because Christ our Passeouer is offered vp 1. Cor. 5. we keepe an holy feast vnto the Lorde not in the leauen of wickednes but in the sweete bread of a syncere conscience and vpright conuersatiō in Christ Iesu A prayer vpon consideration generally of the Sacraments O Almightie God most merciful Father who of thy tēder kindnesse hast chosen thine elect to euerlasting saluation before al times and in due time hast called them to the knowledge of thy good will reueiled in thy word sealed with the Sacraments of thine own ordaining we thy humble seruants and by mercie in Christ thine adopted sonnes pray thy fatherly goodnes to make vs meete partakers of these al other thy benefits so largely euer more bestowed and powred vpon vs. Let vs not O Lorde neither detaine the trueth of thy word in the vnrighteousnes of a sinfull life neither suffer vs deare Father to receiue the pledges of thy endles loue in vaine but to the endes that thou hast appointed them Wherefore graunt vs thy heauenly grace that we thy chosen people may vse thy holy ordināces to most holy purposes namely to the further increase of our weake faith to the comfort of our wan hope to the enflaming of our colde and frozen charitie in these hard and euill dayes to the dutifull and thankefull setting foorth of the glory of thy holy name Amen A prayer to be saide with meditation of our Baptisme MErciful Father we miserable and sinfull men feele with in our selues and therefore are forced to breake forth cōfesse that in our flesh dwelleth no good thing O Lorde thou lookest downe from heauen and beholdest the sonnes of men and their sinnes they are infinitely great and in nomber mo then the heares of our head or the starres of heauē they can not be hidden Our children gather stickes our fathers kindle the fire our mothers kneade dough to make cakes to serue other gods There is not one that doth good no not one We are all borne in sinne conceiued in iniquity and the whole race of our life is naturally naught We are not able to dreame of a good thought and when we haue done all that we can doe or if we could do al that we are commaunded yet were we vnprofitable seruants and therefore we appeale from thy iustice O most iust God to thy mercie seate and throne of grace for we feare nothing more then the examination of our drossy workes O Lord wash thou vs that we may be white for in our selues we are altogether blacke purge vs that we may be cleane sanctifie vs that we may be holy circumcise our eares and heartes and other partes seare our polluted lippes with the cole of thy spirit create a new heart win vs this olde heart of ours will not serue wash vs more more and we shal be cleane This thou hast promised in thy word O gracious God and in the Sacrament of our newe birth is this nowe fully set forth and sealed wherefore with confidence wee appeare before thee in prayer not trusting in our owne merites which are not but in thy manifolde and endlesse mercies which as a great and pure streame of water shall make vs whiter then the snow and clearer then the Christall glasse O Lorde haue mercie vpon vs according to thy great mercy put away our iniquities pardon our offences cancell the bill of debt quench the flames of lust plucke out the sting of sinne mortifie our flesh more more kill and burie the olde man bruise the serpents head drown the spirituall Pharao and all Egypt that we in a good time may bee presented perfectly blamelesse in thy sight through Christ our Lord Amen A prayer to be said immediatly before the receiuing the holy Communion O Almightie GOD who in thy eternal wisedom hast built thee an house and he wen out the pillars thereof chosen a Church which shall not faile killed thy vittayles mixed thy wine prepared a Table hast sent foorth thy ministers to cry in the open streetes and to inuite vnto this feast in thy worde and Gospell and yet hast denounced that the scornefull the wicked and the wilfull sinner shall haue no part nor portion with thee graūt vs grace O Lord that we may effectually heare and willingly followe the voyce of thy calling and that the seede of thy worde being shed in to our eares may take deepe roote in our heartes and bring forth fruit accordingly in a godly conuersation And whereas not only by thy worde but by thy Sacraments also we are fed at thy hande and specially in the Supper of thy Sonne our Lorde his institution we craue the assistance of thy holy spirite worthily to prepare vs for the receiuing of so heauēly a banquet Otherwise who or what are we to entertaine or to be entertained in this manner we are vnworthy the least of thy mercies much lesse are we worthie that the heire of all should enter vnder the roofe of our soule or that our vncleane feete shoulde once step within thy courts and yet thou hast commaunded we shoulde repaire to thy Temple and receiue at thy table Wherefore good Lorde prepare thou vs aright that wee may bee prepared dwell in vs that we may dwell in thee knocke at the gates of our heartes that we may opē vnto thee sup