summe of all these words is the institution vse of the Lords Supper First Paule sheweth the author of it The Lord Iesus then the time when it was instituted in the night that he was betraied then the manner how he did institute it he tooke bread and when he had giuen thankes he brake it and gaue vnto his disciples c. then the end why he did institute it for a remembrance of his death Touching the author he which is signified by it was the author of it The Lord Iesus hath bid vs to Supper I am not worthie sayeth Iohn to loose his shoe so wee are not worthie to waite at his trencher and yet he will haue vs sit at his table To him belongeth the power to ordaine Sacraments in his Church because he fulfilled the Sacramēts of the Law When Christ came the Passeouer ceased because he is our Passeouer that is the Lambe by whose blood we are saued When Christ came Circumcision ceased because he is our Circumcision that is the purifier and clenser of our sinnes Now these two Sacraments are fulfilled he hath appoynted two other Sacraments for them in sted of the paschal Lambe which the Iewes did eate he hath giuen vs an other Lambe to eate which Iohn calleth the Lambe of God that is himselfe vppon whome all doo feede whosoeuer doo receiue this Sacrament with an assured faith that Christ died to possesse them of life The breaking of the bread doth signifie the wounding of his bodie the powring of the Wine dooth signifie the shedding of his bloud The eating of the bread and drinking of the Wine dooth signifie that his flesh and bloud do nourish in vs life eternall as the bread and Wine doo nourish the life present Instead of Circumcision which began at Abraham he hath ordeined Baptisme which began at Iohn a more liuely representation of the true circumcision of the heart because it representeth vnto vs the blood of Christ which washeth our soules as the water in Baptisme washeth our bodies Touching the time In the night saith Paule therefore this Sacrament is called The Lords Supper because it was instituted at night when they vsed to suppe But what night euen that night sayth Paule when he was betrayed that night which he should haue cursed as Iob did the day of his birth if he had suffred against his will that night when he should haue thought to destroy men as men conspired to destroy him that night saith Paule this Sacrament of grace and peace and life began Euen that night when we betrayed him Many nights did he spend in watching and praying for vs and is there a night now for vs to kill and betray him That was a dark night when men went about to put out the Sunne which brought them light Who can but wonder to see how Christ and they for whome Christ came were occupied at one time when they deuised mischiefe against him and sought all meanes to destroy him then he consulted how to saue them and instituted the same night this blessed Sacrament to conuay al his graces and blessings vnto them Euen that night when they betrayed him The reason why this action was deferred vntill night is because that was the time appointed by the Lawe to eate the Passeouer which was like a predecessor of this Sacrament The reason why he deferred vntill his last night was because the Passeouer could not be ended before the fulnesse of time and the true Paschall Lamb were come to be slaine in stead of the other Therefore how fitly did Christ end the Passeouer which was a signe of his suffering so presently before his suffering And beside how sweetly did hee confirme his Disciples faith when as they should see that the next day performed before their eyes which ouernight both in the Passeouer and in the Sacrament was so liuely resembled vnto them If any from this do gather that we ought to eate the Lords Supper at night as Christ did he must vnderstand that we haue not the same cause to doe so which Christ had because of the Passeouer And therefore the Church which hath discretion of times and places hath altered both the time and the place vsing the temples in stead of the chamber and the morning in stead of the euening for indifferent things are ruled by order and decencie Touching the manner He tooke bread and when he had giuen thankes he brake it and gaue it vnto them He would not eate it nor breake it before he had giuen thanks to God What neede he which was God giue thanks to God but to shew vs what we should do whē we eate our selues In all things giue thanks saith Paule whereby we declare that all things come from God but the wicked beleeue easier that God doth take than that he doth giue and therefore they neuer pray hartely vnto him for any thing nor feelingly thanke him for it For which the Lord complaineth saying I haue loued you yet yee say wherein hast thou loued vs shewing that wee are worse than the Oxe which knoweth his feeder And if wee acknowledge all things frō God yet we do like Lot Is it not a little one saith he when hee craued to goe vnto Zoar as though it were not much which he asked so we mince and extenuate the gifts of God before we receiue them and after like them which haue a grace for dinner and none for breakefast as though they had their dinners from God and breakefasts of their owne Our example did not so Although it was but bread which he receiued yet he was more thankefull for bread than many which burie the fowles and fishes and beasts in their belly for if a count of all were kept for one that prayeth Giue vs this day our dayly bread a hundreth take their bread and meate and sleepe too which neuer pray for it After he had giuen thankes hee brake it and gaue vnto them and sayd Take eate for when he had giuen thanks to God then it was sanctified and blessed and lawfull to eate So when thou seruest God then it is lawfull for thee to vse Gods blessings then thou mayest eate and drinke as Christ did but not before for these things were created to serue them which serue God if thou doest not serue him for them thou encrochest vppon Gods blessings and stealest his creatures which are no more thine than thou art his for the good God created all things for good men as the diuels possessions are reserued for euill men Therefore as Christ would not breake the bread before he had giuen thanks to the founder so know that there is some thing to be done before thou receyue any benefite of God and presume not to vse his creatures with more libertie than his Sonne did which did not eate without giuing thāks nor rise againe without singing
it doth imply an vnlawfulnes to hurt our selues Pro 5. 19. The Womans dueties Phil. 4. 3. Iob. 2. 9. Rom. 12. 15. 2. Kin. 2. 6. Gal. 6. 2. 1. Kin. 21. 5 Gen. 12. 1. Gen. 2. 18. 1. Cor. 1. 27 1. Pet. 3. 1. Gen. 25. 2. 2. Kin. 5. 3. 2. Kin. 9. 10 Hest. 7. 3. Deut. 32. 21. Pro. 5. 18. 1. Sam. 16. 23. Gen. 27. 9. 1. Sam. 25. 3 Gen. 38. 14. Gen. 34. 1. Why wiues are called Huswiues Tit. 2. 5. Pro. 7. 12. 2. King 9. 30. Gen. 18. 9. 2. Kin. 9. 30 1. King 2. 36. 37. Husbands should not keepe their Wiues so straight but Wiues should not think their house their prison but as their Paradise where they would be Gen. 3. 2. A wife may not vtter her HusbaÌ„ds saults A Wife the contrary to a Husband 2. Sam. 1. 26. Pro. 21. 19. Gen. 19. 26. Gen. 2. 20. Tit. 2. 9. Ephe. 5. 23. Ephe. 5. 22. How farre the Wife should obey Gen. 3. 16. Gen. 2. 20. vers 23. Hest. 1. 20. 22. Num. 30. 7. Iud. 19. 26. Gen 18. 12. 1. Pet. 3. 6. Ephe. 5. 24. Ioh. 15. 13. The cause why many despise their husbands 1. Tim 2. 9. 1. Pet. 3. 5. Gen. 3. 21. Gen. 3. 7. Luk. 10. 18. Math. 14. 6. Their dueties to their seruants Esai 6. 6. Reu. 5. 10. Act. 16. 13. 18. 8. Luc 22. 32. Gen. 18. 17. 2. Sam. 16. 3. Phile. 11. Gen. 29. 27. Iosh 24. 15. Act. 10. 2. Luc. 2. 41. Luc. 107. Phile. 17. Gen. 2. 2. g. Sam. 18. 5. Gen. 31. 9. Esai 42. 1. Math. 12. 18. Psal. 8. 6. 1. Cor. 12. 13. Pro. 12. 10. 1. Tim. 5. 8. Pro. 30. 8. Ephe. 5. 5. Ephe. 6. 4 Deut. 25. 2. The master must correct his meÌ„ and the mistris her maides Gen. 16. 6. Their dueties toward their children Gen. 28. 31. Mothers should nurse their children Gen. 21. 7. Exo. 2. 8. Math. 2. 14 Pro. 22. 〈◊〉 1. King 3. 26. Luk. 11. 2. Except of Kings sons Iohn 8. 30. Psal. 127. 4. 1. Sa. 2. 29. Psal. 132. 11. Math. 12. 33. 1. Sam. 1. 20 2. Sam 12. 24. Luc. 18. 17. Col. 4. 15. Phil. 1. 2. The name of Stepmothers expounded and their duetie Ier. 22. 2. Deut. 14. 17. 24. 17. 26. 12. Mat 7. 2. Diuorcement the phisicke of Marriage Math. 18. 9. Math. 19. 8 Mat. 5. 32. Mat. 19. 9. 1 Cor. 7. 10. Leu. 20. 10. Mar. 2. 27. Louît 20. 10. Conclusique A sentence for the maried to think vpon 1. Cor. 7. 32. Gen. 41. 4. Vers. 34. 1. Sam. 1. 23. 2. Chro. 21. 6. Iob. 9. 28. Gen. 24. 48. 2. Chro. 35. 6. 1. Sam. 18. 8 Math. 2. 9. Mat. 9. 20. 2. Chro. 35. 6. The diuision The Author Iohn 1. 27. None but Christ may ordeyne SacrameÌ„ts Iohn 1. 29. Reuel 7. 14. Iohn 1. 29. Gen. 17. 10. Who was therefore called Iohn the Baptist. Math. 3. 1. Reuel 1 5. Reu. 22. 14. The time Vers. 23. Iob. 3. 3. Why this Sacrament was instituted at night Why it was deferred till his last night Why we receiue not the Lords Supper at night Vers. 23. 24 1. Thess. 5. 18. Note Mala. 1. 2. Esai 1 3. Gen. 19. 20. Luk. 11. 3. Note Mat. 26. 30. Gen. 27. Luk 22. 32. 1. Sam 17. 51. Ioh. 18. 14. 1. King 18. 28. Math. 4. 4. Psal. 91. 11. Math. 26. 26. Ioh. 107 9. Ioh. 15 1. Gen. 3. 3. Arguments against Popish Transubstantiation 1 Math. 22. 34. Mar. 14. 25 2 1. Cor. 10. 4. Vers. 3. 4. Vers. 4. 3 Gen. 2. 9. Gen. 17. 11. Exo. 12. 3. Exo. 23. 11. Heb. 9. 13. Exo. 30. Exo. 25. 24. Exo. 17. 16. Mat. 3. 16. Ioh. 6. 49. Ioh. 1. 33. 1. Cor. 11. 19. Exo. 12. Matth. 16. Ioh. 1. 29. 5 6 Exo. 27. 13 Iohn 6. 54. 14 Math. 28. 6 15 Ioh. 6. 68. Ioh. 6. 60. Ioh. 6. 35. Aug. vpon the 3. Psal. Ter. against Marcion the 4. book 4. booke 4. chap. of Ferra. In his first Dialog Vpon the 15. of Mat. Irenae 4. book chap. 34. against Valentinus Ad ob Theod Anathematis 11. 1. book of Epist. In that Gospell whosoeuer speaketh a word c. Hom. 60. to the people of Antioch To Caesarus the Monk Against Eutyches the Here. Vpon the Canon lect 40. 1. booke of the Sacrament pag. 46. Against the captiuitie of Babylon made by M. Luther Luk. 19. 22. The Papists allegations for the reall presence Exo. 4. 8. 21. Exo. 6. 2. Thess 2. â— Obiect Answ. Mar. 1. 40. Obiect Answ. Obiect Answ Luk. 8. 9. Math. 26. 17. Exo. 12. 27. Gen. 17. 13. Gen. 12. 3. Tit. 3. 5. 1. Cor. 6. 11. Luc. 22. 20. Iohn 3. 36. Math. 26. 26. Luk. 8. 9. Iohn 4. 33. Luk 24. 39. Iohn 16. 5. Ioh. 6. 35. Math. 26. 26. Neyther Christs mortall body nor his immortall body can be in the same Dan. 4. 15. Mar. 14. 24 Christ spake not to the bred and wine but to his Disciples More in the Lords Supper thaÌ„ bread and wine 1. Cor. 10. 16. A similitude Rom. 8. 32. Dâ—â— 3. 25. A similitude Another similitude Augustine Luk. 11. 27. Luk. 8. 21. Ioh. 16. 7. Pro. 31. 29. Ioh. 20. 27. Why christ calleth the bread his bodie Vers. 24. If Christs body were in the Sacrament it were not a SacrameÌ„t but a sacrifice Math. 24. 23. 2. King 2. 17. Ioh. 20. 17. Iudg. 7. 22. A Monster of his age Eight absurdities which follow Transubstantiation 1 Act. 1. 9. 11 Rom. 8. 34. Act. 3. 21. 2 3 4 5 Hebr. 9. 28. 10. 12. 6 7 8 Act. 5. 29. Conclusion Deut. 13. 6. 9. Mat. 26. 28 Mar. 14. 25 Ioh. 13 34. Heb. 9. 18. Mat. 26. 28 Luk 22. 20. Heb. 8. 13. For types and figures 1. Sam. 28. 14. Leuit. 17. 11. Heb. 9. 22. Deut. 4. 2. Reuel 22. 18. The popish receyuing vnder one kinde confuted Mat. 26. 27 1. Sam. 15. 9. Mat. 27. 35 Colos. 2. 21. How the Popish Priests do iniure the people 1 2 3 4 5 Act. 5. 2. 1 Sam. 2. 13 Mar. 7. 13. Iud. 19. 30. Gen. 2. 17. Gen. 3. 4. Esai 1. 12. Vers. 24. Math. 26. 28. Gen. 1. 2. Cor. 4. 15 Math. 13. 14. Psal. 109. 16. Mat. 23. 37 Act. 3. 6. Mar. 15. 46 Mat. 13. 55 Luk. 2. 16. Math. 17. 27. Luk. 9. 57. Luk. 23. 34. A similitude of mans state * * His words are not so but the effect of his words 2 King 20 5. Luk 7. 15. Math. â—â— 2â—â— The mercifull Article Gen. 42. 25. Vers. 26. Three arguments against Transubstantiation in one verse Deut. 17. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wha 〈…〉 is to receyue vnwoâ—thâ—lâ— Ioh. 10. 27. Luk. 1. 41. How receyuers may be guiltie of Christes death Mar 14. 44. Mar. 15. 15 Mar. 15. 25 Vers. 30. 2. Cor. 2. 16 How we should be prepared before we come to the Lords table 1. Sam. 9. 13 2. King 10. 15. Iames. 2. 2. Exo. 12. 3. 6. 2.
