We acknowledge the debt cancell therefore the Obligation let not the multitude of them preuaile against vs but where our sinne hath abounded let thy grace more abound and as we haue multiplyed our sinnes so wee pray thee to multiply thy mercies and although we haue by continuance in them so soaked our selues that thereby we are not onely lightly stained but also haue gotten as it were the Scarlet and Purple die of them yet let them all wee pray thee beeing washed in the blood of thy deare Sonne be made as white as the Snow in Salmon as the Woolle of the Sheepe which come from washing And to conclude as our sinnes haue magnified thēselues in an infinite length breadth depth and height so let thy mercies which passe all vnderstanding of all sides and all assaies out-reach them Therefore also wee most humblie desire thee ô Lord that the sinne being pardoned thy wrath which is alreadie declared may be appeased towardes all the Churches of our profession and especiallie towardes vs that the manifolde breaches of the Churches and Common wealthes may bee made vp that those being receiued into the bosome of the Church which belong to thy election the rest of the Papistes Heretikes may be vtterly rooted out and that the enimies in religion being slaine we may to the vttermost thinke all one thing in the honest and peaceable gouernement of the Common wealth Vpon which vniting of vs in all trueth and honestie the curses of the Plague and barrennesse being remooued a way may be made to thy blessinges which as the Hilles doe the Vallies may make our land holesomely fruitefull And that not onely the wrath which is alreadie kindled may be quenched but that which hath been lately threatened may be caused to retyre For the graunt wherof vnto vs we beseech thee to remember that how vnworthy soeuer yet are we thy people the Sheepe of thy pasture whō thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood watched ouer with a carefull eye defended with a mightie hand despise not therfore ô Lord the works of thy handes And seeing thou hast loued vs when we hated thee visited vs when we desired thee not then acknowledged vs when we knew not thee now that there be a number of vs which loue thee desire thine aboade and acknowledge thee hold on thy loue still depart not from vs deny vs not ô thou God of trueth which art the God that changest not And if thou wouldest or couldest forget vs calling vpon thee yet what should become of thy great name which is called vpon by vs And therefore for thy glories sake and for thy blessed names sake which in our destruction should be rent and runne through spare vs spare vs good Lord according to the vsuall dealing which thou hast euer kept with those which in prayer haue had recourse vnto thee and according to the old and vnchangeable nature of a mercifull kind sparing and long suffering God Which mercie wee doe not ô Lord desire to the end that wee should tumble and wallow our selues in our accustomed neglect and contempt of thy holy word but togeather with mercie for our sinnes and the rewarde of them wee most humblie craue vpō the knees of our heartes that for the time to come how long or how short soeuer wee with deniall and detestation of our selues and of our wicked lustes may offer vp vnto thee in Iesus Christ our selues our bodies and soules to be seruantes at thy holy commaundement in that reasonable seruice which the high reason of thy holy word doth prescribe and to be weapons or instrumentes of righteousnesse and holinesse as they haue been heretofore of the contrarie All which thinges as whatsoeuer thou knowest to be further needfull for vs or for any of the Churches we pray thee as our Sauiour hath taught c. A Confession of Sinnes with Faith and Repentance O Mercifull and heauenly Father we thy seruantes doe humbly prostrate our selues before thy Maiestie ackowledging heere in thy sight our hainous offences committed against thy Maiestie seeing beholding thy heauie wrath against them We feele our selues laden ô Lord our God with a huge companie of horrible sinnes wherof euen the very least being but conceiued in thought is sufficient in iudgement to throw vs down to the euerlasting burning lake Our owne consciences ô Lord doe beare witnesse against vs of our manifolde transgressions of thy blessed Law of our securitie and sencelesse blindnesse running headlong to destruction cōmitting sinne after sinne although not notorious to the world yet horrible before thine eye The thoughtes of our hearts rise vp in iudgement against vs the vanitie of our talke before thy Maiestie condemneth vs the wickednesse of our deeds from thy sight reiecteth vs all our wicked thoughtes wordes and deedes with the inwarde corruption of our nature doe altogeather as it were a whole lumpe and load of sinne lie heauie vpon vs and with their intollerable weight doe euen presse vs downe to Hell We doe daily grone vnder the burthen of them inwardly lamēting our owne follie so greedily running into them In heauen earth or hell we see none able to sustaine the weight of them but euen thy dearely beloued sonne Iesus Christ who in mercie infinite and compassion endles hath sustained and ouercome that endlesse punishment due vnto them in him therefore in him most mercifull Father and through him wee come to thee beeing fully assured according to thy promise that thou wilt accept and take that full recompence which hee thy deare Sonne hath made for vs as a iust ransome for all the sinnes of all those who with a true fayth take hold on him In him therefore we see thine anger towardes vs appeased thy wrath satisfied our debts paied Increase in vs good Lord we beseech thee this liuely and feeling Fayth for we feele it oftentimes in vs very weake and troubled with many doubtes increase it in vs ô Lord that we may through thy holy spirite be assured that the punishment of our sinnes is fully in thy Sonne discharged Make vs ô Lord our God to feele this same in our soules and consciences that Iesus Christ is ours and all that he hath done that we are grafted into his body and made one with him and therefore fellow heires with him of euerlasting life Let vs not onely haue these wordes in our mouthes good Lord but through thy holy spirit let vs feele the comfort of them in our heartes fully sealed and setled in vs that wee feeling our selues inwardly before thy iudgement seate discharged and our consciences towardes thee appeased may be swallowed vp with an vnfaigned loue toward thy heauenly Maiestie and towardes our breathren for thy sake Make sinne to die in vs dayly more and more that wee may hate detest and vtterly abhorre all sinne wickednesse in all men but especially in our selues that we may strongly through thy holy spirite set our selues in open warre
I meane not onely a generall beliefe of all the Canonicall books of the old and new Testament or a grounded knowledge alone of the poyntes and principles of Christian religion but an assured perswasion that whatsoeuer the Lord hath reuealed in his Word as hee hath done the same for others so he hath done it particularly for mee So that this Fayth is necessarie to him that shall communicate both because that otherwise hee being on the earth cannot take hold of Christ in heauen for faith is it by which he may apply vnto himselfe particularly Christ Iesus and all his merites to the assured feeling of the free pardone and full forgiuenesse of all his sinnes of the one side and the imputation of Christes righteousnesse on the other side and also that thereby he may be assured that that which hee doeth either in the administration or participation of that holy action is acceptable before God for without Fayth it is impossible to please him Which properties indeed or effectes rather if a man onely haue them shall make his Fayth to differ from all the vaine imaginations of Diuels and wicked men whatsoeuer By Repentance I vnderstand a syncere hatred of all our former sinnes and iniquities whatsoeuer and a sound loue of all righteousnesse and well doing proceeding from the right reuerence and louing feare of the maiestie of God in our heartes which holy affection doth euery day by little and little worke in vs the forsaking of our selues and the subduing of the sinfull lustes and affections of our owne flesh to the end that wee may wholly resigne our selues to be guided and gouerned by the spirit of God in the syncere seruice worship of his Maiestie So that hee which feeleth himselfe truely and vnfeignedly sorrowfull for his former iniquities not onely loathing his sinnes but euen himselfe for his sinnes sake and caryeth with him this holy purpose neuer through Gods assistaunce to commit the same or any such like may not onely be assured of his vnfeined repentaunce and so by consequent of the forgiuenesse of his sinnes but also with boldnesse yet not withstanding with reuerence in respect of God and with humblenesse of minde in respect of himselfe draw neere to the partaking of these holy mysteries By Loue which is the thing that concerneth men I doe not onely vnderstand the vnfeigned pardoning and forgiuing of others that haue any maner of way trespassed against vs which