with vs that we may sup with thee encrease our faith and loue toward thee and in thee towarde our neighbours And albeit we offend often fall many times yet stay thou vs by thy mercifull hand that we neuer fall away Finally strengthen our weakenes with thy euerlasting foode neyther looke vpon our imperfections but on the perfectnesse of thy sonnes oblation in whose name we pray that thou endue vs euer with an humble and a contrite spirite for all our sinnes past with a constant purpose alwaies hereafter vnfainedly to serue and please thee in newnes of life to our liues ende through Iesus Christ our Lord Amen A thankes giuing vpon the receiuing of the holy Communion MY soule praise thou the Lorde and all the powers within me praise his holy name My heauie soule awake praise the Lorde forget not his benefites shewe not thy selfe an vnthankefull thistle being watered with so many graces He fashioned the roūd world all the is therein yea with a more speciall care he guideth the feete of his Saintes He clotheth the lilies of the fielde and feedeth the birdes of the ayre but he apparelleth his chosen with the cloth of righteousnesse in the familie of his Sonne and feedeth them with the bread of life In him we are and are regenerate by him wee liue and are fed at his owne table in him by his spirit we moue with al godly motions and this comforte no man can take from vs. Al good giftes descend from aboue and the prayse of all is due to thee O Lord euen as the waters ishue from the sea and to the sea returne againe O then what shall we render vnto our louing God for all his kindnes he hath not spared his onely begotten sonne to the death the death of the Crosse for our sakes Thou O Lord art not pleased with mans inuentions onely thou hast willed that wee bee a thankfull people and that wee continue a freshe and gratefull remembrance of thy goodnes for euer The calues of our lippes the incense of prayer and the sacrifice of prayse thou wilt accept Wherefore O my soule praise the Lord set forth thy Sauiours death remēber his passion shew not thy selfe vnkinde feede on him in thy heart and be thankful in a full assurance of all his mercies in Iesus Christ Amen FINIS Imprinted at London by Christopher Barker Printer to the Queenes most excellent Maiestie
the cause be the Lordes and the quarell good thy calling according it is good fighting these battels Striue for the trueth for life defende iustice vnto death Eccle. 4.2 In this case the white liuered souldier that feareth a frost shall be couered with snow If euery heare were a life and euery life a thousand liues vēter them all for him that gaue them all But againe in the dayes of peace where peace may be redeemed with lesse a doe what wise man woulde be hanged in heare of his own fancie or fal as Saul did vpon his owne sword He that loueth daunger shal perish in trouble and no man pitie him and the meeke shall possesse the earth A gentlewoman of Lacedemonia Plutar. contra Colo. and Diotorus his wife did alwayes fall out at the table and varie because the one loued oyle and the other butter and yet the qualities of butter and oyle were not much diuerse Charitie doeth couer malice enuie and hatred doeth vncouer as the boysterous Northwinde all imperfections and naturally men are giuen to prie in at other mens windowes to beate dust of their coates find motes in their eyes But Saint Paul saith Let euery man proue him selfe and not other men and so let him come to this Sacramēt When Christ foretolde that one of his disciples shoulde betray him euery one of them began to aske him Mar. 14.19 Is it I not is it he or he but euery one was desirous to proue him selfe and know whither it were he Is it I they were not like him that saide Mat. 7.4 Brother suffer me to take foorth the mote out of thine eye And doe we call them brethrē whose good name we seeke to take from them in obiecting motes and faultes A mote is a litle fault and a beame is a great faulte and neither great nor litle should be suffered especially in the eye Yet euery man is not a fit Physition the eye is a tender parte and maye as soone take hurt as good if there be not great discretion taken Let the publike minister proue all and the priuate man proue him selfe and so in fayth and loue let vs all in one repair to the Sacrament of vnitie which as goates milke shoulde breake and mollifie the stonie hearts of men Plin lib. 20. prooe lib. 3.7 cap. 4. as rayne alaieth great windes as Dauids musicke asswaged Sauls melācholie and euill spirite And yet when all this is done the best men are men still and the best earth is earth euer and will beare nettles and brambles and prickes Flesh is fraile in faith blood imperfect in loue seetheth and boyleth with a litle fire and vpon a small occasion Repētance therefore repentance alwayes in eyther is most requisite which accompanying with faith her mother and loue her sister warmeth and cherisheth them both who otherwise waxe wanne and colde and loose their force Yf any man deeme Christes death vnsufficiēt