and knowe that wee are acceptable to God through Iesus Christ by his merits and through the fauour of his intercession The Priest quite contrary doth here intercede for him that he may be acceptable vnto God Secondly him which is the holy one of God and on whom all sanctification doth depend the Priest would make as holy as the goats of Abel whereas contrariwise it is written The bloud of Iesus speaketh better things then that of Abel Heb. 12.24 And what a presumption is it to enterprise the sacrificing of Iesus by that meanes making ones selfe more worthy then him for the sacrifice is not acceptable in it selfe Heb. 11.4 leen l. 4. cōntra haeres valent c. 34. but in consideration of him which offereth it and that is the reason which S. Paul alleageth why God regarded the sacrifice of Abel and not of Cain because his person pleased him not And S. Ireneus giues the same reason Afterwards the Priest falls vpon his knees saith We humbly beseech thee Almightie God that thou wilt command these things to bee carried by the hands of thine holy Angell vnto thine holy altar in the sight of thy divine maiestie Supplices te rogamus omnipotēs Deus iube haec perferri per manus sancti angeli tui in sublime altare tuum in cōspectu divinae Maiestatis tuae It it be Iesus Christ he needs not the ministery of Angels to ascend into heauen he ascended thither once by his own vertue and if he be once ascended by virtue of what words may men make him redescend and when for if the Priest be to devoure him and make him passe into his entralles as is before said he had need to pray that he might descend not ascend And if it be only to present himselfe vnto God he needs not ascend for God is every where but how will this ascension agree with his descent into the stomacke how the one and the other with that which the glosse saith That this one thing is certaine Gl. V. miscere can quibus gradibus 2. dist de consecrat per aqualicales digestus in secessunt diffunditur that assoone as the species of bread and wine are broken with the teeth straight waies the body of Christ is wrapt vp into heauen whereas the text forbids the Priest to eat six houres after for feare least hee should mingle a part of that body with the meat which passeth through What impietie what blasphemie is this The Priest raiseth himselfe vp and saying participatione kisseth the altar To the ende that all wee which shall take by participating of this altar the body crossing the hoast and the bloud crossing the chalice of thy sonne may be filled with all benediction and crossing himselfe celestiall grace through the same Christ our Lord Amen Vt quot quot ex hac altaris participatione sacrosanctum filij tus corpus sanguinem sumpserimus omni benedictictione coelesti gratia repleamur per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum Amen The Priest shewes what participation he intends to speak of by kissing the aultar and saying this prayer which is an idolatry reiterated as aboue is shewed for if he intended to speake by a rhetoricall figure and to take the altar for that which is vpon the altar to wit the Sacrament hee ought to shew the Sacrament and not the altar So that this participation is but the kisse which he bestowes at this time Secondly is not this to mocke the people to say We shall take For if the people participate not at all this prayer cannot be made for them Wee may not forget the three signes of the crosse which are made vpon the hoast the Chalice and the Priest himselfe to every one one by which hee exalts himselfe aboue that which he blesseth as is said before The second memento Remember also O Lord thy servants N. who went before vs with the signe of faith and sleepe in the sleepe of peace Memento etiam Domine famulorum famularumque tuarum N. qui nos praecesserunt cum signo fidei dormiunt in somne pacis This second memento is said ordinarily with the hands ioyned and comming to these words who sleepe in the sleepe of peace the Priest seemeth to sleepe but in the meane time he must forsooth insert those which are recommended vnto him and which haue furnished him with matter of remembrance Afterwards he rouseth himselfe and cryeth ipsis domine c. I demand therefore what that prayer is profitable for after he hath once prayed for those which sleepe in the sleepe of peace are there two peaces in the other world But hence ariseth the profit of the Priest who perswadeth the ignorant people that hee is the clearke of the signet for their deceased friends Now if they sleepe in peace tell mee why takest thou my mony why preachest thou not vnto me that which is written Ioh. 3.36 5.24 Luk. 23.43 Hee which beleeueth on the sonne hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death vnto life Why proposest thou not the example of the theefe who the same day of his death went with our Saviour into Paradise Wherefore takest thou not away the terrours of Purgatories fire which proceeded frō Tophet and were too soone kindled for the peoples profit Lastly Ioh. 1.1.7 why tellest thou not that The bloud of Iesus clenseth vs from all our sinnes Alas we being washed therewith need not feare to be reputed any more polluted seeing that Iesus Christ hath by himselfe purged