taken away from thee and the stinking dung of the Pope most miserable cast upon thee Lament thy sinnes O England lament lament Returne to the Lord thy God and most humbly beseech him once againe to looke upon thee with his mercifull countenance to take away these popish dregs to restore unto thee his lively Word and to blesse thee again with the true ministration of his holy Sacraments that thou maist serve the L O R D thy God in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of thy life This doctrine that the Sacrament of the Altar as you terme it is the true naturall reall carnall corporal and substantiall bodie of Christ is the dream of Antichrist the Bishop of Rome and was never received in the Church till Pope Leo Pope Nicholas Pope Innocent Pope Honorius and Pope Vrban through their tyranny brought it in and compelled the Christians with fire and fagot as the manner of the tyrannicall Papists is to receive their abomihable doctrine and yet in all ages God stored up some to confesse the true doctrine of the Sacrament against Antichrist even unto the death Neither is this popish doctrine so ancient as the Papists bragge For it is not much more than five hundred yeares since their gâ—osse opinion of the Saâ—rament began first to be attempted And although Pope Nicholas the second diâ— much in the matter yet was it not thorowly received nor agreed upon untill Pope Innocent the third came which about the yeare of our Lord 1215. kept a Councell at Rome called Latronense I would say Lateranense concilium where were gathered together a swarme of Papists about the number of thirteen hundred pild pates of the which number eight hundred and odde were Monkes Canons and Fryers chickens of the Popes owne brood Last of all came Pope Vrban the Monke in the yeare of our Lord 1264. and he made up all the market For he ordained a Feast called Corpus Christi in the honour of the Sacrament so that ever after that time the Sacrament was no more taken for a signe figure and token of Christs bodie but for Christ himselfe God and man and therefore was it reverenced worshipped censed and kneeled unto as yee teach the people to doe at your unsacred Sakerings and so are yee their schoolmasters to learn them to commit Idolatrie against their Lord God but let us goe foorth with our matter After our Saviour CHRIST had delivered the Sacramentall bread to his Disciples for to eat hee tooke the Cuppe and thanked and gave it them saying Drinke yee all of this For this is my bloud which is of the new Testament that is shed for many for the remission of sinnes This doe as oft as yee drinke it in the remembrance of mee Here CHRIST delivered to his Disciples holy wine I call it holy because it was dedicated and appointed to an holy use which hee made the Sacrament of his bloud And they all dranke of it And here is to bee marked by the way that our Saviour CHRIST afore seeing that there should arise false annointed that would take away from the people the Sacrament of his bloud bade them all drinke of it All all without exception even so many as beleeve on him spirituall or temporall as they call them Are not yee Popish shavelings these false annointed Have you not taken away the Cup of the LORDS bloud from the Lay people and reserved it to your selves alone Doe not ye minister the Sacrament of Christs bodie and bloud to the Lay people under one kinde onely cleane contrary to Christs institution O GOD-robbers O spoilers of Christian mens soules Neither can ye abide that the people should touch your Pope-holy Chalice when they drinke the wine but ye your selves holding the chalice in your own hands give them drinke as though they were babes of three dayes old and could not put the Cuppe to their mouth O tender and jealous nurses In the primative Church and many hundred yeares after as we may see in the monuments of learned men the Sacrament according to Christs institution was received of the people under both kindes untill Antichrist the Biship of Rome by his divellish decree determined the contrary at the Councell of Constance not much more than an hundred years past Pope Gelasius made a godly Decree that those people that would not receive the Sacrament under both kindes should receive none at all but be put away from the Lords Table The Greekes and Bohemes with all that be not under the tyranny of the Pope of Rome and of his wicked Lawes receive the Sacrament under both kinds at this day according to Christs institution Where the contrary is used there reigneth the Devill and the Pope and not Christ and his holy Word But now let us behold your doings After that yee have committed Idolatrie with the sacramentall bread if it be worthy of that name ye fall in hand to consecrate I use still your owne termes the wine with these words In like manner after Supper was done hee tooke this noble chalice that is a lye for Christ never handled that chalice into his holy and worshipful hands and after hee had given thankes to the Father he blessed here fall ye to crossing againe and gave it to his Disciples saying Take yee and drinke yee all of this For this is the cup of my bloud a new and everlasting Testament a mystery of faith w ch shall be shed for you and for many for the remission of sinnes So oft as yee shall doe these things yee shall doe them in the remembrance of me How many words have ye put in here of your owne braine ye shall easily perceive if yee compare them with the words which our Saviour CHRIST spake But for as much as they do not greatly disagree froÌ„ the truth of Gods word I will not strive with you in this behalfe though I would wish you once to deale faithfully and truely in all your doings but specially wheÌ„ you have to doe with God seeing it is written Put nothing to the words of God lest hee reprove thee and thou bee found a lyar After the aforesaid words spoken in hocker mocker yee breathe and blow and shake your head over the Chalice and then yee kneele downe lift up your hands and honour it like most abhominable Idolaters After that yee stand up againe like pretty fellowes and well appointed and taking the Chalice in your hands yee hold it up with heave howe above your heathenish heads that the people also may worship it and bee fellow Idolaters with you and fall into the like danger of everlasting damnation This done yee set the Chalice downe againe upon the Altar and yee cover it with your Corporasse cloath for catching of cold Then once againe kneele ye downe and up againe like dive doppers and kisse the Altar and spread your armes abroad as though
but had in an everlasting remembrance first of all preached a most fruitfull and comfortable Sermon to his Disciples and afterward as he sate at the table with them hee tooke bread into his hands and after he had given thankes to his heavenly Father as his manner was for his corporall gifts but specially for the deare love that hee of his owne meere mercie and free heartie good will bare toward mankind he brake bread and gave bread unto his disciples saying Take yee eat yee this is my body which is betrayed for you Doe this in remembrance of me And as hee tooke the bread and made it a Sacrament that is to say an holy signe figure token and Memoriall of his Body breaking so likewise he took the wine and made that a Sacrament holy signe figure token and Memoriall of his bloud shedding and after thankesgiving to his heavenly Father for the benefits aforesaid he delivered the Cup unto his Disciples saying Drinke of this all ye This Cup is a new Testament in my bloud which is shed for many for the remission of sins Doe this so oft as yee shall drinke it in the remembrance of me And this heavenly banket once done they said grace that is to say they praised God by saying either certaine Psalmes of David or some other thankesgivings and so departed Here is the whole institution of the Lords Supper Now let us compare Christs Supper with your Popish and Idolatrous Masse and see how well Christs doings and yours agree together If ye be the Ministers of Christ and not of Antichtist the servants of God and not of the Divell then will you follow your Master Christ which saith I have given you