suppose his sacrifice needeth renuing imagineth any other intercessours requisite doubteth of his kingdō beleueth not his word these are great wants of faith and he neuer proued himselfe that cōmeth with this minde to the Lordes boorde where these thinges are or should be felt fed vpon Here Repentance is requisite to helpe fayth Againe if any man haue any thing against his brother or his brother against him let him go first and be reconciled before he eate and drincke the Sacramente which is of vnitie in Christ Iesus Thus examining his conscience as before and acknowledging his sinnes in his sight aske pardon with sighes teares because he eyther distrusted or disobeyed and so displeased so gratious a God so mercifull a father so perfecte a Sauiour that had commanded himselfe to be beleeued vpon our selues of our selues to be beloued in him one of another There is neuer a threede in Papistrie but is stayned They haue neither perfect faith which they deuide betwene God his creatures nor true loue which wanteth the bonde of loue true faith nor due repentance haue they For al their repentāce standeth in whispering in a Priestes eare or absteyning from the moderate vse of certaine meates in which they put a satisfaction as if God were pleased sinne done away with the eating of fish and not of fleshe or the not vsage of other his creatures reuerently with thankes giuing 1. Tim 4.3 But in deed the sowre herbes wherwith we must eate his passeouer are a penitent hearte a broken and contrite spirite because foolish flesh laboureth and werieth it selfe in sinfull wayes and doeth eftsoones offende in thought worde deede against his diuine maiestie And this if we do crauing pardon for al our sinnes and misdoings no doubt hee will consider our sighes receiue our prayers forgiue our sinnes accept vs for iust accoūt vs for his own make vs meete partakers of his heauenly table Being thus prepared instructed in fayth Meditatiō enflamed in loue after a sort repaired by repētāce thou maist present thy self before the Lord. Wherin as the wisemā willeth in an other case meditate againe and againe what is set before thee Pro. 23.1 least thy table bee thy snare thy meate thy bane thine own knife cut thine own throte Bread which is the staffe of strēgth to man wil choke the Hawke The faithfull charitable and repentant soule partaketh saluation the vnworthie receiuer eateth drinketh his owne damnation euen as the Babylonian dragon brake asūder as soone as he receiued the balles that Daniel put into his mouth as that story reporteth Wherfore thou godly man child of God ponder with thy selfe enter into thy conscience let cōuenient thoughtes meditations occupy possesse thy inward partes And that thou mayest so do remēber what thou art a doing what worke thou hast in hande Doe this in remembrance of Christ Plutar. in vlta Numae Hoe Age. feede on him in thy soule with thanks set forth liuely his death with praise Pharaohs butler forgate Ioseph Gen. 40.23 the vnclean hog neuer loketh vp to him that beateth downe the maste from the tree Lift vp your heartes wee lift them vp vnto the Lord. They are the wordes of the church seruice godly wordes It is meete right so to doe and our bounden duetie that we should at al times recorde his goodnesse but especially at the time of this action to shewe foorth his death till his comming againe agnize our sinnes which being the cause of his dying plucked the sonne of God out from the bosome of the father to be crucified on earth of amōg and for sinfull men The maymes wee receiued in Adam remaine yet in vs are three Sinne Ignorance Weaknesse The remedies whereof we finde in Christ the Physition of our soules Medicus est minister naturae that which is wanting by nature is supplied by grace Christ is a Priest to cleanse our sinnes a Prophet to instruct our
To the right honourable Sir Francis Walsingham Knight chiefe Secretarie to her Maiestie Chaunceller of the Order one of her highnes priuie Counsell all grace and peace in Christ Iesu THe endelesse making of bookes was a vanitye in the dayes of Salomon when Printing was not The end of all is the seate of God Certainely men may not make it a light matter in conscience to trouble the worlde with vnprofitable writinges Yet as in the shewebread that was shewed to the people as a figure of Christ the olde loaues hauing serued to their use were remoued and other supplied in their roome yet still breade in nature twelue loaues in nomber so those writinges that figure out Christ and set foorth Christian duetye may be oftentimes treated of and eftsoones repeated and added to other mens doinges not withstanding no great variety in the matter or maner of handling It hath beene thought expedient I write publishe this litle treatise Wherupon right Honorable therewithal I haue thought it my boundē duetie humbly to present it to your honours viewe the rather in parte to excuse mine ouer great boldnesse else when but principally to craue such furtheraunce in the setting out therof as your honors