substaunce of holynesse making all other things holy And here I thinke it worthy to be noted and to be opened somewhat vnto you with what sophistrie and vnlearned folye they deluded the sanctification and consecration of this sacrament Children at the Vniuersitie can tell that it is a deceytfull way of reasoning by a generall discription to exclude and driue away a special and singuler definition as they did in this case For they sayde that the consecration of the sacrament was no more but an appointing of bread and wine to an holy vse which vse they sayde was to signifie vnto vs Christes body that is in heauen and therefore some sayde that the bread was consecrat when the parishe Clarke did bring it to the Church and set it vpon the table and these were no small men but our greatest Bishops God forgiue it them other sayde it was not consecrate till the wordes of Christ were spoken but yet they noted that the Priest should not looke at the bread in the time of the pronouncing for this ende belike that they should not be disceyued that God should worke no more then it pleased them that their doctrine might some waye bee true And therfore they sayde euery man and woman might consecrate and speake the words as well as a Priest but they neuer read what Arnobius sayth Arniobus in Psalm 139. Quid tam magnificum quam Sacramenta deuina conficere quid tam perniciosum quam si ea is conficiat qui nullum sacerdotij gradum accepit What is so excellent then to consecrate the sacraments of God and what is so pernicious then if he doe consecrate that hath receyued no order and degree of Priesthood And as they erred in the time and person so they erred in the nature of the consecration making this of the same sort that all other consecrations be receauing the generall discription and denying the degrees and specialties of sanctification which be many for somethings be holy not for any holynesse that is in them but for that they be brought to the Church and dedicate to some holy vse as is the temple of God the vestures about the aultar and other things vsed in Gods seruice which things to steale and conuey is sacrilege and amongst those things there be degrees of holynesse as saint Augustine sayth Quod accipiunt Catechumini August de peccat merit remiss libr. 2. ca. 26. quamuis non sit corpus Christi sanctum est tamen sanctius quà m cibi quibus alimur Holy bread which those that be learners receiue although it be not the body of Christ yet it is holy and more holy then the meat with which we are fed daylie which also is sanctified by the worde and prayer There is also holynesse a qualitie a vertue gift of God making him in whome it is acceptable in the sight of God The soule of man is likewise sanctified holy bicause it is that substaunce and subiect wherein holynesse consisteth and dwelleth being a vessell created to Gods ymage and prepared to receaue Gods gift of sanctification holynesse And the body of a godly man is also sanctified holy bicause it is the member of Christ the temple of the holy Ghost and the house and tabernacle of the soule replenished with Gods grace and sanctification and for this reason we haue in reuerence and estimation the reliques bodyes of holy martyrs and confessors which being members of Christ were also pleasing sacrifices to Almightie God eyther for austeritie of life or for suffering of vndeserued death for the fayth or in the quarell of Iesus Christ oure Lorde The sacraments of Gods Church be iustly called holy bicause they be the instruments whereby God doth worke holynesse in the soule of man and be as causes of the same by Christes owne ordinaunce and institution But aboue all other thys sacrament of the aultar is holye being as Chrysostome sayde not onely a thing sanctified but the verie sanctification it selfe For in that it is the body of Christ by consecration whervnto is annexed the Godhead by vnitie of person it must needes be holynesse it selfe not in qualitie but in substaunce seing whatsoeuer thing is in God is also God who for his simplicitie receyueth no qualitie into himselfe but is the author and principall cause of all good qualities and graces giuen vnto man Wherefore this place of Chrysostome that calleth it sanctification it selfe can not be auoyded by no figuratiue speeches or such like cauillations CROWLEY Here you begin with a lowde lye by your leaue for there was neuer time yet wherein true christen men cared not who looked vpon them in the time of their mysteries Two lowde lyes one in anothers neck but they did shut out from the place where they did communicate all that were not thought méete to be partakers with them And if you beléeue not me looke in your Liturgies of Iames Basill and Chrysostome And then you clap another lye euen in the neck of the first saying that the Christians made a knocking and knéeling and adoration to the sacraments and that that was the thing that moued the Gentils to say that we worship many Gods and not one as we pretend But to proue this to be no lye you take saint Austen to wytnesse Who in the place that you cite sayth thus speaking to Faustus the Maniche Quomodo ergo comparas panem Calicem nostrum parem Religionem dicis errorem longè à veritate discretum peius desipiens quam nonnulli qui nos propter Panem Calicem Cererem liberum colere existimant How doest thou therfore compare our bread and cup and sayest that an errour which differeth verie farre from the truth is as good a religion as oures being more fondly disceyued then are certaine which by reason of the bread and cup doe suppose that we doe worship Ceres and Bacchus And in the same Chapter he sayth Sicut enim à Cerere libero Paganorum dijs longè absumus quamuis Panis Calicis sacramentum quod ita laudastis vt in eo nobis pares esse volueritis nostroritu amplectamur c For euen as we are verie farre from Ceres and Bacchus Gods of the Paganes although we doe after our maner embrace the sacrament of the bread and the cup which you haue so highly commended bicause you would therein be like vnto vs euen so our fathers were farre ynough from the chaines of Saturne although they did during the time of prophecie obserue the calling or name of the Sabboth The same Gentils which had sayde that the christians did worship Ceres and Bacchus bicause they vsed bread and wine in their communion had sayde also that the people of the Iewes were appointed to be the people of Saturne bicause they obserued the seuenth day of their wéeke for their Sabboth or rest which day the heathen did dedicate vnto Saturne Saint Austen therefore
