broken in peeces the images of Iesus Christe and of the Saintes that haue bene set vp in the temple of the christians saying that it is against the Christian doctrine to haue Images in the Church VVhat is he that doubteth that if the good fathers vvere yet liuing and that they shoulde so breake the Images as they did in that time but that they shoulde be out of hande or vvith all speede condemned as heretickes to be burned yea if they escaped so For vve do see many dayly vvhich doe not escape so good cheape but they haue done vnto them all the torments and paynes that these vvorshippers of the fathers can inuent or imagin Then vvhen you shall reade the doctrine of the fathers contayned in this present booke iudge vvhether it may be confessed and maintayned openly before these vvorshippers of the fathers vvithout daunger of lyfe In the meane time I desire you my deare brethren that ye feare not to abandon your bodie and lyfe for a doctrine so iust holy and good and let vs reioyce in this that vve holde the true auncient doctrine of the Prophets Apostles and Doctors of the Church And as touching you O ye Princes Iudges and Magistrates betvveene vvhose handes this present booke shall happen to fall I desire and require you in the name of the liuing God and of his sonne Iesus Christ our Lorde vvhich hath shed out all his bloud vpon the crosse for the loue of vs that you doe giue right iudgement vpon the poore faithfull people of vvhome your prisons are at this time full through the furor and madnesse of those vvorshippers of the fathers and bee no more the hangmen of that vvicked Vermine for it is not counted a thing honest nor meete among men that the Kings Emperours Princes and Magistrates shoulde bee made the hangmen of beggers Be ye then more ashamed than euer you vvere bicause that you beare the name of God and the povver to gouerne the people is giuen you from God not for to abuse it in punishing the good and defending the vvicked but to maintayne and ayde the good and to punish the vvicked as the Apostles haue taught vs But alas my God into vvhat blindenesse is the vvorlde fallen into to esteeme and thinke that they vvhich holde and keepe the true auncient doctrine are heretikes O you Iudges and Magistrates doe you not see dayly in your prisons the poore children of God to eate and drinke very scarsly bread and vvater and to be cast most vilely and filthily into a lovve dunge on vvith the venimous beastes lying as the poore beastes vpon a little stravve hauing their armes and legges broken vvith the racke Doe you not see I say on the other side those goodly masters vvhich beare such great zeale to the auncient fathers to haue their bellye altogither stuffed vvith vvine and delicate fare coming forth from their bankets and feastes vvith a face as red as fire or like to a Butchers boule comming forth to passe avvaye the time for to examine the poore faythfull people vvhich are not sought for at the table vvhere good cheare is but in a most filthie and darke dungeon they are poore children of God tyed and bounde vvith chaynes vvith a pale face and thinne cheekes brought before those fat bellies and firie faces through their ouermuche drinking and quaffing of vvine and the first vvords they speake is come hither thou vvicked heretick avvay thou dāned seducer of the people thou hast the deuil vvithin thee And assone as the pore children of God did thinke to haue spoken for their defence the fatte bellies quicklye put their hands to their Bible but it is another Bible than the olde olde or nevve testament For they can do nothing but prouide faggots and crie to the fire to the fire vvith those vvicked heretickes I knovve not vvhere they haue learned to doe so Haue they learned that of the Prophetes and Apostles It appeareth no. Neyther haue they learned it of the auncient fathers For they shall finde vvithin this present booke that they haue spoken and done altogither othervvise therefore they declare that it is a rage and a madnesse that they haue conceyued against the truth for to extinguishe and abolishe it vtterly and all those that maintaine it For libertie to speake is taken from vs Those that vvould speake their tongues are cut out of their heades and aftervvardes are burned In the meane time O ye Iudges and Magistrates vvhich haue the publicke charge haue regard from henceforth vvhat you doe in condemning them to death You cannot condemne them to death except ye condemne all the good and auncient fathers to death vvith them VVhat order doe you call this to condemne to death as Heretickes the Saintes and their doctrine vnto vvhom they crye and dayly pray vnto in their Letanie saying O Sancte Augustine O Sancte Cypriane O Sancte Hieronime c. Ora pro nobis that is to say O Saint Augustine O Saint Cyprian O Saint Ierome and so consequently of the other pray for vs And in the meane time they condemne them and their vvritinges and all those that follovve theyr doctrine to be burned as the experience dothe dayly teach vs. Therefore ye that Iudge the people haue a good respect vnto that that you haue to doe for it is not onely vnto vs that you doe adresse your selues but also to the sonne of God vvhich hath sayd vnto vs he that toucheth you toucheth the apple or sight of mine eye The same hath bene vvell shevved to Paule VVhen he persecuted the poore faythfull crying from heauen after him Saule Saule vvhy persecutest thou me he did not persecute him in his ovvne person but he persecuted him in his members vvhich are all the faithfull that beleue in him Euen so my deare brethren vve shall rest in patience and shall not be ashamed to be condemned vvith all those good and auncient fathers of the church and not onely vvith them but also vvith all the Prophets and Apostles Then vvhen you see your selues bound and brought before the Iudges to receiue sentence of death and condemnation against you behold vvith you the Prophets Apostles and the auncient doctors bound vvith you to be condemned in the same
here for he is rysen as he sayd come and see the place where the Lord was layde Behold my handes and my feete for it is euen I my selfe handle me and see for a spirite hath not flesh and bones as ye see me haue And when he had thus spoken he shewed them his hands his fete And while they looked stedfastly vp to heauen as he went behold two men stode before them in white apparell which also sayd ye men of Galyle why stand ye gasing into heauen This same Iesus which is taken vp from you into heauen shall so come euen as ye haue seene him goe into heauen Also whom the heauen must contayne vntill the time that all thinges be restored That we ought not to take from the lay people the wyne of the supper Gelasius Pope of Rome of consecration in the seconde distinction chapter Comperimus c. We haue vnderstoode that some men receyuing only the bodye of the Lorde doe abstayne themselues from the Cup who forasmuch as they sinne by superstition ought to be constrayned and compelled to receyue the Sacrament wholy or else to reiect it altogither For the diuision of this mysterie cannot be without great sacriledge Iesus Christ commaunded in his supper and sayde Drinke ye all of this For this is my bloude of the newe testament The Counsaile of Basile hath ordeined that the laye people shoulde communicate the supper in two kindes Saint Cyprian in his Sermon of penitent sinners Howe shall we exhort the people to shed their bloude for the confession of Christ if we doe denie vnto them the bloude of him when they ought to fight Or howe can we make our selues capable to drinke the cuppe of Martyrdome except that we suffer our selues firste to drinke of the cuppe of the Lorde That we ought not to keepe the breade of the supper nor to carie it here and there Saint Clement in his 2. Epistle to Iames. And of the consecration in the 3. Distinction Chapter tribus c. So many hostes ought to be offred at the Aulter as shall be sufficient for the people And if any remaine we ought not to keepe it vntill the next day but through the diligence of the clarkes with feare and trembling ought to be receiued and eaten Origen vpon the 7. chapter of Leuiticus The Lorde hath not ordayned or commaunded that the bread should be kept vntill the morrowe the which he gaue vnto his disciples but sayd vnto them take ye and eate c. And in this he commaunded not to carry the bread by the wayes it may be that by the same is conteyned a mysterye that is to say that alwayes thou oughtest to bring forth the newe breade of the worde of God whiche thou bearest within thee Iesus Christ sayth Take and eate In which sense we ought to vnderstand the auncient Doctors when they haue sayde we offer we sacrifice in calling the supper a sacrifice S. Augustine writing against Faustus the 8. Chapter The Hebrues sacrificing the brute beastes did exercise themselues in the prophecie of the sacrifice which Iesus Christ hath offered And nowe the Christians in the oblation and communion of the bodie of Iesus Christ doe celebrate the memorie of the sacrifice already ended Chrysostome in his first tome vpon the 8. Chapter of Saint Mathew in the 16. homily For this cause these reuerende and salutarie mysteries which we celebrate in all the congregation of the Church are called Eucharistiae that is to saye a giuing of thankes for they are the remembrance of many benefites and doe shewe the verye heade of the heauenly loue towardes vs and doe make vs alwayes render thankes vnto God. The Prophet Dauid in the 50. Psalm Offer vnto God thanks giuing c. Irenaeus in his 4 booke against the heresies Chap. 32. 33 34. He hath willed that we shoulde offer often the gift at the aultar and without intermission The aultar then is in heauen for thither our prayers and oblations are addressed and directed to the temple as S. Iohn saith in his Apocalips And the temple of God was open and the tabernacle For beholde sayth he the tabernacle of God in the whiche I doe dwell with men S. Cyprian in his 2. boke of Epistles the 3. Epistle vnto Cecill We must not welbeloued brother that any man thinke that one ought to followe the custome of some men whiche haue thought or iudged that we must offer the water only in the Lordes cuppe we must aske of those whō they haue for example For if in the sacrifice which is Christ we must followe none but Christ truly then we must heare and doe that which Christ hath done and commaunded to be done Inasmuch as he sayth in his Gospell if you doe whatsoeuer I commaunde you I will call you no more seruauntes but my frendes And that Iesus Christ ought to be onely hearde the father himselfe doth witnesse it from heauen saying This is my welbeloued sonne in whom I am well pleased heare him Wherefore if Christe ought to be only hearde we ought not to regarde that whiche another before vs shall thinke good to be done But that he who is before all that is to saye Christ hath done first For we must not followe the custome of man but the veritie of god forasmuche as he sayeth by his Prophete Esay They worshippe me in vayne teaching doctrines whiche are but mens preceptes And the Lorde himselfe repeateth the same in the Gospell saying ye doe reiect the commaundement of God for to establishe your owne tradition But yet he hath sayde in another place Whosoeuer shall break one of these least commandements teacheth men so to doe he shall be called the least in the kingdome of heauen Then if it be not lawfull to breake the least of all the commaundementes of God howe much lesse shall it be lawfull to breake these so greate so excellent and so properly appertayning to the Sacrament of the passion of the Lorde and of our redemption Or to chaunge it thorow the ordinance and tradition of men to an other thing than to that to the which it hath ben godly instituted For if Iesus Christ be the very souereygne Priest of God the father and if he hath bene the first offered sacrifice to God his father and hath commaunded to doe this in remembraunce of him he shall doe truly the office of Christ which shall followe that which Christ hath done And if he doe begyn to offer in the Church to God the father according as he shall see that Christ him selfe hath offered then he shal offer vnto God a full and whole sacrifice Furthermore if one kepe not that faithfullye which is spirituallye commanded the discipline of all religion and truth is ouerthrowne S. Augustine in his booke of fayth vnto Peter Chap. 16. In that sacrifice which we doe vse there is giuing of thankes
goodnesse are of God yea faith it selfe Againe the Apostle saith I haue obtayned mercie O true confession He doth not say I haue obtayned mercy bicause that I was faithful but to the ende that I should be faithfull I haue obtayned mercie Let vs come vnto the first works of Paule Let vs behold Saule which did wax madde let vs behold him in his crueltie let vs behold him breathing out his threatnings and thirstie after bloude This was the way of Paule Christ was not yet his way what had he in his heart What had he but euill Giue me his merites Whiche if we doe searche his merites they shall bee merites of damnation and not of deliuerance Augustine vpon the wordes of the Lorde Sermon 40. The medecine of the soule is the only propitiation for the sinnes of all that is to beleeue in Christ c. Afterwarde he saith wherefore doe the children of God whiche beleeue in him liue for they are borne of God by the adoption of grace whiche is through the faith of our Lorde Iesus Christ And therefore welbeloued it is not without cause that our Lord and Sauiour saith that same to be the only sinne of which the holy Ghost rebuketh the world to wete because they haue not beleeued in him He would then that the world should be reproued only of that sinne that they doe not beleeue only in him to wete because that in beleeuing in him all sinnes are pardoned he woulde that to be imputed by which all the other are assembled And therefore in beleeuing they are borne of God and are made the children of God for he hath giuen vnto them the power saith he to be the sonnes of God euen to them that beleeue in his name c. Chrysostome vpon the .25 chapter of Saint Mathewe 2. Tome .2 homilye Come ye blessed of my father inherite ye the kingdome prepared for you from before the beginning of the worlde bicause that you haue giuen that which you cannot haue receiue that which you shall possesse eternally for one graine that you haue sowen vpon earth you shall haue an hundreth folde asmuch in heauen For the kingdome of heauen hath not bene created suche as the righteousnesse of man could merite it but such as the power of God might prepare it for if he woulde haue created the kingdome of heauen according to the merites of mans righteousnesse Truely he would haue created it after mans workes but bicause that nowe he hath not ordayned the reward of Saintes according to the reward of men but according to his greatnesse therefore hath he prepared the kingdome of heauen in heauen before that he created the saints in heauen S. Barnarde vpon the first sermon of the Annunciation of the virgin Marie The testimonie of our conscience is our reioycing sayth the Apostle not such testimonie as the proud Pharisey had in his wicked thought and seducing his master which bare witnesse of him selfe whiche witnesse is true which the spirite doth witnesse vnto our spirite For I doe beleeue that this witnesse consisteth in three things First and aboue all things it is necessarie to beleeue that thou canst not haue remission and forgiuenesse of thy sinnes but throughe the indulgencie of god Secondly thou canst not haue any good workes except he himselfe doe giue them vnto thee Finallye that thou canst not merite eternall life for any workes and it must be giuen thee freely c. Afterwardes he sayth For we doe well know that as for eternall life the afflictions of this lyfe are not worthie of the glorie which shall be shewed vpon vs although that one only man doth abide and suffer al. For mans merites are not suche that for them eternall life shoulde be due of right or that we shoulde saye that God doth vs wrong if he doe not giue them vs by reason of them For though I shoulde holde my peace that all merites are the gifts of God insomuch that for them man is more indebted to God than God is to man What is that that all the merites doe in respect of so great glorie To conclude what is he that is more excellent than the Prophete vnto whome the Lorde doth giue so excellent a witnesse saying I haue founde a man according to mine owne heart And yet he had neede to saye vnto God Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant c. Let no man then deceyue himselfe for if he will thinke well he shall finde without all doubt that he can not with ten thousande men go to meete him whiche commeth agaynst him wyth xx thousande But these things which we haue now spoken of are not yet altogither sufficient but wee must the rather holde them for a beginning and foundation of fayth Therefore if thou beleeue that thy sinnes cannot be put or blotted out but by him agaynst whome onely thou hast sinned thou doest well But adde yet one thing more to wete that thou beleeue also that thy sinnes by him are pardoned Beholde the testimonies and witnesses which the holy ghost doth giue into our heartes saying thy sinnes are pardoned thee For euen so doth the Apostle think that man is iustified freely through fayth In lyke maner as touching merites if thou beleeue that one cannot haue them but by him it sufficeth not vntill such time as the spirite of fayth doth witnesse that thou hast them through him Euen so it is necessarie that thou haue also witnesse to wete that thou doest come therevnto thorowe Gods liberalitie For it is he which pardoneth sinnes which giueth merites and yet neuerthelesse doth giue agayne the rewarde For all his testimonies are most assured For as to the remission of sinnes I doe hold the passion of our Lord for a most strong argument For the crye of his bloude hath had greater force than the bloude of Abel in as much as he doth crie in the heartes of the electe remission of all sinnes For he was deliuered to death for our sinnes And there is no doubt but that his death is more puissant and of greater force to doe good than our sinnes are to doe euill As touching good workes his resurrection is an argument for me which hath no lesse vertue For asmuch as he is rysen againe for our iustification as touching the hope of reward his ascention serueth for a witnesse for he is ascended for our gloryfication Thou hast these three things in the psalm saying Blessed is the man vnto whome the Lorde imputeth no sinne And in another place blessed are the men whose strength is in thee Also in an other place Blessed is the man whom thou hast chosen and receiuest vnto thee that he maye dwell in thy courte such is the true glory I say which is within for that dooth departe from him whiche dwelleth in our heartes through faith But the sonnes of Adam seeking the glorye which