an example that as I have done so likewise yee should doe Let us now then goe in hand with the matter First we reade that Christ before hee fed his Disciples with the mysticall food of his body and bloud made a Sermon unto them wherewith as with a certaine most wholesome preparative hee made meet the minds of his Disciples unto so worthy a banket giving all faithfull Ministers an example that whensoever they with the congregation doe come together to celebrate the Lords Supper there should be some Sermon or exhortation made unto the people that they might the better examine themselves and the more deepely consider the thing that they goe about And according to the example of Christ not only the Apostle but all the holy Fathers also of the Primitive church used the trade and so did it continue in the Church of Christ till Antichrist the Bishop of Rome had driven Christ out of place and set up himselfe as God Againe till hee had expulsed the Supper of the Lord and set up his owne peevish yea theevish Idolatrous Masse as wee may see in the monuments of the ancient Writers They continued saith blessed Luke in the Apostles doctrine and fellowshippe and in breaking of bread and in prayers And Saint Paul saith As often as ye shall eat this bread and drinke of the cup shew set forth declare and preach the Lords death till he come A practise hereof have we in the Acts of the Apostles where wee reade That upon one of the Sabbath dayes when the Disciples came together for to breake bread so termeth S. Luke the receiving of the Sacrament of Christs body and blood blessed Paul preached unto them and continued the preaching unto midnight And the Sermon ended they brake bread ate thanked God and departed For if the Sacrament of Christ be never so comfortable yet if they bee not known what they are to what use they were instituted what joyfull promises are annexed unto them what they signifie and preach unto the faithfull receivers c. What other things are they to us thaÌ„ the pretious stone was to Aesops Cock A SacrameÌ„t ministred without preaching of the word is but a dumb ceremony a glasse offered to a blind man and a tale told to one that is deafe The Apostles before the ministration of any Sacrament preached and so did the holy Fathers of the primitive Church Saint Iohn Baptist the sonne of the Priest Zachary preached unto the people before hee baptized them Our Saviour Christ a little before his ascension said to his Apostles â—oe and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost Here is Baptism the preaching of the word joyned together And as concerning the blessed Sacrament of Christs body and blood did not our Saviour Christ preach at the institution and ministration of it Are we not also commanded by the holy Apostle that whensoever wee come to receive the blessed Communion the death of the Lord should be preached declared and set forth Did not the Apostles of Christ and all the godly Bishops of the primitive Church observe the same order They considered right well how little the ministration of the Sacraments availeth without the preaching of the Word For as S. Paul saith how shall they believe without a Preacher Faith commeth by hearing and hearing commeth by the Word of God None therefore of the Lords Sacraments ought publickely to be administred without preaching of the word yea that not in a strange tongue but in such a speech as the people understand or else it were as good to speake the words unto a sâ—rt of sheepe or geese as unto them that are gathered together at the ministration of any Sacrament And this meant Saint Augustine when hee said Take away the Word and what is Water but water But let the word bee added to the ElemeÌ„t it is made a SacrameÌ„t Whence hath the water such a power that it should touch body and wash the heart but by the vertue of working of the word not because it is spoken but because it is beleeved The word signifyeth here not only the speaking of Ego baptizote c. or Hoc est corpus meum c. pronounced by the Priest in a strange tongue but the preaching of the word of God uttered by the mouth of the Ministers in such a language as the people understand or else how shall they beleeve It is not the utterance of Gods word in an unknowne speech that bringeth faith but when it is so spoken that it is understood of them that heare it and that faith through the operation of the holy Ghost ensueth which otherwise is cold lyeth idle and worketh nothing in the heart of the hearer for as S. Augustine saith Take away the Word and what is Water but water that is to say take away the preaching of Gods word from the SacrameÌ„t of Baptism which declareth what Baptisme is who instituted it to what use it was ordained what fruits and commodities wee receive by it c. And what doth the water of Baptisme profit I speake concerning such as are come to the use of reason
or such as are present at the ministration of Baptisme And so likewise may wee say of the Sacrament of Christs body and bloud Take away the word and what is Bread but Bread What is wine but wine that is to say Take away the preaching of the Lords death from the holy Cōmunion and what doth it profit to eat drinke the Sacramentall bread and wine seeing the mystery is not knowne nor understood But put the preaching of the word to the Elements water bread and wine and so are they made holy and honourable Sacraments full of singular joy and great comfort as Saint Augustine saith Let the word be added to the Element and it is made a Sacrament Therefore where the Lords Supper is rightly ministred there is declared the death and passion of Christ there is shewed forth the misery of man from the which hee could have beene no otherwise released but only by the death of Christ there is taught what the Sacrament is what it signifyeth and to what use Christ our Saviour did institute it there are the people exhorted not rashly nor with unwashed feet as they use to say to come unto the Lords Table but to prove trie and examin themselves whether they come with such faith and love unto that most worthy mystery as they ought least they eat and drinke their own damnation there are they stored up unto the workes of mercie toward the poore and unto hearty thankesgiving to God the Father for the death of his Son Christ there also are they put in remembrance that after they have tasted those heavenly mysteries have spiritually fed upon the body bloud of Christ which through faith are present and truly received in spirit of faithful Cōmunicants and are become one body with Christ they ought no more to returne unto their old sinfull wicked conversation but from henceforth to serve their Lord God in holines righteousnes all the daies of their life Is there any such thing done in the popish Masse Who preacheth Who maketh the exhortation Who moveth the people to repentance faith love and amendment of life mutuall recōciliation workes of mercie or unto thankesgiving to God the Father for the death of his Sonne Christ Who playeth the Schoolmaster and giveth the people such exhortations that they goe home from your Masses better learned than they came thither What theese ever lest his theft What false lawyer gave over his bribing what whore forsooke her whordome what wicked man at any time repented him of his wickednesse by comming unto your Masse Yea rather they goe from your Masse so well instructed that they thinke that now they have heard a Masse they may doe all the day after what they will Amends is made beforehand If they bribe poll pill steale lye slander blaspheme kill murder runne on whoring play the harlot fall to drunkennesse to dicing to carding and doe all other unlawfull things it maketh no matter for they have heard Masse They have satisfyed for the sinne before it be committed The hearing of masse hath dispatcht al the matter aforehand And what marvaile is it though such abomination followeth of your massing seeing the people heareth no goodnesse at it but rather are confirmed in all kind of ungodlinesse The chiefest jewell of all I meane the preaching of Gods word is utterly exiled from your Masse as all goodnesse is besides There is none of you all