they tearme rem Sacramenti the principall thing exhibited in the Sacrament Thus in the Lords Supper the outward thing which we see with our eyes is bread and wine the inward thing which wee apprehend by faith is the body and blood of Christ in the outward part of this mysticall action which reacheth to that which is Sacramentum onely we receiue this body and blood but sacramentally in the inward which containeth rem the thing it selfe in it wee receiue them really and consequently the presence of these in the one is relatiue and symbolicall in the other reall and substantiall To begin then with that which is symbolicall and relatiue we may obserue out of the Scripture which saith that Abraham receiued the signe of Circumcision a seale of the righteousnesse of the faith which hee had being vncircumcised that Sacraments haue a twofold relation to the things whereof they be Sacraments the one of a signe the other of a seale Signes wee knovv are relatiuely vnited vnto the things which they doe signifie and in this respect ate so neerly conioyned together that the name of the one is vsually communicated vnto the other This cup is the new Testament or the new Couenant saith our Sauiour in the institution of the holy Supper Luk. 22.20 This is my Couenant saith God in the institution of Circumcision in the old Testament Gen. 17.10 but how it was his Couenant hee explaneth in the verse immediatly following Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskinne and it shall be a SIGNE of the Couenant betwixt me and you So words being the signes of things no sooner is the sound of the word conueyed to our cares but the notion of the thing signified thereby is presented vnto our minde and thereupon in the speech of the Scripture nothing is more ordinary then by the terme of Word to note a thing We reade in the fourth of the first of Samuel that the Philistims were afraid and said God is come into the Campe vers 7. when the Israelites brought thither the Arke of the Couenant of the Lord of hosts which dwelleth betweene the Cherubims vers 4. and yet was that no other but this relatiue kinde of presence wherof now we speake in respect whereof also the shewbread is in the Hebrew named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the bread of faces or the presence bread Wee see with vs the roome wherein the Kings câ—aire and other ensignes of State are placed is called the Chamber of presence although the King himselfe bee not there personally present and as the rude and vndutifull behauiour of any in that place or the offering of any dis-respect to the Kings pourtraicture or to the Armes Royall or to any other thing that hath relation to his Maiesty is taken as a dishonour done vnto the King himselfe so heere hee that eateth the bread and drinketh the cup of the Lord vnworthily is accounted guilty of offering indignity to the body and blood of the Lord. In this sort wee acknowledge Sacraments to be signes but bare signes we denie them to bee seales they are as vvell as signes of the Couenant of grace As it vvas therefore said of Iohn the Baptist that he vvas a Prophet and more then a Prophet so must vve say of Sacraments that they be signes and more then signes euen pledges and assurances of the interest vvhich vvee haue in the heauenly things that are represented by them He that hath in his chamber the picture of the French King hath but a bare signe vvhich possibly may make him thinke of that King vvhen hee looketh on it but shevveth not that hee hath any manner of interest in him It is othervvise vvith him that hath the Kings great Seale for the confirmation of the title that hee hath vnto all the lands and liuelihood which he doth inioy And as heere the waxe that is affixed to those letters Patents howsoeuer for substance it bee the very same with that which is to be found euery where yet being applyed to this vse is of more worth to the Patentee then all the waxe in the country beside so standeth it with the outward elements in the matter of the Sacrament The bread and wine are not changed in substance from being the same with that which is serued at ordinary tables but in respect of the sacred vse whereunto they are consecrated such a change is made that now they differ as much from common bread and wine as heauen from earth Neither are they to be accounted barely significatiue but truly exhibitiue also of those heauenly things whereto they haue relation as being appoynted by God to bee a meanes of conueying the same vnto vs and putting vs in actuall possession thereof So that in the vse of this holy ordinance as verily as a man with his bodily hand and mouth receiueth the earthly creatures so verily doth he with his spirituall hand and mouth if any such he haue receiue the body and blood of Christ. And this is that reall and substantiall presence which wee affirmed to be in the inward part of this sacred action For the better conceiuing of which mystery we are to inquire first what the thing is which wee doe heere receiue secondly how and in what manner we are made partakers of it Touching the first the truth which must be held is this that wee doe not here receiue onely the benefits that flow from Christ but the very body and blood of Christ that is Christ himselfe crucified For as none can bee made partaker of the vertue of the bread and wine to his bodily sustenance vnlesse he first doe receiue the substance of those creatures so neither can any participate in the benefits arising from Christ to his spirituall reliefe except he first haue communion with Christ himselfe We must haue the Sonne before wee haue life and therefore eate him we must as himselfe speaketh that is as truly bee made partakers of him as we are of our ordinary food if we will liue by him As there is a giuing of him on Gods part for vnto vs a Sonne is giuen so there must bee a receiuing of him on our part for as many as reciued him to them gaue hee power to become the sonnes of God And as wee are called by God vnto the communion of his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord so if we doe heare his voyce and not harden our hearts by vnbeliefe wee are indeed made partakers of Christ. This is that great mystery for so the Apostle termeth it of our vnion with Christ whereby we are made members of his body of his flesh and of his bones and this is that eating of the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinking of his blood which our Sauiour insisteth so much vpon in the sixth of Iohn Where if any man shall demand that I may now come vnto the second poynt of our inquiry How can this man giue
