may urge to these Doctors to be eaten by the most abject Creatures of the Earth But let us pass by in silence these many Inconveniences which they themselves infer from this so ill-grounded Doctrine and to palliate 'em are oblig'd to have Recourse to Rules and Canons which were they not Superstitious we would call Ridiculous Let us only add that if the Body of Jesus Christ be inclos'd in the Sacrament we may eat it without believing in him Thus Infidels obtain more than they require They eat of Celestial Food they have not asked for nay their very Contempt of it does not hinder 'em from it since they cannot receive the Sacrament without eating it but they are so far from eating it that Believers themselves do it not as 't is understood by the Church of Rome They receive not with the Sacrament the Divine Essence but the Virtue and Essicacy of the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ and since the Wicked cannot partake of his Graces it follows that those Graces are not joyn'd to it by Consecration 'T is not the Words pronounc'd but believed that make Jesus Christ communicated in the Sacrament 'T would be strange if he must be unworthily eaten by his very Enemies and that he who is Holiness it self should every day enter into their defiled bodies only to render 'em more guilty and that he might have more Reason to condemn and punish ' em On the contrary 't is the Devil that would enter into 'em as he did Judas when our Lord gave him the Sop. How is it possible these two Guests so irreconcileable can agree together It is not credible that being fill'd with the most sovereign Good we should only have a sense of Evil from it we receive our Saviour that we may be saved the Wicked take only the consecrated Signs and because such they commit Sacriledge and render themselves guilty of Treason against the Divine Majesty because they have no regard to the Institution of Our Lord contemn his Offers in it and deny it's Vertue They publickly take his Enemies part they again spit in his Face they crown him with Thorns they strike and crucifie him 'T is thus they eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup unworthily 't is thus they eat their own Condemnation not discerning the Body of Jesus Christ For the Symboles Seals and Pledges of his Love are accounted himself by those who believe in him it being Faith alone which makes the Signs inseparable from the thing signified 'T is heavenly Food given to no one for his Condemnation but only for his Justification for Life and not for Death not being under the Accidents of Bread or in the Bread it self but in the Heart of those who receive it Thus the Bread ceases not to be Bread but to be common Bread it loses not it's Substance but acquires Sanctification which changes not it's Nature but adds Grace to Nature for the sake of those that believe The Mystery of the Incarnation unites us to the Body of our Saviour Faith with which he inspires us by his Word unites us to his Spirit which double Union is confirm'd to us by the Communion of Sacraments But as our Union with Jesus Christ cannot be perfect in this World by reason of our Sins and Death which is a Consequence of 'em so though we take the Symboles he gives us corporally yet 't is neither possible or necessary for us to take what they signifie but spiritually For if we take his Body as the Church of Rome imagines it does our Infirmities could not bear his Glory the stronger would overcome the weaker we shou'd doubtless perish or his Vertue would even then blot out all our sins we should in an instant be transform'd and become incorruptible and glorious we should be assured never to see Death But we partake not of one of all these but by the comfort the Spirit gives us but by Faith by which we rely on his Promises and but by that Hope we have of a Life to come Thus to eat the Body of Jesus Christ is to hear his Word is to believe in him to behold him on the Cross loaded with our Sins to be truly sensible of his Wounds and Sorrows and to confess that by the Satisfaction of the Son whose Merit is infinite we satisfie the Father whom we have infinitely offended 'T is to be inflam'd with the love of him who has so very much loved us and to assure him as we do all those we love that he is alwayes in our Thoughts that he fully possesses our Hearts that he is the Soul of our Souls and to use his own terms that He dwells in us and we in him In fine To eat the Body of Jesus Christ is to have a fresh and lively sense of those Favours he has bestow'd on us and to think that we are not only his Servants and Friends but his Brethren his own blood bone of his bones flesh of his flesh and that we are part of that Church whom he has honour'd so far as to make his Eternal Spouse Behold what is the Meat and the Drink which are not given to all sorts of Persons which satisfie and quench the Thirst of those only who hunger and thirst after Righteousness But the Men of this World have not truly relish'd the