It standes therefore euery one in hand that receiue these Sacraments to haue a greate care not onelie to beleeue that GOD for his parte will performe that which thereby he bindeth himselfe vnto but also for their partes to fulfill that whereunto they tie themselues otherwise sure they are no better than dissemblers before men and hypocrites before GOD. If the Etimologie of this worde Sacrament be but considered it might teach vs in anâ—e case to deale with these alwayes Sacra mente that is with a sacred and a holy minde The worde is taken and vsëd so generally often that euery outward thing by Gods ordinance signifying a further grace or benefite hath beene called a Sacrament And therfore Iohn Chappâ—â—s in his CoÌ„mentary vpon Raymunds summe of the Sacraments tract 1. thought he had found in Hugo de sancto victore in his sixt booke of Sacraments a verie perfect definition of a Sacrament when he found that he defined it to be Naturale elementum extrinsecùs oculis suppositum ex institutione figurans ex similitudine repraesentans ex sanctificatione aliquam gratiam inuisibilem conferens that is A naturall element set outwardly before the eyes by institution figuring by similitude representing and by sanctification conferring some inuisible grace And in verie deede it somewhat well restraineth the ouerlarge vse of the word and there is nothinge therein but it is true of Sacraments properly taken as I take them now But to make it fully to expresse the nature of a sacrament thus taken and noe more I woulde thereunto adde and I am sure it ought to be so that the institutor must bee God himselfe that sometime the outward partis not onely one element to be seene with the eies but more then one and that it is not enough that by sanctification it conferre any visible grace whatsoeuer but that that grace be euen Christ himselfe with such graces as in him re prouided for our saluation And therfore I define a Sacrament as nowe I speake thereof to be A visible signe or signes ordained by Christ to be ministred in his Church to theÌ„ that be his not only to figure represent himselfe and what he hath done for their saluation but also whereby to offer himselfe with grace necessarie to saluation and to deliuer himselfe with the same and to seale the communication and deliuerie thereof to euery worthy receiuer of the outward element or elementes according to his institution And such we finde no more now in the newe Testament but Baptisme and the Lordes Supper The other fiue vrged as Sacrament by the Romanists of our daies howsoeuer in some generall improper sense they maybe so called in this they cannot For some one or other necessary thing mentioned in this definition is wanting in euery one of them And yet there is nothing in this definition that can be omitted if we minde so to define or describe a Sacrament as that indeed truely and fully we meane to expresse the nature thereof as it is common but to these two Baptisme and the Supper To the constitution therefore of a Sacrament by this we may see that it is first necessarie that Chrst be the author and institutor thereof Secondly that there haue a commandement passed from him to administer it in his Church Thirdlie that it consist of such outward visible element or elementes as he hath chosen and appointed for that purpose And fourthly that according to his ordinance they be taken as meanes to put him on by and to make him ours with all such graces as in him are prouided for our saluation So that asto the making of a perfect maÌ„ there must concurre bodie and soule in one and to the being of our Christ to be a fit person to be our Messias and Sauiour Godhead manhood so to the full beeing of a Sacrament according to Christs ordinance an outward element or elements and Christ himselfe and his grace fit and needfull for our saluation are necessary And therefore as neither bodie soule in man nor Godhead manhood in Christ without falling into a grosse errour there about can or may be said or thought to be eyther confounded with the other or annihilated or absorpted sorpted of the other so neyther may we say or thinke of these two partes in a Sacrament When therefore we come to receiue any Sacrament as outwardly we receiue the outward element so inwardly we must seeke to receiue also the heauenly thing thereby offered vnto vs or else by our default we seuere those thinges which we should coupple and as much as lyeth in vs ouerthrowe the nature and vse of the Sacrament Nowe to descend from the consideration of a Sacrament thus in generall Of Baptisme to these two particuler Sacramentes In Baptisme which is the first we haue Christes ordinance for it and commaundement also for the ministring of