The Sacrifice Of Christ. 233
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
sacrifices of the old law, although they were CHAP.
II. continually offe'red from year to year, yet could Heb. x. they not take away sin, nor make men perfect.
For if they could once have quieted men's consciences by taking away sin, they should have ceased, and no more have been offered.
But Christ, with once offering, hath made perfect for ever them that be sanctified ; putting their sins clean out of God's remembrance.
And where remission of sins is, there is no more ojf"ering for sin.
And yet further he saith, concerning the old testament, that it was disannulled and taken Heb. vii. away, because of ,the feebleness and unprofitableness thereof; for it brought nothing to perfection.
And the priests of that law were many, because they lived not long, and so the priesthood went from one to another ; but Christ liveth ever, and hath an everlasting priesthood, that passeth not from him to any man else.
Wherefore he is able perfectly to save them that come to God by him, f orasmuch as he liveth ever to make intercession for us.
For it was meet for us to have such an High Priest that is holy, innocent, without spot, separated from sinners, and exalted up above heaven ; who needeth not daily to offer up sacrifice, as Aaron's priests did, first for his own sins, and then for the people.
For that he did once, when he offered up himself.
Here, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul hath plainly and fully described unto us the
DEFENCE, &c.
Boo K difference between the priesthood and sacrifices of ~ . the old testament, and the most high and worthy priesthood of Christ, his most perfect and· necessary sacrifice, and the benefit that cometh to us thereby.
For Christ offered not the blood of calves, sheep, and goats, as the priests of the old law used to do ; but he offered his own blood upon the cross. And he went not into an holy place made by man's hand, as Aaron did, but he ascended up into heaven, where his eternal Father dwelleth ; and before him he maketh continual supplication for the sins of the whole world, presenting his own body, wh1ch was torn for us, and his precious blood, which of his most gracious and liberal charity he shed for us upon the cross.
And that sacrifice was of such force, that it was no need to renew it every year, as the bishops did of the old testament; whose sacrifices were many times offered, and yet were of no great effect or profit, because they were sinners themselves that offered them, and offered not their own blood, but the blood of brute beasts ; but Christ's sacrifice, once offered, was sufficient for evermore.
CHAP.
And that all men may.the better understand III. this sacrifice of Christ, which he made for the Two kinds b fi f' all •t · t k of sacri• great ene t o men, 1 1s necessary . o now fices. the distinction and diversity of sacrifices.
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
One kind of sacrifice there is, which is called a o HAP. propitiatory or merciful sacrifice, that is to say,
III. such a sacrifice as pacifieth God's wrath and indignation, and obtaineth mercy and forgiveness for all our sins, and is the ransom for our redemption from everlasting damnation.
And although in the old testament there were The a&cricertain sacrifices called by that name, yet in very 3~tn~t deed there is but one such sacrifice whereby our sins be pardoned and God's mercy and favour obtained, which is the death of the Son of God our
Lord J esu Christ; nor never was any other sacrifice propitiatory at any time, nor never shall be.
This is the honour and glory of this our High Priest, wherein he admitteth neither partner nor successor.
For by his one oblation he satisfied his Father for all men's sins, and reconciled mankind unto his grace and favour.
And whosoever deprive him of this honour, and go about to take it to themselves, they be very Antichrists, and most arrogant blasphemers against God and against his Son Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.
Another kind of sacrifice there is, which doth The sacrinot reconcile us to God, but is made of them that~1':r~{~he be reconciled by Christ, to testify our duties unto
God, and to show ourselves thankful unto him ; and therefore they be called sacrifices of laud, praise, and thanksgiving.
The first kind of sacrifice Christ offered to God for us ; the second kind we ourselves offer to God by Christ.
DEFENCE, &c.
Boo K And by the first kind of sacrifice Christ offered v.
--also us unto his Father ; and by the second we offer ourselves and all that we have, unto him and his Father.
And this sacrifice generally is our whole obedience unto God, in keeping his laws and commandments. Of which manner of sacrifice
Paal: 1. speaketh the prophet David, saying, A sacrifice to God is a contrite heart.