A Preparatiue to Mariage The summe whereof was spoken at a Contract and inlarged after Whereunto is annexed a Treatise of the Lords Supper and another of Usurie BY HENRIE SMITH Imprinted at London by Thomas Orwin for Thomas Man dwelling in Paternoster row at the signe of the Talbot 1591. NOBILISSIMO VIRO GVILIELMO CEcilio Equiti aurato Baroni Burghleiensi summo Angliae Thesaurario Cantabrigiensis Academiae Cancellario Henricus Smithus haec tria pignota in grati animi testimonium consecrauit To the Reader BEcause sicknesse hath restrained mee from preaching I am content to doe anye good by writing Happye is that Author which is in stead of other that after his Booke is read men neede reade no moe of that matter I goe on a Theame which many haue trauersed before mee prolixely or cursorily or barrenly If I haue performed by studie any more than the rest let my reader iudge and giue glory to him which teacheth by whome he will What I haue endeuored my selfe doo feele and others knowe We are ignorant of many things for a few that we vnderstand but I haue bin alwaye ashamed that my writings shoulde waigh lighter for want of paines which is the bane of Printing and surfetteth the Reader Now I send thee like a Bee to gather Honie out of slowers and weedes Euery Garden is furnished with others and so is ours Reade pray and med 〈…〉 thy profit shall be little in any booke vnlesse thou reade alone and vnlesse thou reade all It is one of the births of my fainting therefore take it with a right hand and if thou finde any thing that doth make thee better I repent not that others importunitie hath obtained it for thee Farewell As Iacob blessed his sonnes when he left them so now I must leaue my fruite to others I pray God to blesse it that it may bring foorth fruit in other and be the sauour of life to all that reade it Thine in Christ H. S. The principall contents of this Treatise THE cause of contracts before Mariage Fol. 2. Three honours geuen of God to Mariage Fol. 3. Three causes of Mariage Fol. 13. Whether Ministers may marry Fol. 19. Whether an old man may marry a young woman contra Fol. 14. Whether Protestants may marry Papists Fol. 47. Whether Children may marry without Parentes consent Fol. 45. Whether Husbands may strike their Wiues Fol. 69. Whether the vse of Mariage be sinne Fol. 23. Whether Mothers should nurse their Children Fol. 99. Fiue markes in the choise of a Husband or Wife Fol. 35. The Husbands dueties Fol. 62. The Wiues dueties Fol. 74. Their duties to their Seruants Fol. 68. Their duties to their Children Fol. 77. Of Stepmothers Fol. 105. Of Diuorcement Fol. 107. Other obseruations that fall in handling the partes MAriage the first ordinance of God and calling of men Fol. 4. Christs first myracle at a Mariage Fol. 5. Three Mariages of Christ. Fol. 6. By Mariage the Womans curse turned to two blessings Fol. 6. A note of Adams sleepe Fol. 10. Another application of his rib whereof was made the woman Fol. 11. The day of Mariage counted the ioyfullest day in mans life Fol. 11. A good Wife like little Zoar which Lot sled to from Sodom Fol. 12. Without Mariage all things should be vaine Fol. 14. Fornicators like the Deuill Fol. 18. No Bastarde prospered but Iiphtah Fol. 19. A maried sornicator like a Gentleman theese Fol. 19. A Wife is the poore mans treasure wherein only he matcheth the rich Fol. 26. Two spies for a Wise Discretion and Fancie Fol. 27. The Wife must not onely be godly but sit Fol. 28. A memorable saying of one that light vpon a sit Wife Fol. 32. The first beginning of the Ring in Marige Fol. 31. Why Mariage doth come of Nuptiae Fol. 37. Maides must speake like an Eccho Fol. 38. A lesson for the married drawne from the name of Wedding garment Fol. 52. The Man and Wife like cock and dam. Fol. 54. Marriage compounded of two loues Fol. 55. The best pollicie in Marriage is to begin well Fol. 58. They must learne one anothers nature Fol. 59. A sweete example teaching how coples shall neuer fall out Fol. 61. Man and Wife like two partners Fol. 66. Abraham bid to leaue all but his Wife Fol. 66. Why Wiues are called Huswiues Fol. 79. When the man is away the Wife must liue like a Widdow Fol 81. Why a Wife was called the Contrary to a Husband Fol. 82. The cause why many despise their Husbands Fol. 86. Many obseruations vppon Seruanntes Fol. 88. The Maister must correct his men and the Mistresse her maides Fol. 97. Children like mediators betweene a man and his Wife Fol. 98. Adulterie like the disease of Marriage and diuorcement like the remedie Fol. 107. Why Adulterie should dissolue Marriage more than anye thing else Fol. 110. A sentence for the Married to thinke vppon Fol. 111. A Preparatiue to Marriage YOu are come hether to bee contracted in the Lord that is of two to bee made one for as GOD hath knit the bones and sinewes together for the strengthening of the bodie so he hath knit man and woman together for the strengthening of this life because two are stronger than one and therefore when GOD made the Woman for Man he sayd I will make him a helpe shewing that man is stronger by his Wife Euerie Marriage before it bee knit should bee contracted as it is shewed in Exo. 22. 16. and Deut. 22. 28. which stay betweene the Contract the Marriage was the time of longing for their affections to settle in because the deferring of that which wee loue doth kindle the desire which if it came easilie and speedilie to vs would make vs set lesse by it Therefore wee reade how Ioseph and Marie were contracted before they were married In the Contract Christ was conceaued and in the Mariage Christ was borne that he might honour both estates Virginitie with his Conception and Marriage with his Birth You are contracted but to bee married therefore I passe from Contracts to speake of Mariage which is nothing els but a communion of life between man and woman ioyned together according to the ordinance of God First I will shewe the excellencie of Marriage then the institution of it then the causes of it then the choise of it then the dueties of it and lastly the diuorcement of it Well might Paule say Mariage is honourable for God hath honoured it himselfe It is honourable for the author honourable for the time and honorable for the place Whereas all other ordinaunces were appoynted of GOD by the hands of men or the hands of Angells Marriage was ordained by God himselfe which cannot erre No man nor Angell brought the Wife to the Husband but GOD himselfe so Marriage hath more honour of God in this than all other ordinances of God beside because he
you not take his instruction Marriage hath neede of many counsellers and doest thou count thy Father too many which is like the foreman of thy instructers If you mark what kind of youths they be which haue such haste that they dare not stay for their parents aduice they are such as hunt for nothing but beautie and for punishment hereof they marrie to beggerie and lose their Father and Mother for their Wife therefore honour thy parents in this as thou wouldest that thy children should honour thee The second question is answered of Paule when he saith Be not vnequally yoked with Infidells As we should not be yoked with Infidells so we should not be yoked with Papists and so we should not be yoked with Atheists for that also is to be vnequally yoked vnlesse we be Atheists too As the Iewes might not marrie with the Chananites so we may not marrie with them which are like Chananites but as the sonnes of Iacob said vnto Emor which would marrie their Sister Wee may not giue our Sister to a man vncircumcised but if you will be Circumcised like vs then we will marrie with you So Parents should say to suiters I may not giue my Daughter to a man vnsanctified but if you will be sanctified then I will giue my Daughter vnto you Though Heresie and irreligion be not a cause of diuorse as Paule teacheth yet it is a cause of restraint for we may not marrie all with whome we may liue being married If adulterie may separate marriage shal not idolatry hinder marriage which is worse than it Christ saith Let no man separate whome God hath ioyned so I may say Let no man ioyne whome God doeth separate For if our Father must be pleased with our Marriage much more should we please that Father which ordained Marriage Shall I say Be my Wife to whome I may not saye Be my Companion Or Come to my bed to whome I may not say Come to my table How should my marriage speede well when I marrie one to whome I may not say God speede because she is none of Gods friendes Doth not hee marrie with the Deuill which marrieth with the tempter For Tempter is his name and to tempt is his nature When a man may chuse he should chuse the best but this man chuseth the worst He prayeth Not to be led into temptation and leadeth himselfe into temptation Surely he doth not feare sinne which doth not shunne occasions and he is worthy to be snared which maketh a trappe for himselfe When Salomon the myrrour of wisedome the wonder of the world the figure of our Lord by idolatrous Concubines is turned to an idolater let no man say I shall not be seduced but say How shall I stande where such a Cedar fell The Wife must be meete as God saide Gen. 2. 18. But how is shee meete if thou be a Christian and she a Papist We must marrie in the Lord as Paule saith but how do we marrie in the Lord when wee marrie the Lords enemies our Spouse must bee like Christs Spouse but Christs Spouse is neither Harlot nor Heretick nor Atheist If she bee poore the Lord reprooueth not for that if she bee weake the Lord reprooueth not for that if she bee hard fauoured the Lord reprooueth not for that but none giueth any dispensation for godlines but the diuell Therefore they which take that priuiledge are like thē which seeke to Witches are guiltie of preferring euill before good This vnequal Mariage was the chiefe cause that brought the flood the first beginning of Giants mōstrous births shewing by their mōstrous children what a monstrous thing it is for beleeuers and vnbeleeuers to match together In Matth. 22. Christ sheweth that before parties married they were wont to put on faire newe garments which were called Wedding garments a warning vnto all which put on Wedding garments to put on trueth and holinesse too which so precisely is resembled by that garment more than other It is noted in the 14. of Luke that of all them which were inuited to the Lords banquet and came not onely hee which had married a Wife did not desire to bee excused but saide stoutly I cannot come Shewing how this state doth occupie a man most and drawe him often from the seruice of God and therefore wee had not neede to take the worse for the best are combersome enough In the 2. of Iob it is obserued of the patient man that hee did not curse the day of his birth vntill his wife brake foorth into blasphemie shewing that wicked womē are able to change the stedfastest man more than all temptatiōs beside Sampson would take a Philistian to wife but he lost his honour his strength and his life by her least any should doo the like But what a notable warning is that in 2. Chro. 21. 6. where the holy Ghost saith Iehoram walked in the waies of Ahab for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife as though it were a miracle if he had been better than he was because his wife was a temptation Miserable is that man which is fettered with a woman that liketh not his religion for she will be nibling at his prayer and at his studie and at his meditations till she haue tyred his deuotions and turned the edge of his soule as Michol tried Dauid she mocked him for his zeale and liked her self in her folly Therfore as Christ saieth Remember Loths wife so when thou marriest remember Ichorams wife and be not wedded to her which hath not the Wedding garment but let vnitie goe first and let vnion come after and hope not to conuert her but feare that she wil peruert thee least thou saye after like him which should come to the Lords banquet I haue married a wife and cannot come Yet the chiefest point is behind that is your dueties The dueties of Mariage may be reduced to the dueties of Man and Wife one toward another and their dueties towarde their children and their dueties toward their seruants For themselues saieth one they must think that they are like two birds the one is the Cock and the other is the Dam the Cocke flieth abroad to bring in the Dam sitteth vpon the nest to keepe al at home So God hath made the man to trauaile abroade and the woman to keepe home and so their nature and their wit and their strength are fitted accordingly for the mās pleasure is most abroade and the womans within In euery state there is some one vertue which belongeth to that calling more than other as Iustice to Magistrates and Knowledge to Preachers and Fortitude to Souldiers so loue is the Marriage vertue which sings Musicke to their whole life Wedlocke is made of two loues which I may call the first loue and the after loue As euerie man is taught to loue GOD