is a sure seale and earnest pennie as it were that our sinnes are forgiuen vs before God but also sound reconciliation after offences committed one of vs towardes another which is a certaine pledge that our prayers and all other good thinges that come from vs are in Christes obedience accepted before God yea I meane further by Loue which is an inward affection of the heart the sincere and outwarde testifying of the same by wordes deeds countenaunces and other meanes as the Lord shall giue occasion and our abilitie will serue to expresse the same and that not to our friendes onely or to our enimies also which is somewhat more but generally to all men though to some in greater measure as to the Household of fayth our Wiues Children and Parentes c. and to some in lesse measure as to those that be yet without and be somwhat further off by nature and kindred Meditation which is the second thing and is to be vsed specially in the time of the celebration of the Lords Supper consisteth chiefely in these poyntes In regarding the outward elements and the rites vsed in the same as the breaking of the Bread c. by which is set foorth vnto our soules the crucifying of Christs body the shedding of his bloud c. and all for our transgressions And then because wee must not stay below but must by Fayth rise vp to Heauen as it were we are deeply to consider what great graces the Lord offereth vnto vs in that holy and spirituall Banquet which in my minde may be brought into these few pointes 1 God setteth before the eyes of our Faith in that holy action first Christes death and passion togeather with the benefites and effectes which wee reape thereby and namely the remission and forgiuenesse of our sinnes 2 Secondly the full and spirituall nourishment that thorow Christ wee haue both in the outward and inwarde man euen to the hope of eternall life 3 Thirdly the mysticall vnion that is betwixt Christ and his Church hee dwelling in our heartes by faith and we thereby being made members of his bodie of his flesh and of his bones 4 Fourthly and lastly the holy vnitie and agreement that is ought to be continued amongst all the members of his Church whatsoeuer or wheresoeuer they be The third and last thing which I call Action and is to be performed after the receiuing of the Lords Supper consisteth 1 First in earnest Prayer vnto God not onely for the liuely feeling of these graces exhibited but also for the fructifying of the word of God and his Sacraments in our heartes and that not for the time present alone but euen for the whole rase and course of our life Secondly in humble thankes-giuing for the vnestimable riches and treasures of grace and of goodnesse which it pleaseth him in his Church and namely by the vse of his Worde and Sacramentes not onely to offer but also to bestow vpon his people the particulars whereof are before recited And hereunto wee may be prouoked by consideration of this that the Lord freely and of his owne goodnesse giueth vs those merites not onely when we had not deserued the least of them but euen then when euerie one of vs had deserued eternall death and condemnation to be powred foorth vpon vs and ours 3 And lastly in care and conscience of a holy conuersation that seeing Christ dwelleth in our heartes by fayth and we haue our spirituall life and beeing from him that therefore wee should so liue as wee may not onely glorifie him in this life but that when the dayes of our wearisome pilgrimage shall be ended we may be glorified with him in eternall blessednesse which thing the Lord graunt vs euen for his crucified Christes sake to whom with the Father and the holy Ghost three persons and one eternall God be giuen all honour prayse power and glorie both of vs and of all people euen now and at all times for euer and euer So be it A Prayer to be said before a man repaire to the partaking of the Lords Supper O Eternall GOD and most mercifull Father I thy poore vnworthy seruant doe must humbly beseech thee in Iesus Christ thy deare Sonnes name and for his sake gratiously in his death and obedience to pardone and forgiue mee all my sinnes what so euer which at any time or by any manner of meane I haue committed against thy Maiestie or any other Seale vp in my heart O Lord this great benefite of the free pardon
was instituted to wit before his death and suffering by which it is plaine that the bread in the supper cannot be the same naturall body that was borne of the Virgin Marie crucified on the Crosse c. 3 Thirdly wherefore it was ordeined to witt for the strengthening of our faith in the trueth of Gods promises and to put vs in remembrāce of Iesus Christ absent now a remembrance of a thing it could not bee if the thing it selfe were present And all these three pointes are prooued out of 1. Corinth 11. vers 23.24 2 In the second place the consideration of these three circumstaunces following will serue much for the clearing of the question also 1 First which be the signes in the Sacrament to wit Bread and Wine which haue that nature and force in them not of themselues for then all Bread and Wine should haue the like but in respect of the Lordes institution who alone hath power to ordeine signes or Sacramentes and to giue them that effect and propertie 2 Secondly what be the things signified thereby to witt the blessed body of Christ crucified and his precious bloud shed for the benefite and good of all those that by a liuely and stedfast faith do apprehend and take hold of him and all his merites 3 Thirdly the analogie proportion and agreement which is between the signes and the things signified the Lord no doubt choosing such elements as might most aptly and fitly expresse the thinges signified and sealed by the same Which likewise may be brought into three especiall heades or pointes 1 First that as verily as that Bread is broken and the wine defused or spread abroade because many bee partakers of it so verily was Christ wounded for our transgressions and broken for our iniquities as Isaiah saith Cap. 53.5 and his body crucified and his blood shed vpon the crosse for many for the remission of sinnes Math. 26.26.22.28 1. Corinth 11.24.25.26 2 Secondly that as Bread hath his propertie through Gods blessing giuen it to feede and strengthen our naturall bodies in this life so his body being represented effectually vnto vs by that bread hath the self-same propertie touching our soules to strengthen and to nourish them spiritually And euen as the Wine comfort and make mans heart glad as appeareth by sundry Scriptures so our full ioy and spirituall comfort is to be found in him alone And to ioyne these two togeather of which we haue spoken seuerally this wee must know and beleeue further that as our diet is then full whole and perfect as it were when it consisteth of these two thinges Bread and Wine or Drinke so wee might know that the fulnesse and prefection of all spirituall nourishment is to be found in Christ alone no where else whilest that hee is become as well the Drincke as the Meate of our soule not onely in this double signe helping our infirmitie as it were but also teaching vs to seeke the heauenly refection and nourishment of our soules fully and wholly in him and no where else Wherevnto also he him selfe in some sort alludeth Math. 11. vers 28. c. Ioh. 6 35. Ioh. 7. 37.38 3 Thirdly that as the Bread is made of many Graines and the Wine of sundry seuerall Grapes and yet all make but one Bread and one Wine so all the faythfull should be instructed thereby that though they be seuerall and distinct persons one of thē from an other as the members in the body are yet they all compacted togeather make but one body as the Apostle Paul plainely prooueth Rom. 12.4 5. but specially 1. Corinth 10.16 17. These three things then out of all that hitherto hath been spoken I would haue to be obserued and noted 1 First that though it be true that euen by the ministerie of the Gospell wee receiue Christ with all his benefites of which Saint Paul speaketh Galat. 