Simplicity of this Institution they would heighten the Lustre of this double Sacrament and do all things according to the Example or rather in Emulation of the Superstitions of the World The Name of Religion of a Church and even of God himself who serv'd 'em but as a pretence to make themselves more honourable to procure with more Ease earthly Advantages and Preferments Besides this I have often thought what lawful and necessary use they could make of this Transubstantiation 't is what they themselves could scarce tell if so be they would consider the common cause of Salvation as well that of the Jews as of the Gentiles These prodigious Errors are the true Causes of all that Mischief which happens in the World and Mankind will be so long infested with Judgments as Superstition continues to corrupt Religion But the Divine Oracles give us Reason to hope that the days of Sorrow will be shorten'd and that God will confound the Wicked by the Breath of his Mouth The Time will come that Children shall abhor and detest the Belief of their Fathers and will say Is it possible that our Predecessors have been so silly and stupid or so extreamly harden'd by Custom or so very careless in search of the Truth to have believ'd things altogether incredible What Spirit of Pride what high Presumption has possess'd these Councils who have imagin'd they could appoint better Orders for Divine Service than the Providence of God himself had done by the Mouth of his own Son I will then conclude with the Wise Man or at least with his Translator who makes him speak after this manner Ecclesiastes chap. 3.
to all let it shine as the Day that spiritual things may be as evident to our Understanding as corporeal are But perhaps 't will be said What need have we of so much Reading and Study since the Church does appoint what is necessary for us and that such who cannot err do guide us But I say there can be no greater Error than to perswade us that we cannot err for this indeed is boldly to attribute to our selves a divine Property incommunicable to Men unless to the Prophets and Apostles and they only by the Commission they had to declare the Word they receiv'd and publish what was truly reveal'd to ' em Perhaps the Word of God is not to be understood without Plato and Aristotle But I say the Wise Men of the World are so far from this Knowledge as their Wisdom is folly before God which makes 'em as obstinately and with as much Violence resist the Motions of the Holy Ghost as one Contrary does the other It may be urg'd again that 't is but a fragment a part an imperfect Rule insufficient to lead us to Salvation But I say That there is no Man either so simple or dull who from hence is not enabled to learn more than the best Saint can practise for there is no one so good who comes not short of the Perfection that is here propos'd Methinks I hear these wilfully ignorant men complaining of the difficulty of a Knowledge they have never search'd into as if the knowing the ways of Salvation did not belong to ' em They use to urge out of a religious Scruple they are not worthy to read it 'T is true you are not worthy of the Grace of God but since he is pleas'd to bestow it on you who will you have to receive it for you He is suspected by you his Word is dangerous and to be fear'd he has declared and inspired it only to ensnare your Souls to deceive and destroy 'em You pretend you know your Weakness and you should wrest the sence of it confess rather your own Perverseness and that you will turn that into Poyson which others that you know do into Honey You call that Word dark the first of which made Light that spiritual Lamp which was given us to no other end but to enlighten us You understand not that Word which the very Rocks did that Word which rais'd not only the Dead to Life but summon'd them who were not as if they were that Word which commanded Nothing to produce Something and that Nothing obey'd Confess then that you are less sensible than the Rocks the Dead or Nothing it self This is the Natural Effect of the Counsel and those Instructions you receiv'd from your Teachers who to make their own Precepts the more esteem'd vilifie the Scripture It s Purity serves not their Ambition and not daring to accuse it of Falshood charge it with Obscurity and because they cannot positively contradict they misinterpret it for their own Purposes and tho' it 's full of Prohibitions neither to add to or substract any thing from it yet they are not content to lay heavy Impositions on the Consciences of men and load them with new Humane Ordinances which make the State of the Gospel more intolerable than that of the Law but their Insolence and Boldness are so exorbitant as to retrench the Commandments of the Law though the Reverence due to God who writ 'em with his own hand ought to have secured 'em from that Sacrilege and have render'd 'em for ever inviolable These men study Divinity only to quarrel the Scriptures and pass for learned men in 'em without having