hatred he beares vnto him so the divill to testifie how much hee hates God himselfe spends all his fury vpon him that beareth the image of God Hence is it that he is so wroth with the woman and from this Wrath is it that hee still persecutes her casts out floods of water to overwhelme her and maketh warre with the remnant of her seede which keepe the commandements of God and haue the testimony of Iesus Christ. As Satan so Satanicall and wicked men are deadly enimies vnto the Saints and holy members of Christ. Qui male agit odit lucem he that doth evill hates the light Now the whole world lyeth in wickednesse and therefore cannot endure the light either of Christs truth or their life If they were of the world the world would loue his owne but because they are not of the World but chosen out of the world therefore the world hateth them They thinke it strange that the Saints run not into the same excesse of riot with them What marvell then if hating them and being separated in life and conversation from them they continually stirre vp persecutions against them But it will bee said why doth not God hinder them being able Doth he not loue his Church yes he loues her as the apple of his eye and because her therefore he permits them For as our Saviour saith As many as I loue I rebuke and chasten the Apostle to the Hebrewes whom the Lord loueth he chastneth and scourgeth every sonne whom he receiueth Whereby it appeareth also that God not only permitteth but hath a hand in the afflictions of his children himselfe delivering them over vnto their adversaries to correct them Yea the Apostle S. Paul yet farther saith that wee are appointed to afflictions predestinated to be conformed vnto the image of the sonne of God as in other things so also to suffer with him that we may be glorified together The ends which God propounded to himselfe herein are partly his owne glory partly our good His owne glory in the manifestation of his iustice power and wisdome Iustice in that he beginnneth iudgement at his owne house not sparing them whom he loues most dearely nor suffering them to recover paradise so easily who had abandond it so wilfully Parvo parari tanta res non debuit it was not fit that such a peece should be won without striking any stroke His power in preseruing such earthen vessels notwithstanding all the knocks and blowes laid vpon them not suffering the bush to consume though flaming and all on fire yea multiplying his Church the more they are slaine and making the bloud of his Martyrs the seede of his Gospell and finally in her greatest distresses and extremities delivering her most miraculously His Wisdome in proportioning the body to the head for it was not fit that Christ should weare a crowne of thornes and we be clothed in purple and fine linnen and fare sumptuously every day but as he entred into glory by the crosse so should wee aspire to the same end by the same way As God in the afflictions of his Church respected his owne glory so also hee intended our good and benefit It is good for me saith David that I haue beene afflicted Hee chastneth vs for our benefit saith the Apostle to the Hebrewes First by the crosse he fanneth away from the church paleaâ— levis fidei the chaffe of those that are vnstable in the faith For the seede that falleth in the stony ground that is he that hath no root in himselfe dureth but for a while and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word by and by he is offended And so the chaffe flying away the heape of corne remaineth more cleane in the garner of God as Tertullian speaketh Againe by it are wee much bettered for as a Corrosiue it frets away our ranke flesh and as a fire it purgeth away the drosse of corruption and refines vs. It worketh repentance of sinnes past it preventeh future sinnes it quickneth the spirit of grace within vs and maketh vs more carefull to obserue Gods commandements Thirdly it honours vs greatly by making our vertues knowne vnto the world For as the valour of a souldier is best seene in the battle and the skill of a pilote in a tempest so is the fortitude and patience of a Christian best discerned in tribulation Spices brayed yeeld the sweetest smellâ— as the broaching of heresies tries how much we know of God so the fire of persecution discouereth how much we loue the truth of God Fourthly it weaneth vs from the loue of this world and worketh in vs a longing to be dissolued and to bee with Christ which otherwise wee would hardly doe even as children would hardly forbeare sucking vnlesse the teat bee striken with wormewood or some other bitter and distastfull iuyce Lastly si compatimur etiam conregnabimus if wee suffer with Christ wee shall also raigne with him Exceeding great shall be our reward in heaven saith Christ. Here on earth shall we reape the peaceable fruite of righteousnesse and in heaven an exceeding weight of glory wherewith our sufferings are no way to be compared Thus by Scripture