Saint Paul teacheth vs to make hereof in 1. Cor. 12.26 which he further amplifieth in the verse next following by the mutuall sympathy and fellow-feeling which the members of the same body haue one with another For whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honoured all the members reioyce with it and then he addeth Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular Shewing vnto vs thereby that as wee are all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concorporated as it were and made copartners of the promise in Christ so wee should haue one another in our hearts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to die and liue together And hereupon is that exhortation in the 13. to the Hebrewes grounded Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and them which suffer aduersity as being your selues also in the Body It being a perillous signe that we be no liuely members of that body if we be not sensible of the calamities that lye vpon our afflicted brethren We know the Woe that is pronounced against such as are at ease in Sion and are not grieued for the affliction of Ioseph with the iudgement following Therefore now shall they goe captiue with the first that goe captiue We know the Angels bitter curse against the inhabitants of Meroz Curse ye Meroz said the Angell of the Lord curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof because they came not to helpe the Lord to helpe the Lord against the mighty Not as if the Lord did stand in need of our helpe or were not able without our assistance to maintaine his owne cause but that hereby he would make triall of our readinesse to doe him seruice and proue the sincerity of our loue If wee hold our peace and sit still at this time deliuerance shall arise to Gods Church from another place but let vs looke that the destruction doe not light vpon vs and ours I need not make any application of that which I haue spoken the face of Christendome so miserably rent and torne as it is at this day cannot but present it selfe as a rufull spectacle vnto all our eyes and if there be any bowels in vs stirre vp compassion in our hearts Neither need I to be earnest in exciting you to put your helping hands to the making vp of these breaches your forwardnesse herein hath preuented mee and in stead of petitioning for which I had prepared my selfe hath ministred vnto mee matter of thankesgiuing A good worke is at all times commendable but the doing of it in fit time addeth much to the luster thereof and maketh it yet more goodly The season of the yeere is approching wherein Kings goe forth to battell the present supply and offer of your Subsidie was done in a time most seasonable being so much also the more acceptable as it was granted not grudgingly or of necessity but freely and with a willing minde God loueth a cheerefull giuer and he is able to make all grace abound towards you that ye alwayes hauing all sufficiency in all things may abound to euery good worke And thus being by your goodnesse so happily abridged of that which I intended further to haue vrged from the coniunction which we haue with the Body I passe now vnto the second part of the Communion of Saints which consisteth in the vnion which we all haue with one Head For Christ our Head is the maine foundation of this heauenly vnion Out of him there is nothing but confusion without him we are nothing but disordered heapes of rubbish but in him all the building fitly framed together groweth vnto an holy Temple in the Lord and in him are we builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit Ephes. 2.21 22. Of our selues wee are but lost sheepe scattered and wandring vpon euery Mountaine From him it is that there is one fold and one shepheard Ioh. 10.16 God hauing purposed in himselfe to gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heauen and which are on earth euen in him Ephes. 1.10 This is the effect of our Sauiours prayer Ioh. 17.21 That they all may be one as thou Father art in me I in thee that they also may be one in vs c. I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one And this is it which we finde so oft repeated by Saint Paul We being many are one body in Christ Rom. 12.5 Ye are all one in Christ Iesus Gal. 3.28 And in the Text wee haue in hand Wee being many are one bread and one body Why because we are all partakers of that one bread namely of that bread whereof he had said in the words immediately going before The bread which we breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ Vnder the name of Bread therefore heere is comprehended both Panis Domini and Panis Dominus not onely the bread of the Lord but also the Lord himselfe who is that liuing Bread which came downe from heauen Ioh. 6.51 For as Saint Peter saying that Baptisme doth saue vs vnderstandeth thereby both the outward part of that Sacrament for he expressely calleth it a figure and more than