piety and place accustometh to shewe to such as in their calling with their talentes eyther fiue two or but one labour to set foorth the trueth to instruct the simple to saue soules This hath bene mine endeuor the successe whereof is to be prayed for of the almightie and merciful God who alwayes preserue your honour to the glorie of his name the benefite of his Church and this our countrie in all faithfull seruice to her Maiestie and great cōforte of her louing subiectes in the Lorde Februarie 14. Anno. 1582. Your Honours most humble and bounden Iohn Prime The Preface AS the vse of all things is most precious so is their abuse most pernicious Many excellent thinges are spoken of the Sacraments of Christian faith They are the Lordes owne ordinances memorials of diuine promises monuments of our duety signes to the word which we professe assured seales of his good will strong bandes whereby we stande bounde first to God in obedience and then in mutual loue amongst our selues Notwithstanding these sacred mysteries the very instrumentes of the holy Ghost haue they not bene of olde or are they not now either vnthankefully refused or vnworthily receiued or lesse duetifully regarded then was and is behoofeful Ful hands can not apprehend any other thing they are full already fowle handes and soyled in the clay and brickeworke of sinfull thoughtes and deedes they are profane and should not presume to touch his Iewels Want of true knowledge in the worde of God hath bred sundry distemperatures and diseases errors and heresies in the body of Christes Church in this behalfe When the writing is not knowen the seales are lesse or more then duely and neuer aright esteemed of the ignorant man Whē the light of the Scriptures was hidde vnder the busshel of a strange tōgue the Sacramēts also in the darke were most irreligiously contemned superstitiously abused carnally and grosly mistaken As good haue a seale to a blancke as to a writing drawen in strange characters and letters that cannot be read or if read yet vnderstoode but of a fewe and of them no further then it pleased the masters of corrupt time at their leasure or begging Fryers for their gaine to expounde in miserable maner to hungry poore and sterued soules And then as good no bread at all as so vile a prouender made of mixtures eyther hard or dowbaked and clammie eyther they coulde not chewe it or it coulde not nourishe them Thus was the Lordes inheritance abused Iren. lib. 3. cap. 19. famished for want of true foode or fedde as Irenee speaketh with lyme water in stead of milke The Deuil knewe he could not beguile in the light and therefore no sleight of Satan euer like to this to deceiue men Mar. 12.24 and slay soules Whiles that Christians were wise they neuer sought in pilgrimage from shrine to shrine S. P. Q. R. Beda neyther to Rome nor to Ierusalem nor to any singular place vnder heaven with obseruation of the place Luke 17.20 as if God were more tyed to this region then to that one or other The true worshippers worshipped in spirit trueth In trueth without hypocrisie Ioh. 4.23 and in spirite without externall respectes For as the Conye is acquainted with his owne burrowe safe rocke Prou. 30.26 so Christians then knew where to seeke whither to runne and howe to finde rest in heauē for their soules They asked help alwayes of an able hande trode the kings high way knocked at the right gate builded their house on the onely foundation that is they beleeued in Christ called vpon God were guyded by his spirite trusted in his promises hoped in his mercies manifestly layde abroad and sufficiently reuealed in his written worde Iohn 20.31 and as certainely confirmed by the pledges of his will the holy Sacramentes whereof this treatise is intended for all such as can be content to learne in fewe wordes of a simple teacher Of the Sacraments in generall The nature of a Sacramēt A Sacrament is a sensible signe to the eye instituted of God to be continued in his Church for the further assurance and increase of spirituall graces in the faithful Of which sort is Baptisme and the Supper August epist 118. and onely these two euen as they are ioyntly specified by the Apostle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 10. In the generall may bee obserued these foure notes chiefely The institution to bee of God The signe visible in sense and resemblance conuenient The graces secret and mystical but singular benefites to the faithfull man The continuance is the Churches duetie rightly to vse and to enioy his ordinaunces as beseemeth the Church of God The institution 1 Concerning the institution as God onely is to be hearkened vnto in his sayings so must hee alone he followed in his wayes wheresoever he goeth before vs and leadeth vs after him with the least thread Reason not directed by faith is a disputing and a busie mistresse in the forge of mans braine and she will be leader in all things Zeale likewise without knowledge is a rashe fire that licketh vp euery fonde deuise feedeth and glutteth her selfe on superstitious fancies whereupon ambition in the man of pride The Papacie taking her aduantage of the former two hath stollen away the peoples heartes from their God vnder pretence of deuocion but in deede superstition enthronised her selfe in the consciences of men and exerciseth a proude dominion ouer the Lordes inheritance in his holy Temple Notwithstanding of the Apostle we haue learned a contrary lesson Iam. 4.12 that the onely Lawgiuer in Israel is the Lorde because he alone seeth the heart whereunto the Lawe is principally proposed searcheth the reines
