come to the Holy Table of the Lord to shew forth his Death with a thankfull Commemoration what else is this but to stand laughing under our Saviour's Crosse as it were to make ourselves merry with his Agonies and to triumph prophanely in his bitter sufferings with the wicked Souldiers it is to crucifie him afresh and to put him again to an open shame In stead of an honourable and gratefull shewing forth of his death This were to make ourselves guiltie of his death Guiltie of the bodie and blood of our Lord as the Apostle speaks Wherefore that wee may shew forth the Lord's Death as wee ought Let us first set up the Crosse of Christ in our owne hearts Let us fasten ourselves to it and conforme ourselves there to the sufferings of our Head Let us willingly suffer shame and ignominie in the due acknowledgment of our sins Let us suffer pain in a true sorrrw and Compunction of soule for them Let the Remembrance of them be as Thorns in our Temples and as a Spear at our very hearts Let us so subdue and chasten our Flesh and Revenge our selves upon Our selves as the Scripture * 2 Cor. 7.11 speaks by severe and strict Mortification that the Old Man may languish and die daily in us And let us so Compose and settle our Desires and Affections even as men that are hanging upon the Crosse with our Blessed Saviour and ready to depart this World Let us make our peace with God and all the World Let us wean our selves from the Earth which wee are leaving and set our Affections on Heaven and the things above whither wee are going Let us no longer make provision for the Flesh to fulfill it in the Lusts thereof * 13. Rom. 14 But let us put on the Lord Iesus Christ and thus shew forth the Lords Death till hee come And at his Comming wee shall by his Infinite Mercie Live and Raigne with Him for ever in the Kingdome of his Glorie Thus you have the Orthodox interpretation of these words the true and onely way of shewing forth Christ's Death in this Sacrament according to the Doctrine of the Church of England and of approv'd Antiquitie But the Church of Rome not content with this way doth in the Councell of Trent * Concil Trid. Sess 22. Can. 3. denounce an Anathema against all those that will acknowledge no other sacrifice in the Eucharist then by way of Remembrance and Commemoration of that one onely true and proper Sacrifice of Christ's Bodie and Bloud offer'd upon the the Altar of his Crosse once for all And therfore if you wil believe her she wil tel you of a more excellent way of shewing forth Christ's Death in the Sacrament to wit by way of Iteration or a new and daily Oblation of the very Same naturall Bodie and Blood which was offer'd unto Death upon the Crosse onely with this Difference in the Manner of the Offering That Christ's Bodie upon the Crosse was offer'd after a bloodie but here upon their Altars after an unbloody Manner And from this Fountaine of Corrupt Doctrine there flow divers streames of very dangerous Errours I 'le instance but in two for our present purpose First upon this Ground they define this Sacrisice in the Eucharist to be a true proper and propitiatorie Sacrifice to be every way equall with the Sacrifice of Christ upon the Crosse and their Altars to be as true and proper Altars which doubtlesse is a very high derogation from Christ and his Sacrifice let them mince and excuse it the best they can Secondly From hence they teach most perilously that the same Adoration which is due to Christ is due to this Sacrament And certainly to give that Adoration which is due to Christ to any of the Creatures can amount to no lesse then Idolatry Neither will Bellarmine's evasion which hee uses * Lib. 4 de Euchar cap 29. §. Sed haec mera calumnia est c. acquit the Papists of Idolatrie herein though hee pleads not Guiltie because they hold not the Consecrated Bread and Wine to be any longer Bread and Wine but to be transubstantiated into the very naturall bodie and blood of Christ so he pleads they worship not the bread but Christ alone But a false perswasion as we have proved this to be in the former part of the Sermon hath not the power either to nullifie a sin or to alter the species of it either to make a sin no sin or to be any other then it is in the kind of it The most charitable Construction that can be made in this Case is That perhaps to Men so perswaded as some of the Romanists are their Adoration of the Sacrament is not in them wilfull Idolatrie yet in it self Idolatrie still for all their perswasion However for our selves that by the infinite blessing of God to us are better taught and perswaded for us I say not to renounce and detest this Abomination of the Popish Adoration of the Sacrament would be most wilfull Idolatrie without the least cloak for our sin For mine owne part therefore as becomes a true Protestant of the Reformed Church of England I doe here solemnly protest against all Popish Errours and in speciall against the manifold and dangerous errours in the Doctrine and Practice of the Popish Masse against their pretended Oblation of the very naturall bodie and bloud of Christ against their Propitiatorie sacrifice in that intended Oblation and theirs or any other sort of men their true proper Altars and against their Idolatrous Adoration of the Sacrament and acknowledge