that stand up in the pulpit that lift up your voice to declare unto the people either their wickednesse or preach unto them the most joyfull pleasant and comfortable Gospel of our Saviour Christ. If there bee any preaching at all the Bells make it when the popish Clark ringeth to Masse The Bells being hanged up tell the people somewhat which they understand namely that there is a popish masse ready at hand come heare it who list and be never the better when yee have done But ye speake nothing at all that the people understand and so are yee worse than the Bells Oh how often have I seene here in England at the ministration of the holy Communion people sitting at the Lords table after they have heard the sermon or the godly exhortation set forth in the Booke of Common prayer read unto them by the minister bitterly weep heartily repent and sorrowfully lament their too much unkindnesse and unthankfulnesse toward the Lord God for the death of his Sonne Christ and for his other benefits againe their negligence in doing their duty toward their poore neighbours what free and large gifts also have I seene given to the poore mens boxe what laying aside of al enmity and renewing of unfained mutuall reconciliation what loving embracing and holy kissing of one another What assurance of heartytty friendship for ever to continue where immortall hatred was before what godlinesse also of life have I seen afterward practised by them that were the Communicants what alteration of manners What newnesse of conversation The covetous man to abhorre his covetousnesse the Adulterer to leave his adultery the Whore to defie her whoredom the Proud man to detest his pride the Vsurer to give over his usury and so forth by hearing the word of God preached and by the worthy receiving of the holy Communion hath full oft bin seen in England when the doctrine of the Gospell flourished among us Never saw I one point of like godlinesse practised of any man by hearing your popish Masses but as they have come thither wicked and ungodly so have they departed againe with the same ungodlines and wickednes rather being the worse than the better by hearing that your Idolatrous masse and yet Oh God be mercifull unto us and forgive us our sinnes the glorious and blessed Cōmunion is now through the craft and subtilty of the devil and through the wilinesse of his sturdy stout champions that filthy Synagogue of Sathan utterly banished out of this Realme unto the great dishonour of God and unspeakable sorrow of all true Christians and that most vile most stinking most pestiferous most abominable most wicked most devillish most idolatrous popish private Masse received again set up and magnifyed above the starres yea and above God and his holy ordinance when indeed of all Idols the Masse is most to be abhorred of such as feare and love God But though your Masse were never so good as indeed it is starke naught without comparison yet forasmuch as it is done without the preaching of the word and in a strange it is altogether unprofitable yea and abominable Notwithstanding behold the hypocrisie and counterfeit holinesse yea rather your double dissimulation and devillish deceiving of the simple people when yee have stood awhile pattering like a sort of asses yee know not what at the lower end of the Altar saying the Introite or office of the Masse as they call it the Kyrrys the Gloria in Excelsis the Collects
that there must bee prepared for him every day twelve cakes forty sheepe and sixe great pots of wine to eate and drinke so doe yee make the Queene her Counsell the Nobility and commons of this Realme for the most part beleeve that the little thin round white cake which ye hold up above your head at your abominable Masse after yee once said these five words over it Hoc est corpus meum and have blowed blasted and breathed over it is straightwayes both a living God and a very living man even Christ God and man as he was borne of Marie the Virgine But full falsely doe ye lie and dissemble with the Queene with her Couunsell and with the commons of this Realme even as those Idolatrous priests of Babylon did with the King and with hiâ— subjects For as that Idol Bel was not a living god but an Image made of clay within and of metall without so likewise for all your consecrating blowing blasting and breathing your little Cake is neither a living God nor a living man but as it was bread before yee brought it to your Idolatrous Altar so is it when yee both hold it up and eat it But as the Idolatrous priests of Babylon taught the people plainely that Bel was a living God that they by that meanes might live in wealth and idlenesse so do ye likewise stoutly both at Pauls Crosse and else where preach unto the people that the Sacrament of the Altar is the true naturall reall corporall carnall and substantiall body of Christ God and man even he was borne of Virgin Marie hung on the Altar of the crosse flesh bloud and bone that ye by this meanes may maintaine your popish kingdome and live idly and pleasantly of the labours of other mens hands But if a Daniel might sit at the Queens Table talke with the Nobility and preach to the Commons of England the jugling of the Papists should soone be espyed God for his mercies sake for the deare heart-bloud of his most deare Son send us a Daniel and open the eyes of the Queene of her Councell and of all the Inhabitants of this Realme that they perceiving your subtle iugling and crafty daubing may know you to be as yee are even very Antichrists hisse you out of all honest company and for ever after beware of your pestilent damnable doctrine Amen Amen After that our Saviour Christ was set downe at the Table with his Disciples and had eaten the Paschall Lambe willing to institute an holy memoriall of his passion and death he tooke bread and gave thanks saith the Scripture Now let us see what yee doe First ye come solemnly forth in your gay galant and game players garments which as Isidore and Polidore write was the invention of pope Stephâ—nus about the yeare of our Lord two hundred fifty and six borrowed as it may seeme of the Iewish Priests Ye come to the Altar with your Masse-book Corporasse Chalice Bread with such other trinkets Your altars brought into the Church first of all Pope Sixtus the secoÌ„d about the yeare of our Lord two hundred threescore and five And Pope Felix the first adioyned the hallowing of altars commanding that no masse should bee sung upon any altar except it were first hallowed In the yeare of our Lord two hundred seventy and sixe And P. Boniface appointed white linnen clothes to be laid upon the altars about the yeare of our Lord 610. The Corporasse was the devise of Pope Sixtus as Platina and Sabellicus write about the yeare of our Lord an hundred and twenty and five The Cup wherein the Sacrament of Christs bloud was ministred which wee now commonly call the Chalice was in the time of the Apostles and the primitive Church made of wood but Pope Zepheriâ—us commanded chalices of glasse to be used in the yeare of our Lord 202. And afterward Pope Vrbanus enjoyned that the chalices should be made either of silver or of gold in the yeare of our Lord 227. The bread appointed for the Communion was indifferent whether it were leavened or unlea vened till Pope Alexander came which aâ— they write in the yeare of our Lord III. commanded that onely unleavened bread should bee used at the Lords Supper Notwithstanding the Greekes from the Apostles time unto this day have ever used leavened bread in the ministration of the holy Communion as they use also wine onely in their cup whereas the Latine Church customably mingle water with the wine which was also Pope Alexanders device Now standing before the Altar after yee have crossed your selves upon your forheads and breasts for feare of wicked spirits ye say the Confiteor and make your confession which was the ordinance of Pope Damâ—sus about the yeare of our Lord 370. But to whom do you make your confession To God alone none of that But to blessed Mary and all the Saints of heaven and vâ—bis ye might say bobus well enough For many times besides the boy and Parish clerke that wait upon you there