experience malice of adversaries divine ordinance it plainly appeares that every one that will come after Christ must of necessity beare his crosse I adde farther he must not only beare it but hee must take it vp also and that Daily He must not only endure it with patience but also willingly ioyfully thankfully Willingly for so did Christ who foreseeing it and hauing power to avoide it yet would not Nothing that is forced pleaseth God but only that which is voluntarie Ioyfully so did the Apostles reioycing that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ and our Saviour commanded vs in the midst of persecutions to reioyce be exceeding glad Nor but that affliction is in it selfe and for the present greevous not ioyous but inasmuch as it is for Christs sake and to giue testimony vnto the truth Thankfully in regard of the benefit and reward we reape thereby So did Moses esteeme the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Aegypt And it is reason wee should thanke the Chirurgion that cures vs as well for his Corrosiues as his Lenitiues Neither must wee only take vp the crosse willingly ioyfully thankfully but also daily that is with constancy and perseverance He fighteth not the good fight that finisheth not his course It is not sufficient to beare out a brunt or two vnlesse hauing done all we stand God regardeth not so much the beginning as the end Finis coronat opus it is the end that crowneth the worke The reward is promised non pugnanti sed vincenti not to him that fighteth but to him that overcometh In a word he that continueth to the end
to his full consistence and strength declined not so we should also grow from faith to faith from grace to grace till we come to our full 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Christ never more afterwards to feele any decay Lastly to shew as St. Augustin probably conjectureth in what age or stature we shall rise againe how young or old soeuer we die namely in that wherein Christ himselfe dyed and rose againe And so much touching the yeare of his age The time of the yeare wherein he suffered was the day of the feast of Passeouer even the fifteenth of the month Nisan For the evening before he eate the Passeouer with his Disciples which by the law of God ought to be done vpon the fourteenth of Nisan the next day after he dyed Here perhaps it will be objected that the Iewes began not their Passeouer till after Christ was crucified as plainly appeares Before the feast of Passeouer supper being ended saith St Iohn And againe It was the preparation of the Passeover and about the sixt houre And yet againe they themselues went not into the hall of iudgement lest they should be defiled but that they might eate the Passeouer Wherevnto I answer that by this it seemes to mee more then manifest that Christ and the Iewes did not both eate the Passeouer at once but our Saviour the euening before and the Iewes the euening after he was crucified What then Did Christ as Lord of the Passeouer prevent the due day prescribed by his Father So some say but very vnprobably For Christ came to fulfill the law therefore without doubt he precisely obserued it How then Surely the Iewes fayled not he For the day of the Passeover and the weekly Sabbath falling immediatly this yeare one after the other they according to their old custome translated the Passeouer vpon the Sabbath and obserued both on one day But our Saviour preferring his Fathers order vnto humane traditions tooke order it should be prepared for him on that very day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which as St Luke saith the Passeouer ought to be sacrificed So that as we haue said the feast day it selfe was the day of his suffering Then which no time could be more cōvenient or seasonable For as by other Leviticall ceremonies so was he also typed by the Paschal lambe And therefore what time more fitting the sacrifice of the true Lambe then that which presently followed vpon the slaying of the typicall Wherevnto St Paul alluding for euē Christ saith he our Passeouer is sacrificed for vs. Adde herevnto the assertion of some that as Adam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same day he was created sinned so the same day after the revolution of some yeares mans sin by the death of Christ was done away and hee againe created anew Which if it could clearely and infallibly bee demonstrated would argue a speciall providence of God in the dispensation of this day Adde lastly that at this time all the Iewes wheresoeuer were to appeare at Ierusalem to celebrate this feast before the Lord and that in this regard also it was fit he should at this time suffer that more publike notice might be taken thereof and it the better be divulged and spread abroad And thus also you see in what time and season of the yeare he suffered The consideration of this circumstance of time may serue first to convince the Iewes of obstinate incredulitie For if God haue