similitude that as in washing pooles when men goe into thē they doe off their aparell and then enter the bath and bathe their bodies so in this the olde man is put off Adams fig leaues throwen aside then with niter fullers sope nay rather with the bloode of the sonne of God all our former filthe is scoured away This dissimilitude is in this similitude our former rags are neuer resumed as sinners resume their garmentes when they haue washed Those plaguy clothes that tooke stayne and infection from sinfull Adam we burie or we burne The regenerate man hath done away his former generation dyeth to sin the gylte and dominion whereof lyeth as a dead body in the graue and hath no more power ouer the creature which is endued with the newe man freed from Satan accepted into seruice and fauour in the familie of GOD weareth the cloth of righteousnes and is apparelled as the womā in the Reuelation with the sonne of God Reue. 12.1 Wherein notwithstanding it is expedient still and euer to remember from what rocke we were he wen on what stocke we grewe what we haue lost and what wee haue founde howe fowle we were howe cleane we are that tasting howe sweete the Lord is we may as it were feele the difference betweene soote and sugar see and view the oddes betweene our crimosin blood red sinnes and the snowe white innocencie we haue obteyned in him To compare the state wherin we were by creation then in nature corrupted and nowe by grace and regeneration were to compare an innocent lyfe a deserued death life euerlasting together that is Paradise hell heauenly blisse betwixt themselues For our case at the first was no worse afterward no better and in Christ betterthen euer before Rom. ◠For as by one man came sinne and by sinne death which presupposeth a former innocencie and life so by the man Christ much more excellent is the righteousnesse that is imputed to faith imported by this Sacrament and shal be enioyed without end As the first Adam eating of the forbidden tree he susteining the person of al mankinde by his disobedience did set on edge his posterities teeth so the second Adam trode the wine presse alone and yet wee his posteritie also drinck neuer the lesse of his wine And here let no man say Prou. 9.2 I haue mixed mine owne wine I haue compassed these thinges my selfe Strength if it leane to presumption is weaker then water and the broken reede and yet the strongest thinges of man are but meere weaknesse the puritie of nature pollution libertie of will thraldome and the merite of workes a stayned cloute And then if the clothe be so course howe course is the list or if the wooll be course can the clothe be fine Adam begate Seth Gen. 5.3 and all his children in his owne likenesse For as the man that is not cannot beget himselfe that he may haue a being so man being naught can neuer of him selfe beget any thing els or him selfe to bee good againe Why thē do we presume A puffe of pride bloweth out the candle that was lightened of another at the first and cannot kindle it selfe the seconde time The debter in the Gospel was not able to make payment for the ten thousand talentes Matt. 18.24 and the more in debte in processe of time the more vnlike to come out of debt albeit he sayd as the aduersaries of the trueth saye if his Lorde would haue patience he would pay and satisfie all The three parables in Saint Luke tende all to this purpose Luke 15. to shewe mans inhabilitie in euery respect and the Lordes exceeding mercie altogether The lost groat lacketh sense the strayed sheep witte the prodigall sonne wisedome The woman lighteth the candle sweepeth the house seeketh diligently The shepheard goeth out into the wildernesse and bringeth home on his shoulders And as for the wastfull sonne God in his prouidence disposed so that by afliction and famin he should be taught and constrained to returne backe making a most true confession that hee had sinned against heauen and his father and was no more worthie to bee called his sonne Had sinned and therefore nowe onely was to stande vpon grace pardon had sinned against heauen and therefore in earth vnfit and vnable to make satisfaction had sinned against so louing a father therefore vnworthy the name of a sonne Notwithstanding while he stoode yet a great waye off his father sawe him and had compassion ranne preuented him with mercie fell on his necke and kissed him killed the fatte calfe put shoes on his feeete and a ring on his finger hyred musicians and called for the best robe clad him therewith that was vtterly destitute of al attire except such as Job speaketh of Iob. 9.31 Mine owne clothes defile me Many excellent and rich ornaments are layde together in one heape in the Prophet Ezechiel embroydred works Ezech. 