our sinnes where note that he saith by himselfe and not by imaginary fire And teaching this for the consolation of the faithfull turne but the leafe for the wicked and you shall read in capitall letters Hee which beleeueth not is already condemned Ioh. 3.36 hee that beleeueth not the sonne shall not see life Can. maiores extat de baptismo but the wrath of God abideth on him Wherefore then doe they invent halfe pardons penall graces pardons without mercy when as even the decretall glosses doe teach vs the contrary ◠1. § fi C. de sententiam passis Larga dei pietas c The great bounty of God will not pardon thee by halfes but if thou weepest it will giue thee all or none And the Lawyers hold that all restitution doth remit that which the sentence of condemnation had taken away Neither doth the distinction of veniall and mortall sinnes any whit serue their turnes for where the law distinguisheth not all distinctions are but extinctions of the law Now it is written the wages of sinne is death Rom. 6.13 Deut. 27.26 Gal. 3.10 That is eternall Also the soule which sinneth shall die and cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them Wherefore let vs thus conclude all sinnes merit death but veniall sinnes are sinnes and therefore veniall
one sacrifice for sinnes for euer sate downe on the right hand of God Heb. 9. v. 25. Againe Not that he should offer himselfe often as the high Priest entreth into the holy place euery yeare with the blood of others c. but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sinne by the sacrifice of himselfe Againe Ib. v. 12. Heb. 10. v. 14. he entred in once into the holy place hauing obtained eternall redemption for vs. Againe for by one oblation he hath perfected for euer them that are sanctified Finally if Iesus were often offered vp by himselfe or by another then God should often make him pay the punishment of sinne for satisfaction is a necessary effect of oblation which is a blasphemy against his Maiesty Moreouer he then ought often to shed his Blood Heb. 9. v. 22. for without shedding of blood is no remission the which shedding is to bee vnderstood of that which causeth death of which speaketh the Prophet Esay Hee hath powred out his Soule vnto death Es 53. and made his Soule an offring for sinne So that the oblation and sacrifice of the Crosse is sufficient to appease God and sanctifie the Elect and moreouer it neither ought nor can be reiterated Besides if it ought to be performed againe there cannot be found in the world a sacrificer which hath the qualities required vnto such a worke but onely our Sauiour Christ who hath neither successour nor companion in his sacrifice Thou art a Priest for euer according to the order of Melchisedeck Againe Heb. 6.20 7.21 27.28 For the Law maketh men high Priests which haue infirmity but the word of the oath which was since the Law maketh the sonne which is consecrated for euermore Againe hee is entred into heauen it selfe now to appeare in the presence of God for vs. Heb. 9.24 Now as for these qualities specified may they be found in our Pastours be they who they will holy harmelesse vndefiled separate from sinnes Heb. 7. v. 26. and made higher then the heauens We may conclude therefore that we are not onely destitute of such Priests but also that such a sacrifice is not possible for Iesus can not dye any more Heb. 9. v. 25. Heb. 10. v. 11. c. Heb. 9. v. 12. 28. c. 8. v. 12. not reiterable for Iesus by one onely oblation hath consecrated vs for euer not necessary for God is appeased and sinne is destroyed And if we reade in any passages that there were sacrifices and sacrificers after the death of Christ we must vnderstand that the matter of those sacrifices was not the body and bloud of our Sauiour Let vs heare Saint Paul that I should be the sacrificer of Iesus Christ to the Gentiles Rom. 15. v. 16. Orig. ad Rom. c 15. l. 10. sacrificing the Gospell of God And Origen saith that the Greekes speake in more magnificent termes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which the Latines render sacrificing from whence one may gather that to preach the Gospell is a worke of sacrificing as Gregory saith I haue offered you vp to God as a beast in sacrifice Greg. Nazian ad plebem Epist ad Rom. c. 15. and Chrisostome My sacrifice is to preach the Gospell he saith not to say Masse much lesse to offer Iesus Christ to God for the sinnes of the liuing and the dead Now as the Pastours haue one sacrifice separated from the people in that sense so haue they an other commune with them in another sense whereof the Apostle speaketh Rom. 12. v. 1. I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a liuing sacrifice holy acceptable vnto God which is your reasonable seruice Againe Philip. 