3 1. that Christ was described in their sight and crucified among them yet that wee haue this more plainely and plentifully set foorth vnto vs in the vse of the Supper whilest that we by fayth feeding on him that is the Bread of life which came downe from heauen John 6.51 are by that means become bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh Ephes 5.30 and made one in him euen as the Father and hee are one John 17.21.22 2 Secondly that this holy Sacrament doeth not onely direct vs to the death and passion of our Sauiour Christ which was performed many hundred yeares agoe as the one the onely Sacrifice for sinne neuer to be reiterated because that thereby he being the onely High priest and eternall Sacrificer hath consecrated for euer all them that are sanctified Hebr. 9.28 Heb. 10.14 but also yea chiefly and especially to the gracious fruites and effectes that we receaue thereby as the forgiuenesse of sinnes the assured pledge of eternall life and such like which are liuely set foorth and preached vnto vs in the same to the ende that wee may bee made partakers thereof 3 Thirdly that we must know and beleeue that though this Sacrament doe specially and chiefly direct vs to Christ his death merites obedience and the fruites thereof yet notwithstanding also it doeth instruct vs of the speciall dueties of Loue that in Christ and for Christ wee as the members of that bodie whereof he is the onely head ought vnfeignedly to performe one of vs towards an other not onely as profitable and necessarie for the partes to whom such duties are performed but comfortable also to our selues whilest by that as by a badge or cognizaunce we are knowne to be Christes Disciples Iohn 13.35 and haue sealed vp in our hearts the free pardon and full forgiuenesse of all our sinnes an assured pledge of our translation out of darkenesse into light see Luke 7.47 Also 1. John 3.14 In the third place for the clearing of this controuersie we must haue a watchfull eye to Sathans subtletie who laboureth in this poynt as in all other points of Christian religion by extreamities to draw vs into all corruption Now the extreamenesses that in time hertofore haue burst foorth and are yet in many places stoutly and stiffely maintained are specially three 1 First that of the Sacramentaries who holde and defende that there is nothing in the Supper left vs saue the bare and naked signes of Christes death and passion But the trueth is so farre off frō allowing this that we feare not to affirme that besides the signes wee haue the thinges them selues signified truly and effectually exhibited vnto vs because it is most certaine that our Sauiour Christ who is the trueth it selfe and can not lye doeth indeed and assuredly accomplish vnto vs all the promises which he made vnto vs and sealed vnto vs by the vse of the signes in the Sacrament making vs partakers euen of his very substaunce that we might also grow vp into one life with him And though this can not be comprehended by
the eye of mans reason and vnderstaÌ„ding yet we know that this is sensibly set foorth vnto vs by seuerall meanes and instrumentes some outward as the Elementes in the Sacrament and some inwarde as the spirituall Grace represented thereby For we are not Angels but men consisting of bodie and soule and therefore the Lord by the vse of his Word and Sacramentes hath prouided for both partes as the Word for our Eares and our Eares for hearing of the same that so Fayth might be wrought in our heartes Rom. 10.17 and the Elementes in the Sacramentes for our taste sight feeling c. and yet our soules to be nourished not with any or all of these outward thinges for how can outward and corruptible things nourish inward and immortall substaunce but onely with the spirituall graces offered vnto vs therein this also to be wrought in vs though our Sauiour be in Heauen in respect of his body and wee heere as Pilgrimes and Strangers on the Earth by the wonderfull vnsearchable working of his holy Spirite in vs and by the meanes of a liuely and assured Fayth both which being knit togeather doe easily ioyne togeather things that be as farre asunder in respect of distaunce of place as one ende of the earth is from the other and as farre asunder as heauen and earth them selues are or else how could we either beleeue the holy Catholike Church and feele the communion of Saintes seeing it commonly falleth out that the members of that holy fellowshippe are sundered one of them from an other in respect of great distance of place or be assured that Christes righteousnesse is become ours seeing he is in heauen wee on the earth if by Fayth we did not take hold of the same and apply it vnto our selues Besides if men should imbrace this sacramentarie opinioÌ„ what were it but to euert as the trueth of Christes promises so the certaintie and assurednesse of his word who in plaine tearmes calleth this holy Sacrament His bodie 2 The second extreamitie is that of consubstantiation some affirming that there is deliuered to the people and they receiue togeather with the substance of Bread the yery substance of Christes very naturall body so that there is as it were an intermingling of both the substaunces in the action of the Supper This opinion is iustly to be disliked and reproued not onely because of the absurdities which it hath common with the heresie of transubstantiation whereof wee will speake in the next place but also because it is quite and cleane contrarie to common sense and reason confounding and iumbling togeather two seuerall and distinct substances and making the lesse to witt the substance of bread to comprehende the greater that is Christs humaine body yea euen his verie Godhead which heauen and earth is not able to containe Besides it doth vtterly take away an essentiall propertie of Christes body for if Christ in respect of his humanitie be like vnto vs in all thinges sinne onely excepted and we know by the light of reason and vnderstanding that God hath bestowed vpon vs yea by verie experience that our bodies are circumscriptible and tyed to a place it must needs follow that Christ in respect of his Manhood or Christ as he is Man is and must be tyed to a place and not be in euery place as he must be if these mens assertions be true which is nothing els indeed but vtterly to destroy Christes body which I proue against them thus Whosoeuer taketh away the essentiall propertie of any thing taketh away the thing it selfe this Proposition is prooued by this Maxime in Logike If the definition of a thing which chiefly consisteth of the essentiall propertie of euerie thing be taken away then the thing defined it selfe also falleth As for example If a reasonable liuing creature which is the definition of a man be taken away what shall become of man or where shall he appeare which is the thing defined But these men take away the essentiall propertie of a thing to witte of a body which is to be circumscriptible or tyed to a place which is indeed an essentiall propertie of the body of man and therefore of Christes body as he is man If any will denie this it may easily be prooued both by the definition of a body which is a quantitie that may be deuided according to the threefold measuring receiued amongst men that is length breadth thicknesse and also by the description of a place which is defined to be a nighnesse or touching of the thing containing and the thing conteined The conclusion therefore is that in taking away place from the body of Christ which they doe whilest they place it in euerie place whereas in the nature thereof it can be but in one place at one time they doe vtterly destroy the body or humanitie of Christ or at the least confound it so with the Godhead as Eutyches did that they make a confusion whereas in all trueth and vprightnesse there should remaine a distinction of the proprieties of either nature in his blessed person But of this ynough in this place because it is somewhat philosophicall and because also in the next â—ection we shall haue occasion to deale with the like 3. The third extreamitie is that of transubstantiation maintained altogether by the Romish Catholikes which hold that the Bread and Wine the substance thereof vanishing away and nothing being left but the accidentes or qualities thereof as roundnes whitenesse rednesse moysture c. are changed and that by the power of certaine wordes spoken by the Priest as they cal him ouer the Elements they are turned into the verie naturall body and bloud of our Sauiour Concerning this point and the branches thereof I will speake particularly and first for the name Transubstantiation I fear not to affirme that it is verie new and neuer heard of before the dayes of Pope Innocent the third who was about the yeare of our Lord 1205. much lesse was it confirmed as an article of faith before the Councell of Constance a Citie so named in Germanie in the dayes of Pope John the xxiii which was about the yeare of our Lord 1415. and therefore by the Popish reason of reiecting new thinges easily ynough reiected for the noueltie thereof 2 That there is a change I doe not deny but this is not in respect of the nature of the thinges themselues but in respect of the vse and ende whereunto they are applyed because that they are by the Lordes institution separated from the common vse yea and from common Bread and Wine and applyed not onely to a holy vse but dedicated also to a holy ende that is to be sure seales and pledges of holy things to witt of Christs body and bloud and of the effectes that by his death and passion we receiue But that this change should be wrought by any wordes I am so farre off froÌ„ allowing it as true that I am verily perswaded