by his eternall decree determined a set houre vnto the comming and suffering of the Messias that houre be now many hundred of yeares past then is Christ already come or God fayleth of his purpose But that such a precise houre was set and that God cannot fayle of his purpose the Iew knoweth well enough Obstinate therefore needs must he be still denying that the Messias is come Secondly it may serue to confirme and settle our Faith in the truth of the promised seed For they that came before or after the appointed houre could not be the true shepheard but theeues only and robbers But Iesus the sonne of Mary came and suffered in that very time and in him were fulfilled all whatsoever was by the Prophets foretold concerning the Messias He therefore is the true Christ neither are wee to looke for another Thirdly not whithstanding this appointed time wee are to remember for our further consolation that Iesus Christ is yesterday and to day and evermore And therefore as he was virtually the lambe slaine from the beginning of the world so the vertue of his death and passion reacheth downe to these times also and evermore will be available to the iustification of a sinner whosoever shall bee provided of true Faith thereby to apprehend it Fourthly as vnto this particular of Christs passion so vnto other things also as namely our vocation conversion repentance hath he appointed a due time This is called the acceptable time and our Hodie to day which if wilfully we neglect we may with Esau seeke the blessing with teares and never after recover it Take wee heed therefore while it is called to day that we harden not our hearts but harken vnto his voice and duely obey it that wee may be admitted into his rest Lastly as God out of his deepe wisdome so are wee in imitation of God to doe all things in due season For as nothing is contented out of its proper place so nothing is welcome or gratious that is done out of due season It is not every word how true soever that is like an apple of gold with pictures of silver but that only which is Seasonable Learned is the tongue of that man that speaketh a word of comfort in fit time and thrice blessed is hee who like a tree planted by the rivers of waters bringeth forth his fruite in his proper season And thus much touching the time when Christ suffered The next point to be considered is the worke of that houre what worke will you say The bitter passion of our Lord and saviour Iesus Christ. what Passion The suffering of that punishment which was due to sinne for the satisfaction of his Fathers iustice What was hee a sinner and deserved such punishment No by no meanes For as touching Originall sinne the passage of that was so stopped vp in his conception by the Holy Ghost that it could no way enter into him And for Actuall sinne there was not so much as guile found in his mouth But hee was to suffer for our Sinnes and to satisfie his Father We had eaten sower grapes and his teeth were set on edge yea but what iustice is this that Titius shall sinne and Sempronius be punished The cause is not alike For Christ vndertooke to be our Surety and to satisfie all our debts And to this end the Word became Flesh that being otherwise impassible hee might in it suffer the punishment due vnto vs. But might not God if he had beene
he mortify the deeds of the body In a word to this end hath the grace of God appeared vnto all men and instructed vs that we denying all vngodlinesse and worldly lusts might liue soberly iustly godly in this preseÌ„t world By all which it is cleare that all our corrupt lusts affections must be denied if we will be disciples in the schoole of Grace yet is it further to be observed that wheÌ„ the Apost saith we must deny all worldly lusts he meaneth fleshly lusts as they haue reference vnto the world to the profits pleasures of this present life So that in comparison of Christ when they let and hinder vs from comming after him whatsoeuer in the world is most deare pretious vnto vs must be despised and trodâ—n vnder foot We must with the holy Apostles be content to forsake all and to follow him If wee loue father or mother or sonne or daughter more then him we are vnworthy of him Nay if any come vnto him and hate not his father and mother and wife and Children and brethren and sisters yea his owne life also or as some thinke it may not vnfitly be translated his owne soule he cannot be my Disciple Wherefore as Hierom saith if Father or Mother shall lye in the way to hinder thee from comming after Christ bee not afraid to tread vpon the gray beard of thy Father and to trample vpon the belly of her that bare thee rather then to be barred from coÌ„ming vnto him As therefore to conclude this point a young man in the iudgement of Aristotle is an vnfit auditor of Morall Philosophy even so the meere Animall man by the verdict of Iesus Christ is vtterly vnmeet to be scholler in Christian Philosophy If hee will make himselfe meet for Christs