it Math. 28.19 where Christ said vnto his disciples Goe and teach all nations baptising them in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost And thereby also the worde baptise signifying as it doth to dippe in water or therewith to sprinkle we may see the outward element to be water Which is also coÌ„firmed by al the practise of the Churches in the Apostles times as appeares both in the storie of their Actes written by Saint Luke and elsewhere And that the thing therby signified offered deliuered is Christ himselfe and so in him remission of sinnes regeneration and dying to sinne and liuing againe vnto righteouspesse it sufficiently appeareth in these places of the Scriptures Knowe ye not that all we which haue beene baptised into Christ haue beene baptised into his death we are then buried with him by Baptisme into his death that like as Christ was raysed vp from the dead to the glory of the Father so we also should walke in newnes of life Rom. 6.3.4 All ye that are baptised into Christ haue put on Christ Gal. 3.27 Be baptised euery one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of sinnes Act. 2.38 Christ loued the Church and gaue himselfe for it that he might sanctifie it and cleanse it by the washing of water through the word c. Ephe. 5.25.26 According to his mercie he saued vs by the washing of the new birth and renewing of the holy Ghost Tit. 3.5 Baptisme that now is saueth vs by the resurrection of Iesus Christ 1. Pet. 3.21 They therefore that are desirous not onely to be accounted baptised with the outward Baptisme of water must as you see according to Paules counsell Rom. 13.14 put on the Lord Iesus Christ himselfe and take no thought for the flesh to fulfill the lustes of it For if they be partakers of the other part thereof in the blood of Christ they are washed and cleansed and so must and are bound to liue as men dead to sinne and aliue to righteousnesse Baptisme therfore Is a Sacrament of the new
then to the vniting of Christes bare bodie and bloode and the right communicant togither For as he both in bodie and soule standeth neede of him to be his Sauiour so it is certaine as Christ both God and man perfecte God and perfecte man in one person is the head and husband of his Church and the redeemer and Sauiour thereof so here faith is to feed so vpon his body broken blood shed as that withall it must stedfastly conceiue and beleeue that it was is the body and blood of such an one as was and is both very God and man and yet but one person For thence it cōmeth that the things done for vs by his broken bodie and blood shed though in number and time wherein they were done they were finite are in the sight of the heauenly Father of infinite value and dignitie as once I said before to worke our perfect redemption and saluation that they were done by such a man that had not onely a perfect bodie and soule of a man and in them both was such an one as it became vs to haue that was seperate from sinners Heb. 7.27 but also was and remaineth for euer a true euerlasting God and therefore was able thus to dignifie the workes done for vs in his manhood And to this end it is most heauenly and diuinely noted Heb. 9. that the force that the offring that Christ made of himselfe vpon the crosse for vs to purge our consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing God commeth and riseth from hence that then by his eternall Spirit he offered himselfe without fault to God for vs. And though I am not ignorant that Chrisostome to very good purpose in his 46. Homilie vpon Iohn interpreting those wordes of Christ Iohn 6.63 It is the spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing the wordes that I speake vnto you are spirit and life notes that they were spoken by Christ not to disable his flesh altogether from being profitable because so to thinke is absurd but to warne vs that carnally we vnderstand not his wordes which by his interpretation there we doe if we take his wordes simplie as they sound thinke no otherwise of them for that as he saith all misteries are to be considered with inward eies that is spiritually yet I cannot but thinke with others also that in so saying Christ meante not onely to teach vs that his wordes were not grosly and camally to betaken that he had spoken of the eating of his flesh and drinking of his bloode as the Capernaits and such of his hearers that beleeued not then tooke them but spiritually as his beleeuing disciples who notwithstanding them taried with him when the other murmured or departed by occasion thereof but that therin he had this further meaning and purpose to shew them that if his flesh and blood were as they tooke them but the flesh and bloode of