8.17 If I be offered vpon the sacrifice and seruice of your faith I ioy and reioyce with you all And in another place Heb. 13. v. 15. By him therefore let vs offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips giuing thankes to his Name Psal 50. v. 14. Tertul. apolog c. 30. and Dauid Offer or sacrifice vnto God thanksgiuing pay thy vow vnto the most high Tertullian I offer vnto God the most fat oblation that I can euen Prayer which hee hath commanded This is farre from teaching that none but Priests doe sacrifice vnder the Gospell seeing that Prayer is a sacrifice that we offer euen our bodies vnto him by dedicating our selues vnto the service of God That which wee cannot doe availably if first we be not reconciled to God by Iesus Christ who hauing made our peace troubles not himselfe any more to treate of it againe but persues the effect and obtaines a discharge for our soules that we may enter into an absolute possession of salvation CHAP. VI. Of the word Oblation THe interpretation of this word is a commentary to those which went before first in regard that in the Supper mention is made both of the sacrifice and of the oblation performed vpon the crosse for that Supper is called but yet by a figure oftentimes an oblation and sacrifice Amb. vpon the Epist to the Heb. c. 10. Heb. 13.15 And to this purpose saith Ambrose that which we doe is a Commemoration of that sacrifice which hath beene done Secondly because it is taken sometimes for a thanksgiuing offered in sacrifice Thirdly because elsewhere it signifieth an offering vp of our selues vnto God In this sense Canon Memento domine Sacrificium laudis is an oblation in the Canon of the Masse See the oblations which wee make directly vnto God through Iesus Christ There are other oblations which are not made vnto God but forsomuch as we make them to those to whom he hath ordained them hee esteemeth them as tendred to his owne person Philip. c. 14. v. 18 of which St Paul speaketh tearming them an odour of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable well pleasing to God Concerning which likewise speaketh our Saviour in S. Mathew Math. 25.40 and Ireneus saith as God hath no need of that which is ours so wee had need to offer vnto God something according to that which Solomon saith Iren. l. 4. c. 34. hee that hath pittie vpon the poore lendeth vnto the Lord. Let vs vse this word Oblation soberly not as the price of our redemption but as an homage due for those goods which we possesse which were purchased without vs before vs and for vs but not by vs paid for at once and not at severall recknings by one which was iust and not by many culpable In this sense said Saint Cyprian to a rich but vngratefull woman Cypr. 1. serm de Eccles Commest thou to the Table of the Lord without sacrifice and yet partakest of that sacrifice which the poore offer For we must obserue that all the faithfull brought to the Temple the Bread and Wine which was distributed in the
high Priests to offer vp sacrifice first for his owne sinnes and then for the peoples But those Iewish ceremonies haue ceased looke aboue in the chapter of sacrifice where you shall see that our Lord Iesus Christ is the only sacrifice and eternall sacrificer vnder the Gospell Exod. 12.15 Lev. 3.6 In the third place they reassume the shadowes and figures of the law by presenting of immaculate hosts where as Iesus Christ being prefigured by them vnder the law as saith S. Peter 1. Pet. 1.19 and hauing consummated all that kinde of sacrifice it were an impietie to revoke it againe into practise Lastly it is an execrable abomination to offer bread vnto God for the remission of sinnes considering that even vnder the law it selfe Heb. 9.22 without shedding of bloud there was no remission Yet the Priest offereth one oblation to that end concerning which I demand of him if it hath taken flesh for our sakes If it be the sonne of God If it hath suffered If wee be baptised in its name If that bread bee yet consecrated If the Priest hath yet pronounced these words hoc est corpus meum Wherefore by thyne owne doctrine thou offerest that which the Iew would be ashamed to present for his sin and which never any vsed saue onely the Magician Numa who did immolate that is to say offer Molam Cypr. de sacr calicis Epist 63. 68. a little round loafe to his Gods You that are deafe heare you that are blind see and deceaue not your selues any more For if wee ought to doe that onely in the supper which God hath commanded vs to doe and that which he commanded vs is that which he did with his Apostles the day before hee suffered as saith the Canon of the Masse pridie quam pateretur wee ought not to offer vp bread vnto God for the remission of sinnes For Iesus did it not neither commanded it neither purchased our salvation by the oblation of a cake not blessed but with his owne body and that not at the table but on the crosse not by elevation of bread but by the effusion of his bloud and separation of his soule Es 53. For he poured out his soule vnto death and made his soule an offering for sinne saith Esay this oblation therefore is vnsufficient in it selfe without commandment and without example Neither doe the two obiections availe which commonly are here produc't The first whereof is taken out of Gen. 14. Gen. 14 where it is said that Abraham returning from the defeating of his enimies the king of Sodome went out to meet him as also did Melchisedeck the king of Salem who brought forth bread and wine and blessed him For the bread and the wine were brought forth to refresh him and his men which returned from the warre and not to bee sacrificed vnto God much lesse vnto Abraham For although