Christe but to come vnto hym nor to drinke his bloud but to beleeue in him And thus fayth was y e more precyous the further of his bodely presence was remoued from them They knew faith was the taking hold and substaunce of things we hoped for and the sure apprehension profe of thinges that were not seene So that they knewe howe to feede of hys bodye with great boldnesse to lift vp theyr soule and take holde of his mercy that sitteth in heauen at the right hande of hys Father Whence vndoubtedly all the merites of his passion doe presentlye flow vpon hys poore children His conflictes and agonies with sinne and condemnation to set vs free from Gods wrath displeasure and all his obedience shewed here in flesh from his corporall reall and substantiall bodye commeth downe vpon vs to cloth vs wyth righteousnesse that wee may bee found vnblamable before hys father Thns much y ◠disciples well vnderstoode and they murmured not at these wordes this is my body Thus muche let vs learne out of this place against we come vnto the sacrament that to come vnto Christ to beleeue in Christ that is truely to eate Christ. Thys beyng proued true vnto you you well soone set your selues free frō all popish idolatry And how true it is marke well I beseech you what are the wordes I am sayth Christ the bread of lyfe He that cōmeth vnto me shall not hunger Yf Christe had spoken still properly accordyng to y e metaphore he had sayd thus I am the bread of lyfe he that eateth me shall not hunger Now he himself hath said he that commeth in stead of this he that eateth if you will beleue him you must needes confesse it To eate Christe is to come vnto him So in this other sentence He that beleueth in me shall not thyrst If he had kepte y e property of speach he had sayd thus he that drinketh of me shall not thyrst In stead of drinketh he sayth beleeueth and therefore it is moste certayne to drinke of Christe is to beleeue in Christe So that this is now an vndoubted truth to eate Christe to drinke Christe to come vnto Christe to beleue in Christ these are all one And who hath eares to heare and heareth not this or whose iudgement is so blind that he can not perceyue it Compare the sayings of Christ in this chapter you can not if you wil not be deceyued He that beleeueth in mee hath euerlasting life And after He that eateth of this bread hath euerlasting life Exceptye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud you haue no lyfe in you He that beleueth on him that sent mee hath lyfe euerlasting You will not come vnto me that you may lyue Who seeth it not here to eate to come to beleeue is all one Againe He that beleeueth in me I will rayse him at the last day And he that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud I will rayse him vp at the last day After all those sayinges of eating his flesh in deede and drinking his bloud in deede at which the Capharnaites were offended diuerse of his disciples forsooke him Christe sayth then vnto hys Apostles will you also go away As if he should haue sayde are these wordes so strange that you also will be driuen a way Unto which Peter aunswered Lorde to whom shall we go thou hast the wordes of eternall lyfe we beleue and know that thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing Lord. Loe here how Saint Peter himselfe of whose name the Pope braggeth so much and yet vtterly renounceth hys fayth S. Peter I say vnderstandeth all these wordes of life of the eating and drinking of Christes flesh and hys bloud he expoundeth them thus to beleue in Christe and to knowe him to bee the sonne of the liuing God euen as Christ hym selfe had before taught hym The wordes that I speake are spirite aad life it is the spirite that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothyng If all this be not playne enough looke yet let S. John expound hym selfe Here Christ sayth he that eateth my fleshe and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and I in hym The same S. John that wrote this sayth thus agayne Who so confesseth that Iesus is the sonne of God God dwelleth in him and hee in God Wherby it is playne he that confesseth thus of Christ he eateth his fleshe and drinketh hys bloud This dearely beloued is no newe doctrine but taught by Christe receiued by his Apostles written for all ages by hys holy Euangelistes now preached to y e comfort of all true Christiās and in the primitiue Church beleeued of all the holy Fathers I would alledge you theyr owne sayinges but that the tyme passeth you haue thē plentifully set out vnto you you may reade them when you will These places alledged out of the Scriptures one expoūdyng an other they are the