a man then they could not be indeed such foode for their soules as he had taught them to be but beeing as they were the flesh and blood of such an one as withall was a spirit and that an eternall creating Spirit euen very God thence they might be sure that they rightly fed on by faith and the spirite both could and would bring life Thus therefore we teach and exhort all men in the vse of this Sacrament to feede vpon the bodie broken and blood shed of our Christ and Sauiour And yet thus we speake with Christ and according to the phrase vsed in the institution therof because as by Christ God and man as by our onely mediatour we come to the Father so it hath pleased God in his word to reueale him vnto vs that by his manhood and the workes done therin we should grow on to faith in his Godhead vnited thereunto and so shining manifesting it selfe vnto vs therin Thus then I hope by this time euen by this plaine and short declaration onely of our faith and iudgement concerning the doctrine and nature of this Sacrament The conclusion of this our doctrine you may most clearely see and perceiue that we are wonderfully wronged and slandered and that so also are all the Churches of our profession by our aduersaries whiles to discredit vs withal they would make men belecue that we make it but a naked Supper of bread and wine and so seeke to feede our people therein but with bare signes and figures For you may see and heare that most plainely and earnestly we vrge our hearers therein to seeke to feed to their eternall saluation of Christ Iesus himselfe both God and man and so many other notable vses thereof as you heare we teach that euen in respect thereof all the names and titles that any sound antiquitie hath honoured this Sacrament withal may most iustly be giuen vnto it as it is ministred and vsed by vs. We finde it hath beene called the Supper of the Lord the Table of the Lord the Sacrament of his bodie and bloode the Eucharist a Sacrifice and Synaxis and vsually with vs it is called the Cōmuniō And which of these is it not with vs It is the supper of the Lord because as we teach at the last supper he instuted it and it is his Table because therin he feedeth his with himself it is the Sacrament of his body blood because to his it is a sacred meanes of the Lord to nourish strengthen and exercise their faith therein it is the Eucharist because thereby we are so directly forceably occasioned as we are to yeeld all heartie thankes vnto God for the death and passion of Christ lesus whereof it is so notable a memorial and a Sacrifice euen therfore also it may be tearmed also Synaxis it is because it is an excellent bond of our assemblies and meetings together to receiue it and lastly worthily we may and doe call it the Communion be cause it is a seale first of our communion with Christ and then of one of vs with an other in him And yet for all this though this most certainely be the generall doctrine held with one consent by all the Churches that professe the Gospell with vs except of a fewe peeuish and wilfull Lutherans our aduersaries nor these neither will not be satisfied but when we haue said and done what we can all is nothing with them that in this case we say or doe vnlesse we will with them by vertue of Christes wordes spoken by him in the institution heere of hold such a real presence of Christes bodie and blood in this Sacrament as that by the mouthes of all commers thereunto and receiuers thereof haue they true faith or no his verie bodie and blood really be taken in and sed vpon Which beeing a doctrine so directly contrarie to that which lutherto I haue taught you rouching our vnion and communion with Christ by faith and his spirit onely especially seeing also it is to be feared that a number
when the one is onely named to vnderstand the other also Nowe for as much as the meate and drinke talked of in any of these places to satisfie the hungrie and thirsty is neither earthly nor such as we vse to take in by the mouth and other instrumentes of the bodie but altogither heauenly and such as must be eaten drunken by the mouth of our soules therefore we may be sure that herein there is a metaphor vsed and that in this phrase and speech by a similitude betwixt the hunger and thirst of the bodie and the affections of the soule by those termes the Lord meaneth the like passions and affections of the soule afore towards the meare and drinke prepared therefore as is founde in the bodie after meate and drinke meeâ—e and fit for it What it is to thirst Seeing then that the ground and foundation of such metaphors is alwaies the analogie and resemblance betwixt the metaphoricall wordes and the thinges for the expressing whereof they are