a continuall threed of speach as it were in the metaphor of Bread or Meates mentioned vers 26.27 vsing sundrie borowed speaches agreeing well to the circumstaunce of the matter wherein he was to deale and partly because he speaketh so often not of eating onely but also of beleeuing as vers 23.40 c. Which cannot be properly attributed to any outward or materiall thing as may be gathered Rom. 8.24 Also 2. Corinth 5.7 But let vs graunt that it were to be vnderstood of the holy Supper yet it doth not for all that establish any grosse and carnall eating of the naturall flesh or body of our Sauiour Christ for if it were so then had not our Sauiour sufficiently aunswered the Capernaites who did grossely dreame and doate of such a carnal manducation or eating but rather had yeelded vnto the same Besides if that should be allowed in what a miserable estate should we leaue the holy Fathers who were long before the time of Christes taking our flesh vpon him and therefore could not eate it And yet our Sauiour affirmeth Mat. 8.11 that they were in the kingdome of Heauen and Saint Paul saith 1. Corinth 10.3.4 that they did all eate the same spirituall meate that we doe and did all drinke the same spirituall drinke that we doe there being no difference at all in respect of substaunce and effect betwixt their Sacraments and ours but onely in time and in outward Elementes yet in what a miserable estate were Infantes that should die before they could communicate or partake in that holy Sacrament One of these two must needes be graunted either that they must haue the Communion ministred vnto them which thing indeed Augustine did once fantastically imagine but S. Paul is flatly against it 1. Corinth 11.28 who will haue none admitted thereto but such as can examine and trie themselues whether they be in the Fayth or no which Infantes can not doe or else that without it they are all condemned alreadie Both which are verie absurde and beastly So that you see for the auoyding of these absurdities it can at no hande bee vnderstoode either of the Sacramentes of the grosse and carnall eating of Christes body in the same but of the apprehension or laying hold of him togeather with the particular application of him to our selues by the hand or instrument Faith propounded and set foorth vnto vs by the ministerie of his Word and Gospell or if you wil for reasoning sake offered vnto vs in the vse of the Supper because there is in that respect but one meane giuen vs to take hold of him by and that is the great grace and gift of Fayth which we must vse in the Word Sacraments as men doe in the opprehending of Christes righteousnesse which though it be not essentially dwelling in vs yet it is effectually made ours whilest wee apprehend and lay hold of the same by a sounde and sure Fayth And euen in like sort is Christ God Man togeather with all his merites not onely offered but laide hold of in the Word and Sacramentes For of like things there is alwayes a like consideration The seconde place is that sentence reported by the three Euangelistes Matthew Marke and Luke and S. Paul himselfe also reciting the institution of the Supper which our Sauiour Christ vsed saying This is my body which they vrge in the letter after this sorte Hath not Christ said it in plaine tearmes and shal I not beleeue it though that my carnall vnderstanding cannot conceiue the same To all this I answere First that the question is not of the wordes for wee as well as they confesse the same but of the sense of which wee will speake anone Secondly that wee are bounde to beleeue all such thinges as are comprehended in Gods Worde though indeed our sensuall reason can not comprehend them yet in such sort must we beleeue the same and to such endes as the Lord himselfe hath appointed not yet stretching them further then the Lorde would haue vs nor restraining them to narrow or purposes then the Lord hath appoynted neither yet fayling in the allegation of them either in the matter manner or end for if we doe wee doe nothing else thereby but heape vp iust condemnation against our owne soules Concerning the wordes and the plainenes of them I say that other words are as plaine as they both in the old and new testament which must yet notwithstanding be otherwise interpreted then the words themselues seeme to import For example in the 17 of Genesis 10. Circumcision is called the Couenaunt betwixt GOD and his people whereas it was but the signe of the Couenaunt For the Couenaunt it selfe was that hee would be the God of Abraham and in him of all the Faythfull and of their seed after them So in the new Testament Christ sayth of him selfe Iohn 15.5 I am the Vine whereas wee know and beleeue that Christ was no Vine but that hee calleth him selfe so in a certaine resemblance because looke what propertie the fruite of the Vine hath in respect of our bodies to witt to comfort men and ro make them glad heartes the same hath Christ and the fruites of his grace receiued by Fryth in respect af our soules and as the Branches of the Vine haue nothing of them selues but all that they haue they haue it from the Vine it selfe so none of his members can bring foorth fruite but by abyding in him and being made fruitfull through his grace In like manner is the Bread of the Lords Supper called his Body because as we haue sayd before looke what proper and peculiar office the Bread hath or yeeldeth to our naturall bodies the selfe same doth Iesus Christes body broken taken hold of by Faith spiritually communicate vnto our soules And this speach is vsuall in the Scriptures to attribute that to the signe which is proper and peculiar to the thing signified by reason of the stre ght analogie proportion and agreement which is betweene the signe and the thing signified and not in any other respect of consubstantiatiō transubstantiation or any other such like fantasticall dotage Beside the verie circumstances of time place person and manner of doing doe sufficiently prooue the vanitie and vntruth of this grosse interpretation For this Sacrament being instituted by Christ him selfe a little before his death in the presence of the Apostles who had all their senses satisfied in the beholding hearing and feeling of the naturall body of our Sauiour Christ he him selfe sitting at the Table with them and speaking these words in their presence and hearing it could not bee that that bread offered vnto them as the pledge of his body should be his naturall bodie or bodie of flesh vnlesse you will say that Christ had two bodies one sitting at the table instituting the action of the Supper and an other borne in his handes and deliuered vnto his Apostles then the which what can be not onely more absurde and
farre frō mortall men to presume in any thing though neuer so little to restraine the eternall power of the immortal God but because his will and power in respect of vs be so conioyned and knit togeather that looke whatsoeuer he will do that he can do and looke whatsoeuer hee can doe that he will doe To make this plaine by an example We all know that God in respect both of his selfe and that all thinges are possible with him can if he would saue all men and yet we feare not to say that in respect of vs he can not saue all men because wee know by his reuealed will that hee will not saue them all For some must be the vesselles ordeined for destructiō as well as others vessels of saluation and eternall life The like may we say for this matter of the Supper that though wee were perswaded that Christ as he is man might be euery where yet because he hath reuealed in his Word that he will haue his bodie to be circumscriptible and tyed to a place to witt Heauen yea which is more to a certaine place in Heauen that therefore it can be no iniurie at all to him neither any debasing of his omnipotent power to say that now he cannot be bodily in the Sacrament much lesse bodily in so many sacraments as be celebrated and ministred in so sundry and infinite places at one time And this I thinke sufficient to all these Obiections being willing heere to finish this present short Treatise sauing that I haue thought good in this place to adde euen as a challenge to the aduerse partie and as matter of necessary instruction to such as alreadie see the trueth these three poyntes following 1 FIrst that I am readie in all holy loue further to aunswere any thing that Christianly shall be further obiected concerning this Question I say Christianly obiected for if any shall either curiously or captiously propound any thing I thinke it most conuenient rather to leaue such in their owne folly for a season till it please God at some one time or other euen extraordinarily as it were to make them to see the same if it shall so please him then to spend time and to trauaile in satisfying of their vaine curiositie 2 Secondly that though this point of Transubstantiation brought in by Papistes be great and grosse concerning the matter of the Supper yet that they faile not alone herein in that behalfe but hold many mo errours concerning that point some of them as palpable if not more grosse and blasphemous then this and some of them lesse A few I will rehearse desiring others to consider of the rest 1 First in that they make it a sacrifice Propitiatorie for the quicke and the dead vtterly euacuating by that meanes and making of no force the eternall Priesthood of our Sauiour Christ which consisteth in this that he hath once for all vpon the Alter of the Crosse offered vp himselfe vnto God the Father a full and sufficient Sacrifice for the sinnes of the people as the Apostle plainely prooueth in the 7.8.9 and 10. Chapters of his Epistle to the Hebrewes But no maruell that they should annihilate his Offices which destroy his person as these men doe by confounding the proprieties of either