that too as appeareth by the explication presently adioyned not the putting away of the filth of the flesh euen the inward purging of our consciences by vertue of the death and resurrection of Iesus Christ so Saint Paul heere making the reason of our vnion to bee our partaking all of this one bread hath not so much respect vnto the externall bread in the Sacrament though he exclude not that neither as vnto the true and heauenly Bread figured thereby whereof the Lord himselfe pronounceth in the sixth of Iohn The bread that I will giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world And to shew that by partaking of this bread that wonderfull vnion we speake of is effected Hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him It is a lamentable thing to behold how this holy Sacrament which was ordained by Christ to be a bond whereby wee should be knit together in vnity is by Satans malice and the corruption of mans disposition so strangely peruerted the contrary way that it is made the principall occasion of that wofull distraction which wee see amongst Christians at this day and the very fuell of endlesse strifes and implacable contentions And for as much as these mischiefes haue proceeded from the inconsiderate confounding of those things which in their owne nature are as different as may be for the cleerer distinguishing of matters we are in the first place to consider that a Sacrament taken in his full extent comprehendeth two things in it that which is outward and visible which the Schooles call properly Sacramentum in a more strict acception of the word and that which is inward and inuisible which
the Spirit of Christ the soule as it were of all the rest and that whereby the iust doth liue is Faith For we through the Spirit waite for the hope of righteousnesse by faith saith S. Paul to the Galatians And againe I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in me and the life which I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who loued me and gaue himselfe for me By faith it is that wee doe receiue Christ and so likewise Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith Faith therefore is that spirituall mouth in vs whereby wee eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood that is as the Apostle expresseth it without the trope are made partakers of Christ he being by this meanes as truly and euery wayes as effectually made ours as the meate and drinke which we receiue into our naturall bodies But you will say If this be all the matter what doe we get by comming to the Sacrament seeing we haue faith and the quickening Spirit of Christ before wee come thither To this I answere that the Spirit is receiued in diuers measures and faith bestowed vpon vs in different degrees by reason whereof our coniunction with Christ may euery day bee made straiter and the hold which we take of him firmer To receiue the Spirit not by measure is the priuiledge of our Head we that receiue out of his fulnesse haue not our portion of grace deliuered vnto vs all at once but must daily looke for supply of the Spirit of Iesus Christ. So also while we are in this world the righteousnesse of God is reuealed vnto vs from faith to faith that is from one degree and measure of it to another and consequently we must still labour to perfect that which is lacking in our faith and euermore pray with the Apostles Lord increase our faith As wee haue therefore receiued Christ Iesus the Lord so must wee walke in him rooted and built vp in him and stablished in the faith that wee may grow vp into him in all things which is the Head And to this end God hath ordained publike officers in his Church for the perfecting of the Saints for the worke of the ministery for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the vnity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Sonne of God vnto a perfect man vnto the measure of the stature of the fulnesse of Christ and hath accordingly made them able Ministers of the Spirit that quickeneth and Ministers by whom we should beleeue euen as the Lord shall giue to euery man When wee haue therefore receiued the Spirit and Faith and so spirituall life by their ministery we are not there to rest but as new borne babes we must desire the sincere milke of the Word that we may grow thereby and as growne men too wee must desire to be fed at the Lords Table that by the strength of that spirituall repast we may be inabled to doe the Lords worke and may continually be nourished vp thereby in the life of grace vnto the life of glory Neither must we heere with a fleshly eye looke vpon the meanenesse of the outward elements and haue this faithlesse thought in our hearts that there is no likelihood a bit of bread and a draught of wine should be able to produce such heauenly effects as these For so we should prooue our selues to be no wiser than Naaman the Syrian was who hauing receiued direction from the man of God that he should wash in Iordan seuen times to be cleansed of his Leprosie replied with indignation Are not Abana and Pharpar riuers of Damascus better then all the waters of Israel May I not wash in them and be cleane But as his seruāts did soberly aduise him then If the Prophet had bid thee doe some great thing wouldest thou not haue done it How much rather then when hee saith to thee Wash and be cleane So giue mee leaue to say vnto you now If the Lord had commanded vs to doe some great thing for the attaining of so high a good should not we willingly haue done it How much rather then when hee biddeth vs to eate the bread and drinke the wine that he hath prouided for vs at his owne Table that by his blessing thereupon wee may grow in grace and be preserued both in body and soule vnto euerlasting life True it is indeed