read 'em and before they have read 'em being prepossessed with the Sence of the Schools they judge 'em with Prejudice After which 't is very hard to take any other Impression than that which they receiv'd in their Youth and then with what Folly does the Devil seduce the minds of men that they who proceed in such a Method should be thought wise and knowing There are 't is true mysterious Prophecies that were not understood by those who deliver'd 'em the Knowledge of 'em was reserved for such that should see their Accomplishment There is no one Passage in Scripture that threatens Eternal Damnation to those who don 't clearly interpret the Revelations and we may attain to Salvation without being fully acquainted with the meaning of the Visions of Ezekiel and the other Prophets I will farther add that the Predictions Threats and Promises the full discovery of which necessarily depends on the future do imprint certain Ideas upon us of terrible pains prepar'd for the Wicked and of a glorious Reward and felicity for the Good Those things we understand certifie us of the truth of what we do not understand and when the Reader does meet with clear Texts by which he cannot explain others he must humble himself confess his Ignorance or Incapacity and so put a stop to his Presumption However it is there is no one but may there discover such Commands as he ought to obey the Belief he ought to hold a pattern of such Prayers and Thanksgivings which he ought to make to God Almighty And this indeed is all our Preachers have to direct us in without perplexing our Minds with nice and intricate Questions or disturbing us and themselves with their vain impertinent Thoughts But let us beware of belying our selves in saying this Word is clear and easie because the Doctors of the Age urge the contrary and the People believe it No no 't is truly very difficult and obscure Jesus Christ himself does testifie it but especially to the Learned He gives thanks to his Father that he has hid these things from 'em and reveal'd 'em to little Children 'T is obscure to such who are cast away and whose eyes the God of this World has shut Let us boldly confess 't is not to be understood barely by Humane Reason We want the assistance of a Divine Spirit to make us have clear conceptions of so Divine a Word Those who have not this Spirit cannot certainly comprehend it the Children of God only know the Voice of their Father and only those of the Flock know that of the Shepherd Let us acknowledge that too great a lustre does make it seem obscure to a great part of those who look on it only the generous and legitimate Eagles can fixedly behold this Sun but the Owls and Birds of Darkness become blind by its light CHAP. VI. 'T IS not to be doubted but that the chief Enemy of God the first Author of universal Rebellion the great Tyrant of the World does by all Methods imaginable promote his own Worship and then no wonder that the most part of Religions are Worldly and Diabolical He cares not how or by whom they are instituted whether introduced by Ignorance Opinion Abuse or Custome so they are but alike Profane and Superstitious whether those who at first adored Bel or Jupiter do
Babies to Children they are ridiculous in a full grown and reasonable Age. You are not less blameable than Atheists themselves for you as they render the Deity insignificant and of no Use making it material and representing him who is only Spirit by a piece of Wood or Stone notwithstanding he hath so often in his Jealousie said To what will you liken Me You audaciously make him who made you and most ingratefully endeavour to ridicule him by giving Eyes to him which see not Ears that hear not Hands that work not and Feet that are not able to walk 'T is possible you may pretend that your good Intentions are an excuse for your Ignorance you take such measures as are prescrib'd to you and in whatever you do you believe you serve God tho' you don 't only persecute but murder his Children Hypocrites know that under the colour of good Intentions infinite Abuses creep into the World for unless they are grounded on holy Writ they are sinful Thus the Children of Israel were punish'd for their want of consideration in worshipping the golden Calf whilst they design'd the celebrating a Solemn Feast to the Eternal Thus also Nadab and Abihu provok'd him to Anger and kindled that Fire which consum'd 'em when they intended only to offer him Perfumes Thus Vzza was suddenly slain for having laid his hand on the Ark when falling tho' he intended to have kept it up If good Intentions would serve the Jews themselves Enemies of Jesus Christ were not guilty for St. Paul gives this testimony of 'em that they had the Zeal of God then also would many wicked Sayings become justifiable and the most barbarous Massacres wou'd be plac'd amongst good Works all sorts of Religion would be safe and almost all men saved CHAP. IX 'T IS to no purpose therefore to alledge our good Intentions in the Exercise of