VIII I. Wee must learne of Christ how he giveth himselfe and how we receiue him II. Christ giveth himselfe vnto vs by his Spirit III. To be in Christ and to haue the Spirit of Christ are equivalent in the Scriptures IV. We haue no reall vnion with Christ in the Sacraments but by the Spirit V. It is easie to the Spirit to vnite vs vnto Christ VI. We must pray for the Spirit WE shall not goe astray if in this point and all others we follow the counsell of S. x Cyrill in Ioh. lib. 4. c. 13. Quaerendum enim ita semper est vt apud cum habitemus ad alienas sententias non defer amur Cyrillus and make inquirie in such sort that we dwell with God and be not caried about with the opinions of men Papists beleeue that they must eat Christ because he hath said it We beleeue it likewise But when he telleth vs also how he giveth himselfe and how we must eate him they stop their eares and will not heare we must not doe so we must say vnto him as Samuel did to GOD y 1 Sam. 3.9 Speake Lord for thy servant heareth He of all can best tell how he giveth himselfe and how we receiue him And what he answereth to both questions must be true TO THE first he answereth in the 63. verse of this Chapter saying It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speake vnto you they are Spirit and they are life i. they must be vnderstood of the spirit which is a Rom. 8.2 the Spirit of life quickning the flesh of Christ and b Aug. in Iohan. tract 27. Ergospiritus est qui viuificat Spiritus euim facit viua membra making all the members of his body to liue by a spirituall vnion with him He had said before vers 56. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him And S. Iohn saith that c 1 Ioh. 4.13 hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in vs because he hath given vs of his Spirit It is then by the Spirit that he giveth himselfe vnto vs and dwelleth in vs. And this giving of himselfe vnto vs by his Spirit is so incompatible with his bodily presence that he averred for a most certaine truth that d Ioh. 16.7 it was expedient that he should goe away For if I goe not away said he the Cemforter will not come vnto you but if I depart I will send him vnto you And what to doe e Ioh. 14.16.17.18 To abide with you for ever And this abiding of his Spirit with vs is his abiding with vs as he saith in the next verse I will not leaue you comfortlesse I will come to you THIS IS so true that in the new Testament to be in Christ and to haue the Spirit of Christ are equivalent The Apostle averreth that f Rom. 8.9.10 if any man haue not the Spirit of Christ he is not his Wherevnto he addeth If Christ be in you because Christ is not in vs but by his Spirit This vnion of Christ with vs extendeth it selfe to our bodies g 1 Cor. 6.15 Know ye not saith the Apostle that your bodies are the members of Christ If ye aske of him How He answereth h Vers 17. He that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit i. e. he is made one with the Lord by the holy Spirit as he sheweth when he asketh againe i Vers 19. What know you not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye haue of God WE haue no other kinde of vnion with Christ in the Sacraments It is written of our Baptisme that k 1 Cor. 12.13 by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body because it is the Spirit that in our Baptisme incorporateth vs in Christ It is also written of the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 12.13 that we haue bin all made to drinke into one Spirit because that in that holy Sacrament he giveth his body vnto vs by his Spirit Although that his body should come downe from heaven and enter into our bodies it could not vnite vs vnto him as I haue said for the flesh profiteth nothing But that which is impossible to his flesh is easie to his Spirit which if he send from heaven into our hearts it will vnite vs vnto him more truely and neerely then our soules are vnited to our bodies THIS then is the true How Christ giveth himselfe to be eaten 1. Vse wherevnto we must submit our minds and cogitations without any further inquirie following the example of the blessed Virgin who when the Angel had instructed her that l Luk. 1.35.38 the holy Ghost should come vpon her and make her to conceiue brought into captivitie all her thoughts to the obedience of the Word of GOD and said Behold the handmaid of the Lord be it vnto me according to thy Word Behold I pray you how the Sunne budgeth not out of his heavenly tabernacle and neverthelesse darting his beames from heaven to earth communicateth it selfe to all the creatures that are on earth And shall we say that m Mal. 4.2 the Sunne of righteousnesse must leaue his celestiall and glorious palace to make good the word which he hath spoken of our communion with him O blasphemy He hath said that by his Spirit he will come vnto vs and dwell with vs He will doe it as he hath said it n Luk. 1.37 For with God no word shall be impossible WHEREFORE fettering our curiositie with the shackles of the word of God let vs cry to heaven o Veni creator Spiritus Et infunde coelitus Lucis tuae radium Come O most holy and blessed Spirit into our hearts assured that if we pray so earnestly God will heare vs p Luk. 11.13 For saith Christ if ye being evill know how to giue good gifts vnto your children how much more shall your heavenly Father giue the holy Spirit to them that aske him CHAPTER IX I. We must learne of Christ himselfe how we eate him II. Such bread such eating III. Such man such eating IV. Such sences and instruments to apprehend him such eating V. Such end of our eating such eating LET Vs in the next place goe againe vnto Christ and aske and learne of him how we must eate this bread which came downe from heaven For q August in Ioh tract 27 Patitur enim nos non contradicentes sed nosse cupientes he beareth with vs when we aske of him not to contradict but to learne O ye that haue an eare to heare heare r Deut. 29.29 The secret things belong vnto the Lord our God Å¿ 1 Sam. 6.19 Looke not with the men of Bethshemesh into this Arke of the Lord t Iob. 33.13 He giueth not account of any of his matters u Deut. 29.29 But