surest witnesses to know the meaning of the holy Ghost And what if here I should reason out of our Christes owne wordes to proue there can bee no transubstantiation He sayth for proofe that hys naturall body is rysen See my handes and my feete touch me and handle me it is euen I. Seyng Christe will haue our senses to iudg of his body let vs do so See feele touch tast is it ought but bread this argumēt me thinketh is good and well warranted by Christ him selfe and it semeth not so onely to me but S. Augustine thought so nowe eleuen hundred yeare agon See De doctrina Christian lib. 3. cap. 16. there yon shall finde it But the tyme passeth and I will come vnto that that I thynke you looke for and whych the Pope hath made the substance of all his masses Christ saith thus Take eate this is my body And what then is there any obscuritye in these wordes Is it not often and playnely spoken what it is to eate is body are not his disciples well taught knew they it not lōg before As it is playnely said this is my body so is it not playnely expounded these wordes are spirite and lyfe No man can here be offended but he that is dull of hearyng and hath not harkened before to the wholesome doctrine of truth But you will say why could not Christ as well haue sayd this is a figure or signe or token of my body I aunswere Fyrste these wordes are without daūger that his disciples should dream of trāsubstātiation they are so assuredly taught before how they should eate or drinke Christ. Then I say thys our sauiour Christ did choose to speake to shew his great and aboundaut loue to warde vs that wee should be so fully perswaded that he were our head wee his members as if hys naturall and reall body were substantiallye within vs that we should know what so euer we could wish from his mercy to comfort vs by this Sacrament or couenaunte of his
A Sermon preached at the Tower of London by M. Dering the xi day of Decēber 1569. Imprinted at London by John Day dwelling ouer Aldersgate Cum gratia Priuilegio Regiae Maiestatis per Decennium John 6. 34. Then they sayd vnto him Lord geue vs euermore of this bread And Jesus sayd vnto them I am the bread of lyfe hee that commeth vnto me shall not hūger and he that beleueth in me shall neuer thirst WE haue dearlye beloued in our Lorde sauyour Christ we haue in this portion of scripture to consider First this petitiō or request which y e Iewes make vnto Christ in these words Lorde geue vs euermore of thys bread Then the answere that our Sauiour Christ maketh agayne I am the bread of life c. Theyr request riseth of certayne wordes spoken immediatly before where Christ sayth My Father geueth vnto you from heauen the true bread For the bread of God is he that cōmeth downe from heauen and geueth lyfe vnto the world Through whiche wordes they breake out straight into this prayer O Lord geue vs alwayes this bread These wordes they doe not vtter wyth any good affection or longing desires to be partakers of the mercies which are offered vnto all in Christ Jesu but rather of a distēpered mynde drawne into contrary desires seeking by all meanes to fil themselues with happinesse and yet to jeste and scoffe at the doctrine of Christ. The thoughtes of them myndes are made manyfest both by these words of Christ Ye seeke me because you eate of the loaues and were filled and also by theyr owne wordes to the same effecte where they say our fathers did eate Manna in the wildernesse likewise requiring y t Christ would so feede them still by miracle and then they would follow him And afterward also when Christ had further taught them y t he woulde in no such sort feede them deintelye on earth but if they would eate of the bread that he would geue they must renounce such fleshly concupiscence crucify themselues vnto the worlde and be with a liuelye fayth incorporate into hys bodye then they shoulde eate of liuing bread as soone as they had heard this they murmured at him shewing y t he was not the bread that they did seeke for and then declared what was theyr scoffing spirite and sayd openly Is not this Jesus the sōne of Joseph whose Father and mother wee knowe howe came he down from heauen Thus dearely beloued we learne what mindes these men had y t would so fayn haue bene fed with the bread of lyfe They would liue for euer ◠but they woulde liue as they liste They would followe Christ but they woulde neyther hunger nor thirst They would do the will of God but they would not crucifie theyr affectiōs They would come vnto heauen but they would not be led by Jesus the poor Carpenters sonne Theyr carnall fancies beguyled them Their scoffing at Jesus Christ made their hartes so blinde and