schoole hee must of necessity deny himselfe which is the first Counsell The second is let him take vp his crosse daily The Crosse properly is a tree or engine of wood framed into such a forme where vpon malefactors were wont to bee executed and put to death The manner was either with cords to bind them or which was more vsuall with nailes to fasten them hand and foot vnto it and there to suffer them to languish and pine away vnto death in regard whereof they were wont aunciently to call it vltimum supplicium the extremest and greatest punishment because the basest sort of people only and such as were servants or slaues were in this manner executed therefore was it also termed servile supplicium a servile punishment This cruell and slavish death did our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ suffer to free vs from eternall death and to procure vnto vs everlasting life Wherevpon those pressures tribulations afflictions persecutions that doe befall a man not for his wickednesse but for righteousnesse sake for the profession of the Gospell of Christ are in the language of Canaan called the Crosse because they are the remainders of the afflictions of Christ which he in his body that is the Church doth yet still suffer And this is the Crosse which is here meant But it is further said His crosse Not that Crosse which a man frameth vnto his owne selfe or rashly pulleth vpon himselfe as sundry Martyrs in the primitiue Church seemed to doe whom yet I dare not censure because I know not with what spirit they did it For we may not like Coecias draw stormes and clouds vpon our owne heads and our Saviour himselfe advizeth vs when they persecute vs in one Citty to fly into another Then only are we bound to beare the crosse when without denying the truth we cannot avoid it Our Crosse then is that which is imposed vpon vs by God whether it be poverty or ignominy or imprisonment or banishment or whipping or racking or torment or death of what kind soeuer For God layeth not the same crosse on all but one Crosse on one and another on another as hee in his wisdome thinketh best But whatsoever the crosse is which God appointeth vnto a man that is his crosse And this crosse saith Christ must be taken vp It was the manner that he that was cruciarius to bee crucified was to beare his crosse or some part thereof vnto the place of execution So did Christ vntill meeting with Simon of Cyrene they compelled him to beare his crosse But malefactors beare it against their wills our Saviour willingly which was the very forme of his suffering and he requireth all those that will come after him to doe so too For to take vp the crosse imports not only a patient bearing of it when it is laid vpon vs but also a ready and voluntary vndergoing of it And this also saith our Saviour must bee done daily that is at all times and continually Not but that the Church hath sometimes her lucida intervalla her good daies for the rod of the wicked resteth not alwaies vpon the lot of the righteous and after stormes and tempests God sendeth calme Halcionian times How then Thus. Whensoever God sendeth the crosse vnto any he must actually take it vp in the time of peace and when there is no crosse though actually he cannot yet must he take it vp in the preparation and disposition of the mind And this is the substance of the second Counsell Let him take vp his crosse daily The Necessity of it if wee will come after Christ is easie to be demonstrated What more manifest in the Scripture then this that the Crosse is an vnseparable companion of the Church The Church is Lilium inter spinas a lilie among thornes Christ without his crosse is but a Chimoera so is the Church also without afflictions Many are the troubles of the righteous saith David In the world yee shall haue tribulations saith our Saviour Christ. Through much tribulation must we enter into the kingdome of God saith Saint Paul and againe All that will liue Godly in Iesus Christ shall suffer persecution Search the records of all times from the beginning of the world downe to this present and you shall find that Persecution hath ever attended vpon the Church Not to speake of particular persons the bondage of Egypt the captivity of Babylon the tyranny of Antiochus the ten bloudy persecutions of heathen Emperours the barbarous cruelties of Antichrist finally the fire the sword the massacres of this last age wherein our Fathers lived and we our selues yet liue doe make it more then manifest And indeed as long as Satan continueth to be malitious against vs how can it be otherwise Knowing himselfe to be eternally reiected and without redemption he beareth an eternall hatred against God And because he cannot wreake his teene vpon him being out of his reach he turneth his malice against mankind and among them those principally who by Christ are conquered out of his hands For as the Panther raging vpon the picture of a man bewrayes the
