they murmured not which they would as before if he had not resolved them before that to eat his Body and to drink his Blood was nothing but to come to him and believe in him After he had said so they murmured not because they did see some reason in it as it is plainly said This is my Body so it is plainly said These words are spirit that is they must be understood spiritually and not literally But if it be Flesh indeed why do they not satisfy the simple people how they may eat this Flesh in Lent when they forbid them to eat any Flesh they must needs eat it doubtfully and he which doubteth saith James receiveth nothing therefore he which eateth the Mass receiveth nothing I did not alledge the Fathers in my Sermon but if any suspend his assent till they bring in their verdict let him hear them make confession of their belief Augustin saith The Lord doubteth not to say This is my Body when he gave only a Sign or Sacrament of his Body Tertullian saith This is my Body that is a Sign of my Body Ambrose saith The Bread and Wine remain still the same thing that they were Theodoret saith After the Consecration the mystical Signs do not cast off their own nature but abide still in their first substance and form Origen saith The Bread that is sanctified with the word of God as touching the material substance thereof goeth into the Belly and forth again like other Meats Irenaeus saith That it hath two things in it one Earthly and the other Heavenly Cyril saith Our Sacraments avouch not the eating of a Man. Cyprian saith The Lord called Bread made of many grains his Body and called Wine made of many grapes his Blood. Athanasius saith Christ made mention of his Ascension into Heaven that he might withdraw his Disciples from corporal and fleshly eating Chrysostome saith God giveth us things spiritual under things visible and natural And again being sanctified it is delivered from the name of Bread and is exalted to the name of the Lord's Body although the nature of the Bread still remain And because they believe that the Pope cannot err Pope Gelasius setteth too his hand and saith with the rest Neither the substance of the Bread nor nature of the Wine cease to be more than they were before Tell us Papist do not these Fathers speak as plain as we Canst thou avouch Transubstantiation more flatly then they deny it How had this Heresy bin chased if the divel had hatched it in their time Thus the Scriptures on the one side and the Fathers on the other side did so trouble three Arch-papists Biel Tonstall and Fisher that Gabriel Biel saith how the Body of Christ is in the Sacrament is not found in the Canon of the Bible Tonstall saith It had been better to leave every Man to his own conjecture as they were before the Councel of Lateran than to bring in such a question Fisher saith No man can prove by the words of the Gospel that any Priest in these days doth consecrate the very Body and Blood of Christ. Here is fulfilled Out of thine own Mouth I will condemn thee But we will not carry the matter so because a Judg must have two Ears therfore now let them speak Because they cannot tell how the Bread and Wine should be turned into Flesh and Blood and yet appear Bread and Wine still they say it is a Miracle but how do they prove it if they contend it is a Miracle they must shew us a Sign for every Miracle may be seen like all the Miracles of Moses and Christ and the Apostles and therfore a Miracle is called a Sign because it may be seen like a Sign and the word signifieth a Wonder And the Jews craving a Miracle said Shew us a Miracle as though they were taught to judg of Miracles by sight All which doth shew that a Miracle may be seen but here no Miracle is seen Again a Miracle especially in the time of the Gospel is an extraordinary thing but they make this an ordinary thing for if the Bread and Wine be turned into Flesh and Blood then Miracles are as common as Sacraments and so because they have Mass every day they should work Miracles every day Lastly this seemeth strange that Augustin whom they so much honour gathered all the miracles which are written in the Scripture and yet amongst all speaks not of this therefore then it was counted no Miracle but Paul speaks of lying Miracles and this is one of them If they say that Christ can turn Bread and Wine into his Body and therefore he doth First they must prove that he will for they can do many things themselves which they do not because they will not therfore it is an old answer that from Can to Will no argument followeth The Leper did not say unto Christ If thou canst thou wilt but If thou wilt thou canst But the question which they think cannot be answered like their Invincible Navies is this If the Bread be not his Body why doth he call it his Body Resolve this knot and all is clear Mark then and we will loose it as well as we can He saith This is my Body as he saith after which is broken for you Why his Body was not broken before he suffered how did he say then which is broken before it was broken There is no sense of it but this the Bread was broken and signified that his Body should be broken Now as the breaking of the Bread did signifie the breaking of his Body so the Bread must needs signifie his Body but as his Body was not broken indeed when the Bread was broken so the Bread could not be his Body indeed for then his Body should have been broken when the Bread was broken Yet let them object what they can If say they the Bread and Wine be not changed into his Body and Blood why doth he speak so darkly he might have spoken plainer I answer though this seem dark to Papists yet it was not dark to the Apostles they understood his meaning well enough and all the rest for 1215 years after Christ before Transubstantiation was spoken off If the Apostles had not understood his meaning they would not stick to ask him as their manner was until they were acquainted with Christ's phrase whensoever they doubted upon any of his speeches they were wont to come unto him and say Master what is the meaning but they were used to such phrases for it was Christ's manner to teach by similitudes shewing one thing by another which is the plainest manner of teaching and most used in holy Scripture especially in the Types and Shadows of this Sacrament For example Christ calleth the Lamb the Passover in place whereof this Sacrament succeeded and therefore presently after they had eaten the Passover Christ instituted the