these outward creatures haue no naturall power in them to effect so great a worke as this is no more then the water of Iordan had to recouer the Leper but the worke wrought by these meanes is supernaturall and God hath been pleased in the dispensation both of the Word and of the Sacraments so to ordaine it that these heauenly treasures should bee presented vnto vs in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power might be of God As therefore in the preaching of the Gospell the Minister doth not dare verba and beate the aire with a fruitlesse found but the words that hee speaketh vnto vs are Spirit and life God being pleased by the foolishnesse of preaching to saue them that beleeue so likewise in the administration of the Lords Supper he doth not feed vs with bare bread and wine but if we haue the life of faith in vs for still we must remember that this Table is prouided not for the dead but for the liuing and come worthily the Cup of blessing which he blesseth will be vnto vs the communion of the blood of Christ and the bread which hee breaketh the communion of the body of Christ of which precious body and blood wee being really made partakers that is in truth and indeed and not in imagination onely although in a spirituall and not a corporall manner the Lord doth grant vs according to the riches of his glory to bee strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man that we may bee filled with all the fulnesse of God For the Sacraments as well as the Word be a part of that ministration of the Spirit which is committed to the Ministers of the New Testament for as much as by one Spirit as before we haue heard from the Apostle wee haue been all baptized into one body and haue been all made to drinke into one Spirit And thus haue I finished the first part of my taske my Congregatio homogeneorum as I call it the knitting together of those that appertaine to the same body both with their fellovv-members and vvith their Head vvhich is the thing laid dovvne in the expresse vvords of my Text. It remaineth novv that I proceed to the Apostles application hereof vnto the argument hee hath in hand vvhich is Segregatio heterogeneorum a disseuering of those that bee not of the same communion that the faithfull may not partake
A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE COMMOS-HOVSE Of Parliament in Saint Margarets Church at Westminster the 18. of February 1620. By IAMES VSSHER Professor of Diuinitie in the Vniuersitie of Dublin in Ireland LONDON Printed by I. D. for Iohn Bartlett and are to be sould at the golden Cup in the Goldsmiths Rowe in Cheapside 1624. TO THE HONOVRABLE ASSEMBLY of the Commons House of Parliament IT pleased this Honourable Assembly to require my seruice in preaching at that late religious meeting of yours for the receiuing of the holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper I was afterward also sent vnto by the like authority to publish that which according to my poore ability I then deliuered And although in respect of my selfe and of my want of time to prosecute such a subiect I could wish I had beene spared from such a taske yet rather then the expectation and expresse signification of the desire of the representatiue body of the whole Comminalty of the Kingdome should rest vnsatisfied I haue yeelded to commit this vnto the disposing and direction of them for whose sakes it was at first vndertaken Opprimi enim me onere officij malui quà m id quod mihi cum fide semel impositum fuit propter infirmitatem animi deponere The very words which then I vttered I am not able to present vnto you the substance of the matter I haue truly laid downe though in some places as it fell out somewhat contracted in others a little more inlarged Whatsoeuer it is I wholly submit it vnto your graue censures and so beseeching the Lord to giue you prosperous successe in all your worthy indeuours for the seruice of God his Maiesty and your Countrey I rest Yours in all Christian duty to be commanded IAMES VSSHER 1. Cor. 10. Vers. 17. Wee being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread OTher entrance I need not make vnto my speech at this time then that which the Apostle himselfe presenteth vnto mee in the verse next but one going before my Text I speake to wise men The more vnwise might I deeme my selfe to be who being so conscious vnto my selfe of my great weakenesse durst aduenture to discouer the same before so graue and iudicious an Auditory but that this consideration doth somewhat support me that no great blame can light herein vpon mee but some aspersion thereof must reflect vpon your selues who happened to make so euill a choyce the more facile I expect you to bee in a cause wherein you your selues are some wayes interested The speciall cause of your assembling at this time is first that you who professe the same truth may ioyne in one body and partake together of the same blessed Communion and then that such as adhere vnto false worship may bee discouered and auoyded You in your wisedome discerning this holy Sacrament to bee as it were ignis probationis which would both congregare homogenea and segregare heterogenea as in Philosophie wee vse to speake both conioyne those that be of the same and dis-ioyne such as bee of a differing kinde and disposition And to this purpose haue I made choyce of this present Text wherein the Apostle maketh our partaking of the Lords Table to bee a testimony not onely of the vnion and communion which wee haue betwixt our selues and with our Head which he doth in the expresse words which I haue read but also of our dis-vnion and separation from all idolatrous worship as appeareth by the application hereof vnto his maine drift and intendment laid downe in the 14. and 21. verses