a Religion already furnish'd with sufficient Directions and infallible Rules as also restrain'd by an absolute Obedience to ' em There is no need of other Advice or farther Instructions where we are in no danger and cannot act but with certainty where even our great Masters in the Profession are no farther authoriz'd than to see the Orders of the Church carefully observ'd and thus the Church cannot err So that those who abuse themselves and others with these trivial Excuses are to be look'd on as Hypocrites who have never seriously thought on those things that are Heavenly but make it their business only to procure the Advantages of this World I have consider'd 'em under all sorts of conditions and whether it be that the Scripture has foretold it or that Experience has proved it I have observ'd that even our great ones have seldom any Tincture of true Piety suffering themselves to be byass'd by Faction rather than Reason taking no Measures but what are serviceable to their Interest They make Religion only as a Cloak to their Ambitious Designs and many of 'em enter into Conspiracies and lay dangerous Plots against their lawful Sovereign and the Gevernment under Catholick Pretences They instill a certain Courage and false Generosity into 'em even in their Infancy They rarely discourse to 'em of the Knowledge of God and besides a Sermon sometimes which they hear with Impatience they look upon their Conversation who talk to 'em of Religion or a future State as uncourtly and troublesome They are not desirous to make any farther Search than their Knowledge already reaches or if some of 'em pretend to more Light they forge to themselves some bare Probabilities to perswade 'em that things really are as their Passions suggest 'em to ' em To contradict 'em would be insolent for being in Power and possess'd of Fortunes they think they are of good Sence too they back their Opinions with Authority and make indisputable Decrees They cannot bear with that Company which favours not that Love they have of themselves or that versation which does not flatter their Vanity and is agreeable to their Sence and Imaginations They are altogether vain both in their Discourse and Thoughts they suffer themselves to be abused with the out-side and Appearance of things being so pleas'd with empty Shadows that they will not approve of those things that are most solid and substantial if convey'd to 'em by weak Instruments They would never have received the Law from the mouth of Moses because of his Imperfection of Speech Truth must be represented to them with Ornament and Splendor that is with the Artifices of Falshood and without the Gayety of Eloquence and Rhetorick we cannot perswade 'em to any thing though sent by God himself If he send his own Messengers should he call 'em out from the common people being either Shepherds or Fisher-men they will judge of 'em as the Pharisees did of the Apostles whom they look'd on as contemptible sorry Wretches 't was well if they neither stoned massacred banish'd or imprison'd ' em There is a Wisdom in the World made up of Show of Grimaces a refin'd Hypocrite by which men deceive themselves and others too 't is this makes their Life but as a continual Mascarade or Comedy in which every one represents another Person than his own affecting nothing more than to appear what really he is not This incurable Madness which goes under the Name of humane Prudence does so disorder their Understandings and fills 'em with such idle chimerical Notions that it incapacitates 'em to comprehend any Divine Truth They employ themselves only in seeking after those things that are perishing not considering that they heap up Goods for those that will riotously waste 'em and are covetous only to the making others either luxurious or prodigal What Fathers who either that they are too indulgent to or that they utterly forsake their Children seem equally to consult their Ruine who whilst they are afraid of the Vanity of some disinherit others of their right of Succession and before they know what either Concupiscence or Continency mean under pretence of devoting 'em to God's Service basely sacrifice 'em to their own Covetousness What Prudence which makes the free minds of Men Slaves to their Bodies who are expert only in flying from their chief Good ingenious to their own Ruine and subtle to deceive themselves 'T was this caus'd our first Parents to lose that happy State of Paradise and which inviting men to fancy to themselves a thousand ways of living hath fill'd the Earth with Superstitions Idolatries Sects Heresies and impious Religions By this have the Saints been persecuted our Saviour crucify'd it having endeavour'd to promote and defend too many Antichrists whose Reign must be in this World This it is also that continually opposes the holy Spirit and with Insolence dares dispense with his sacred Word either by wresting the Sence or retrenching it's terms when it cannot so disguise 'em as to make 'em contradictory to it self This is it which accommodates all to Interest and which their Service being