vsed we shal the better vnderstande what is ment heereby by the hunger and thirst of the soule if we doe but consider that bodily hunger is an earnest longing after meat for the body proceeding from a sensible feeling of emptines and want thereof and that bodily thirst is an earnest longing after moysture to remooue the heate and drinesse that for lacke therof troubleth the bodye for what is this spirituall hunger and thirst else but an earnest longing for saluation onely in Christ Iesus proceeding from an effectuall feeling of nothing but damnation to be due vnto vs in respecte of our selues And therefore the soule that is inwardlie tormented vexed troubled and disquieted with a due sighte and feeling of the owne emptinesse to iustifie or saue it selfe yea that naturallie findeth it selfe promised with nothing else but with the scorching heate of sinne and drought of all goodnesse doubtlesse will so hunger and thirst that is so earnestly and vnfamedly long and desire to be deliuered from this state and condition that in trueth without all hypocrisie it will be readie to say with Daeuid that as the Hart brareth after the riuers of matters so it doth after the liuing God Psal 42. verse 1. 2. But to put it out of all doubt that here by the hungrie and thirstie are ment onely such compare here with the very like speech of Christ Math. 11. vers 28. where he said Come vnto me all ye that are wearie and laden and I will case you For euen there as heere he first describeth them to whom he spake secondly he telleth them what he would haue them to doe and lastly hee giueth them a sweete promise which they should enioy if they would so doe So that though there be some difference betwixt the wordes of Christ there and heere in sound yet little or none is there in sense wherefore in steede of the hungry and thirstie here in this place he there placeth the wearie and laden whereby he vnderstandeth them that being heauy laden with sin as we are all are growne also to be wearie thereof which no man may or can thinke himselfe to be as long as he continueth securely in going on in sinne so adding sin to sin For he that is weary of his burthen hath a desire to be eased therof and in the meane time vntill he can get quite to be discharged of it he himselfe rather daily seeketh to lessen it then to increase it The broken and contrite heart therefore vnder the burthen of sinne and that groneth and is inwardly disquieted in his verie soule with the feeling and smarte thereof is the man that will hunger and thirst after Christ that so in him and by him he may be eased and deliuered and theresore such are the onely men to whom Christ heere speaketh At this pointe was Dauid Psalm 6. when he wrote vers 2. 3. Haue mercie vpon me O Lord for I am weake O Lord heale me for my bones are vexed and my soule is also soretroubled c. But being againe in the same case as it appeareth Psa 51. he comforteth himself with this ver 17 That the sacrifices of God were a contritespirit and that a contrite spirit and broken hart he would not despise And good reason hath euerie man to be of his mind For Esay 61 1.2.3 for so Christ himselfe hath taught vs to apply it it is said of Christ that the spiritte of the Lorde was vppon him and that therefore he had annointed him and sent him to preach good tidinges vnto the poore to binde vppe the broken hearted to preach libertie to the captiues and to them that are bounde the openinge of the prison c. And therefore after in the person of GOD saith the prophet to him will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spiritte and trembleth at my wordes wherefore heare the worde of the Lorde yee that tremble at his wordes Esay 66. verse 6. and euen to this Christ had an eye Matth. 5.3.4.5 saying Blessed are the poore in spiritte for theirs is the kingdome of heauen Blessed are they that mourne for they shal be comforted Blessed are the meeke for they shall inherite the earth c. And hence came it that the proude pharisie puft vppe with a conceite of his owne righteousnesse wente home vniustified and the poore publican throwne downe and humbled before GOD in the sight of his owne sinnes and therefore crying Lorde be mercifull vnto me a sinner wente home more iustified Luke 18.9 c. for as Christ said Mat. 9.12.13 so it is most true the whole neede not the phisition but they that are sicke and he came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance And alwaies it hath beene the Lordes fashion to resist the proud and to giue grace vnto the humble 1. Pet. 5.5 And therefore the blessed virgin obserueth that in her song that as he scattered the proude in the imagination of their heartes and put the mightie downe from their seates and sendeth away the rich emptie so he exalteth them of lowe degree and filleth the hungrie with good thinges Luke 151. c. This was the verie reason why Christ was so curteous to publicans and sinners Matth. 