The effect therfore of that which Saint Paul in expresse termes heere deliuereth is the Communion of Saints which consisteth of two parts the fellowship which they haue with the Body laid downe in the beginning and the fellowship which they haue with the Head laid downe in the end of the verse both which are thus explained by Saint Iohn That which wee haue seene and heard declare we vnto you that ye also may haue fellowship with vs and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Sonne Iesus Christ 1. Ioh. 1.3 Let them therefore that walke in darknesse brag as much as they list of their good-fellowship this blessed Apostle assureth vs that such onely as doe walke in the light haue fellowship one with another euen as they haue fellowship with God and Iesus Christ his Sonne whose blood shall cleanse them from all sinne And to what better company can a man come than to the generall Assembly and Church of the first-borne which are inrolled in heauen and to God the Iudge of all and to the spirits of iust men made perfect and to Iesus the Mediator of the new Couenant and to the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things then that of Abel No fellowship doubtlesse is comparable to this Communion of Saints To begin therefore with the first part thereof as the Apostle in the third to the Galatians maketh our being baptized into Christ to bee a testimony that wee are all one in Christ so doth hee heere make our partaking of that one bread to be an euidence that we also are all one bread and one body in him And to the same purpose in the twelfth Chapter following he propoundeth both our Baptisme and our drinking of the Lords Cup as seales of the spirituall coniunction of vs all into one mysticall body For as the body is one saith he and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body whether wee bee Iewes or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and haue been all made to drinke into one Spirit Afterwards hee addeth that wee are the body of Christ and members in particular and in another place also that We being many are one body in Christ and euery one members one of another Now the vse which hee teacheth vs to make of this wonderfull coniunction whereby wee are made members of Christ and members one of another is two-fold 1. That there should be no schisme in the body 2. That the members should haue the same care one for another 1. Cor. 12.25 For preuenting of Schisme hee exhorteth vs in the fourth to the Ephesians to keepe the vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and to make this bond the firmer hee putteth vs in minde of one Body one Spirit one Hope one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all who is aboue all and through all and in vs all by this multiplication of vnities declaring vnto vs that the knots whereby wee are tyed together are both in number more and of farre greater moment then that matters of smaller consequence should disseuer vs and therefore that wee should stand fast in one spirit with one minde striuing together for the faith of the Gospell and
in nothing terrified by our aduersaries Philip. chap. 1. vers 27 28. But howsoeuer God hath thus marshalled his Church in a goodly order terrible as an army with banners yet such is the disorder of our nature that many for all this breake ranke and the enemy laboureth to breed diuision in Gods House that so his Kingdome might not stand Nay oftentimes it commeth to passe that the Watchmen themselues who were appoynted for the safegarding of the Church proue in this kinde to bee the smiters and wounders of her and from among them who were purposely ordained in the Church for the bringing of men into the vnity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God euen from among those some doe arise that speake peruerse things to draw away disciples after them Thus wee finde in the Ecclesiasticall History that after the death of Iulian the Apostata questions and disputes concerning matters of doctrine were freshly set afoot by those who were set ouer the Churches Wherupon Sozomen maketh this graue obseruation that the disposition of men is such that when they are wronged by others they are at agreement among themselues but when they are freed of euils from abroad then they make insurrections one against another Which as we finde to be too true by the late experience of our neighbour Churches in the Low Countries so are we to consider with the Wise man that What hath been is now and that which is to bee hath already been and bee not so inquisitiue why the former dayes were better then these for wee doe not enquire wisely concerning this When like troubles were in the Church heretofore Isidorus Pelusiota an ancient Father moueth the question What a man should doe in this case and maketh answere that If it be possible wee should mend it but if that may not bee wee should hold our peace The Apostles resolution I thinke may giue sufficient satisfaction in this poynt to all that haue moderate and peaceable mindes If in any thing yee bee otherwise minded God shall reueale euen this vnto you neuerthelesse whereto wee haue already attained let vs walke by the same rule let vs minde the same thing It is not to bee looked for that all good men should agree in all things neither is it fit that we should as our Aduersaries doe put the truth vnto compromise and to the saying of an Achitophel whose counsell must bee accepted as if a man had inquired at the Oracle of God We all agree that the Scriptures of God are the perfect rule of our faith wee all consent in the maine grounds of Religion drawne from thence wee all subscribe to the articles of doctrine agreed vpon in the Synode of the yeere 1562. for the auoyding of diuersities of opinions and the