their desire of happines was nothing but the shew of their owne folye Now let vs beware by other mens harmes Let vs not fall after the same example of disobedience Yf we bring our carnall fancies to the worde of God we shall neuer vnderstād it The naturall man perceyueth not the things that are of God Such grose imaginations deceiued Nicodemus that he knew not what it was to be borne a newe Such fancies made blinde the weoman of Samaria that she knew not howe to aske for the water of lyfe Such carnal imaginations made the children of Zebedie to aske of our Sauyour Christe they knew not what Yea all the disciples of our sauyour Christ by such fleshly desires oftentymes vnderstoode him not And how muche more ought we to take heede that haue so barren hartes not watered so plētifully with gods sprite Whether shall we be led yf wee bryng vnto Gods word our sensuall appetites sure euē thether whether these Jewes are gone before vs to murmur agaynst Christe and despise his crosse Let vs thē take heede while it is yet tyme and in obedience of Gods worde banishe farre from vs our own vnderstāding and yf we will be taught of the Lord God let vs leade into captiuity all our own cogitations and seeke no better estate for the Gospell of God then he hymselfe hath appoynted by hys holy wisedome Otherwise it will surelye come vpon vs that came so long agone vpon these carnall Iewes wee shall haue so good liking of our owne delight y t we shall contemne the poore Galilean with a proude countenaunce wee shall thinke much scorne that the Carpenters sonne should bee our mayster This is the fruyte y t groweth out of mans wisedome Here it is plainely testified in this 6. of John It is testified in the Scribes and Pharisies that so often scoffed at our Sauiour Christ in the Soldiours that vppon the Crosse had him in such derision in the whole multitude of the Iewes y t stroke him and spitte on hym bid hym areade who had hurt him Thus after that by carnall reason they woulde needes iudge of Christe they grewe more more in hardnes of hart till they thought it good wisedome to speake so great blasphemye Such Gospellers there were many in the primitiue Churche that thought themselues wyse in makyng a ieste of Christ. So Iulianus the Apostata when y e Christians asked helpe agaynst all theyr iniuryes with mockes and scoffes hee woulde aske why they did complayne whē the Galilean theyr mayster bad them doe good for euyll yf any would take away theyr coate that then they shoulde geue him also their cloke So many wicked Magistrates spoyled the Christians of theyr monye and would taunt them merelye with the saying of theyr God Quod Caesaris scis Caesari da geue that vnto Cesare that thou knowest is Cesars Such Gospellers at this day wee haue a great many in Englād y t laugh smothly in their sleeues at theyr madnes as they thinke that followe so earnestly y ◠Gospel So S. Peter hath borne witnesse generally of the wicked of all ages that they shall thinke it much madnes that other will not runne to like effusion of riot but let them alone y t seeke willingly to goe so farre astray This is the time of their reioysing The daies of repentaunce are not yet come When they haue done with their mocking them selues shalbe then mocked at and for all their pleasaunt sporting they shalbe called to Judgement An other thing I noted vnto you in y e petition of these Iewes that was a desire of happinesse which they wished to come vnto and in y e middes of their malice yet an inward sighing of spirite that they might once eate of the bread of lyfe They pleased them selues exceedingly in fighting agaynst Christ and yet agayne in remorse of conscience they wished to be partakers of
he that beleueth in him shall not thirst any more This dearly beloued is that great fruyt that vnspeaable benefite y t endlesse mercye which they taste and eate of that laboure and are loden and come vnto Christ My tounge can not expresse it your eares caÌ„not heare it our hartes can not imagine it what is y e fulnes of ioy that springeth out of this fouÌ„tain To thirst no more to be no more an hungred is to see God as he is and to contemne the world to haue al teares wiped away froÌ„ our eyes and be no more sorowful to haue the glory of God to shine vppon vs no more to regard the light of Sun or Moone This shalbe then perfect when Christ shal appeare in glory and maiestie and wee shalbe clothed with righteousnes and immortality Now in this body of sinne this happines is tasted of when we feele the spirite of adoption to crie vnto our spirite Abba Father When the mercies of Jesus Christ do so coÌ„passe the inner man that we see feele the kingdome of