bird that defileth his owne nest and if a Wife vse her Husband so how maye the Husband vse the Wife Because this is the qualitie of that sex to ouerthwart and vpbraide and sue the preheminence of their Husbands therefore the Philosophers coulde not tell how to define a Wife but called her The contrarie to a Husband as though nothing were so crosse and contrarie to a man as a Wife This is not Scripture but no slaunder to many As Dauid exalteth the loue of women aboue all other loues so Salomon mounteth the enuie of women aboue all other enuies stubborne sullen taunting gainsaying outfacing with such a bitter humour that one would thinke they were molten out of the salt pillar into which Loths Wife was transformed We say not all are alike but this sect hath manie Disciples Dooth the ribbe that is in a mans side fret him or gall him no more should she which is made of the ribbe Though a woman bee wise and painfull and haue many good parts yet if she bee a shrewe her troublesome iarring in the end will make her honest behauiour vnpleasant as her ouer pinching at last causeth her good huswiferie to be euill spoken off Therefore although she be a Wife yet sometime she must obserue the seruants lesson Not answering againe hold her peace to keep the peace Therfore they which keepe silence are well sayd to holde their peace because silence oftentimes doth keep the peace when wordes would breake it To her silence and patience she must adde The acceptable obedience which makes a Woman rule while she is ruled This is the Wiues tribute to her Husband for she is not called his head but hee is called her head Great cause hath man to make much of his wife for great and many are her dueties to him And therefore Paule saith Wiues submit your selues vnto your Husbands as to the Lord. Shewing that she should regarde his will as the Lordes will but withall as the Lord commandeth only that which is good right so she should obey her Husband in good and right orels she dooth not obey him as the Lord but as the tempter The first subiection of Woman began at sinne for when GOD cursed her for seducing her Husband when the Serpent had seduced her he sayd He shall haue authoritie ouer thee And therefore as the man named all other creatures in signe that they should bee subiect to him as a seruant which commeth when his Master calleth him by his name so he did name the woman also in token that she should be subiect to him likewise And therefore Asuerus made a lawe that euery man shoulde beare rule in his owne house and not the Woman Because she sinned first therefore she is humbled most and euer since the daughters of Sara are bound to call their husbands Lords as Sara called her husband that is to take them for their Lords for heads gouernours If ye disdaine to followe Abrahams Spouse the Apostle biddeth you followe Christs Spouse for he saith Let a wife bee subiect to her husband as the Church is to Christ. A greater loue than this saith Christ no man can haue So a better example than this no Woman can haue That the Wife may yeeld this reuerence to her Husband Paule would haue her attire to bee modest and orderly for garish apparell hath taught manie gossips to disdaine their husbands This is the folly of some men to lay all their pride vpon their wiues they care not how they slouen themselues so their wiues iet like Peacocks But Peter doth commend Sara for her attire and not Abraham shewing that women should braue it no more than men and God made Eues coate of the same cloath that he made Adams They couered themselues with leaues and God derided them but now they couer themselues with pride like Sathan which is fallen down before them like lightning ruffe vpon ruffe lace vpon lace cut vpō cut foure and twentie orders vntil the woman be not precious as her apparell that if any man would picture vanitie he must take a patterne of women or els he cannot drawe her likenes As Herodias was worse for her fine dauncing so a woman may haue too many ornaments frisled lockes naked breasts painting perfume and especially a rowling eye are the forerunners of adulterie and hee which hath such a wife hath a fine plague Once women were married without dowries because they were well nurtured but now if they waighed not more in gold than in goodnes many should sit like nuns without husbāds Thus we haue shadowed the mans dueties to his wife and the womans to her husband After their dueties one to another they must learne their dueties to their familie One compareth the master of the house to the Seraphin which came and kindled the Prophets zeale so he should goe from wife to seruants and from seruants to children and kindle them in the zeale of GOD longing to teach his knowledge as a Nurse to emptie her breasts Another saith that a master in his family hath al the offices of christ for hee must rule and teach and pray rule like a King teach like a Prophet pray like a Priest To shewe how a godly man should behaue himselfe in his household when the holy Ghost speaketh of the conuersion of any housekeeper lightly he saith that the man beleeued with al his houshold As Peter being conuerted must conuert his brethren so the master being conuerted must conuert his seruants For therefore God sayd that he would not hide his counsell from Abraham because hee would teach his familie and surelie all duetie which is not done of conscience is but eye seruice and faileth at most neede as Ziba betraied his master when he should haue defended him Therefore before One simus was conuerted Paul said he was an vnprofitable seruant but when hee was conuerted hee calleth him more than a seruant because such a seruant is better than many seruants Therefore though Laban was wicked himselfe yet he reioyced that Iacob his seruant was godly because GOD blessed him better for him Ioshua saith I and my houshold will serue the Lord. Shewing that masters should receiue none into their houses but whom they can gouerne as Ioshu◠did Therefore it is noted of Cornelius that all his houshold serued God like himselfe This is reported also of Ioseph and Marie for an example that they went vp euerie yere with all their familie to worship at Ierusalem that their childrē and their seruants might learne to know God as well as they These examples bee written for householders as other are for Magistrates and Ministers and Souldiers that no calling might seeke further than the Scripture for instruction Wherefore as you are masters now and they your seruants so instruct them and traine them as
if you would shewe what masters they should be hereafter After the care of their soules they must care for their bodies for if the labourer is worthie of his hire which laboureth but a day what is the seruant worth which laboureth euerie day Therefore Paule is so earnest with Philemon to make much of Onesimus his seruant that he desireth Philemon to receiue him as he would himself Therefore because cruell greedie Masters should not vse them too hardly God remembred them in his creation and made euerie weeke one day of rest wherein they should be as free as their Masters so God pitieth the poore labourer from heauen and euerie Saboath lookes downe vpon him from heauen as if he should say one day thy labours shall haue an ende and thou shalt rest for euer as thou restest this day By this wee see as Dauid did limit Ioab that hee should not kill Absalom so God hath bound masters that they should not oppresse their seruants Shall God respect thine more than thou Art thou made fresher to thy labour by a little rest and is not thy seruant made stronger by rest to labour for thee How many beasts and sheepe did Laban lose onely for hardly intreating of a good seruant Therfore that is the way to lose but not to thriue He which counteth his seruant his slaue is in an error for there is difference betweene beleeuing seruants and Infidel seruants the Infidels were made slaues to the Iewes because GOD hated them and would humble them but their brethren did serue thē like helpers which should be trained by them It is not a base nor a vile thing to be called a seruant for our Lord is called a seruant which teacheth Christians to vse their seruants well for Christs sake seeing they are seruants too and haue one master Christ. As Dauid speaketh of man saying Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angells so I may say of seruants that God hath made them a little lower thā children not children but the next to children as one would say inferiour children or sonnes in lawe and therefore the householder is called Paterfamilias which signifieth a father of his familie because he shoulde haue a fatherly care ouer his seruants as if they were his children and not vse thē onely for their labour like beasts Beside the name of a seruant doth not signifie suffering but dooing therefore masters must not exercise their hands vppon them but set their hands to worke and yet as God laieth no more vppon his seruants than he makes them able to beare so men should lay no more vppon their seruants than they are able to beare For a good man saith Salomon is mercifull to his beast and therefore he will be more mercifull to his brother That man is not worthie to bee serued which cannot affoord that his seruants should serue God as well as himselfe Giue vnto God that which is Gods and then thou maiest take that which is thine He which careth not for his familie saith Paule is worse than an Infidel because Infidels care for their familie But as Agur praieth Giue me not too much nor too little but feede me with foode conuenient So their care should not be too much nor too little but conuenient or els they are worse than Infidells too because Couetousnes is called Idolatrie which is worse than Infidelitie for it is lesse rebellion not to honour the King than to set vp another King against him as the Idolaters doo against the King of heauen Next vnto seruants instruction and labours must bee considered their corrections As Paule saith Fathers prouoke not your children to wrath So I may say Masters prouoke not your seruants to wrath that is vse such reproofes such corrections that you do not prouoke them but mooue them that you doo not exasperate them but win them for reuiling words and vnreasonable fiercenes doth more hurt than good And therefore the law of God did charge the Master that hee should not inflict aboue fourtie stripes vppon his seruant least hee should seeme despised in his eyes For while a childe or scholler or seruant dooth thinke that hee is reprooued for loue or beaten with reason it makes him think of his fault and be ashamed but when he seeth that he is rebuked with curses and beaten with staues as though hee were hated like a dogge his heart is hardened against the man which correcteth him and the fault for which he is corrected after he becommeth desperate