when he craved to go unto Zoar as though it were not much which he asked so we mince and extenuate the gifts of God before we receive them and after like them which have a grace for dinner and none for breakfast as though they had their dinners from God and breakfasts of their own Our example did not so although it was but bread which he received yet he was more thankful for bread than many which bury the fouls and fishes and beasts in their belly for if account of all were kept for one that prayeth Give us this day our daily bread a hundred take their bread and meat and sleep too which never pray for it After he had given thanks he brake it and gave unto them and said Take eat for when he had given thanks to God then it was sanctified and blessed and lawful to eat So when thou servest God then it is lawful for thee to use Gods blessings then thou maist eat and drink as Christ did but not before for these things were created to serve them which serve God if thou doest not serve him for them thou encrochest upon Gods blessings and stealest his creatures which are no more thine then thou art his for the good God created all things for good men as the devils possessions are reserved for evil men Therefore as Christ would not break the bread before he had given thanks to the founder so know that there is some thing to be done before thou receive any benefit of God and presume not to use his creatures with more liberty than his Son did which did not eat without giving thanks nor rise again without singing a Psalm It followeth This is my Body Here is the fruit of his Thanks before he prayed that the Bread and Wine might be blessed and they were blessed As Isaac's blessing shewed it self upon Jacob whom he blessed so Christ's blessing appeared straight upon these mysteries for it could not be said before This is my Body because it was meer Bread but now it may be called his Body because his blessing hath infused that vertue into it that it doth not only represent his Body but conveys his Body and himself unto us The efficacie of his blessing is in this Sacrament ever since sanctifying it unto us as well as it did to the Apostles even as Christ's Prayer stayed Peter's Faith after Christ was dead Now you have heard the meaning of these words He took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it you shall see with what a mystical resemblance they unite Christ and us First as Christ in the Supper took Bread to feed us so in his Birth he took our Flesh to save us Secondly as Christ when he had taken the Bread blessed the Bread to make it a Spiritual Food so Christ when he had taken our Flesh powred forth most rich and precious Graces into it to make it Food of Life unto us Thirdly as Christ when he had blessed the Bread brake the Bread so Christ when he had filled his Body with most precious Graces brake it up like a rich Treasure-House his hands by the nailes his back by the stripes his head by the thorns his side by the Spear that out of every hole a River of Grace and Goodness might issue and flow forth unto us Lastly as Christ gave the Bread when he had broken it so Christ by a lively Faith communicateth his Body after he hath Crucified it Hereby we are taught that when we see the Minister take the Bread to feed us we must conceive that Christ being God from everlasting took our Flesh to Save us When we see the Minister bless the Bread to a holy use we must conceive that Christ by uniting the God-head unto it sanctified his Flesh for our Redemption When we see the Minister break the Bread to sustain our Bodies we must conceive that Christ in his Death break his Body to refresh our Souls When we see the Minister give the Bread to our hand we must conceive that Christ as truly offereth himself to our Faith to be received of us Because upon these words the Papists ground their Transubstantiation that is That the Bread is changed into Christ's Flesh and the Wine is turned into Christ's Blood whereby we eat the same Body which dyed upon the Cross and drink the same Blood which issued out of his side That you may see the blindness of this Popish Dream I would have you but mark every word of the Scripture how they make against Transubstantiation that ye may see them slain like Goliah with their own Sword Even as God made Caiphas speak against himself so the Scriptures which Papists and other Hereticks alledge do make against themselves like the Baalites which wounded their own flesh I may liken their alâ—egations to Satan's when he tempted Christ in the Wilderness he alledged but one sentence of Scripture for himself and that Psalm out of which he borrowed it made so plain against him that he was necessitated to pick here a word and there a word and leave out that which went before and skip in the midst and omit that which came after or else he had marr'd his cause The Scripture is so holy pure and true that no word or syllable thereof can make for the Devil or for Sinners or for Hereticks yet as the Devil alledged Scripture tho' it made not for him but against him so do the Libertines Epicures and Hereticks as tho' they had learned at his School Now there is no sentence of the Scripture which the wiser Papists alledge boldly for Transubstantiation but this that Christ said This is my Body by which they may prove as well that Christ is a Door because he saith I am the Door or a Vine because he saith I am a Vine for his sayings are alike Figurative Speeches must not be construed literally but this is Hereticks fashion If you mark you shall see throughout that all the Testimonies which the Papists alledge for their Heresies are either tropes or figures allegories parables allusions or dark speeches which when they presume to expound allegorically or literally without conference of any other Scriptures then they wander and stray from the mark or else it is impossible that the Truth should maintain Error that is that the Scripture should speak for Heresie if it were not wrested and perverted therefore we see that Eve never erred untill she corrupted the Text. Now we will enter the lists with our adversaries and see whether these words do prove that the Bread and Wine are turned into Christ's Body Paul saith Jesus took Bread well then yet it is Bread when he had taken it then he blessed it what did he bless the Bread which he took well then yet it is Bread when he had blessed it then he break it what did he break the Bread which he blessed
as the best Fifthly It will follow that Christ's Sacrifice once for all was not sufficient because we must Sacrifice him again and break his Body and shed his Blood as the Jews crucified him upon the Cross Sixthly It will follow that the Bread being turned into the body of our Redeemer hath a part of our Redemption as well as Christ. Seventhly It will follow that Christ did eat his own Body for all the Fathers say that he did eat the same Bread which he gave to his Disciples Lastly It will follow that a Massing Priest shall be the creator of his Creator because he makes him which made him All these Absurdities are hatch'd of Transubstantiation Thus when men devise Articles of their own while they strike upon the Anvil the Sparks fly in their Face and they are like the man which began to build and could not finish it When I see the Papists in so many Absurdities for entertaining one Error methinks he seemeth like a Collier which is grimed with his own Coals Therefore as in manners we should think of Peter's saying Whether is it meet to obey God or Men So in Doctrines we should think whether it be meet to believe God or Men Thus you have heard the Author of this Sacrament The Lord Jesus the time when it was instituted In the night that he was betrayed the manner how it was instituted after Thanksgiving the end why it was instituted for a remembrance of his Death and the discovery of Transubstantiation one of the last Heresies which Babylon hatch'd Now they which have been Patrons of it before should do like the Father and Mother of an Idolater that is lay the first hand upon him to shorten his Life Thus I end Think what account ye shall give of that ye have heard The end of the First Sermon The Second SERMON ON THE Lord's Supper 1 Cor. XI 25 26 27 28. After the same manner also he took the Cup when he had supped saying This Cup is the New Testament in my blood this do as aft as ye drink it in remembrance of me For as often as ye shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shall shew the Lord's death till he come Wherefore whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink the Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man therefore examine himself and so let him eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. HEre I am to speak of the second service as it were at the Lords Table and of that preparation which is like the Wedding Garment that every man must bring to this Banquet These words are diversly repeated of the Evangelists Here it is said This cup is the New Testament in my Blood. In Mathew and in Mark it is said This cup is my blood of the New Testament This is the first mention which Christ makes of a Testament as though now his promises deserved the name of a Testament because the Seal is set unto them which before this Sacrament was not sealed but like a bare writing without a Signet This word Testament doth imply a promise and therefore teacheth us that the Sacrament doth confirm and strengthen and nourish our Faith because it sealeth the promise which we should believe Here is to be noted that Christ doth not only speak of a Testament but he calleth it a New Testament which words never met together before as though the Law were for the old man to mortifie him and the Gospel for the new man to comfort him again or as if the Old Testament had so wash'd her Face and chang'd her Apparel at Christ's coming that one would not think it the same but a New Testament because even now she was shadowed with a Thousand Ceremonies and now they are gone from her like a mist at the Sun-rising As Christ calleth Love A new Commandement because he renewed it like a Law worn out of memory so he calleth the promise of salvation A new Testament because as it was renewed to Sem and after renewed to Abraham and after renewed to David so now he renewed it again which should be alway new and fresh unto us Every Tsteament is confirmed with blood the Old Testament was confirmed by the blood of Goats and Bullocks and Rams but the New Testament is confirmed by the blood of Christ My blood saith Christ is the blood of the New Testament nay This Cup saith Christ is the New Testament You may see then that they may gather as well out of Christ's words that the Cup is the New Testament as that the Wine is his Blood for Christ saith This Cup is the new Testament as well as he saith this wine is my blood or this bread is my body Beside when Christ speaks of a New Testament he implyeth that the Old Testament is fulfilled the Sacrifices and Ceremonies of the Law did signifie Christ before he came therefore they are fulfilled in his coming no more Sacrifices no more Ceremonies for the Truth is come Sacrifices and Cerimonies are honorably buried with the Priesthood of Aaron let them rest it is not lawful to violate the Sepulchers of the dead and take their bodies out of the Earth as the Witch would raise Samuel out of his Grave Therefore they which retain Ceremonies which should be abrogated Reliques of Judaism or Reliques of Papism may be said to violate the Sepulchers of the Dead and disturb the deceased like the Witch which presumed to raise Samuel out of his Grave This Testament is called a Testament in blood because the Testament and Will of a man is confirmed when the man is dead so Christ confirmed his Testament by his death Moses saith that life is in the blood so the blood of Christ is the life of this Testament If Christs blood had not been shed this Testament made unto us had been unprofitable as the Testament of a Father is unto his Son if the Father should not die but live therefore the Apostle saith without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins Therefore the Testament or Covenant of the remission of our sins is called the Testament in blood the blood of Christ is the Seal of the Testament which we have to shew unto God for the remission of our sins and the two Sacraments are a Seal of that blood to witness that it was shed Again this is a matter regarded in Testaments and Wills to the Testament of him that is dead no man addeth or detracteth but as the Testator made it so it standeth without alteration so should this Testament of Christ and this Sacrament of Christ no man should alter it now he is dead for he which addeth or detracteth hath a curse in Gods Book Therefore Christ when he Instituted this Sacrament commanded Do this that is do as I do least they should swerve one whit from