bee in the Church as many white bulls and fat oxen as there bee men and women But where have yee learned to confesse your sinnes to the blessed Mary and to all the company of heaven which heare not one word that yee speake Ye have sinned against God and you confesse your faults to Mary Peter 〈◊〉 Thâ—mas Aâ—an Abel Niâ—â— Abrahâ—m Iohâ— Baptist And I know not to whom not to how many This is new Catholike Divinity found in Portasse and Mâ—ssâ—ll but in no part of Gods blessed Booâ—e Divinity meete for such Divines Again whom doe you desire to pray for you Our Sâ—viour Christ which alone is our Intercessour Mediatouâ— and Advocate Nothing lesse Yee make no mention of him He is utterly forgotten Yee desire holy Mary and all the Saints of God to pray for you But where learned â—ou this tyrologie For Theologie it is not Even of your father Antichrist of Rome But as Mary and the other heavenly citizens heare your confession so pray they for you But they heare not your confession neither do they pray for you O vaine bablers and talkers of trifles your Masse having so good a beginning must have a glorious ending It beginngth with lies wee shall find it also to proceed with lies yea and to end with lies that it may bee prooved a monster of lies After that you have made your confession to God and to our Lady and to all the holy company of heaven and have given your selfe absolution for lacke of a ghostly father yee approach to the Altar and making a crosse upon it yee kisse it in stead of some other whom you love better Then fall yee in hand with your Massing and ye beginne the Introite or office of the Masse which Pope Celestinus brought in about the yeare of our Lord 430 That done ye say the Kyry
which as some report Pope Gregorius the first put to the Masse about the yeare of our Lord 600. Some ascribe it to Pope Silvester which lived about the yeare of our Lord 330. But it seemeth to bee borrowed of the Greeke Church forasmuch as the words are Greeke and sound in English Lord have mercie on us After these things ye goe unto the midst of the Altar and look up to the pixe where you thinke your God to be and making solemne curtesie like womanly Ioane ye say the Gloria in excelsis a godly both thankesgiving prayer very fruitfull and comfortable if it were spoken in the English tongue The Author hereof some affirme Pope Stephanus to be who lived in the yeare of our Lord seven hundred and seventy Some ascribe it to Pope Telesphâ—rus which was in the yeare of our Lord one hundred and thirty Some to Pope Symachus who lived in the yeare of our Lord five hundred Some to Saint Hilarie Bishop of Pictâ—ve about the yeare of our Lord three hundred forty and five These things dispatched out of the way yee have a pleasure to see who is in the Church and how well your Masse is frequented and therfore yee turne yee to the people if any bee there and bid them God speed in Latine with Dominus vobiscum because they understand nothing but English Turning againe to the Altar yee say certaine Collects wherof although some of them bee good yet many of them bee very superstitious and starke staring naught For in them yee set foorth before God the intercessions and merits of Saints and yee desire for the nity and worthinesse of them to be heard to have forgivenesse of sinnes and everlasting life O blasphemous Idolaters what is it to robbe Christ of his Priesthood if this be not What spoileth Christ of his merits if this doe not What treadeth under foot the pretious bloud of our Saviour Christ if the saying of such abominable blasphemous Collects doe it not The Authour of the Collects some make Pope Gelasius which lived in the yeare of our Lord three hundred ninetie Some P. Gregorie of whom ye heard before The Collects once done yee reade the Epistle but in such a tongue as the people understand nothing as yee doe all other things Some say that Pope Telesphorus of whom wee spake before added the Epistle to the Masse Some make Hierome the Authour of it which lived about the yeare of our Lord three hundred eighty seven Then doe ye say the Grayle whereof they make Pope Gelasius the Authour of whom wee spake before Immediately followeth the Allelujah which they say pope Gregorie brought in of whom also wee spake before Some say it was borrowed of the Church of Ierusalem and so brought into the Church of Rome in the time of pope Dâ—masus It soundeth in English O praise the Lord. Here is Latine Greeke and Hebrew in your popish Masse wherof the people understand nothing but as for English which the people understand yee meddle nothing with-all because you will make them your riding fools and keep them still in blindnes Then followeth the Tract or the Sequence one brought in by pope Telesphorus the other by Abbot Nothgâ—rus who lived in the yeare of our Lord 845. After that yee have mumbled over all these things yee take up your Masse-booke and away ye goe to the other end of the Altar to reade the Gospel But first of all yee uncover the chalice and look whether your drinke bee there or no least you should chance to bee deceived when the time of your repast come If it bee there you make solemn curtesie to your little Idoll that hangeth over the Altar and so goe in hand with the Gospel And all in Latine because it shall doe no man good The Authour of adding the Gospel to the Masse some make pope Telesphorus some Saint Hierome of whom wee spake before Pope Anastasius who lived in the yeare of our Lord 404. ordayned that the people should stand up when the Gospel is read that they might heare and understand the Doctrine of the Gospell and frame their lives according to the same This use is observed at this day in the popish Masses I meane the people stâ—â—d up and make courtesie when they heare the name of Iesus but they understand not one word It were as good in such sort to bee read to Swine and Dogges as to the Christian people seeing they understand it not The Gospel ended with another kisse upon the Booke yee say the Creed which as they write Pope Marcus made about the yeare of our Lord 335 coÌ„manded that the Clergie the people should sing it together for the confirmation of their faith After the Creed upon solemne Feasts ye use to Cense the Altar which was first brought in by Pope Leo about the yeare of our Lord 876. These things done with all solemnitie ye turne you again into the Church to see whether your customers bee come or no and so bidding them God-speed yee turne again to the Altar and goe forth with your businesse Then doe you say your Offertory which Pope Eutichiâ—â—â— brought in who lived about the yeare of our LORD 285. After the Offertory is said yee take the Chalice up in your hands with the little round cake lying upon the pâ—tine or cover of the Chalice and lifting up your eyes yee pray on this manner Suscipe sancta Trinitâ—s c. Take O holy Trinitie this oblation which I unworthy sinner offer in the honour of thee of blessed Mary the Virgin and of all thy Saluâ—s for the salvation of the living and for the rest and quietnesse of all the faithfull that are dead The Authour of this prayer I cannot finde It is so good that I thinke hee was ashamed to tell his Name But what thinke yee of this prayer Bee judges your selves whether any thing may be uttered more unto the dishonour of GOD and the utter defacing of CHRISTS bloud than this your popish and blasphemous orison First of all what offer ye Yee must answer either the little round cake or else the Chalice or the wine and water that is in it To whom doe yee offer it To Mary the Virgin and to all the Saints of heaven because yee will lacke no company but gratifie a multitude with a thing of nought Wherefore doe ye offer that oblation For the salvation of the living and for the rest or quietnesse of all the faithfull that are dead Ah who ever heard of such a sacrifice or oblation A wafer cake which is yet but meere bread and no Sacrament and a Chalice with a spoonefull of wine mingled with two or three drops of water to be offred for the salvation of the living and for the rest or quietnesse of all the faithful that are dead O abomination O intollerable blasphemie If Adams Posteritie might have beene