establishing of consent touching true Religion Hitherto by Gods mercy haue wee already attained thus farre therefore let vs minde the same thing let not euery wanton wit be permitted to bring what fancies he list into the Pulpit and to disturbe things that haue been well ordered I beseech you brethren saith the Apostle marke them which cause diuisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which yee haue learned and auoid them If in some other things wee bee otherwise minded than others of our brethren are let vs beare one with another vntill God shall reueale the same thing vnto vs and howsoeuer we may see cause why we should dissent from others in matter of opinion yet let vs remember that that is no cause why wee should breake the Kings peace and make a rent in the Church of God A thing deepely to be thought of by the Ismaels of our time whose hand is against euery man and euery mans hand against them who bite and deuoure one another vntill they bee consumed one of another who forsake the fellowship of the Saints and by a sacrilegious separation breake this bond of peace Little doe these men consider how precious the peace of the Church ought to bee in our eyes to bee redeemed with a thousand of our liues and of what dangerous consequence the matter of schisme is vnto their owne soules For howsoeuer the schismaticke secundùm affectum as the Schoolemen speake in his intention and wicked purpose taketh away vnity from the Church euen as he that hateth God doth take away goodnesse from him as much as in him lyeth yet secundùm effectum in truth and in very deed hee taketh away the vnity of the Church onely from himselfe that is hee cutteth himselfe off from being vnited with the rest of the body and being disseuered from the body how is it possible that he should retaine communion with the Head To conclude therefore this first vse which wee are to make of our communion with the Body let vs call to minde the exhortation of the Apostle Aboue all things put on loue which is the bond of perfectnesse and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also ye are called in one Body Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in vnity what a goodly thing it is to behold such an honourable Assembly as this is to bee as a house that is compact together in it selfe holding fit correspondence with the other part of this great body and due subordination vnto their and our Head Such as wish not well to the publike good and would reioyce at the ruine of our State long for nothing more then that dissensions should arise here betwixt the members mutually and betwixt them and the Head Hoc Ithacus velit magno mercentur Atridae They know full well that euery Kingdome diuided against it selfe is brought to desolation and euery house diuided against it selfe shall not stand nor doe they forget the Politicians old rule Diuide impera Make a diuision and get the dominion The more neede haue wee to looke herein vnto our selues who cannot bee ignorant how dolorous Solutio continui and how dangerous Ruptures proue to bee vnto our bodies If therefore there be any comfort of loue if any fellowship of the spirit fulfill our ioy that yee be like-minded hauing the same loue being of one accord of one minde and doing nothing through strife or vaine-glory Remember that as oft as we come vnto the Lords Table so oft doe we enter into new bonds of peace and tye our selues with firmer knots of loue together this blessed Communion being a sacred seale not onely of the vnion which wee haue with our Head by faith but also of our coniunction with the other members of the body by loue Whereby as we are admonished to maintaine vnity among ourselues that there be no schisme or diuision in the body so are we also further put in minde that the members should haue the same care one for another For that is the second vse which
their Images be no Idoles and as vainely also doe they spend time in curiously distinguishing the seuerall degrees of worship the highest point whereof which they call Latreia and acknowledge to be due onely vnto God they would be loth wee should thinke that they did communicate to any of their Images But here wee are to vnderstand first of all that Idolatry may be committed by giuing not the highest onely but also the lowest degree of religious adoration vnto Images and therefore in the words of the Commandement the very bowing downe vnto them which is one of the meanest degrees of worship is expresly forbidden Secondly that it is the receiued doctrine of Popish diuines that the Image should be honored with the same worship wherewith that thing is worshipped whose Image it is and therfore what adoration is due to Christ and the Trinity the same by this ground they are to giue vnto their Images Thirdly that in the Roman Pontificall published by the authority of Clement the VIII to omit other testimonies in this kinde it is concluded that the Crosse of the Popes Legate shal haue the right hand vpon this very reason quia debetur ei latria because the worship proper to God is due to it Now whether they commit Idolatry who communicate vnto a senselesse thing that worship which they themselues confesse to be due vnto God alone let all the world iudge They were best therefore from henceforth confesse themselues to be Idolaters and stand to it that euery kinde of Idolatry is not vnlawfull Their Iesuite Gregorius de Valentia will tell them for their comfort that it is no absurdity to thinke that Saint Peter when he deterreth the faithfull by name ab illicitis Idolorum cultibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saint Peter calleth them that is abominable Idolatries doth insinuate therby that some worship of Images is lawfull Iohn Monceye the Frenchman in his