16. bracelets silke siluer golde c. and all these God bestowed on them the lay dead in their blood whome he raised to life circūcised with his owne hand dryed their corruption with salte washed their vncleannes with water swadled and clad them with newe precious apparell euen with Iosephs party coloured coate or rather with the Queenes garment of needle worke which yet was not of her owne making The olde purifyings did prefigure out and as it were made the first draught thereof but the water of Baptisme most liuely expresseth his mercy compassion whose onely eye no mans els tooke pitie on vs then when we lay not wounded but dead long dead in our sinnes In this water the litle fish humble Christian resumeth life againe the lay gasping dead on the shoare before In this water the Scorpion loseth his venim Cypr. 4. lib. epist 7. and can not sting In this water Sinne Satan the flesh and the worlde lye floting drowned as in the deluge in Genesis 1. Cor. 10.1 1. pet 3.21 and red Sea in Exodus where Noah the preacher of righteousnesse and a few with him were saued in the Arke which after a sorte was a figure of Baptisme The Israelites went through on dry foot Pharao and all his hoste drowned in the red sea But for all this this is true in the letter of these stories and certaine in the trueth of a farther meaning the though Noah escaped drowning yet he was ouercome afterward with wine though the Egyptians were ouerwhelmed al yet there remained other enemies in the desert neither did Israel straightwayes enter the promised land wtout further labour fightes first had with sundry and diuers nations Hierom. ad Ocean Aug. retract lib. 1. cap. 7. Ephe. 5.25 Rom. 7. In this Sacrament though generally iniquity be pardoned and sinne drowned and wee saned yet for all this al infirmitie is not quite abolished wee are washed al Ioh. 13.10 but
haue bene a Gardiner Iohn 20.15 but the aduersaries take a portion of bread to be Christ The true professors say and beleeue that this saying of the Lorde This bread is my body hath a spirituall and Sacramental meaning otherwise to auouch that a piece of bread for that it is bread is proued or els which is all one the the shewe of bread is literally very Christ is a mōstruous kinde of speaking vtterly impossible altogether blasphemous For if bread or the shew of bread or that which was bread be called Christ properly and with out figure of speache without all controuersie as properly and as truely but there is no shewe of trueth in so grosse errors bread was borne of the virgin Marie bread was crucified on the crosse bread shal iudge the quicke and the dead and a piece or a fancye of bread is the Sauiour of the worlde the sonne of God the seconde person in Trinitie God himselfe the Lord of life In effect so strangely haue our vnnatural countrey men writtē and one more fondly then the rest Sand. in his Manhu directing an Epistle dedicatorie to his Lorde and God vnder the formes of bread and wine in the Sacrament Thus it fareth with these men by the iust iudgement of the Almighty God who haue giuen him ouer he them that because they woulde not beleeue the trueth they shoulde still beleeue lyes without ende chaunging the glorie of the immortall God into the similitude of corrupt creatures besides all sense reason and congruence of fayth Chrysostome writing vpon Labans complaint where he saith to Iacob Gene. 31.30 Why hast thou stolen my gods what saith that father what perfect folly is this Are thy gods such as they may be stolen or art thou not ashamed in so saying Semblably what a Christ haue the aduersaries made and imagined is Christ made of bread ground with teeth consumed with the bitte of mouth and stolen away sometime of the sely mouse or are they not ashamed of these carnal fleshly more the Capernaitical grosse dreames the profite nothing nay rather dread they not in hearte soule to say as they haue sayde to the cake in the Priests hands D. Har. confuta of the Ap. pag. 94. Pointz in his Testi cap. 3. Brist Mot. 26. Thou art my maker and to the wine in the chalice Thou art my Lord and my God by thee alone and nothing else I hope to be saued Bish Cran. to Winch. and Bish Iewel to Hard. c. The iust confutatiō of which strāge speaches hath bin vnder taken discharged of most excellent learned mē in our English tongue My purpose is onely in a worde to giue warning to the simple of this myre wherin they see those drūken men seruants to their owne deuises thus to wallowe plunge and tumble themselues vp and downe There are others who albeit they are not so farre gone out of the way yet they treade not the true hie way in euery respecte As they confesse Christ to be in heauen and yet they worshippe no heauen but Christ sitting there at the right hand of his