with their territories and sundry other things of great value The Ministrie of the Gospell is more excellent then that of the Law lesse therefore cannot be allowed vs. Tithe is too little saith S. Augustin else how doe wee exceed the Pharisees who tithed all If we minister spirituall things reason will that we receaue of your temporalls The law of the Gospell requireth him that is taught to impart to him that teacheth of all his good And reason For as S. Paul saith to Philemon you owe your selues vnto vs. And vnlesse you vnder value too much the eternall saluatioÌ„ of your soules yee can never sufficiently recompence the benefit yee receaue of vs. It is manifest then that an honourable salarie is due vnto vs. But how I beseech you are wee paid our due Poorely God wot witnesse the multitude of impropriations the selling of benefices the detention of tithes or the false and repining paiment of them with the like It was once said What shall wee giue the man of God but now every one saith Come let vs take the houses of God in possession When Moses built the tabernacle he was faine to stay the people from giuing they were so forward but now would God wee could stay their hands from robbing the tabernacle Many there are who call for a learned Ministry in every parish yet keepe to themselues that which should maintaine the Minister A strange perversenesse to desire no benefice may be without a cure and yet to require a cure without a benefice Yea but they are content to allow a Competencie True But if they may be our â—arvers I presume it will bee after the rate of Cratis in his Ephemeris ten pound to the Cooke a groat to the Physitian ten talents to the Parasite one to the Curtizan and to the Philosopher three halfepence For every little is too much for vs but enough is superfluity Et quorsum perditio haec what need all this wasts The poverty of the Apostles they often remember but the bounty of Christians then they vtterly forget If they will haue vs follow the one why refuse they to imitate the other Let them sell all they haue and lay downe the prizes at our feet and then haue with them whensoeuer they please But I presse these points of Honor no farther for me thinkes I heare some say these words would haue sounded better in some advocates mouth in ours they may seeme to proceede of ambition or covetousnesse Wherevnto I answere first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if wee speake not for our selues who will and if wee doe alas what are wee All other sorts of men are allowed to defend themselues and must wee alone suffer wrong and say nought Secondly so to censure is a spice of the contempt wee speake of for indeede wee seeke herein not so much our owne honour and advantage as Gods glory and benefit Gods glory whose ordinance nay who himselfe by contemning vs is contemnâ—d They haue not reiected thee but mee saith God to Samuell Yee haue robbed me in tithes and offerings saith hee by Malachie He that despiseth you despiseth me saith Christ. And lastly He that despiseth despiseth not man but God Your benefit For to deny submission to those who rule over you and watch for your soules is vnprofitable for you saith the Apostle For first as Barnard saith Cuius vita despicitur restat vt praedicatio contemnatur if once our persons grow despicable little will our preaching availe If our preaching availe not neither can you beleeue nor be saued Secondly to contemne a Minister is a fearfull sinne otherwise Hoseas would never haue vsed this aggravation the people were as they that contended with the Priest Lastly God punisheth it accordingly with temporall punishment as vpon the Iewe with seaventy years captiuity with spirituall that hearing they shall heare seeing see yet neither perceiue nor vnderstand and vnlesse they repent with eternall also both in body and soule But of the contempt of the Ministry enough let vs now inquire the redresse thereof See that no man despise thee saith my text A strange speech For doe we steere at the helme of other mens affections Or haue we the command of their actions Why then doth he charge vs to looke to it that we be not despised Surely because wee our selues are mostly the causes thereof and for that it lies much in our owne hands both to prevent and redresse it To make this appeare obserue with me the words immediatly going before my text These things speake and exhort and rebuke with all authority see that no man despise thee Obserue with me againe what Saint Paul saith to Timothie These things command and teach let no man despise thy youth but be an example vnto beleeuers in word in conversation in charity in spirit in faith in purity Which two places being duly pondered and considered it is manifest that the Apostles meaning here is no other then this if we will not be contemned wee must not carry our selues contemptibly and that to avoide this contempt two things are necessary first that we be Good ministers secondly that we be Good men for if