like a horse which turneth vppon the striker and therefore thinke that GOD euen then chides you whēsoeuer you chide in such rage For though there be a fault yet some things must bee winkt at some things forgiuen and some things punished with a looke for he which takes the forfeit of euery offence shall neuer rest but vexe himselfe more than his seruant Further I haue heard Experience say that in these punishments it is most meete and acceptable to the offender that the man should correct his men and the woman her maides for a mans nature skorneth to bee beaten of a woman and a maides nature is corrupted with the stripes of a man Therefore wee reade that Abraham would not meddle with his maide but committed her to his wife and saide Doo with her as it pleaseth thee As if he should say it belongeth not to me but to thee Lastly we put the duetie toward children because they come last to their hands In Latin children are called Pignora that is pledges as if I should say a pledge of the husbands loue to the wife and a pledge of the wiues loue toward the husband for there is nothing which doth so knit loue between the man and the wife as the fruite of the wombe Therefore when Leah began to conceaue she sayd now my husband will loue me as though the husband did loue for children If a woman haue many defects as Leah had yet this is the mends which she makes her husband to bring him childrē which is the right Wedding Ring that sealeth and maketh vp as it were the Marriage When their father and mother fall out they pert vp betweene them like little mediators and with many pretie sportes make truce when other dare not speake to thē Therefore now let vs consider what these little ones may challenge of their parents which stād thē in sted of Lawiers The first duetie is the mothers that is to nurse her childe at her owne breasts as Sara did Isaak therefore Esaiah ioyneth the nurces name and the mothers name both in one and calleth them nurcing mothers shewing that mothers should bee the nurces So whē God chose a nurce for Moses he led the handmaid of Pharaohs daughter to his mother as though GOD would haue none to nurse him but his mother After when the Sonne of God was borne his
father thought none fit to bee his nurse but the Virgin his mother The fountaines of the earth are made to giue water the breasts of women are made to giue suck Euery beast and euery foule is bred of the same that did beare it onely women loue to be mothers but not nurces Therefore if their children prooue vnnaturall they may say thou followest thy mother for she was vnnaturall first in locking vp her breasts from thee and committing thee foorth like a Cuckowe to bee hatched in the Sparowes nest Hereof it comes that wee say he suckt euill from the dugge that is as the Nurse is affected in her bodie or in her minde commonly the childe draweth the like infirmitie from her as the egges of a Henne are altered vnder a Hawke yet they which haue no milke can giue no milke but whose breasts haue this perpetuall drought Forsooth it is like the Gowte no beggers may haue it but Citizens or Gentlewomen In the 9. of Hosee drie breasts are named for a curse what lamentable hap haue Gentlewomen to light vpon this curse more than other Sure if their breasts bee drie as they say they should fast pray together that this curse might bee remooued from them The next duetie is Catechize child in his youth and he will remember it when he is olde This is the right blessing which fathers and mothers giue to their children when they cause GOD to blesse them too The wrong mother cared not though the child were diuided but the right mother wold not haue it diuided so wicked parents care not though their children be destroyed but godly parents would not haue them destroyed but saued that when they haue dwelt together in earth they may dwell together in heauen As the Midwife frameth the bodie when it is yong and tender so the parēts must frame the mind while it is greene and flexible for youth is the seede time of vertue They which are called fathers are called by the name of God to warne thē that they are in stead of GOD to their children which teacheth all his sonnes What example haue children but their parents And sure the prouidence of God doth ease their charge more than they are aware for a childe will learne better of his father than of any other And therfore we reade of no Schoolemasters in the Scripture but the parents for when Christ saith to the Iewes If ye be the sonnes of Abraham ye will doo the workes of your father Abraham He sheweth that sonnes vse to walke in their fathers steps whether they be good or bad It is a merueilous delight to father mother when people say that their children are like them but if they be like them in goodnes it is as great a delight to other as to the parents or els wee say that they are so like that they are worse for it Well doth Dauid call children arrowes for if they bee well bred they shoote at their parents enemies if they be euill bred they shoote at their parents Therfore many fathers want a staffe to stay them in their age because they prepared none before like olde Eli which was corrected himselfe for not correcting his sonnes Are not children called the fruit of their parēts Therfore as a good tree is knowne by bringing foorth good fruite so parents should shewe their goodnes in the good education of their children which are their fruite For this cause the Iewes were wont to name their children so when they were borne that euer after if they did but thinke vppon their names they would put them in minde of that religion which they should professe for they did signifie somthing that they should learne An admonition to such as call their children at al aduentures sometimes by the names of doggs euen as they prooue after In the 1. King 2. 2. wee haue Dauid instructing his sonnes In Gen. 39. Iaacob correcting his sonnes and in Iob. 1. Iob praying for his sonnes These three put together Instructing Correcting and Praying make good children and happie parents Once Christ tooke a child and set him in the middest of his Disciples and sayd He which will receiue the kingdome of heauen must receiue it as a little child Shewing that our children should bee so innocent so humble and voide of euill that they may bee taken for examples of the children of God Therefore in Psal. 127. 4. children are called the heritage of the Lord to shewe that they should bee trained as though they were not mens children but Gods that they may haue Gods heritage after Thus if you doo your seruants shall bee Gods seruants and your children shall bee Gods children and your house shall be Gods house like a little Church when others are like a den of theeues Now I speake to one which is a mother so soone as she is maried therefore peraduenture you looke that I should shewe the duetie of stepmothers Their name dooth shewe them their duetie too for a stepmother dooth signifie a stedmother that is one mother dyeth another commeth in her stead therfore that your loue may settle to those little ones as it ought you must remember that you are their stedmother that is in sted of their mother therfore to loue them and tender them and cherish them as their mother did Further these children are Orphanes and therefore you must not onely regarde them as children but as Orphane children Now God requireth a greater care ouer Widdowes and Orphanes than ouer any other women or children Lastly you must remember that saying As you measure vnto other so it shall be measured to you againe That is as you intreate these children so an other may come after and intreate your children for he which hath taken away the first mother and sent you can take away the second mother and send a third which shall not bee like a stedmother to yours vnlesse you be like a stedmother to these If these dueties bee performed in Marriage then I need not speak of Diuorcement which is the rod of Marriage and diuideth them which were one flesh as if the bodie and soule were parted a sunder But because all performe not their Wedlocke vowes therfore hee which appoynted Marriage hath appoynted Diuorcement as it were taking our priuiledge frō vs when we abuse it As God hath ordained remedies for euery disease so he hath ordained a remedie for the disease of Marriage The disease of Marriage is Adulterie and the medicine hereof is Diuorcement Moses licenced thē to depart for hardnes of heart but Christ licenseth them to depart for no cause but Adulterie If they might bee separated for discorde some would make a commoditie of strife but now they are not best to bee contentious for this lawe will hold their noses together till wearines make them leaue strugling like two spaniels which are coupled in a
chaine at last they learne to goe together because they may not goe a sunder As nothing might part friends But if thine eye offend thee pull it cut that is if thy friend bee a tempter so nothing may dissolue Marriage but Fornication which is the breach of Marriage for Marriage is ordained to auoid Fornication and therefore if the condition bee broken the obligation is voide And beside so long as all her children are his children she must needes be his wife because the father and mother are man wife but when her children are not his children she seemes no more to be his wife but the others whose children she beares and therefore to be diuorsed from him In all the old Testament we reade of no diuorce betweene any which sheweth that they liued chaster thā we yet no doubt this lawe was better executed amōgst thē than amōgst vs. Such a care God hath had in al ages callings to prouide for thē which liue honestly for Diuorcement is not instituted for the carnall but for the chast least they should bee tied to a plague while they liue As for the Adulterer and Adulteresse he hath assigned death to cut them off least their breath should infect others Thus he which made Marriage did not make it vnseparable for then Mariage were a seruitude But as Christ saith of the Sabaoth The Sabaoth was made for man that is for the benefite of man and not for the hinderance of man so Marriage was made for man that is for the honour of man and not for the dishonour of man but if Marriage should turne to Fornication and when it is turned to Fornication there might be no separation then Marriage were not for the honour of man but for the trouble and griefe and dishonour of man Therefore now ye haue heard how Diuorcement is appoynted for a remedie of Fornication if any bee ashamed of this phisicke let them bee more ashamed of the disease Because I haue spoken more than you can remember if you aske me what is most needfull to beare away In my opinion there is one saying of Paule which is the profitablest sentence in all the Scripture for Man and Wife to meditate often and examine whether they finde it in themselues as they doo in other least their Marriage turne to sinne which should further them in godlinesse In the 1. Cor. 7. 