they murmured not which they would as before if he had not resolved them before that to eat his Body and to drink his Blood was nothing but to come to him and believe in him After he had said so they murmured not because they did see some reason in it as it is plainly said This is my Body so it is plainly said These words are spirit that is they must be understood spiritually and not literally But if it be Flesh indeed why do they not satisfy the simple people how they may eat this Flesh in Lent when they forbid them to eat any Flesh they must needs eat it doubtfully and he which doubteth saith James receiveth nothing therefore he which eateth the Mass receiveth nothing I did not alledge the Fathers in my Sermon but if any suspend his assent till they bring in their verdict let him hear them make confession of their belief Augustin saith The Lord doubteth not to say This is my Body when he gave only a Sign or Sacrament of his Body Tertullian saith This is my Body that is a Sign of my Body Ambrose saith The Bread and Wine remain still the same thing that they were Theodoret saith After the Consecration the mystical Signs do not cast off their own nature but abide still in their first substance and form Origen saith The Bread that is sanctified with the word of God as touching the material substance thereof goeth into the Belly and forth again like other Meats Irenaeus saith That it hath two things in it one Earthly and the other Heavenly Cyril saith Our Sacraments avouch not the eating of a Man. Cyprian saith The Lord called Bread made of many grains his Body and called Wine made of many grapes his Blood. Athanasius saith Christ made mention of his Ascension into Heaven that he might withdraw his Disciples from corporal and fleshly eating Chrysostome saith God giveth us things spiritual under things visible and natural And again being sanctified it is delivered from the name of Bread and is exalted to the name of the Lord's Body although the nature of the Bread still remain And because they believe that the Pope cannot err Pope Gelasius setteth too his hand and saith with the rest Neither the substance of the Bread nor nature of the Wine cease to be more than they were before Tell us Papist do not these Fathers speak as plain as we Canst thou avouch Transubstantiation more flatly then they deny it How had this Heresy bin chased if the divel had hatched it in their time Thus the Scriptures on the one side and the Fathers on the other side did so trouble three Arch-papists Biel Tonstall and Fisher that Gabriel Biel saith how the Body of Christ is in the Sacrament is not found in the Canon of the Bible Tonstall saith It had been better to leave every Man to his own conjecture as they were before the Councel of Lateran than to bring in such a question Fisher saith No man can prove by the words of the Gospel that any Priest in these days doth consecrate the very Body and Blood of Christ. Here is fulfilled Out of thine own Mouth I will condemn thee But we will not carry the matter so because a Judg must have two Ears therfore now let them speak Because they cannot tell how the Bread and Wine should be turned into Flesh and Blood and yet appear Bread and Wine still they say it is a Miracle but how do they prove it if they contend it is a Miracle they must shew us a Sign for every Miracle may be seen like all the Miracles of Moses and Christ and the Apostles and therfore a Miracle is called a Sign because it may be seen like a Sign and the word signifieth a Wonder And the Jews craving a Miracle said Shew us a Miracle as though they were taught to judg of Miracles by sight All which doth shew that a Miracle may be seen but here no Miracle is seen Again a Miracle especially in the time of the Gospel is an extraordinary thing but they make this an ordinary thing for if the Bread and Wine be turned into Flesh and Blood then Miracles are as common as Sacraments and so because they have Mass every day they should work Miracles every day Lastly this seemeth strange that Augustin whom they so much honour gathered all the miracles which are written in the Scripture and yet amongst all speaks not of this therefore then it was counted no Miracle but Paul speaks of lying Miracles and this is one of them If they say that Christ can turn Bread and Wine into his Body and therefore he doth First they must prove that he will for they can do many things themselves which they do not because they will not therfore it is an old answer that from Can to Will no argument followeth The Leper did not say unto Christ If thou canst thou wilt but If thou wilt thou canst But the question which they think cannot be answered like their Invincible Navies is this If the Bread be not his Body why doth he call it his Body Resolve this knot and all is clear Mark then and we will loose it as well as we can He saith This is my Body as he saith after which is broken for you Why his Body was not broken before he suffered how did he say then which is broken before it was broken There is no sense of it but this the Bread was broken and signified that his Body should be broken Now as the breaking of the Bread did signifie the breaking of his Body so the Bread must needs signifie his Body but as his Body was not broken indeed when the Bread was broken so the Bread could not be his Body indeed for then his Body should have been broken when the Bread was broken Yet let them object what they can If say they the Bread and Wine be not changed into his Body and Blood why doth he speak so darkly he might have spoken plainer I answer though this seem dark to Papists yet it was not dark to the Apostles they understood his meaning well enough and all the rest for 1215 years after Christ before Transubstantiation was spoken off If the Apostles had not understood his meaning they would not stick to ask him as their manner was until they were acquainted with Christ's phrase whensoever they doubted upon any of his speeches they were wont to come unto him and say Master what is the meaning but they were used to such phrases for it was Christ's manner to teach by similitudes shewing one thing by another which is the plainest manner of teaching and most used in holy Scripture especially in the Types and Shadows of this Sacrament For example Christ calleth the Lamb the Passover in place whereof this Sacrament succeeded and therefore presently after they had eaten the Passover Christ instituted the