it be there added that Melchisedecke was the Priest of the most high God yet that was only to shew the reason why hee receaued tythes of him and why he blessed him and not to cause vs to imagine a sacrifice First because there was none such vnder the law and therefore Melchisedecke in so doing had enterprised to forge a new one secondly the words will not beare it for the translation of the Septuagint hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he set before him bread and wine and it is not said for he was a Priest but now or and he was a Priest which was the cause wherefore he blessed Abraham and not wherefore he presented him with bread and wine also the whole text runneth that Melchisedecke brought forth bread to whom to Abraham and blessed whom Abraham and that comparison which S. Paul makes betweene our high Priest Heb. 7. Christ Iesus and Melchisedecke consists not in the offering of bread and wine but in that he is eternal without father in regard of his humanitie and without mother in respect of his divinitie Neither is the other obiection of any force which is taken out of Malachy that amongst the Gētiles shall be offered Malac. 1. Muctar and Mincha that is incense a pure offering For this Mincha kneaded with flowre and oyle is ceremoniall and abolished neither is the bread which the Roman Priests doe offer vp at this day tempred in that sort But that same prophecy is allegoricall as is that of Micah Micah 4.1 who prophecied that men should ascend to Ierusalem to the mountaine of the Lord seeing the Church is catholike and not inclosed within Iury. So likewise that incense which ascends in the presence of God signifieth the prayers of the faithfull as wee may obserue in the Revelation where it is said that another Angell to wit our Saviour stood at the altar hauing a golden censer Apoc. 8.3 the smoke whereof which was the prayers of the Saints ascended vp before God out of the Angells hand Finally if our Sauiour had offered bread and wine for the remission of sinnes it would follow that our Lord Iesus had offered twice by a consequence had twice satisfied God his father and paid twice the same debt contrary to that which saith S. Paul By one oblation he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified Heb. 9.12 10. v. 14. Otherwise the offring on the crosse had serued to small purpose for it is certaine that God had heard his wel beloued the first time with out exposing him to the crosse if the offring of bread had beene sufficient as it would haue beene if he had offered it And from hence wee may conclude that the Priests make two oblations the first of bread and wine not blessed not broken not taken not distributed and the second they pretend to make of the very body of our Sauiour which errour proceeded from hence that in the Primatiue Church they vsed the word Oblation giuing the bread not immediatly to God but to the Priest who did take thereof for the cōmunion and distributed the rest to the members of our Sauiour which are the poore Thus the equiuocall acceptions of the word caused this horrible sacriledge See what more appertaines to this point in the Chapters of oblation and of sacrifice Besides to offer was taken for as much as to giue to the people which communicated and in that sense some of the ancients tooke it as amongst the rest Saint Cyprian who writing against the minglers of water with wine in the cup which they offred vnto the people contrary to the practice of the Primatiue Church saith Cypr. contra Aquarios epist 68. ad Cecilium seeing that neither Angell nor Apostle can preach otherwise then that which Iesus Christ hath once taught c One may heere demaund of them whom they follow for if in the sacrifice which Christ hath offered we are to follow none but Christ certainely we are then to obey and to doe that which Christ hath done and commanded
27 When in the Church the bread and the wine are brought forth being antitypes of the body and blood of him those which partake of the visible bread doe eate his body and his blood spiritually And that which the Priest saith after he hath taken the Eucharist shewes that there is no transubstantiation for after the consecration he saith quod ore sumpsimus c de munere temporali fiat c also the prose sub diuersis speciebus signis tantum non rebus latent res eximiae the Sacraments are termed signes not things Chrys ad Caesar mon. And S. Chrysostome saith that the bread is called by the name of our Lord although the nature of bread doe yet continue The same said Pope Gelasius writing 1000 yeares after our Sauiour Gelas contra Eutich Car. lib. de diuin eff pag. 85. Tertull. lib 4. cont Marcion Chrys 1. Cor. c. 10. Amb. de iis qui init myst c. 9. Can. ante benedict dist 2. de consec Dionys de eccles Hierarch c 3. Aug. in Psal 3. Aug. contra Adim manich c. 12. and Charlemaine writing to Alcuinus his Master hath these wordes In supping with his disciples hee brake the the bread and gaue it vnto them and likewise the cup as figures of his body and blood And Tertullian Christ hauing taken the bread and distributed it to his disciples he made it his body in saying this is my body that is to say the figure of my body And Chrysostome What is