32. it is sayd The vnmaried man careth for the things of the Lord how he may please the Lord but he that is married careth for the things of the world how he may please his wife Likewise The vnmaried woman careth for the things of the Lord how she may bee holy but she that is married careth for the things of the world how she may please her Husband As though their pleasing of God were now turned all to pleasing one another and their carnall loue had eaten their spiritual loue as the leane kine deuoured the fat Therefore it followeth in the next words This I speake for your commoditie As though there were great commoditie in remembring this watch word All men haue not the feeling of Gods worde or els such a sentence might bee an anchor to all which are married to stay them when any temptation goeth about this chaunge which Paule feared euen in them which seared God before If thou haue read all this booke and art neuer the better yet catch this flower before thou goe out of the garden and peraduenture the sent thereof will bring thee backe to smell the rest As the corps of Hazael made the passengers to stand so I haue placed this sentēce in the doore of thy passage to make thee stande and consider what thou doest before thou marriest For this is the scope and operation of it to call the minde to a solemne meditation and warne him to liue in Marriage as in a temptation which is like to make him worse than he was as the Marriage of Iehoram did if he vse not Iobs preseruatiue to bee ielous ouer all his life The alluremēts of beautie the troubles about riches the charges of children the losses by seruants the vnquietnes of neighbours crie vnto him that hee is entered into the hardest vocation of all other and therefore they which haue but nine yeares prentiship to make them good Mercers or Drapers haue nineteene yeares before Mariage to learne to bee good Husbands and Wiues as though it were a trade of nothing but Mysteries and had neede of double time ouer all the rest Therefore so often as you thinke vppon this saying thinke whether you bee examples of it and it will waken you and chide you and leade you a straight path like the Angell which led the seruant of Abraham Thus I haue chalked the way to prepare you vnto Marriage as the Leuites prepared their brethren to the Passeouer Remember that this day ye are made one and therefore must haue but one will And now the Lord Iesus in whome ye are contracted knit your harts together that ye may loue one another like Dauid and Ionathan and goe before you in this life like the Starre which went before the Gentiles that yee may begin and proceede and end in his glorie To whom be all glorie for euer Amen FINIS A Treatise of the Lords Supper in two Sermons Imprinted at London by Thomas Orwin for Thomas Man dwelling in Paternoster row at the signe of the Talbot 1591. A Treatise of the Lords Supper in two Sermons The first Sermon 1. Cor. 11. 23 24. The Lord Iesus in the night that he was betraied tooke bread And when he had giuen thankes he brake it and said Take eate this is my bodie which is broken for you this doo ye in remembrance of me THE Word the Sacraments are the two breasts wherwith our mother dooth nurse vs. Seeing euerie one receiueth and fewe vnderstand what they receiue I thought it the necessariest doctrine to preach of the Sacrament which is a witnesse of Gods promises a remembrance of Christs death and a seale of our adoption therefore Christ hath not instituted this Sacrament for a fashion in his Church to touch and feele and see as we gaze vpon pictures in the windowes but as the woman which had the bloodie issue touching the hemme of Christs garment drewe vertue from Christ himselfe because she beleeued So Christ would that wee touching these signes should drawe vertue from himselfe that is al the graces which these signes represent Therefore as the Leuits vnder the Lawe were bound to prepare their brethren before they came to the Passeouer so Preachers of the Gospell should prepare their brethren before they come to the Supper of the Lord. For which purpose I haue chosen this place to the Corinthians which is the cleerest and fullest declaration of this Sacrament in all the Scripture The Lord Iesus in the night c. The
against the nature of all other Sacraments Againe there must bee a proportion betweene the Passeouer the Lords Supper because this was figured by the other Now the Iewes had in their Passeouer Bread and Wine and a Lambe so Christ instituting his Supper left Bread and Wine a Lamb which name is giuen to himselfe because he came like a Lamb and died like a Lamb. Againe if Christs verie bodie were offered in the Sacramēt then it were not a Sacrament but a Sacrifice which two differ as much as giuing and taking for in a Sacrifice we giue in a Sacrament we receiue therfore we say our Sacrifice and Christs Sacrament Againe euery Sacrifice was offered vppon an Altar Now marke the wisedome of the Holy Ghost least wee should take this for a Sacrifice he neuer names Altar when he speakes of it but the table of the Lord. Therefore it is no doubt but the diuell hath kept the name of Altar that wee might thinke it a Sacrifice Againe if the bread were Christs flesh and the wine his bloud as these two are separate one from the other so Christs flesh should bee separate from his bloud but his bodie is not diuided for thē it were a dead bodie Againe that which remaineth doth nourish the bodie and relish in the mouth as it did before which could not be but that it is the same foode which it was before Againe I would aske whose are this whitenesse and hardnes and roundnes and coldnes None of them say that it is the whitenesse and hardnesse and roundnes and coldnes of Christs bodie therefore it must needes bee the whitenesse and hardnesse and roundnes and coldnes of the bread or els qualities should stand without substances which is as if one should tell you of a house without a foundation Againe as Christ dwelleth in vs so he is eaten of vs but he dwelleth in vs onlie by saith Ephe. 3. 17. Therefore he is eaten only by faith Againe none can bee saued without the communion of the bodie but if all should communicate with it corporally then neither infants nor any of our fathers the Patriarkes or the Prophets should bee saued because they receiued it not so Againe Christ saith not this wine but this cup and therefore by their conclusion not onely the wine should be turned into bloud but the cup too Againe Paule saith They which receiue vnworthily receiue their own damnation But if it were the flesh of Christ they should rather receiue saluation than damnation because Christ saith He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath life euerlasting Againe if they would heare an Angell from heauen whē Christs bodie was glorified an Angel said to the women He is risen and is not here as if he should say his bodie is but in one place at once or els he might haue been there though he was risen Againe why doo they say in receiuing this Sacramēt euer since the Primitiue church Lift vp your hearts if they haue all in their mouths To end this controuersy Here we may say as the Disciples sayd to Christ Whether shall we goe from thee I meane we neede not go to any other expositor of christ than Christ himselfe Therefore mark what he saith At first when Christ said that he was the bread of life and that all which would liue must eate him they murmured vntill he expoūded his words and how did hee expounde his wordes Thus He that commeth vnto me hath eaten and he that beleeueth in me hath drunke After when hee instituted this Sacrament in like wordes they murmured not which they would as before if he had not resolued them before that to eate his bodie and to drink his bloud was nothing but to come to him and beleeue in him After he had sayd so they murmured not because they did see some reason in it As it is plainly sayd This is my bodie so it is plainlie saide these words are spirit that is they must be vnderstood spirituallie and not literallie I did not alleage the Fathers in my Sermon but if any man suspend his assent till they bring in their verdit let him heare them make confession of their beleefe Augustine saith the Lord doubted not to say this is my bodie when he gaue onely a signe or Sacrament of his bodie Tertullian saith this is my bodie that is a signe of my bodie Ambrose saith the bread and wine remaine still the same thing that they were Theodoret saith after the consecration the mysticall signes do not cast off their owne nature but abide still in their first substance and forme Origen saith the bread that is sanctified with the word of God as touching the materiall substāce thereof goeth into the bellie and foorth againe like other meates Irenaeus saith that it hath two things in it one earthly and the other heauenly Cyrill saith Our Sacraments auouch not the eating of a man Ciprian saith the Lord calleth bread made of many graines his bodie and called wine made of many grapes his bloud Athanasius saith Christ made mention of his ascention into heauen that he might withdrawe his Disciples from corporal and fleshlie eating Chrysostome saith God giueth vs things spirituall vnder things visible and naturall And againe being sanctified it is deliuered from the name of bread and is exalted to the name of the Lords bodie although the nature of the bread still remaine And because they beleeue that the Pope cannot erre Pope Gelasius setteth to his hand and saith with the rest Neither the substāce of the bread nor nature of the wine cease to bee more than they were before Tell vs Papist doo not these Fathers speake as plaine as wee Canst thou auouch Transubstanciation more flatly than they denie it How had this heresie been chased if the diuell had hatched it in their time Thus the Scriptures on the one side and the Fathers on the other side did so trouble three arch Papists Biel Tonstal and Fisher that Gabriel Biel saith how the bodie of Christ is in the Sacrament is not founde in the canon of the Byble Tonstal saith It had been better to leaue euerie man to his owne coniecture as they were before the Councell of Laterane than to bring in such a question Fisher saith No man can proue by the words of the Gospell that any Priest in these daies doth consecrate the very bodie and bloud of Christ. Heere is fulfilled Out of thine owne mouth I will condemne thee But wee will not carrie the matter so because a Iudge must haue two eares therfore now let thē speake Because they cannot tell how the bread and wine should bee turned into flesh and bloud and yet appeare bread and wine still they say it is a myracle but how doo they prooue it If they contend it is a myracle they
words and made them come againe with Mayster what is the meaning for they were not so instructed yet before the resurrection to beleeue euery thing without questioning if it were contrarie to sense and reason but as they asked who had giuen him any meate when he sayd that he had meate and they could see none so they woulde haue asked what meate is this which wee see not how can euery one of vs eate his body and yet he hath but one body and that body is whole when we eate it loe hee standeth before vs and sayth that his body is like vnto ours and yet he takes bread and breakes it and giues it vnto vs to eate and when we eate it he saith This is my body and yet his body standeth before vs still If his body be like ours as he saith how can it be eaten and be there for ours can not Thus they would haue questioned if they had not bin vsed to such phrases but as they could vnderstand him when he called himselfe a stone and a rocke and a dore and a window and a Vine so they could pick out his meaning when he sayde that bread was his body for hee had tould them before that hee was the bread of eternall life Now the bread of eternall life is not eaten with teeth for the body cannot eate spiritually no more than the soule can eate corporally and therefore hee is such a bread as is eaten with faith and so himselfe faith in the Gospell of Iohn Marke this eating by faith and all the strife is ended Flesh and bloud indeede neede not faith to chewe them for the teeth can chew them well enough Therefore if the Bread and Wine were the body of Christ then we need not faith to eate it but all which haue teeth might eate Christs body yea the Mice might eate it aswell as men for they eate the same bread that we doe aswell after it is consecrated as before If this be not enough to batter the ruines of this vpstart heresie I will come to interrogatories and see whether they haue learned it by rote or by reason If they ground their Transubstantiation vpō these words of Christ This is my body which he spake to his Disciples I aske them whether they receyue that body which was mortall or that body which is glorified because one of these bodyes they must needes receyue eyther his mortall body or his glorified body If they say that it is his mortall body the mortall body wil not profit them for you see that mortall foode is but for this mortall life neyther hath Christ a mortall body now to communicate vnto them because