THE TABLE OF THE LORD WHEREOF 1. THE VVHOLE SERVICE IS THE LIVING BREAD 2. THE GVESTS ANY MAN 3. THE MOVTH TO Eate FAITH ONELY By GILBERT PRIMEROSE Doctour of Divinitie one of his Maiesties Chaplaines in Ordinary and Pastour of the French Church at London LONDON Printed by I. D. for Nicholas Bourne and are to be sold at his shop at the Royall Exchange 1626. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE S ir IAMES FOVVLERTON First Gentleman of his MAIESTIES Bed-chamber c. RIGHT HONOVRABLE SOoner shall the heaven be without stars the stars without light the fire without heat the aire without moisture the Sea without agitation a faire meddow without grasse then the Church without the poisonous tares and noysome weeds of hellish heresies which springing vp with the wholesome and soule-feeding wheat the Lord Iesus hath sowed in the heavenly field of his Church hast to smoother it ere it grow to any beautiful and fruitfull perfection For a 1 Cor. 11.19 there must be heresies that they which are approved may be made manifest Therefore as God foretelling that b Zach. 1.18.19.20.21 foure hornes should arise to scatter Iudah Israel and Ierusalem foretold also that he had appointed foure Carpenters to fray them even so foreseing that by the ever-watching craft of the ever-waking divell the venemous seed of deadly errors should grow with the good corne of the Gospell to choake it he ordained diligent and faithfull 1 Cor. 3.9 Labourers to weed and plucke them out by the roote These Labourers are the Pastours of the Church who should be not onely d 1 Tim. 3 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apt to teach good and sound doctrine but also e Tit. 1.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apt to convince the gainesayers And certainely if it be the dutie of all Christians not onely f Athenag in legat pro Christianis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to speake of the truth but also to dispute for the truth How much more should the man of God the Doctour of the Church be g Aug. de Doc. Chri. lib. 4. c. 4. Veritatis propugnator erroris expugnator defender of the truth and over-commer of errour Never was there in the Church greater need of both then now that the Whoore of Babylon giues to the Kings and great men of the earth great bowles of her phyltres to drinke farre more dangerous then the waters of Aethiopia i Ovid. 15. Metamorphos Quos si quis faucibus hausit Aut furit aut patitur mirum gravitate soporem For assoone as they haue set that golden cup to their heads they are possessed with a dizzinesse and as if they had drunke a worse Nepenthé then that which k Homer Odys lib. 4. Helena gaue to Telemachus they forget their owne name of Christians and never speake of Iesus Christ but to seeke vnder a Herodian colour of worshipping him to kill him againe in his members Of what pestilent herbes that loue-drinke is made who knowes not How all those that call themselues Catholiques are bewitched with it who sees not Where these mishapen and ougly plants whose bane-giving liquor banishes the wisest men from their best wits doe grow who hath read in the seventeenth chapter of the Revelation of S. Iohn what is written of the woman arrayed in purple scarlet of the golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthinesse of her fornications of the name written on her forehead in capitall Letters MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH of the blood of the Saints wherewith she is drunken of the beast with seaven heads she sits vpon of many waters she rules over and will not affirme boldly that S. Hierome strayed not from the Truth when he said it is l Hierony ad Marcel linam viduam Rupes Turpeia the Towne builded on seaven Mountaines Rome even that Rome where in Hieromes dayes was the true Church the Trophies of the Apostles and Martyrs the true confession of Christ and was then decaying then beginning to be m Rev. 18. the habitation of devils the hold of every foule Spirit and a cage of every vncleane and hatefull bird There is the devils garden and his Gardener the man of sinne the Sonne of perdition whose emissaries runne abroad sowing every where the aconit of his most venemous doctrine the only Marchandise these Mountebankes of the fourth vow fetch from that dungeon of infernal fiends which being n Rev. 11.8 spiritually Sodom and Egypt hath nothing but faire shewes of rotten and stinking drugges like the o Ioseph de bello Iudaico lib. 5 cap. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apples of Sodom which at the first touching vanish away in smoake and ashes and worse then Egypt p Odyss lib. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aboūds in evill weeds hath few or no good hearbes Of these loathsome and infectious hearbs the best whereof is but Swines-grasse at my attendance at Court in Iuly last I laboured to grubbe vp with the hooke-weed of the word of GOD that poysonous Toad-stoole called Transubstantiation the last and the foulest master-piece of work of the divels husbandry and wherein he delights most because it is most like vnto himselfe For by it Ceres Bacchus are worshipped vnder the name of Christ poore Christians blind-folded by the Corybantes of Babylon are holden in hand that a round and thin crust of the breadth of a shilling is Christs owne selfe as big as tall as perfect a man as he was on the Crosse that at the Masse they see him that at Easter they eate with the mouths of their bodies his flesh bones blood and whole body that therefore they must worship that crust with the worship of Latria due to none but God So he makes them the greatest or at least as great idolaters as ever were in the world This seemed so barbarous to the Ambassadours of the Towpinambauts in Frāce not long since that although they be the most barbarous people of the world and eaters of mens flesh yet to the naturall light that hath remained in their brutish minds this went beyond all brutishness that reasonable men should eate that which they worship or worship that which they eate And certainely said they if Our God were as beneficiall to vs as your Christ is to you we would honour him the best we could but we would not eate him And one of them made a Proselyte by the Capuchin Friars of Paris being asked if he was now a good Christian Yes said he for every day for my breakefast I eate one of your Christs What I then preached in two Sermons both for the truth against this most abominable errour I haue set down in this little Booke which I dare to send abroad cloathed with the livery of your honourable most worthy Name that appearing to the common view with such a goodly face it may
some aske why Iesus Christ did vse such Metaphoricall words of bread of eating seeing he might haue said in proper cleare tearmes that h Heb. 5.9 he is the author of eternall salvation vnto all them that obey him as the Apostle calleth him in the Epistle to the Hebrewes I answere first O man wilt thou teach the Word and Wisdome of God to speake i Exod. 4.11 Who hath made mans mouth Or who maketh the dumbe or deafe the seeing or the blind Is it not I saith the Lord And wilt thou to render him like for like make his mouth Secondly I say that of all words those are most cleare and easie to be vnderstood which haue greatest conformitie with our affections desires For which cause God framing his stile to our capacity by similitudes of worldly things which are most esteemed and affected of vs leadeth vs from the lower parts of the earth far aboue all the visible heavens from carnall and sensuall imaginations to spirituall and godly meditations from the vaine cōceit which we haue of our owne worthinesse to bungring and thirsting after his righteousnesse Neither did he fetch such similitudes from a farre off but e re natâ as his servants did light on such or such things he maketh allusion vnto them and by them instructeth his people in the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdome of Heaven Because men prise gold aboue all mettall and value precious stones at an high rate he saith that he k Efa 54.11 Rev. 21.18 will lay the foundations of his Church with precious stones make her gates of pearles her wals of iasper her streets of pure gold Because the Iewes were much given to bodily exercise and to renting their clothes in the dayes of their fasting he speaketh vnto them of a spirituall fasting which he calleth l Esa 58.6 the loosing of the bands of wickednesse c. and m Ioel. 2.11 the renting their hearts Because also they were ever bragging that they were Iewes and had the Circumcision the Apostle teacheth them that the true Iew n Rom. 2.28.29 whose praise is not of men but of God is one inwardly that the true Circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit that all true Christians o Phil. 3.3 are the Circumcision CHRIST by whose Spirit the Prophets and Apostles spake did delight in such similitudes He exhorteth those which are addicted to gathering of perishable and momentarie treasures p Mat. 6.22 to lay vp for themselues treasures in heaven To them which told him when he was preaching that q Mat. 10.47.50 his mother and brethren desired to speake with him he answered whosoever shall doe the will of my Father which is in heaven the same is my brother and sister and mother When the woman of Samaria which was drawing water had said vnto him r Ioh. 4.9.10.14 How is it that thou being a Iew askest drinke of me which am a woman of Samaria He tooke occasion of her speech to call his doctrine his grace his owne selfe the living water whereof whosoever drinketh shall never thirst and by such speeches he brought her to the spirituall drinking of the water of grace whereof the well-spring is in heaven When his Disciples prayed him to take some meate he refused saying ſ Ioh. 4.34 My meate is to doe the will of him that seni me and to finish his worke In the last day of the feast of Tabernacles seeing the people very busie about drawing of water and powring of it out before the Lord as if that had beene the principall part of Gods seruice he stood and cryed t Ioh 7.37.38.39 If any man thirst let him come to me and drinke He that beleeveth in me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water This spake he of the Spirit which they that beleeue in him should receiue AFTER the same manner perceiving that those fiue thousand men which he had miraculously fed and filled with fiue loaues and two small fishes were