of such Exhortations that are plain pure easie and full of Reason Truth does not at all affect 'em unless agreeably pronounc'd by a loud and eloquent Tongue unless beautify'd with all the Gayety and Flowers of Rhetorick They despise what is intelligible and clear and judge that unworthy of 'em which the common People are able to understand They are not to be satisfy'd unless we undertake to criticize on some profound mysterious Point subtilly to treat of some intricate Difficulty the resolving of which belongs to God alone having reserved the Knowledge of it to himself They have forgot that he who hath chosen the weak things of this World to confound the things that are mighty 1 Cor. 1. 27. As he was meek and humble so will he that our Knowledge be not immoderate or presumptuous that he has put his Word in the Mouths of such weak ones who cannot yet declare it so imperfectly but that those who have a Love for it must own it and distinguish it from the dazling appearance of Falshood They have forgot that the subtilty of Language and cunning Arts of Speech are used only to harden those to whom he hath so frequently offer'd his Grace which they have rejected to maintain Error with Obstinacy which passes with them for strength of Argument and which indeed may be called the Constancy and Virtue of the Reprobate The truly Faithful need no Eloquence to perswade 'em that is introduc'd into the Church when Faith decays and whenever Art is us'd to move the People 't is an apparent Argument of their obdurate Tempers Yet our Preachers find themselves obliged that they may please their curious Hearers to become more refin'd and lofty to quit the Simplicity of the Apostles sometimes for the subtilty of Philosophers or at others for the sublime Style of Orators These things are now no more censur'd than the manners of the Princes of the People and many ill Customs are so far establish'd in several Churches that there are very few who either have the Courage or Strength to remove ' em The holy men of this Age have trouble enough to strive against the Age it self and the Devil in the Person of the Great and Powerful does insensibly procure a Respect to himself I have met with a Reformation only in Doctrine and I have not doubted but that there were some Believers where the Word of Truth was preached but 't was as hard for me to discover 'em as 't is for the Wicked to discern the Actions of the Just or for the Good the Infirmities of the Wicked There are found but few who are always careful to render their Works so consonant to the Precepts of the Gospel as not sometimes to be drawn off by Promises and Hopes of another kind Besides God calls some of every Sex of each Age and of all Professions even those who persecute him are sometimes called and when he pleases his greatest Enemies are made his faithfullest Friends Nay by I know not what sort of Decree whose Causes are incomprehensible he in an Instant changes those whose Lives are debauch'd and vitious and prefers 'em even before such whose Manners seem to have been perfectly regular and who boast that they have fulfilled the Law 'T is certain that the most virtuous fall too often whether it be from some extraordinary Terror or some sudden Assault of Satan or from a Tryal by God himself who does sometimes expose 'em to their own Weakness that they may not forget themselves and that they impute not to their own Virtue what is really an Effect of Divine Grace The Gift of God has always the strongest Influence upon 'em for notwithstanding those Extravagancies they sometimes allow themselves in or those Errors that prevail upon 'em it fares with 'em as with the prodigal Son for sooner or later they necessarily return to their Father However it is with 'em they make not themselves known by any affected Looks or peculiar Fashion in their Cloaths they desire to appear as other men not particularizing themselves by any odd fantastical Gestures their Actions are not at all hypocritical their Devotion serves not as a Snare for their Covetousness or their Humility as a Mask to their Ambition 'T is by spiritual Signs they are made remarkable if the Body does partake of these they are Secrets in Physiognomy the knowledge of which is reserved to the Author of Nature alone When the Holy Spirit has once made an Impression on 'em there remain certain Marks upon 'em which make 'em shine in the Eyes of the Almighty as the Stars of the Night which yet have no Light but what the Sun lends ' em He alone who has made the Hearts of men and can change 'em does know 'em and make 'em known to whom he pleases but there are many appear Believers to us who are not so being capable only of a temporary Faith Nevertheless if we may pass our Judgments on Men I believe that their Conversation does sufficiently discover their Affections I believe also that those who truly love God do infinitely rejoyce in the