to keepe it within him that he shal not expresse it outwardly and in very deede diuers notable and godly wryters at this day call this heresie against the sacrifice of the Church which Luther first began and most maintayned by this name Secta Mahumetica the sect of Mahomet As in your former reason speaking of the substaunce of the sacrifice of the Church you haue subtilly concluded CROWLEY that we spoile the Church of Christ of hir sacrifice bicause we denie that Christ is really and substantially present in the sacrament of his bodye and bloud euen so you go about nowe to conclude as subtilly against vs by the definitiō of a sacrifice You reason after this maner Seing a sacrifice is an outward protestation of our inwarde fayth and deuotion without which there is no religion those that doe take away our sacrifice doe take awaye our Religion But these heretikes that doe denie and destroy the Masse doe take away our sacrifice Ergo they spoyle vs of our Religion Saint Austen doth define a sacrifice something otherwise De Ciuitate Dei lib. 10. Cap. 5. 6. He sayth thus Sacrificium ergo visibile inuisibilis sacrificij sacramentum id est sacrum signum est A visible sacrifice therefore sayth saint Austen is a sacrament that is to say an holye signe of an inuisible sacrifice And agayne he sayth Quaecunque igitur in ministerio tabernaculi siue templis multis modis leguntur diuinitus esse praecepta ad dilectionem Dei proximi referuntur In his enim duobis praeceptis vt scriptum est tota lex pendet Prophetae All those things therefore sayth he that in the ministerie of the tabernacle or temple are read to be commaunded of God after many sortes concerning sacrifices are referred to signifie the loue of God and our neyghbour For in these two commaundements as it is written the whole law and Prophetes doe depend And in the same place he sayth Proind◠verum sacrificium est omne opus quod agitur vt sancta societate inhaereamus Deo relatum silicet adidum finem boni quo veraciter beati esse possimus Vnde ipsa misericordia qua homini subuenitur si propter Deum non fit non est sacrificium Wherefore sayth saint Austen the right sacrifice is euerye worke that is wrought to the ende that we may with an holy societie cleaue vnto God being referred to that ende of goodnesse whereby we maye be blessed in déede Wherefore euen that mercie that is shewed in succouring of a man is no sacrifice except it be done for Gods cause These wordes of Saint Austen doe make your definition scarce sufficient and the conclusion of your Argument nothing good By your definition euery such outward protestation of our inwarde fayth and deuotion as is made in the Masse maye be a sacrifice and so euery Masse that is sayd or song by a Priest may be a sacrifice But by saint Austens definition no Masse that is not sayd with relation to that ende of goodnesse No Masse said for hier may be a sacrifice whereby we may be happie in déede is a true sacrifice Ergo saint Austen and you conclude not both one thing Yea by these words of saint Austen it is playne that none of those Masses that be sayde in respect of hire or rewarde as the most part of Masses be may be accounted for sacrifices But graunt that all Priestes were Aungels and would say their Masses being moued thervnto by deuotion only yet would not S. Austen allowe their Masses for the sacrifice of the Church For he sayth in the aforenamed booke Cap. 5. Quoniam illud quod ab hominibus appelatur sacrificium signum est veri sacrificij That thing that men doe call a sacrifice is the signe of the true sacrifice And that he meaneth this of that which you doe call the Masse is manifest by his wordes in the later ende of the sixt Chapiter of that booke where he sayth thus The Church is offered in hir owne oblation Hoc est sacrificium christianorum multi vnum corpus sumus in Christo quod etiam sacramento altaris fidelibus noto frequent at Ecclesia vbi ei demonstratur quod in ea oblatione quam offert ipsa offertur This sayth Saint Austen speaking of the offering vp of our selues a sacrifice to God is the sacrifice of the Christians we being many are one body in Christ which the congregation also doth frequent in the sacrament of the Altare which is not vnknowne to the faythfull Where it is playnely shewed vnto hir that she hir selfe is in that oblation offered The meaning of this maner of spéeche that saint Austen vseth here was well knowne among Christians in his dayes But in later times it hath growne out of knowledge and therfore we had néede nowe to saye something of it least you and your sort should begin to triumph ouer vs and saye that nowe we haue found a sacrament of the altare which some of vs haue denied to be I my selfe haue denied and doe still denie that there is anye such sacrament of the altare as the Popes Church doth at thys daye frequent and vse wherein the Priest