nature as hath been before decreed 2 Secondly there is but a little lesse Leuen in that matter that they holde of Concountancie by which they haue spoyled the people of the vse of the Cuppe which both by Christes owne institution and by his expresse Commaundement saying Drinke yee all of this doth in all trueth and vprightnesse belong vnto them and all this they haue done vnder this shadow that because no body is without blood and they haue before presupposing that the Bread is turned into the Bodie as indeede if men will presuppose either vnpossible or vntrue things euery thing will follow of it eaten the bodie therefore must it needes follow that they haue drunke also his blood But I know not whether I shold blame them for their beastlinesse or reprooue them for their pride that dare thus presūptuously alter the Lordes very Ordinaunce and Institution 3 Thirdly their Adoration is as corrupt and filthie while they make men to cōmit grosse palpable Idolatrie in falling downe before a peece of Bread what doe I say I know not whether I may call it by that name or no for it may be disputed of whether their Masse-cake be Bread and worshipping a Wafer-cake the worke of mens hands But suppose it were Christes body as they say yet I affirme that they may not adore Christes body alone yea and that they cannot worship the same of it selfe without horrible idolatrie because it is a creature For though it be true that Christ as he is God is to be worshipped as his Father yea and Christ God and Man in one person is to be adored yet we cannot without great sinne and grieuous offence against God and his word worship the humanitie or manhood of our Sauiour Christ onely 4 To speake of the reseruation circumgestation or carrying of it about with many other odde toyes of their owne inuention and largely to lay out the inconueniences thereof would require some proper and fit discourse for that purpose but I will reserue it till another time making haste now to that which shal be as the last so in my iudgement not the least profitable part of this Treatie And that is how a man should draw neere vnto such reuerent mysteries wherein such excellent graces are offered vnto him and how he may best come to reape and receiue fruite and comfort by the same All that a man is to deale in concerning this last point may be well reduced into three short heades or Titles 1 First what he is to doe before communicating or receiuing of this Sacrament and this I will call in one terme Preparation 2 Secondly what hee is to doe or thinke vpon in the time and at the very instant of receiuing and this I will name Meditation 3 Thirdly what he is to doe after the time of receiuing and this I will call Action or Practise 1 Preparation which is the first respecteth either God or man Now that which concerneth God is comprehended vnder true Fayth and vnfeigned Repentaunce as that which concerneth man is comprised vnder sounde loue And I call them sound true and vnfeigned and yet not perfect because perfection properly signifying that vnto which nothing can be added cannot be founde in man during this life And this I speake partly to stop the mouthes of such as dreame of a perfection in this life and partly to teach vs that our imperfections should not hinder vs from drawing nigh thereto so that we doe not foster and foode our selues in them seeing that otherwise the Sacrament should stand vs in stead if we were not vnperfect for it is a helpe and succour ordeined by God against our naturall infirmitie and weakenesse By Fayth
TWO Treatises 1. The holy exercise of a true Fast described out of Gods word Written by T. C. Joel 2.12.13 Turne you vnto me saith the Lord with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning And rent your heart and not your clothes and turne vnto the Lord your God for he it gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnesse and repenteth him of the euill 2. The substance of the Lordes Supper Written by T. W. Imprinted at London for I. Harison and T. Man Anno. 1610. THE HOLY EXERCISE OF a true Fast described out of Gods word IT IS AN euident declaration of a marueilous blindnesse which is in vs to order our steppes towardes the kingdome of heauen that like children new come into the world we know not when to eate and when to forbeare eating no further then wee haue our direction out of Gods word But it is yet more maruaile that in so small a matter scarse the hundred person of those which professe the name of Christ know either how to enter into this way or how to turne them in it when they are entred to any glorie of GOD or profite of them selves For to let the Papists goe which through a shamefull superstition in it rather pine away their soules then take downe their bodies it is a shame to speake how few there are of those which beare the name of Gospellers that haue so much as the knowledge of this exercise so farre are they from any lawfull and right practise of it For a great number as a needlesse thing reiect it altogeather For shaking off the Popish yoke from their owne necks by vsing or rather abusing their libertie they suffer their seruants to remaine still vnder it Which custome vnlesse it be through infirmitie of body or some other weightie cause it can hardly escape the hotte and vehement suspition either of belly-Gods if thinking it religious in their seruantes they them-selues will not obserue it or of a couetous minde if hauing no such opinion of it they doe notwithstanding constraine their seruantes therevnto An other sort there bee which being afraide of the reproche of Belly-gods and thinking it fitting to the Christian profession to keepe the flesh in some bridle allow in deede of the exercise of Fasting but for want of knowledge of a better they sticke still in the mire of the Popish fast For remedie whereof there followeth a Treatise whereby the true Fast being vnderstanded as well the prophane opinion of those which reiect this exercise as the foolish superstition of those which content them selues with a shadow thereof is laid open Fasting therfore is an abstinence commanded of the Lord thereby to make solemne professiō of our repētance Wherein that which is sayd of the Lord commaunding it is to be considered against those which would thrust this exercise out of the doores of Christian Churches For the repressing of which errour let that be called to remembrance which the Lord commanded by Moses * Leuit 16.29 30 31 23.27 to 33 Num. 29.7 That euery soule once a yeare should humble it selfe in fasting before the Lord in one of the great assemblies of his people For although the ceremonie of the day be taken away by the cōming of our Sauiour Christ yet the thing it selfe is no more taken away thē a rest for Gods seruice is banished because the Iewes Saboth is abolished For when as no doubt the consideration of the Fast was that the wrath of GOD should not breake out against them or being broken out should be caused to returne home againe the same cause remaining there is good reason the same effect should continue And when it is an humbling of a man before his God was there any degree of casting downe necessarie for that people which is not necessarie for vs Either ought they to haue gone downe lower into the conceite of their vnworthinesse then we into the conscience of our guiltinesse Whose benefites as they are greater then theirs so the abuse of them should driue vs to the lowest humiliation that can be so it be lawfull warrantable by the word of God But if this holy exercise of Fasting doe not clearely enough appeare to be no fading or shadowing ceremonie by this set and ordinarie Fast because the like doth not agree with the time of the Gospell yet by other moueable and vncertaine Fastes which were holden vpon occasion the same may bee more strongly strengthened For where we see the like occasion of fast that was then there we may be assured of the same commaundement to fast that was giuen them commaundement I say least any man thinking it to be a will worship taken vp at the pleasure of men might thinke he had as good or better right to lay it downe then they had to take it vp For proofe whereof that one place of the Prophet Ioel shall suffice Ioel. 2.22 which vpon occasion of a great dearth in the Land commaundeth in the Lords behalfe to sanctifie a Fast By which one commaundement it is euident that other Fastes which were kept either by the Churches publiquely or by some of the faythfull priuatly were done in obedience and not at the randon of mans inuention If this be not sufficient to subdue our sturdie affections to this so holy an exercise yet at the least let them stoupe vnder so manifest both doctrine examples hereof by the Churches of God vnderneath the Gospell For when as our Sauiour Christ being charged by the Pharises and Iohns Disciples Luke 5.33 that his Disciples fasted not so answered that he did not onely not condemne it but highly also commend it so it were done seasonably It is plaine that the libertie which the Gospell bringeth hath not remoued the auncient bound of a Christian Fast And if we looke into the practise whereby the way chalked out by his doctrine is troden and beaten plaine vnto vs by examples it will soone be seene how greatly they deceiue them selues which vnder the colour of greater perfection attained vnder the Gospell cast away the assistance that the Lord offereth by this exercise For if we enquire of the Churches Apostles fasting then was it most often when they were fullest of the graces of God that is after the solemne sending of the holy Ghost If wee thinke then that this exercise of fast be too ceremonious because it was tied to a certaine day the commaundement to hold it without any such restraint vnto a certaine time ought to correct that thought of ours If we stand in feare that it should be too Iewish the doctrine of the Gospell is ready to pull vs out of that feare If presumption of greater graces then those which should neede such a supplie doe bring this Fast out of conceit with vs the practise of it by the holy Apostles at the highest toppe of their perfection in this world will easily set vp the credite thereof