it is chaunged to an immortall body therefore they can not receyue the mortall bodie because Christ hath not a mortall body to giue them If they say that they receyue his glorified body then they must flie from this text for at that time Christ had no glorified body When this Sacrament was instituted and Christ sayd This is my body his body was not glorified because the Sacrament was instituted before his death and his body was glorified after his resurrection Therefore if they receyue the same body which the Apostles receyued as they saye they doo they cannot receyue a glorifyed bodye because then Christ had not a glorified body to communicate vnto thē Thus the rocks and sands are of both sides them they receyue a body neyther mortall nor immortall if Christ hath any such body iudge you Here they stand like a foole which cannot tell on his tale Nebuchadnezar dreamed a dreame and knew not what it meant Beside I aske them to whome Christ spake when he sayd This is my body Marke sayth hee spake them that is to his Disciples well then if these wordes This is my body were not spoken to the signes but to the persons not to the bread wine but to the receiuers as the words which follow Do this in remembrance of mee if these words were not spokē to the bread and wine then it is playne that they doo not change the nature of the bread and wine If the nature of them be not altered then the substance remaineth and then wee receyue no other substance with them because two substances cannot be in one place What then is there nothing in the Sacrament but bread wine like a hungrey nunscion Nay we say not that the Sacrament is nothing but a bare signe or that you receyue no more than you see for Christ sayth that it is his body and Paule sayth that it is the communion of Christs body bloud Therefore there is more in Sacramentall bread than in common bread though the nature be not changed yet the vse is changed it doth not only nourish the body as it did before but it bringeth a bread with it which nourisheth the soule for as sure as we receyue bread so sure we receyue Christ not only the benefits of Christ but Christ although not in a Popish manner yet we are so ioyned vnto him as though we were but one body As the spouse doth not marry with the lands and goods but with the man himselfe and being partaker of him is made partaker of them so the faithfull do not only marry with Christes benefits but with Christ himselfe and being partakers of him they are made partakers of his benefits for Christ may not be deuided from his benefites no more than the Sunne from his light It is sayd the Father gaue vs his Sonne and so the Sonne geueth vs himselfe As the bread is a signe of his body so the geuing of the bread is a signe of the geuing of his bodie like a Pellican which letteth her yong ones suck her bloud so that we may say the Lord enuited vs to Supper and he himselfe was our meate But if you aske how this is I must aunswer it is a mysterie but if I could tell it it were no mysterie Yet as it is sayd when three men walked in the middest of the fornace one like the Sonne of GOD walked amongst them So when the faithfull receyue the Bread and Wine one like the Sonne of God seemeth to come vnto them which fils them with peace and ioy and grace that they maruell what it was which they receyued besides bread and wine For example thou makest a bargaine with thy neighbour for house or land and receyuest in earnest a peece of goulde that which thou receyuest is but a peece of goulde but now it is a signe of thy bargaine and if thou keepe not touch with him happely it will claspe thee for all that thou art woorth so that which thou receyuest is bread but this bread is a signe of an other matter which passeth bread Againe thou hast an Obligation in thy hand and I aske thee what hast thou there and thou sayest I haue heere an hundreth pounds why
Christ saith When they tell you here is Christ and there is Christ beleeue them not So when they tell you that Christ is in heauen and that Christ is in earth in this place and that place beleeue them not for Elias ascention was a figure of Christs ascention when Elias was ascended yet some sought for his body vpon earth so though christ bee ascended yet many seeke his body vpō earth but as they could not finde Elias bodie so these can not finde Christs bodie although they haue sought 300. yeares But if his bodie were vppon earth as they say should wee handle it and touch it now it is glorified After his resurrection he sayd to Mary Touch me not because his bodie was glorified that is not to bee touched with fingers any more but with faith Therefore wee reade of none which touched his bodie after it was risen but onely Thomas to setle his faith Thus you see we need to suborn no witnesses for euerie worde in this text which they alleage for Transubstanciation doth make against Transubstanciation whereby if Antichrist doth signifie thē which are against Christ you see who may be called Antichrist There is no question in Poperie except Purgatorie the Popes publican tasker about which the Papists are at such ciuill warres among themselues as about this Transubstanciation They cannot tell when the chaunge beginneth nor what manner of chaunge it is nor how long the change continueth some hang one way and some an other like the Midianites which fought one against another And no meruaile though their consciences stagger about it for to shewe you the right father of it it was one of the dreames of Innocentius the 3. in the yeare of our Lord 1215. so many yeares passed before Transubstanciatiō was named and then a Pope set it first on foote so it came out of Rome the grandame of all heresies and for want of Scriptures hath been defended with fire and sword and swallowed more Martirs than all the gulfes of the Papall sea beside Now when the doctrines of men goe for scripture you shall see how many errours rush into the Church for graunt but this to Innocentius as the Papists doe that the bread and wine are changed into Christes bodie First it will follow that Christes bodie is not ascended vp to heauen because it remaineth vppon earth and so one of the articles of our faith shall be falsified which saith He is ascended into heauen or if he be ascended and descended againe an other article will be falsified which saith that he sitteth at the right hand of his father that is as Peter saith he abideth in heauen Secondly it will follow that Christ hath not a true body but a fantasticall body because it may be in many places at one time for if his body be in the Sacrament he must needes haue so many bodies as there be Sacraments nay he must haue so many bodies as there be bits in euery sacrament Thirdly it will followe that his body is diuided from his soule and consequently is a dead body because the bread is only changed into his body and not into his soule Fourthly it wil follow that the wicked and prophane and reprobat may receiue Christ as well as the godly because they haue a mouth to eate as well as the best Fiftly it will follow that Christes sacrifice once for all was not sufficient because we must sacrifice him againe and breake his body and shead his bloud as the Iewes crucified him vppon the Crosse. Sixtly it wil follow that the bread being turned into the body of our redeemer hath a part in our redemption as well as Christ. Seauenthly it will follow that Christ did eate his owne body for all the Fathers say that he did eate the same bread which he gaue to his Disciples Lastly it will follow that a Massing Priest shall be the creator of his creator because he makes him which made him all these absurdities are hatched of Transubstantiation Thus when men deuise articles of their owne while they strike vpon the handuill the sparkes flie in their face and they are like the man which began to builde and could not finish it When I see the Papists in so many absurdities for intertaining one error mee thinkes he seemeth like a Collier which is grimed with his owne coales Therfore as in manners we should thinke of Peters saying Whether is it meete to obey GOD or men So in doctrines wee should thinke whether it be meete to beleeue God or mē Thus you haue heard the author of this Sacramēt the Lord Iesus the time when it was instituted in the night that he was betraied the manner how it was instituted after thankes giuing the ende why it was instituted for a remembrance of his death and the discouerie of Transubstanciation one of the last heresies which Babylon hatched Now they which haue been Patrons of it before should do like the father and mother of an Idolater that is lay the first hand vpō him to end his life Thus I end Think what account ye shall giue of that ye haue heard In this Sermon leafe C. section 11. lin 3. for he spake them reade he spake to them A Treatise of the Lords Supper The second Sermon 1. Cor. 11. vers 25 26 27 28. 25 After the same manner also he tooke the cup when he had supped saying This cup is the New Testament in my bloud this doo as oft as ye drinke it in remembrance of me 26 For as often as ye shall eate this bread and drinke this cup ye shew the Lords death till he come 27 Wherefore whosoeuer shall eate this bread and drinke the cup of the Lord vnworthelie shall be giltie of the bodie and bloud of the Lord. 28 Let a man therefore examine himselfe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this cup. HEre I am to speake of the second seruice as it were at the Lords Table of that preparation which is like the Wedding garment that euerie man must bring vnto this banquet These words are diuersly repeated of the Euangelists Heere it is sayd This cup is the new testament in my bloud In Mathew and in Marke it is sayd This cup is my bloud of the new testament This is the first mention which Christ makes of a Testament as though now his promises deserued the name of a Testament because the seale is set vnto them which before this Sacrament was not sealed but like a bare wrighting without a signet This word Testament doth imply a promise and therefore teacheth vs that the Sacrament doth confirme strengthen and nourish our faith because it sealeth the promise which wee should beleeue Heere is to be noted that Christ doth not only speake of a Testament but he calleth it a new Testament which words neuer met together before as