alone doth make a sacrifice for the quick and dead but that there is suche a sacrament of the altare as saint Austen speaketh of here that is wherein Christians doe offer vp themselues to God a sacrifice of thankesgyuing The Sacrament of the Altare and doe exercise the workes of mercy towards them that stande in néede and therefore called it in the Gréeke tongue Eucharistia and Agape thankesgyuing and loue I neyther haue done nor doe denie And bicause the fathers knewe that this sacrifice could not be acceptable to God except it were offered vpon Christ their Altare they called the sacrament whereby they vsed chiefely to shewe themselues to be nothing else but a sacrifice to be offered to God the sacrament of the altare meaning by that altare Christ wherevpon they offered themselues a Sacrifice acceptable vnto God But suche a sacrament as the Papistes doe hang ouer their altare and suche an altare as they vse to saye Masse vpon we knowe not of neyther did the fathers knowe any suche And this may suffise for the disproofe of your definition of a sacrifice Nowe something must be sayde concerning that place of Cyprian which you cite In déede saint Cyprian doth in such words as you cite reproue the grosse opinion of the Capernaits who supposed that our Sauiour had spoken of the outward and fleshly eating of that body of his which was present in their sight And therefore he sayth Cum illius personae caro c. as you haue cited But here M. Watson I must tell you that you deale not faythfully in cyting of the words of this father For in the words next folowing he sayth thus Sed in cogitationibus huiusmodi Cyprian Sermone De Caena caro sanguis non
apparell of sheepe but within they be rauenous Wolfes that in their mouths haue the worde of God the truth the Gospell and such gaye wordes but the pitte and effect of their teaching is olde rotten heresies confuted and condemned of all Christendome before and not Gods worde the name whereof they abuse to the maintenaunce of all vice errour beastly lyuing adulterie disobedience sacrilege and open conspiracie to the subuersion of themselues and of that state vnder which they liue The scripture cryeth Nolite omni spiritui credere 1. Iohn 4. beleue not euery spirite but trye and proue the spirites if they be of God or no for many false Prophets are abroad in the world One way to trie them is to marke the ende of their conuersation and the example and fruit of their liues as saint Paule sayth Quorum exitum conuersationis intuentes Hebr. 1. eorum imitamini fidem folow their fayth the ende of whose conuersation ye haue seene We haue seene what is the ende of this newe teaching carnall and detestable lyuing conspiracie and treason The other fathers of whome we learned our faith were men whome the corrupt worlde was not worthy to haue these Authors of this new opinion were men that were not worthy to haue and enioy the worlde Pet. 28. of whom saint Peter writeth Magistri mendaces and so forth Lying maisters that bring in sectes of perdicion denie that Lord that bought them as they doe in this matter of the sacrament bringing vpon them a speedie perdition and many shall folow their wayes through whome the way of truth shall be slaundered and blasphemed and in couetousnesse by feyned words they shall make marchaundise of you to whome iudgement ceaseth not and their destruction sleepeth not We be also warned by saint Iohn of this matter saying 2. Iohn 1. he that remaineth abideth in the doctrine that the Apostles taught he hath the father and the sonne If any come to you not bringing thys doctrine doe not receyue him into your houses Here he doth teache vs to auoyde them that professe any other doctrine then such as all faithfull men vniuersally thorowout the world haue receyued and professe which is not the doctrine that the Sacramentaries preach Finally considering the promises of Christ to his church that he will be with them to the worldes ende Math. 28. and that the holy ghost shall lead them into all truth Iohn 16. then may we iustly say that if this our fayth be an errour it hath preuailed vniuersally not one hundreth yeare but two three foure yea a thousand yeare and more then that euen to the ascension of Christ as appeareth by the testimonies of all holy wryters and then may we say Lorde if we be deceaued thou hast deceaued vs we haue beleeued thy worde wee haue folowed the tradition of the vniuersall Church we haue obeyed the determinations and teachings of those Bishops and Pastors whome thou hast placed in the Church to staye vs in vnitie of fayth that we be not caried awaye with euery winde of false doctrine Therefore if we be deceyued it commeth of thee O Lord our error is inuincible But good people we are sure God deceaueth no man let vs all beware we doe not deceaue oure selues as Saint Iames sayth CROWLEY As touching the scriptures that you haue alledged and the effectes that you haue affirmed to be the effects of the sacrament you are already sufficiently aunswered And for the substaunce of the sacrament also We teach not that the worthy receyuer doth receyue none other thing but bread and wine for we hold as the scriptures the auncient fathers haue taught that the worthy receiuer doth receiue after a spiritual maner sacramentally very Christ God and man that bread of lyfe that came downe from heauen But with S. Austen we teach that the vnworthy receiuer doth not receyue Panem Dominum sed panem Domini contra Dominum August in Iohn Tract 59. The bread which is the Lorde but the bread of the Lord against the Lorde And where you cite certaine scriptures that warne you and all christians to beware of false prophets c. you your selfe are one of those false Prophets And