And St. Peter saith 1 Pet. ii. of all Christian people, that they be an holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesu Ghrist. And St. Paul saith, that Beb. xiii. alway we offer unto God a sacrifice of laud and praise by Jesus Ghrist. o B AP.
But now to speak somewhat more largely of iv. the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ: he was such
~:.!'dean high Bishop, that he once offering himself, claration ffi . t b sr.
• f h• bl d t oftbe was su men y one euus10n o 1s oo o ~::!".8 of abolish sin unto the world's end. He was so perfect a Priest, that by one oblation he purged an infinite heap of sins, leaving an easy and a. r~ady remedy for all sinners, that his one sacrifice
Heb. vii. should suffice for many years unto all men that.
1 John ii. would not s~ow themselves unwort~y.
And he took unto himself not only their sins that many years before were dead and put their trust in him~ but also the sins of those that until his coming
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
again should truly believe in his Gospel. So that c HAP.
IV. now we may look for none other priest, nor Heb. ix. sacrifice, to take away our sins, but only him and aud x. his sacrifice.
And as he, dying once, was offered for all, so, as much as pertained to him, he took all men's sins unto himsel£ So that now there remaineth no more sacrifices for sin, but extreme judgment at the last day, when he shall appear to us again, not as a man to be punished again, and to be made a sacrifice for our sins, as he was before; but he shall come in his glory, withoutMattxxiv. sin, to the great joy and comfort of them ,vhich be purified and made clean by his death, and continue in godly and innocent living; and to the Heb. ix. great terror and dread of them that be wicked and ungodly.
Thus the Scripture teacheth, that if Christ had Heb. ix. made any oblation for sin more than once, he should have died more than once; forasmuch as there is none oblation and sacrifice for sin, but only his death.
And now there is no more oblation for sin, seeing that by him our sins be remitted, and our consciences quieted.
And although in the old testament there were CHAP. certain sacrifices, called sacrifices for sin, yet they v. . h . ~ h Id k The saor1were no sue sacrifices t at cou ta e away our fices of the · · h · h f G d b h · old Jaw. sms mt e s1g to o ; ut t ey were ceremomes
DEFENCE, &c.
BOOK ordained to this intent, that they should be, as it V.
H were, shadows and figures, to si00'nify beforehand eb. x, the excellent E1acrifice of Christ that was to come, which should be the very true and perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
And for this signification they had the name of a sacrifice propitiatory, and were called sacrifices for sins, not because they indeed took away our sins, but because they were images, shadows, and figures, whereby godly men were admonished of the true sacrifice of Christ then to come, which shouid truly u,bolish sin a_nd everlasting death.
And that those sacrifices which were made by the priests in the old law could not be able to purchase our pardon and deserve the remission of our sins, St. Paul doth clearly affirm in his said
Heb. h:. Epistle to the Hebrews, where he saith, It is impossible that our sins should be taken away by the blood of oxen and goats.
Wherefore all godly men, although they "did use those sacrifices ordained of God, yet they did not take them as things of that value and estimation, that thereby they should be able to obtain remission of their sins before God.
But they took them partly for figures and tokens ordained of God, by the which he declared, that he would send that seed which he promised, to be the very true sacrifice for sin, and that he would receive them that trusted in that promise, and remit their sill$ for the sacrifice after to come.
And partly they used them as certain cere-
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
monies, whereby such persons as had offended CHAP.
V .
.against the law of Moses, and were cast out of the congregation, were received again among the people, and declared to be absolved.
As for like purposes we use, in the church of Christ, sacraments by him instituted.
And this -outward casting out from the people of God, and receiving in again, was according to the law and knowledge of man; but the true reconciliation and forgiveness of sin before God, neither the fathers of the old law had, nor we yet have, but only by the sacrifice of Christ, made in the mount of Calvary.
And the sacrifices of the old law were prognostications and figures of the same then to come, as our sacraments be figures and demonstrations of the same now passed.
Now by these aforesaid things may every man CHAP. easily perceive, that the offering of the priest ii VI.
The mass the mass, or the appointing of his ministration iq n?t a • • sac11fice at his pleasure to them that be quick or dead, propitia•
. d d . h h" lf tory. cannot merit an eserve, ne1t er to 1mse , nor to· them for whom he singeth or sayeth, the remission of their sins : but that such popish doctrine is contrary to the doctrine of the Gospel, and injurious to the sacrifice of Christ.