that which the bread signifieth the body of Christ And Ambrose Before the blessing of those heau'nly words another kinde was named but after the consecration the body of Christ is signified And Saint Denis By the venerable signes of the Sacrament Iesus Christ is signified and receiued And S. Augustine saith that he eateth Christ which eateth him within and not without which eateth him in his heart and not he which feedeth on him with his teeth In his 26 tract vpon Saint Iohn The patience of Iesus Christ was admirable in that he admitted Iudas to the banquet in the which he instituted and gaue to his disciples the figure of his body and of his blood The Lord made no difficulty to say this is my body when he gaue them the figure of his body and his blood And in the canon taken out of Saint Hierome vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians it is said that the body of Iesus Christ is two wayes vnderstood the first carnally when it is said that it is crucified Euseb de vita const lib 10. c. 3 Maldonat Iesuit in Ioh. c. 6 v. 55. the other spiritually when is is called bread So are the Sacraments called by Eusebius secret Symboles of the passion of our Sauiour Againe he calls his flesh true food and blood true drinke because it doth truly nourish our soules and giues vnto them life euerlasting As in the 32 verse he calls himselfe true bread yet certainely not of nature for if one regard nature he is not true and proper bread but onely in respect of the effect because hee truely doth doe that which bread vseth to doe And Saint Augustine The Apostle saith Aug. ad Bonifac epist 23. wee are buried with Christ through Baptisme into his death hee saith not that wee signifie his burying but hee saith absolutely that we are buried Wherefore hee called not the Sacrament of so great a thing otherwise then by the name of the thing it selfe And the same puts downe this rule Aug. quaest super Leuit. 67. the thing which signifieth hath beene vsed to bee called by the name of that which it signifieth as it is written the seuen eares of corne are seuen yeares hee saith not that they signifie seuen yeares so likewise the seuen kine are seuen yeares and many others From thence it commeth that it was said the rocke was Christ for it is not saide the rocke signifieth Christ but as if it had beene that which it was not in substance but in signification Now that which hath brought in this errour is that they thinke that faith cannot produce any reall effect Heb. 11. and neuerthelesse wee haue the Scriptures full of contrary examples by faith Enoch was translated that hee should not see death through faith Sara conceiued by faith the Israelites passed through the red sea by faith the walles of Iericho fell downe And as for corporall manners of speaking attribubuted to the soule as when it is said that faith eateth and drinketh they enforce not any communication of the proprieties of the body any more then when it is said that the soule heareth and seeth although it haue neither eares nor eyes The effects therefore of the spirit are reall and true although the meanes and causes be spirituall for otherwise the Angels which killed the first borne in Egypt and defeated the Army of Senacherib because they had not bodies could not haue done that reall execution whereas indeede it was so much the more reall by how much the instrument was the more agile and disburdned of that corporall Masse which is an impediment to our actions Obiections There remaine now the Obiections whereof the first is that vnder the Ghospell all figures cease Where wee must distinguish of figures for sometimes they are taken for Rhetoricall figures and manners of speech which they call Tropes and those cease not for the Ghospell is full of them as for example Iesus is called the Lambe the Hedge the way by a Metaphore and euen in this place the cuppe is taken for the wine by a Metonomie Sometimes figures are taken for the ceremonies of the Law which prefigured Christ and his sacrifice These indeed cease in the reformed Churches but not in the Romane For if wee may beleeue Biell Titleman and others there were neuer more figures vnder the olde Law then are now vnder the new See the significations of the Altar the kissing of it the right hand and the left the turnings of the Priest the signes and a thousand significations and inuentions which wee know notwithstanding to haue ceased Wee answere therefore that figures doe not cease in the former signification but the later The second obiection is taken from the omnipotency of God who is able to make a body to be every where to bee invisible and existe without its accidents To this wee must answer that by this argument Mahumet and his abominations may be maintained for God is able to doe any thing But before we imploy this omnipotency we ought to examine if such be his will and then wee may boldly conclude that hee can doe it for the proposition is not convertible God can doe all that he will Aug. Euchirid c. 96. and God will doe all that hee can This is taught vs by S. Augustine God is not called omnipotent for any other reason then for that hee is able to doe all that which he is willing to doe and that the effect of his