Aaron Purgatus dedicated to the late Pope Paul the fifth and in his twenty questions propounded to Visorius stretcheth yet a straine higher For howsoeuer hee cannot away with the name of Idols and Idolatry yet he liketh the thing it selfe so well that he vndertaketh to cleare Aaron from committing any error in setting vp the golden Calfe and laboureth to purge Laban and Micha and Ieroboam too from the imputation of Idolatry hauing found indeed that nothing had beene done by them in this kinde which is not agreeable to the practice of the Romane Church at this day And lest the poore people whom they haue so miserably abused should finde how farre they haue beene misled wee see that the masters of that Church doe in the Seruice books and Catechismes which come vnto the hāds of the vulgar generally leaue out the words of the second Commandement that make against the adoration of Images fearing lest by the light thereof the mystery of their iniquity should be discouered They pretend indeed that this Commandement is not excluded by them but included onely in the first whereas in truth they doe but craftily conceale it from the peoples eyes because they would not haue them to be ruled by it Nay Vasquez the Iesuite doth boldly acknowledge that it plainely appeareth by comparing the words of this Commandement with the place which hath beene alledged out of the 4. of Deuteronomy that the Scripture did not onely forbid the worshipping of an Image for God but also the adoration of the true God himselfe in an Image He confesseth further that he and his fellow Catholikes doe otherwise What saith hee then to the Commandement thinke you Because it will not be obeyed it must be repealed and not admitted to haue any place among the morall precepts of God It was saith he a positiue and ceremoniall Law and therefore ought to cease in the time of the Gospell And as if it had not beene enough for him to match the Scribes and Pharises in impiety who made the Commandement of God of none effect that they might keepe their owne tradition that he might fulfill the measure of his fathers and shew himselfe to be a true childe of her who beareth the name of being the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth he is yet more mad and sticketh not to maintaine that not onely a paynted Image but any other thing of the world whether it be without life and reason or whether it be a reasonable creature may in the nature of the thing and if the matter bee discreetly handled be adored vvith God as his Image yea and counteth it no absurdity at all that a very vvispe of stravv should be thus vvorshipped But let vs turne yet againe and vve shall see greater abominations then these We heard hovv this blessed Sacrament vvhich is here propounded by the Apostle as a bond to vnite Christians together in one body hath beene made the apple of strife and the occasion of most bitter breaches in the Church we may now obserue againe that the same holy Sacrament which by the same Apostle is here brought in as a principall inducement to make men flee from Idolatry is by our Aduersaries made the obiect of the grossest Idolatry that euer hath been practised by any For their constant doctrine is that in worshipping the Sacrament they should giue vnto it latriae cultum qui vero Deo debetur as the Councell of Trent hath determined that kinde of seruice which is due to the true God determining their worship in that very thing which the Priest doth hold betwixt his hands Their practice also runs accordingly for an instance whereof we neede goe no further then to Sanders booke of the Lords Supper before which he hath perfixed an Epistle Dedicatory superscribed in this manner To the Body and Blood of our Sauiour Iesus Christ vnder the formes of Bread and Wine all honour praise and thankes be giuen for euer Adding further in the processe of that blockish Epistle Howsoeuer it be with other men I adore thee my God and Lord really present vnder the formes of Bread and Wine after consecration deuly made Beseeching thee of pardon for my sinnes c. Now if the conceite which these men haue concerning the Sacrament should proue to bee false as indeed we know it to be most absurd and monstrous their owne Iesuite Coster doth freely confesse that they should be in such an error and Idolatry qualis in orbe terrarum nunquam vel visus vel auditus fuit as neuer was seene or heard of in this world For the error of them is more tolerable saith he who worship for God a Statue of gold or siluer or an Image of any other matter as the Gentiles adored their gods or a red cloth lifted vp vpon a speare as it is reported of the Lappians or liuing creatures as did sometime the Egyptians then of those that worship a piece of bread We therefore who are verily perswaded that the Papists doe
thus must of force if we follow their Iesuites direction iudge them to be the most intolerable Idolaters that euer were Nay according to their owne principles how is it possible that any of themselues should certainly know that the host which they worship should be any other thing but bread seeing the change doth wholy depend vpon consecration duly made as Sanders speaketh and that dependeth vpon the intention of the Priest which no man but himselfe can haue notice of Bellarmine disputing against Ambrosius Catharinus one of his owne brethren that a man hath no certaine knowledge of his owne iustification can take aduantage of this and alledge for himselfe that one cannot be certaine by the certainty of faith that hee doth receiue a true Sacrament for asmuch as the Sacrament cannot be made without the intention of the Minister and none can see another mans intention Apply this now to the matter we haue in hand and see into what intricate Labyrinths these men