saved by such trifling oblations what needed the Son of God to have died for us If a morsell of bread and a full of wine offered up of an idolatrous Priest bee of such vertue that it may obtaine salvation for the quicke and the dead was not Christ greatly overseene to suffer so great paines for the redemption of man If thousands of great oxen bulls kine calves goats sheepe lambes doves c. in the old Law could not take away the sinnes of the people although they were offered at the commandement of God is it to be thought that a wafer cake and a spoonefull of wine mingled with water and appointed to bee offered by Antichrist is a sufficient oblation to purchase salvation for the living and rest and quietnesse for the dead O Damnable Idolatrie There is no Sacrifice that can save us but the glorious Passion and precious Death of our Lord and Saviour Christ Iesus alone as Saint Paul saith God forbid that I should rejoyce in anything but in the Crosse that is to say in the passion and death of our Lord Iesus Christ. And to whom doe yee offer your new solemne Sacrifice To God alone Nay but to blessed Mary also and to all the company of heaven In this also if your oblation and sacrifice were good doe ye grievously offend For yee may offer Sacrifice to none but to God alone Therefore you making your oblation to Mary to Peter to Paul to Magdalen to Iohn to Iames to Erkeâ—â—ald to Grymbald and I cannot tell to how many thousands more are abominable Idolaters seeing that as much as lyeth in you ye make of the Saints gods and so doe ye rob God of his glorie God saith by the Prophet I am the Lord this is my Name I will give my glory to none other And the Saints themselves crie in this manner Not to us O Lord not to us but to thy Name give the glory After that your prayer yee set your Chalice downe againe saying these words Acceptuâ—s sit omnipotenti Deo hoc sacrificium novuns That is to say O that this new Sacrifice might be thankfully taken of almighty God! Why d ee yee doubt of the matter Is your prayer so good and your faith so strong that yee doubt whether God will heare you and receive your sacrifice or no Indeed you may right well call it a new Sacrifice for it was never heard of afore that a wafer cake and a spoonefull of wine mingled with water should be an oblation and Sacrifice for the salvation of the living and for the rest and quietnesse of all the faithfull that are dead But notable is your doing afterward When ye have thus sacrificed and offered yee trudge straight-wayes to the Altars end and wash your hands To what end I know not except it bee that you have defiled your selves with your new stinking Sacrifice W ch you even now offered unto God to blessed Mary and to all the company of heaven for the salvation of the quicke and for the rest and quietnesse of all the faithfull that are dead and thinke by the washing of your hands to be cleansed from the abominable spirituall whoredome which yee have committed against God I suppose yee learned this washing of your hands of Pilate which when for favour of the Iewes and for feare of Caesar he had unjustly condemned CHRIST unto death called for a bason of water to wash his hands and said I am cleane from the bloud of this righteous man But as he for all his washing escaped not the vengeance of God but dyed a most miserable death even so may yee bee sure though yee wash your hands never so oft not to escape the heavie hand of God for speaking such blasphemies against the Lord and his annointed except yee out of hand cease from your abominable Massing which is nothing else but very Idolatry meere blasphemy great dishonour to God and extreme injury to the precious bloud of Christ while yee ascribe that unto bread wine and water which only appertaineth unto the passon and death of our Saviour Christ. After ye have washed your hands ye returne again to the Altar holding your hands before you like maidenly Priests and manerly bowing your selves to your little great god that shal be ye make a crosse upon the Altar and kisse it in stead of your pretty Petronilla and then having peradveÌ„ture a good mind to behold some shee Saint in the Church yee turne your selves looking downe to the people and saying Orate pro me Fratres Sorores O pray for mee ye Brethren and Sisters when many times there is no bodie in the Church but the Boy that helpeth you to say Masse and so making solemn courtesie like womanly Ioue ye returne unto your accustomed pattering What ye say no man can tell For now comes in your subtill secrets And they may right well bee called Secrets for they are so Secret and so secretly spoken that no man is the wiser for them But whatsoever they are good stuffe I warrant you they are And for as much as they bee certaine Collects they father them upon Pope Gelasius and Pope Gregory of whom we spake before When ye have once done with your subtill solemne sleepy secrets ye burst out into open words and exhort the people to lift up their hearts unto God and to consider the mysteries that are now in hand and to be thankefull to God for the benefits of their redemption Ah would God yee so spake the words that the people might bee edified by them But ye speake in such sort that it were much better for you to hold your peace and the people to be at home asleepe For yee doe nothing else than beat the ayre with your breath The people understand nothing at all neither doe they consider any thing but only are there present as vaine gasers These admonitions to the people of lifting up their hearts unto God and to be thankfull to him for his benefits set forth in the death of his Son Christ were used in the Primative Church as we may see in Saint Cyprian and Saint Augustine The Authour of these godly exhortations is not knowne Immediately followeth the Preface and because there bee divers they father them upon Pope Gelasius and Pope Gregory as they doe all other things whereof they can finde no certaine Authour But this is most certaine that the ancient Church used but one Preface which is called the quotidian or daily Preface These things passed over yee fall in hand with the Sanctus W ch lifting up your hands ye speake with a loud voice that ended ye kisse the Masse-booke because some other is not at hand The Sâ—â—ctus as they say was brought in by Pope Sixtus which was about the yeare of our Lord 125. and commanded to be sung in the Church Now commeth in your holy Masse Canon whereof be diverse
Christ as concerning his corporall presence is no more in the earth but in heaven only Christ hath in him two natures the nature of God and the nature of man As concerning his divine nature hee is in heaven in earth and in every place But as touching his humane nature hee is in heaven onely and there shall remaine untill the Day of Iudgement as Saint Augustine saith as concerning the presence of his Majestie wee have Christ alwayes but as touching the presence of his flesh it was truely sayd to his Disciples Mee shall yee not alwayes have with you For the Church had him a few dayes after thâ— presence of his flesh but now it holdeth him by faith and seeth him not with the eyes Againe he saith God and man is one person and both is one Christ Iesus in every place in that he is God but in heaven in that he is man Also in another place Where and in what manner Christ is in heaven it is a vaine and superfluous thing to aske or demand but wee must surely beleeve that hee is onely in heaven If hee be onely in heaven as concerning his corporall presence as both the Scriptures and Saint Augustine affirme how then is hee either in your round cake at Masse or else hanging up in your popish Pixe over the Altar with an halter But let us heare what the ancient Doctour Virgilius writeth concerning this matter The Sonne of God saith he as concerning his Humanitie is gone away from us but as touching his Divinity hee saith unto us Behold I am with you alwayes unto the end of the world Againe forasmuch as the word is every where and his flesh is not every where it appeareth that one and the same CHRIST is of both natures and that hee is in every place as concerning the nature of his Godhead Againe that