For if only the death of Christ be the oblation, sacrifice, and price, wherefore o-µr sins be pardoned, then the act or ministration of the priest cannot
DEFENCE, &c.
BOOK have the same office. Wherefore it is an abomiv.
---nable blasphemy to give that office or dignity to a priest which pertaineth only to Christ ; or to affirm that the Church hath need of any such sacrifice; as who should say, that Christ's sacrifice were not sufficient for the remission of our sins ; or else that his sacrifice should hang upon the sacrifice of a priest.
But all such priests as pretend to be Christ's successors in making a sacrifice of him, they be his most heinous and horrible adversaries.
For never no person made a sacrifice of Christ, but h.e himself only. And therefore St. Paul saith, that B b ·· Christ's priesthood cannot pass firom him t<>
VII. another. For what needeth any mo [ more J sacriHeb, viii fices, if Christ's sacrifice be perfect and sufficient 1
And as St. Paul saith, that if the sacrifices and ministration of Aaron and other priests of that time had lacked nothing, but had been perfect and sufficient, then should not the -sacrifice of Christ have been required, (for it had been. but in vain to add any thing to that which of itself was perfect;) so likewise, if Christ's sacrifice which he had made himself be sufficient, what need we every day to have mo [ more J and mo [ more J sacrifices 1 Wherefore all popish priests that presume to make every day a sacrifice of Christ, either µmst they needs make Christ's sacrifice vain, unperfect, and unsufficient, or else is their sacrifice in vain, which is added to the sacrifice which is already of itself sufficient and perfect.
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
But it is a wondrous thing to see what shifts CHAP.
VI. and cautels the popish Antichrists devise to --colour and cloke their wicked errors.
And as a chain is so joined together, that one link draweth another after it; so be vices and errors knit together, that every one draweth his fellow with him.
And so doth it here in this matter.
For the papists to excuse themselves do say, OHAP. that they make no new sacrifice, nor none other
VII.
'fi h Ch · ad fi h b A oonfuta.sacn ce t an r1st m e ; or t ey e not so tion of the blind, but they see that then they should add~:~ft1~;ion. another sacrifice to Christ's sacrifice, and so make his sacrifice unperfect ; but they say, that they make the selfsame sacrifice for sin that Christ himself made.
And here they run headlong into the foulest and most heinous error that ever was imagined.
For if they make every day the same oblation and sacrifice for sin that Christ himself made, and the oblation that he made was his death and the effusion of his most precious blood upon the cross for our redemption and price of our sin ; then followeth it of necessity, that they every day slay
Christ and shed his blood : and so be they worse h · k d J d Ph · h' h 1 Heb. ix. than t e w1c e ews an ar1sees, w 1c s ew him and shed his blood but once.
DEFENCE, &c.
BOOK Almighty God,, the Father of light and truth, CHv~P. banish all such darkness and error out of his
VIII.
Church, with the authors a.nd teachers thereof; ;~ri::
80ror else convert their hearts unto him, and give :~uO::!;ie this light of fait~ to every man, that he may trust to have remission of his sins, and be delivered from eternal death and hell, by the merit only of the death and blood of Christ : and that by his own (aith every man may apply the same unto himself, and not take it at the appointment of popish priests, by the merit of their sacrifices and oblations.
If we be indeed, as we profess, Christian men, we may ascribe this honour and glory to no man, but to Christ alone.
Wher~fore let us give the whole laud and praise hereof unto him ; let us fly only to him for succour ; let us hold him fast, and hang upon him, and give ourselves wholly to him.
And forasmuch as he hath given himself to death for us, to be an oblation and sacrifice· to his
Father for our sins, let us give ourselves again unto him, making unto him an oblation, not of goats, sheep, kine, and other beasts that have no reason, as was accustomed before Christ's coming; but of a crefl,ture that hath reason, that is to say, of ourselves, not killing our own bodies, but mortifying the beastly and unreasonable affections that would glad] y rule and reign in us.