the Prelates of your Antichristian and Babilonicall Church of Rome are those rauening Woolfes that saint Paule did prophecie of Act. 21. that should not spare the flock The hauock that you made of Christes silly Lambes in Quéene Maries dayes 1. Iohn 4. doth declare what you are Saint Iohn doth very well warne vs not to beléeue euery spirite but to trie whether they be of God or not And shall we thinke that your spirite is of God which moueth you to set vp the Pope aboue al that is called God that is aboue all Princes 2. Thes 2. which in the scripture are called Gods and to maintaine him in the temple of God that is in the Church of Christ boasting himselfe as though he were God No surely we can not thinke that your spirite is of God for it is an arrogant spirite And as for the way that you haue found to trie spirites by let it be considered And if your spirite may be by that triall founde to be of Christ then will we credite you But if oures be found so by the same then why should not you credit vs. Mementote praepositorum vestrorum sayth saint Paule qui vobis locuti sunt verbum Dei quorum intuentes exitum conuersationis imitamini fidem Hebr. 13. Remember those that are your gouernors and haue spoken vnto you the worde of God and considering the ende of their conuersation yée doe imitate or folow their faith Chrysostome wryting vpon this place sayth thus In hoc loco etiam de adiutorio in fratres eum existimo dicere hoc enim est quod dicit Qui vobis locuti sunt verbum Dei Quorum contemplantes exitum conuersationis imitamini fidem Quid est contemplantes Sepius animo versantes apud vosmetipsos examinantes consyderantes subtiliter discutientes inquit exitum conuersationis Hoc est perseuerantiam vsque in finem quoniam finem bonum habuit eorum conuersatio c. In this place saith Chrysostome I suppose that he speaketh of the helpe that the brethren should haue at their handes This is it that he meaneth when he sayth which haue spoken the worde of God to you the ende of whose conuersation when ye doe behold you follow their fayth What meaneth he when he sayth when you doe beholde He sayth as much as if he had sayde When you doe tosse it and tumble it in your mindes and doe examine it with your selues considering and discussing it thorowly The ende of their conuersation that is their perseueraunce to the ende bicause their conuersation had a good ende c. It is manifest that Chrysostome doth vnderstande saint Paules purpose in this place to be chiefely to put the Hebrues in remembraunce of
matter we go about to proue fully resolued both by the institution of Christ in his last supper and also by the figure of Melchisedech in the olde lawe This aucthorities although there bee manye mo yet I thinke them sufficient and I thinke thereby the matter sufficiently proued Neyther by the Gospell nor by the prophet haue ye proued CROWLEY the thing that you tooke in hande to prooue no more doth that which you would haue your Auditorie harken to here proue the figure taken out of the olde lawe in such sort as you affirme it Saint Paule writing to the Hebrues Hebr. 7. goeth about to diswade them from the vayne confidence they had in the sacrifices and ceremonies of Moses lawe and to perswade them to put their trust in that one only sacrifice that Christ had made offring himselfe once for all And least they should reiect his doctrine as hauing no ground in the holy scriptures he putteth them in minde of Melchisedech who was a figure of Christ And of his priesthood which was also a figure of Christes priesthood First he was a figure of Christ sayth saint Paule in that he was called Melchisedech which is by interpretation The minde of Paule in making mention of Melchisedech the king of righteousnesse and the king of Salem which is the king of peace And in that he was a priest of the most high God and hath neyther beginning nor ende of dayes noted in the holy hystories his priesthood séemed to be an euerlasting priesthood And therefore sayth saint Paule he is lykened to the sonne of God that is euerlasting and hath an euerlasting priesthood and is alwayes able to saue them that seeke saluation at his hande bicause he lyueth euer to make intercession for vs. This is the minde of saint Paule as may easily appéere to as many as will with indifferent mindes read that which he hath written in the seuenth Chapter of his Epistle to the Hebrues But contrary to this meaning doe you most wylfully gather that Melchisedech was a figure of Christ and of his priesthood in that he vsed to offer to God a sacrifice of bread and wine This you suck out of your owne fingers and out of the dugs of such dreaming Doctors as you your selfe are although you would séeme to haue learned al that you speake in the schoole of Cyprian Austen Hierome and such other auncient and learned fathers Cyprian li. 2. Epist 3. Cyprian sayth Qui magis Sacerdos Dei summi c. Here doth Cyprian affirme that Paule hath written to the Hebrues concerning Christs priesthood and sacrifice If Melchisedech were a priest of the most high God bicause he offered sacrifice to God why should not Christ be a priest of the same high God seing he hath offered sacrifice to the same high God also And if Melchisedech did offer bread and wine Iohn 6. Christ did the same for he offred his owne body and bloud which is lyuely bread and wine the foode that féedeth into euerlasting lyfe When this place is well weighed what aduantage can you haue by it to prooue that Christ offered himselfe to his heauenly father in the bread and wine of his last supper The reader may sée more of this in that which I haue aunswered to the ninth and tenth diuisions of your former Sermon As touching the vnderstanding of the