hee is contayned in a place as touching the nature of his manhood Of these Authorities doth it manifestly appeare that Christ inasmuch as he is God is in every place but having respect to that hee is a man he is only in one place that is to say in heaven If he bee only in heaven inasmuch as he is man then consider yee what is to be thought of the doctrine of the Papists which teach that Christs naturall body is in every place wheresoever his Godhead is O Antichrists If this be not to play the Hereticke Marcions part and utterly to destroy the verity of Christs humane nature or of his naturall body what is it But Saint Augustine saith very well in this behalfe wee must take heed saith hee that we doe not so set forth maintaine or affirme the Godhead of the Man Christ that wee take away or destroy the truth of his body For it doth not follow that that which is in God should be every where as God Christ inasmuch as he is God is every where but being man hee is onely in heaven But yee will object according to your old wont the omnipotencie or almighty power of God and say that forasmuch as he is omnipotent and almighty he may both make the bread his body and also bee in as many places concerning the corporall presence as he list that is to say in infinite places at once I answer God is not called Almighty because he can doe all things but because he is able to doe whatsoever his Godly pleasure is to doe For there are certaine things which God cannot doe as for example hee cannot denie himselfe hee cannot lye hee cannot save such as die in infidelity hee cannot make another of like power with himselfe hee cannot save the reprobate nor condemne the Elect which have their names written in the Booke of life c. Whatsoever is contrary to his Word that cannot God doe But it is contrary to the Word of God for Christs body to bee in more places at once than in one yea to bee both in heaven sitting at the right hand of God the Father and heere also in earth at your popish Masses in a thousand places at once therefore is not God able to make his body to bee in so many places at once as ye faine forasmuch as the nature of God onely is infinite and the nature of all creatures is contained in some certaine one place at once But here againe yee will bring forth these promises of CHRIST Wheresoever two or three be gathered together in my Name there am I in the middest of them Againe I am with you alwayes unto the end of the world These promises and such like are to bee understood not of the corporall presence here on earth but of his Grace as the Doctors themselves doe declare It is to bee noted marked and considered saith Cyril that although Christ hath taken away the presence of his body from hence yet by the Majesty of his God-head hee is alwayes present as hee at his departure promised his Disciples Behold saith he I am with you alwayes unto the very end of the world The like saying of Saint Augustine heard wee before Of all these things heretofore spoken it is evident that the naturall body of Christ is not here in earth as yee Masse-mongers would gladly make us beleeve but in heaven onely and there shall remaine untill the day of Iudgement Christ in the mean season being here present with us by his Spirit and Grace Seeing then that the Sacramentall bread is not the naturall body of Christ God and man but a figure Sacrament and holy signe of his body with what forehead dare you either affirme that your little thinne round cake after five words pronounced over it and you breathing blasting and blowing upon it to be the true naturall reall corporeall and substantiall body of Christ God and Man as hee was borne of the Virgine Marie and suffered for us on the Altar of the crosse or worship it your selves or yet provoke others so to doe according to Pope Honorius decree and not after Christs institution What is Idolatrie if this bee not Idolatrie To worship a piece of bread for God what heathen Idolater ever so doted If good king Ezekias lived in these our dayes hee would rather play with the Sacrament of Christs body and bloud as he did with the Brasen Serpent than hee would suffer such abomiable Idolatry to be committed at the ministration of it to the great dishonour of God the utter defacing of Christs passion and bloud and death and to the dreadfull damnation of innumerable souls O England England teares yea teares of bloud mayest thou well weepe which in the prosperous time of that most godly King Edward the Sixt wert blessedly purged of all superstition Idolatry and popish doctrine and hadst restored unto thee the true Gospel of thy salvation and the right ministration of the Lords Sacraments But now for thine unthankfulnesse toward the Lord thy God all these heavenly treasures are
you would embrace some she saint After al these things as I may let passe your crossings and blessings your crouchings and noddings with many other apish toyes yee fall againe to your solemne prayers and among all other yee stand nodding and praying in your Memento for the soules departed which was put to the Masse by Pope Pelagius about the yeare of our Lord 560. And here in your minde and thought for now yee play mum-budget and silence glumme yee pray for Philip and Cheny more than a good many for the soules of your great grand Sire of your old Beldame Hurre for the soules of father Princhard and of mother Puddingwright for the soules of goodman Rinsepitcher and goodwife Piâ—tepot for the soules of Sir Iohn Husgoose and Sir Simon Sweetlips and for the soules of all your Benefactors Founders Patrones Friends and well-willers which have given you either dirige groates confessionall pence trentals year services dinners suppers or any thing else that may maintaine you our Ladies Knights But I pray you how can you with an assured conscience and true faith pray for such as are departed out of this world If these your prayers bee of faith then doe your faith hang on Gods word If you have the Word of God for you so praying bring it forth of good fellowship and wee will heare you Have ye none Alasse silly soules Then put up your pipes and lay yee downe to sleepe Trudge with your Dirges and pack up your Masses of Requiem Doe yee alleage Pope Pelagius and old Fathers or ancient customes We have nothing to doe with them except they bring the Word of GOD in their mouth Prayer is a matter of faith and faith alwayes leaneth upon the Word of GOD solely and fully If ye have not the Word of God for your prayer then can ye not pray of faith If yee pray not of faith then are your prayers abhominable in the sight of God so farre it is off that they bee heard as the Apostle saith Whatsoever is not of faith is sinne Saint Iohn saith This is the trust that wee have in him that if wee aske any thing according to his will he heareth us But how doe you aske according to the will of God when yee have not one title of the holy Scripture to declare that yee ought to pray for the dead Thinke ye to be heard of God Even as Baals Priests were when they cried O Baal heare us O Baal heare us If yee would leape upon your Altars yea and cut your selves with knives till ye be all on a gore-bloâ—d as their manner was yet shall yee never be heard of God For yee pray without faith seeing ye have not the Word of God for you Doe yee alleage Charitie And say It is a charitable deed to pray for them that are departed I answer yee are very Antichrists that turne the rootes of trees upward Will yee have Charity before Faith Is not Faith the mother of all vertues Is not Charitie the daughter of Faith How dare the daughter move you to doe that whereof the mother knoweth nothing at all It is not charity that moveth you to pray for the departed but blinde affection corrupt zeale and cankered custome and hope of gaine After the departure from this life all go straight wayes either unto eternall glory or else unto everlasting pain as the history of the rich Glutton and of the poore man Lazarus evidently declareth Our Saviour Christ saith Hee that beleeveth on the Sonne hath everlasting life But hee that beleeveth not on the Sonne shall not see life but the wrath of GOD abidâ—th on him Here also are rekoned