So long as the Jaw did reign, God suffered dumb beasts to be offered unto him ; but now that we be spiritual, we must offer spiritual
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
oblations, in the place of calves, sheep, goats, and c HAP. vm. doves We must kill devilish pride, furious anger, insatiable covetousness, filthy lucre, stinking lechery, deadly hatred and malice, foxy wiliness, wolvish ravening and devouring, and all other unreasonable lusts and desires of the flesh. And Gal. T. as many as belong to Christ must crucify and kill these for Christ's sake, as Christ crucified himself for their sakes.
These be the sacrifices of Christian men ; these hosts and oblations be acceptable to Christ.
And as Christ offered himself for us, so is it our duties after this sort to offer ourselves to him agam.
And so shall we not have the name of Christian men in vain; but as we pretend to belong to Christ in word and profession, so shall we indeed be his in life and inward affection.
So that within and without we shall be altogether his, clean from all hypocrisy or dissimulation.
And if we refuse to offer ourselves after this wise unto him, by crucifying our own wills, and committing us wholly to the will of God, we be most unkind people, superstitious hypocrites, or rather unreasonable beasts, worthy to be excluded utterly from all the benefits of Christ's oblation.
And if we put the oblation of the priest in the CHAP. stead of the oblation of Christ, refusing to receive
JX.
DEFENCE,&c.
BOOK the sacrament of his body and blood ourselves, as The v. iah he ordained, and trusting to have remission of our md aarJ'bl sins by the sacrifice of the priest in the mass, and etesta e idolatry, thereby also to obtain release of the pains in 11tterly to ~e banpurgatory, we do not only injury to Christ, but 1Bhed from all also commit most detestable idolatry.
For these Ch. tian eo~gabe but false doctrines, without shame devised and tions. feigned by wicked popish priests, idolaters, monks, and friars, which for lucre have altered and corrupted the most holy Supper of the Lord, and turned it into manifest idolatry. Wherefore all godly men ought with all their heart to refuse and abhor all such blasphemy against the Son of God.
And forasmuch as in such Il)asses is manifest wickedness and idolatry, ~herein the priest alon~ maketh oblation satisfactory, and applieth the same for the quick and the dead at his will and pleasure ; all such popish masses are to be clearly taken away out of Christian Churches, and the true use of the Lord's Supper is to be restored again, wherein godly people assembled together may receive the sacrament every man for himself, to declare that he remembereth what 'benefit he hath received_ by the death of Christ, and to testify that he is a member of Christ's body, fed with his flesh, and drinking his blood spiritually.
CHAP. x.
Christ did not ordain his sacraments to this
'l'HE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
use, that one should receive them for another, CHAP.
X .
.and the priest for all the Jay people ; but he --Everyman ,ordained them for this intent, that every man ought to • • receive the ,should receive them for himself, to ratify, confirm, s1101ament b .
.£'. • h d l . l himself, and sta hsh his own 1a1t an ever astmg sa vaand not .
Th J." b b . done for t10n. ere1ore as one man may not e aptize another. for another, (and if he be, it availeth nothing,) so -ought not one to receive the holy Communion for another.
For if a man be dry or hungry, he is never a whit eased, if another man drink or eat for him; or if a man be all defiled, it helpeth him nothing another man to be washed for him : so .availeth it nothing to a man, if another man be baptized for him, or be refreshed for him with the meat and drink at the Lord's table.
And therefore, saith St. Peter, Let every man be baptized Acts ii in the name of Jesu Christ.
And our Saviour Christ said to the multitude, Take, and eat. And Matt xxvi further he said, Drink you all of this. Whosoever therefore will be spiritually regenerated in Christ, he must be baptized himself And he that will live himself by Christ, must by himself eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood.
And briefly to conclude : he that thinketh to come to the kingdom of Christ himself, must also
-come to his sacraments himself, and keep his commandments himself, and do all things that pertain to a Christian man and to his vocation himself; lest ifhe refer these things to another man to do them for him, the other may with as good right claim the kingdom of heaven for him.
DEFENCE, &c.
BOOK Therefore Christ made no such difference bev. tween the priest and the layman, that the priest
ORA~ .