come to make him a King not for any true loue vnto him but onely because they had bin fed by him and had conceived a new hope that following such a wonderfull King meate should never be wanting to their bellies yea that he would make bread to raine downe vpon them as Moses did vpon their fathers in the Wildernesse he by diversion speaketh to them of a farre more excellent bread which he would giue them even of the true bread which came downe from heaven and endureth vnto everlasting life exhorteth them to labour for it Shewing in all the Chapter and particularly in this verse that he is that bread and that the onely meane to labour for it is to beleeue in him If he had clothed them miraculously as miraculously he had fed them and if they had followed him thervpon to make him King he would vndoubtedly advised them to labour for the raiments which wax never old and said that he is that raiment As indeed the holy Apostle will haue vs to beleeue that Christ is our garment when he saith that u Gal. 3.27 as many as haue beene baptized into Christ haue put on Christ and exhorteth vs x Rō 13 14 to put on the Lord Iesus Christ Which no man that is not witlesse or besides himselfe will take literally neither also any of the other similitudes whereof there is great plentie in the Scripture and I haue related some few Let then Papists tell vs Why the words of this Chapter should be taken in a literall sence which they shall never be able to doe BVT to leaue Papists let vs who are to communicate this morning to the blessed seales of this doctrine weigh in our minds how Christ per allegoriam necessariorum pabulorum by the allegory of necessary food as y Tertull. de Resurrect Carnis cap. 37. Tertullian speaketh withdraweth the thoughts of his followers from the outward to the inward man from the flesh to the Spirit from the food of the body to the food of the soule a Aug. in Ioh. tract 25. Ille post miraculi Sacramentum sermonem infert vt si fieripotest qui pasti sunt pascantur quorum satiauit panibus ventres satiet sermonibus mentes sed si capiunt Et si non capiunt sumatur quod non capiunt ne fragmenta percant that if it be possible those which are fed may be fed againe and as he had filled their bellies with bread he may also fill their minds with his speeches But if they take them And if they take them not as indeed they tooke them not i.e. they vnderstood them not let vs take them least the fragments perish as we are exhorted by S. Austin Let vs I say now even now ponder with our selues that although we doe eate and drinke to maintaine this mortall and ever-dying life and that this is the
comming and of the end thereof He came from heaven when y Mansit quod erat factus est quod nonerat nunc est vtrumque being still that which he was he became that which he was not and now is both Being God he became man and now is both God and man in one person So ye haue the constitution of his person necessary to the fulfilling of the worke for which he came The end of his comming was to be liuing bread vnto vs that is to redeeme and saue vs. Ye finde in his person all things requisite to do that for which he came He came to be bread Bread he could not be but by his death die he could not for man if he had not beene a man Therefore in that wherein he is equall vnto vs he is bread a Gerhard Lutphan lib. de Reformat virium animae cap. 28. And this must be your first conception of him when ye consider those good things which ye receiue by him and which are all comprehended in this word Bread The breaking of the bread in the Sacrament sheweth vs that he was broken in his death to be our bread And therefore we must say He who is our bread is man The second conception must be that he is also God for this bread is called liuing who is liuing in the sence which I haue explaned but God And therefore in that wherein he is equall vnto his Father he is liuing as he himselfe saith b Ioh. 6.63 It is the Spirit that quickeneth The flesh profiteth nothing The flesh is his humane nature wherein by death he is become our bread The Spirit in his divine nature which maketh his flesh to liue and which giveth a quickening vertue to this bread The third conception must be this The excellencie vertue of this bread floweth from the dignitie of his person And therefore this man this God are in him one person otherwise he could neither be bread to nourish vs nor liuing to quicken vs. As indeed he saith of himselfe not as of two as Nestorius dreamed but as of one Ioam the liuing bread which came downe from heaven Hence it is that whatsoever God did in Christ we beleeue that the man did it because Christ is a man And whatsoever the man did in Christ we beleeue that God did it because Christ is God Example When Christ was on earth speaking to Nicodemus as he was a man he said that even then c Ioh. 3.13 he was in heaven because in him man is God Againe the Apostle saith that d Act. 20.28 God hath purchased the Church with his owne blood because in Christ God is a man Christ in the Sacrament leadeth you to this consideration when he saith This is MY body broken for you This is MY blood shed for you meaning that it is the body and blood of him who is God and therefore it is no wonder if the body of God be bread if the blood of God be drinke If I say the death of so wonderfull and so excellent a person be your life e Luk. 1.37 For with God nothing shall be impossible SIXT CHAPTER I. Seeing Christ is God we must stand in awe of him and obey him II. We should be alwayes rauished in admiration