but two kindes of persons faithful and unfaithfull the one sort after their departure goe immediately unto everlasting life the other unto eternal damâ—ation And the Preacher saith When the tree falleth whether it be toward the South or North in what place soever it â—all there it heth As we depart so shall we have our place If wee depart in faith heaven is appointed for us but if wee dye in infidelitie unfaithfulnesse or misbeleefe hell is readie at hand Therefore your prayers for the dead are in every condition frustrate and vaine superfluous and unprofitable Heaven needeth no prayer Hell refuseth all prayer Notable is this sentence of Saint Augustine Know ye saith Saint Augustine that so soone as the soule is departed from the body it is straightwaies either for the good merits placed in Paradise or else for the sinnes throwne headlong into the deepe dungeon of hell Againe in another place hee saith Brethren let no man deceive himselfe For there are but two places and there is no third place for any He that hath not deserved to raigne with Christ in this world shall without doubt in the world to come bee damned with the devill And Saint Cyprian saith when wee depart hence there is no place of repentance Life is either lost or gotten But I marvell much of this one thing concerning this matter that ye pray God the Father that hee will mercifully give to all such as rest in Christ a place of refreshing of light and peace As though those that rest in Christ could want any of them all Can any man that rests in Christ bee tormented in paines darkenesse and disquietnes trouble or griefe To rest in Christ after this life is not to be payned in Purgatory if there were such a place as the Papists feigned but to raigne with Christ in glory to possesse everlasting joy and to have the fruition of Gods glorious Majestie with the heavenly Angells and blessed Spirits as it is written Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. For the Spirit saith that from henceforth they rest from their labors And David calleth the death of the Saints pretious in the sight of the Lord. Doth not the Wise man also say that the soules of the righteous are in the hand of God and that no griefe paine nor torment shall touch them They are in peace saith hee If these things be true as nothing is more true what need ye then to stand nodding in your Memento praying for the dead Ye might as well pray for dead swine For yee have as good authority of the holy Scriptures for the one as for the other But this praying for the dead hath made your Kitchins warme your pots to seeth and your spits to turne merrily It hath fed your idle bellies with the fattest of the flocke and caused you to live in all joy pleasure and quietnesse without any labour paine or travaile Therefore no marevell though such things bee placed in your Masse Take away the praying for the dead and yee Purgatory-rakers may picke your meat upon Newmarket heath For your Dirige groats your Trentalls your Moneth mindes your Anniversaries your Bead-rowls your soul Masse-pence and all such other pelf falls to the
of Hick-scorner Is not this a toy to mocke an ape withall Is this Christs Accipite and Edite Take yee and eat yee speaking to many and not to one alone Is this Christs Bibite ex eo omnes Drinke of this all yee Did Christ eat the Sacrament alone Did he not rather give it to his Disciples and commanded all faithfull Ministers so to doe Why then doe ye O ye Antichrists eat drinke up all alone contrary to Christs institution and commandement And yet behold how yee shunne not to lie even to Gods face Yee say at your Postâ—Communion these words Quod ore sumpsimus Domine c. That which wee have taken with our mouth grant that we may receive it with a pure minde and that it may be made unto us of a temporall gift an everlasting remedie Againe Hâ—c nos summo purget à crimine c. This Communion might purge us from Sinne and make us partakers of the Heavenly Remedie And in another place yee desire God that so many as shall receive the body and bloud of Christ may bee filled with all heavenly blessing and grace Yee tell God that you with the rest of the congregation have received even with your owne mouthes the Sacrament of Christs body and bloud and ye lye most abominably For yee your selves have eaten and drunken up altogether alone and like churlish carles ye have given no man part with you Againe ye call it a Communion which is a partaking of many together but yee might right well call it an Union For no man eateth and drinketh of the bread and wine but you alone Item ye desire God that so many as shall be communicants may be filled with the heavenly blessings and grace and no man do receive but you alone What a mocking is this of God and a deceiving of the people God have mercy on us and once againe deliver us from this most lying wicked abominable and divellish Idoll the Masse and restore unto us the holy and blessed Communion Christs ordinance is not that one standing at an Altar should eat devoure and mouch up altogether alone but that a multitude should receive the Sacramentall bread and wine together Take yee saith our Saviour Christ eat ye and drinke yee all of this He saith not Take thou Sir Iohn eate thou and drinke thou alone In the Acts of the Apostles wee see that a multitude of the Christians came together to breake the bread and not that one alone did eate all alone turning his arse to the people as yee Massemongers doe Saint Paul saith The bread which ye breake is it not the partaking of the body of Christ Hee saith not the bread which I breake but which we breake speaking of many and not of one Againe we all be partakers of one bread and of one Cup. Indeed wee bee or wee ought to be But wee be not therefore yee Masse-mongers doe us the more wrong Where the blessed Apostle entreateth of the Lords Supper he saith My brethren when yee come together to eate he meaneth the holy Communion or the Lords Supper tarry one for another Hee saith not when yee come together to see the Priest say Masse and to eate and drinke up altogether alone standing at an Altar and turning his backe towards you as one full of little good manners Hee saith also Tarry one for another But yee tarry for no man but having a Boy to helpe you to say Masse ye goe to your mingle mangle and never call purre to you For yee eate and drinke up altogether alone being much worse than the swine-heards Wee reade in the ancient Canons that such as would not communicate should bee excommunicate and driven out of Christs congregation and not to be reputed or taken as members of CHRISTS bodie Whereof wee may easily and truely gather that this private Massing which yee Masse-mongers use at this present is not of God but of the Devil and was not practised of the holy ancient Fathers in their Churches but of late yeares brought in by Antichrist and his shamelesse shavelings which in their private Masses doe nothing else than prophanate defile and corrupt the LORDS Supper and make merchandize of it While they take upon them to receive the Sacrament for other and to make it a Sacrifice for the sinnes of such as hire them for their money that they of the labour of other mens hands and the sweate of other mens browes may live an idle voluptuous life as Epicures and belly beasts borne onely to consume the good fruits of the earth But as yee Masse-mongers cannot bee baptised nor beleeve for other no more can yee receive the Sacrament for other As every man is baptised for himselfe so must hee eat and drinâ—e the mysterie of the LORDS bodie and bloud for himselfe Can my eating slake your hunger No more can your eating of the Sacrament doe mee good The righteous man saith the Prophet shall live by his owne faith The Priests eating therefore of the Sacramentall bread for other is abominable and in all points contrary to Christs holy institution which ordained his blessed Supper not to be received of one alone for all the congregation but that every one should receive it for himselfe that by the worthy receiving thereof his troubled conscience might be quieted and his faith confirmed We reade that when Saint Anthony which lived about