wee faile in eyther it cannot possibly bee avoided but wee must bee despised To avoide Contempt then first wee must be Good Ministers and to this end two things are requisite first a talent secondly due employment of the talent By talent I vnderstand fitnesse and ability And that this is necessary appeareth first by the act of God for hee never designeth any to a calling but hee furnisheth him before hand with sufficient gifts If Moses must be the chiefe governour and lawgiuer of Israell he shall be learned yea even in all the wisdome of the Aegyptians aend mighty both in words and deeds If Bezaleel and Aholiab must build the Tabernacle hee will fill them with his spirit in wisdome in vnderstanding in knowledge in all manner of workemanship in gold silver brasse stone timber and what ever else was needfull Esay being to doe an errand for the Lord hath his lipps first touched with a cole froÌ„ the altar Iesus the sonne of Mary being ordained to bee the Messias of the world is annointed with the oile of gladnesse aboue all his fellowes and receiueth the spirit without measure Finally the twelue Apostles being to carry the name of Christ through the world were first baptized with fiery tongues and replenished with the holy Ghost at Ierusalem The same appeareth also by the ordinance of God in his Church For the Priests lips saith Malachie should preserve knowledge and they should seeke the law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts Saint Paul also saith that a Bishop must bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apt to teach and able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince gainesaiers
Chrysostome doe proue not only this but the Resurrection also of our Bodies by the truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament for that our Flesh ioyning with his Flesh which is immortall shall bee immortall also I. D. The truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament and the Coniunction of our Flesh with his Flesh neither is nor ever was by vs denied And therefore to heap vp Fathers for the proofe thereof is but to spend your labour to no purpose That you should proue is the Presence of Christ by Transubstantiation Which hitherto you haue but little aymed at In the Sacrament say these Fathers our Flesh is ioyned to Christs Flesh Ergo our Flesh shall rise againe The Antecedent is true and the sequele is good But what ioyning doe they meane The taking of Christs flesh into the mouth They neuer dreamt of it And if it were so it would follow that all they that eat Christ Sacramentally among whom how many Reprobates are there shall rise againe vnto life everlasting For I hope you will not say that the sacred Flesh of Christ doth quicken any vnto everlasting death How then is it By eating him not only Sacramentally but also spiritually and by Faith For by this meanes Christ becomes the food of our soules which redounding vpon the Flesh by making it the Temple of the Holy Ghost and an instrument of righteousnes fitteth and prepareth it to a glorious Resurrection Hence our Sauiour He that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud hath life everlasting and I will raise him vp at the last day And the Apostle S. Paul If Christ bee in you the Body indeed is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life because of righteousnesse But if the spirit of him that raised vp Iesus Christ from the dead dwell in you hee that raised vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you And that this is the meaning of the Fathers appeares by that they say Our bodies come not into corruption but partake of life by being nourished with the body bloud of the Lord. For that our bodies in litterall sense should be nourished with Christs body is to make it the food of the belly not of the minde then which saith Bellarmine nothing can bee deuised more absurd And what I pray you is Nourishment properly Only to take meat into the mouth No but the alteration and conversion of the substance thereof into the substance of that which is nourished which to affirme of the Body of Christ is horrible impiety Of force therefore must the Fathers be vnderstood to speake of such a Nourishment by the body of Christ as is spirituall Now if the Nourishment be spirituall such is the Eating also and it is as absurd to say that the soule is nourished by bodily eating as that the body is nourished by spirituall eating Will you haue all in a word The things that wee eat with our mouth in the Sacramēt are not the causes but the pledges of our Resurrection So saith the great Councell of Nice We must beleeue these things to be the symbols or pledges of our Resurrection N. N. And the same S. Irenaeus doth proue farther that the great God of the old Testament Creator of heauen earth was Christs Father For proofe whereof hee alleageth this reason that Christ in the Sacrament did fulfill the Figures of the old Testament and that in particular