Christ have any such body judg you Here they stand like a Fool which cannot tell on his tale Nabuchadnezzar dreamed a dream and knew not what it meant Beside I ask them to whom Christ spake when he said This is my Body S. Mark saith he spake to them that is to his Disciples well then if these words This is my Body were not spoken to the Signs but to the Persons not to the Bread and Wine but to the Receivers as the words which follow Do this in remembrance of me If these words were not spoken to the Bread and Wine then it is plain that they do not change the nature of the Bread and Wine If the nature of them be not altered then the substance remaineth and then we receive no other substance with them because two substances cannot be in one place What then is there nothing in the Sacrament but Bread and Wine like an hungry nunscion Nay we say not that the Sacrament is nothing but a bare sign or that you receive no more than you see for Christ saith that it is his body and Paul saith that it is the Communion of Christ's body and blood Therefore there is more in sacramental bread then in common bread though the nature be not changed yet the use is changed it doth not onely nourish the body as it did before but also it bringeth a bread with it which nourisheth the Soul for as sure as we receive bread so sure we receive Christ not onely the benefits of Christ but Christ although not in a Popish manner yet we are so joyned and united unto him even as though we were but one body with him As the Spouse doth not marry with the Lands and Goods but with the Man himself and being partaker of him is made partaker of them so the Faithful do not onely marry with Christ's benefits but with Christ himself and being partakers of him they are made partakers of his benefits for Christ may not in any wise be divided from his benefits no more than the Sun from his light It is said The Father gave us his Son and so the Son giveth us himself For as the bread is a sign of his body so the giving of the bread is a sign of the giving of his body Thus he lieth before us like a Pellican which letteth her young ones suck her blood so that we may say the Lord invited us to Supper and he himself was our Meat But if you ask how this is I must answer It is a Mystery but if I could tell it it were no Mystery Yet as it is said when three Men walked in the midst of the Furnace One like the Son of God walked amongst them So when the Faithful receive the Bread and Wine one like the Son of God seemeth to come unto them which fills them with peace and joy and grace that they marvel what it was which they received besides bread and wine For example thou makest a bargain with thy Neighbour for House or Land and receivest in earnest a piece of gold that which thou receivest is but a piece of gold but now it is a sign of thy bargain and if thou keep not touch with him happily it will clasp thee for all that thou art worth so that which thou receivest is bread but this bread is a sign of another matter which passeth bread Again thou hast an Obligation in thy hand and I ask thee what hast thou there and thou sayest I have here an hundred pounds why say I there is nothing but paper ink wax Oh but by this saist thou I will recover an hundreth pounds and that is as good So beloved this is as good that under these signs you receive the vertue of Christ's body and blood by Faith as if you did eat his body and drink his blood indeed which is horrible to think that any should devour their God thinking thereby to worship him never nay Heretick nor Idolater conceived so grossely of their GOD before the Papist We read of a People which did eat Men but never of any People which did eat their God. All the Apostles say that it was needful that Christ should take our flesh but no Apostle saith that it is needful that we should take Christ's flesh for all the blessings of Christ are apprehended by Faith and nothing fit to apprehend him whom we see not but Faith and therefore one of their own Pillers said Believe and thou hast eaten Faith doth more in Religion than the mouth or else we might say with the Woman Blessed are the breasts which gave thee suck and so none should be blessed but Mary but Mary was not blessed because Christ was in her body but because Christ was in her heart and least this should seem incredible unto you because Mary is called blessed among Women when Christ heard the Woman say Blessed are the breasts which gave thee suck he replyed unto her Blessed are they which hear the word of God and keep it these are my Brethrea and Sisters and Mother saith Christ as though the rest were no kin to him in Heaven though they were kin in Earth Thus if Christ were in thy body and thou shouldest say as this Woman Blessed is the body that hath thee in it nay would Christ say Blessed is the heart that hath me in it If Mary were no whit better for having Christ in her arms nor for having him in her body how much better art thou for having him in thy belly where thou canst not see him Must the Sun needs come to us or else cannot his heat and light profit us nay it doth us more good because it is so far off so this Sun is gone from us that he might give more light unto us which made him say It is good for you that I go from you therefore away with this carnal eating of spiritual things Many daughters have done vertuously but thou saith Salomon surpassest them all So many Hereticks have spoken absurdly but this surpasseth them all that Christ most be applied like physick as though his Blood could not profit us unless we did drink it and swallow it as a potion Is this the Papists union with Christ Is this the manner whereby we are made one Flesh with Christ to eat his flesh nay when he took our flesh unto him and was made Man then we were united to him in the flesh and not now Christ took our flesh we take not his flesh but belive that he took ours therefore if you would know whether Christ's Body be in the Sacrament I say unto you as Christ said unto Thomas touch feel and see In visible things God hath appointed our eyes to be judges for as the spirit discerneth spiritual objects so sense discerneth sensible objects As Christ taught Thomas to judge of his Body so may we and so should they therefore if you cannot see his