wordes a little after where Cyprian sayth Qui est plenitudo c I referre the reader to the wordes that folow a little after them Where Cyprian vseth the wordes of wisedome spoken by Salomon Prouerb 9. in this wyse Qui est insipiens declinet ad me indigentibus sensu dixit Venite edite de meis panibus bibete vinum quod miscui vobis Vinum mixtum declarat id est Calicem Domini aqua vino mixtum prophetica voce denunciat vt appareat in passione dominica id esse gestum quod fuerat praedictum Wisedome sayth Salomon sent forth hir seruauntes saying Let him that is foolishe turne in vnto me And to such as lack vnderstanding she sayde Come and eate of my bread and drinke the wine that I haue mixed for you Shée declareth sayth Cyprian that the wine is mixed That is to say shée doth with the voyce of prophecie declare that the Lordes cup is mixed with water and wine that it might appéere that in the Lordes passion that thing was done in déede which had bene told of before By these words of Cyprian it appéereth plainely that the cause why he woulde haue water mixed with the wine in the celebration of the Lordes supper was to shewe that the prophecie which Salomon vttered in the person of wisedome was fulfilled in the passion of Christ when water and bloud did issue out of his side And also to imitate the example of Christ who as Cyprian supposeth did not drinke wine without the mixture of water His whole purpose therfore in this Epistle Cyprians purpose in his Epistle to his brother being to disproue the doing of those which vsed to minister with water without wine he sought for many figures in the olde Testament which might séeme to be prophecies of Christes ministration in his last supper And he applyeth them to proue that water alone could not serue to signifie that which Christ would haue to be signified by it And as in such case it may easily happen when he findeth a figure wherein mention is made of such mixture he imagineth that Christ mixed water with the wine and he conceyueth in his minde that the wine must signifie Christ and the water the people And so he maketh as great a matter of the omitting of the water as he did before of the leauing out of the wine Not remembring that he had at the first applied to his purpose Noes drinking of wine and Mechisedechs bringing forth of bread and wine where there is no mention at all of water mixed wyth the wine But as I haue written in mine aunswere to the .24 diuision of your former Sermon let vs not forget the wordes of Erasmus in the Epistle that he wrote before the workes of Hilarius Erasmus in Epistola ad Lectorem Hilarij which are these Nemo quantumuis eruditus oculatus c. There is no man be he neuer so well learned and circumspect that doth not slip and in some point shewe himselfe to lack sight that no man should forget them to be men and that we should read them with choise with iudgement yea and with fauour also as men Wordes worthy to be printed in memorie and practised in the reading of all mennes wrytings Nowe fearing least some man should mistake the wordes of Cyprian when he sayth Hiero. in Psal 109. Hoc idom quod Melchisedech you cite the interpretation that saint Hierome maketh vpon the psalme .109 to proue that Christ offering his owne body and bloud in his last supper did offer the same thing that
in veteri populo sicut nostis occisione Agni cum Azymis vbi occisio ouis Christum significat Azyma autem nouam vitam Hoc est sine vetustate fermenti The Pasouer was in the olde people celebrated as you know in the killing of a Lambe with vnleauened breade where the killing of the shéepe doth signifie Christ and the vnleauened bread a newe lyfe that is without the oldnesse of leauen And a little after he saith Venit verum Pascha immolatur Christus transitum facit à morte ad vitam TraÌ„situs enim interpretatur hebraice Pascha The true Passouer is come Christ is offered vp he passeth from death to life For Paschal in the Hebrue is interpreted passing by or passing ouer Here is no worde of the offering of Christ figuratiuely in the olde Paschall but when Christ passed from death to life then he was offered sayth saint Austen Wherfore I conclude That Christ did not offer himselfe figuratiuely in the olde Paschall neyther did the fathers of the olde lawe offer him in their sacrifices But as all the faythfull fathers that beléeued the promise did offer passouer and other sacrifices thereby to shewe their due obedience to the lawe of God Why Christ would eate Passouer by which those things were commaunded to be done trusting that when the time should be fulfilled God would performe his promise so did Christ obserue al the points of the law absolutely that being frée from the cursse of the lawe he might delyuer from that cursse those that were vnder it Thirdly Christ offereth himselfe in heauen really and so continually as the same Chapiter that we bring against the Masse doth testifie say you Non in manufacta c. Iesus entred not into a temple made with handes c. It séemeth that you haue learned some painters diuinitie Painters diuinitie where you haue séene Christ representing his woundes to God his father to mooue him to haue compassion vpoÌ„ vs for whose cause he hath suffred those wounds That which you gather of this place of saint Paule doth shewe you to be very nigh a daungerous errour if you be not already fallen into it That is the errour of the Anthropomorphits which supposed God to be as a man Watson vâ— nigh a daâ—gerous eâ— not onely in bodily shape but also in humane affections As though a thing once done coulde not be present with him both before and after it is done for euer but must be stil presented before him to mooue his affections by the sight therof