time extending this exercise at the least to some part of the night When notwithstanding it is to be noted that as wel in the former abstinence from meate as in this withdrawing of some part of sleepe that neither is so streightly required of the Lord but that those whose either disease or other infirmitie will not beare this abstinence without hazard of their health may vse so much libertie as shall serue for the preseruation of their health so they take heed they vse not this gentle dealing of the Lord as a cloake to hide the lustes of their flesh withall A third kind of abstinence is in the apparel that albeit they put not on Sackcloth and Ashes as the holy Fathers did in times past yet that they content thē selues with a common kind of attire auoyding all such costlinesse curiositie whereby in tricking trimming vp them selues the flesh may take occasion of being proud Thus the Lord whē he would haue the children of Israel to humble them selues before him spake to Moses saying Exod. 33.5 Speake vnto the children of Israel that for the present time they lay aside their Iewels and Ornamentes that I may know what I shall doe with them And thus farre hath it been spoken of the outward Exercises which are generall and to be done of al which make this solemne profession of repentaunce There is one yet which is more speciall belonging vnto married persons alone which is that they for the time 1. Cor. 7.5 should with consent abstaine from the mutuall felowship one of an other which is so straitly required Ioel. 2.16 that euen the Bridegrome the Bride which of all other ought to haue the greatest priuiledge in that poynt are bidden at such times to come out of their chambers Rom. 14.17 But for as much as the kingdome of heauen standeth not in these thinges and the Lord being a Spirit will be worshipped in spirite and trueth either these exercises must lead vs to some farther thing or else the same accusation will lie against vs wherewith the Prophet charged the Israelites who contenting them selues with the outward ceremonie of abstinence Esay 58.3 were sent home as emptie as they came And indeed vnlesse we bring more with vs then this our abstinencie our Fastes may be matched with the Beasts Fast of Niniuie Ionas 3.7 for they also both eate nothing and were couered with Sackcloth yea the Beastes Fast may be so much better then ours as there be some kinds of Beastes that can longer endure without meate and sleepe then we Where the Papistes fast which was shewed before to be childish may heere be prooued to be beastly and brutish For if they did onely abstaine from Meate they iudged them selues to haue holden a good Fast vnto the Lord. There follow the inwarde vertues helped forward by the bodily exercise which in the number * Ezdra 6.21 two The one is the humbling and casting downe of our selues before the high Maiestie of God with sorrow for our sinnes The other is the assuraunce that we haue that with forgiuenesse of them we shall obtaine the thing that we stande in need of and make suite for Here therefore first commeth to be considered our hūbling casting downe which is a vile esteeming of our selues answering to the outward exercise For therfore doe we abstaine for a time that we might thereby haue a quicker feeling of our owne vnworthines Therefore we bring downe the body that the minde may be likewise brought downe Therefore we crucifie the flesh that the deserued death of the spirite may be the better knowen Therfore we abstaine from our pleasures and commodities Mark 2.20 Luk. 5.35 Math. 9.15 that through conscience of sinne and feeling of the wrath of God either present or to come for the same we might draw our selues to a greater sorrow In which respect the exercise which the other Euangelistes call Fasting Saint Mathew calleth Mourning Herevpon it commeth Ioel. 2 17. 1. Sam. 7.6 that weeping which is a witnesse of our sorrow is annexed vnto the Fast which the children of God haue done so plentifully in this exercise 2. Sam. 7.6 that they haue bin sayd to haue drawne whole Buckets of Water which the deapth of the sorrow for their sinnes and the anger of God against them hath ministred And as these outward exercises are commaunded to draw vs to a feeling of our vnworthines so in the feeling thereof by them wee make a solemne confession of the same For the children of God in time past by their abstinence from meate drinke confessed them selues vnworthy so much as of a crumme of bread or drop of water by putting on Sackcloth vnworthy of the worst rag to couer their shame with So that if common honestie and health would haue suffered they wold haue stripped them selues starke naked The same is to be vnderstanded of the benefite of Sleepe and company of Mariage as also of all other the commodities of this life whereof they did not onely confesse them selues vnworthy but in that they put Dust and Ashes vpon their heades they gaue to vnderstande that they were vnworthie of the life it selfe and that they deserued to bee as farre vnderneath the ground as they were aboue it yea if there had been any thing apter to haue set forth their euerlasting condemnation in Hell of that also would they haue borne the marke thereby to declare their guilt desert of the same So that hereby they do iustifie the Lord in that vengeance against thē whereof by this humbling of thē selues they seeke redresse If then we keepe a holy Fast vnto the Lord wee must thereby be humbled in our selues before the Lord but if vpō confidence of our fasting Luk. 5.33 Luk. 18.11 wee waxe bolder to sinne in a perswasion that through obedience giuen vnto him in this one poynt we may be bolder to be disobedient in others or if the vse hereof do make vs swell against our brethren and after the example of the Pharisees despise thē which doe not Fast as wee doe then is the Fast appoynted of the Lord for our medicine become our bane and poyson And therefore here now we giue a new charge vpon the Popish Fast a great deale more hotte then the former For seeing that they with the proude Pharisee boast of the merite of their fastes setting these fastes as other workes in the place of the Blood of Christ It is manifest that their Fastes are so farre from humbling them that through the opinion of them they rise vp against the Lord and doe their best to set them selues euen in the throne of God so that vnto the childishnesse and brutishnesse of their Fast abouementioned heere they haue added an horrible and blasphemous sacriledge To the compassing of this true humbling of our sinnes is annexed necessarily an information and meditation of the filthinesse of our sinnes and of the iust
vengeance of the Lord against them declared in the threatninges of the Law and execution of the iudgements of God against the wicked and namely against our Sauiour Christ who putting vpon himselfe our wickednesse suffered Hell paines for it and specially an information and meditation of those both sinnes and punishmentes which the present time and persons doe giue occasion of And thus farre touching the first part of the inwarde vertues in Fasting standing in the casting downe of our selues before the Lord. There followeth the other part which is a profession of our Fayth that wee shall be lifted vp as high through the grace of the Lord our God in Iesus Christ as the conscience of our sinnes doth cast vs downe and that wee shall obtaine the remoouing of the euilles tending to our destruction through the woorthinesse of our Sauiour Christ which either presently presse vs or hang ouer our heads through our owne vnworthinesse For as true repentance casting vs downe with one hand both in sorrowe for our sinnes confession of the same leaueth vs not in our downfal but through faith reacheth vs the other hand to lift vs vp againe so this solemne profession of our repentance carying vs first to the valley of trouble afterward bringeth vs backe againe to the gate of hope In which respect wee alwayes finde in the holy Scriptures * Ezra 9.5 Nehe. 1.4 Dan. 9 3. Iudg. 20.26 Luk. 5.33 1. Cor. 7.7 that Fasting is ioyned with praier * 2. Chron. 20.6 Iames. 