XI. should make oblation and sacrifice of Christ for The differ-the layman, and eat the Lord's Supper from him ence betwe~n all alone, and distribute and apply it as him the pnest and the liketh.
Christ made no such difference; but the layman.
. difference that 1s between the priest and the layman in this matter is only in the ministration; that the priest, as a common minister of the Church, doth minister and distribute the Lord's
Supper unto other, and other receive it at his hands. But the very Supper itself was by Christ instituted and given to the whole Church, not to be offered and eaten of the priest for other men, but by him to be delivered to all that would duly ask it.
As in a prince's house the officers and ministers prepare the table, and yet other, as well as they, eat the meat and drink the drink; so do the priests and ministers prepare the Lord's Supper, read the Gospel, and rehearse Christ's words; but all the people say thereto, Amen; all remember
Christ's death, all give thanks to God, all repent and offer themselves an oblation to Christ, all take him for their Lord and Saviour, and spiritually feed upon him; and in token thereof, they eat the bread and drink the wine in his mystical Supper.
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
And this nothing diminisheth the estimation CHAP. and dignity of priesthood and other ministers ofTh xd~e 1gthe Church, but advanceth and highly commandni~y of priests. eth their ministration.
For if they are much to be loved, honoured and esteemed, that be the king's chancellors, judges, officers, and ministers in temporal matters; how much then are they to be esteemed that be ministers of Christ's words and sacraments, and have to them committed the keys of heaven, to let in and shut out, by the ministration of his word and gospel !
Now, forasmuch as I trust that I have plainly CHAP. enough set forth the propitiatory sacrifice of our Th:11·
Saviour Jesu Christ, to the capacity and comfortanswer_to • the papists of all men that have any understandrng of Christ; and have declared also the heinous abomination and idolatry of the popish mass, wherein the priests have taken upon them the office of Christ, to make a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the people, an<l I have also told what manner of sacrifice Christian people ought to make; it is now necessary to make answer to the subtle per- :·masions and sophistical cavillations of the papists, whereby they have deceived many a simple man, both learnedand unlearned.
,The place of St. Paul unto the Hebrews, which Heb. v, they do cite for their purpose, maketh quite and
DEFENCE, &c.
BOOK clean against them.
For where St. Paul saith, V. that every high priest is 01·dained to offe1· gift:; and sacrifices for sins, he spake not that of the priests of the new testament, but of the old ; which, as he saith, offered calves and goats. And yet they were not such priests, that by their offerings and sacrifices they could take away the people's sins, but they were shadows and figures of Christ our everlasting Priest, which only by one oblation of himself taketh away the sins of the world.
Wherefore the popish priests that apply this text unto themselves, do directly contrary to the meaning of St. Paul, to the great injury and prejudice of Christ, by whom only, St.
Paul saith, that the sacrifice and oblation for the sin of the whole world was accomplished and fulfilled.
And as little serveth for the papists' purpose Mal. i. the text of the Prophet Malachi, that every where should be o.ff'ered unto God a pure sacrifice and oblation.
For the Prophet in that place spake no word of the mass, nor of any oblation propitiatory to be made by the Priests ; but he spake of the oblation of all faithful people, in what place soever they be, which offer unto God, with pure hearts and minds, sacrifices of laud and praise ·; prophesying of the vocation of the Gentiles, that God would extend his mercy unto them, and not be the God only of the Jews, but of alJ nations from east to west, that with pure faith call upon him and glorify his name.
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
But the adversaries of Christ gather together c HAP.
XIII. a great heap of authors, which, as they say, A n answer call the mass, or holy communion, a sacrifice. to the authors.
But all those authors be answered unto in this one sentence, that they call it not a sacrifice for sin, because that it taketh away our sin, which is taken away only by the death of Christ, but, because it was ordained of Christ to put us in remembrance of the sacrifice made by him upon the cross.
And for that cause it beareth the name of that sacrifice, as St. Augustine declareth plainly in his Epistle Ad Bonifaciumh, before rehearsed in this book, p. 140 and foll. ; and in his book De fide ad Petrum DiaconumC, before rehearsed also.