with his comming downe from heaven III. His most wonderfull humiliation should be vnto vs a patterne of humilitie IV. In his comming to be our bread we should acknowledge our owne indignitie V. And neverthelesse accept with obedience of faith the honour of his Table VI. Exhortation and Consolation THIS Doctrine is fertile in instructions comforts which may be taken some from the person of Christ some from the end of his cōming vnto vs. When we consider that he which came downe from heaven is the true God we must with f Esa 6.2 the Seraphims and with the man of GOD g 1 Kings 19.13 Elijah cover our faces stand as we do this day before his Maiestie with feare trembling heare his Word with reverence receiue the Sacrament which he offereth vnto vs with humilitie and thankesgiving and shew a cheerefull and holy readinesse to doe with obedience whatsoever he commandeth vs. WHEN we heare that he who was h Heb. 7.26 higher then the heavens i Eph. 4.9 descended into the lower parts of the earth was there crudled like Cheese clothed with skinne and flesh fenced with bones sinewes When we are taught that he who k Phil. 2.6.7 being the Son of God thought it no robbery to be equall with God yet notwithstanding made himselfe of no reputation and tooke vpon him the forme of a servant how can we chuse but wonder and be astonied at his humiliation whereat the Angels themselues are amazed l Ioh. 1.51 euer ascending descending vpon the sonne of man m 1. Pet. 1.12 ever desiring to looke into this mysterie which passeth all knowledge Because man in his pride n Gen. 3.5.22 would needs be like vnto God God to make amends for that fault by a most wonderfull humiliation would needs be like vnto man yea o Psal 22.6 be a worme no man the reproach of men and the despised of the people p Ioh. 13.6.8 Peter was astonied when he saw Christ comming vnto him with water in a Bason and kneeling at his feete to wash them The Creator to wash the feet of his creature the Lord of his servant the master of his disciple God of man he that made all things of nothing the feete of a worme which he had made of clay Haue we not greater matter of astonishmēt when we heare and see that the same Creator of all things became a creature he who is the eternall possessor owner of heaven earth came downe from heaven and was made man on earth that he might be the bread of man in heaven O wonderfull loue O inestimable bounty O new O never heard of before O peerlesse humilitie WHAT president what patterne of humilitie can we find in heaven or in earth so perfect to follow so worthy to be followed as this is I cannot teach you any better preparatiō to come this day to the Table of the LORD then this is O man the Son of God descēded so low that he came down from heaven and was made the Sonne of man for thee And wilt thou who art nothing but the fonne of a man or rather a man of sin wilt thou heape vp the summe of thy sinnes by taking vnto thy selfe the wings of pride to say with the King of Assur q Esa 14.13.14 I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne aboue the starres of God I will be like the most high Of whom wilt thou learne humilitie if thou refusest to learne it of the author of humilitie These and many moe may be our meditatiōs when we consider the excellencie of the person which is come
downe from heaven WHEN we call to minde the end of his comming When we heare now that he is come from heaven to be our bread to be the salvation of our soules When that truth shall be confirmed vnto vs in the Sacrament if we be not more insensible then stones and rocks we shall all acknowledge our great indignitie all cry vnto God with David r Psal 144.3 Lord what is man that thou takest knowledg of him Or the sonne of man that thou makest account of him When King David called Mephibosheth to eat bread at his table continually Mephibosheth bowed himselfe and said ſ 2 Sam. 9.7.8 What is thy servant that thou shouldest looke vpon a dead dog such as I am confessing his owne vnworthinesse although he was a Kings sonne How much more should we t Eph. 2.3 who are by nature the children of wrath acknowledge our selues to be worse then dead dogs when the King of Kings not onely calleth vs to eat bread at his table but also offereth himselfe vnto vs to be our bread Certainly we should u Origin homil 6. in diversos follow the laudable custom of the auncient Church on the Communion day and say vnto him as the Centurion did x Mat. 8.8 Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come vnder my rooffe Thus farre should goe our humilitie TRVE humilitie is the mother of obedience Behold saith he I stand at the doore and knocke y Rev. 3.20 If any man heare my voice and open the doore I will come to him sup with him and he with me When he knocketh shall I refuse to open vnto him because I am not worthy that he should come vnto me z Ioh. 1.11 He came to his owne That was mercie For they were not worthy that he should come vnto them And his owne received him not That was sinne As he said a Ioh. 15.22 If I had not come and spoken vnto them they had not had sinne but now they haue no cloake for their sinne b Mat. 22.1 The great King made the mariage of his Sonne and sent his servants to call them that were biddē to the wedding That was favour And they would not come That was ingratitude Therefore he was wroth against them and desiroyed them But he gaue good intertainment to the poore blind maimed halt that came For although they were not worthy to be called he was worthy to be obeyed We we are to day those