9.10 and so bitter to the scribes and pharisies as he was Matth. 23. vers 11. c. And this made him say to the chiefe priestes and elders of the Iewes verilie verilie the publicans and harlotes goe before you into the kingdome of God Matth. 21.31.13 And hereunto I take it he had an eye when he said the kingdome of heauen suffereth violence and the violent take it by force For whereas they that are not broken and contrite hearted for their sinnes but eyther liue in them in securitie or are puft vp with a swelling conceite of their owne merittes make no haste to Christ they that are throughlie and duely humbled in and vnder their sins are glad to heare of him and to
Testament wherein by beeing dipped in or sprinkled vpon with water in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost we are assured that God the Father can and will in the blood and by the blood of his Sonne by the mighty working of the holy Ghost wash away our sins and so receiue vs and incorporate vs into his Church that we shal be his new borne children and inabled to be holy because he is holy We administer it to infants because it succeedeth Circumcision which was by Gods ordinance appointed to be ministred to the infants of the Iewes when they were but eight daies old Ge. 17.12 because Christ said Suffer little children to come vnto me for of such is the kingdom of heauen Mat. 19.13 because we read that the Apostles baptised whole households as Act. 16.33 amongest which sometimes it is most likelie there were some infantes and lastly because we finde that God promised not onelie to be the God of Abraham but also of his feede after him Gen. 17.7 and that Saint Paule most plainely teacheth that if one of the parents be beleeuing then is the seede holy 1. Cor. 7.14 And therefore it beeing administred to such and in water and in that manner that it is by Christs ordinance the nature of water beeing as we knowe it to bee we may and ought to learne all these lessons that we are all borne and conceiued in sinne and therewith so defiled that we stand need of washing that this washing and cleanseing is to be had at God the Fathers hands through Iesus Christ by the working of the holie Ghost and no where else that God both can and will thus wash and cleanse vs and that therefore this Trinitie in vnitie is onely to be beleeued in and trusted vnto for the matter of our saluation and to be honoured in all thankfulnesse for the same by our ceasing from sinne and doing of that which is good Whereupon we see that they that would lead vs after we haue once beene thus baptised to put our faith and confidence for any part of our forgiuenes of sinnes or saluation eyther in any other person or thing as the cōmon fashion is amongst papistes doubtlesse they would haue vs to reuolt from that faith wherein we were baptised and whereunto therby we haue most solemnly bound our selues Heereby also we may perceiue that though Baptisme it selfe be but once to be ministred for the reason before shewed yet as oft as euer eyther we finde our sinnes readie to shake our faith or otherwise to trouble vs by meditation thereof we are thus to haue our recourse againe vnto it to the strengthening both of our faith and to the weakning of the power of sinne howsoeuer the papistes would perswade vs that it serueth onely to assure vs of remission of sinnes before because we may be sure that God is alwaies readie if we can beleeue in him to performe vnto vs whatsoeuer he hath offered vnto vs therein Which doubtlesse is the remission of all our sinnes before or after we beleeuing and repenting thereof Or else if onely thereby were offered forgiuenesse of sinnes before it then surely the Church would haue deferred it to the last or later then eyther it hath or yet doth And as for the other Sacrament Of the other Sacrament if we doe with any diligence but consider that which we finde set downe thereof Mat. 26.26 c. Mar. 14.22 c. Luk. 22.19 c. 1. Cor. 11.23 c. we shall there finde whatsoeuer appertaineth eyther generally to a Sacrament or particularly vnto it most plainely and effectually expressed For there it is euident that Christ instituted it and commanded his ministers to administer it vntill his comming againe that he ordained very bread and wine to be the outward visible elements and his bodie broken for his and his blood shed for the remission of their sinnes to be the things by the other figured signified and represented yea thereby both offered and truely deliuered and