which otherwise would forget it as a man doth How you can auoid this I can not sée affirming as you do that Christ is entered into heauen to offer himselfe for vs. c. We haue learned both by the scriptures and also by the auncient wryters that there is with God neyther time to come nor time past but all present The woundes of Christ were present in his sight before Adam was made and so are they nowe and shall be for euer Christ néedeth not therefore perpetually to stande representing hys woundes Ephesi 1. that we might be reconciled by him for as many as shal be reconciled to God by Christ were before the foundations of the worlde were layd reconciled to him in Christ and doe and shall remaine reconciled for euer God had appointed a time wherein Christ should worke the worke of our reconciliation which time is now past with vs but still present with him and he hath also appointed a time wherein we that be by him reconcyled shall enioy the fruit of that reconciliation that is euerlasting glorie in his kingdome which with vs is yet to come but with him it is already present In the meane season Hebr. 10. Christ hauing offered one oblation for sinne as Saint Paule sayth doth for euer sit at the right hande of God from thenceforth tarying tyll his enimies be made his footestoole For by one oblation he hath made persite for euer those that be sanctified That is those which be made holy by the spirit of adoption Rom. 8. whereby they cry vnto God Abba father But you haue founde saint Ambrose Ambro. li. 1. Officio Ca. 48 in Psal 38. in two places of hys workes to be of your minde and to accompt the sacrifice that Christ made vpon the crosse to be but an ymage of a sacrifice in comparison of that which he maketh perpetually in heauen If Ambrose were nowe lyuing and did knowe of your doing he could not thinke well of you that would make him a maintayner of your fond opinion of Christes perpetuall offering of himselfe drawing his wordes so farre from his meaning By occasion of the wordes of the Prophet Dauid where he sayth Psalm 38. Notum fac mihi Domine c. Lorde let me know mine ende and what the number of my dayes is that I may know what it is that I lack saint Ambrose doth note that the ende which the Prophet doth desire to know is that day wherein euery one shall rise out of the earth in his order wherein our perfection doth begin Here therefore sayth Ambrose that is in this mortall state there is a let or impediment there is infirmitie euen in such as be perfite but there that is in the lyfe to come there is full perfection Therefore he desireth to knowe what dayes of eternall lyfe are yet remayning not what dayes be past That he may know what he himselfe lacketh what the lande of promise is which bringeth forth contynuall fruites what maner dwellings the first second and thirde dwelling are wyth the father wherein euery man doth rest according to his worthynesse We therefore sayth he must desire those things wherein perfection is wherein the truth is Hic vmbra hic Imago illic veritas c. Here is the shadow here is the ymage there is the truth And so forth as you haue cyted But to the ende of those wordes that you rehearse Ambrose openeth his owne meaning he addeth a sentence that doth make his meaning more playne Hic ergo in imagine ambulamus in imagine videmus illic facie ad faciem vbi plena perfectio quia perfectio omnis in veritate Here therefore sayth Ambrose we walke in an ymage we sée in an Image then we shall sée face to face where there is full perfection bicause all perfection is in truth Who would thinke that any man of learning coulde be so blynded as to vnderstand these wordes of Ambrose as you doe His whole purpose is to declare that in this mortall state there can be no perfection in any thing But the most perfite things that be here are but as ymages are in comparison of those things whereof they be ymages Yea the mediation of Christ betwixt God and man was not without imperfection in the ymage and outwarde shewe thereof For he suffered sayth Ambrose as a man and as one worthyly condemned to die And he offered
such as then lyued in monasteries The forger of this péece of worke did not remember how early dayes it was in saint Iames his time and therfore he supposed Monasteries had bene builded then It forceth not greatly what is found in those counterfaited Masses And for my part I wyll looke for no credite of those that wyll beléeue that Iames would pray for them that dwelt in Monasteries so long before any Monasteries were builded let that great learned councell report what they lust And if I shall say that neyther the Apostles nor any in their time did offer sacrifice to God then let no man credite me except I be able to prooue the negatiue which I confesse I shall neuer be able to doe What sacrifice the Apostles did offer to God For they did continually offer to God that acceptable sacrifice that God requireth of Christians which is their hole bodies and soules in his seruice But that they offered Christ to his father as you imagine that no wise man will beleue till you be able by scripture to prooue that affirmatiue which you shall neuer be able to do WATSON Diuision 34 There be other some that will graunt the sacrifice but denie that it is propitiatory for the sinnes of the quick and the dead And therefore they disalow the last sentence of the Masse Where the priest sayth graunt good Lord that this sacrifice which I haue offered to thy diuine maiestie be propitiable or a meane to obteyne mercy to me and to all for whome I haue offered it And surely these be most foolish of all for if it be a sacrifice it must needes be a propitiatory sacrifice taking propitiatorie as it ought to be taken not