Heauen pictured in our consciences when with a great and longing desire euen as the hart longeth after the water brookes we cry with saint Paule Cupio dissolui When we be touched inwardly and say with the saintes in y e reuelation Come Lord Jesu come quickly These are y t beginnings of those euerlasting ioyes that can neuer bee madefull till this mortallitie haue put on immortalitie and this corruptible incorruption and wee haue geuen into our mouthes the songes of our triuÌ„phe O death where is thy styng O hell where is thy victorye The songes of our joy such as none can vnderstand saue the huÌ„dreth foure and fortie thousand that are bought from the earth He that eateth of Christe to this purpose he is nourished and he that drinketh of Christ to this hope he is quickned With this meate and drink Abraham was filled when he forsooke his fathers house his kindred his countrye to go into a lande that God would shew hym With thys meate and drinke Moses was filled when he rather chose to be a miserable seruaunte among his brethren of Israel then to be a mighty Prince in the court of Pharaoh With this meate and drinke was Dauid filled when he wished rather to be a dore keeper in the house of God then to dwell in the Pallaces of Princes With this meate and drinke was Paule filled when hee sayde he accompted all the worlde as dunge that he myght winne Christ. With this meate drinke who so euer is filled he will forsake father and mother brother and sister wyfe and children house and landes yea euen his owne soule take vp his crosse and follow Christ. The remembrance of immortalitie that Christ shal geue vnto him wil make him hartely to coÌ„fesse y t this life is but a momeÌ„t The length of his daies that liueth for euer will make him behold his owne body and say all flesh is grasse The glory of hys maiestie that shineth world without end will proue the glory of man to be but as a flower in the fielde It will make his harte to crye often within him Lorde feede vs euer with this bread And sure dearelye beloued the cause is soone espyed why the worlde is so droncken with these transitorye vanities they neuer felt what the thynges are that abide for euer He neuer tasted of Christ that hungreth thirsteth after vayne glory to become honorable in this world He neuer tasted of Christ y t heapeth vp siluer and gold and caÌ„not tell for whome he gathereth it He neuer tasted of Christ that spendeth his dayes in wantonnesse and harkeneth not to the sentence that shalbe spoken vnto him Come geue accompte of thy stewardshipe He neuer tasted of Christ y t hath his eyes open to behold vanitie seeth not Christ crucifyed for hys sinnes He neuer tasted of Christ that hath his eares open to al vngodlye 〈◊〉 and heareth not the Trumpet that one day shall blow a loude Arise ye dead and come vnto iudgement To be short he neuer tasted of Christ that is not crucified vnto the world and the world vnto him so farre that synne raygne not in hys mortall body The Prince neuer tasted of Christ y t putteth the glory of hys court in concupiscence in pride in blasphemie The noble maÌ„ neuer tasted of Christ that braggeth boasteth of his parentage and knoweth not y t he is but dust The magistrate neuer tasted of Christ that sufferth this great carding dising that leaueth sinne vnpunished vertue vnrewarded The Man or Woman neuer tasted of Christ that cryeth not in spirite O Lorde thou art myne inheritaunce The Father of all mercy and God of all consolation streÌ„gthen vs with his grace that we may tast of Christ 〈…〉 Joh. 6. 26. Joh. 6. 31. Joh. 6. 4. Joh 6 28 Heb. 4. 11. 2 Cor. 2. 14. Joh 3 4. John 4 15 Mar 16. 38. Luke 18 38. 2. Cor 19. Mat. 27. Math. 26. 8. Math 5. 49. Prudence â—et 44. John 1. 9. Gene 4. 13. Gene 27. 38. Exo. 9. 27. Exo 8 19. Math. 2â— 24 Act. 8. 13. Math. 6. â—aâ— 5. 2. Psal. 37 12 Luc. 17 16. Esa. 1. 12. Joh. 4. 23. Psal. 115. 5 Joh. 6. 34. John 6. 35 Math. 11. 28. Gene. 3. 15. Gene. 12. 3 and 26. 4. and 28. 14. Rom. 7. 7. Rom 5. 20 Heb. 9. 9. Heb. 10. 4. Gal. 3. 24. Esa. 9 6 Ephe 4 11 Rom 4. 16 Ephe. 2. 14 Act. 4. 22 August tract 25 Upon the 〈◊〉 of John Heb 13. John 5 â— John â—â— Joh. â—â— Joh 6. 54. 1. Joh. 4 15 Luke 24. 33. Math. 26. 26. Joh. 6. 14 Eph. 5. 24 Ephe. 2. â— John 1 〈…〉 Math. 26. Math. 26. Cor. 11. 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 24. 〈◊〉 12 1. Leuit 7. 3. Num. 6. 〈◊〉 5. 11 â—ut 19 〈◊〉 26. 5. 〈◊〉 31. 11. 〈…〉 2 〈…〉 17 〈◊〉 11. 1 Cor. 19. 3. Tit. 3. 5. 1. Cor. 14. 38. Gala. 4. 6 Psal. 12. 51 Phil. 1. 21. Apoc. 22. 1. Cor. 15. 53. 1. Cor. 15. 55. Apoc. 14. 〈…〉 Gene. 12. 1. 〈…〉 11 Psa. 84. 1 Phil. 3. 8. Math. 19. 19. Luke 14. 26 Esay 4. 6. Ioh. 16. 34. Luk. 16. 3