communicated to the right and worthy receiuer And therefore to assure thē of as much he called the bread broken distributed his body broken the wine powred forth giuen thē in the cup his blood of the new Testament shed for many to the remission of their sins We therefore by warrant from hence do define this To be a Sacrament of the new Testament instituted by Christ and to administred by his ordinance and to be receiued according to the same of his faithfull people consisting not onely of bread broken wine powred out into the cup to be distributed receiued of al worthy commers thereunto in remembrance of his death and passion and as vndoubted tokens by his institution though not of their own nature both that his body was broken and his blood shed for all his in general and also particularly for the full redemption and saluation of euery right receiuer hereof but also of the very broken body and bloodshed of Christ for our saluation therewith all as certainely offred to be fed on to eternall life and fed on indeed by euery worthy communicant though by spirituall meanes as the other are offered vnto them taken and fed on by the instruments of the bodie Whereupon most earnestly we exhort euery one that would worthily come vnto this table and so be partakers indeed to their comfort of this Sacrament with Saint Paule in any case to trie and examine themselues first and to iudge themselues least for want of so doing they be heere iudged of the Lord by eating of this breade and drinking of this cup vnworthily to haue made themselues guiltie of his bodie and bloode and so to eate and drinke their own damnation For though we holde breade and wine heerein still to retaine their former substance and essence because euen by the expresse wordes of the institution in the places before quoated so much is euident and the common nature of a Sacrament requireth the continuance of the outwarde element in his former nature that so it may carrie the better and apterresemblance of the thing whose name it beareth yet we know and most willingly confesse with all antiquitie that thereof heere by vertue of Christes institution which doth and shal remaine in force stil to the worlds end alwaies to effect the same in bread and wine according to his ordinance set aside and vsed to this purpose there is a verie great change and alteration But that is but in name vse and estimation For whereas before they were but called bread and wine and serued but to the common vse of the nourishing and cheering of the bodie and therefore so onely were to be esteemed heerein they beare the names of the verie bodie and bloode of Christ and they serue as the Lordes good meanes to lead and strengthen our faith to feede therupon indeed to our saluation The vse thereof and therefore we esteeme of them herein not as they are
of their owne nature but as they are by his institution sacred signes simbols representations similitudes pledges and seales of those thinges whose names they beare And therefore we call vpon you most earnestly whensoeuer you receiue in the feare of God reuerently so to take them and so by marking what is said of them and done with them to take occasion first to call effectually to your remembrance how Christs body was broken with sorrowes and tormentes and his pretious blood shed and seuered in his passion from his body to satisfie the iustice of God his heauenly father for mans sinnes yea euen for euery one of your sinnes and therefore withall heartily to sorrowe for your sinnes that put him to al these paines and yet vnsainedlie also with thankefull heartes to reioyce that he woulde take such paines for them that were so vnworthy thereof Which you are notably occasioned to doe when in the administration of this Sacrament you first see the bread broken and the wine powred forth and both particularly offered vnto euerie one of you seuered and apart the one after the other yet bearing the names of his bodie broken and bloode shed for you Secondly knowing the natures of bread and wine as you doe and to what vse they setue touching this life they bearing heere the names of the bodie broken and blood shed of Christ as they doe we assure you that thereby most iustlie we are occasioned to beleue that in the bodie broken and blood shed of Christ both the breade and drinke that is all the foode that is necessary for the maintenance of our spirituall life for euer before God lieth and that therfore there it is only to be sought And in that these further thus called and vsed are giuen vnto euery one of you that come vnto the Lordes boarde and you take them thereby the Lord by vs his ministers particularly offers his bodie broken and his blood shedde vnto cuery