And in his book De Civitate Die\ he saith, " That which men call a sacrifice, is a "sign or repre~entation of the true sacri.fice8 ." b Augll'stinus Ad Bonifacium. c [This has been proved to be the work of Fulgentius instead of Augustine.
See Ed. Bened. tom. vi. App. p. 18.-Jenlcyus.] d De Civitat. lib. x. cap. 5. ad fin.
• Idem, In Psal. 21. in Prcefatione Ex,Positionis secundce.
"Fassio Domini, (s1cut scimus,) semel facta est, semel enim "Christus mortuus est, justus pro injustis.
Et scimus et cer- " tum habemus, et fide immob1h retmemus, qu1a Chrzstus resur- " gens a mortuis Jam non morztur, et mors ei ultra non "dominabitur.
Verba ista Apostoli sunt, tamen ne obhvisca- " mur quod factum est semel, in memoria nostra omni anno
"fit.
Quoties Pascha celebratur, numquid totieis Christus "moritur1 Sed tum anniversaria recordatio quasi reprresentat, "quod olim factum est, et sic nos fac1t moneri, tanquam "videamus in cruce pendentem Dommum." EMBD.
DEFENCE, &c.
And the Master of Sentences, of whom all the school authors take their occasion to write, judged truly in this point, saying, "That which is offered
," and consecrated of the priest, is called a sacrifice BOOK V.
" and oblation, because it is a mem01·y and repre- " sentation of the true sacrifice and holy oblation,
"made in the altar of the crossg."
And St. John Chrysostomeh, after he hath said that Christ is our Bishop which offered that sacrifice that made us clean, and that we offer the same now, lest any man might be deceived by his manner of speaking, he openeth his meaning more plainly, saying, " That which we do, is done
"for a remembrance of that which was done by " Christ.
For Christ saith, Do this in remem- " brance of me." Also Chrysostome declaring at length, that the priests of the old law offered ever new sacrifices, and changed them from time to time, and that Christian people do not so, but offer ever one sacrifice of Christ; yet by and by, lest some men might be offended with this speech, he maketh as it were a correction of his words, saying, "But rather we make a remembrance of •~ Christ's sacrifice."
As though he should say; Although in a certain kind of speech we may say, 1 [The Embden translator, as if dissatisfied with the plainnesr, of Cranmer's language, has added a simile. "Lombardus autem
" (e cujus script1s, tanquam ex equo Trojano, omms scholasti- " corum turba proflux1t) vere hac in causa jud1casse videtur."
Ed. Embd. fol. 149.] g Lombardus, lib. iv. dist. 12. h Chrysost. In Epzst. ad Heb. Hom. 17. [See Gardyner,
Detr;tion, &-c. fol. 87.]
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
that every day we make a sacrifice of Christ; c HAP.
XIII. yet in very cleed, to speak properly, we make no --sacrifice of him, but only a commemoration and remembrance of that sacrifice, which he alone made, and never none but he.
Nor Christ never gave this honour to any creature, that he should make a sacrifice of him, nor did not ordain the sacrament of his holy Supper, to the intent that either the people should sacrifice Christ again, or that the priests should make a sacrifice of him for the people: but his holy Supper was ordained for this purpose, that every man eating and drinking thereof should remember that Christ died for him, and so should exercise his faith, and comfort himself by the remembrance of Christ's benefits; and so give unto Christ most hearty thanks, and give himself also clearly unto him.
Wherefore the ordinance of Christ ought to be followed ; the priest to minister the sacrament to the people, and they to use it to their consolation.
And in this eating, drinking, and using of the Lord's Supper, we make not of Christ a new sacrifice propitiatory for remission of sin.
But the humble confession of all penitent CHA r. hearts, their knowledgirig of Christ's benefits,
XIV their thanksgiving for the same, their faith and!!!;~; l · · Ch · th · l bl b · · make a COilSO atIOn In nst, eir 1Uffi e SU IIllSSlOil sacrifice as
DEFENCE, &e.
Boo K and obedience to God's will and commandments, v. is a sacrifice of laud and praise, accepted and ~u~ . priest allowed of God no less than the sacrifice of the priest.