ghefts too too vnworthy to sit at his Table and to eat of his Supper But seeing he saith this day to my sinfull soule as he said once to the Publicane and great sinner c Luk. 19.5 Zacheus To day I must abide at thy house I le make hast as Zacheus did I le leape downe from the Sycomore of pride I le run home with the seete of faith and of obedience to prepare the lodging of my soule for the Lord of glory I le receiue him ioysully into the house of mine heart And he will say to my soule This day salvation is to come to this house O eternall wisedome of the Father thou cryest vnto vs to day d Pro. 9.5 Come eat of my bread and drinke of the wine which I haue mingled O glorious spoufe of the Church thou vouch safest to be our e Cant. 5.1 honey combe and our honey our wine our milke and our bread and thou cryest againe vnto vs Eate O friends drinke abundantly O beloved In this blessed Sacrament thou sayest the third time f Mat. 26.26.27 Take eate This is my body drinke ye all of it This is my bloud And shall we not obey thee Shall we not follow the example of Mephibosheth Shall we not accept with reverence and thankesgiving the honour of thy Table and the benefit of thy meat Papists call not this pride it is humilitie call it not presumption It is obedience WE WHICH are invited to day to eate of this bread know that to obey is a most acceptable sacrifice to God and therefore let vs try our selues and come and eate The scripture as I haue said maketh mention of three commings of Christ Of his comming in the flesh in the Spirit and in glory The first was visible in infirmitie as the Prophet said g Esa 53.2 When we see him there is no beautie that we should desire him The second is invisible but yet most sensisible in the power of the holy Spirit crying in our harts h Rom. 8.15 Abba Father None seeth the Spirit in another But every true Christian feeleth it in himselfe i 2 Cor. 13.5 know ye not your owne selues saith the Apostle how that Iesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates And he saith that k Rom. 8.9 if any man haue not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his because Christ is in vs by his Spirit The third shall be visible in Maiestie when l Esa 52.10 all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord. In the first m Ioh. 1.11 he came vnto his owne and his owne received him not In the second he cōmeth n Vers 23. to them that loue him and keepe his words In the third o Heb 9.28 he shall appeare vnto them that looke for him vnto salvation p Bernard de Adnentu domini serm 5. In primo Christus fuit redemptio nostra In vltimo apparebit vita nostra In isto requies est consolatio nostra In his first comming he was our redemption In the second he is our rest and consolation In the last he shall be our life O then O let vs thanke him for his first comming whereby he hath redeemed vs Let vs examine our selues if we loue him and keepe his words that thereby we may be assured of his second cōming into our hearts by his blessed and holy Spirit to comfort vs. And because he is to come once againe vnto salvation q 2 Tim. 4.8 vnto all them that loue his appearing r Heb. 9.28 and looke for him let vs ioyne our selues with the Church and with the Spirit and cry with heart mouth ſ Rev. 22.17.20 Come quickly Even so come Lord Iesus For then if we be found having the oyle of faith and charitie in our t Math. 25.10 Lampes we shall enter with the bridegroome to the mariage and know by experience that which now we know by faith that u Rev. 19.7 blessed are they which are called vnto the mariage-supper of the Lambe These are the true sayings of God To whom with the Sonne the holy Ghost be all prayse all glory and all honour both now and evermore AMEN THE SECOND PART OF THE EATERS AND OF THE EATING OF THE LIVING BREAD Preached at Otlans before the KINGS Maiestie the twelfth of Iuly 1625. IOHN VI. 51. If any man eate of this bread he shall liue for ever
not perish but haue eternall life THE graces of God belonging to this life are differently and in severall fashions distributed vnto men to some in a lesser to some in a greater scantling Some haue one thing some haue another Great is the glory of the King That glory doth not belong to any of his Subiects Some are rich moe are poore some learned moe ignorant some honourable a great deale moe are without honour God will haue it to be so and it is necessary that it should be so for the preservation of the societie of mankinde It is not so in spirituall graces which belong to salvation For as the Sunne the Moone the stars the fire the aire the water the earth which are the most vsefull creatures of God are common to all yong and old men and women Subiects and Kings poore and rich wise and ignorant so Gods saving graces are enioyed in common of all his elect For p 1 Tim. 2.4 God will haue all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth that is men of all conditions and qualities Kings Governours men of note as well as other men Not rich men only For q Mat. 11.5 the poore haue the Gospell preached to them Not men by age only For Christ said r Mat. 19.14 Suffer little children and forbid them not to come vnto me For of such is the kingdome of heaven Not men only as opposed to women For S. Peter saith of women that ſ 1 Pet. 3.7 they are heires together of the grace of life And of all conditions S. Paul saith t Gal. 3.28 Col. 3.11 that there is neither Iew nor Greek there is neither Circumcision nor vncircumcision there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female