confounding the meaning of it by sophistrie but vnderstanding the diuerse acception of the word but these men dally and seduce the people with Amphibologies and doubtfull sayings Distinctions they admit none nor can not abide to haue the matter opened with a confuse generall saying slaunder the Church This is their priuate sophistry and yet they call other men sophisters that detect and open their collusions that diuide the sentence that men might see how it is true and how it is false For example They cry out of this that we say the Masse is a sacrifice propitiatory By the word Masse may be vnderstanded two things the thing it selfe that is offered and the act of the priest in offering of it If ye take it for the thing offered which is the bodye of Christ who can iustly denie but that the body of Christ is a sacrifice propitiatorie seing saint Iohn sayth he is the propitiation for our sinnes euer was and euer shall be and neuer cease so to be till our sinnes be ended Oecumenius in cap. 3. ad Romanos and death the last enimie be ouercomed in vs his misticall bodye and as Oecumenius sayth Caro Christi est propiatorium nostrarum iniquitatum The flesh of Christ is the propitiation for our iniquities But if by the worde Masse be vnderstanded the act of the priest and the vse of the sacrament as they would haue it then it is not propitiatory in that degree of propitiation as Christes body is but after an other sort And therefore I must diuide the worde propitiatory which is taken two wayes also First for that that worthily deserueth mercy at Gods hande and so the act the priest in offering is not propitiatorie of it selfe deseruing mercy as Christ doth Next for that prouoketh God to giue mercye and remission already deserued by Christ And so the oblation of the priest is propitiatory moouing and prouoking God to apply his mercy vnto vs. So praier is a sacrifice for sinnes as S. Iames saith Iacob 5. Oratio fidei saluabit infirmum si in peccatis sit remittentur ei The Prayer of faith shall saue the sick and if he be in sinne they shal be remitted vnto him And christ taught vs to pray thus forgiue vs our trespases as we forgiue them that trespase against vs. Math. 6.7 And also promised to giue vs that we aske in Christs name Then ye see that prayer being a sacrifice is a prouocation of God a meane to atteyne remission of our sinnes and therefore may be well called propitiatorie So is a contrite hart a sacrifice propitiatory and almose as appeared by the storie of the Niniuites and of Daniell Psalme 50. For all good workes that we doe both fasting prayer almose forgiuing of my neighbour is done for this ende to mittigate Gods anger against our sinnes and to prouoke him to haue mercy of vs for Christes merites Euen so the Masse taking it for the act of the priest is a sacrifice propitiatory for sinne Which I shal proue vnto you by the holy fathers Origen wryteth thus Si referantur haec ad mysterij magnitudinem Origen in Le. hom 13. inuenies commemorationem istam habere ingentem repropiationis effectum Si redeas ad illum panem propitiationis quem proposuit Deus propitiationem per fidem in sanguine eius si respicias ad illam commemorationem de qua dicit dominus hoc facite in meam commemorationem inuenies quod ista est commemoratio sola quae propitium faciat Deum If these be referred to the greatnesse of our misterie thou shalt find that this commemoration hath a great effect of propitiation If ye returne to that bread of propritiation which God hath set for a propitiation by fayth in his bloud and if ye looke to that commemoration of which our Lorde sayde Doe this in commemoration of me thou shalt finde that this is the onely commemoration that maketh God mercifull Cyprian Ser. de coena Doth not saint Cyprian call the sacrament hol aucastum ad purgandas iniquitates a sacrifice to purge iniquitie in what respect is it called so but for that it is offered to that ende And so is it called a medicine to heale infirmities for thys respect that it is receaued to thys ende Augu. ser 11. de sanctis Saint Augustine sayth likewise Nemo melius praeter martyres meruit tibi requiescere vbi hostia christus est sacerdos scilicet vt propitiationem de oblatione hostiae consequantur No man hath deserued better then the Martyrs to rest and be buried there where Christ is both the host and the priest that is to say vnder the aultare for this ende that they might attayne propitiation by the oblation of the hoste Marke the purpose I bring in this for which is to atteine propitiation by the oblation of the sacrifice and as he sayth in an other booke Sacrificium illud mirabile coeleste quod tu instituisti offerri praecepisti in cōmemorationē tuae charitatis mortis scilicet passionis August in Manuale Cap. 11. pro salute nostra pro quotidiana fragilitatis nostrae reparatione That maruellous heauenly sacrifice which thou hast