good than to make them such For the wicked do profite nothing but the good doe very muche empayre Afterwardes hee concludeth Beholde the murmuring and common complaynt of all Churches they doe crie out that they are cut in peeces and dismembred There are very fewe or almost none whiche doe not feare the stroke or wounde Doest thou demaunde what The Abbots are drawen away from their Bishops the Bishops from their Archbishops It is great maruayle if one can excuse the same In doing so you doe shewe very wel that you haue fulnesse of power but not of Iustice You doe the same bicause that you can doe it but the question is whether you ought to doe it You are there constituted and placed for to keepe and preserue vnto euery one his honour and his degree and not for to beare him enuie and malice In the 34. distinction Chapter Lector Glose and distinct 82. Chap. Presbyter Glose And in the Canon of the Apostles .17 quest 4. Chapt. And distinct 40. Chapt. Si Papa And distinction .96 Chapt. Satis And Chapter Simplici And Incipitis It is written in those Canons that the Popes haue such power and authoritie that they may dispence agaynst the Apostolicall doctrine and agaynst the right of nature and consequently agaynst the Gospell and the worde of god For the Pope hath all the rightes as well diuine as humane in the inwarde partes of his brest wherefore he ought to iudge euerye man and ought to be iudged of none Insomuch that though he should lead a great number of people into hell yet no mortall man ought to presume to rebuke his faultes For he is God which cannot be iudged of men Saint Paule aunswereth vnto the same saying Let no man deceiue you by anye meanes for the Lorde commeth not except there come a departing first and that that sinnefull man be opened the sonne of perdition which is an aduersary is exalted aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he shall sitte as God in the Temple of God and shewe himselfe as God. Saint Hilary in his booke against Auxentius Whosoeuer denieth Christe to be suche as he hath bene preached by the Apostles he is Antechrist The property of the name of Antechriste is to bee contrary vnto Christe The Priestes doe saye that the Pope cannot erre neyther the counsels Iesus Christ hath sayde vnto S. Peter I haue prayed for thee that thy faith faile not Vnto the same their owne Canons doe aunswere in the .40 distinction Chap. which beginneth Si Papa If the Pope doe fall into an error in the in the faith and that he be an Hereticke one may very well rebuke and checke him in his faultes Pope Alexander the .6 speaking once vnto an Embassador of the king of Fraunce vnto whome he had these wordes this fable of Iesus Christe hath gotten vnto vs great riches Sanazarius an Italian Poet in his Epigrammes in the .2 booke Speaking of that Pope Alexander noting the inceste of him with his owne daughter Lucrecia and asking hir Lucrecia wil Alexander desire thee alwayes afterwardes aunswered O wicked case it is thy father Behold the witnesse whiche the writers of his time haue declared of that head of the churche Abbas Vrspurgensis reciteth of Gregory the .7 otherwise called Hildebrand That the common wealth of Rome and all the Churche hath bene vnder him in great danger through the error of newe schismes and not heard of and that he hath vsurped the Papall seate through tyrannye and not by lawfull election The counsell holden at Wormes in the yeere .1080 Affirmed of Gregory the seuenth that it is most true that he was not chosen of god but that hee exalted him selfe without all shame through disceit and money and that he hath turned vpside downe the ecclesiasticall order and that he hath troubled the kingdome of the Christian Empyre and that he hath attempted the deathe both of the bodye and soule of that Catholicke and quiet king and that he hath defended and holden vp the wicked and periured king and that he hath sowen discorde among those that agreed togither and strifes amongest the peace makers and offences amongest brethren and diuorcement betweene maryed folke and that he hath remoued and troubled all that was at reste quiet and in peace betweene the good lyuers We being assembled togither of God agaynst the sayde Hyldebrand preaching sacriledges and fires mayntayning periured persons and homycides or men slears putting in question or doubt the catholicke and Apostolicke faith of the body and bloud of the Lorde being an obseruer and keeper of diuinacion and coniuring and of dreames and a most manifest Necromancyer hauing familiar spirites and for that cause swaruing from the true faith we doe iudge that he ought to be canonically deposed driuen away banished and condemned perpetually if he doe not leaue of his seate after that he hath heard these thinges Benno Cardinall in the life of the sayde Gregorye Amongest many wickednesses that he alledged of him sayde that he alwayes vsed to beare about with him a booke of Necromancye the which was vnto him very familiar and that he did cast through his enchauntments the consecrated hoste into a fire that by that meanes he might faine to haue had a heauenly reuelation against the Emperor Henry Benno alledgeth for witnesse Iohn Byshop of Porta Secretary of the said Hildebrand Platyna in the lyfe of Iohn the 8. And Sabellicus lib. 1. of the 9. Ennead The woman called Iohn the eyght was borne in Englande and hir parents were of Mentz She followed in hir yong age a yong scholler in the studies of learning and profited so well at studie that she was esteemed at Rome amongst the wysest for which cause she was chosen to be Pope thinking that shee had bene a man and was chosen with as great consent as euer was Pope following still the studie that she had learned with hir studie felow At the time that she was chosen Pope she was founde with childe with one of hir owne seruants who perceiuing hirself big knewe so well to prouide for hir great bellye that none coulde perceiue it vntill such time as she trauayled of childe in the open streete and in the open procession vppon the shoulders of those that did beare hir dyed in the same trauayle the second yere after hir Papacie One maye nowe well see whether the Pope cannot erre Platyna in the life of Syluester And Sabellicus Lib. 2. of the 9. Ennead Syluester the 2. was a Monke in his youth afterwards did giue himselfe vnto the diuell as a right sorcerer vpon condicion that his bodie and soule should be his after his death Prouided that the diuell doe helpe to obtayne that that he desireth by which meanes he came afterwardes to be Pope Platyna in the life of Bennet 8. And Sabellicus lib. 2. of the 9. Ennead
Lazarus from death from that day foorth sayth he they consulted togither to put him to death Iesus therefore walked no more openlye among the Iewes but went thence into a country nye to the wildernesse In like manner when Iesus sayde yer Abraham was I am Then tooke the Iewes vp stones to cast at him but Iesus hidde him selfe and went out of the temple and passed euen through the middest of them and wente his way Thou doest nowe knowe how that they which see these thinges or which doe heare them for they see them not as it is written ought not to burne those which speake thinke things contrary vnto suche as the Lorde hathe made and taught For when Iohn suffred martyrdome and that his disciples buryed his body Iesus hearing thereof departed thence by shippe into a desert place and euen so the Lorde doth his thinges and also teach them But would to God they were so ashamed that they would not declare their furor but vnto men and that more and more throughe their madnesse men should not see them rebuke and check the sauiour blaspheming agaynst him But the same the Idiotes and fooles could not suffer althoughe they are rebuked of them selues not to knowe onely the gospell for this is the occasion of our departing and fleeing of which the euangelistes doth make mention and of which our sauiour hathe vsed and we must also thinke suche thinges to haue bene in holy men For that which is nowe written of the sauiour after the fashion and manner of men the same is commonly deputed vnto mankinde He hath taken those thinges that are ours and hath shewed and declared the passions of our infirmitie the which Saint Iohn wryteth thus They soughte to take him but no man layde handes on him bicause his houre was not yet come For before that the same was come hee sayde vnto his mother woman what haue I to doe with thee myne houre is not yet come And he sayd vnto those which were called his brethren my time is not yet come And agayne at the time of his passion he sayde sleepe hencefoorth and take your reste for behold the houre is at hande and the sonne of man is betrayed into the handes of sinners But he did not suffer him selfe to be taken before the time was come also he did not hide him selfe but gaue him selfe vnto his aduersaryes and enemyes In like maner the blessed Martyrs did keepe them selues from temporall persecutions and when they were sought for they fledde into secrete places But when they were found out they gaue them selues to martyrdome beholde the wordes of Athanasius a Martyre of Iesus Christe That the magistrates that persecute the faithful vnder coulour of religion shall be tormented with eternall paines HEare therefore O ye kings and vnderstande ye therefore ye Iudges of the endes of the earth Learne and giue eare ye that rule the people glorifie your selues in the multitude of nations For the power is giuen you of the Lord the strength from the hiest whiche shall trye your works and search out your imaginations howe that yee being officers of his kingdome haue not executed true iudgemente haue not kept the lawe of righteousnesse nor walked after his will. c. Heare O ye heades of the house of Iacob and ye leaders of the house of Israell Should ye not knowe what were lawefull and right But ye hate the good and doe that is euill ye plucke of mens skinnes and the fleshe from the bones ye eate the fleshe of my people and flaye of their skin ye breake their bones ye choppe them in peeces as it were into a cauldron and as fleshe into a pot c. And a little after hee saith O heare this ye rulers of the house of Iacob and ye Iudges of the house of Israell ye that abhorre the thing that is lawefull and wrest aside the thing that is straighte yee that buylde vp Sion with bloud and Ierusalem with doing wrong O ye Iudges ye giue sentence for giftes O ye priestes yee teache for lucre O yee Prophetes ye prophecye for mony c. Lactantius Firmianus in his diuine institutions Lib. 5. Chap. 24. writing vnto the Emperour Constantine All that whiche the wicked Princes doe against vs God doth permit and suffer it to be done And yet neuerthelesse the most wicked persecuters in whom the name of God hath bene had in derision and mockery ought not to thinke therefore to scape vnpunished for they haue bene as ministers of his wrathe agaynst vs Truelye they shall be punished by the iudgemente of God bicause that after receiuing power they haue abused it aboue all measure and by that meanes are waxen growen into greate pryde agaynst God and haue vnfaithfully troden vnder their feete his eternall name Therefore he promiseth that he will with all speede be auenged of them and roote out of the earth all wicked beastes But although that he hath accustomed to aduenge the vexations and tormentes done vnto his people and especially in this worlde neuerthelesse he doth commaund vs to attend and tarye patiently in this worlde vntill the celestiall iudgement at which day he will rewarde or punishe euery one according to theyr workes Wherefore the wicked people and cōmitters of sacriledge ought not to hope that those whom they haue so handled shall be despised vnreuenged The reward shal come vnto the rauening wolues who haue tormented the simple and righteous soules that neuer offended But as for vs let vs onely trauayle that nothing be punished in vs by men but onely righteousnesse let vs endeuor our selues with all our strength to serue God and to be auenged of that whiche we suffer and to receiue our rewarde Saint Barnard in his sermon of the conuersion of Saint Paule Oh Lorde God these are the chiefeste and first that persecuted thee whom men see to loue the hiest seates and romes in thy church and whiche bare the greateste rule They haue taken the arke of Sion they haue occupied and vsed the castle and afterwards haue frankly and by power set al the citie on fire their conuersation is miserable the subuersion of thy people is pitifull and woulde to God that they should not hurt but in that onely part peraduenture there wil be some who wil be aduertised and admonished with the exhortation of the Lorde who will beware of following their example and who wyll keepe the commaundements according to that which is sayde whatsoeuer they byd you obserue that obserue and doe but after their workes doe not But nowe holy orders are giuen for an occasion of moste filthy gayne and doe esteeme and thinke gayne to be pietie and godlynesse The Prophet Esay sayth O Lord our God though such Lords haue domination vpō vs as knowe not thee yet grant that wee may hope onely in thee and keepe thy name in remembrance Thy rulers
in thee are like rauishing wolues to shead bloude and to destroy soules for their owne couetous lucre There is not a godly man vpon earth there is not one righteous among men they labour all to shead bloud and euery man hunteth his brother to death Iesus Christ saith The time shal come that whosoeuer killeth you will thinke that he doth God seruice If ye wist what this meaneth I require mercy and not sacrifice ye would not haue condemned innocentes Right deare in the sight of the Lorde is the death of his saintes The earth shall discouer the bloud that shee hath deuoured shee shall neuer hyde them that shee hath murthered The Lord sayd vnto the faithfull who so toucheth you shall touch the aple of his owne eye Iesus Christ sayd vnto those that persecuted the faithfull Fulfill ye likewyse the measure of your fathers ye Serpentes ye generation of vipers how should ye escape the damnation of hell wherefore beholde I sende vnto you prophetes and wyse men and Scrybes and of them ye shall kill and crucifie and of them shall ye scourge in your sinagoges and persecute from citie to citie That vpon you may come all the righteous bloud that was shead vpon the earth from the bloud of righteous Abel vnto the bloud of Zacharias the sonne of Barachias whome yee slewe betweene the Temple and the Aulter Verily I saie vnto you al these things shall light vpon this generation Ierusalem Ierusalem which killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent vnto thee The Iudges and gouernors willing to please and fulfil the wicked desire of Iezabel condemned the innocent Naboth to be put to death Augustine vnto Boniface 182. Epistle To doe well and not to let and forbyd the things which are vnlawfull is a verye consenting vnto error Origen in the 3. Homilie vpon Leuiticus Let vs take heede that we doe not consent vnto other mens sinnes I saye consent not only in doing the lyke things but also in holding our peace or winking at things that are euill done The Lorde hateth as well him that iustifieth the vngodly as him that condemneth the innocent The righteous considereth the cause of the poore but the vngodlye regardeth no vnderstanding The seate of the king that faythfullye iudgeth the poore shall continue sure for euermore With thy mouth defende the thing that is lawfull and right and the cause of the poore and helpelesse Many there be that seeke the Princes fauor but euerye mans iudgement commeth from the Lorde Moyses hath written what the Magistrates ought to be They must be sayth he vertuous men fearing God men of truth hating auarice and couetousnesse c. Chrysostome in his imperfect worke Chapter .23 vpon that text And say if we had bene in our fathers dayes we woulde not haue bene their cōpanions to shead the bloud of the Prophets When thou shalt heare any man saye that the doctors of the olde time be blessed proue and trye what good will or zeale he hath towardes those doctors for if he doe honor and reuerence those with whom he liueth without doubt he would also haue honored the other if he had liued with them In the same place he sayth moreouer the Iewes haue alwayes bene worshippers of the Saintes that be past and dead and condemners of those that be present and a liue S. Ierome in his .4 Tome in the rule of Monkes It is very true that the truth can be kept in and bound but it cannot be vanquished whiche is content with hir little number and is not a frayde of the great number of hir enemies Saint Ierome vpon Ieremie .5 Tome Chapter .26 When the congregation of the people were assembled togither the Priestes and false Prophetes accused Ieremie and the Priestes and false Prophetes would haue destroyed and killed the Prophete if the Iudges had had the power of iudgement By that we doe vnderstande that they which seeme to be altogither ordayned for religion being moued with enuie with the holynesse of the Prophet were more cruell than they that had the charge of publike necessities In the same Chapter he saith moreouer If at anye time for the commaundement of God and for the veritie of the fayth the Priestes or false Prophetes or the foolish people are angry with vs let vs not esteeme nor make any account of it but let vs execute the sentence of God not thinking on the euilles that are presente but beholding the goodnesse to come Wo be vnto you that make vnrighteous lawes and deuise things which be to hard to keepe thorow which the poore be oppressed on euery side and the Innocentes of my people are therewith robbed of iudgement the wydowes may be your pray and that ye may rob the fatherlesse What will ye doe in time of the visitation and destruction that shall come from farre To whom will ye run for helpe or to whom will ye giue your honour that yee maye keepe it that ye come not among the prisoners or lye among the deade After all this shall not the wrath of the Lord cease but yet shall his hande bee stretched oute styll It is verily a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you and to you whiche are troubled rest with vs when the Lord Iesus shall shewe himselfe from heauen with his mighty Angelles in flaming fire rendring vengeance vnto them that doe not knowe God neyther obey vnto the Gospell of our Lorde Iesus Christe Whiche shall be punished with euerlasting damnation from the presence of the Lorde and from the glorye of his power At the daye of iudgement saythe the booke of wisedome the righteousnesse shall stand in great stedfastnesse agaynst such as haue dealt extreamely with them and taken away their labours when they see it they shal be vexed with horible feare and shall wonder at the hastinesse of the sodayne health Groning for very distresse of minde and shall say within them selues hauing inward sorowe and mourning for very anguish of minde These are they whom we sometime had in derision and iested vpon We fooles thought their life very madnesse and their ende to be without honor But loe howe they are counted among the children of God and their porcion is among the saintes Therfore we haue erred from the way of truth the light of righteousnesse hath not shined vnto vs and the sonne of vnderstanding rose not vp vpon vs We haue weried our selues in the way of wickednesse and destruction Tedious wayes haue we gone But as for the way of the Lord we haue not knowen it What good hath our pride done vnto vs or what profite hath the pompe of riches brought vs all those thinges are passed away like a shadowe And towardes the ende of the Chapter he sayth his cruell wrath shall hee sharpen for a speare and the whole compasse of the worlde shall fight with