one of you to feede and nourish you to euerlasting life and you by taking of them in outward shew answere both him and vs that you doe most firmly and stedfastly euery one of you particularly beleue that he will doe so indeede Wherefore in any case when you streach forth your hands and open your mouthes to take breade and wine thus called at our hands take Christes so calling of them to be a most follemne promise to his to assure you that if indeede then you beleeue that his body was once broken for you and his blood shedde for the remission of your sins as the story of his passion and this Sacrament which is a visible commemoration therof shewe that then vndoubtedly without all question you doe not nor cannot more ceratinly by those instrumentes of your bodies take the breade and wine feede thereof then by this faith of yours the very mouth of your soule in this case you feede vpon his broken bodie and bloode shedde But then I say once againe faile not but when your hands and mouthes are occupied about the taking feeding vpon the outward elements let this faith of yours which is in steede of both to your soule be feruently occupied in beleeuing that by the broken body bloodshed of Christ Iesus your saluation was is fully purchased These three vses thus made taken in the receite of this Sacrament in that you finde by experience knowe it to be most certaine that by the force ordinary worke of nature bread and wine receiued in disgested are conuerted to fit foode for our nature so there growes an vnion betwixt our nature and them so this Sacrament thus receiued is and ought to be vnto vs as a sealed couenant of Christ Iesus by the mightie working of his Spirite to assure vs that he will finde the means most certainlye to vnite himselfe vnto vs to nourish and to feed vs so with himselfe that in him we shall growe to be perfect men in his house And lastly as this Sacrament serues first to these ends so notably to strengthen our faith in Iesus Christ crucified so serues it also as a most notable meane outwardly both before God and men to make confession of the same our faith by to distinguish vs as by our recognisance from others that are not of that fayth to prouoke vs continually to offer vnto God the sacrifice of thankesgiuing for this most sweete sacrifice of his sonne heerein brought fresh still to our remembrance and so beleeued in and vpon and to be a bond of loue and vnitie amongest all the receiuers thereof For as Paule saith We that are many are one bread and one bodie because we are all partakers of one bread 1. Cor. 10.17 So that by the receite heereof as first our vnion and communion with Christ is sealed vnto vs so also is it the seale and bond of the communion that the Saintes of God haue amongst themselues Wherefore as it straitely bindeth vs hauing receiued it vnlesse we would haue it appeare that we receiued it vnworthily afterwardes to liue as they that liue in and by Christ so it bindeth vs also all that receiue as members knit together in one bodie vnder one head to liue together in perfect peace and vnity Worthilie therefore all these thinges considered may we say of it as Augustine did in his time O Sacramentum pietatis ô signum vnitatis ô vinculum charitatis that is O Sacrament of pietie O signe of vnitie O bond of charitie tract 26. vpon Iohn Who should come vnto it how And if these thinges were well remembred as they ought neyther should ministers as they doe in most places without any due preparation of their people before admit them tag and rag one and other to this sacred table neyther would the people so rudely ignorantly and prophanely presse thereunto for a fashion onely as to too commonly they doe For if at any time that commaundement of Christ binde vs ministers as doubtlesse it doth or else Christ woulde neuer haue giuen it vs Giue ye not that which is holie vnto dogges neyther cast ye your pearles before swine Math. 7.6 it most directly bindeth vs heere to doe what lyeth in vs to know that they be neyther dogges nor swine to whome we offer this blessed sacrament before we so doe For heerein we see Christ Iesus that is the true bread of life whose flesh is meate indeede and whose bloode is drinke indeede as he himselfe hath assured vs Iohn 6.35.51.55 is offered to the right commers thereunto therefore here that saying of Christ is most true it is not good to take the childrens breade and to cast it to whelpes Math 15.16 In the ould Testament the Lord hath set downe an expresse Lawe that none that were vncircumcised should be admitted to the eating of the Pasouer Exod. 12.48 Yea Numb 9.6 c. we reade that God by his expresse Oracle shewed Moses that they that were but ceremonially vncleane were