some part of the sacrament was reserued to be giuen them in such case Shall thys prooue that your Massing priestes doe communicate when they delyuer no part of the sacrament to any other but consume the whole themselues I thinke no wise man will thinke it This hystorie might well haue bene left amongst that great number of other that you say make for this purpose for it doth make more against the highest matter of all then for that which you alledge it for What opinion thinke you had that priest of the sacrament when he would delyuer it to Serapion his boy bid him dip it and giue it to the olde man Did he thinke that it was the very reall body and bloud of Christ and that there remayned in it neyther bread nor wine The Cautiles of your Masse doe not allowe such handling of your sacrifice The stuffe that you bring to builde vp one part of your buylding withall To builde vp a cottage you pull downe a palace doth cast downe the greatest bewtie of the hole Reseruation in some case is by this hystorie proued and adoration vtterly denied And priestly prerogatiue is shrewdly shaken also For Serapion hys boy was neyther priest nor Deacon and yet he is put in trust to carie and minister the sacrament WATSON Diuision 41 Well some will say here be doctors vpon doctor of sentences of authors ynough But what scripture haue you that the priest did or may take it alone shewe mee that and then will I yeelde vnto you I shall bee content to alledge Scripture as it seemeth to me let euery man wey it as he thinketh good to me it is plaine inough for this purpose and although there were no scripture yet in this matter which is but a ceremonie concerning the number of the receyuers the custome and vse of Christs Church is a sufficient rule for a christen man to stay himselfe by The scripture is written in the .27 Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles where saint Paule comforting all the companie Actes 27. that were with him in the ship who then were in extreeme daunger of drowning promising them all their lyues and exhorting them to take meate that had fasted fourtene dayes before receyued the sacrament before them all alone as I take it The wordes be these Et cùm haec dixisset sumens panem gratias egit dâ—o in conspectu omnium cum fregisset coepit manducare Anime quiâ—res autem facti omnes ipsi sumpserunt cibum And when he had said thus taking bread he gaue thankes to God in the sight of them al and when he had broken it he began to eate and they all being much comforted tooke meate also Chrysostome expoundeth this place of the sacrament Chrysost in Math. hom 17. where he hath this saying that it is not onely a thing sanctified but sanctification it selfe Here is no mention that he gaue it to any other and if it had beene a thing necessarie of the institution of christ belike he would haue expressed it Well though it be not expressed in wordes say they yet it is not a necessary argument to conclude that no man receyued it with him I graunt it is not a good argument but yet this is the common maner of their reasoning it is not expressed in scripture ergo it is not to bee beleued But I can say more for this place for the scripture calleth that saint Paule eate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whiche is a woorde whereby the Sacrament is commonly expressed and that all the other did eate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth common meates and the scripture sayeth omnes all the other tooke their meat amonges whome there were manye infidels and it saith afterward saciati cibo that they were saciate and full with meat But the blessed Sacrament non est cibus satietatis Concilium Nicenum sed sanctimoniae as Concilium Nicenum sayth is not meat of sacietie but of sanctimonie Therefore where it sayth that saint Paule did eate the bread which is the sacrament and that all the other did fill them with their common meate I may conclude that saint Paule did receyue alone whereby is proued our purpose of the priuate Masse as they terme it O Lorde howe would they haue glorified if they had such a like place agaynst vs You perswade your selfe CROWLEY Doctors dregs vpon Doctors dirt that all men maruell at the multitude of Doctors and sentences of Authors that you haue alledged for your purpose and therefore you ymagine that some men will say here be doctors vpon doctors c. What other men will say I know not but this I do say Here are the dregges of the doctors vpon the dirt of the doctors shamelesse sayings ynough but not one scripture or sentence of any sound Authour to proue that the priest may celebrate the Lords supper which you cal the Masse and minister to himselfe alone Yea I do not onely say it but I haue also proued it in this aunswere alreadie and will also proue it by Gods helpe in aunswering that which remayneth One scripture you say you haue which séemeth to you plain enough and yet you thinke it not néedefull to alledge any scripture because the custome of the Church is a sufficient rule for such a matter But I haue proued before that the common participation is of the institution of Christ and therefore can not be ruled by the custome of the Church But let vs sée your scripture Act. 27. Saint Luke wryteth that after a long and daungerous storme on the sea and fourtéene dayes continuall fasting by the meanes thereof Saint Paule exhorted them that were in the Ship with him to take meate And in the presence of them all he tooke breade and gaue thankes to God and when he had broken it he began to eate c. Of this you gather that saint Paule did there and then say Masse and receyue the sacrament alone And least it should séeme that this is but your owne ymagination you say that Chrysostome doth expound this place of the sacrament euen in that place where he sayth that the sacrament is not onely a thing sanctified but sanctification it selfe Of what authoritie those Homilies be whereof this that you alledge here is the seuententh I haue sufficiently noted in mine aunswere to the .13 diuision of your former sermon So that the Chrysostome that wrote them may be as well credited as your selfe But let vs sée how faythfully and friendly you handle him He hath sayd thus Et Paulus nauigans non solum benedixit panem sed de manu sua porrexit Lucae Chrysost in Math. ho. 17. opere imperfecto caeteris discipulis suis And Paule when he sayled did not onely blesse the bread but he did reach it from his hande to Luke and to his other Disciples You say that all the rest did eate common meate and were satisfied and Paule