Contemplation of his Works but more especially in the Meditation of his Word They constantly read it not out of bare Curiosity or to find Fault with it not from a vain desire after Knowledge or mercenarily to instruct others in it but to inform themselves of the Truth to seek after Comfort to strengthen their Faith and to confirm their Hopes They have it always either in their Mouths or Thoughts and the greatest Trouble they have is that they cannot effectually communicate it to those who despise it who look on it as a Snare to entrap 'em who fear it as the singing of Syrens for their profligate Tempers render 'em incompatible with it's Purity The Spirit of Discretion is an advantage so rarely met with that only the true Elect know how to choose and the truly spiritual how to try all things and keep to that which is good 1 Thessal 5. 21. They are not concern'd to see so many false Prophets insolently take upon 'em the Name of God and vainly boast to be the Dispensers of his Word which they use only to their own base Ends and which they expound as the Devil did when he presum'd to tempt the Son of God himself and as he daily does those who follow him Moreover they intermeddle not in the Business or Intrigues of this World but their contempt of 'em makes themselves despisable upon this account they appear mean and despicable they are hated persecuted as if their manner of Living as well as their Belief did accuse that of others They don't willingly side with any Party unless the Service of God or the Good of their Country engages 'em to it And if they aim at any publick Employment they will not under-hand make their Interest for it much less raise their Estates to the Prejudice of the Faith or Charity The common Talk amongst men of
only to the Eyes but deceives all the other Sences that offers Violence to our Minds and imposes on our Understanding and. Reason A Body that has neither Extent or Quantity an indivisible Point that comprehends the whole Blood that contains the Body in which it is contained at the same time solid and yet to be drank What is really Corporeal they annihilate and make a Body of that which is truly spiritual They utterly spoil the Sacrament by taking the Substance from it they destroy the Body of Jesus Christ by robbing him of all the Proprieties of a Body only attributing to him those of a Spirit 'T is not then to receive the Sacrament unless we have what it exhibits viz. A substantial Sign To be denyed that is to be deprived of what is signify'd since in this Sacramental Communion the one goes not without the other But either let 'em tell us what is it's Substance what it's Elements what it's Figure what it's Relation or let 'em confess that 't is not necessary to represent him in Figure who is present in Person or corporally to receive in the Host the Sign and the thing signify'd together In effect 't is incoherent to be sacramentally present and yet really so The Sign is not what it signifies or the Picture what it represents the Union of these things is made by Relation not Substance The matter in Question is concerning a Spiritual Nourishment represented to us by a Corporeal one without which the other cannot be For what Relation is there between a Sacrament made up of Accidents an appearance only of Bread and the real Body of Jesus Christ broken by which we are nourish'd to Life eternal What subsists not cannot be the Representation of a Substance and to represent a Body by what has no Body is to represent a Being by no Being Every thing by Nothing and if I may so say the Truth by Falshood Hereupon they make Expositions so very obscure and Distinctions so intricate and confus'd that they cannot possibly make others understand that of which they themselves are ignorant and you cannot disturb 'em more than to put 'em on making plain even their own Explications It has always been believ'd That the Mind did better apprehend things than they could be express'd by any Words but these men imagine they express what our Thoughts cannot conceive And when they have said all they can they have Recourse to the Omnipotence of God without taking the least notice of his Will If we are to believe 'em in this God is not Omnipotent unless he can destroy those very Laws which he made to be eternally inviolable unless he can contradict himself and belye the Truth He is not omnipotent unless he can make a Humane Body to take up no place at all or at least that the Whole be comprehended under a Point or Atome He is not Omnipotent unless he can make the Colour and Taste of Bread to subsist without the Bread it self that is to say That Accidents are not Accidents which they pretend is every day done by him in favour of these Gentlemen by a Miracle which no one can evidence having never perceived any thing of it or rather by a Mystery that surpasses all sorts of Miracles kept hid and undiscovered only to be a Refuge for Presumption and Ignorance Who can patiently hear these Doctors and not slight ' em