well then yet it is Bread when he had broken it then he gave it what did he give the Bread which he break well then yet it is Bread when he had given it they did eat it what did they eat the Bread which he gave them well then yet it is Bread when they did eat it then he said This is my Body what did he call his Body the Bread which they did eat well then yet is it Bread. If it be Bread all this while when he did take it and bless it and break it and gave it and they did eat it when is it turned into his Body here they stand like the Sadduces as mute as Fishes Now that ye may see that not we only say it is Bread and Wine after the Consecration in the 27. verse Christ himself doth call it Bread and Wine after he had given it as he did before And in Mark he saith I will drink no more of the fruit of the Vine Here Christ saith that it was the Fruit of the Vine which he drank but his Blood is not the Fruit of Vines but Wine therefore Wine was his drink and not Blood. Beside if you would hear Paul expound Christ he sheweth that all our Fathers had the same substance of Christ in their Sacraments that we have in ours for he saith They all did eat the same spiritual meat and all drank the same spiritual drink Straight he saith that this meat and this drink was Christ. Mark that he saith not onely They did eat the same meat that we eat but he saith that this meat was Christ and not only so but to shew that Christ is not a corporal meat as the Papists say he saith he is a spiritual meat as we say therefore you see that we do not eat him corporally no more then our Fathers but that as they did eat him spiritually so do we for spiritual meat must be eaten spiritually as corporal meat is eaten corporally Again for the signs to be turned into the thing signified by them is utterly against the nature of a Sacrament and makes it no Sacrament because there is no Sign for every Sacrament doth consist of a Sign and a thing signified the Sign is ever an Earthly thing and that which is signified is a Heavenly thing This shall appear in all examples As in Paradise there was a very Tree for the Sign and Christ the thing signified by it in Circumcision there was a cuting off of the Skin and the cuting off of Sin in the Passover there was a Lamb and Christ in the Sabbath there was a day of rest and eternal rest in the Sacrifice there was an offering of some Beast and the offering of Christ in the Sauctuary there was the holy Place and Heaven in the Propitiatory there was the Golden covering and Christ our cover in the Wilderness there was a Rock yielding Water and Christ yielding his Blood in the Apparition there was a Dove and the holy Ghost in the Manna there was Bread and Christ in Baptism there is very Water which washeth us and Christ's Blood washing us so in the Supper of Christ there is very Bread and Wine for the sign and the Body and Blood of Christ for the thing signified or else this Sacrament is against the nature of all other Sacraments Again there must be a proportion between the Passover and the Lord's Supper because this was figured by the other Now the Jews had in their Passover Bread and Wine and a Lamb So our Saviour Christ instituting his last Supper left Bread and Wine and a Lamb the which name is given to himself because he came like a Lamb and dyed like a Lamb. Again if Christ's very Body were offered in the Sacrament then it were not a Sacrament but a Sacrifice which two differ as much as giving and taking for in a Sacrifice we give and in a Sacrament we receive and therefore we say our Sacrifice and Christ's Sacrament Again every Sacrifice was offered upon the Altar Now mark the wisdom of the holy Ghost least we should take this for a Sacrifice he never names Altar when he speaks of it but The Table of the Lord. Therefore it is no doubt but the devil hath kept the name of Altar that we might think it a Sacrifice Again if the Bread were Christ's Flesh and the Wine his Blood as these two are separate one from the other so Christ Flesh should be separate from his Blood but his Body is not divided for then it were a dead Body Again that which remaineth doth nourish the Body and relish in the Mouth as it did before which could not be but that it is the same food which it was before Again I would ask whose are this whitness and hardness and roundness and coldness None of them say that it is the whitness and hardness and roundness and coldness of Christ's Body therefore it must needs be the whiteness and hardness and roundness and coldness of the Bread or else qualities should stand without substances which is as if one should tell you of a House without a foundation Again as Christ dwelleth in us so he is eaten of us but he dwelleth in us onely by faith Ephe. 3. 17. Therefore he is eaten onely by faith Again none can be saved without the Communion of the Body of Christ but if all should communicate with it corporally then neither Infants nor any of our Fathers the Patriarchs or the Prophets should be saved because they received it not so Again Christ saith not This Wine but This Cup and therefore by their conclusion not only the Wine should be turned into Blood but the Cup too Again Paul saith They which receive unworthily receive their own damnation But if it were the Flesh of Christ they should rather receive salvation than damnation because Christ saith He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath life everlasting John 6. 54. Again if they would hear an Angel from Heaven when Christ's Body was glorified an Angel saith to the Woman He is risen and is not here Mat. 28. as if he should say his Body is but in one place at once or else he might have been there though he was risen Again why do they say in receiving this Sacrament ever since the Primitive Church Lift up your Hearts if they have all in their Mouths To end this controversy here we may say as the Disciples said to Christ Whither shall we go from thee I mean we need not to go to any other expositor of Christ then Christ himself therefore mark what he saith at first when Christ said that he was the Bread of Life and that all which would live must eat him they murmured until he expounded his words and how did he expound his words Thus He that cometh unto me hath eaten and he that beleeveth in me hath drank After when he instituted this Sacrament in like words