onely one true and proper Sacrifice and Altar that is the Sacrifice of Christ himself offer'd uppon the Altar of the Crosse once for all And give me leave here also solemnly to professe my Opinion concerning the Lord's day and the sanctification of it I hold that according to God's holy will and pleasure the Lord's day ought to be celebrated both in Publike and in Private in the Church and out of the Church in the Forenoon and in the Afternoon by hearing the Word of God read and taught by Publike Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments by holy Meditations Private Prayer Reading and calling to Mind what we have read or heard by work 's of Charitie to our Neighbour and the like And I hold it to be our Dutie in speciall that are God's Ministers to teach exhort and incourage the People by all means to such a sanctification of the Lord's day And for mine owne part I heartily honour a conscientious man who hath a Carefull Regard to yield Obedience to all Gods Commandements as far as humane frailtie will permit I honour such a man the more the more strict hee is in a Religious Observation of the Lord's day And further I hold that this great Holyday which we Christians now celebrate upon the first day of the Week though the Scripture and so the Proper name of it be the Lord's Day yet in regard of the due sanctification of it in that it ought no lesse to be kept holy for the Exercise of the works of Pietie and Charitie in it then the Iewish Sabbath in
Supper 22. Hee saith Pag. 171. Tithes cannot be alienated from Spirituall persons Which is against our Laws and such Acts of Parliament as have made them Lay Fees 23. Lecturers saith hee set up in good Towns Pag. 172. be but a dull device of a foggie brain and willing blunderer which light upon it in a Mist VVhich is an expression of a dull and irreligious brain 24. He saith blasphemously Pag 178. that the holy Scripture the holy Sacraments the Articles of our Creed and Petitions of the Lord's Prayer have no Rationes cogentes or forcible inducement to cause men to assent unto them although they are immediatly grounded upon divine Authority which at the first glance captivates the understanding of all true believers And in his 190 Page he saith that all Canons made in Convocations are to be obeyed though they yield no reason at all to enforce their obedience Which kind of Doctrine hath of late done our Church no good Assertions out of SVNDAY NO SABBATH disapproved by Doctor Bray at S. Margarets in Westminster the eleventh of Aprill 1641. 1. HE saith Pag 3. that Saint Paul preaching till Midnight in a roome where men did eat and drink was out of order Which is much boldnesse 2. He saith Pag. 6. Knox and Whittingham were the first that called the Lords Day the Sabbath Day Which is false For it is called the Sabbath Day and our Sabbath under King a Necessary Doctrine 1537. Henry the Eighth King b K. Edwards Catechisme joyned to the Articles 1553. Edward c Profitable necessary Doctrine by Bishop Boner Queene Mary and d Homily of place and time of Prayer Queene Elisabet in writings printed and set forth by publique Authority under all these Princes 3. He saith Pag. 19. the name of Sabbath Day is held up by some in our Church as the great Diana of the Ephesians that stalking behind it they may shoot against the Service appointed for the Lords Day Not being able to resolve whether the sin be greater to bowle shoot or dance on their Sabbath then to commit Murther or the father to cut the throat of his own Child Which is a harsh expression and scandalous to our Church 4. He calls an afternoon Sermon on the Lord's Day Pag 28.29 a fruitless and disobedient exercise of their afternoon talent springing from the wilfull conceitedness of those that affect it And that wee are not bound to imitate either Saint Peters or Saint Basils example in preaching in an afternoon nor Saint Pauls in preaching in an upper Chamber Which as we are not bound to imitate so are we not bound to the Contrary So that these expressions had bin better spared 5. He makes strange interpretations of the Greek text to serve his own turn Pag. 29.30 and the newfanglednes of the times As pressing Saint Pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is to dispute Dialectically to a Catechizing by question answer only And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies nothing else but to make a speech or hold discourse to Saint Pauls reading of a Homily penned for him either by all the Apostles or by Saint Peter As though Saint Paul filled as he was with the Holy Ghost and bred up at the feet of Gamaliel could not have held a discourse in a private Family at Troas but he must have read it out of a Book And in imitation hereof he would have all Bishops likewise to read Homilies to the people pag. 31. And concludes reading to be the most powerful kind of preaching to perfect the men of God and to make them Martyrs pag. 32. 