wherein bread was a figure of his Flesh which he fulfilled saith Irenaeus making it his Flesh indeed I. D. The Marcionites whom Irenaeus confuteth taught that the God of the old Testament was not the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and that the Creator was knowne but the Father of Christ was vnknowne Against this hee endeauoureth to proue that the Father of our Lord was he who created the world That this he intendeth manifestly appeareth by those words where hee saith Others saying that another besides the creator is his Father and offering vnto him those creatures that are here amongst vs shew that he is greedy and covetous of that which is anothers And among other arguments this he vseth for one Bread and Wine are the creatures of the Creator of the world which creatures Iesus Christ vseth in the Sacrament the one to be his Body and the other to be his Bloud and therein are they offered to his Father Ergo the Creator is his Father Were he not his Father he would never haue takē that which belongs vnto another or whervnto he had no right and convert it to his owne vse So that here your Author hath notably deceaued you For Irenaeus proueth Christ to bee the sonne of the Creator not by his omnipotence in turning Bread and Wine into his Flesh and Bloud a thing that neuer came into his thought but from his right and title to the Creatures which maketh nothing for Transubstantiation Touching the Figures of the old Testament and how they prefigured our Sacraments we haue spoken enough already N. N. What is so sacrilegious saith Optatus Milevitanus as to breake downe scrape and remoue the altars of God on which your selues haue sometimes offered and the members of Christ haue beene borne c. What is an altar but the Seat of the Body and Bloud of Christ And this monstrous villanie of yours is doubled for that you haue brokē also the chalice which did beare the Bloud of Christ himselfe When the mixed chalice and the Bread broken taketh the word of God the Eucharist of the bloud and body of Christ is made Bread receauing the calling of God is not now common bread but the Eucharist consisting of two things one earthly another heavenly the earthly thing is the old forme of bread the heavenly is the body of Christ newly made vnder that forme Let vs now consider also the persons to whom this Commandement was giuen they were those twelue Apostles whom Christ at his last Supper taught the new Oblation of the new Testament giuing them authority by this precept to consecrate to make present and to offer to God his body and bloud I. D. Where little or nothing is objected the answer is soone made Optatus saith that the altar is the seat of Christs body and bloud and that the chalice beareth his bloud Irenaeus saith that after consecration the Eucharist of the body and bloud is made that in it there is a heavenly thing and the Apostles had authority to make present the body of Christ. Ergo the body and bloud of Christ is really corporally locally and by way of Transubstantiation present in the Sacrament A poore and silly consequence which all the wity our author hath wil neuer be able to make good For those words of the Fathers may be salued and verified if Christ be Present any other way And Present hee is Sacramentally to the signes and spiritually to the Faith of
Heavenly Corruptible and Immortall to bee all one neither shall you ever be able to make the signe and the Thing signified in any Sacrament to be the same Adde herevnto that the Fathers not only say that Bread is a Figure of Christs body but also that when wee are commanded to eat his Body or drinke his Bloud the speech is Figuratiue For as Saint Augustine saith Hee seemeth to command an evill and wicked act it is a figure therefore instructing vs to communicate with his passion c. Now to vnderstand a Figuratiue speech literally is very dangerous for the letter killeth and it is the Death of the soule If therefore Figuratiue and Proper cannot bee the same and in Sacraments when the thing signified is affirmed of the signe the speech be Sacramentall that is Figuratiue it followeth necessarily that the signe and the thing signified are not the same And if not the same then haue you wronged the Fathers saying they are so to bee vnderstood as if they were the same N. N. I will now conclude with two authorities more The first Counsel of Nice one of the foure Counsells allowed by Protestants for sound The words of the Counsell are these Let vs faithfully beleeue with an exalted mind that there lyeth on the holy table the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world which is sacrificed by the Priests I. D. This Canon here by you alleaged came but very lately to light for it is found neither in Ruffin nor in Balsamon nor any of the Tomes of the Counsells heretofore published except those of the newest impression And in them it is set forth in a different letter signifying that it was but newly found and