father so ouer much resting vpon the bare letter of the words they suppose onely a conioyned presence in the bread and no more They go no further neither doe they adore the bread thogh they thinke Christ consubstantially to be therein When they are vrged with the vndouted article of the Creed wherby we beleeue the ascension of our Sauiour some of thē replie that Christ being God may be euery where Others altogether absurdly say he auen it selfe is euery where Were it not but that somewhat might bee learned belōging necessarily to this treatise by the way it were a folly to refute follies Verely as Christ is perfect God so is hee perfect man the properties of both natures entire in one person We may not build his deity destroy his humanity Who according to his manhood is gone from the earth taken vp to his father ascended on hie sitteth and maketh intercession there the heauens must conteine him till the last tymes and then thence we look for his comming again Neither can all this be a meere supposed vanishing out of sight but a locall departure because the place is set downe whence he went and whither he ascended and that he shall come againe I leaue the worlde and goe to the father Ioh. 16.28 and he shall so come againe from heauen Act. 1.11 And here to dreame that heauen is euery where were a madnesse For then Christ had bene in heauen before already so what needed he to departe and ascende and goe hence and if earth were heauen the wicked and earthely minded men were most in heauen And not onely they but the very damned spriits in hell were in heauen also for hell is some where and they say heauen is euery where And thē where were that great Chaos that is spoken of in the Gospel Luk. 16.23.26 betwixt Abrahams ioyes in heauen aboue and the riche mans torments in hel beneath There is a kinde of spirite which is not driuen away but with prayer fasting to the end to praye more earnestly the Lorde if it be his will ende all quarels especially about this sacrament of vnitie open the eyes of all those who euer they be that seeke vaine shiftes and fond detrises to the end onely to exclude one conuenient vsual figure which necessarily goeth with the nature of a sacramēt agreeth with the canons of christian beleefe wtout the which our beleefe concerning the person of Christ can neuer stande For if hee be perfect man as we beleeue like to his brethren in al thinges Heb. 1.17 sinne excepted being but one man hee can bee but in one place at one tyme. The want of sinne both not extende a bodye to pluralities of places for then euery man as hee hath lesse or more sinne shoulde bee straightwaye in fewer moe places accordingly But these thinges in sight are but vanities Wherfore Christ according to his humanitie is and must bee in one place at once and no moe and that is in heauen Nowe then in earth what do wee receiue while wee receiue the Sacrament certainely Christ Iesus the land and the fruite Christ and the vertues of his life and death and of what euer hee did But he is in heauen and we in earth and the distance is great Faith hath an eye an hande a wing wherby it pearceth reacheth and flyeth vp to heauen it selfe To fayth thinges absent are present thinges distant are conioyned thinges secret are open vnseene are visible impossible are easy As verely as bread both serue for the strength of the body and wine for the comforte thereof so and as certainly to the in warde man in fayth Christ is bread to the soule and wine to the minde and we mistically made one in him and hee with vs dwell in
rudenesse a Kinge to conquere our enemies But his Priesthoode and his sacrifice we chiefly celebrate in this Sacrament which also may be and is termed therfore a Sacrifice not of Christ but to Christ in remēbrance of his the sacrifice of praise the calues of our lippes the incense of thankes giuing and this Leuites fire should neuer go out and in the present flame all abroad Wherein we beleeue in heart confesse with mouth that Iesus Christ came into the world to saue sinners being perfite God was made perfite man Man that he might die God the in dying he might satisfie for mankind for because that the flesh alone profiteth nothing his manhood was not sufficient except also he had bene very God Wherfore God euen our God so exceedingly loued the world that he gaue his onely begotten sonne and therefore he also naturaly God the sonne like the father to bee the ransome for the sinnes of the world Isai 53 5◠The chastisement of our peace was vpon him the peace ours the chastisement his all sufficient for all the sinnes both of body and soule of all sinners The grieuousnes and bitternes of which cup may be considered in that our Sauiour after a sort tasted thereof and it tasted bitter put forth his hand to take it pulled it in againe began to tremble his very soule was sorowful praied earnestly went out and prayed againe that if it were possible it might passe ouer needed an Angell for comfort swet water drops of blood If there were nothing herein but an vsuall death