Father or a Doctor to inquire whether this doctrine bee like Christs doctrine I doo verely thinke that none heere is so simple but that he seeth that if any thing can bee contrarie to Christs speech this is contrarie to it But this is onely their detraction from the Sacrament Now you shall heare their additions to the Sacrament looke vpon their vestures and their gestures and their Altars and their pix and their incense and their becks and their nods and their turnings all this is more than Christ did and therefore the Prophet may say againe Who hath required this of you Did Christ commaund you to doe more than he did and not doe as he did therefore let them which haue eyes to see be thanckfull for their light when they heare how blind they were whome God gaue ouer to be seduced The fruite of this Sacrament is noted in these words which is broken for you which is shead for you that is as Mathew intreateth shed for the remission of sinnes As al was made for vs so all which Christ spake hee spake for vs and all which Christ did he did for vs and all which Christ suffered he suffered for vs that the sinnes of men might be forgiuen and yet so few apprehend this benefit that the way to Heauen is called a narrow way as though all these paines did raunsome but a small number certaine order of men All are not saued by Christes death but all which are saued are saued by Christes death his death is sufficient to saue all as the sunne is sufficient to lighten all but if any man wincke the sunne will not giue him light so if any man contemne and will not receyue Christ will not thrust him into heauen but euery man shall haue that which he chooseth as Dauid saith Blessing to him that loueth blessing and cursing to him which loueth cursing There wants not a hand to giue but a hand to take I would sayth Christ but you would not Stretch forth thy hand and heere is Christes hande which takes Gods hand and mans hand and ioynes them together and then the remission of sinnes is sealed This is the will and testament of Christ. He had no goods nor lands nor money to giue by his testament A rich man when he dieth bestoweth the money which he hath gathered and forgiueth many debts which are owing him but Christ had nothing to giue nor any thing to forgiue The Lord of all had least of all and he might say like his seruant Peter Gould and siluer haue I none no not a graue to burie his body in but the graue which Ioseph made for himselfe serued to burie Christ. His Father was a Carpenter but neuer made any house for himselfe his Mother lay in a stable for want of a Chamber his Disciple was faine to borrow twentie pence for him of a fish therefore when one offered Maister I will follow thee thinking to gaine by his seruice like them which retaine to noble men he replied vnto him The foxes haue holes and the fowles haue nests but the sonne of man hath not a house to hide his head shewing that the beasts fowles were richer than hee therefore when he had nothing to giue he gaue himselfe and when he had no debters to forgiue he forgaue his enemies what then this is a poore and weake testamēt which gaue nothing oh the goodlyest testament that euer was made for it bringeth to vs the remission of sinnes Is it such a matter to forgiue sinnes yea the greatest benefit in all the world nay a greater benefit than all the world for thus it stoode thou haddest committed high treason against the Queenes person thou art detected apprehended accused conuicted and condemned vpon it to bee hanged and drawne and quartered and thy quarters to bee set vp for a spectacle like a carkasse which thou hast seene hanging vpon a gibbet the Crowes pecking vpon it What a horror and shaking to thy mind to think of that day when all these torments and shame and feare shall surprise thee at once which wold make thee quake and tremble if thou shouldest see but another so dismēbred before thy face Thou hast no comfort now but this when I haue suffered I shall bee free before to morrowe at this time all my paine will bee past though my shame continue and my children bee beggers What grace what fauour what mercie now to pardon thee all this and saue thy life and set thee at libertie as though thou haddest neuer offended So I and thou and euerie one here had committed treason against the King of Kings and stoode condemned for it not to suffer then to be free like them which breake the lawes of men but to suffer and suffer and euer to suffer all that the diuells would heape vppon vs. Then came the mercie of God for Christ which shed his bloud like an vmpire betweene God and vs and sayd as Esaiah said to Hezekiah Thou shalt not die but liue loose him let him goe for he is mine So wee were stayed like the widdowes sonne when he was carried to his graue This is the benefite of Christes death and this Sacrament is the remembrance of it and therefore whensoeuer we receiue it this addition commeth with it which is shed for the remission of sinnes our fault was so hainous grieuous that no raunsome could counteruaile it vnlesse God himselfe had suffered for vs. Being in this extremitie neither man nor Angell offered his life for vs but the Prince himselfe which should haue crucified vs came to be crucified of vs for vs that wee might say with stedfast faith I beleeue the remission of sinnes not the satisfaction of sinnes but the remission of sinnes Marke this distinction against Popish merites of workes or penance Christ hath satisfied and not we we are remitted and not Christ therefore wee say in our Confession I beleeue the remission of sinnes which I may call the mercifull Article because it is the quintessence and sweetnesse of all the twelue Therefore who but Antichrist durst depraue it If there bee a satisfaction for our sinnes by our workes or by our Pilgrimages or by our Masses or by our penance let Christ neuer bee called a forgiuer but an exchanger like the Pope which selleth his pardons Wretched creatures which will not receiue the Lord whē he comes to their dore Christ saith take for nothing and they say no wee will not take but buy Vile base miserable men disdaine to take grace of God without satisfaction but they will cope with the Lord and giue him so many Pilgrimages fast so many daies heare so many Masses and pay so many workes for it vntill they haue done as much good as they haue done euill Our sinnes are infinite God is infinite but our workes are finite in number and measure how can
they aunswere then to that which exceedeth number and measure Therfore bee content with Iosephs brethren to take your money againe and say that you haue corne for nothing that is you are saued for nothing or els when you say I beleeue the remission of sinnes you lye vnto God because you do not beleeue the remission of sinnes but satisfactiō for sins like the papists It followeth As often as ye shall eate this bread and drinke this cup ye shall shewe the Lords death till he come Here are three inuincible arguments like the three witnesses vnder which euery worde dooth stand First wee are sayd to eate bread thē it is not flesh but bread Secondly wee are sayd to shewe the Lords death then it is but a shewe or representation of his death Thirdly it is sayd vntill he come if he be to come then he is not come if he be come how can we say vntill he come The effect of this verse was shewed in these words Doo this in remembrance of me for to say Doo this in remembrance of me and to say so oft as you doo this you shewe my death is much at one so that if you call this Sacrament a shewe of Christs death as it is called here then it is not Christ or if you call it a remembrance of Christ as it is called there yet it is not Christ but a shew or remembrance of Christ but this is such a shew remembrance that the next verse sayth Whosoeuer receiueth it vnworthelie is giltie of the body and bloud of Christ. Will yee knowe who receyueth vnworthilie In verse 29. Paule sayth hee discerneth not the Lords body that is which putteth no difference betweene this bread and other but eateth like a childe the meate which he knoweth not My sheepe sayth Christ knowe my voyce as they discerne Christes words so they discerne Christes bodie and therfore so often as they come to the Lords Table they seeme to come into the Lordes presence there they greete and kisse and imbrace one another with affectiōs which none can knowe but they that feele like Iohn which leaped in the womb so soone as Christ came neere him Will ye know beside what it is to be giltie of the bodie and bloud of Christ euen as Iudas was giltie for betraying him and Pilate for deliuering him and the Iewes for crucifying him so they are giltie which receiue this Sacrament vnworthely as Pilate and Caiphas and Iudas were If they be guiltie of Christes death they are guiltie of their owne death too as if they had committed two murders and therfore Paule saith after that many of the Corinthians died only for the vnworthie receyuing of this Sacrament As the word is the sauour of death to thē which receiue it vnworthily so the Sacrament is the sauour of death to thē which receiue it vnworthily it neuer goeth into their mouth but they are Traytors ipso facto and may say to Hell this day I haue taken possession of thee because I am guiltie of Christes bloud Therefore it followeth immediatly Let a man examine himselfe before he eate of this bread or drinke of this Wine as if he should say if he which receyueth this Sacrament vnworthely be giltie of Christs death like Iudas which hanged himselfe if these signes be receyued to saluation or damnation like the word the next lesson is to examine your selues before you receyue least you receyue like the sunne of perdition which swalowed the bread and the Diuell together Therefore Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate that is let him examin first and receyue after for if we should receyue the bread of the earth reuerently how should we receyue the bread of heauen Whē Iehonadab came to Iehu his chariot he said Is thy hart vpright as my hart is toward thee So whē we come to the Lords Table he would haue our hearts vpright to him as his heart is to vs for who feasteth his enemies mockers the golden Ring sitteth highest at our Table but the wedding garment sitteth highest at this Table It is safer eating with vnwashen hands then with an vnwashen heart The Iewes were taught to choose the Lambe of the Passeouer on the tenth day of the first moneth in which moneth they came out of Egipt and on the 14. day after they were taught to eate him so they had foure dayes respit betweene the chosing and the killing to prepare and sanctifie thēselues for the Passeouer which was a signe of the Lords Supper This admonished them that the matter now to be performed was very waightie and therefore they were deepely to consider it for now was the action and somme of all saluation in handling if they did prepare themselues so before they did receyue the figure of this Sacrament how should we be prepared before we receiue the Sacrament it selfe Therefore as Iosiah commaunded the Leuites to prepare the people so Paule aduiseth the people to prepare themselues that is to examine whether they haue faith and loue and repentance before they come to this feast By this all may see first that Paule would haue euery lay man so skilfull in the Scripture that he bee able to examine himselfe by it for this admonition is not to them which minister the Sacrament but to all which receiue the Sacrament And the rule by which wee must examine our selues is the law which we should obey therefore if the rule be vnknowne the examination must be vndone Our doctrine must be examined by the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles our prayers must bee examined by the sixe petitions of Christs prayer our beleefe must bee examined by the twelue articles of faith our life must bee examined by the tenne Commaundements of the Lawe Now he which hath his Touchstone may trie gold from copper but he which hath it not takes one for the other Therefore before Paules Examine you had need to learne Christs Search Search the Scriptures and they will lighten you to search your selues This is the doctrine with which I will ende and the necessarie poynt for which I choose this text to teach you if I could that Christian arte how to examine your selues Let a man examine himselfe before he eate Here is first an examinatiō Secondly an examination of our selues Thirdly an examination before we come to the Sacramēt Touching the first here Paul saith Examin your selues but in 2. Cor. 13. he doubleth his charge Proue your selues and againe at next word Examine your selues as if he should saye this worke must be done when it is done because it is neuer thoroughly done and therefore we must double our examination as Paul doubleth his counsell If a man suspect his enemy he will try him with a question if that will not search him he will put forth another if that be spied he