but we are all one in Christ Iesus All are baptized with one and the same water All heare the same word All in the Lords Supper are partakers of one bread and drinke of one cup and when our night shall come we shall all receiue one penny of eternall life u Act. 10.34.35 For God is no respecter of persons but in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him WHEREFORE let not the great ones despise the little ones 1. Vse They haue nothing more Let not the little ones repine at the excellency of the great ones They haue nothing lesse We are all x Eph. 2.19 fellow-Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God We are all ſ Rom. 8.17 heires of God and ioynt-heires with Christ Let vs all rather seeke the conversion of those which as yet come not to one table with vs. 2. Vse For t Iam. 5.20 he that converteth a sinner from the errour of his way shall saue a soule from death and shall hide a multitude of sinnes And when God hath opened the eyes of any one and turned him from darknesse to light let vs giue thanks for him u Gal. 1.22.23.24 as the Churches of Iudea which were in Christ glorified God in Paul when they heard that he preached the faith which once he had destroyed And looking for a blessing vpon our godly endevours carefull labours that way 3. Vse let vs in the meane time bow the knees of our hearts and open our mouthes with thanksgiving to the heavenly Father x Col. 1.12.13 who hath made vs meete to be partakers of the inheritāce of the Saints in light hath delivered vs from the power of darkenesse hath translated vs into the kingdome of his deare Sonne there hath covered the Table vnto vs that there we may eate perpetually of this bread CHAPTER IV. I. Christ is the bread whereof we must eate II. As he is God and man in one person III. In this sence S. Cyrillus saith that we are vnited with Christ corporally and spiritually IV. Our vnion with him beginneth by his manhood WHAT this bread is Christ hath shewed in the first part of this Verse saying I am the liuing bread which came down from heaven wherevnto he addeth in this second part of the Verse If any man eate of this bread speaking still of himselfe And therfore y Eras in Loc. Hunc locum veteres interpretantur de doctrina coelesti this bread is not this doctrine as Erasmus saith although he alledge the authoritie of the Fathers Why Christ is called bread Why living how it is said that he came downe from heauen I declared in the exposition of these words yet not so fully but that I left a gleaning for this place SEING Christ speaketh of the eating of this bread we must exactly distinguish betweene the obiect of our eating and the action whereby we eate For nature it selfe teacheth vs that bread is one thing and to eate is another Bread is a bodily substance out of vs. To eate is an action of ours whereby bread is applyed vnto vs and changed into our substance Therefore we must first know what and next how we must eate That which we must care is this bread It is Christ as he is God and man Not as he is God onely For so he is not bread But is so farre from vs that we cannot come neere him Not also as he is man onely For so he is not living Saith he not that it is a Ioh. 6.63 the Spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing It is his Godhead called the Spirit which quickneth his manhood and maketh it quickning vnto vs. For b Heb. 9.14 through the eternall Spirit he offered himselfe without spot to God And c 1 Pet. 3.18 being put to death in the flesh he was quickened by the Spirit and so was enabled to quicken vs. Similitude As wood in it selfe is not able to warme vs But if fire come vnto it it receiveth heat in it selfe and by that heat warmeth all those that come neere vnto it Even so the manhood of Christ hath no quickning life of its owne selfe but by the vertue of the Godhead vnited vnto it it is able to quicken all the men of the world if they did come neere vnto it THIS was the meaning of S. Cyrillus when disputing against Nestorius who divided Christ he said that we are vnited vnto Christ d Cyrill advers Nestor lib. 4. c. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 divinely and humanely e Idem in Ioh lib. 11. cap. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corporally and spiritually that is to say according to his own interpretatiō which Papists haue omitted in their translations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intirely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And corporally as he is MAN 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spiritually also as he is GOD. This is worthy to be observed against Papists which will haue the words corporally and Spiritually to be expoūded of the manner of our vnion with Christ whereas S. Cyrillus expoundeth them of the obiect of this vnion which is