haue brought themselues Admit the Priests intention stood right at the time of consecration yet if he that baptized him failed in his intention when he administred that Sacrament he remaineth still vnbaptized and so becommeth vncapable of Priesthood and consequently whatsoeuer he consecrateth is but bread still Yea admit hee were rightly baptized too if either the Bishop that conferred vpon him the Sacrament of Orders for so they hold it to be or those that baptized or ordained that Bishop missed their right intention neither will the one proue Bishop nor the other Priest and so with what intention soeuer either the one or the other doth consecrate there remaineth but bread still Neither doth the inconuenience stay heere but ascendeth vpward to all their predecessors in any one of whom if there fall out to bee a nullity of Priesthood for want of intention either in the baptizer or in the ordainer all the generation following according to their principles goe without their Priesthood too and so deliuer but bread to the people in stead of the body of Christ. The Papists themselues therefore if they stand vnto their owne grounds must needs confesse that they are in no better case heere then the Samaritans were in of whom our Sauiour saith Yee worship yee know not what but we know that what they worship bee the condition or intention of their Priest what it will be is bread indeed which while they take to be their God we must still account them guilty of spirituall fornication and such fornication as is not so much as named amongst the Gentiles These then being the Idolaters with whom we haue to deale let vs learne first how dangerous a thing it is to communicate with them in their false worship For if we will be partakers of Babylons sinnes wee must looke to receiue of her plagues Secondly wee are to be admonished that it is not sufficient that in our owne persons we refraine worshipping of Idols but it is further required that we restraine as much as in vs lyeth the practice thereof in others lest by suffering God to be dishonoured in so high a manner when wee may by our calling hinder it wee make our selues partakers of other mens sinnes Eli the high Priest was a good man and gaue excellent counsell vnto his lewd sonnes yet wee know what iudgement fell vpon him because his sonnes made themselues vile and he frowned not vpon them that is restrained them not which God doth interpret to be a kinde of Idolatry in honouring of his sonnes aboue him The Church of Pergamus did for her owne part hold fast Christs name and denyed not his faith yet had the Lord something against her because she had there them that held the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balac to cast a stumbling blocke before the children of Israel to eate things sacrificed vnto Idols and to commit fornication So we see what speciall notice our Sauiour taketh of the workes and charity and seruice and saith patience of the Church of Thyatira and yet for all this he addeth Notwithstanding I haue a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Iezebel which calleth her selfe a Prophetesse to teach and to seduce my seruants to commit fornication and to eate things sacrificed vnto Idols In the second of Iudges God telleth the childrē of Israel what mischiefe should come vnto them by tolerating the Canaanitish Idolaters in their Land They shall be thornes in your sides saith he and their gods shall be a snare vnto you Which words containe in them the intimation of a double danger the one respecting the soule the other the body That which concerneth the soule is that their Idols should be a snare vnto them For God well knew that mans nature is as prone to spirituall fornication as it is to corporall As therefore for the preuenting of the one he would not haue a common harlot tolerated in Israel Lest the Land should fall to whoredome and become full of wickednesse so for the keeping out of the other he would haue prouocations taken away and all occasions whereby a man might be tempted to commit so vile a sinne The bodily danger that followeth vpon the toleration of Idolaters is that they should be in their sides that is as in another place it is more fully expressed they should be prickes in their eyes and thornes in their sides and should vexe them in the Land wherein they dwelled Now in both these respects it is certaine that the toleration of the Idolaters with whom we haue to doe is farre more perillous than of any other In regard of the spirituall danger wherewith simple soules are more like to bee insnared because this kinde of Idolatry is not brought in with an open shew of impiety as that of the Pagans but is a mystery of iniquity a wickednesse couered with the vaile of piety and the harlot which maketh the inhabitants of the earth drunke with the wine of this fornication is both gilded her selfe and presenteth also her abominations vnto her followers in a cup of gold If we looke to outward perill we are like to find these men not thornes in our sides to vexe vs but daggers in our hearts to destroy vs. Not that I take all of them to be of this furious disposition mistake me not I know a number my selfe of a farre different temper but because there are neuer wanting among them some turbulent humours so inflamed with the spirit of fornication that they runne mad with it and are transported so farre that no tolerable termes can content them vntill they haue attained to the vtmost pitch of their vnbridled desires For compassing whereof there is no trechery nor rebellion nor murther nor desperate course whatsoeuer that without all remorse of conscience they dare not aduenture vpon Neither doe they thus only but they teach men also so to doe arming both Pope and Bishops and People and