6. He makes all such as omit the Letany on the Lord's Day Pag. 35.36 by which he saith the English Nation was converted all such as expound the Scripture otherwise then out of the ancient Fathers all such as use long Prayers before Sermons or often repeat Lord Lord and such as speake against pastimes on the Lord's Day breakers of the Sabbath 7. He saith Pag. 46. that if we do not only Bend or Bow our body to his blessed Board or holy Altar but fall flat on our faces before his footstool so soon as ever we approach in sight thereof the Patriarchs Apostles and blessed Martyrs would be glad to see their Lord so honoured Which he saith without any Law Rubrick or Canon of the Church And now in all humble Obedience to so high Authoritie and in Conformitie to their Lordships just Censure of these Books and of me to this publike acknowledgment I doe here ingenuously confesse my hearty sorrow for that all these erroneous and offensive passages have slipt mee and pass't my hand I acknowledge that I have too much rely'd upon the seniority of the Authour who was an ancient Divine in the Vniversitie and had been President of two Colledges successively when I was first admitted there upon which Considerations I took not that due Care and Caution in the perusal and licensing of these Books which I ought to have taken in a matter of so great importance And therefore I do here sincerely and sorrowfully before many Honourable Witnesses acknowledge my great Errour and Offence in the licensing of these two Books and doe also in all humility taking the former passages to consideration acknowledge the justnesse of their Lordships Censure of those Books and of me to this disapproving of the same And what other Books of like Nature or upon like Considerations or rather for want of Consideration may have pass'd my hand Give me leave here also to professe my hearty sorrow for my Errour in passing any of them And so I humbly desire you to conceive of me as I am by Gods Grace and desire ever to be an Enemy both to Superstition Prophanes a hater of Idolatry and an honourer of Piety and Devotion especially practised on the Lord's Day In sum a dutifull Sonne of the Reformed Church of Christ here in England by Law establish't to the which I shall by Gods Grace with all due Care and Circumspection conforme my self and which God of his infinite mercy long preserve I conclude most humbly beseeching God to forgive us all our oversights and Errours and to give us all of his Grace that wee may sincerely follow those things that make for the advancement of Truth and Peace and the edifying of our selves in Faith and Love that we may walke in the good old way without Innovations carefully avoiding all Extreams without turning aside either to the right hand or the left that so in the end wee may finde rest to our souls which GOD grant c. FINIS
A SERMON OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT OF THE LORDS SUPPER Proving that there is therein no proper sacrifice now offered Together with the disapproving of sundry passages in 2. Bookes set forth by Dr. Pocklington the one called Altare Christianum the other Sunday no Sabbath Formerly printed with Licence BY WILLIAM BRAY Dr. of Divinity Now published by Command LONDON Printed by T. and R. C. for Henry Seile and are to be sold at his shop in Fleetstreete over against St. Dunstans-Church 1641. A SERMON OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT OF THE LORDS SVPPER 1 COR. 11.26 For as oft as ye cate this Bread and drinke this Cup yee doe shew the Lords Death till hee come THe Prophets are Comments upon the Law in the Old Testament and the Epistles upon the Gospels in the New My Text is part of the Epistles and it Comments upon that command of our Saviour to his Disciples Doe this in Remembrance of me Which is a part of the Gospell of the Institution of the Holy Communion For that command is repeated in the 25. Verse of this Chapter and then followes my Text immediately as a Comment upon that Command a Glosse upon that Evangelicall Law For as oft as ye eate this Bread and drinke this Cup ye doe shew the Lords Death till he come And if you observe it well my Text as a cleere and full Comment explaines all the doubts and difficulties of that Text in the Gospell Doe this in remembrance of me For first there 's no time exprest when this is to be done or celebrated so the doubt is First concerning the frequency of Celebrating whether once or more then once This doubt the Comment cleeres in the first words of my Text As oft so it is to be done againe and againe and that often A second doubt is concerning the duration of this blessed Sacrament How long whether temporary or perpetuall this the Comment likewise cleeres in the last words of my Text Till he come so it is to continue in the Church till our Saviours second comming Againe it is not cleere in the Gospell whither these words are to be referr'd Do this for they are mentioned onely in Saint Luke * 22 S. Luke 19. and they are mentioned after the Institution and Consecration of the Bread onely and not of the Cup so the doubt here is Whether they referre to the Bread alone or to both Bread and Cup but the Comment here directs you to referre them to both For as oft as ye eate this Bread and drinke this Cup too saith the Text ye doe indicatively or doe ye imperatively that is doe both and doe this in both Besides we doe not understand out of the Gospel the latitude of this Command Doe this what it comprehends within it whether the action of the Receiver onely or of the Minister onely or both that is Totam Sacramentalem actionem the