the yeare of our Lord 350. was in the wildernesse he saw a vision which was this He beheld a number of Altars suddenly built up and covered with white Linnen cloths with bread and wine set upon them and a great sort of uncleane and filthy swine standing at them and slovenly devouring all that ever was set upon the Altars Saint Anthony being wonderfully amazâ—d at this strange sight cried unto God and said O Lord God what mean these foule ill favoured sights God said unto him These filthy swine which thou seest standing at the Altars are the leacherous Priests which after thy dayes shall arise and driving away the holy CoÌ„munion out of Churches which I instituted to be received of many shall eat and drinke all the Sacramental bread and wine alone giving no part thereof to the residue of my people whom I redeemed with my precious bloud and for whose sake I ordained my holy Supper to be received of them also Are not ye leacherous Priests these filthie swine Have yee not cast away the LORDS Table and set up Idolatrous Altars Doe not yee at your Masse eat and drinke up all alone like hungrie hogges and give no part to Gods faithfull people Ye may right well bee compared to filthy swine For as these brutish beastes cannot abide any other to eat with them but would â—aine eat up all alone themselves even so play yee At your Idolatrous Masses like a sort of beastly hogges yee eat and drinke up all alone giving no man part with
and placing them in everlasting Glorie What thing is either in heaven earth or hell for the which the Masse is not profitable and serves for the purpose if it please you to apply it It is a sawce for all meats a salve for all sores a remedy for all diseases a maintenance of all prosperity and a defence against all adversity Protens never turned himselfe into so many formes shapes and fashions as your Masse hath vertues O blessed Masse O holy Masse O vertuous Masse yea O most vile stinking and abominable Idol Now judge ye O ye Masse-mongers what is to bee thought of the peevish popish pratling private Masse which the Papists and the most part of you that are massemongers doe so highly praise commend advance extoll magnifie and set forth not as God onely but in a manner above God For what thing is it that wee desire to have for which wee doe not rather resort unto the Masse than unto God And is this any other thing than meere Idolatrie and stealing away of his Glorie Which thing whosoever doth is he not Gods enemie Is hee not an adversarie to the true Christian religion Doth hee not defile the precious bloud of our Saviour Christ under his foot Doth hee not defile the holy mysteries of God and blaspheme the Name of the Lord Doth hee not give himselfe from God to the devill and become the childe of wrath a vessel of vengeance a firebrand of hell and heire of everlasting damnation God have mercie upon us Behold now the miserable state wherein yee stand and so many as cleave to your abominable Massing Cease therfore cease betimes to bee haters of God hlasphemers of his holy Name Enemies of Christs bloud polluters of the Christian religion defilers of Godâ— most holy Sacraments corrupters of his blessed mysteries seducers of the people destroyers of mens soules pestilences of the Christian common-weale and ministers of Satan Forsake your abominable kinde of Massing forsake it forsake it and defile your selves no more with Idoll service lest yee provoke the fierce wrath and hot vengeance of God to fall both upon you the Masse-mongers and upon all them also that are the Masse-hunters and finally for your wickednesse upon the whole Realme For God cannot alwayes abide his holy Sacraments thus to be abused and defiled If If they escaped not unpunished that did eat leavened bread while the Feast of the Lords Passeover did endure if Vziah went not away unplagued but was strooke with suddaine death because hee touched the Arke of the LORD if hee that came to the Marriage because hee had not the wedding garment was taken from the table bound hand and foot and cast into utter darkenesse where weeping and ghasting of teeâ—h shall be 〈…〉 the devil entred into Iâ—das after that hee had received the Lords bread unworthily if the Corinthians were grievously pâ—agued yea and that many unto the death because they did abuse the Lords Supper and unreverently behave themselves at the Ministration of it if those with many other escaped not unplagu'd for abusing the Lords mysteries thinke not ye which daily defile the honourable SacrameÌ„t of Christs body bloud in your most wicked damnable devillish idolatrous heathenish vile stinking blasphemous detestable and abominable Massing shall escape free from punishment neither yee your selves nor the consenters to your Idolatry Therefore if there bee any love in you toward God any hearty good will toward CHRIST our Saviour any fervent affections towards Gods most holy word any godly zeale toward the Christian commonweale any desire of goodnesse towards this our native Countrey any sparke of well-willing toward the salvation either of your owne soules or of others I exhort you all by the tender mercies of God and by the precious bloud of our Saviour Christ Iesu that yee without tariance give over your abominable Massing which without doubt is not the acceptable service of God as the blind sort of people judge but the very vile blasphemous bondage of Satan invented by the devill brought in by Antichrist confirmed established by such as have received the Beasts marke whose inheritance shall be in that Lake that burneth with fire brimstone Neither lot any thing move you that the Idolatrous Masse w ch before was worthily banished out of the Realme is now againe restored by act of Parliament but rather heare what the Apostles say we must obey God more than men In all matters of religion the will of God is to be considered before the commandement or act of any mortall Prince Pharaoh was a King yet the godly Midwives obeyed not his ungodly commandement in killing the male childâ—en of the Israelites Nebuâ—hadonezer was a King yet the three young men would not obey his wicked proclamation in worshipping his golden Idoll Antiochus was a King yet the faithfull Iewes would not observe his abominable lawes in sacrificing to Idols and in eating unclean flesh Maacha was a Queene and made an abominable Idoll of Priapus and offered sacrifice unto it and exhorted others without doubt to doe so likewise but so many as feared God abhorred her doings and defyed her Idolatry insomuch that King Asa her sonne put her downe because shee had made images in Groves and brake down her Idols and stamped them and burnt them to ashes at the brooke Cedron Iesabel was a Queene and an abominable Idolatresse promoting and making much of Baals Priests and feeding them even at her own table but imprisoning and murdering the Prophets of God she worshipped Baal and caused many other so to doe But those that loved God abhorred her idolatry and by no meanes would follow her wicked steps but chused rather to worship God according to his word The Prophet Elias slew all her Prophets that did service to Baal and Queene Iesabel her selfe came to a most miserable end Shee was throwne downe to the ground from an high window inso that the wall was sprinckled with her bloud and the horses trod her under their feete and the dogs came and eat up her flesh so that there was nothing left of her but her skull her feet and the palmes of her hands Athalia was a Queene and a great Idolatresse shee worshipped Baal and enticed her sonne Ahazia to doe so likewise NotwithstaÌ„ding such as feared God obeyed in this behalfe neither the King nor his Mother but walked after the Commandements of God Both the mother and the sonne were slaine miserably The Bishops the Priests the Lawyers the Scribes the Pharisees the Sadduces and such others were great Rulers in Iewrie and they commanded the Apostles that they should no more preach in the name of Iesu but they obeyed them not but stoutly answered Whether it bee right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God Iudge yee For we cannot but speake that which wee have seene and heard Rulers are so