1.6 Iohn 16.23 which can neuer be truly made without hope of obtaining the grace that is praied for But for as much as prayer is a dayly and ordinarie exercise of Gods children it is manifest * Ionas 3.8 Esay 58.4 that by the prayer which is coupled with Fasting there is vnderstanded a speciall or peerelesse kinde of Prayer both in zeale and strength of Prayer as also in continuance of the same Whereby appeareth that here is an other vse of the outwarde abstinence that it might be as it were a wing wherewith the Prayer that otherwise through earthly affections creepeth vpon the ground might the easier flee vp into heauen and that it might be a Grindestone to make a poynt of it that it may pierce and to set an edge that it may cut both the visible and inuisible enimies which wee pray against And therefore the outward abstinence that pulleth downe the body helpeth to lift vp the minde and crucifying the flesh it quickneth the spirite and maketh it more liuely to this exercise Where yet againe the Popish Fast is founde insufficient which vpon the dayes of their Fastes had no extraordinarie exercises of prayer more then other dayes which were not fasted To the better performance also of this part is annexed an information and meditation of the gracious promises of God especially such as may serue for reliefe of the present occasions Wherein the better to correct our dulnesse heauinesse to this so holy an exercise let vs remember that it is to obtaine some speciall grace at the hand of the Lord. Whereby it is giuen vs to vnderstand that vpon due holding of this Fast vnto the Lord there be excellent promises and a most singular rewarde Ioel. 2.13 19.20 Whereof the place of Ioel as it spake before for the commaundement of all the Fastes which the people of God vsed so will it vndertake for the promises which the Lord hath made to all those which submit thē selues to the obedience thereof The truth of which promises is so manifest in the Scriptures as the Sunne at noone dayes can be no clearer For let all the Fastes of the holy Churches and of godly men layd out in Scripture both of the old and new Testament be * Iudg 20.23 Ezra 19.6 Hest 4.16 2. Chron. 20.3 turned ouer and it shall be seene that the ende of their Fast which kept it in any measure of trueth and simplicitie was a Feast and the issue of their mourning great reioycing Dan. 9.20 Ionah 2.10 For albeit the ordinarie Prayers of the faithfull returne not empty vnto them againe yet hauing regarde vnto these which are ioyned with this Exercise Act. 12.5 Act. 13.2 they may worthily seeme to be barrē which are otherwise fruitfull and to be blasted which otherwise seeme full cared Yea the Fast of the wicked king Achab 1. Regū 21.27 ioyned with no true repentaunce nor so much as with any true knowledge how to serue the Lord but performed in some sort onely in keeping of the outward and bodily ceremonie went not vnrewarded from the Lord. For euen by the very shadow of his exercise the execution of that iudgment which was awarded against him touching his vtter rasing from the kingdome of Israel was deferred vntill his sonnes dayes Now if the comming within the shadow of this exercise doth heale some diseases what will it doe if wee come to touch the body thereof And if the leaues of it haue some vertue to preserue men from the vengeance of God how soueraigne is the fruite to deliuer vs from the wrath to come And if the ordinarie obedience of the children of God goeth not emptie and vnrewarded from the presence of God this extraordinarie obedience exercise in the worshippe of God must needes receiue speciall and extraordinarie blessinges from his hand 1. Regum 20.29 When Benhadab the Syrian King ouercome by Achab king of Israel was out of hope of any safety at the length by the aduice of his seruantes he put him selfe and his company in Sackcloth 1. Reg. 20.31 to 35. with Ropes about their neckes thinking by humbling themselues before the King to obtaine pardon which came to passe accordingly If therefore men in hope of obtaining pardon will humble themselues to them of whom they haue no promise that they shall obtaine any thing how much more ought wee to doe it which haue so sure Promises of good successe And if mercie was obtained of men in whom there is scant a droppe of that pittie and compassion which is sea-full in the Lord we may be well assured that wee shall not misse of it at his hand And if one enimie can looke for it at the hand of an other wee may with greater assuraunce looke for it at the hande of the Lord to whom we are alreadie reconciled by the blood of his Sonne Therefore if the authoritie of the Lord should not compell vs yet the most liberall and certaine promises should allure vs to this exercise Which if wee doe not what remayneth but that such as will not Fast with the children of God must eate and drinke of the furious wrath of God with the wicked they that will not weepe with the one must howle with the other And finally they that will haue no part in the obedience of the commaundement giuen hereof to both the peoples vnder the Law and vnder the Gospel must haue no part in the
Promises made to any of them according as the Lord threatneth Leui. 23.29 Luk. 5 35. that who so euer shall not afflict or humble his soule with the rest that he will destroy them from among his people The time of Fasting is the time of affliction either for want of some great benefite needfull or through feeling of some great iudgement present or to come Where the Popish Fast must passe an other condemnation which maketh no difference or choyce of time but appoynteth euery Fryday and other set Euens yearely whether the time be prosperous or vnprosperous whether it be peace or warre health or sicknes dearth or plentie Which is all one as if the Physition should now appoynt his patient this day twentie or fourtie yeares hence to take a Purgation or to be let blood In which case either he must be a Prophet rather then a Physitian to know that he shall on that day haue need of it or else he must be a Physitian of no value ignorant or vnfaythfull As therefore the Physitiā openeth no vaine but with obseruation where the signe is giueth no Purgation without heede taking to the time of the yeare whether it be Spring or Fall whether it be hot or cold so it behooueth the spirituall Physitian to haue an eye vnto the time when this Medicine is in season And so much the more heere rather then there as the danger is greater For as a new peece of Cloth added to an olde Garment taketh something from the olde Luke 5.36 causeth the rent to be worse then before so Fasting vnfitly applyed to the state of those that are enioyned to keepe it maketh them worse then they were before the Fast Yea that which more is Luke 5.37 as the new Wine put into olde vessels doth not onely make them worse but breake them all to peeces So this Fast thrust vpon those which are not either for the time or for some other cause apt for it doeth vtterly destroy them Whereby men may perceiue what cause wee haue to make a great conscience of the Popish Fast as that which is able of it selfe if there were no other corruptiōs amongst them to driue a man to eternall destruction According also to the greatnesse of the affliction Leui. 23.27 28. the time of the Fast is taken by the discretion of those to whom it belongeth at the least for a whole day And if the wrath of the Lord be hotter then two dayes or * Ester 4.16 else three as it appeareth by the example of the Iewes in Hesters time Act. 9.9 and of Saint Paul And this time what so euer hath the nature of a Saboth Leuit. 23.30.31 For therein men are bound to abstaine from their bodily labours according to the same straightnesse with the same exceptions that they are bounde to obserue the Saboth Ioel. 2.12 Leui. 23.32 And therefore the Prophet willeth them to sanctifie a Fast And the Lord threateneth that who so euer shall doe any worke on that day him shall he cut off from amongest his people The end whereof is that men setting them selues apart from their dayly occupations might be wholly bestowed in the spirituall exercises aboue specified Whereby that we may know that there was neuer a Thread in the olde Cloth of the Popish Fast which was not throughly infected with the spirituall leprosie of disobedience vnto the Lord It is to be noted that where they ordayned many both wicked and vnnecessarie Holy dayes this * one and besides the Saboth the onely Holy day appointed of the Lord they quite rased out of their Kalender And of the Fast in generall thus farre The kindes or sortes of Fastes doe follow which are either priuate or publique The priuate Fast is that which is vndertaken vpon some particular calamitie by the discretion of them against whom the calamitie is sent And it is either of a particular man or householde In the former wherof it is to be obserued that for as much as the Fast is ioyned with a separation from their dayly occupations that neither Children nor Scholers nor Seruants nor any other which be at the disposition gouernement of others can chuse any such day appointed for commō occupations without the consent of those that haue commaundement ouer them Without which consent they must be forced to