whole Sacramentall action here 's another doubt And here againe we must have recourse to the Comment in my Text for direction and that expounds it of both First Doe this that is eate this Bread and drinke this Cup here 's the action of the receiver in expresse termes But that 's not all for what our blessed Saviour did by way of Preparation before his Disciples Communicated I meane not for all Circumstances but for Essentials as taking and blessing the Bread and the Cup and the like that must the Ministers of Christ in all ages also doe by vertue of this Command Doe this And this is cleere also in the Comment of my Text though not expressely as the action of the Receiver yet by evident consequence and that from the Emphasis of the Greeke Articles before the Bread and Cup 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Bread and this Cup for without the action of the Minister in taking and blessing the elements the Receivers may indeed eate and drinke common bread and wine but they cannot bee so well assured that they eate and drinke this Sacramentall Bread and Wine so call'd here by way of Eminence and speciall reference Yet farther my Text doth cleerely expound the end of that command of our Saviour Doe this in remembrance of me First in remembrance that is nor a bare and naked remembrance lockt up onely within the closet of our owne memories but such a remembrance as is withall a Remembrancer of it to and with others a Commemoration whereby in a joynt Communion together wee proclaime and shew forth our Saviours Love As oft as ye eate this Bread and drinke this Cup ye doe or shall shew forth saith my Text. Lastly in remembrance of me saith the Command in the Gospell of me that is not so much of my Incarnation life miracles doctrine resurrection ascension as especially and expressely of my death and Passion ye doe shew the Lords Death saith the Comment in my Text. I have done with the For in the beginning of my Text which connects it with the verse precedent whereof it is a comment and a confirmation as you see To draw neerer to the Text it selfe wherein you may observe these two generall parts Our service to God in the use of this blessed Sacrament in the former part As oft as yee eate this Bread and drinke this Cup And the meaning of this service or the Res Sacramenti the thing signifyed by it in the latter part Ye doe shew the Lords Death till he come 12. Exod 26.27 In the 12. of Exodus God enjoynes the people of Israel that when their children should aske them concerning the Passeover What meane you by this Service that they should say It is the Sacrifice of the Lords Passeover who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses In the like manner Saint Paul having receiv'd it of the Lord delivers unto us the meaning of this Service of the Evangelicall Passeover It is the Memoriall of our Saviours Sacrifice offered upon the Crosse once for all which we celebrate in remembrance of him to shew forth his bitter death and Passion But to proceed in the first generall part which is the Service we are to performe to God in the use of this blessed Sacrament you have these three particulars contained 1. The parts of this Sacrament 2. The Sacramentall actions 3. The circumstances of those actions 1. The parts of this Sacrament and they are two Res terrena et Res Coelestis as * Iren. lib. 4. aduersus haeres cap. 34. Irenaeus cals them the Earthy and the Heavenly part The earthy part is here exprest bread and wine the heavenly part is the body and blood of Christ here imported in the Articles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Bread and This Cup which hath an Emphaticall reference to the verses immediately precedent where it is said of the bread and cup after our Saviours blessing them that This is my Body which is broken for you and this Cup is
and Drinking of this Cup. First we must Eate this Bread There is a fourefold benefit which wee receive by our bodily Eating Nourishment Society Delight and Physicke You know there is a Meale for Nourishment a Feast for Society a Banquet for Delight and a Medicine for Physicke This fourefold benefit wee receive to our soules in a farre more eminent manner by this Sacramentall Eating and for this fourefold benefits sake we must taste and eate this Sacrament and we shall find it if we prepare our selves aright before we eate it to be through the Grace of Christ First Coelestis Refectio an Heavenly Repast to nourish us up to eternall Life Secondly Sacrum Convivium a holy Feast to mainetaine the mysticall society betwixt Christ and his members and to be a bond of Love and Vnity amongst Christians Thirdly Spirituale Epulum * Cal. lib. 4. Instit c. 17. sect 1. a spirituall Banquet for inward and unspeakeable Delight Fourthly and lastly to be Medicina animae as * Medicina enim spiritualis est quae cum reverentia degustata purificat sibi devotum Ambr. tom 5. Oper. in Epist ad Cor. cap. 11. Saint Ambrose calls it i. e. to them that are rightly prepared and through the grace of Christ Soveraigne Physicke for the Soule Secondly wee must Drinke the Sacramentall Cup as well as Eate the Bread For as oft as ye eate this Bread and drinke this Cup too saith the Text. They are joyned together in the Text and they may not be severed in