woulde Christ thus haue bene afflicted The heathē haue suffred more with more pacience apparant therfore there must be and was more in it and yet he is not come to the bitternes in the bottom of the cup. Those former agonies were but hony in comparison of the conflict with Sathan which followed and the wrath of his father which ensued when all sinnes as heauy as hell more then the starres of heauen or the sand of the sea were layed in one vpon him and he for them made a curse and execration Isa 53.8 the iust executed for the vniust one for all A childe is borne to vs and giuen vnto vs and liued for vs. This might comfort Ierusalem at the heart but the end perfection of our ioy and his sorowe was his death on crosse wherein consisteth the thankfull meditation I speake of holpen by breaking of the bread and the powring foorth of the wine before our sight wherein the default of our aduersaries appeareth greatly that debarreth the people of so great an helpe For be it that perfect Christ be communicated in the bread yet in the wine significātly is resembled his bloodsheding most And howe dare they alter the Lordes institution As he tooke bread euen so he tooke the cup 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then if bread be requisite so is the cup also For as he tooke the one so he tooke the other Eckius in ench Eckius woulde proue his halfe cōmunion out of his Paternoster giue vs this day our daily bread A begger is neuer out of his way What scripture wil not serue for any purpose if that do for his Saint Paul teacheth what the Lorde did and what the Corinthians should do till Christ his comming in the cloudes hee meaneth what al posteritie was to do For those Corinthians are gone the way of all fleshe their church rased He telleth them in them vs Other thinges at his comming he would dispose of as of indifferent circūstances But for the lawfull and inuiolable vsage of the Sacrament in both kindes he deliuered as he had receiued Dauid slewe the Gyant with one stone but he toke more then one out of the brook Christ is receiued in his word by his spirit in baptisme sacramentaly in either or rather in both the signes of the Supper ioyntly taken as he ordeyned So sufficiently and aboundantly hath the Lord prouided for his houshold bread made of many graynes and also wine of many grapes the answerably we being many may bee one in him and hee in vs expecting the accomplishment of our ioy to the full no more in signes figures in earth but apparantly to eate and drincke at Christes table with him in the kingdome of heauen where we shal sit on seates iudge the twelue tribes of Israel Luke 22.30 Amen There are certaine kindes both of byrdes and beastes Conuersation whose meate wil not tarie with them but passeth quickly away recto intestino Such beastes neuer chew the cud And some men not vnlike or worse then beastes meditate litle of whom they were begotten and fed what they feede on or in what sorte much lesse doth the meat digest with them to make thē strōg men in Christ as if Sara were their mother Agar their nurse or as if they were nursed with milke weaned with poyson and the meate naught and woulde not proue with them so doe they liue In comming to the Seruice Sacramentes eyther for company or custome sake they looke one way with the godly but in their conuersation they row another way and shewe in their deedes of what felowship they are They passe through the redde sea but murmure in the wildernes nay euen at the redde sea offend they God In pretence somwhat they are but inwardly nothing and in fact naught Their windows be not scued as Salomōs were to giue a full light into the house to their owne heartes in hypocrisie somewhat is shewed the window wide enough outwardly Fayth Loue Repentance to sight are set forth in performāce euery one is for him selfe neyther thankefull to God neyther charitable to his neighbor and both without remorse These thinges ought not to be so this Passeouer would not be so eaten our loynes so soone vngirded our staues throwen away the water of Baptisme trampled on the bread and wine or the body and blood of Christ thus receiued all in vaine Were it that the naughtye liuer could bee a good beleeuer for the time or were it that as water he might be whote immediately before and at the action of receiuing yet if when the fire is remoued the cold qualities returne againe what auayleth the former heate A cole is red while it is in the fire when the fire is out his blacke and naturall colour returneth by by againe and then light it againe and it seemeth red againe but yet in the ende it consumeth to ashes The bone that is often set in ioynte August de tem Ser. 58. will hardly be wel ioyned often Let no man presume of sinning nor yet despaire of mercie The Sacraments as they are seales of mercy so are they also bondes of obedience as God will perfourme on his part al so must we endeuour to shew our selus duetiful in al good works Wherunto to perswade if there were nothing els but this this may suffice that