that in the Popes Vatican Library vnder the name of one Gelasius Cyzicenus All which cannot but breed great suspicion and much weaken the authority thereof But what saith the Canon There lyeth on the Table the Lamb of God What Corporally and Really No but Symbolically and Sacramentally Neither doth it say as you translate Let vs faithfully beleeue with an exalted mind that the Lamb of God lyeth on the table But thus Let vs not basely attend the Bread and the Cup set before vs but lifting vp our mind by Faith vnderstand the Lamb of God vpon the table which rather maketh against Transubstantiation then for it For first he plainely telleth vs it is Bread that is there then secondly it commandeth vs to lift vp our mind which needed not if Christ himselfe were there Really on the table where obserue by the way that it is a table not an altar And thirdly that wee are to conceiue Christ Sacramentally to be on the table though Really hee bee there whether wee are to advance our thoughts The last clause of the passage is cut off by the wast and mangled by you I thinke to intimate that the Masse is a Sacrifice truly and properly so called But the words at full are these which is sacrificed by the Priests without being sacrificed manifestly insinuating that it is not Properly a Sacrifice but Representiuely and by way of commemoration Not much vnlike to these words is that of Saint Chrysostome which may serue insteed of a commentarie vnto them teach you that all which the Fathers say speaking of this Sacrament is not alwaies litterally to bee vnderstood What doest thou o man saith he at the houre of the mysticall table Didst thou not promise to the Priest who said lift vp your hearts saying wee lift them vp vnto the Lord And fearest thou not nor blushest that in that very houre thou art found a Lyar The table is furnished with mysteries and the Lamb of God is sacrificed for thee the Priest is troubled for thee a spirituall fire flowes from the sacred table the Seraphins stand by couering their faces with sixe wings all the incorporeall vertues together with the Priest make intercession for thee a spirituall fire comes downe from Heaven the Bloud in the cup is drawne out of the immaculate side for thy purification Thus he N. N. Saint Cyril saith that in this mystery wee should not so much as aske how it can bee done for it is a Iewish word and cause of everlasting torment From which good Lord deliuer vs. I. D. In this mystery wee may not inquire How What of that Ergo Christ is present by Transubstantiation Indeed if the doubt had beene how Bread might be made the body of Christ or how the substance of bread might be turned into substance of his body and then resoluing that it is so Cyril had advised in any case not to inquire How as being derogatory to Gods omnipotence here you had a pregnant testimony for Transubstantiation But Cyril handling those words The bread which I will giue is my Flesh exagitateth the Iewes for demanding How hee could giue his flesh to eat For seeing Christ by his miracles had demonstrated himselfe to be God it was their duty simply to beleeue his words and to know that hee who had spoken them was able to find a meanes by which to make them good and that without such immanity and anthropophagy as they imagined Now if in these Mysteries wee may not be so sawcie malapert as to demand How how cometh it about that your selues take vpon you so magistrally to define it that it is done after an Orall manner and by way of Transubstantiation Your Cutbert Tonstall saith Perhaps it had beene better as touching the manner how it is done to haue left every one that would be curious to his owne coniecture even as it was free before the counsell of Laterane Yet I must doe you to wit that the Question how is not alwaies evill and forbidden The blessed virgin her selfe demanded of the Angell How may this be seeing I know not man And Saint Ambrose This therefore wee say How can that which is bread be Christs body Saint Augustine some may thinke with himselfe how is bread his body Neither did they offend in asking How because firmely beleeuing the thing it was only out of admiration or desire of learning that they moued that Question That How Which is forbidden is that which is demanded ouâ— of Incredulity Such as was this of the Iewes who beleeued not Christ but reiected his saying as requiring some savage or inhumane thing to be done Hence Cyril It had beene meet that they had first set the roots of Faith in their minds and then to haue enquired those things that are to bee â—uquired but they before they beleeued enquired out of season For this cause our Lord did not expound how that thing might be brought to passe but exhorteth that it be sought by faith By all which you may perceiue that these words of Cyril are obiected to little purpose For your words are not Christs words neither hath he taught vs any such Reall Presence by Transubstantiation His words wee stedfastly