streames so a pure heart hath pure ioyes Whether it bring to Christ or take any thing from him to thy selfe like all the parts of Popery If it abide all these questions and drawe thee not from any good then thou mayst say it is from God water the seede O Lorde which thou hast sowne Then come to the second examination If I cā make thee discerne whether an other be a Christian by that thou shalt know whether thy selfe be a Christian which that thou mayst come to obserue this direction and thou shalt see of what side thou art It must needes be that they which walke to contrary ends should goe diuers wayes therefore there be mo differences betweene the children of God and the children of the world then there be betweene men beasts First they are distinguished in Will for the wicked striue to bring Gods will to their will like Balaam which when he had an answere stayed for another but the faithfull labour to bring their will to Gods will like Christ which sayd not as I will but as thou wilt They are distinguished in Faith All men haue not faith sayth Paul but the iust liue by faith as if he should say the iust beleeue and the vniust beleeue not The iust beleeue and apply that they beleeue to themselues The wicked may beleeue like the Diuels but their faith is like a gadding hen which carrieth her eggs to other and neuer layeth at home so they beleeue that other shall be saued but not themselues They are distinguished in Hope for because the wicked hope not for any mends of God therefore they neuer defer their reward but if they doe any good they are trumpets of it themselus for feare it should not be blased inough and therefore Christ sayde that the Pharises had their reward already because they were boasters of their works and if they doe no good but euill yet they would be magnified as much for euill as other are for good But the faithfull are likened to handmaides which waite their reward their left hand seeth not when their right hand doth well and they are afraide to take honour of men for losing their honor with God like Iohn baptist which made his vertues meaner then they were and debased himselfe when hee might haue got a name aboue his Lord. They are distinguished in obedience therefore Christ teacheth vs to iudge men by their fruites as an vnfallible rule for the euill tree will bring forth euill fruite and the good tree good fruite and neither can change his propertie although the euill fruite is sometimes beautifull and the good fruite sometimes blasted They are distinguished in Repentance for the wicked doo but weepe for their sinnes past but the godly purpose to sin no more so Pharaoh Saul and Iudas sayd I haue sinned but Shadrach Meshach and Abednego sayd We will not sin therefore the heart of the godly is called a contrite heart but the hart of the wicked is called a hart that cannot repent Beside as Christ cast out a legion of deuils at once so the godly would be purged of all their sinnes together but the wicked neuer consent to leaue al but as Naaman sayd Let the Lord spare me in this so euer he excepteth one sinne which is his beloued sinne like Herod which reformed many thinges and yet wold not leaue his brothers wife They are distinguished in Charitie for ye shal neuer see the wicked loue their enemies and therfore when the Pharises could not loue their enemies they taught that men might hate their enemies and Christ speaking of publicans and sinners exhorteth his disciples not to loue like them because they loued none but their friends They are distinguished in Prayer for the wicked can not pray therefore Dauid saith they call not vpon the Lord as if they had not the spirit of prayer and therefore Christ calleth their prayers babling for they thinke not of God when they speake vnto him They are distinguished in Patience no hipocrite can beare the crosse but sayth like Caine It is heauyer then I can suffer but Paule and Silas sing in prison for a faithfull man would haue something to humble him and reioyceth to beare his maysters marks because the wounds of a louer are sweete They are distinguished in the vse of aduersitie for this is a proper and peculiar marke of Gods children to profit by affliction and therefore we reade not in all the punishments of the wicked that one of them sayd like Dauid It is good for me that I haue bin afflicted They are distinguished in Humilitie for the wicked are not humbled before the crosse like Pharao that neuer sorowed but whē he suffered but the Apostles learned humilitie of their mayster before their persecution came They are distinguished in their iudgement of the worde for to the wicked it seemeth the hardest and simplest and vnpleasantest booke that is and therefore Paule sayth that it is foolishnes vnto them But to the godly it seemeth the wisest and eloquentest and sweetest and easiest book of all other as though God did sodainly bring the vnderstanding of it to them as Iacob sayd of his veneson according to that He that will do his will shall know his doctrine They are distinguished in their iudgement of GOD. The wicked are perswaded now and then of Gods mercie for the present time while they feele it as the Iewes praised him alwayes when he did as they would haue him but they can not perswade themselues that God wil be merciful to them still like Iob which sayde Though the Lord kill me yet will I trust in him therefore the hope of the righteous is called hope in death Beside if the wicked loue God it is but for his benefits as Saul loued him for his Kingdome And this is alway to be noted that in the wicked the feare of hell is greater then their hope of heauen but in the faithfull the hope of heauen is greater than their feare of hell They are distinguished in their delights for the sport of the vngodly is folly like Belshazzars and therefore when they are sicke or troubled they neuer runne to the Word for comfort as though Gods promises pertayned not to them but to feasts or tables or tales or musicke as Saule did to the harpe but all the delights of the godly are like Dauids daunce about the Arke they are neuer merrie but when they are doing well nor at peace but when their prayers haue ouercome God like Iacob They are distinguished in their opinions of death for the faithfull long to bee dissolued and although they might liue euer in continuall prosperitie yet they would not stay so long out of heauen but the wicked would neuer bee dissolued
that day vpon which they receyue like a Schollers Thurseday which he loues better then all the dayes in the weeke only because it is his play day Maruell not now if you haue not felt that comfort after the Sacrament which you looked for for it is comfortable to none but to thē which prepare their harts and examine themselues before because it is not the mouth but the heart which receiueth comfort Now it may be that the most which are heere haue brought a mouth and not a heart these goe away from the Sacrament to despight Christ as Iudas went from the Sacrament to betraye him The other goe away like one which hath receyued a cheerefull countenance of the Prince all his thoughts are ioy and the countenance of the Prince is still in his eye As hee which hath eaten sweet meate hath a sweet breath so they which haue eaten Christ all their sayings and dooings are sweete like a perfume to men and incense to GOD their peace and conscience and ioy of heart and desire to doo good will tell them whether they haue receiued the bare signes or the thing signified Euerie one which receiueth this Sacrament shal feele himselfe better alter it like the Apostles or els he shall finde himselfe worse after it like Iudas Hereby ye shal know whether yee haue receiued like the Apostles or like Iudas Thus we haue ended the doctrin of the Lords Supper Now if you can not remember all that I haue said yet remember the text that is Examine your selues before you receiue this Sacrament hereafter FINIS THE Examination of Vsurie in two Sermons Taken by Characterie and after examined Imprinted at London by Thomas Orwin for Thomas Man dwelling in Paternoster row at the signe of the Talbot 1591. To the Reader HEere thou hast the Sermons which haue bin often desired because of the matter fit for this Citie One sayth that he would neuer speake to Vsurers and Bribe-mongers but when they be vpon their death beds for he which liueth by sin resolueth to sin that he may liue But when he goeth to hanging Iudas will say I haue sinned If I speake not to Vsurers vppon their death-bed yet I speake to Vsurers which shall lye vppon their death-bed Three things do giue me hope One is that all harts are in the hands of God to call them at what houre he list and therefore Saul may become an Apostle The next is that the third crow doth waken moe then the former and therefore after the crowing of other this crow may happily be heard The last is that there is no sinne but some men haue bin reclaimed from it and so may Vsurers from their sinne Therefore goe my booke like Dauid against Goliah and sight the Lords battells against Vsurers The Lord giue that successe to his doctrine in these leaues that it may consume Vsurers as Ioshuah droue out the Chananites before him If I could take but this one weede out of the Londoners Garden I were answered for my health and my strength spent amongst them Reade with thy best minde and thou shal profit more Thine H. S. The Examination of Vsurie in two Sermons The first Sermon Psal. 15. vers 1. 5. Lord who shall dwell in thy tabernacle Who shall rest in thine holie mountaine He that giueth not his money to Vsurie THese two verses must bee considered together because one is the question and the other is the answere Dauid demands who shall come to heauen and GOD tels him that Vsurers shall not come thether as if hee should say They shall goe to hell Therefore as Paule taught Timothie to warne thē which are rich as though they had more neede to be warned than other so this sentence seemeth to bee penned for a warning to the rich because it strikes vpon the rich mans vice I haue spoken of Briberie and Simonie and now I must speake of their sister Vsurie Manie times haue I thought to speake of this Theame but the argumēts which are alleaged for it haue made mee doubtfull what to say in it because it hath gone as it were vnder a protection At last you see it falleth into my text and therefore now I cannot bauke it any longer Therefore if any heere haue fauoured this occupation before let him now submit his thoughts vnto Gods thoughts for I will alleage nothing against it but that which is built vppon the rocke Vsurie is the sin which God wil trie now whether you loue better than his worde that is whether you will leaue it if he forbid it for if hee flatly forbid it and yet you wilfully retaine it then you loue Vsurie better than Gods worde Therefore one saith well that our Vsurers are Hereticks because after manie admonitions yet they maintaine their errour and persist in it obstinatly as Papists doo in Poperie For this cause I am glad that I haue any occasion to griple with this sin where it hath made so many spoyles where it hath so many patrons for it is said that there be moe of this profession in this Citie than there bee in all the land beside There be certaine sins which are like an vnreasonable enemie which will not be reconciled to death and this is one of those euerlasting sins which liue and die with a man For when he hath resigned his pride and his enuie and his lust yet Vsurie remaineth with him he saith as Naaman said Let the Lord bee mercifull vnto me in this let me haue a dispensation for this as though this were a necessarie sinne and hee could not liue without it There be three sinnes which are counted no sinnes and yet they doo more hurt than all their fellows those are Briberie Nonresidencie and Vsurie these three because they are gainful are turned from sinnes to occupatiōs How many of this Citie for all that they are Vsurers yet would be counted honest mē and would faine haue Vsurie esteemed as a trade whereas if it were not so gainfull it would bee counted as great a sinne as any other and so it is counted of all but them which liue by it This is the nature of pleasure and profite to make sinnes seeme no sinnes if we gaine any thing by them but the more gainfull a sinne is the more daungerous it is and the more gainfull Vsurie is the more daungerous it is I will speake the more of it because happely you shall not heare of this matter againe First I will define what Vsurie is then I wil shew you what Vsurie doth signifie then I will shewe the vnlawfulnes of it then I will shewe the arguments which are alleaged for it then I will shewe the punishment of it then I will shewe you what opinion wee should holde of them which doo not lend vpon Vsurie but borrow vpon Vsurie Lastly I will shewe you what they should doo which haue got their riches by Vsurie Touching the