our Practice And that for these three reasons First propter Perfectionem Repraesentationis that in this Sacrament there may be a perfect resemblance and representation of Christs Passion on the Crosse for there the Blood was severed from the Body and therefore here to keepe the resemblance perfect the Wine which resembles the Blood must bee taken severally from the Bread which resembles the Body Secondly propter Perfectionem Refectionis That the Lords Supper may bee perfect Nourishment to us For as in bodily sustenance Meate doth not nourish well without Drinke a Meale cannot be perfect without Meate and Drinke So is it likewise in this spirituall Refection wee must Eate and Drinke too else no perfect nourishment to the Soule Vtrumque enim est de perfectione hujus Sacramenti For both Eating and Drinking too are required to the perfection of this Sacrament So much Aquinas * Aquin. Com. in 1 Cor. 11.26 himselfe a prime Schooleman amongst the Papists acknowledges in his Comment on my Text and hee gives these two forenamed reasons for his acknowledgement So that by his owne confession the Church of Rome however she may be more indulgent to her Clergy yet shee is very scanty to the People and halfes out to them but an imperfect Sacrament Thirdly I will adde a third and maine reason for this Sacramentall Action and that is propter perfectionem Obedientiae that our Obedience may be perfect for you see we have Christs Command for both drinking the Cup as well as eating the Bread not onely his Practice as in administring it after Supper but we have his practice and command too for sub utraque specie for the Communion in both Kindes which makes this obligatory to us though not the other according to that excellent rule of Saint Cyprian * S. Cypr. lib. 2 ep 3. quae Christus fecit docuit sunt perpetuae observationis what Christ both did and also taught or commanded must be perpetually observed in the Church The boldnesse therefore of the Councell of Constance was very great in declaring the administring of the Communion in both Kindes to the People to be no more obligatory to us then the administring of it after Supper but their presumption is much more intolerable in establishing the Romish halfe communion with a non obstante in terminis to the Institution of Christ as you may read in the 13. Session of that Councell * Tom. 7. concil edit per Bin. I have done with the Sacramentall actions The third and last particular in the first generall concernes the circumstances of these actions And the first circumstance is of Time As oft Semel nascimur saepius vero alimur we are borne but once into the world and so we receive Baptisme but once which is the Sacrament of our New-birth But we stand in need of often Nourishment and therefore wee are often to receive the Lords Supper which is the Sacrament of our spirituall Nourishment and growth in Christ Accordingly if wee looke into Church story wee shall finde that the first and best ages of the Church and as many of the after ages as desired to conforme to those first and best were all of them for frequent Communions In the times of the Apostles * Acts 20.7 we read of a Communion once every weeke upon the first Day of the weeke which is the Lords Day In the times next to the Apostles Saint Cyprian * Eucheristiam quotidie ad cibumsalutis accipimuâ— S. Cyp. de Orat. Dominica tells us of an every-dayes Communion Every day the Christians lookt for Death in those times of violent persecution and therfore every day they would be provided of this Viaticum In Saint Augustines time which was 400 yeares after Christ some Churches communicated every day some onely upon the Saturday and the Lords day others onely upon the Lords day as we read in his 118. Epistle After that Devotion decaying the Communion was administred generally onely thrice in the yeare at the three great Feasts of Easter Whitsontide and Christ mas and of later yeares under Pope Innocent the Third in the Lateran Councell propter iniquitatis abundantiam refrigescente charitate multorum so * Aquin. Sum. par 3. q. 80. Art 10. ad quintum Aquinas himselfe renders the reason of it By reason of the abounding of Iniquity the Charity and Devotion of many waxing cold in the Roman Church the people were upon this bound onely to receive once in the yeare to wit at Easter But the Liturgy of the Church of England to reforme us neerer to the Piety of the Ancient Church of Christ though it sets not downe a generall Rule to bind every particular Person to Communicate more then Thrice in the yeare which was done no doubt upon most prudent Considerations Because the variety of Cases in regard of the different understandings and imployments of particular persons in regard of the different Capaciousnesse and Receipt of Places and Parishes and divers other Circumstances considerable make the prescribing of a certaine Rule for Particulars in this kinde fittest for private advice and resolution upon due preparation of every Communicant Yet in the Rubricke after the Communion a Communion is enjoyned every Sunday at the least in Cathedrall and Collegiate Churches except they have a reasonable cause to the contrary And in the first Exhortation before the Communion all the People are most pathetically moved and exhorted