hold their Fastes vpon the Lordes day or other dayes of rest established in the places of their abode For heere the Law of the Lord hath place that if the Wife Sonne or Daughter Num. 30.4 vow a Vow vnto the Lord that the Husband or Father shall haue power to breake it The publique Fast is that which is vndertaken vpon some more generall calamitie of the Church at the appoyntment of them which vnder Christ haue the gouernement of the places Ioel. 2.15 where the fast is holden In this Fast because a publique assembly is cōmaunded it followeth that the chiefe instruction of the foresayd profession of repentance is to be fetched from the publique preaching of the word Now leauing the causes of the priuate Fastes to the examination of euery one which can best iudge of their owne estate let vs consider what causes there be of a generall Fast amongest vs. Wherein that it may be seene that the Trumpet of Fasting is blowen rather by the breath of God then by the mouth of man let vs take a short view of the causes of the Fastes mentioned in the Scriptures The cause of the Fast is the wrath of God against the Church where is to be considered that the people of God haue not onely regarded this wrath against them selues particularly but against others also of the same societie fellowship in religion that they were of through a mutuall feeling and compassion which they haue one with an other as in the example of the Church of Antioch Actes 13.2 whose Fast appeareth to haue been taken in hand rather for the miserie of the Church of Jerusalem then for them selues Now the Churches rounde about vs being fallen into great decay partly by the spirituall miseries as well of the heresies of Papistes Arrians Anabaptistes the Familie of loue c. as also of the Schisme of Lutheranisme dayly preuayling partly by bodily plagues of the Pestilence almost in all places of the Sworde in our neighbour countries and of the Famine which waiteth commonly vpon the same It is euident that thereby groweth one cause of humbling our selues before our God And when this wrath is considered either in that which is already come or in that which may be feared shortly to come to whether so euer of the causes we looke we shall finde that we haue cause to Fast For what spirituall euill is in any of al their Churches which are not altogeather in ours not one of those detestable Heresies but are lodged amongst vs. And although the Schisme of Lutheranisme be not among vs yet there is
that it sauoureth very strongly of a Magicall incantation and I am so much the more confirmed in this because the Papistes reioycing as Inchaunters and Sorcerers doe in their odde numbers haue added one word that is enim to the wordes of institution saying Hoe est enim corpus meum as may appeare in their Missall or Masse booke 3 The grosse and palpable absurdities which follow this opinion of Transubstantiation are sufficient and strong inough of them selues to make it out of credite with al persons indued with holie wisedome and vnderstanding to cause them to esteeme of it not onely as a thing false and erronious but very vngodly and blasphemous also To reckon vp all or largely to discourse vpon the particulars it is not my purpose but onely to touch some shortly yet so as the vanitie and falsehood of this great corruption may thereby easily appeare 1 First I say that this doth vtterly destroy the nature of a Sacrament which must euer consist of two partes to wit of visible elements and inuisible graces which can not be if so be it that the nature and substaunce of the elementes be either chaunged or vanish away and the things represented by the same come in their place because that the one part of the Sacrament to witt the visible signe is then and there wanting 2 Secondly I affirme that it is iniurious to the glorified bodie of our Sauiour not onely while it bringeth him from heauen the place of all blessednesse into earth the place of all miserie wretchednesse but also whilest it maketh it to be rent and torne in peeces not onely with the teeth of good men a matter which Nature abhorreth but with the teeth of the wicked and vngodly yea with the teeth of Mise Dogges and other vnreasonable creatures yea whilest it maketh it which is immortall in immortal glorie subiect to putrifaction corruption and Wormes by reason of the long reseruation thereof and at the last to consuming in the fire a fact of horrible crueltie if it were Christes flesh because it may not otherwise be made away as they them selues confesse if it be ouertaken with horinesse moldinesse or any such like 3 Thirdly I say that by a consequent it doth wonderfully confound if not vtterly destroy the humanitie of our Sauiour with his Godhead whilest that which is proper and peculiar to his eternall Deitie to witt to be euery where is attributed and ascribed to his humanitie which as hath been before shewed and shall be more plainely prooued hereafter is and must of necessitie since his ascension be circumscriptible and tied to a place For otherwise if the glorification of Christes bodie haue taken away that propertie of tying to a place then the like shall be perfourmed in all the bodies of the faythfull because he shall change our base and vile bodyes that they may be fashioned like vnto his glorious body Philip. 3. 21. But to say that our bodyes shall be euery where were a beastly and blasphemous assertion because it should ascribe that vnto vs which is proper and peculiar onely to God For vnto him alone it pertaineth to fill heauen earth and all places Therefore this assertion concerning Christes glorified body must of necessitie be such likewise 4 Fourthly it doth destroy all the Articles of our Fayth which concerne Christes ascension in heauen sitting at the right hand of the Father and his comming againe together with all the places of Scripture that confirme those most holy comfortable and necessarie poyntes For if he be heere in respect of his bodily power presence how can he be iustly said to haue ascended in respect of his bodie into heauen and to sit there at the right hand of his Father making continuall intercession for vs Or how can it be affirmed that from thence hee shall come with great power and glorie to iudge the quicke and the dead seeing he is heere on earth already Let men of the world deeme what they list this is the truth that God hath sanctified vnto vs in his word and doe steadfastly beleeue it in my heart and will through Gods goodnesse and strength alwayes confesse the same with my mouth that from the time of his ascension the heauens must containe Chistes naturall bodie vntill the time that all thinges be restored Actes 3.21 that is euen to the worldes end 5 Fifthly I say that this opinion doth depriue vs of all the spirituall graces and comforts that God the father in his sonne Christ by sending the holy Ghost the third person in the Deitie hath bestowed vpon the whole Church generally and euery particular member thereof For doeth not our Sauiour Christ say Iohn 16.7 I tell you the trueth It is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away that Comforter will not come vnto you But if I depart I will sende him vnto you Either this then must be true that we haue the holy Ghost by the bodily absence of our Sauiour Christ giuen to the Church as before is sayd or else if Christ be heere bodily present the holy Ghost is not yet come which you may see plainely ouerthrowne Act. 2.1.2 6 Sixthly this assertion accuseth Christ of manifest lying and vntrueth For he himselfe hath said Math. 26.11 The poore yee haue alwayes with you but me ye shall not haue alwaies And yet this people dare affirme that wee haue him continually not in respect of his spirituall power and presence onely in which respect he filleth all places both in heauen and in earth and is sayd to be with the beleeuers euen vnto the end of the world Matth. 28.20 But in respect of corporall and bodily presence then the which nothing can be more absurde as hath been before shewed But heere arise vp three speciall obiections to be answered two whereof are taken for the wordes of the text of holy Scripture the third from the omnipotencie almightie power of our Sauiour Christ common thinges indeede and might as easily be reiected as obiected but yet both for the strengthening of them that stand for the satisfying instruction of them that be weake and ignoraunt I will in a word or two as it were make a short yet a sound sufficient and true answere I hope to euery one of them seuerally and by them selues The first place obiected were these wordes out of Iohn 6.13 Except yee eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood yee haue no life in you Wherevnto I answere first that neither these wordes neither the rest of the Chapter can properly be vnderstoode of the Lords supper because that was not at that time instituted and ordeined but rather of our communication or partaking with Christ by the meanes of fayth apprehending the worde and applying particularly vnto our selues all the gracious and sweete promises that the Lord hath made and offered vnto vs therein which may appeare partly because hee persisteth by a