It is not enough that God is incomprehensible they do all they can to make him disbelieved They shelter themselves under a Divinity falsly so called that consists in critical Questions and difficult Answers made insignificant by their own Subtlety that affect the Ears with Sound and Noise but not at all the Understanding They own a Sacrament which they emphatically pronounce and which to speak properly signifies nothing unless taken in the sence of the Reform'd Churches who believe that our Communion cannot be but Spiritual so long as it is Sacramental By such like extravagant and vain Expressions they take off all the Difficulties can be urged to 'em and entertain their Hearers with airy and idle Imaginations by which they take Pleasure to deceive themselves They say there must be a Sacrifice in the Church against that place of Scripture There is no more Offering for Sin after that which has been once made for all Heb. 10. v. 10. 18. They will have their pretended propitiatory Sacrifice and that of the Cross to be but the same thing Besides they will have the Bread of the Eucharist changed into the Glorious Body of Jesus Christ and I know not how they allow to the same Subject Passion and Glory we must receive him whole in remembrance that he was broke and living in Memory of his Death and tho' at their desire he comes every day to 'em both in his Humane and Divine Nature yet we must not forbear doing these things till he come This is called Consecration that is taking away the Substance of the Bread and only reserving it's Accidents therewith to cover the Body of Jesus Christ This is called sacrificing him in Remembrance of himself for the Redemption of the Living and the Dead This is called eating him corporeally altho' the Flesh profits not at all And altho all these things are confuted by contradicting themselves yet that never to be dry'd source of Miracles Transubstantiation reconciles 'em all in defence of a Temporal right that usurps the Name of Spiritual However it is the Sacrament cannot be referr'd but to the time of the Sacrifice and 't is not to celebrate the memory of that by supposing any other Body than that which was broken 'T is not that Blood which remain'd in the Veins of the Body we are to drink but that which was shed which though worthy of having been receiv'd in the Vessels of Election yet fell on the Earth and consequently cannot be drank but spiritually The Sign cannot contain more than the thing it signifies and we take it really tho' after the manner that the Spirit and Faith make things real If it be true that the Bread contains the Body whole and entire what does the Wine add to it What signifies the Superfluity of two Signs 'T was in vain the Lord commanded they should be taken separately if one contains the other by a necessary consequence of this Transubstantiation ' Twou'd be no great matter if it only produc'd superfluous things if it did not such monstrously strange ones that we dare scarce mention 'em being so very offensive to those who maintain 'em that they have not the Courage to hear ' em To what end had the Son of God supping with his Apostles eat his own Flesh and drank his own Blood Was his Body glorious before glorified or else Had he two Bodies at the same time the one passible and the other impassible What necessity in these latter days more than in former oblig'd him to exhibit himself as Corporeal Food to be expos'd as we
who are both their Accusers and Judges unjust and inconsiderate Judges who continually pronounce against 'em this short sentence inspir'd into 'em by truly infernal Furies you are damn'd you are damn'd Inhumane and Diabolical saying which against the Prohibition of our Saviour himself rashly judges anothers Servants and those who are not under their jurisdiction These are the strongest arguments the softest remonstrances and the most charitable words they put into the mouths of their people who bark and rail at their Brethren instead of gently discovering their Errour to 'em or hearing their Justification How great is the injustice of Men And how do most of 'em deserve that Condemnation they pronounce against their Neighbours Such as these upbraid me with my Religion who are unacquainted with their own and know nothing of mine but from its Enemies They condemn me upon the bare report of my Adversaries without hearing either my Advocate or my self But pray tell me Gentlemen and Ladies who are they for whom you have so great an Aversion to whom do you talk with that Sharpness and Anger Are they not those who ground all their Religion on the Holy Scripture who read meditate on love and admire it who learn it by heart and who are so far from accusing it of insufficiency that in that alone they find the Words of Eternal Life sufficient for their perfect Instruction and Comfort Are they not those whose Charity recalls you to that first Estate in which you were When no Images were yet set up in your Churches when you own'd no other Purgatory than the Blood of Jesus Christ when going to Mass or taking the Cup from the People was not so much as talked of but meeting together for the breaking of Bread which was not elevated to make it ador'd They certainly have not the Spirit of God who hate such as love his Word and only covet to impart to you that Light and those Joyes they receive from it It must be acknowledg'd these are strange Hereticks and are mightily in the wrong to stick to Principles not to presume beyond what is written 1 Cor. 4. 