him against the vnwyse Then shall the thunder boltes go out of the lightnings and come out of the rayne bowe of the cloudes to the place appointed out of the harde stonie indignation there shall fall thicke hayles and the water of the sea shall bee wroth agaynst them and the flouds shall runne roughlye togither yea a mihgtie wynde shal stand vp agaynst them and a storme shall scatter them abroade c. Beholde howe the true christian doctrine is at this day called a new pestilentious doctrine by the worldlinges Euen as in the old time it was called and in the Apostles time Men haue called before time as they doe at this day the doctrine of the Apostles newe doctrine as it appeareth in the actes of the Apostles where it is sayde And they tooke Paule and sayde vnto him maye we not knowe what this newe doctrine whereof thou speakest is for thou bringest straunge tydings in oure eares Some called him a babler and a tidings bringer of newe Gods. All men did speake agaynst the Apostolicall doctrine as it appeareth by that which the Iewes sayde vnto Saint Paul when he was come to Rome saying vnto him we will heare of thee what thou thinkest for as concerning this sect we know that euery where it is spoken against Saint Paule being accused and brought before the great gouernor they accused him after this sort We haue founde this fellowe a pestilent fellowe and a mouer of debate vnto all the Iewes throughout the worlde and a chiefe mayntayner of the sect of the Nazarites Saint Paule answereth vnto the same This I confesse vnto thee that after that way which they call heresye so worship I the God of my fathers beleeuing all thinges which are written in the lawe and the Prophets And haue hope towardes God that the same resurrection of the deade which they them selues looke for also shall be both of the iust and vniust some sayde that the Apostles with their doctrine did nothing but moue the people to sedition as it appeareth by the actes of the Apostles saying certayne vagabonds which were wicked fellowes did make assault against the house of Iason and drewe him with certayne brethren vnto the heades of the citie crying these are they whiche haue subuerted the state of the world and here they are which Iason hath receiued and these all doe contrary to the decrees of Ceasar affirming that there is another king one Iesus Therefore we labour and suffer rebuke bicause we haue sure hope in the liuing God which is the sauiour of all men but specially of those that beleeue The Tyrantes shall not escape vnpunished but often times they them selues that did put to death the children of God by the handes of the hangmen haue not that good to be killed of the hangmen but they them selues are the hangmen or murderers of their owne bodyes As it appeareth by Saule which persecuted Dauid It was not needefull that Dauid shoulde haue pursued him for he was auenged more then he desired It was not needefull to hang vp Achitophel nor the Apostles to pursue Iudas that betrayed his maister for he him selfe was his owne hangman hanging himselfe by the necke brast a sunder in the middes and all his bowelles gusshed out And Senacherib had for his hangmen his owne sonnes and it did cost Ezechias nothing for to auenge him selfe of the tyrannie agaynst him Were Antiochus and Herode left vnpunished for theyr tyrannie vpon the children of God It appeareth no. For they were consumed and eaten with lyce and vermine God will not leaue the wicked vnpunished as it appeareth of Achab Manasses Sedechias and many Emperoures of Rome 1. Timo. 6. Regi autem seculorum immortali inuisibili soli sapienti deo honor gloria in secula seculorum Amen FINIS Act. 15. Titus 1. 1. Tim. 1. Rom. 14. Euseb lib. 4. cap. 22. 1. Pet. 2. Rom. 13. Sapi. 6. Act. 9. 1. Cor. 2. Mat. 10. 1. Tim. 5. 1. Thes 5. Iohn 6. 1. Cor. 11. Math. 26 Marc. 14. Luke 22. Or the nevv alliance 1. Cor. 10. 1. Cor. 10. Exod. 17. Num. 20. Iohn 6. Iohn 6. VVe eate not Christes bodie carnally Iohn 6. Christ not eaten by morsels The sinner eateth nothing in the supper but the outevvard signe Iohn 6. Christ maketh not peeces of his bodie Iohn 6. That vvhich vvee see in the supper is breade Esay 7. Luc. 1. Math. 2. Luk 24. Act. 1. Iohn 6. The breade is the signe of the bodie of Christ Hoe est cor pus meum hovve to be vnderstode Iesus Christ representeth his body by the breade Note Note We must vnderstande many things in the scriptures spiritually 2. Cor. 3. 1. Cor. 2. Mat. 26. Genes 17. Rom. 4. Ezech. 4. 5. Genes 41. 1. Cor. 10. The sacraments take oftentimes the name of the things that they represent The substance of breade and vvine is not chaunged in the supper Col. 3. 1. Cor. 6. Consecration is to dedicate a cōmon thing to a holy vse Note that he sayth not the bloude but the drinke sanctified The vvater of baptisme doth not purge sinnes Note vvell and vnderstande The bodie of the Lorde cannot stink nor be burned nor vomited Psal. 15. Act. 2. Ast. 13. Christ vpon the earth nor in the corruptible elements is not to be sought Act. 7. Iohn 2. The bodie of Christ but in one place Christ shall come as he ascended that is in the same forme 2. Colos 3. Iohn 7. Iohn 12. Iohn 13. Iohn 14. Iohn 16. Iohn 16. Mat. 28. Luk. 24. Act. 1. Act. 3. The supper to be receyued in tvvo kindes or else not Mat. 26. The Counsell of Basill The vse in the primitiue Church of the supper The breade not caried in processions Mat. 26. VVherefore the sacrament of the supper is called Eucharistia Psal. 50. Apoc. 11. VVe ought not to follovve custome but Christe vvhich is the veritie Iohn 15. Esay 29. Math. 15. Math. 5. The supper is but a remembrance of the sacrifice Heb. 13. Rom. 12. Oseas 14. Philip. 4. Heb. 10. If then the sacrifices commanded of God haue no povver to take avvay sinnes hovv shall those doe vvhich God hath neuer commanded Heb. 10. Heb. 10. Heb. 10. Hebr. 9. Iesus Christ is no more offred in sacrifice but once for all 1. Pet. 1. Galat. 3. The sacraments are tvvo Baptisme and the Lordes supper Saint Augustine nameth but tvvoo sacraments Psal. 32. 1. Par. 16. 2. Par. 20 Psal. 51. 1. Iohn 1. Iames. 5. Mat. 18. Psal. 32. Confesion to God onlye Psal. 50. Mar. 2. Confession to the Priest reiected by Chrisostom Auricular confession abolished in Constantinople Ponti 183 Psal. 19. Mat. 26. Luk. 17. Leuit. 14. Hovve vve ought to vnderstand go shevve thy selfe to the Priest Mar. 2. Man cannot pardon sins The keyes giuen to the Church and not to the person of Peter Mat. 16. S. Peter receyued the keyes vvith
in faithe For vve ought not to maruayle if the auncient fathers haue done many thinges in that time vvhich novv can not serue nor profite vs any thing at all inasmuch as they haue serued but onely for their time For the Apostles haue ordayned some thinges vvhich novve ought not to be follovved nor kept As vve doe reade in the actes of the Apostles that the counsell that vvas celebrated by the Apostles in Ierusalem decreed that vve should abstaine from bloude and from the fleshe of beastes that vvere strangled VVe knovve vvell inough that this ordinance novv hath no more place and is not in force among the christians nor ought to haue bicause that all thinges are cleane and purified through the vvorde and prayer Then vvee see that that decree vvhich hath bene decreed by the holy spirite by the Apostles to haue bene made bicause of the personnes and to serue onely but for that time Iudge novve if an ordinance made by the Apostles to support the infirmitie of men hath bene set foorth and aftervvardes abolished vvhat oughte vve to iudge of those vvhich are of lesse importance vvhich haue bene ordayned by men a great deale inferior and of lesse estimation then the Apostles There is no doubt that forasmuch as they haue bene ordayned to serue onely for that time that novve vve may let them alone and forsake them bicause that there is neyther Ievves nor Turkes among vs but christians at the least as they saye Also vve ought not vpon this to holde our peace or hide the vnshamelesse malice of many vvho neuerthelesse calling themselues christians vnder colour of antiquitie and of the auncient doctors doe forge and inuent of their ovvne vvicked and filthye brayne naughty and most detestable errors and aftervvard say that the auncient fathers haue vvritten so and preached so and by that meanes make the poore vvorld being seduced to beleeue it And yet the malice is so great in them that all they that vvill not receiue and allovve that vvhich their brayne hath inuented vnder the name of holy men they crye after them vvith open mouth to the fire to the fire vvith the Heritickes They reiecte the doctrine of the fathers Alas O my God and Lord thou knovvest our hearts and the heartes of these lyers that vve doe not desire but that in all and through all be it through life or death that thy son Iesus Christ and his doctrine may be onely receiued loued and vvorshipped And for this are vve apoynted as sheepe to be slayne vve are nought set by mocked beaten banished chased from tovvne to tovvne To be short vve are esteemed and counted as the most vile stinking filthynesse of all the vvorld troden dovvne vnderneth the feete of the vvorldlinges But for all that vve possesse our soules in patience looking for the righteous Iudge vvhich vvill iudge all the vvorld not according to the doctrine of men but according to hys holy vvorde for vvhich vve are had novve in suche abhomination to the vvorlde Furthermore they vvhich dayly accuse vs vvith so greate rage and furye against the auncient doctrine of the Apostles and Doctors shall at the last acknovvledge their malice and liuing that they haue declared in their bookes corrupting and marring the bookes of the auncient fathers of the churche If I durst I vvould gladly name one vvho in that occupation or science hath serued out his prentyshyppe for that cause is called our maister in his booke that he hath intituled The bouckler of the faithe vvherein he declareth the subtiltie of his intent and craft alledging the auncient Doctors in Latine after translating them into Frenche and at euery place where he found Sacrificium or the like manner of speaking in steade to put in sacrifice or holy mysterie he hath translated them alvvayes the holy mysterie of the Masse and so by that meanes they finde that vvorde Masse in the bookes of those good fathers vvhich they neuer thought nor did I beleeue he thought that his booke should not come but only in the handes of yong children or else he thought that he had to doe but vvith beastes like vnto himselfe There is no man though he haue but small iudgement and vnderstanding vvhich reading that booke but that he may see at the first dashe hovv he lyeth and vnsayeth and reuoketh it agayne and neuerthelesse he is heard and accounted as halfe a God not only of the poorest sort but of the greatest in the vvorlde In the meane time vve ought not to maruayle at this that such gallants haue bene so hardy and ouerbolde forasmuch as they vvere supported and maintayned of Kings Emperors Princes and Magistrates and that they vvere the best vvelcome to their Court. I remember that I haue reade in the Ecclesiasticall histories that in the time of the auncient Doctors there vvere abusers and seducers of the people that sovved their pestilent venim amongst the doctrine of the auncients Of that Denise bishop of Corinth complayned very much saying that many haue sovvn in his Epistles much vvicked doctrine Therefore thinke that if they haue bene so hardy and bolde that they durst corrupt the vvrytinges of the auncientes yea vvhilest they vvere yet aliue VVhat vvill they doe novve at the least they vvill doe asmuch as their auncient fathers that is to saye those Apostates ennemies of the fathers Novv notvvithstanding their shamelesse malyce they rebuke and checke vs vvith a vvhores face that vve are ennemies of the fathers despisers and contemners of their doctrine and disturbers of the vvorld I vvould to God that they vvould permitte and suffer vs to compare our doctrine openly and before all the vvorld vvith theirs to the end that all men might knovve vvho be the contemners and ennemies of the fathers somuch it vvantith that vve should be found condemners and ennemies of those good fathers that altogither it vvoulde be seene that the same doctrine that vve hold keepe at this day is the very same for vvhiche manye of those good fathers haue shead their bloud and vvould shead it if they vvere novve aliue It seemeth that the same is not true that I haue spoken that if the fathers vvere yet aliue that men vvould put them cruelly to death as most vvicked Heritickes Yea they vvhich at this daye doe boste and brag them selues to be their obedient children and make bucklers of their bookes Vnderstand and hold fast in minde dearely beloued behold this present booke may serue vs for a certayne argument of that vvhich is composed and faithfully gathered togither out of the very bookes of the auncient Doctors That if I vvould present this present booke vvherein there is nothing in it of mine but altogither of the auncientes for confession of my faith to those enemies of the fathers I doubt not but presently I should be as a moste vvicked Heretick condemned to be burned quicke into ashes Novve see dearely beloued and iudge iustly before God according to your
Poet flourished in the time of Maximilian the first and Alexander the .6 Pope Marcus Antonius Coccius Sabellicus borne in the dominion of Venice a bishop flourished the yere 1501. vnder Maximilian Emperour and Pius the 3. Pope He wrate a large historie from the creation of the worlde to the yeare 1504. whiche is augmented by Gaspar Hedio Gesner Simler The order of the Councelles according to Pantaleon AT Carthage once very famous now ruinous and cleane destroyed a Citie in the kingdome of Tunes vnder the Turkes dominion were celebrated sixe Councelles The first in the yeare 360. Galienus being Emperor 32. in succession and Stephen the first Pope The seconde the yere 413. Honorius being Emperor The thirde in the yeare 429. vnder Theodosius the 2. The fourth fifth in the yeare 437. vnder the same Emperor The sixt by 217. Byshops in the yeare 459. vnder Martianus At Anticyra in Galatia was celebrated a Councell by Vitalis Bishop of Antioche the yeare 295. Diocletian being Emperour At Nice a Citie in Bithynia nowe called Nichea in Asia the lesse vnder the Turke were celebrated two Councels The first against the Arians the yeare 326. vnder Constantine the great where was established the Nicene Creede The seconde the yeare 781. vnder Constantine the sixt The Councell of Gangra nowe called Cangri in Asia the lesse was celebrated the yeare 333. vnder Constantine the great At Elyberis or Illyberis nowe called Granado in Spayne was celebrated a Coūsell in the yere 337. vnder Constantine the great by xix Bishops At Ariminum now called Rimino in the territorie of Flaminia nowe Romandiola in Italie was celebrated a Councell the yere 362. vnder Iulian the Apostata The Councell of Laodicea in Syria was celebrated the yeare 368. vnder Iulian the Apostata At Constantinople in Thrace sometime called Byzantium builded by Constantine the great nowe the chiefe seate of the Turke and called in his language Stambola were celebrated eyght Councelles The first the yeare 383. by 180. Bishops vnder Gratian the Emperour The seconde the yeare 448. vnder Theodosius the seconde The thirde in the yere 546. vnder Iustinian the first The fourth the yeare 576. vnder Iustine the seconde The fift the yeare 681. by 289. Bishops vnder Constantine the v. The sixt the yeare 695. vnder Iustinian the seconde The seuenth the yeare 726. by 330. Byshoppes vnder Leo the thirde Emperor The eyght the yeare 870. vnder Basilius Macedo Emperor of the East and Lewes the seconde of the West At Toledo in Spayne were celebrated 13. Councelles The first the yeare 393. vnder Arcadius and Honorius by 18. Byshops The seconde the yeare 470. vnder Leo the first The thirde the yeare 615. vnder Heraclius by 62. Byshoppes The fourth the yeare 632. vnder Heraclius The fifth and sixt the yeare 639. vnder Constantine the thirde The seauenth the yere 680. But according to Phrygio 640. by 30. Bishoppes vnder Constantine the fourth The eyght the yeare 666. by 59. Bishoppes vnder Constantine the fourth The ninth and tenth the yeare 675. by 16. Bishoppes vnder Constantine the fourth The xi xii xiii the yeare 692. vnder Constantine the fourth The Councell Mileuitan was celebrated at Mileuita in Aphrica against the Pelagians the yeare 418. vnder Honorius The Councell of Ephesus nowe called Epheso in Ionia in Asia the lesse was celebrated the yeare 430. by 200. Bishops agaynst the Pelagians and Nestorians vnder Theodosius the 2. At Orenge in France but excepted from the dominion of the Frenche Kings hauing a seuerall Prince were helde two Councelles The first the yeare 451. vnder Theodosius the seconde and Valentinian The seconde the same yere vnder the sayde Emperors The Councell of Chalcedon in Bythinia nowe called by the Turkes Scutari situated right ouer against Constantinople was helde the yeare 453. agaynst the Eutychians Manichees and Dioscorus by 600. Byshops vnder the reygne of Theodosius the 2. and Valentinian the 3. At Orleans in Fraunce were helde fiue Councelles The first the yeare 518. vnder Iustinus the first by 33. Bishops The seconde the yeare 550. vnder Iustinian the great The thirde the same yeare vnder the same Emperor The fourth the yeare 567. vnder Iustinus the second The 5. the yeare 572. vnder the sayde Emperour At Bracara now called Braga in Spain were helde three Councelles The first the yeare 555. vnder Iustinian the great The seconde and thirde the yeare 583. Martianus being Emperor The Laterane Councelles were seauen The first by Stephan the 3. the yere 767. vnder Leo. The seconde by Nicolaus the seconde the yeare 1058. vnder Constantine the 12. of the East and Henrie the 4. of the West The thirde by Innocentius the 2. the yeare 1138. vnder Caloioannes of the East and Lotharius the 2. of the West Emperors The fourth the yeare 1167. by Alexander the 3. vnder Emanuel of the East and Frederike of the West The fift the yeare 1205. by Innocentius the thirde in the presence of 7. Archbishoppes 412. Bishops 1300. Prelates vnder Henrie the 6. of the West and Balduine the first of the East The sixt the yeare 1446. by Eugenius the 4. vnder Frederike the 3. The seauenth the yeare 1510. by Iulius the 3. vnder Maximilian the first At Chalons in Fraunce were helde two Councelles The first the yeare 670. vnder Constantine the 4. The seconde the yeare 805. vnder Charles the first Emperour of the West and Nicephorus of the East At Wormes in Germany were 5. Councelles The first the yeare 868. vnder Lewes the seconde of the West and Basilius of the East Emperours The second the yere 1067. vnder Romanus the second of the East and Henrie the fourth of the West The thirde the yeare 1494. vnder Maximilian the first The fourth the yere 1520. vnder the sayde Emperour The fift the yeare 1536. vnder Charles the fifte FINIS The summe of the common places contayned in this Booke OF the Supper of our Lorde Iesus Christ Pag. 1. Of confession to God and of auricular confession Pag. 40. Of the power to binde and lose Pag. 46. Of free will. Pag. 51. Of merites and of good workes Pag. 70. and iustification by fayth Pag. 107. Of the Lawe Pag. 133. Of Purgatorie Pag. 147. Of the honouring of Saintes Pag. 174. Of one onely Mediator Pag. 191. Of Images whether they be lawfull in Churches of Christians or no. Pag. 201. Of fasting and meate Pag. 228. Of Mariage Pag. 243. Of Vowes Pag. 254. Of the Church and howe it may be knowen and the authoritie thereof Pag. 258. Of holy Scripture and that it is lawfull for all men to reade it Pag. 293. Of the assemblies and congregations of the faythfull Pag. 340. Of constraining no person to beleeue Pag. 347. Of persecuting Magistrates which vnder shadowe of religion doe persecute the faythfull and their torments of eternall paynes Pag. 368. Finis The Staffe of the Christian Faith. Of the holy Supper of our Lorde Iesus Christ. I Am that liuing breade which came downe from heauen If any man eate
iustifie him Euen as Dauid sayth Blessed is the man whome the Lorde accepteth and iustifieth without workes and how is he iustified But forasmuch as he receiueth of God righteousnesse and what righteousnesse the righteousnesse of fayth the which God giueth without any good workes preceeding but not without good workes following after for righteousnesse of fayth profiteth not if after the fayth receiued man doth not exercise him selfe in all good workes In the same I doe not account thy workes good what soeuer they be if they doe not proceede from the good roote of fayth In the same God doth not giue vnto thee the payne and punishment whiche thou hast well deserued but he doth giue vnto thee the grace not deserued nor due He oweth vnto thee punishment and he giueth vnto thee mercie and doth pardon thee Begin then to be in fayth through the forgiuenesse of thy sinnes Gregorie vpon Ezechiel the first boke homilie 7. Then our iust aduocate doth defende vs for iust at the iudgement bicause that we shoulde acknowledge our selues and accuse our selues as vniust Let vs not then trust in our weepings nor in our works but in the allegation of our aduocate Augustine in his booke of meditations Chap. 14. This is lyfe eternall that they knowe thee to be the only very God and whome thou hast sent Iesus Christ through a right fayth and through workes worthy of fayth For thy inestimable loue exceedeth all knowledge the which thou hast shewed vnto vs throughe thy pietie and goodnesse vnto vs whiche are vnworthy For thy sonne our God in no sort toke the Angels but he tooke the seede of Abraham being made like in all things vnto vs without sinne This is verily all my hope and all my trust for the porcion of euery one of vs is to the same Iesus Christ our Lorde that is to saye the fleshe and the bloude and so where my porcion doth reygne there I doe beleeue that I shall reygne there where my flesh is glorified there I doe know my selfe to be glorified there where my bloude doth beare rule there I doe knowe that I shall rule Although I be a sinner yet I doe not distrust of the communication of this grace and if my sinnes do hinder or let it my substance doth require and aske it And if my offences doe shut me out the communion of the nature doth not dryue me backe but our Lord God is meeke and lowly and loueth his fleshe and his members and his bowels in himselfe which is God and in Iesus Christ our Lorde most meeke and louing and gentle in whome we are raysed vp and are already ascended into heauen and already sitting in the celestiall place Our fleshe doth loue vs and we haue in him the prerogatiue of our bloude for we are his members and his fleshe and finally he is our heade of whome all the bodie doth depende as it is written bone of my bones and fleshe of my flesh and they shall be two in one fleshe this mysterie here is great I saye in Christ and in the congregation sayth the Apostle Augustine in his manuel Chap. 22. All my trust and hope is in the death of my Lorde his death is my merite my refuge my helth my life my resurrection my merite is the mercy of god I am not poore of merite so long as the Lorde of mercie shall be in being if the mercies of the Lorde are great I am great in merites the more puissant he is for to saue so much the more am I assured Augustine in his manuel Chap. 23. I haue committed a great sinne and do feele my selfe culpable of a great many of sinnes and yet I will not despayre For where sinnes haue abounded grace hath more abounded He which hopeth not to haue pardon of his sinnes he denyeth that God is mercifull he doth great iniurie vnto God which distrusteth of his mercy as much as he can he denyeth that God hath loue truth and strength in whiche things consisteth all my hope that is in the loue that he hath towards me to make me his adoptiue sonne in the veritie of his promise and in the puissaunce of his redemption Let my foolishe thought nowe thinke and murmure as long as it will saying but what art thou and what is this glorie and by what merites thinkest thou to haue it Then I doe aunswere in good fayth I doe knowe verye well vnto whom I submit my selfe and that through great loue he hath made me his adoptiue sonne and is true in his promises and of power to fulfill them and it is lawfull for him to doe all that pleaseth him I cannot then bee afrayde of the multitude of my sinnes if I doe remember the Lordes death S. Ambrose in the booke of Iacob and of blessed life Euen as Iacob hauing not of his meate the eldershippe hid him selfe vnder the habite of his brother and apparayled him selfe with his coate the which did giue a most sweete sauour and in this manner presented him selfe vnto his father to receiue to his profite the blessing vnder the person of another so it is necessary that we doe cloth our selues and put on the righteousnesse of Iesus Christ through fayth and that we doe hide our selues vnder the deuine purite of our eldest brother if wee will be accepted and taken for righteous before God And truly the same is the true verytie for yf we doe appeare before God not clothed with the righteousnesse of Iesus Christ without doubte we shall be iudged worthy of eternall damnation S. Ambrose vpon the .4 chapter of the Epistle to the Romaines They are manifestly blessed vnto whom without laboure or without any workes iniquities and wickednesse are pardoned and the sinnes couered not requiring of them any works of penance but that they doe beleeue onely Ambrose vpon the 3. Chapter of the Epistle to the Romaines They are iustified freelye throughe his grace bicause that not doing anye thing and not rendring the lyke by onely fayth they are iustified through the gift of God. Augustine in his boke of 50. homilies Homilie 14. The Lord will giue vnto me the crown as a iust and righteous iudge For hee which beholdeth after that he hath beheld the worke cannot deny the reward I haue fought a good fight that is a worke I haue fulfilled my course that is a worke I haue kept the fayth that is a worke There remayneth for mee the crowne of righteousnesse that is the rewarde But thou doest nothing to the rewarde and in the worke thou hast not wrought alone thou hast the crowne of him but the work is of thee and yet it is not but throughe the ayde of him I haue fought I haue ended and fulfilled my course I haue kepte the fayth He doth rewarde the goodnesse but what goodnesse Such as he hath giuen Hath not he giuen vnto thee to fight a good
fight If he hath not giuen it what is that that thou sayest in another place I haue laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which is in me In that then that he hath ayded thee and that he hath giuen vnto thee thou hast fought a good fight and hast fulfilled thy course and hast kept the fayth Pardon mee Apostle I doe knowe nothing of thine owne but the euils Pardon me Apostle we doe speake it bicause that thou hast taught it I do heare him which confesseth himselfe and I doe not finde that he is vnthankfull Truly in all that thou art instructed of thy selfe we can knowe nothing but euill Then when God doth crowne thy merites he crowneth nothing but his giftes to the ende that none be waxen proude of such fayth or of such puritie in good workes through his free will. Augustine vpon the wordes of the Apostle sermon .15 Thou shalt doe the worke of God not only bicause thou art a man but also bicause thou art iust and righteous for it is better to be righteous then to be a man if God hath made thee a man and that thou makest thy selfe righteous thou doest a better thing then God hath done But God hath made thee without thy selfe for thou hast giuen no consent vnto God for to make thee how shouldest thou consent which wast not then borne He then which hath made thee without thy selfe doth he not iustifie thee without thy selfe He hath then made him which giueth not his consent but he iustifieth him whiche giueth thereunto his wyll and consent yet he doth iustifie thee to the ende it shoulde not be thine owne righteousnesse and that thou shouldest not turne thy selfe to hurt detryment and vnto filthynesse And shouldest be found in him not hauing thy owne righteousnesse which is by the law but that which is of God through the fayth of Iesus Christ that is to say the righteousnesse of fayth for to knowe it and also to knowe the vertue of his resurrection and the fellowshippe of his afflictions and that same vertue shall be the fellowshippe of the afflictions of Christe that shall be thy vertue Augustine in the first Quinquagesima in the Prologue of the .31 psalm Who be those that are blessed Are not those they in whome God did finde no sinne No for he did finde it in all men for all haue sinned and are destitute of the glory of God. If then sinne be found in all it followeth that none are founde blessed but those whose sinnes are pardoned Therefore hath he euen so praysed the same Abraham beleeued God and it was rekened vnto him for righteousnesse but vnto him which doth the worke that is to say which doth presume of workes and which by the meryte of the same saith that the grace of faith is giuen vnto him The rewarde is not imputed according to the grace but according to the debt What is this but that our rewarde is called grace if that be grace it is giuen freely What is this that is giuen freely It is that thou hast done no good thing and yet the forgiuenesse of thy sinnes is giuen vnto thee if thy workes be considered they shal be founde all wicked and euill if God should render that which is due to such workes truely he shoulde condemne them God doth not render vnto thee the punishment due but he doth giue thee grace which is not due vnto thee Augustine in the fyrst Quinquagesima vpon the .31 psalme verse Lorde I haue hoped in thee O Lorde deliuer me and redeeme me through thy righteousnesse For if thou doe consider my righteousnesse thou condemnest me deliuer me through thy righteousnesse for the righteousnesse of God is ours when it is giuen vs but it is called the righteousnesse of God to the ende that man doe not esteeme or thinke to haue righteousnesse of him selfe For as the Apostle saith vnto him which beleeueth in him which iustifieth the infidell or vnbeleeuing man What is he that iustifieth the infidell He which maketh the infidell righteous What is he that is not saued freely Is it he vnto whome the sauiour doth finde nothing for to crowne him but for to condemne him He doth not finde the merytes of goodnesse but he findeth the merites of euill if he doe as moste truly it is purposed and set foorth by the rule of the lawe the sinner ought to be damned if he doe after that rule whome shall he deliuer For he hath found them all sinners he is come alone without sinne who hath foūd vs sinners The same the Apostle speaketh saying all men haue sinned and are destitute of the glorie of God he doth deliuer thee and not thou thy selfe bicause thou canst not deliuer thy selfe whereof dost thou vaunte and boste thy selfe Wherefore dost thou presume of the lawe and of righteousnesse Dost thou not see that which shall heale thee inwardly is against thee Dost thou not heare the rebell and the confesser and him which desireth ayde and helpe in the battayle saying O wreatched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death the grace of God through our Lorde Iesus Christe wherefore the grace bicause that it is giuen freely without merytes preceeding but the benefites of God haue preuented it S. Ambrose vpon the Epistle vnto the Romains chapter 34. Bicause that without the workes of the lawe faith is reputed for righteousnesse vnto him which beleeueth that is to say vnto the gentill which beleeueth in Christ as it was reputed vnto Abraham how then doe the Iewes thinke to be iustified by the workes of the lawe of the iustification of Abraham seeing Abraham to be iustified not through the workes of the lawe but only through faith The lawe then taketh no place when the infidell is iustified only through faith before God according to the purpose of the grace of God. Euen so ought it to be ordayned to the ende that the lawe doe cease and that we demaund only faith of the grace of God for our health and saluation As also Dauid saith confirming the same by the example of the Prophet The blessednesse of man is in him vnto whome God imputeth righteousnesse without workes He calleth those blessed vnto whome God hath confirmed the same that without labour and without any obseruations through faith only they are iustified with God he declareth then the blessednesse of the time in whiche Christe was borne as also the Lord did saying That many Prophetes and iust men haue desired to see those thinges which ye see and haue not seene them and to heare those things which ye heare and haue not heard them Augustine vpon the words of the Lord in the mountayne Sermon 7. O thou Christian take heede take heede I say of pride for although that thou be a follower of the Saintes yet repute alwayes euery thing to the grace
walke in we ought then rather to behold the goodnesse which we haue not yet done then those of which we doe reioyce our selues to haue already done and the elect are often times tempted with such vices and oftentimes it is rysen in their heartes to bring them in remembraunce of all the goodnesse that they haue done and to reioyce themselues of the band of assurance But if they be truly elected they will turn awaye their eyes from thinking of the same wherein they doe please themselues and keepe backe in them all the ioy of the goodnesse which is alreadye done and be sorie for those which they knowe to be by no maner of meanes done They doe esteeme themselues vnworthye and they onely do not see their goodnesse which are of all men seene by good example c. Of iustification of Fayth Augustine in the first Quinquagesima in the prologue of the 31. psal TRuly the Apostle Saint Iames in his Epistles hath praised the works of Abraham agaynst those which woulde not do any good and which presume them selues of fayth of which Abraham Saint Paule hath praysed his fayth and yet the Apostles are not contrarie the one to the other but he speaketh of the work which is knowne to all men that is to saye that Abraham did offer his sonne vnto God for to doe sacrifice That is a great worke but that is of fayth I doe prayse the buylding of the worke made vpon the foundation but I doe beholde the foundation of faith I doe prayse the fruite of the good and iust worke but I acknowledge the roote in fayth For if Abraham did those things without right fayth nothing woulde haue profited him whatsoeuer worke it hadde bene Furthermore if Abraham did keepe so the fayth that when God commaunded him to offer his sonne for sacrifice hee thought in himselfe I will not doe it and yet neuerthelesse I doe beleeue that God will deliuer me although that I doe contemne and despise his commaundements Fayth without workes shoulde be deade and shoulde abyde as a drie roote barren and without fruite What then we ought not to preferre workes before fayth that is to say nothing is sayde to be well done before fayth although that they are esteemed of men prayse worthye yet notwithstanding they are vayne And me thinketh that they are like vnto great strengths and vnto the easie course out of the waye Let none then esteeme his workes c. Afterwardes he sayth Let vs not then obiect the Apostle Saint Iames to Paule but the same Paule to himselfe and let vs say vnto him by this worde thou doest suffer vs somwhat to sinne without punishment when thou sayest wee doe esteeme man to bee iustified thorowe fayth withoute workes but thou wilt saye to the same faith worketh by loue How am I so much assured by the same if I doe nothing yea I shall not bee counted by the same to haue trust in the good fayth if I doe not worke by loue O Apostle I doe heare thee wilt thou here prayse vnto me fayth without workes But loue is the worke of fayth which loue cannot be ydle that it doe forsake all euill and doe all the good that it can And what maketh loue Declyne from euill and doe good Praysest thou then fayth without works And thou sayest in another place If I had all fayth so that I coulde moue mountaynes out of their places and yet had not loue I were nothing then if fayth doe not profite any without loue and that there where loue shall be it behoueth that it work for faith worketh by loue howe then is man iustified without workes The Apostle aunswereth O thou man therefore haue I sayde this thing vnto thee that thou doe not presume of thy workes and that thou doe not thinke to haue receyued the grace of fayth thorowe the merite of thy works Presume not then of workes before fayth acknowledge that fayth hath founde thee a sinner and if the fayth which hath founde thee a sinner hath made thee righteous then it doth finde him an infidell whiche it hath made righteous The fayth sayth he is counted for righteousnesse vnto him which beleeueth on him that iustifieth the vngodly Augustine in his booke of the 83. questions 76. Chapter If any man doe departe out of this life immediatly after that he hath beleued the iustification of faith abideth with him and commeth not to him by any workes precedent or going before for it is not giuen through merite but through grace nor through workes following bicause that he is not permitted to be in this life and therefore the two sentences of the two Apostles Paule and Iames are not contrary the one to the other For the one saith that man is iustified through faith without workes And the other saith that faith is dead without workes for Paule speaketh of workes whiche goe before faith and Iames speaketh of works which doe followe faith Origene vpon the Epistle to the Romans 3. booke 3. Chapter The onely iustification of God sufficeth so that he which beleeueth onely is iustified when in deede no workes shall be done by him For the thefe was iustified through faith without the workes of the lawe and vpon that faith the Lorde did not demaunde what that is that he had done before and did not tarry after that he had beleeued what worke he shoulde doe but receiued him as iustified throughe the onely faith for to enter with him into paradise Also that woman which is receited by the Euangelist the which did heare at Iesus feete thy sins are forgiuen thee And again thy faith hath saued thee go in peace But also in many places of the gospell Iesus Christ hath vsed such wordes where he sayth that the cause of saluation is the faith of him which beleeueth Man then is iustified through faith vnto whome the workes of faith serue nothing at all for iustification But where faith is not which iustifieth the beleeuing man when any one shall haue the workes of the law neuerthelesse bicause they are not buylded vpon the foundation of faith although that in appearance they are good yet they cannot iustifie the worke if it be without faith the which is the marke and token of those which are iustified of god And what shall he be which wyll boste him selfe of his righteousnesse when he heareth God and the Prophet saying all our righteousnesse are as a menstruous cloth wherefore the only right glorye is in the fayth of Christ Augustine in his .50 homilies homily 17. Peace be vnto the bretheren and loue with the faith of God our Father and of our Lorde Iesus Christ What hast thou that thou hast not receiued If thou hast receiued it why reioysest thou as though thou haddest not receiued it Did Abraham so reioyce He reioysed of faith what is the full and perfect faith The same which beleeueth that all our
Gentils through fayth and therefore preached before hande the Gospell vnto Abraham saying in thee shall all the Gentiles be blessed so then they which be of fayth are blessed with faythfull Abraham For as many as are vnder the deedes of the law are vnder the curse For it is written Cursed is euerye man that continueth not in all things that are written in the booke of the lawe to fulfill them And that no man is iustified by the lawe in the sight of God it is euident For the iust shall lyue by fayth and the lawe is not of fayth but the man that shall fulfill those things shall liue in them Nowe Christ hath redeemed vs from the curse of the lawe when he was made accursed for vs. For it is written Cursed is euery one that hangeth on a tree That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Iesus Christ and that we might receyue the promise of the spirite through fayth But the Scripture hath concluded all things vnder sinne that the promise by the fayth of Iesus Christ shoulde be giuen to them that beleeue c. For ye are all the sonnes of God by fayth in Christ Iesus Galat. 3. De poenitentia Distinction 3. chap. which beginneth Totam c. And we are iustified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus whome God hath set forth to be a pacification through fayth in his bloude to declare his righteousnesse in that hee forgiueth the sinnes that are passed Without fayth it is impossible to please God. In whome euen nowe though yee see him not yet doe ye beleeue and reioyce with ioye vnspeakable and glorious receiuing the end of your faith the saluation of your soules c. And God which knoweth the heartes bare them witnesse in giuing vnto them the holy Ghost euen as he did vnto vs and he put no difference betwene them and vs seing that with faith he purified their heartes S. Ierome vpon Sophon Chapter 3. They doe seeke the righteousnesse the which is not but Christ alone Iesus Christ sayeth Daughter bee of good comfort thy fayth hath made thee whole Agayne Beleeue ye that I am able to doe this And they sayde vnto him yea Lorde Then touched he their eyes saying according to your fayth bee it vnto you Also Daughter be of good comforte thy fayth hath made thee whole goe in peace Also What shall we doe that wee might worke the workes of God Iesus aunswered and sayd vnto them This is the worke of God that ye beleeue on him whom he hath sent Likewise all things are possible to him that beleeueth The wages of sinne is death but the gyft of God is eternal life through Iesus Christ our Lorde If thou shalt confesse with thy mouthe the Lorde Iesus and shalt beleeue in thine heart that God raysed him vp from death thou shalt be saued For the beleefe of the heart iustifieth and to confesse with the mouth saueth a man. Who soeuer beleeueth on him shal not be ashamed But ye are of him in Iesus Christ who of God is made vnto vs wisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption that according as it is written He that reioyceth shoulde reioyce in the Lorde This is the name that they shal call him euen the Lorde our righteous maker To him giue all the Prophets witnesse that through his name all that beleeue in him shall receyue remission of sinnes For among men there is giuen none other name vnder heauen whereby wee must be saued Ye are gone quite from Christ as many as are iustified by the lawe and are fallen from grace Let no man esteeme of himselfe more then it becommeth him to esteeme but that he discretely iudge of himselfe according as God hath dealt to euery man the measure of fayth How shoulde I then aunswere him or what wordes shoulde I finde out agaynst him yea though I be righteous yet will I not giue him one worde agayne but meekely submit my selfe to my Iudge If I will iustifie my selfe myne owne mouth shall condemne me If I will put forth my selfe for a perfect man he shall proue mee a wicked doer for that I shoulde be an innocent my conscience knoweth it not yea I my selfe am weary of my life Thou hast graunted me lyfe and done me good and the diligent heede that thou tookest vpon me hath preserued my spirite c. If I doe wickedly wo is me therfore If I be righteous yet dare I not lift vp my heade so full am I of confusion and see mine owne miserie What is man that he shoulde be cleane what hath he which is born of a woman whereby he might be knowen to be righteous Beholde there is no trust in hys Saintes yea the very heauens are not cleare in his sight Howe much more then an abhominable and vile man which drinketh wickednesse like water But how may a man compared vnto God be iustified Or how can he be clean that is borne of a woman We are all as an vncleane thing and all our righteousnesse are as the clothes stayned or a menstruous cloth There is not one iust vpon earth that doth good and sinneth not Verely in the Lord is my righteousnesse and strength To him shal men come but all they that thinke scorne of him shal be confounded And the whole seede of Israell shall be iustified and praysed in the Lorde The Lorde helpeth me therefore shall I not be confounded I haue hardened my face like a flint stone for I am sure that I shall not come to confusion Mine aduocate speaketh for me who will then goe with me to lawe My righteous seruant shall with his wisedome iustifie and deliuer the multitude for he shall beare away their sins c. We being iustified by his grace should be amde heires according to the hope of eternall life Yet darest thou say I am giltlesse Tushe his wrath cannot come vpon me behold I wyll reason with thee bicause thou darest say I haue not offended O howe euill will it be for thee to abyde it when it shall be knowen how oft thou hast gone backwarde Doubtlesse our owne wickednesse rewarde vs but Lorde doe thou according to thy name thoughe our transgressions and sinnes be many and haue sinned against thee They that put their trust in me shall inherite the land and haue my holy hill in possession Be it knowen â—nto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached vnto you the forgiuenesse of sinnes and that from all sinnes from which you could not be iustified by the lawe of Moyses by him euery one that beleeueth is iustified And of his fulnesse haue all we receyued euen grace for grace Which he predestinated before them also he called and whoÌ„ he called them also he iustified
those whiche doe reste in Christe we desire thee that thou wylt giue them place of comforte through the same Christe our Lord amen Aunswere In the 4. of the sentences Distinction 45. and the 13. glose Iniuriam facit martyri qui or at pro martyre That is to say he which prayeth for a Martyr doth iniury and wrong vnto the Martyr S. Cyprian in his .4 booke of baptisme and the maister of the sentences 4. distinct .4 Chapter If all the deaths and all the tormentes that all men the Patryarckes Prophets Apostles Martyrs and confessors haue euer suffered should be put togither they shall not be sufficient to put out the leaste sinne of the world Knowe ye not that the vnrighteous shal not inherite the kingdome of God Bee not deceiued neyther fornicators neyther idolaters neyther aduouterers neyther wantons neyther abusers of them selues with the mankinde neyther theeues neyther couetous neyther dronkardes neyther euill speakers neyther extorcioners shall inherite the kingdome of god And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are iustified in the name of the Lord Iesus and by the spirite of our God. Christe loued the church and gaue him selfe for it to sanctifie it and clensed it in the washing of water through the worde To make it vnto him selfe a glorious church without spot or wrincle or anye such thing but that it should be holy and without blame Iesus Christ sayth verely verely I doe saye vnto you except that a man be begotten of water and of the spirite he cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen Saint Iohn Baptist sayde of Iesus Christe he shall baptise you with the holy Ghoste and with fire which hath his fanne in his hand and will make cleane his floure and gather the wheate into his garner but will burne the chaffe with vnquencheable fire Iesus Christ saith nowe are ye cleane through the wordes which I haue spoken vnto you Also Peter saide vnto Iesus thou shalt neuer washe my feete Iesus sayde vnto him if I doe not washe thee thou shalt not haue parte with me Peter saide vnto him Lord not my feete only but also my hands and my head Iesus sayd vnto him he that is washed needeth not saue to washe his feete but is cleane euery whit He shall put downe our wickednesse and caste all our sinnes into the bottome of the sea Raymonde sayth Gratia magna dei veniamnon dimidiabit Aut nihil aut totum propitiando dabit That is to say God doth not pardon the moytie or halfe but his great mercye pardoneth all or nothing Moyses and Saint Paule doe say our God is a consuming fire The Pope in his Canons in the Glose of Baptisme and of his effect Chap. which beginneth maiores Causas Larga dei pietas veniam non dimidiabit Nam nihil aut totū te lachrymante dabit That is to say the great goodnesse of God wyll not giue pardon for the moyte for when thou commest vnto him with teares and weepings he will giue thee all or nothing Moyses saith The workes of God are perfect O Lorde thou forgiuest all our sinnes Chrysostome in the .2 homily vpon the 50. psalme When one demandeth mercy that is that he might not be examined of his sinne to the end he should not be handled according to the rigour of righteousnesse and to the ende that all punishment may cease for where there is mercie there is no more hell fire neyther rigour nor paine Chrysostome in his sermon of penance and confession The Lord doth punish vs for our sinnes not for to take anye recompence of oure sinnes but for to aduise vs of things to come S. Ambrose vpon S. Luke of repentance first distinction Chapter which beginneth Petrus Peter was sorowfull and did lament for he hath transgressed as man I doe not finde what he sayde I doe knowe verye well that he hath wept I doe reade of his teares and not of his satisfaction The Priestes doe sing in the beginning or prose of those that be deade such wordes Rex tremendae maiestatis qui saluandos saluas gratis salua me fons pietatis That is to saye O redoubtable king in maiestie whiche doest saue freely those which ought to be saued saue me O fountayne of goodnesse Blessed are the deade which hereafter die in the Lorde euen so sayth the spirite For bicause they rest from their labours and their works followe them Of a truth he onely taketh away our infirmitie and beareth our payne yet wee shall iudge him as though he were plaged and cast downe of God where as he notwithstanding shall be wondred at for our offences and smitten for our wickednesse For the payne of our punishment shall be layde vpon him and with his wounds shal we be healed As concerning the place of S. Paule 1. Cor. 3. That euery one shall be saued as it were by the fire S. Augustine in his boke of the Citie of God the 21. booke Chapter .26 And in his treatise of fayth and of workes Chapter .16 And in his Enchiridion Chapter 28. expoundeth it of the fire of tribulation and of the crosse and persecutions of this worlde by the which the Lorde examineth those that be his Gregory vpon Iob the .29 Chapter And in his morals the .28 booke the .17 chap. And in the .16 distinct Chap. whith beginneth Canones glossae atque As touching the bookes of the Machabees the church doth not hold them for canonicall saying we doe nothing vnorderly if we bring in the examples of the bookes which although that they be not canonicall yet neuerthelesse doe serue for the edification of the churche S. Augustine of the citie of god .18 booke 36. Chapter And of christian doctrine .2 booke .8 chapter Speaking of the number of the times which haue bene sithence the returne from Babilon vntill the comming of Iesus Christe the count and computation of them are not found in the holy Scripturs which are called canonical but in the other among whom are the bookes of the Machabees S. Ierome in the Epistle written vnto Chromatius and Heliodorus bishops And also in the Byble before the booke of the Prouerbes The Churche doth reade the bookes of the Machabees but it doth not receiue them as canonicall Also although that the Church doth reade the bookes of Iudith Tobie and of the Machabees yet neuerthelesse the Church doth not receyue them as Canonicall scripture And so the Church may read these two bokes for the edification of the people but not for to confirme ecclesiasticall doctrine Ierome in his Prologue Galeatus which is set before the booke of the Kings Sayth that he hath neuer founde the seconde booke of the Machabees in the Hebue tongue but he hath founde it in the Greeke tongue And writing against the Pelagians The seconde booke of the Machabees is written by Iosephus the Historiographer
at the commandement of the Lorde And was buryed in a valley in the land of Moab besides Beth Pheor but no man wist of his sepulcher vnto this daye Iohn was beheaded of Herode and after his disciples came and tooke vp his body and buryed it And certayne men fearing God carryed Stephen among them to be buryed and made great lamentation ouer him God saide vnto Adam earth thou art and vnto earth shalt thou returne Eusebius in the ecclesiasticall history 4. booke .15 Chapter The diuell inuyted Niceta the father of Herodes and brother of Alces to obtayne of the iudge that he would not suffer the body of Saint Policarpe to be buryed fearing saith he least the Christians should leaue and forsake him whiche hath bene crucified and would beginne to worshippe him here c. The faithfull wil aunswere The miserable men doe not knowe that we can neuer forsake Iesus Christe who hath suffered death and passion for vs and that we cannot adore or worshipe any other then he whom we doe knowe to be the true god And afterwardes they gathered the bones of the Martyr which were burned and haue put them in a sepulchre c. Chrysostome in his vnperfect worke vpon Saint Mathewe 23. Chapter They make their Phylactaries broade c. O ignorante priestes saith he is not the Gospell reade euery day in the church that is to say in the congregation and heard of all And if the Gospell put into the eares of many doe not profit them any thing at all to saluation doest thou thinke that it will profite them any thing to hang it about their neckes Furthermore I doe aske thee wherein consisteth the truthe of the Gospell in the figures of the letters or in the vnderstanding of the same If the vertue of the Gospell dooth consiste in the figures of letters written thou doest well to carry them hanging about thy necke But if the vertue of the Gospel consisteth in the true sense and true vnderstanding as thou must beleue thou shalt then doe better to beare and carye them in thy heart than about thy necke But other which would shewe themselues to be more holye adde with the letters of the Gospell one part of the hemme or of the heares to wete of Iesus Christ and doe hang them about their necke O wickednesse they woulde shewe that there is greater holynesse in the robes than in the proper bodie of Iesus Christ And seeing that they are not healed in receyuing the bodie of Iesus Christ they thinke to bee through the holynesse of the hemmes they despayre of the mercie of God and put their trust onely in the robe of man And thou wilt say vnto me Did not S. Paule giue his partlets and napkins for to heale those that were diseased I doe confesse the same but that was before that men had knowledge of the true God whom he declared and shewed forth And it was good reason and to the same had Saint Paule respect to the end that through the holynesse of the men whiche doe declare the true God they shoulde acknowledge his vertue and power but nowe it is folie For sithence that wee haue the power of God what doth it profite to knowe the puissance and strength of men Ye men of Israel why maruayle ye at this or why looke ye so stedfastly on vs as though we by our owne power or godlynesse had made this man go The God of Abraham and Isaac and Iacob the God of our fathers hath glorified his son Iesus c. I my selfe whose name is the Lorde which giue my power to none other neyther myne honor to the Gods. Epiphanius in the 2. Tome 3. booke Heresie 79. God which is the worde hath taken fleshe of the virgin neuerthelesse not to the ende that the virgin shoulde bee worshipped or that we should make hir God or to that ende that wee shoulde offer in hir name And agayne he sayth that the father the sonne and the holy ghost should be worshipped that none doe worshippe Marie nor anye woman nor anye man That mysterie is due vnto god The angels themselues are not capable of suche glorie Anon after he sayeth Let not the women saye we will honour the Queene of heauen c. Of one onely mediator S. Augustine vpon the first Epistle of S. Iohn the first treatise THis manne here hath not sayde yee haue an aduocate with the father but if any man haue sinne wee haue an aduocate with the father He hath not sayde ye haue nor hath sayde ye haue me And also he hath not sayde ye haue also very Christ but he hath put Christ and not himself and hath sayde we haue and not ye haue He had rather to put himself in the number of sinners for to haue Christ for an aduocate than to put himself an aduocate for Christ to be found amongst the proude damned creatures My brethren we haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the righteous he it is that obtayneth grace for our sinnes He that holdeth this doctrine holdeth no heresie nor doth any schisme For from whence come the schismes or diuisions but when men saye wee bee righteous when men saye we doe sanctifie those that be defiled we doe iustifie the infidels we aske and obtayne it But what is that that Iohn sayth If any man sinne wee haue an aduocate with the father to wete Iesus Christ the righteous But some will say doe not the Sayntes then aske for vs doe not the Bishoppes then praye for the people vnderstande the Scriptures and marke that also the Prelates doe commend themselues vnto the people in praying also togither for vs. The Apostle prayeth for the people and the people doe praye for the Apostle My brethren we doe pray for you but pray ye also for vs Let all the members pray one for another and the heade shall be the mediator for all Therefore it is no maruayle that he sayde that which followeth where he stoppeth the mouth of those which deuyde the Church of god For he sayeth we haue Iesus Christ the righteous for an aduocate he it is that obtayneth grace for our sinne for those which ought to talk and saye Lo here is Christ or there is Christe and for those which will shewe in parte him which hath redeemed all and possesseth all thinges Augustine against Parmenian in his 2. and .6 booke .8 Chapter The Christians doe commend them selues the one to the other in their praiers but he which prayeth for all for whom no man can praye is the true and onely mediator Although that Saint Paule were one of the chefest members neuerthelesse in asmuch as he was a member knowing that the Lorde Iesus the true hie priest for all the church and congregation was entred into the sanctuary of God not by figure or image but in truth he commendeth him self to the prayers of
the faithfull and maketh not him selfe a mediator betwene God and man but requireth that all the members of the body doe praye also for him as he also prayeth for other according as all men ought to haue mutuall care and compassion In this manner the mutuall prayers of all the members which doe trauaile yet vpon the earthe ought to mount and ascend vnto the heade which is gone before to heauen in whome we haue remission and forgiuenesse of our sinnes for if Saint Paule were a mediator the other Apostles should be also and so there woulde be manye mediators the which will not agree with that which is sayde in an other place that there is one God and one mediator betweene God and man c. Ambrose in his boke of Isaac and of blessed lyfe Iesus Christ is our mouth by whome we doe speake vnto the father or eye by whome we doe see the father or right hand by whom we do offer vnto the father with out which mediator there is no nerenesse toward God neyther to vs nor to all the Saintes Augustine in his Quinquagesima vpon the .94 psalme If thou doe seeke thy mediator for to bring thee vnto God he is in heauen and prayeth there for thee as he dyed for thee in earth It is most true that we doe not imagine that he kneeling vpon his knees maketh humble supplication But we doe vnderstand it with the Apostle that he appeareth so before the face of God that the vertue of his death is auaylable to perpetuall intercession And he being entred into the sanctuary of heauen representeth only the prayers of the people who haue not neare accesse vnto God. Augustine vpon the Epistle of S. Iohn .2 Treatise But in whose name be our sinnes pardoned Is it by the name of Augustine Then it is not also through the name of Donatus Doest thou see that it is of Augustine or of Donatus neyther is it by the name of Paull nor of Peter In loue the mother bringing forth the little children openeth hir bowells in the Apostle vnto those which deuyded the church and which desired to make many partes of the vnity And by words doth somwhat breake his wordes and bewayleth those whom he seeth to de carryed out and calleth againe vnto one name those which woulde make them many names and repealeth them backe from his loue that Christ be onelye loued and saith was Paule crucified for you eyther were ye baptised in the name of Paule what saith he I wyll not that ye be to me but with me be with me wee are all to him which is deade for vs who is crucified for vs. Augustine in his Quinquagesima vpon the 108. Psalme The prayer which is not made through Iesus Christ not onely doth not put away sinnes but it is sinne it selfe Chrysostome in the .16 homilie of the profite of the Gospell Speaking of the woman that was a Cananite But tell me O thou woman howe hast thou bene so bolde to come vnto him in as muche as thou art a poore sinner I know very well sayde she what I doe Beholde the wisedome of the woman she neyther prayed to Iames nor Iohn she did not go vnto Peter and regarded not all the assembly of the Apostles shee sought not a mediator but in steade of all those she tooke repentaunce for hir companion who holdeth the place of an aduocate c. In the same Wilt thou knowe that when we do pray for our selues we doe more towards God than when other doe praye for vs This woman did crie out and the disciples approched vnto him and sayde sende hir awaye for she cryeth after vs And he sayd vnto them I am not sent but vnto the lost sheepe of the house of Israel Then shee came and worshipped him saying Lorde helpe me But he answered and sayde It is not good to take the childrens breade and to cast it to whelpes And she sayde truth Lorde for in deede the whelpes eate of the crummes which fall from their maisters table Then Iesus answered and said vnto hir O woman great is thy fayth be it vnto thee euen as thou desirest Doest thou see howe he refused when the other desired him But when she hirself cried in praying for the gift he accorded vnto hir For he sayde vnto them when they intreated him I am not sent but to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel But he sayde vnto that woman great is thy fayth be it vnto thee euen as thou desirest In the same It is not needefull to haue patrons with God nor to runne much here and there for to entreate others but althoughe that thou art alone and that thou art without a patron and that by thy selfe thou doest pray vnto God thou shalt haue altogither that thou desirest For God will not so easily giue it when other men doe praye for vs as when wee doe praye our selues yea although that we are full of many euils Chrysostome vpon Genesis 43. Chapter We are constrayned to set forth all this hystorie to the ende to learne that we doe not so muche by others as by our selues So that we doe approche or come with a pure and vigilant thought Also the same woman hauing the disciples praying for hir profited nothing at all vntill suche time as she presented hir selfe for to draw vnto hir the mercie of the Lorde Chrysostome in the first Tome 5. homilie of the first chapter of S. Mathewe We may a great deale sooner bee assured by our prayer and supplication than by the prayer of another For God will will not giue so soone our health vnto others which doe praye for vs as vnto our selues to the ende that by the same that we desire his ire and wrath maye be appeased in vs We may come to do better and that wee maye gather the trust of a good conscience Euen so truely had he pitie of that Cananite And in like manner he did giue saluation vnto the harlote Euen so did hee transporte and carye the theefe that did hang vpon the crosse into Paradise not entreated of any patrons neyther through the puritie of any There is one God and one mediator betweene God and man which is the man Christe Iesus Iesus Christ is rysen againe who is also at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for vs. He is able also perfectly to saue them that come vnto God by him seeing hee euer liueth to make intercession for them Iesus Christe saith I am the waye and the truth and the life no man commethe vnto the father but by me I am the dore he that entereth not in by the dore into the sheepefolde but clymeth vp some other way the same is a theefe and a robber Thou O Lorde onely doest knowe the heartes of all men God knoweth the very secretes of the hearte Iesus Christe saith God knoweth your heartes Also Come
of mortall man and of birdes and of foure footed beastes and of creeping beastes wherefore God gaue them euen vp vnto their heartes lust vnto vncleannesse to defile their owne bodies betweene themselues which turned the truth of God vnto a lie and worshipped and serued the creatures neglecting the Creator whiche is blessed for euer Amen For this cause also God gaue them vp vnto shamefull lustes c. Be yee no worshippers of Images as were some of them according as it is written the people sat downe to eate and drinke and rose vp agayne to playe Flie from idolatrie Babes keepe your selues from Idols We knowe that an Idoll is nothing in the worlde and that there is none other God but one And thoughe there be that are called Gods whether in heauen or in earth as there be many Gods and manye Lordes yet vnto vs there is but one God which is the father of whom are all things and wee in him and one Lorde Iesus Christ by whome are all things and wee by him Athanasius agaynst the Gentiles The Gentiles and Paynims saye vnto me how is God knowne by the Images is it by the thing or cause whiche is outwardly or by the forme and figure which is grauen and put within the thing If it be through the thing it selfe what nede is there to make the forme or figure For as much then as before that suche portraytures were made God was manifested and shewed forth by the meanes of all things Inasmuch also as all things doe giue witnesse of the glorie of god If the pourtracture be the cause of the heauenlye knowledge what needeth it painting or any other matter or thing And wherfore doe not men come vnto the knowledge of God by the true creatures rather then by figures and remembrances for truly the glorye of God should be more clearly knowen if it were manifested by the resonable and vnreasonable creatures then by those which are without soules and immouable Then when you doe engraue and make the images and pourtractures for to make vs to knowe God truely you doe a wicked thing Lactantius Firmianus of his godly institutions against the Gentils and idolaters 2. booke God is aboue man and is not set here by lowe but we must seeke him in the hie region and therefore it is most certayne that religion is not in the places where there are images For if religion cōsisteth in diuine thinges and that it is so that there is nothing diuine but in heauenly and celestiall thinges we must then conclude that there is no religion in images He saith further in his second booke and second chapter That God whose spirite and puissance is spreade abroade euerye where cannot be absent The image then is alwayes superfluous Lactantius Firmianus in the .2 booke and .4 Chapter Seneca did deryde and mocke the folly of the auncientes saying Wee are not twyse children as the prouerbe is ther◠is notwithstanding great difference by the same that we being old and of age to iudge and discerne the good shoulde occupye our minde to such follyes that to these great puppets beutified and decked vp men should offer oyntmentes incens and good smells to those that haue mouthes without teeth Clement in his .5 booke vnto Iames the brother of the Lorde We doe adore and worshippe the visible images in the honor of the inuisible God the which truely is false For if ye wyll truely worship the image of God in doing good vnto man you shall worship the true image of God in him For the image of God is in all men and the similitude is not in all But only there where the soule is gentle and the thought pure If thē you will truly honor the Image of God wee shall declare vnto you that which is veritable and true that you doe good vnto man which is made after the Image of God that you doe honour and reuerence him that you administer meate vnto him which is an hungred and drinke vnto him that is a thirst clothing vnto him whiche is naked visite those that bee sicke and lodge and harbour the stranger and helpe the necessities of him that is put in prison The same is the thing which shall be reputed truly to bee done vnto god And therefore those things doe come vnto the honor of the Image of God insomuche that he which hath not done them shall be esteemed to haue done iniurie vnto the Image of god What is that then to honor God to runne here and there after Images of stone and woode and to honor the vayne figures without soules as diuine things and to despyse man in whom truly is the Image of God And which is more be ye certayne that he which doth commit homicide or adultrie and all that which is payne or iniurie to men the Image of God is violated and defiled in all such things For it is great infidelitie agaynst God to hurt man Then when thou doest vnto another that whiche thou wouldest not suffer thou doest defile and marre the Image of God most wickedly Vnderstande then that such subiection is of the serpent which is hydde within you the which doth make you beleeue that you may be faythfull when you doe honor the insensible things and that you are not vnfaythfull when ye hurt those that be sensible and haue reason In the same booke Who is so wicked or so vnthankfull which to obtayne and receyue the benefite of God doth render thankes vnto woode or stones Therefore awake ye and gyue good eare vnto your health Trulye God hath no neede of any man and requireth nothing and is nothing at all hurt But it is onely we whiche are ayded or hurt in that that wee are eyther thankefull or vnthankefull Agayne in the same booke They are esteemed verilye to be righteous and iust whiche haue in veneration not the things which are done for the administration of the worlde but the creator of them and of the worlde also those thinges doe reioyce themselues when he is honoured and worshipped and cannot abide to see that the honor of the creator shoulde be giuen to the creature For adoration is a thing belonging vnto God alone who onely was not created And all things are his workes As then it is the propertie of him whiche onely was not created to bee God in lyke maner all that which hath bene made is not truly god We ought then before all things to vnderstande the deception of the olde serpent and his cautelous suggestions who as through wisedome hath deceiued you As by a certaine reason doth creepe into your senses And begynning at the head doth slyde vnto the interior partes esteeming your deception to be great gayne Lactantius Firmianus 6. booke 2. Chapter Woulde not a man iudge him to be out of his wit which doth offer candles of wax for an oblation and gift vnto God whiche is the author and giuer of light
Councell of Pope Martin hath ordayned as much Pope Elutherius hath ordayned that none sholde keepe himfelfe through superstition from eating of any meates whiche are agreable to mans nature Let no man therefore condemne you about meate and drinke or for a peece of an holy day or of the newe Moone or of the Saboth dayes which are nothing but shadowes of things to come but the bodie is in Christ Let no man wilfully beare rule ouer you by humblenesse and worshipping of Aungels aduauncing himselfe in those things which he neuer sawe rashlye puft vp with his fleshly minde c. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ and are free from the ordinances of the worlde Why as though ye yet liued in the worlde are ye yet burdened with traditions of them that say touch not taste not handle not which all peryshe with the vsing of them and are after the commaundementes and doctrines of men Which things haue in deede a shewe of wisedome in voluntarie worshipping and humblenesse and in not sparing the bodie yet are of no value but appertayne to those thinges wherewith the flesh is crammed The bodily exercise profiteth little but godlynesse is profitable vnto all things In the first booke of the historie tripartite Chap. 10. The holy Bishop of Cypres Spiridion sayth that freely he dare eate fleshe in Lent when others doe abstayne from it bicause he was a Christian sayth he Let vs not therefore iudge one another any more but vse your iudgement rather in this that no man put a stumbling blocke or an occasion to fall in his brothers waye I knowe and am fully certified through the Lorde Iesus that there is nothing vncleane of it selfe but vnto him that iudgeth it to be vncleane to him it is vnclean But if thy brother be grieued with thy meate nowe walkest thou not charytably Destroy not him with thy meate for whom Christ dyed Cause not your commoditie to be euill spoken of For the kingdome of God is not meate and drinke but righteousnesse peace and ioye in the holy ghoste c. But why doest thou iudge thy brother or why doest thou despise thy brother for we shal be all brought before the iudgement seate of Christ He that eateth eateth to the Lorde for he giueth God thankes And he that eateth not eateth not to the Lorde and giueth God thankes Meate maketh vs not acceptable to God for neyther if we eate are we the richer neyther if we eate not are we the poorer But take heede least by any meanes this liberty of yours be an occasion of falling to them that are weake c. Wherefore if meate offend my brother I will eate no fleshe while the world standeth bicause I will not offend my brother The Lord sayd vnto the Prophet Esay crye nowe as loude as thou canst Leaue not of lift vp thy voyce like a Trompet and shewe my people their offences and the house of Iacob their sinnes For they seeke me dayly and wil knowe my wayes euen as it were a people that did right and had not forsaken the statutes of their god They argue with me concerning right iudgemente and will pleade at the lawe with their god Wherefore faste we saye they and thou seest it not We put our liues to straitnesse and thou regardest it not Beholde when ye fast your luste remayneth stil for ye doe no lesse violence to your detters Loe ye faste to strife and debate and to smyte him with your fyste that speaketh vnto you Ye faste not as sometime that your voyce might be heard aboue Thinke ye this faste pleaseth me that a man shoulde chasten himselfe for a daye and to writhe his heade about like a hoke in an heary clothe and to lye vpon the earthe Should that be called fasting or a daye that pleaseth the Lorde But this fasting pleaseth not me tyll the time be thou loose him out of bondage that is in thy danger that thou breake the othe of the wicked bargaynes that thou let the oppressed goe free and take from them all manner of burthens It pleaseth not me till thou deale thy breade to the hungrye and bring the poore fatherlesse home into thy house when thou seest the naked that thou couer him and hyde not thy face from thine owne fleshe Origen vpon Leuiticus 10. homely 16. Chapter If thou wilt faste as Christ commaundeth thee and humble thy soule it is conuenient that thou doe it all the time of the yeere yea doe the same all the dayes of thy life for to humble thy soule neuerthelesse if thou haste learned of the Lorde our Sauiour that he is gentle and lowly of hearte then if thou wilt faste after the commaundementes of the Gospell and keepe in thy fastinges the euangelicall lawes the which the Sauiour hath commaunded to faste in such manner But if thou do fast annoynt thine head and wash thy face c. Wilt thou that I doe shewe vnto thee what fasting thou must faste fast from all thy sinnes take no meate of malyce take no meate of pleasure be not to hotte with the wine of luxurye fast from doing euill abstaine from euill wordes keepe thy selfe from euill thoughtes touch not the breade of thefte of wicked doctrines couete not the meates of false Philosophy which doe seduce thee from the truth Such fasting pleaseth God but to abstaine from meates which God hath created for the faithfull to take with giuing of thankes and to doe the same with them which haue crucified Iesus Christ it cannot please god The Pharyses were offended with Christe bicause that his disciples did not faste vnto whom he aunswered that the wedding children cānot mourne as long as the bridegrome is with them Those then doe faste which haue lost the brydegrome we which haue with vs the bridegrome cannot faste but therefore we saye not this that we woulde let slacke the brydle of christian abstynence This is verily the Christian libertye to faste alwayes not through supersticion of obseruance but by vertue of continencye For howe can they keepe them selues chaste and not defiled and marred if they bee not holpen and sustayned through the ayde of continencye Howe shall they vnderstand the Scriptures Howe shall they studye in knowledge and wisedome Shall not that bee through the continencie of the bellye and of the mouth howe shall euery one make himselfe chaste for the kingdome of heauen if he doe not cut awaye the affluence of these meates The Christians then haue that reason to fast Augustine in the .86 Epistle written to Lasulanus In the diuine and Apostolicall scriptures and also throughout the newe testament in feruentnesse of courage beholding it I doe see fasting to bee commaunded but I do not finde it to be defined by Gods commaundement or of the Apostles in what time or day we must fast or not fast wherefore by this I doe vnderstande that the commaundement to fast
there were brought vnto him more than sixe thousande heades of little children whiche had bene cast in there for to couer and hide the whoredome of the Priestes and other Ecclesiasticall persons Wherefore Gregorie seeing the same was constrayned to saye condemning the decree that he had made against the maryage of the ecclesiasticall persons The Apostle saithe it is better to marye then to burne And I say also for my part that it is better to mary then to giue occasion of death This Epistle was founde in a library of the towne of Hollande called Aldwater Of vowes S. Ambrose vpon the fyrst to the Corinthians 7. Chap. NO man ought to be constrayned least hauing forbid things that are lawfull he doe fall into thinges vnlawfull The counsell of Toledo .8 did permitte to breake the vowes and othes made against the faith Dauid sinned in swearing that he would put to death Nabal and all his men hee did very well to breake that vowe whiche was against God And therefore he praysed greatly God for that he letted him to shead bloud by Abigail Herode made a vowe to giue vnto the daughter of Herodias that daunced before him whatsoeuer shee would aske And she being before instructed of hir mother said giue me here Iohn Baptist his heade in a platter And the king sorowed neuerthelesse for his othes sake for their sakes which sat also at the table he commaunded it to be giuen hir He did euill in fulfilling that vowe against God. Saule did euill to vowe to put to deathe his sonne Ionathas who was hindred to accomplishe his vowe by the people God hath sayde and commaunded thou shalt not kill Iephtha vowed a vowe vnto the Lorde and sayde if thou shalt deliuer the children of Ammon into my handes then that thing that commeth out of the dores of my house against me when I com home in peace from the children of Ammon shall be the Lordes and I will offer it vp a burnt offring After the wars were ended he came home and see his daughter came out against him with Timbreles and daunces And when he sawe hir he rente his clothes and sayde Alas my daughter thou hast made me stoupe and art one of them that trouble me For I haue opened my mouth vnto the Lorde and cannot goe backe c. And he killed his daughter against the commandement of God which forbyddeth to kill Saint Cyprian the Martyr of Iesus Christ. 11. Epistle fyrst booke If the virgins haue giuen them selues with a good wil vnto Christ let them perseuere in chastitie not dissembling being so strong and constant that they attend the rewarde of their virginnitie if they will not or cannot perseuere it is better for them to mary then to be throwne hedlong into the fire through their pleasures The counsel of Arausique or Orenge the 11. chapter hath decreed that we can vowe nothing rightly vnto God but that which we haue receiued at his hand In asmuch as all thinges which we can offer vnto him are gyftes proceeding from him The counsell of Gangres in Galatia in a Canon and rule saith if any of those which keepe virginitie for the loue of Iesus Christe doe eleuate them selues against those that are maryed let them bee excommunicated or giuen to the diuell In an other Canon it is saide when a man bicause of dissembling countenance vseth strange apparell beleeuing that thereby he hath righteousnesse in him selfe and despiseth others which with honesty and reuerence doe weare caps and other comely apparell that he be excommunicated Iohn le Maire of the difference of schismes and of the counsels of the Churche Pope Gregory the seuenth was the first which made a lawe that priestes shoulde not mary Platyna in the life of Pope Pius .2 or Aeneas Syluius The Pope Pius borne at Senee aforenamed Aeneas Syluius among other prouerbes which he was wont to speake was accustomed also to saye by good right and by good cause they haue taken awaye maryage from priestes but for better cause they ought to restore it vnto them againe Iesus Christ sayth in vayne they worshippe me teaching for doctrines whiche are but mens preceptes All plantes whiche my heauenly father hath not planted shall be plucked vp by the rootes It is better to mary then to burne Of the church and howe it may be knowen and of hir authorytie Chrysostome vpon S. Mathewe .48 homily .24 Chapter THere be some who doe greatly seduce althoughe that it be through liyng yet neuerthelesse they doe preache Christe they declare the faith For they also haue orders and priestes aswell as the faithfull They doe also reade the holy Scriptures Also they doe thinke that they do giue the same Baptisme and the same Sacramentes of the body and of the bloud of Christe likewyse they doe honor the Apostles Martyrs and thereby doe cause the thoughtes of men greatly to erre not onely of the meane and simple people but also of the prudent and wyse Who shall he be whom Antechrist will not moue partly doing the workes of Christe and fulfilling al the offyces of the Christans before the Christians excepte it bee paraduenture hee which considereth that which the Apostle hath sayde Forasmuch then as Sathan himselfe is changed into the fashion of an angell of light Therefore it is no great matter though his ministers fashion them selues as though they were the ministers of righteousnesse whose ende shall be according to their deedes and not after the fayning and forme of their christianitie Chrysostome vpon S. Mathew 9. Homilie Chapt. 24. All the Christians in this present time ought to conferre themselues in the holye Scriptures For sithence the time that heresie hath obtayned and gotten hir churches men can haue no certayne proofe or triall of true christianitie And there can be no other refuge for the Christians who are willing to know the truth of the faith but the holy Scriptures Afterwardes he sayth Whosoeuer then will knowe what the true church of Iesus Christ is howe shall he knowe it but onely by the Scriptures Saint Augustine 2. Tome 166. Epistle In the holy Scriptures we haue learned Iesus Christ and in the Church we haue commonly those holye Scriptures Wherefore then is it that in them we kepe and holde not altogither in common both Iesus Christ and his Church S. Augustine .7 Tome in the Epistle against Petilian a Donatist Chapter 2. 3. 4. Amongst vs and the Donatistes is a question where the Church is What is it then that we shall doe Ought we to seke it in our wordes or in those of our heade Iesus Christ Truly we ought to seeke it in the wordes of him whiche is the truth and which also knoweth his bodie Chrysostome vpon Saint Mathewe 49. Homilie Chap. 24. Heresies are the bandes and troupe of the souldiers of Antichrist chiefly those whiche haue obtayned the place
of the church And it is holden in the holy place insomuche that it seemeth that they are there holden as the worde of truth but it is the abhomination of desolation that is to saye of the hoste and bande of Antichrist the which hath made the soules of many men desolate forsaken and destitute of God. And peraduenture that is that which the Apostle speaketh of which is an aduersarie and is exalted aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he shall sit as God in the temple of God and beare in hande that he is god And so all his euils of diuerse heresies the which were before but only hearde of are afterwarde holden in the holye place in ouerthrowing the Churche of Iesus Christ c. Chrysostome vpon Saint Mathewe Chapt. 24. Homilie .49 He then which woulde knowe what is the true Church of Iesus Christ howe shall he knowe it in so great confusion of such likelyhoode but by the scriptures In the same The Lorde then knowing so great confusion to be come in the latter dayes therfore willed that the Christians which are in Christianitie which will take the surenesse of the true fayth should haue refuge vnto nothing but vnto the Scriptures Otherwyse if they regarded other things they shall be euill spoken of and shall perishe not vnderstanding what the true Church is and thereby shall fall headlong into the Abhomination of Desolation which standeth in the holye place of the Church c. In the same If any mā shal say vnto you behold here is Christ in the houses beleeue it not For nowe you doe iniurie and wrong to the Godheade if you seeke it in houses that which filleth both heauen and earth or if ye think that he which is come for to resist the proude and for to exalt the humble and meeke is hydde there shewing by suche things howe of his true Churche oftentimes doe ryse vp seducers Therefore we must in no wyse beleeue them if they saye not or doe not that whiche is agreeable to the Scriptures beleeue them not for as the smoke goeth before the fire and the battaile before the victorie euen so the temptation of Antichrist preceedeth and goeth before the glorie of Christ c. Saint Barnard vpon the Canticles 33. Sermon From whom shall the church hide hirselfe all are freendes and all are enemies all are kinsefolkes and al are aduersaries all are houshold seruantes and there is none at peace all are neighbours and all seeke but their owne profite They are the ministers of Christ and serue Antechrist they do walke in the honor of the gooneds of the Lorde vnto whom they doe no honor thereby commeth that beauty of the harlotte whiche thou seest dayly in their apparell as the players of Comedyes as in the apparell of a King thereby thou seest the golde in the brydels saddels and spurres Thereby are the tables beautified with meates and vessells Thereby commeth drunkennesse and gloutonye thereby proceedeth the harpe and the viol thereby are the priestes ouerrunning and the garners full aunswering the one the other Thereby are the boxes full of oyntmentes and sweete sauor thereby are the purses filled therefore would they be and are the princes of the Churches the Prouostes Deanes Archedeacons Bishops Archebyshoppes and such thinges come not lawfully but bicause they doe walke in the businesse of darkenesse By that before it hath bene forespoken and nowe is come the time of the fulfilling of the same Behold nowe in peace my bitternesse is most bitter it hath bene before bitter in the death of Martyrs afterwardes more bitter in the controuersye of Heretickes now it is most bitter in the manners of those of our owne house we can neyther chase them nor driue them away they are so mighty and multiplyed without number The fores and plagues of the Church are entred into the inwarde partes and are incurable and therefore is hir bitternesse most bitter c. S. Hilary writing against Auxentius I doe admonishe you to take heede of Antechriste ye staye your selues to muche on the walles seeking the church of God in the fairenesse of buyldings thinking that the vnitie of the faithfull is there contayned doe wee doubte that Antechriste ought there to haue his seate The mountaines and the woodes lakes prisons and desertes are more sure vnto me and of better truste for the Prophets being therein hid haue prophecied Saint Barnard vpon the .90 psalm Qui habitabit verse .6 O Lorde Iesus thou hast multiplied the people and thou hast not increased theyr ioye for many be called but fewe bee chosen Al the Christians almost al doe seeke their owne profite not of Iesus Christe And haue remoued the offyces from the ecclesiastical dignitie into shameful gaine and into workes of darkenesse and the health of soules is not searched for in suche thinges but the pleasure of riches Therefore are they shoren therefore doe they frequent the Churches and doe celebrate masses and sing psalmes They stryue and contende most impudently dayly by proces for Byshoppryks Archebyshoppryks in somuch that the reuenewes of the Churches are bestowed and wasted in superfluyties and to vayne vses There remayneth nothing but that the man of sinne be reueled the sonne of perdition c. S. Barnard in his Sermon of the conuersion of S. Paule Alas O Lord God for these are the first which doe persecute thee whome we doe see to loue the hyest places in thy Church and to holde the principalitie They haue taken the Arches from Sion they haue occupied the Castle and afterwards haue freely by power and strength set all the citie on fire their cōuersation is miserable the subuertion of thy people is pitifull S. Ierome vpon the .9 Chapter of the Prophete Oseas I doe not finde in the olde hystories any other to haue seperated and diuided the Churche and seduced the people from the house of God than the Priests and Prelates which are placed of God for to bee the spyes and watchmen for the Christian people agaynst the enimies of the church S. Barnarde in his first booke De considera to Eugenius Speaking vnto Pope Eugenius what are those thy flatterers whiche saye vnto thee nowe vp boldly thou doste by them of the spoyle of the Churches The lyfe of the poore is sowen in the places of the riche Siluer shyneth in the myre they runne thither out of all partes the poorest sort doe not carie it awaye but the most strong or hee that runneth swyftest this custome or rather this mortall corruption hath not begon in thy time but I beseeche God that it may ende in thine In the meane time thou art apparayled and decked vp very gorgeously and sumptuously If I durst speake it thy seate is rather a Parke of diuels than of sheepe Did S. Peter so Did S. Paule mocke after that sort Thy Court ought rather of custome to receyue the
thinges that which was secrete is declared and that which is hid is made knowen without any kinde of pryde which is no sacriledge not hauing a necke puffed vp with pride without any contention or enuye with holynesse humilitie with the catholicke peace with christian charitie Irenaeus in his .3 booke .4 chap. What would it be if there were any disputation or debate moued of anye lighte question must wee not haue our recourse vnto the moste auncient churches whiche were in the time of the Apostles and to take of them that which is cleare and certayne for to resolue the debate or question put foorth S. Augustine of baptisme against the Donatistes .3 booke .9 Chapter Honoratus Attuca hath saide forasmuch as Christe is the truth we ought rather to followe the truth then custome The Byshop Castus in the 5. Chapter He that presumeth to follow custome in condemning the truth eyther he is enuyous or wicked towardes the brethren vnto whom the truth is reueled or he is ingratefull towardes God through whose inspiration the church is instructed Trust not in false lying wordes saying here is the Temple of the Lorde here is the Temple of the Lorde here is the temple of the Lorde c But take heede howe ye doe trust in coūsels that beguile you and doe you no good God hath witnessed of his sonne saying This is my deare sonne in whome I delight here him The Lorde hath saide But the prophet which shall presume to speake ought in my name whiche I commaunded not to speake and he that speaketh in the name of strange Gods the same prophet shall dye Moyses saide ye shall doe after nothing that we doe here this daye euery man what seemeth him good in his owne eyes Moyses saide ye shall doe afer nothing that we doe here this daye euery man what seemeth him good in his owne eyes Ye shall put nothing vnto the word which I commaunde you neyther doe oughte there from that ye may keepe the commaundementes of the Lorde your God which I commaunde you Beholde I haue taught you ordinances and lawes such as the Lorde my God commaunded me S. Augustine writing vnto Orosus against the Priscillanistes and Originistes .11 Chapter The doctrine of man seemeth to haue reason so long as it is not compared vnto the heauenly knowledge but when the lye approcheth to the truth it is by and by deuoured and destroyed as a sparke of fire and all the teachinges of faulshod and lyinges the whiche nowe are called Idolles Forasmuch as they are made they shal be altogither broken He that commeth from an hie is aboue all he that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earthe he that commeth from heauen is aboue all And what hee hath seene and heard that he testifieth but no man receiueth his testimony howbeit he that hath receiued his testimonye hath sealed that God is true For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. Iesus Christ saith And his wordes haue ye not abiding in you for whom hee hath sent him ye beleeue not Search the scriptures for in them ye thinke ye haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of me My doctrine is not mine but his that sent me If anye man will doe his will hee shall knowe of the doctrine whither it be of God or whither I speake of my selfe He that speaketh of him selfe seeketh his owne prayse but he that speaketh his prayse that sent him the same is true and no vnrighteousnesse is in him He that sent me is true and I speake in the world those thinges which I haue hearde of him If ye continue in my wordes then are ye my disciples and shall know the truth the truth shall restore you to libertie c. I speake that I haue seene with my father and ye doe that which ye haue seene with your father Verily verily I saye vnto you if a man keepe my saying hee shall neuer see death My sheepe heare my voyce and I know them and they followe me I haue not spoken of my selfe but the father which sent me gaue me a commandement what I shoulde saye and what I shoulde speake And I knowe that this commaundemente is lyfe euerlasting Whatsoeuer I speake therefore euen as the father bade me so I speake The wordes that I speake vnto you I speake not of my selfe If ye loue me kepe my commaundements He that hath my commaundements and keepeth them the same is he that loueth me He that loueth me not keepeth not my sayings and the wordes which ye heare are not mine but the father which sent me Many other signes also did Iesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this booke These are written that ye might beleeue that Iesus is Christ the sonne of God and that in beleeuing yee might haue lyfe through his name Though that wee or an aungell from heauen preach vnto you other wayes than that whiche we haue preached vnto you holde him as accursed As we sayd before so say I nowe agayne if any man preache vnto you other wayes than that yee haue receyued holde him accursed The woman that was a Samaritane sayde vnto Iesus I wote well Messias shall come which is called Christ when he is come he will tell vs all things I haue kept nothing backe but haue shewed you all the counsell of God. Chrysostome in the first homilie vpon the Epistle vnto Titus The Gospell doth contayne all things the things present and things to come honor pietie and fayth c. Saint Hilarie vpon Saint Mathew 14. Canon Euery plant which my heauenly father hath not planted shall be plucked vp by the rootes that is to say all mans traditions ought to be plucked vp by the fauor of the whiche they haue transgressed the commaundement of the lawe And therefore he called them the blinde leaders promising the waye of euerlasting lyfe the which they see not themselues and sayth that the falling hedlong of those blind leaders and their conductors is common S Augustine vpon S. Iohn .49 treatise .9 Chapter Although that the Lorde Iesus Christe hath done many things which haue not bene written as also his owne Euangelistes doe witnesse it that the Lord Iesus Christ hath sayde and done many things whiche are not written neuerthelesse the things haue bene chosen to be written whiche were thought sufficient for the saluation of the beleeuers Of the holy scripture and howe it is lawfull for all men to reade it HAppie is he that readeth and happie are they that heare the wordes of this Prophecie and keepe those things which are written therein for the tyme is at hande Iesus Christ sayeth Happie are they that heare the worde of God and kepe it Thy worde is a lanterne vnto my feete and a light vnto my pathes Gods worde in the
heygth is the well of wisedome and the euerlasting commaundements are the entrance of hir When I had founde thy wordes I did eate them vp greedilye they haue made my heart ioyfull and glad Take the helmet of saluation and the sworde of the spirite which is the worde of God. S. Augustine of the Citie of God .19 booke .19 Chapter It is forbidden no man to knowe the truth that which he ought to doe through honest repast and recreation howe much time doe men and women lose daylye in going and comming playing and scoffing in detracting and beholding playes and follies Chrysostome vpon S. Iohn in the end of the .16 homilye I praye you marke well one thing which is true is it not a thing full of absurdite that a surgian a shoomaker a weauer and generally all men of occupation euery one of them doe striue for the profession of their arte and science and that a christian knoweth not howe to make an account or a reason of his religion It is very true that when the occupation is not knowen it is but a losse of mony but the despising of christian religion bringeth with it the losse of the soule and yet neuerthelesse we doe trauayle through so greate misery and through so great madnesse that we doe put therein all our heart and cogitation but the thinges which are necessary for vs and which are as most strong holdes of our saluation we esteeme them nothing at all That same is that which letteth the Gentils to knowe their error Forasmuch then as they doe ground them selues vpon lyinges for to doe all that that they doe and for to defend the ignominye and sclander of their teachinges we which doe obey and serue the truth dare not open the mouth for to defend that which is oures What letteth them that they cannot condemne our great imbecillitie and weakenesse and that they should not suspect vs of some disceyt and follye That they doe not speake euill of Christe as of a lyar whiche by his fraude and disceyt hath abused a great multitude we are the cause of that blasphemy This is commaunded vs of Saint Peter For he saith let vs be ready alwayes to giue an answere to euery man that asketh vs a reason of the hope that is in vs. Let the word of Christ dwel in you plenteously But what do they which are more fooles then madde answere vnto the same blessed be euery simple soule and he that walketh surely But this is the cause of all euilles that many knowe not to bring witnesses of the Scriptures in due time for we must not vnderstand in this place here the simple for the foole and for him that dothe vnderstande nothing but for him which is not crafty and malitious For if we should vnderstand it so it should be superfluous to say be wyse as serpents and innocent as doues S. Ierom in his Prologue vpon the Prophet Sophony If they had knowen that Huldah did prophecie when men held their peace and that Debora did iudge and prophecy who ouercame the enemies of Israell when Barack was a frayde and that Iudith and Hester in figure of the church killed the aduersaryes and deliuered Israell whiche were like to perishe they would neuer haue played the noddyes behinde my back that is to saye they would not mocke me behind my backe And a little after he saith it suffiseth me to saye in the ende of the prologue that our Lorde Iesus Christ appeared first vnto the women and they were Apostles of the Apostles to that end that the men should be ashamed that they haue not sought that which that same brittle or frayle kinde hath already founde Chrysostome vpon S. Iohn .3 homilie .4 Chapter Let vs then bee ashamed that the wyfe that had fiue husbandes and a Samaritane was so diligent to learne who neyther for the time of the day nor for any other businesse coulde not be drawne from the doctrine of Christ But as for vs we are not only far of frō enquiring any thing of that which appertayneth vnto the erudition of heauēly things but also we are as it were assured in all things we do care no more of the one than of the other and therefore wee are ignorant of all things What is he among vs I pray you who being come into his house doth go about to doe anye worke appertayning vnto a Christian What is he that will declare the sense and meaning of the scriptures Trulye none Wee doe finde oftentimes Dyce and Cardes but verye seldome tymes bookes and if any haue them they doe keepe them sure in their chambers as though they had none Or else all their delyte and studie is to haue fayre and pleasāt couerings painted or goodly figures of letters not for to read them nor vse thē but for to shewe forth their riches and ambition and studie none other thing Vaine glorie is so great as I doe not heare any ambitious persons to vnderstād any boke but onely to esteme letters of golde What gayne commeth thereof I pray you The Scriptures are not giuen vnto vs for to haue them only in bookes but to that ende we shoulde print and engraue them in our heartes Wherefore such hauing and keeping of bookes is of the ambition of the Iewes vnto whom the commandements were giuen in letters But vnto vs it is not so vnto whome they are giuen in the tables of the heart of charitie I doe not forbyd to haue bokes but I doe admonishe them and instantly pray them that we may so haue them that neuerthelesse as wee maye rehearse often times in oure myndes both the letters and the sense in such sort that thereby we may be cleane For if the diuell dare not enter into an house where the Gospell is muche lesse shall he touch his soule which by continuall reading hath that doctrine familiar and common Sanctifie then the soule and the bodye and that shall come if thou haue alwayes the Gospell in thy heart and in thy tong S Ierome in his Proheme vpon the first booke of his Exposition vnto the Ephesians .9 Tome All words and all reasons are conteined in the holy bookes by the which also wee knowe God and forgette not the cause wherefore wee are created I doe muche maruayle that some haue bene giuen so muche vnto foolishnesse and to slothfulnesse not willing to learne the most excellent things yea they haue esteemed and doe esteeme worthie of rebuke and blame all those whiche haue such a studie vnto whome although I coulde aunswere more straitly and briefely leauing them eyther angrie or appeased I doe say that it is a great deale better to reade the scriptures than to giue themselues after riches for to gather and heape them vp Chrysostome vpon Genesis .6 Tome 5. Homilie .1 Chapter I desire you that wee bee not negligent vnto our owne saluation yea rather that our
all the Apostles The rocke giueth name to Peter not Peter to the rocke Mat. 16. 1. Cor. 3. Iohn 8. Mat. 16. Collo 2. 1. Iohn 5. Philip. 1. 2. Pet. 1. S. Augustine recanteth Iesus Christ hath builded his Church vpon him selfe and not vpon Saint Peter 1. Cor. 1. Gregorie vvoulde not be called vniuersall Pope Iohn 8. Rom. 3. Iohn 15. 2. Cor. 3. Galat. 5. Philip. 1. Philip. 2. Rom. 7. Man cannot be made better by the merit of his vvorkes Free vvill lost 2. Pet. 2. Iohn 8. Man is solde vnder sinne Iohn 8. Râ—â—â—â— 9. VVe ought not to defeÌ„d free vvill or nature as the vvise men of this vvorlde doe Psal. 49. Libertie lost thorovv sin Psal. 148. No good cogitation can procede from vs but by the vertue of God in vs. Psal. 95. Ezec. 18. God commaundeth that vvhich man caÌ„not and giueth that vvhich hee commaundeth Adam hath damned all his posteritie in himselfe Free vvill to doe euil but not to doe good Rom. 8. Augustine sayde that man hath freevvill but he doth vnderstande it to doe euill Iohn 15. Pro. 16. 2. Cor. 3. Catholike fayth destroyed by free vvill Psal. 81. Man naught of himselfe 1. Cor. 4. Genes 1. Iames. 1. Good vvorkes procede not of man. Free vvill deliuereth not No grace of God by free vvill nor by the lavve Rom. 9. Throughe sinne the free vvill is lost 2. Pet. 2. Iohn 15. Iohn 6. Iam. 1. 2. Cor. 3. Rom. 7. Galat. 5. 1. Cor. 2. 1. Cor. 12. Esay 26. 1. Cor. 12. Psal. 39. Genes 8. Ephes 2. VVe ought not to accorde vvith them vvhich do establish free vvill Phil. 2. 2. Ephe. 2. Nothing done by our vertue Deut. 9. VVee can through no vvorkes merite eternall lyfe Iob. 14. Psal. 32. Rom. 8. VVe receyued al things of God. 2. Tim. 1. Grace cannot bee vvhere merite hath taken place Grace doth iustifie vs freely Iohn 15. Oseas 2. VVe are indebted vnto God vvith all oure vvorkes VVe ought not to esteme our vvorkes Safetie in the vvounds of our Lord. Our merite is of the mercie of the Lorde 1. Cor. 1. The sonne of God hath taken oure proper flesh vvherby vve haue firme assurance Iesus Christ hath satisfied for our sinnes The proude reioyce in their ovvne strength To boast vpon merits is to be seperate from grace Psal. 32. Iames. 2. Good vvorkes are the fruite of fayth Rom. 8. Iohn 17. Heb. 2. Our proper flesh and our proper blud is in Iesus Christ and there vvhere hee doth reygne vve doe reygne vvith him Math. 11. Ephes 5. Genes 2. The death of Iesus Christ is our merite Genes 27. Psal. 32. Rom. 4. Rom. 3. 2. Tim. 4. 1. Cor. 15. 2. Tim. 2. He vvhich maketh him selfe righteous doth more than if he made himselfe a man. Phil. 3. Psal. 32. Rom. 3. Rom. 4. If GOD should revvarde our vvorkes he should finde them altogither vvicked vvold condemne vs. Gods righteousnesse giuen vs is ours MaÌ„ hath no righteousnesse Rom. 3. Rom. 7. Abraham iustified thorovv fayth only before the lavve Onely faith doth saue vs. Psal. 32. Mat. 13. Ephe. 2. God giueth his grace freely bicause he can finde nothing for to saue 2. Cor. 11. The righteous cannot abyde in righteousnes if he be not holpen Math. 9. Rom. 3. He vvhich doth pardon sinnes is god Ephe. 2. Free vvill lost by sin Gala. 2. If the streÌ„gth of our nature coulde iustifie vs then Christ dyed in vain Rom. 10. Psal. 100. Gene. 2. If we haue povver to iustifie our selues vve neede not pray vnto God to iustifie and make vs cleane Mat. 18. Luk. 19. 1. Cor. 4. 1. Cor. 1. 2. Cor. 10. Ierem. 9. Rom. 2. Psal. 62. Mat. 16. Apoca. 22. Galat. 5. Rom. 5. Rom. 12. Ephe. 4. 1. Cor. 12. Iam. 1. The grace of God not giuen vnto vs by our vvorkes Psal. 59. There is no Saint vvhich is vvithout sinne Psal. 143. Iob. 9. Rom. 7. The ende of vertue is but a beginning Galat. 5. Our righteousnesse is only of the mercye of God. Luk. 18. Rom. 11. Esay 40. 1. Cor. 2. Sap. 9. It behoueth that faith do ayde oure debilitie VVee are debters to God. Lam. 2. S. Paule and S. Iames are not contrarie the one to the other Rom. 4. Galat. 5. Loue cannot be ydle for it forsaketh euil and doth good 1. Cor. 13. Rom. 4. Rom. 4. Iame. 2. The meaning of S. Paule and of S. Iames and hovve vvee ought to vnderstaÌ„d them Luc. 7. The vvorkes of the lavve serue nothing for iustification Esay 64. 1. Cor. 4. 1. Tim. 1. Gala. 1. Act. 9. Iohn 6. Mat. 9. Mat. 5. All sinnes pardoned by fayth Iohn 1. Mat. 25. Mat. 19. The kingdom of heauen not created as man coulde merite but as God might prepare it 2. Cor. 1. Luk. 18. No remission of sinnes but of God. Rom. 8. 1. Reg. 16. Psal. 143. Luc. 7. Rom. 3. Let vs assure our selues to come to heauen through the gift of God. Heb. 12. Rom. 4. Remission of sinnes is through the bloude of Christ Ephe. 4. Psal. 32. Psal. 84. Psal. 65. Iames. 1. The trusting to vvorkes auaileth nothing to seke eternall life Rom. 1. 1. Cor. 1. Colos 1. Rom. 7. Rom. 11. Rom. 9. Ephes 2. Titus 3. Act. 15. 2. Par. 10. Titus 3. Philip. 1. Philip. 1. Philip. 3. Rom. 8. Esay 50. Psalm 3. Psal. 73.44.102 Ephe. 2. 1. Pet. 2. Philip. 1. Iohn 1. Psal. 36. Deut. 29. Psal. 119. Ezech. 36 Psal. 62. Ierem. 31. Rom. 3. Rom. 4. Genes 15. Galat. 3. Iam. 2. Rom. 4. Rom. 5. Rom. 11. Rom. 14. Galat. 2. Galat. 2. Galat. 3. Genes 15. Deut. 27. Abac. 2. Rom. 1. Heb. 10. Leuit. 18. Deut. 21. Galat. 3. Rom. 3. Heb. 11. 1. Pet. 1. Act. 15. Math. 9. Math. 9. Luk. 8. Iohn 6. Mar. 9. Rom. 6. Rom. 10. Rom. 10. Esay 28. 1. Cor. 1. 2. Cor. 10. Ierem. 9. Iere. 23. and 33. Act. 10. Ierem. 31. Mich. 7. Act. 4. Galat. 5. Rom. 12. Iob. 9. Iob. 10. Iob. 15. Iob. 25. Esay 64. Eccle. 7.3 Reg. 8. 2. Cor. 6. 1. Iohn 1. Esay 45. Esay 50. Esay 53. Titus 3. Ierem. 2. Ierem. 14. Esay 57. Act. 13. Iohn 1. Rom. 8. Rom. 8. Psal. 143. Prou. 24. Psal. 130. 1. Tim. 1. VVhat vvee ought to demaunde Psal. 141. Psal. 37. Philip. 2. God giueth vvill that vve may doe that vvhich hee commaundeth 1. Cor. 15. The lavve vveakened thorovv the fleshe Rom. 7. 〈◊〉 â—5 〈◊〉 Christ 〈◊〉 â—hou◠〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 vve 〈◊〉 to vâ—â—â—â—stâ—nde 〈…〉 â—ne Rom. 8. Galat. 4. Rom. 10. Rom. 10. Galat. 3. Galat. 3. Galat. 5. Galat. 3. Galat. 3. Abac. 2. Rom. 1. Galat. 3. Galat. 3. Deut. 27. Iames. 2. Pro. 24. Gala. 4. Rom. 13. Mat. 22. Galat. 5. Ephe. 2. Col. 2. Rom. 3. Rom. 5. Rom. 7. Rom. 7. To loue god vvith all our heart and our neighbour as our selfe cannot be accomplished in this life Mat. 18. It is asked againe of him vvhich hath not vvherevvith to pay as also God demaundeth