Ioh. 5.11.12 who hath given to vs eternall life and this life is in his Sonne He that hath the Sonne hath life and he that hath not the Sonne hath not life For as r Math 13.44 he who found a treasure hid in a field could not claime any right vnto it till he bought the field So cannot we challenge Å¿ Col. 2.3 the treasures of wisdome knowledge and of that t Ioh. 1.16 fulnesse of graces which is in Christ till he himselfe be ours and so ours that we be in him and one with him by a most reall vnion of his person with our persons EVEN as u Rom. 6.5 the graffe is one tree with the stocke wherein it is graffed x Ioh. 15.1 the vine and the branches are one plants y 1 Cor. 12.12 the head and the members are one body a Eph. 5.31.32 the husband and the wife are one flesh b Eph 2.20.21 the foundation and the stones builded vpon it are one Temple and to come to the similitude of my Text the bread which was no part of vs because it is without vs when it is eaten becoÌ„meth a part of our flesh and of our bodies So ye see not onely by the similitude of eating but also by all the rest that our vnion with Christ is so necessary that as a man cannot liue without meate nor a house stand without a foundation no more can we liue stand and withstand in the evill day without our vnion with Christ according to his own saying c Ioh. 15.5 I am the vine ye are the branches He that abideth in me and I in him the same briugeth forth much fruit for without me or severed from me ye can doe nothing Ye see also that he is vnited with vs in all that is his i. in both his natures d Eph. 5.30 In his manhood for we are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones And in his Godhead For e 1 Cor. 6.7 he that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit Likewise we are vnited with him in all that is ours i. not only in our soules but also in our bodies as the Apostle saith f 1 Cor. 6.15 Know we not that your bodies are the members of Christ IF THIS had beene diligently and religiously observed there should not be any controversie betweene Papists vs about the manner of the eating of Christ for if to eate Christ be no other thing but to vnite Christ vnto our selues if we know how we are vnited with him we cannot chuse but know how we eate him If we be one with him corporally that is after an outward and corporall manner then we care him corporally But if our vnion with him be spirituall doubtlesse the mouth wherwith we eate him must be a spirituall mouth Papists say that our eating of Christ is both spirituall and corporall That out of the Sacrament it is spirituall And many Papists as g Biel super can Miss lect 8â— Gabriell Biel h â—aâ—â—tan in 3 part q 80. art vlt. Caietan i Cusan epist 7. ad Bohemos Cusanus k Ianseni concordant c 59 Iansenius l Tapper explicat art 15 Lovaniens Tapper m Hessel in lib de commun sub vnaspecie Hesselius and others acknowledge that Christ in this whole Chapter speaketh of the spirituall eating only n Bellarm. de Eucharist lib. 1. cap. 5. Bellarmin with the rest of the Societie and other Popish Doctors grant that wee must take in that sence all the words of Christ from the seven and twentith vnto the one and fiftie verse which now I expound But that from henceforth beginning at the one fiftie verse vnto the end of the Chapter Christ speaketh of the Eucharist which opinion Cusanus refuteth by these words of Christ vers 53. Exceptye eate the flesh of the Son of man and drinke his blood ye haue no life in you saying that o Cusan epist 7. ad Bohem. Necesse estâ— quod si de omnibus sanctis debet verificari qui habent vitamillam divinaÌ„ quod non imelligitur de visibili seu Sacramentali manducatione sed de spirituali if they must be verified of all the Saints which haue this divine life they must not be vnder stood of the visible or Sacramentall but of the spirituall eating Which is true Yet all Papists agree that in the Sacrament Christ is eaten not onely spiritually by faith but also corporally by the mouth of the body in such sort that the true body of Christ entereth into their mouthes and is received into their stomackes If ye aske how they can beleeue such a moÌ„strous Doctrine They answere that Christ affirmeth in this Chapter that we must eate his flesh drinke his blood And that in the Sacrament he hath commaunded vs to eate his body saying Take eate This is my bidy To refuse to eate him were disobedience To aske how is incredulitie like vnto that of the Iewes of Capernaum p Ioh 6 52. Rhennsta who stroue amongst themselues saying HOW can this man giue vs his flesh to eate This say they is the literall sence and this sence they will follow BVT first if the literall sence must be alwayes followed why beleeue they not as the Anthropomorphits did that God hath a body as we haue seeing God saith that he hath eyes eares hands feete c Why shake they not hands with the Arrians and deny Christ to be God because he himselfe said q Ioh. 14.28 My Father is greater then I Certainely if they had been in Nicodemus his place they would not haue asked of Christ r Ioh. 3.4 How can a man be borne when he is old but said vnto him Lord feeing thou hast said that we must be borne againe we beleeue that we shall enter the second time into our mothers wombe and be borne againe And if they had bin standing by the Samaritane Woman they would haue naught her to beleeue that Christ is reall and substantiall water because he called himselfe water May they not also with as good reason expouÌ„d literally that which Å¿ Pro. 9.5 the Wisdome in the Proverbs t Cant. 5.1 the Spouse in Salemons Song u Esa 55.1 God in Esaiah speaketh of the furnishing of their Table with beastes honey milke bread and wine And when God saith x Psal 81.10 Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it y Cant 5.1 eate drinke abundantly if we must alwayes cleaue to the leaues of the words we must prepare our throats our bellies and drinke stoutly till we be drunke SECONDLY if those speeches must be taken allegorically of meate and drinke of another kinde then those which are earthly and vsuall amongst vs it is no offence to aske how we may be made partakers of them To aske how the things which GOD alone doth may be done as how he created the world How