6. and not to turn to the right hand or to the left Josh 23. 6. They are to blame not to consent to the adding of other Commands to the Law or other Articles to the Faith which is prescrib'd ' em In a word they do very ill that they mix not profane things with Holy Indeed I consent with all my Soul to their Profession let what name they please be given 'em I had much rather be one of those Hereticks than one of the Catholicks of the Age. For in effect who are they whose Doctrine we ought so very much fear Is it that of Kings and Princes who are chiefly intrusted with the care of Secular things Is it that of Magistrates who decide Differences between men Is it that of the People who are employ'd in Mechanical Arts or in Trading Nothing less 'T is that of the Great Doctors of the Church and whose Leaven ought to be suspected by us as that of the Pharisees They are those who do what they please by the Priviledge and Authority of that Character they bear who under the name of Doctors or Fathers preach Errour effectually and who the more they are fill'd with Frenzy and Enthusiasm the more would they perswade us they are inlighten'd They are those who have such an extraordinary Opinion of their own Strength that they brag that they are not only able to fulfill but to surpass the Law And though that obliges us to love God with all our Hearts and our Neighbours as our selves it is not sufficient to bear testimony of their Faith or to magnifie their Works To this must be added Councils which it comprehends not and which transport men beyond that perfect Love which it obliges us to Several Traditions must be observ'd which tho' instituted by Pagans and Infidels are become Sacred since admitted into the Church and called Apostolical To conclude Many amongst 'em do so abound in doing Good Works that they have some to spare to impart to those who do none at all and in order too to their obtaining Eternal Life It is not to be wonder'd at that the Evil Spirit has prevail'd on men to forbid the reading of the Holy Scripture for 't is impossible that those impressions it makes on pious minds which are seriously industrious in the search of Salvation can consist with the Doctrine and Religion of the Times It has often recover'd me from a Lethargy into which I was insensibly plunged by the Errours of the World By it I have learn'd to know both my Beginning and my End It has infus'd into me both a Love and Fear of my Creator it has made me fear his Judgments adore his Goodness and lay claim to his Mercy It has caus'd me to observe such various and so many proofs of his Providence that I had no room left to doubt of it I never read it but I became better'd by it yet not with that Perseverance as I could have wish'd Therefore I thought 't was necessary for me to begin it often and never to leave it off I met with so many Truths in it from one end to the other that I have not follow'd their Example who only seek after Contradictions in it who will not distinguish Times or consider the different respects why things have been said It is not dangerous to such who have good desires it ought not to be mistrusted by 'em it does inlighten 'em instruct 'em and shews 'em the way that leads to Eternal Life It is impossible that He who suspends his Judgment who is not sway'd by Passion Custome or Prejudice who is only govern'd by Reason and seeks after the Truth should not find it by this way and thus to search after it comes from the Spirit of God What shall I say more He must not expect to be saved who does not love this Word above all things and who does not evidence the love he has for it by frequent reading of it For many will say with their Mouths they love that which indeed they do not They in vain pretend to excuse themselves upon the Credit of their Teachers in saying that 't is not intelligible by all that every one expounds it to his own Advantage If they are to be believ'd God spake to his Children only to deceive 'em and not to be understood by ' em Thus there is no way left either to read or know any thing Every passage hath its different Sense whereupon we must refer our selves to our Masters Even those which seem most Evident are most obscure and oftentimes signifie the contrary of what they seem to signifie As for Example when 't is said Thou shalt not make to thy self any likeness Exod. 20. vers 4. this signifies we must fill our Churches with Images when 't is said Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy