death of the body And Paull from the death of the soull before they were with any minister He receyued also Abraham into his fauour before he was circumcised Not withstanding we haue commaundemēt to repaire to the minister for absolution for to them belongeth to loose and to bynde to blesse and to curse as appeareth of y e foresayd ensamples For Paul after that he was lyghtened from aboue was directed vnto Ananias to receyue imposition of handes The Leper also was commaunded to shew himself to the priest for a witnes to the congregation And Lazarus after his vprysing was deliuered to Christes disciples which were priestes to be losed stripped of his graue bondes And the patriark Abraham after that he was iustified and accepted into Gods fauour he receiued the sacramēt of circumcisiō as a seale of the rightuousnes which is by faith So albeit Christes body be receiued in faith many tymes without the sacrament yet thou must come vnto his borde because of his commaundement because of his promises and also to receiue spirituall comfort and encrease of fayth Otherwyse thou doest nether eat his body nor drinke his bloud nether shalt thou be partaker of the fruites of his passion whiche appertaine to those only which by receiuing the memorial of his death do shewe them selues not to be vnkinde or forgetfull but obedient thankefull It is not ynough to receiue it spiritually we must receiue it also sacramentally for both receits be required commaunded and Christ him self with his Apostles vsed both for our eruditiō ensample and enstruction Here a question may be demaunded no lesse necessary to be knowen then hard to dissolue and aunswere If Christes be eate only by fayth how is that true which I rehersed out of Chrisostom that we are transformed into Christ and made his body non solum per fidem not only by faith sed reipsa but also really truly and effectually You shall vnderstande welbeloued in the Lord that when we receiue Christ in faith that this receit ioyneth and coupleth vs effectually really vnto Christ. Not only our hearts and mindes but also our bodies and fleshe be purified be washed and clensed by this receit so that Christ our head and Lord dwelleth and abideth in vs hereby and norisheth and fedeth vs continually with faith in his bloud and with the comfort of his holy spirit making vs liuely holy and very membres of his misticall body This is the affect and meaning of Chrisostoms wordes in which he affirmeth that we ar made the body of Christ really truly and affectually Hetherto I haue declared vnto you two matters what it is to eate Christes body and that thre similitudes or properties be necessarely required in this sacrament as I haue proued aswell by euident textes of the Gospell as with the authoritie of many of the elder and best learned fathers of Christes church whose doctrine interpretatiōs I exhort al men to folow Of these similitudes or properties we may gather y t the matter natures of bread wyne do remaine that Christes words This is my body be asmuch to say as this is a sacrament of my body For these similitudes properties must be in the bread wyne in that they be sacramentes after the consecration els they ar no sacramentes For take away the substaunce matter nature of them and what similitude or propertie remayneth ether of nutrition or of vnitie or of conuertion Ergo the assence nature matter and substaunce of bread wyne is not altered not transformed not transubstantiat but do remayne and continewe as before for these properties and similitudes be in the very substaunce inward nature of bread and wyne The scholemen and Papistes to defend and mainteyne their transubstantiation which is the bishop of Romes kingdom the fortresse and castell of all superstition idolatry they make the accidentes of bread and wyne the sensible outward signe the visible earthly terrenal nature of thys sacrament When thou metest with such a scholemaister that teacheth this doctrine and that the bread is not bread stil ▪ aunswer hym thus Sir there must be thre similitudes and properties in the sacrament a similitude of norishyng a similitude of vnitie another of conuersiō But these thre properties and similitudes can not be in the outward shewe of accidentes that is in the color in the fasion in the breadth and roundnes in the quantitie of bread wyne for these thinges nor no other accidentes do not norishe and fede vs be not conuerted into vs nether haue they any propertie or similitude of any vnitie But the bread wyne haue al these similitudes they doe norysh they be turned into our nature and they doe conteyne a similitude of vnitie Therfor bread and wine is the outward and sensible signe the terrenall nature of this sacramēt and the bread is bread styll and the wyne is wyne styll ▪ aswell after the consecration as afore or els they be no sacramentes and yet not withstanding they be named the body bloud of Christ not because of any mutation chaunge or alteration of their natures and substaūces but because of the thre similitudes properties aforsaid Aunswere papisticall teachers on this wyse and with this reason and thei shal not be able to gainsay thee Now let vs enter somwhat further into the text and in into other matters Christ speaking of the cup saith Hic est sanguis noui testamēti This is my bloud of the newe testament or of the new couenaunt What meane these wordes the new testament and what is a new testament Verely a testament is as much to say as a legacy or behest of goodes So S. Austin defineth it Testimentum est quo defertur bono rum hereditas a testament saith S. Austin is a behest legacy of goods And there is an old testament and a new testamēt as Christ teacheth vs here The old testament is a bequest and legacy of temporall goodes and earthly commodities vnto the sinagoge of the Iewes The new testament is a bequest of eternall heauenly enheritaunce through Christ vnto all men both Iewes and Gentils Or otherwyse The old testament is the axe set to the roote of the trees the lawe whiche causeth anger that is the preaching of the lawe against wicked men for lex iusto non est posita the lawe sayth Paul was not ordeined for good men but for euyl and therfore he defineth it in another place to be ministratiō of death and damnation But the new testament is a sermon of Gods mercy and clemēcy of saluation of redemption and rightuousnes through the effusion of Christes bloud who calleth all men and women from superstition to true holynes from shadowes to light from the letter to the spirit and from the workes to the flesh to labour and worke in his vineyard y t is to honor
lyuely holy and very members of thy mistical body Abide alwayes in vs and norishe vs cōtinually with the grace of thy almighty spirit with the fode of thy eternal word with faith in thy holy bloud with the death of thy precious and natural body which thy body is the bread of lyfe to vs the bread of redemption and rightuousnes not really eaten but in y t it was cruelly beatē slain for vs. Teach vs the right vse of this thy sacrament deliuer vs from superstition idolatry ignorauncie with whiche both we our forefathers haue bene snared and fettered in times past Fulfyll these our desyres and petitiōs of thy voluntary goodnes and fre mercy who lyuest and reignest in one glory and equal maiestie with the father and the holy spirit worlde without end So be it ⸫ THE THIRD SERMON vpon the Lordes Supper HEtherto christē hearers I haue furnished Christs supper with two sermōs as it were with two disshes Ther remaineth yet apercel vnspokē of which now I entend to finish I haue declared the meaning theffect the vnderstāding of these wordes of Christ our lord Hoc est corpus meum c. This is my body this is my bloud of the new testament And I haue shewed aswel out of the scripturs as also by the authoritie of the elder and learned fathers of gods church that they are thus much to say This is a sacrament of my body bloud this is a certificat of my fauor a testimony as it wer a broad seal and patent that God my father is recōciled vnto you that he doth embrace that he doth loue you and dwel in you by the grace of his holy spirit for theffusion of my bloud death of my body I tolde you also what it is to eate Christes body that it is not eatē really or corporally for asmuch as it is the meat and sustenaunce not of our bodies and fleshe but of our spirit and inward man which are not fed or norished with any corporal nature or bodely substāce Or to expresse this thing more plainly Christes flesh is panis vitae the bread of life in that it was beaten not in that it is eaten It is the bread of saluatiō of redētion of sanctificatō of rightuousnes of iustification in y t it was cruelly scouged and slayne for vs and not through any corporall any reall or naturall receit As he teacheth vs hymselfe Iohn vi reprouing those whiche vnderstode that he would geue his body to be really and substancially eaten saying Caro non prodest quicunque c. The flesh profiteth nothing it is the spirit that quickeneth that is to say the spirituall receit and eating doeth profite and sanctify you the bodely and corporall eatyng is vnprofitable To eate Christes fleshe and to drinke his bloud is to beleue that the sonne of God concerning his humanitie fleshe was nailed on the crosse that his bloud was let furth for y e expiatiō of our sins for our redemption and rightuousnes to repose vs againe into Gods fauour And this spirituall receit whiche is by faith is so effectuall and of so mighty so vehement an operation that as matrimony maketh man and wife one flesh according as it is written Erunt duo in carne vna So it ioyneth vs vnto Christ re ipsa that is really truly and effectually making vs flesh of his flesh bones of his bones as Paul witnesseth That is liuely holy and very members of his mistical body For Paul doth not speak there only of natural flesh but also of holy flesh and cleane from syn whiche shall arise and be immortall not by the course of nature nor by Adam but through Christ who doth knit and couple and in corporat his chosen to himself by his sacramentes and faith so that they may truly thenceforth say with Paul Viuo iam non ego sed viuit in me Christus I liue yet now not I but Christ liueth in me Gods holy word knoweth no other receit of Christes very body and naturall flesh nether in the Sacrament nor without it Nether any of y e elder fathers of christes church doe acknowledge or teache any other eating Because it is to long a matter to alledge them all I wyll alledge two or thre of the chief and principall and best learned of which y e aduersaries of the truth do brag not a litle S. Austin a famous Godly and learned father of Christes church wryting vpō S. Iohns gospel affirmeth this eating most plainsaying Credere in eū hoc est māducare panē vinū c. To beleue vpō Christ saith this holi father is to eat the bread of life And again qui credit manducat inuisibiliter signa He that beleueth eateth and is fed inuisibly Here percase thou wylt say as Christ spiritually and worthely is receiued by faith of good mē vnto saluation so euil men doe in the sacrament eate his flesh vnworthely and without faith and vnto condemnation By what testimony of the scripture can this be proued that Christes flesh is eaten vnworthely and vnto dampnation Paul sayth quicunque manducauerit panem hunc c. He that eateth of this bread drinketh of this cup of the Lorde vnworthely He doth not say he that eateth Christes body vnworthely or drinketh his bloud vnworthely which alwaies be receiued to sanctification to life saluation but he that eateth this bread that is not common bread not daily bread but sacramētal bread that is ment by the word this Throughout the scriptures this worde vnworthely is neuer ioined with Christes body neuer with his bloud for they do sanctifie their receiuers S. Austin also denieth this destinction Sermone circa sacra feria paschoe wryting thus Qui non manet in Christo in quo non manet Christus proculdubio non manducat eius carnem nec bibit sanguinem etiam si tante rei sacramentum ad iudicium sibi manducet bibit That is to say he that abideth not in Christ and in whome Christ abideth not without doubt he eateth not Christes fleshe nor drynketh not his bloud although he eate and drynke the sacrament of so great a thyng vnto his dampnation This holy father doth teache and confesse here thre things which thynges he teacheth lykewyse in many other places of his bokes One is that euell men do not eate Christes flesh for it is the bread of lyfe and ryghtuousnes Another is that they doe eate the sacrament and the only figure therof Thirdly that they eate the saide only sacrament and the only figure vnto condemnation making them selues as Paul saith gilte of Christes body and bloud whiche they do not receiue because they wyll not beleue These thre most true and Godly lessons of this elder and learned father be a manifest deniall of the transubstantiation and of all corporall reall and naturall receit Let vs
receiue the holy sacrament at thy mouth so it is better to take it in thy haÌ„ds as Christ and his Apostles did and the laite of the primatiue church These matters be touched hetherto but onles God inwardly with his spirit do teache you this Phylosophy and wisdome and transforme your hearts and iudgementes leading you into all truthe my preaching is but lost labour Therfore let vs call vpon the name of God with praier and inuocatioÌ„ for his help and holy spirit Let vs pray for the vniuersall company of Christes church throughout all Realmes and dominions whersoeuer they dwel namely for the congregation of Englande and Irelande desiring the eteâ—nall God of his fatherly mercy to coÌ„tinew strengthen both them and vs in the confession and obedience of his worde and truthe Also for al infideles and vnbeleuers that God may turne their hartes to beleue vpon his sonne Iesus Christ our Lorde for S. Paul vnto Timothe commaundeth vs to pray for all men For the kinges maiestie a prince of moste excellent hope that vertue and knowledge may dwell in his noble hart For these thinges for the remission of our sinnes and for Gods helpe hereafter in all our workes words thoughtes I shall desier you to say a praier after me ⸫ The Praier O Eternall God who art the author of al truth didst ordeine this holy sacrameÌ„t of bread and wyne by thy only begotten son in the roum and place of the easterlambe which they of y e old law did eaâ— yerely for a memory of their deliueraunce from Egipt from Pharao by thy mighty power in hope of the comming of Christ whom Iohn the christener Paul do call our easter lambe that we of the new lawe receiuing this new sacrameÌ„t shold reserue thy louing kindnes in continuall remembraunce in that thou hast sent thy only son to become womaÌ„s seed to breake the serpentes head to deliuer vs from the power of the deuill and from the bondage of syn by his crosse and by theffusion of his most honorable bloud Here our praiers and supplications O merciful father and send vs thy syerit from thy holy place to perswade al men women to celebrate thy supper after the example of Christ and of his Apostles disciples and stablish the hartes of the people against false teachers of priuat masses and of supersticious crossing with the contemplatioÌ„ of Christes ensample with the vse of the Oriental church and with the knowledge of thy holy scriptures y t we may be mete gestes for thy table and be partakers of all the benefites of Christes death and passion to whom with the and the holy spirit â—e al honor glory prayse now euer So be it THE SECOND SERMON vpon the Lordes Supper IN my last Sermon welbeloued in the Lord where as I began to declare vnto you y e Lordes supper which was a part and membre of the Gospel and thorow plenty of matter I did not ende the same now occording to my promes I wyll shew you what a Sacrament is and howe Christes body and bloud be present in his holy supper Thus much remaineth yet to be spokeÌ„ of Take eat saith Christ this is my body And likewyse of the Cup he saith Drinke of it euery one For this is my bloud of the newe Testament shed for many to the forgiuenes of sinnes I say vnto you I will not drinke henceforth of this fruit of the vine tyll that day when I shall drinke it new with you in my fathers kingdom And when they had song praises they weÌ„t out into mouÌ„t Oliuet That I may declare this heaueÌ„ly matter to Gods honour and finde out suche lessons and eruditioÌ„ as may be mete for this audience and for your edifying and enstruction which be assembled here to serue God in prayer and hearyng his word let vs aske Gods help and his holy spirit for the whiche I shall desier you to say the Lordes prayer after me Our father which art in heauen c. There is no matter in the holy scripture welbeloued in the Lord more necessary to be knowen and to be discussed then these wordes of our sauiour Iesus Christ This is my body this is my bloud of the new Testament There is no text which hath bene so abused and racked to maintein superstition and diuers purposes And where as Christ ordeineth here a sacrament of vnitie to knit vs together in peace amitie and loue Inimicus homo super senâ—inauit rirania that is the deuill who goeth about to depraue all Godly thinges hath sowen so many tares and such pestiferous opinions and hurtfull sedes and dampnable doctrine in mens harts by his ministers the Papistes the questionistes scholemen the Anabaptisâ—es that nothing nowe is a matter of more contention of more debate strife variaunce not only betwene man and man but also betwene coÌ„tries and kingdomes because euery man is wedded stubbornly to his own iudgement and where as they should reforme their opinions and submit their iudgementes to Gods scriptures as to the touchstone which trieth good from euil they rather do rack wrest Gods word making it a mariners slop or a nose of wax bowyng it vnto euery purpose Therfore I thought it good to vtter my knowledge which is but smal in this matter not to teach such as be enstructed alredy rype in knowledge of whom I am desirous to lerne my self but partly for their sakes and eruditioÌ„ which be vnlearned of y e laite that thei mai know how to prepare themselues to come to Gods borde this holy time of Easter at other times partly also to testifie professe my conscience and faith in this matter Many doe affirme and thinke these wordes of Christ this is my body to be a lyke phrase a like kynde and a lyke maner of speche as when he sayth Ego sum vitis I am the vyne I am the dore I am the way I am the bridgrom They be no like phrases but far diuers and different For the vine is no sacrament nether the dore nor the wey nor the bridgrom be no sacramentes but metaphores and borowed speches The bread of which Christ said this is my body the mine which he affirmeth to be his bloud be not bare and naked metaphores as y e aforesaid phrases are but they be sacramentes of his honorable body comfortable bloud as both the Occidental and OrieÌ„tal the Greke church al writers both new olde do acknowledge confesse with one voyce For al christendom haue always agreed in this point Therfore the nature of a sacrameÌ„t being thorowly knoweÌ„ examined tried it will teach you y e meaning of Christes words how he is present in his supper What is a sacrament I wil not deuise a discription of mine own head nor shew a fantasy of mine own braine I will folowe in this matter the sentence iudgementes
and glorifie God by wel doing in hope of plenteous reward Wherfore S. Paul vnto the Corinthians nameth it the ministration of the spirit and of rightuousnes And he compareth the first testameÌ„t to Agar to AbrahaÌ„s bond-woman the secoÌ„d he likeneth to Sara his lawfull wyfe and a fre woman signifying hereby that the one doth gendre vnto bondage thother to eternal life And both testamentes do remaine yet be effectual at this day The old testameÌ„t is not disanulled in euil meÌ„ but in good men For such as liue in sin and ignorauÌ„cie of God and do measure iudge holines by outward ceremonies and suche as do gape gredely after eartly thinges such as be Iulianites and without conscience and do thinke mortal corpo mortal animo all such belong to the old testament and be yet vnder the stroke of the axe vnder the lawe whiche causeth anger And from the beginning of y e world good men as Adam Enoch Sem Noe Abraham and Dauid which in all their ceremonies had an eye to Messias and beleued in Christ to come were of y â— new testament and vnder grace Therfore if thou wilt come to Christes table beware that thou be not of the old testameÌ„t that is defiled with syn and iniquitie with out repentaunce and an vniust getter and retainer of worldly coÌ„modities For Christ calleth his table the bloud of the new testament The nature of this table of Christes bloud is such that if thou presume to come vnto it vnworthely w t a bely corrup with naughty humors y t is with synne and iniquitie it will leade thee vnto thy destruction as it did Iudas not of y e nature of it but through thi great default who dost not try thy selfe before thou comest Yea if we be defiled with sinne we be no partakers of these deinties we do not drink y e bloud of life Of these few wordes which I haue spoken in this matter you may gather both what y e testameÌ„ts be also how they do differ But percase you are desirous to lerne more plainly what is y e meaniÌ„g of these words this is my bloud of y e newe testameÌ„t Verely these words be asmuch to say as this is a sacrameÌ„t of my blud which was let furth shed for y e remissioÌ„ of sins this is another bloud a diuerse from y e bloud of the old law Their bloud was their sacramentes in which the old christians which did perteine to y e newe lawe did drinke Christ through fayth The rok was their bloud their paschal lambe their sacrifices of goates oxen shepe to which euil men came aswel as good but the euil did not drink Christes blud but only y e figure therof because it is of y e new law thei were of y e old law But the old christiaÌ„s that is they which in drinking of the rock in eating their lambe and other sacrifices had an eye a faith in Christ to come did eate his body and dronke his bloud as truly as really as effectually as we do For they were of the new testament as wel as we and therfore they dranke the very spiritual bloud of the new testament in that they beleued vpon the sede promysed HereuÌ„to Paul beareth witnesse saying our fathers did all eate of one spirituall meat and did all drinke of one spirituall drinke For they dranke of that spiritual rock that folowed theÌ„ which rock was Christ. And the Psalmographe saith Panem â—e coelo dedit eis c. That God gaue them bread from heauen and the bread of aungels which bread is Christ as he teacheth vs himself saying Amen amen dico vohis non Moises dedit c. Verely verely I say vnto you Moises did not geue you bread from heauen but my father c. That he is the bread whiche his fathher gaue them he declareth saying I am y e liuing bread which came downe from heauen Whereof it is euideÌ„t that the old christians of whiche Paul speaketh in the text afore rehearsed did from the foundation of the world eat Christes flesh and drinke his bloud as really and effectually as we doe now But the vngodly whiche were before his birth dyd nether eat his flesh nor drinke his boud as Christ himself teacheth vs saying Patres vestri manducaueruÌ„t manna mortui sunt your fathers saith Christ did eate Manna and be dead Note that he saith not our fathers but your fathers as if he had said your fathers which would not beleue the Prophets but were persecutors of them and bloud sokers as you be they did eate manna that is the sensible sacrameÌ„t mortui sunt and yet they were not partakers of the fruites of my death but died eternally But the old fathers whiche before my incarnation beleued in me to come did not only eate y e sensible signe and outward sacrament of Manna but also tasted the dainties of my honorable body and bloud whiche are the bread of life and redemption they died not but do lyue therby For of such Paul sayth that they dranke of the spiritual rock But because you shal not thynke that I do wrest the scripturs to proue that the old christians did eate Christes fleshe and drinke his bloud in their sacramentes hear what the Godly and learned byshop S. Austin saith to this matter He vpon the sixt chapter of S. Iohns Gospel speaking of the old fathers eating ours by occasion expouÌ„ding there the text of Paul affirmeth euidently that which I haue cought saying Omnes eandem escam spiritalem manducauerunt spiritalem â–ª vtique eandem nam corporalem alteram quia illi manna nos aliud spiritalem vero quam nos sed patres nostri non patres illorum quibus nos similes sumus noÌ„ quibus illi similes fueruÌ„t Which wordes in effect be thus muche to saye They all saith this learned and elder fafather speaking of the the old christiaÌ„s did eate one spirituall meat They dyd eate one spirituall meat not one corporall meat for Manna was theyr corporal meate that is their outward and terrenall sacrament But another thynge that is bread and wyne is our corporall meat and our Sacrament They dyd eat thesame spirituall meat that is Christes body which we do eate but our fathers as Paul saith that is such Godly men as we are like vnto did eate this spiruall meat to their health and saluation but your fathers whiche were oppressors of the Prophetes whose wayes you do folow did not eat Christes body but only the corporall meat of manna y e figure sacrament therof to their death and condemnation and therfore of them Christ saith Mortui sunt that they died meaning the second death This is S. Austins doctrine of the Sacrament not only vpon the forsaid chapter but also in his boke which he writeth De vtilitate verae poenitentiae agendae how
profitable a thing it is to do worthy penaunce and in his .xix. boke against Faustus Here you will say S. Austyn in his preface vpon Psal. 73. doth extoll our sacramentes aboue the sacramentes of the old law for diuers causes If they did receiue Christes body and bloud in their sacraments how is this true Wherein are ours better I answer our sacrameÌ„ts are better then theirs not of them selues not of their own nature of their own dignitie and worthines but because of the fulnes of time because the face of Iesus Christ is nowe more clerely discouered and knowen in the new Testament Their sacramentes as S. Austin saith in the aforesaid place promittebant saluatorem did promise Christ that is did shadowe figure and preache him to come ours dant saluteÌ„ do geue helth by Christ that is do shew him to our eies as it wer vpoÌ„ a scaffold alredy come Thei wer vnder the yoke of the law vnder the letter vnder many rydles vnder figures shadowes as children but we are vnder grace vnder the spirit vnder the veritie vnder fewer rites and vnder a more excelleÌ„t testameÌ„t as coheyres with Christ. God spake to them by Patriarkes and holy Prophetes and by other meanes as it pleased him But now is the tyme which the Patriarkes desired to see the acceptable and golden time the daies of saluatioÌ„ in which God speaketh both to the Iewes and to the Gentils by Iesus Christ his own word and wisdome as Paul declareth for these causes S. Austin in the aforesaid place in other places preferreth our sacraments and rites of the new testament to the old law not for their owne dignite for their own excellencie and worthines nor thorowe any transubstantiation Rede his preface aforesaid and there thou shalt finde these causes whiche I haue rehersed and no other Notwithstanding the old christians did drinke Chrstes bloud and eate his fleshe yet they I say had another bloud that is a diuers sacrament from vs. They had a paschal lambe a rocke y e bloud of oxen and of shepe in their sacrifices we haue wyne in stede of theÌ„ For seing the testamentes be chaunged and the priesthod and lawe is altered therfore the sacramentes also be newed and chaunged This saith Christ of wyne This is my bloud of the new testament that is a new sacrament of my bloud a certificat of my last wyll and testament this is a testimony as it were the brode Seale and patent of my beneuolence of my clemeÌ„cy and fauour towardes you And this similitude declareth very aptely and fitly how his body and bloud are present in his holy supper The body and bloud of Iesus Christ be in his holy supper as thy house with thy gardeÌ„ and other coÌ„modities is in thy lease whiche thou hast by the Colledge seale of EatoÌ„ or of Wyndsore Or as thy liuing is in thy patent which thou hast confirmed ratified with the broad seale of EnglaÌ„d The wordes of Christes supper be as it were a lease or patent The sacrament is as it were his broad seale his stampe to certify the weake fayth that God the father doeth loue and fauour thee and dwell in thee by the grace of his holy spirit for his sake Thy house and garden be not locally not really nor corporally in thy lease but effectually and sufficiently for thy profit and commoditie So Christes body and bloud be in bread wyne This is no new similitude of mine owne making for I tolde you that I woulde speake nothing of mine own head it is the similitude of Gregory Nazianzen an excellent clarke and a holy father of the greke church He .xii. C. years agon writing against the opinion whiche is called now the Donatistes opinion vsed this similitude and affirmeth all sacramentes to be seales S. Austin also in his booke which he wryteth vpon the salutation of Pauls Epistle to the Romaines calleth them Sacrosancta signacula that is holy seales But thou wilt say these be hygh matters and aboue my capacitie tell me how I shall prepare my selfe to receyue this Sacrament Many comming to the Lordes table doe misbehaue them selues and so doe the lokers on in that they worship the sacrament with kneling and bowing their bodies and knocking their brestes and with eleuation of their handes If it were to be eleuated and shewed vnto the standers by as it hath bene vsed Christ would haue eleuated it aboue his head He deliuered it in to the handes of his Disciples bydding them to eat it and not to holde vp their handes to receiue it and not to worship it and he deliuered it to them sitting and not kneling If ether the bread or the wine wer to be heaued vp or to be reserued haÌ„ged vp in a pix as it hath ben abused if it were to be honored of y e receiuers or to be kneled vnto of y e lokers on vndoubtedly Christ would haue left vs som coÌ„maundement so to do or els haue taught vs by his ensample or at the lest he wold haue left som promes of reward annexed to this outward reuerence and homage or some threatning and punishment for such as wil not worship it I verely for there is nothing laudable nothing ryghtuous nothynge honest or acceptable in Gods sight nothing to be done for the which he hath not left in his scriptures ether some commaundemeÌ„t or some promes of reward or some exaÌ„ple By his promises by his thretnings by his precepts and through the examples of Godly men women we know good from euill we know what is to be done what is to be left vndone what is to be praised and what is to be dispraised what delighteth and pleaseth and what discontenteth and displeaseth the diuine maiestie Gods boke is no vnper fight worke but a pefect boke coÌ„teining all thinges to be done the whole duty of a christen man and sufficient doctrine to enstruct a gods man in al good workes and to make him perfight as Paul wytnesseth wryting to Timoth. and he must nedes accuse God ether of ignorauncy or of folly or of negligence which saith that he hath left any thing vntouched vndeclared which concerneth a christen mans office and is nedefull and necessary vnto saluation All such thynges be expressed in Gods boke for in the wryting of the Prophetes he requireth the obseruation of his lawe only concerning religion and he threâ—â—eth great plages and greuous punishmentes to those that do ad any thing to his word that is to those which teache any other doctrine or any worke to be necessary vnto saluation which is not coÌ„meÌ„ded in his word But nether Christ nor any of the Prophetes nor his disciples do geue vs any example to honor the sacrameÌ„t for they kneled not nether held vp their handes but sat at the table as the text witnesseth Nether doth God promise any benefit ether spiritual or temporal to such as
markettes and fayres nether with grayne nor with cattell which is thy vocation and calling If thou be a Butcher and wilt not sell thy Beues Muttons and Veales at the Kynges price or for reasonable vantage but killest them without effusion and lettyng fourth the bloud that they may waye more to the poysonyng of the eaters If thou be a baker and doest breake the kynges assyse and statute hurtyng many to benefyt thy self If thou be a Persone hauing cure of soull and yet doest nothyng therfore but fede thyne owne body and lyue idely and doest not only not preache thy self but also when other preache to thy paryshioners thou defacest them behind their backes and doest discredite theÌ„ asmuch as lieth in thee as I knowe one was defaced not long ago whiche preached holsome and fruitfull doctrine euen in this place If I saye thou be such a one presume not to come to Christes banket lest in his steade Sathan enter in to thee as he did into Iudas y â— be expelled into vtter darknes Presume not to come without thy wedding garment without a renewed hart in malice and out of charitie in synne iniquitie Be afraid if thou be an extorcioner an oppressor of others for thyne own commoditie if thou be a flatterer a pyke thanke a tale bearer a spy or an instrument vnto oppression and iniquitie if thou be a sower of debate strife and variaunce if thou be a sclaunderer that is an yl speaker of goodmen For it is lawfull to say that an euill man is an euill man and that an oppressor is an oppressor if thou hast admonished hym and he not amend this is no sclaunder Yea I say vnto you that it is flattery it is greuous sinne to speake well of such an euil man for it is sinne to lye on the deuil according to the common sayinge Wo worth them sayth the Prophet Esay that call euill good and good euil which maketh darkenes light and light darkenes that maketh sower sweet and sweet sower wo be vnto them We must blesse euill men that is pray for their amendement and reformation so Christes commaundement is to be taken whiche he gaue his disciples 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blesse them that curse you â–ª that is pray for them for they corrupt the text which turne it speake wel of theÌ„ onles they expound well speaking to be praier to God for their conuersion We may not speake well of them whiche be notable euel for we may not ly we may not flatter lest that curse of the Prophet fall vpon vs which saith wo be to you â–ª y t call euil good c. Therfore let vs say y e truth of such euil men that shame and report may cause them to amend and that other may be afrayd to commit the same faultes and to follow their vngracious example If we praise euil men besydes that we ly we encourage other to folow them we imbolden them to go forward in wickednes and to reioyse in synne we do breake Gods commaundement which saith Non dices falsum testimoniuÌ„ thou shalt be no false witnes But of this in aniwyse beware that thou do not report euil of those which be Godly For as the other is flattery and lying so this is sclaunder and railing and against the aforesaid precept and the Prophet also crieth wo vnto such that call good euill and lyght darkenes and sweet sower Before thou comest to Gods â—ord examyn try thy self whether thou be gilty of any of these thinges afore rehersed of oppression of flattery of malice of flaunder of lieng of enuy of batemaking Folow the councell of S. Paul iudge thy self that thou be not iudged of the Lord. And as housholders and maisters of colleges do cal their stewardes bowsers to an accompt and audit to know what they haue receiued and what they haue expended and laid forth for euery thing what is not receiued and what remayneth still in their haÌ„des so do thou make thi self a iudge ouer thine own conscieÌ„ce call thy soul to giue an accompt of al his thoughtes call thine eies to a reconing for all their wanton and vnchast lokes examyn thine eares whether they haue bene corrupted with flattery with detraxion or with euyll counsell call thy handes to accounpt for couetously takyng that which was not thyne aske accoumpt and a reconyng of thy tongue what othes what slaunders what brags what baudry what euill councell what heresy and what pestiferous doctrine he hath sowed and vttered For if thou do not proue and examyn thy selfe according to Pauls counsell but come with a defyled conscience to Gods bord thou doest not eate Christes body whiche is the bread of life and is receiued only vnto health and saluation but thou doest eate Panem mortis the bread of death the bread of iudgement the bread of dampnation and art gylty as Paul sayth of the body and bloud of Christ because thou doest abuse defyle and despise the Sacrament therof But to returne to the text S. Mathewe wryteth that our Sauiour Christ gaue thankes and that after thaÌ„kes rendred he brake bread and distributed it to his Disciples Where as Mathew and Luke saye that He gaue thankes Marke hath these wordes He toke bread and blessed and brake it Here we say that to blesse is to geue thankes to God for all his innumerable benefites and namely for our redemption through Christ. No saith the Papist to blesse is to make a signe of the Crosse on the Sacrament And to defende this interpretation they alledge S. Pauls authoritie who saith is not y e cup of blessing whiche we blesse partaking of the bloud of Christ I aunswer The Greke worde in these two textes which they alledge for their crossing is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which worde cannot signifie to crosse For wher as Paul termeth it the cup of blessing which we blesse y e greke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And for the englishe he blessed and brake the bread Marke saith in the greke tongue in which he wrote his Gospell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which word I saye can not signifie to make a signe of the crosse For the Grekes neuer vsed it in such signification and the Orientall and Greke churche neuer toke it so nether do we read that the Greke church vsed euer any such gesture vpoÌ„ the sacrameÌ„t Then what is y e meaning of these words he blessed and brake the bread You shall vnderstande that to blesse is a word of many significations and many tymes vsed in the scriptures and yet throghout the whole Bible it doth neuer signifie to make a signe of y e crosse I do not mean nor affirme y t it is euill to make a crosse on thy forehead but to teach that Christ crossed the sacrament and to defend crossing to be a necessary ceremony to be vsed at the
that whiche you haue not done to one of these litle ones you haue not done to me He procedeth further and bringeth in Peter against those which do worship God after their owne fantasies saying Discamus itaque Philosophari christum prout ipse vult venerari Let vs learne this Philosophy saith Chrisostome that is to honor Christ as he hath willed vs to honor him For that honor is most acceptable to him whiche is honorable or worshipfull whiche he doth esteme and not which we doe imagin For Peter thought no lesse but that he honored Christ when he forbad hym to wash his fete notwithstanding he did not honour hym herein but rather did dishonour and disworshyp hym So doe thou worship and honour him with pitie liberalitie towardes the pore These be the wordes of Chrisostome in his homily against such as come vnworthely to Gods misteries in which he teacheth vs that to honour Christes body is to glorifie hym by doyng of good workes For this cause he toke vpon hym his body and became a naturall man of womans seede as it is writtten God hath raysed vp a horne of health vnto vs in the house that is of the stock and kindred of his seruaunt Dauid and why It foloweth that we being deliuered out of the handes of our ennemies should serue and worship hym without fear all the daies of our lyfe in holines rightuousnes before hym I haue declared two wayes how Christes body and bloud are to be worshiped One way is by faith in his bloud by geuing thankes to him for his incarnation and cōming and by offring him frankynsence myr that is by cōfessing him to be very God and very naturall man Another way to honor it is to serue hym in holines and rightuousnes and to exercise in earth y ◠workes of mercy towardes the pore The elder fathers vsed no other worship toward Christes body before Honorius the third byshop of Rome He first commaūded bread and wyne to be worshiped with eleuation of handes Anno post Christum 1226. lib. 2. Decret titul de celebra missarum For the space of a thousand yeares there was no such custome The papistes obiect here that the body of Christ is present vnder the forme of bread to be honored If saith the Papistes a man say vnto thee this is my right hand or this is a stone thou beleuest him God saith this is my body not this is a figure of my body or this doth signifie my body and he that eateth my flesh hath life not he that eateth a figure of my flesh and we doe not beleue him but do make of sugar salt and of chese chalke I aunswer Christ doth not say this is trasformed this is turned this is transubstantiat into my body nether that the nature and substaunce of wine doth discontinue or is excluded as you wold force the wordes Here resteth all the matter how this word est is to be vnderstand whiche is neuer taken in that sence in whiche they would take it here Throughout the Byble no transubstantiation is expressed by this word nor by no other phrase the scripturs speake of no such mutatiō But the other phrase this is for this is a figure is commen and dashed euery where in the scripturs The rock saith Paul was Christ that is a figure of Christ. He nameth him also y e easterlambe whiche was but a figure of hym He is called a stone the worde of God is named seed a swerd a kay a lanterne God is called our banner our castell Ihon the christiner is named a burning candell and he nameth the lawe securim an axe which is set at the rote of the trees which al be figuratiue speches And the elder fathers do so expound this text they confesse and teache Christe to speake here figuratiuely Christ saeith Tertullian who was but .210 yeare after Christ and .13 hundred yeares agone he lib. 4. against Marcion who said that Christ had no natural body but only aparant flesh and a fantasticall body saith thus Christ takyng bread and dealyng it to his disciples made it his body saying This is my body that is a figure of my body And of these wordes he contriueth an argument against Marcian in this wyse But the bread can not be a figure of it if Christ had no true body For a vayne thyng or fantasy can take no figure Lo how this auncient father expounded these wordes S. Austin also taketh Christes wordes in lyke maner saying thus in hys preface vpon the third Psalme He admitted Iudas vnto the maundy wherin he deliuered to his Disciples the figure of his body and bloud And Ambrose in his boke of Sacramentes speaking of the cup sayth that we drynke there Similitudinem pretiosi sanguinis the similitude of his precious bloud But though they say that Christes aforesayd wordes be a figuratiue speache they doe not teache bread and wyne to be bare and naked metaphors but holy Sacramentes hauyng many promyses annexed vnto them for which promises the visible signes be named Christes body and bloud and not for any mutation of their natures or substaunces Therfore albeit thou hast bene led and made to beleue in tymes past that this doctrine is newe learnyng yet thynke not so hereafter It is the doctrine of Christ the fayth of y e old fathers the cōfession of innumerable martirs which haue ratified it w t the losse of their liues in hope of plentuous reward hereafter in y e kingdome of god That we may haue grace to beleue y e truth cōcerning this holy sacramēt to vse it aright to refuse all false doctrine that these wordes which I haue spokē in your outward eares may sinke into your heartes mindes let vs call on the name of Christ who ordeined this sacrament with inuocation and praier The praier O Christ the son of God our sauing health who dost affirme bread to be thy body wine to be thy bloud because of certain properties and similitudes the nature notwithstanding and the matter of the signes remayning and cōtinuing heare our praiers and supplicatiōs and graūt vnto vs for thy mercifull promises these our requestes As our outward man and naturall flesh is norished with bread and wyne so of thy clemency noryshe fede our inward man with the foode of thy swete flesh And as bread and wyne are made of diuers graines of the iuice of many grapes neuertheles they are but one lofe and one cup of wyne so worke thou in vs one heart and mynde knyt vs in a continuall amitie Godly loue vnitie by the operatiō of thy holy spirit And as the natures of the signes are turned and conuerted into our nature so do thou conuert turne and transforme vs into thy nature making vs thy body holy flesh of thy flesh not only by fayth but also really and effectually that is
the rods of Aaron the enchaunters were transubstantiat into serpents nether wer the riuers of Egipt transubstantiat into bloud We doe neuer reade throughout the scriptures of any suche mutatiō in any of Gods miracles from the beginning of the worlde Therfore when Ambrose Ciprian or any other of the old fathers doe saye that the nature of bread wyne is chaunged they do not exclude their substaunces and very essence which they teach to remaine after the consecratiō as I haue proued before but thei speake of a mutation of the naturall properties of bread wyne wherby they are no longer common bread wyne but through Gods power and benediction sanctified holy sacramentes chering vs with the comfortable promyses whiche God our father hath made vnto vs for the effusion of his sonnes bloud and for the death of his body The elder fathers do acknowledge confesse and teache no other mutation of y e outward signes As for Theophilact he is not of authoritie to stablish any article for he reproueth the Latyn church for beleuing the procession of the holy spirit and he was the yeare after Christ .1058 In the tyme of Lanfranke Gerengary when the byshops of Rome toke vpon them first stoutly to maintain and to publysh the doctrine of transubstantiatiō which before time was scarfly heard of Albeit his wordes touching the sacrament doe not disagre with the doctrine of the elder fathers if they be well construed When he denieth the bread to be a figure he speaketh of a vaine bare figure for so he expoundeth himself vpō Marke denying that it is figura tantum a figure only whiche we do confesse and graunt But he saith that the bread is transelemented transformed He saith also wryting vpon the said chapter of Iohn that we are transformed transelemented in to Christ and almost all the elder fathers do say the same And yet our natures remaine we ar not transubstantiat we are not made Christes reall flesh but vndefiled and holy flesh of his flesh and suche as shall aryse and be immortal with him for he doth knit cople and incorporat vs to him selfe by his sacramentes Therfore as this word transformed doth proue no mutation of our substaūce no more doth it proue the substaunce of bread and wyne to discontinue There remaineth yet one reason with which they defend their transubstantiation vnto which I thinke necessary to make an aunswer forsomuch as it is commonly in al the mouthes both of lay and ecclesiastical persons which suppose Christes body to be eaten really naturally They say if we doe not eate Christes flesh really why doth S. Paul make such as receiue vnworthely giltie of the Lords body and bloud Why doth he teach such to eat and drinke their own damnation because they make no difference of the Lordes body These wordes do not proue y t Christes body is eaten of vs really or substantially For Paull speaketh there of vnworthy receiuers which do not eate Christes body which is the bread of lyfe but the only figure Sacrament therof and they do eate the sayd only sacrament and only figure to their iudgement and condemnation as I haue proued This is not my doctryne but the doctrine of Hierom Ambrose of S. Austin of Prosper and of Bede as is declared in the beginning of this lesson The contemp of Gods sacrament not y e contract or touching of christes reall body which is now in heauen bringeth dānation causeth this giltines For as he which violētly plucketh down the kings maiesties armes or breaketh the kinges great seale or clippeth his coyne cōmitteth an offence against the kinges owne persone so they which abuse the sacrament of Christes body and bloud presuming to come to it as to common bread not reconciling them to their brethren nor sanctifying them selues to god such presumers and vnthankefull persons do offend against Christ himselfe be giltie of his body and bloud that is of hys death and doe eate their owne damnation To come to Gods holy sacrament vnreuerently without the wedding garment without any examination of thy lyfe past without geuing thankes to God the father for the dishonour and death of his sonne this is Non diiudicare corpuus domini to make no difference of the Lordes body For Paul nameth here the sacrament the Lordes body euen as Christ did when he said of bread wine this is my body bloud For as boeth Cyprian and S. Austin and other elder fathers do teach sacramēts haue the names of y e very thinges which they do represēt signify w t certen similitudes The aforsaid word of thapostle cannot be vnderstād otherwise for he speaketh of vngodly mē which do not eat christs body but the only figure to condemnation He vseth a like phrase in the beginning of the said chapter where he saith that euery mā praying or prophecying with a couered head dishonesteth shameth his head y t is Christ referring to Christ an offence done to mans head because it is a sacrament of Christ. After a like sort necligent and dome pastors whiche doe contemne their flock and neglect the honorable office of preaching ar pronounced of y e prophet Ezechiel giltie of their bloudes which do perishe for lack of enstruction and teaching That vnworthy receiuers are giltie of Christes body and bloud through a like contemt and dissolutnes presumption and neglygence not through any naturall any corporall or real eating of his flesh S. Ambrose declareth expounding Paules aforesaide wordes as it foloweth Dabūt poenas mortis domini quia pro illis occisus est qui eius beneficium irritum ducunt they shalbe promysed for Christes death saith this holy father because he was slaine for them and they do set light by his benefit He doth interprete suche to be giltie of the Lordes body which do not eate his flesh that is the fode of life as I haue proued before but the only figure therof to the condemnation of their contempt presumption and vnkindnes Therfore no transubstantiation can be proued of this place for the defēce wherof they do most shamefully wrest and depraue not only the scriptures but also the elder fathers And to impresse thesame depely into the hartes of al men womē they haue with holden from the laytie many yeares Christes cup for feare as they say of sheading his bloud of which I will speake a few wordes in your gentil eares then I wyll conclude and finishe this matter Christ our maister commaundeth all men and women to drinke of his cup which commaundemēt the Apostles obserued as long as they liued making no prouise nor tradition to the contrary And the vniuersall church folowed and obserued religiously the said precept for the space of a thousād yeres after Christ as many be proued by plaine testimony of auncient wryters For how with such handes saith Ambrose vnto Theodosius the Emperour wilt
thou take the Lords holy body How darest thou drinke of y e cup of his precious bloud These wordes proue that the teÌ„poraltie in this holy fathers time receiued the sacrameÌ„t in both kindes that in their haÌ„des S. Hierom saith priestes which do consecrat the sacrament deliuer the bloud of Christ to the people Chrisostom also obserued in his time this precept at Constantinople For he sayth the priest doth not eat one part and the laitie another part after the maner of the old lawe but vnto all is distributed one body one cup. And Gregory surnamed the great after whose tyme syncere doctrine began to decaie witnesseth that this custome was kepte in the Romain churche in his daies saying you haue learned what the bloud of the lambe is not by hearsay but by drynking it Yea fiue hundred yeares after his death Gelasius bishop of Rome 1118 yeares after Christ made a decree for the confirmation of this custome because then some presumed to take vnder one kynd Nether can it be proued that the laytie were restrained from the Cup of Christ before the rayne of Friderike the first surnamed Barbarossa to whiche restraint notwithstandyng the Orientall churche wold neuer consent but vse kyndes alwayes Yet the Papistes would make it a tradition of the Apostles where as in very dede to cause men to haue an honorable opinion of priuate masses and of their transubstantiation they them selues of late dayes haue taken on them to forbyd that whyche Christ commaunded that whiche the Apostles folowed that whiche the vniuersall churche obserued from tyme to tyme as is declared And because they would not be counted presumptuous for makyng this restraint they cast many perils and daungers whiche myght folowe if the Cup were made common to all men and women Dyd not Christ who fortold many thynges to hys Disciples who is the wysdome of God the father forsee these peryls and daungers If he dyd forsee them why dyd not he make a restraint Or at the least commaunde a restraynt to be made afterward Yea Christ of the bread speaketh not so vniuersally take ye eate ye But concernynge the Cup he geueth a generall precepte drynke ye of thys all as forseing this restraint and enstructing men aforehand not to obey it when it should come Yet some are so impudeÌ„t and so drouned in ignorauncie that they dare defend the one kind by Christes example and the Apostles They say that Christ at the toune of Emaus distributed but bread only to a couple of his disciples it is not mencioned that suche as embraced the felowship of the Apostles receiued any wine the text saith that thei coÌ„tinued in breaking of bread Therfore as it is a laudable custome to vse both bread and wyne so it is not euell to distribute bread only to the temporaltie For both Christ and his Apostles did so in the primatiue churche I aunswere Christ did not consecrate the sacrament to his disciples at the town Emaus but by his mighty power wrought a miracle in the diuision of the bread so Nycholaus Lyranus wryting vpon the sayde text doth vnderstande it witnessing that Christ brake the bread so euen as if he had cut it a sunder with his knife Nowe though bread only be named yet this is no sufficient profe that they did receiue the sacrament but in one kind For vnder the name of bread the scripturs do coÌ„teine meat and drinke and all maner of victualles as in the Lordes praier when we say giue vs this day our daily bread we aske all necessary fode for the norishment of the body Againe we read that Christ went into y e house of one of y e chief Phariseis Manducare paneÌ„ sabbato to eat bread on the sabboth day that is to dine or sup with him as all writers take it The Prophet Esay saith to euery one of vs Frange esurienti panem tuum break thy bread to the huÌ„gry exhorting vs by an Hebrue phrase vnder y e name of bread to minister all bodely fode all necessary sustenaunce to the poore Some make another answer to the aforesaid place of Luke Erasmus in his annotatioÌ„s doubteth whether the bread which Luke saith was broken among the christians of the primatiue churche were common bread or sacramentall and sanctified And many other are likewise in doubte hereof Wherfore no certain doctrine can be stablished of y e aforesaid place Yea though Luke both cap 24. and Act. 2. doe speake of the sacrament yet forsomuche as all victualles are comprehended vnder the word bread who is able to say that the sanctified no wyne It foloweth in the teâ—â— that Christ and his disciples When they had geuen prayses or as some do rede had song an Hymne they went out into mount Oliuet We are taught here by the ensample of Christ and his Apostles two offices which God requireth of vs after the receit of the Sacrament first in that they gaue thankes and prayses let vs learne that it is the office of euery Christen maÌ„ before he depart from Gods table also all his life time to render harty thankes to God the father for his great clemency and mercy for the remission of his syns through the dishonour death of his honorable son To this end purpose this mistery was chifly principally ordeyned y t so noble worthy a benefit shuld not fal out of remembraunce forsomuch as it is our only comfort against damnation and eternall death Therfore many of the elder fathers of Christs church do name this sacrament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a thankesgeuing Folow the ensample of Christ thi high shepeherd of his Apostles which finished not this mistery with out thankes to the diuine maiestie TheiÌ„ coÌ„tinued also in geuing of thaÌ„kes breaking of bread as Luke regestreth wryting their liues after Christes ascention departure What wordes they vsed it is vnknoweÌ„ also whether thei sang an Hymne or only said it The greke word is indifferent ether to singing or saying but though god do not here esteme y e voice but y e hart yet both song instrumeÌ„ts be laudable approued ceremonies in Gods church as I wold proue but only because I wyll not be ouer long If we wyll not honor God with due thankes for his innumerable benefites procured vnto vs through Christ but become vnthankeful vnkind if after that we be deliuered from sin receiued into Gods fauor we turne froÌ„ his holy coÌ„mauÌ„demeÌ„t then is our latter end worse then the beginning For of such S. Paul sayth If any man defile the temple of God hym shall God destroy Behold examples hereof in the newe Testament Iudas after that he had bene longe in the blessed felowship of the Apostles for betrayng the giltles for a brybe and through the detestable vice of couetousnes