For Almighty God, without respect of person, accepteth the oblation and sacrifice of priest and lay person, of king and subject, of master and servant, of man and woman, of young and old, yea of English, French, Scot, Greek,
Latin, Jew, and Gentile ; of every man according to his faithful and obedient heart unto him ; and that through the sacrifice propitiatory of J esu Christ.
CHAP.
And as for the saying or singing of mass by xv.
The the priest, as it was in time passed used, it is !:!~t~cal neither a sacrifice propitiatory, nor yet a sacrifice neithfier a of laud and praise, nor in any wise allowed before sacu ce propitia• God, but abominable and detestable ; and thereof to1y. nor of thanksmay well be verified the saying of Christ That givm • '
Luk/xvi. thing which seemeth an high thing before men, is an abomination before God.
They therefore which gather of the doctors, that the mass is a sacrifice for remission of sin, and that it is applied by the priest to them for whom he saith or singeth; they which so gather of the doctors, do to them most grievous injury and wrong, most falsely belying them.
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
For these monstrous things were never seen c 11 AP. nor known of the old and primitive Church, nor'l.h XVI. ere were there was not then in one church many masses no papist- • ical masses every day, but upon certain days there was aiu_t~eprim1t1ve common table of the Lord's Supper, where aChnrch. number of people did together ·receive the body and blood of the Lord : but there were then no <laily private masses, where every priest received alone, like as until this day there is none in the Greek churches but one common mass in a day.
Nor the holy fathers of the old Church would not have suffered such ungodly and wicked abuses of the Lord's Supper.
But these private masses sprang up of late years, partly through the ignorance and superstition of unlearned monks and friars, which knew not what a sacrifice was, but made of the mass a sacrifice propitiatory, to remit both sin and thepain due for the same ; but chiefly they sprang of lucre and gain, when priests found the means to sell masses to the people ; which caused masses so much to increase, that every day was said an infinite number, and that no priest would receive the communion at another priest's hand, but every one would receive it alone ; neither regarding the godly decree of the Council of Nice1, which appointeth in what order priests should be placed above deacons at the communion ; nor yet the Canons of the Apostles\ which command 1 Concilium Nicenum, cap. 14. k Canones Apostolorum, cap. 8.
DEFENCE, &c.
BOOK that when any communion is ministered, all the v. priests together should receive the same, or else be excommunicate.
So much the old fathers misliked, that any priest should receive the sacr3:ment alone.
Therefore when the old fathers called the mass, or Supper of the Lord, a sacrifice, they meant that it was a sacrifice of lauds and thanksgiving, and so as well the people as the priest do sacrifice; or else that it was a remembrance of the very true sacrifice propitiatory of Christ : but they meant in no wise that it is a very true sacrifice for sin, and applicable by the priest to the quick and dead.
For the priest may well minister Christ's words and sacraments to all men both goodand bad, but he can apply the benefit of Christ's passion to no man being of age and discretion, but only to such as by their own faith do apply the same unto 'themselves.
So that every man of age and discretion taketh to himself the benefits of Christ's passion, or refuseth them himself, by his own faith, quick or dead ; that is to say, by his true and lively faith, that worketh by charity, he receiveth them, or else by his ungodliness or feigned faith rejecteth them.
And this doctrine of the Scripture clearly condemneth the wicked inventions of the papists in these latter days, which have devised a purgatory to torment souls after this life, and oblations of masses said by the priests to deliver them from
THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
the said torments ; and a great number of other c HAP.
• XVI. commodities do they promise to the simple ignorant people by their masses.
Now the nature of man being ever prone to idolac HAP.
• h h .
. f h ld d h .
XVII. try tram t e egmnmg o t e war , an t e pap1sts'l'-h_e_ca-us-es being ready by all means and policy to defendandmeans how and extol the mass for their estimation and profit ; papistical d 1 b .
. . l dmasses enan the peop e emg superstit10us y enamoure tered into . the Church and doted upon the mass, because they take 1t for a present remedy against all manner of evils; and part of the princes being blinded by papistical doctrine, part loving quietness, and loth to offend their clergy and subjects, and all being captive and subject to the Antichrist of Rome ; the state of the world remaining in this case, it is no wonder that abuses grew and increased in the Church, that superstition with idolatry was taken for godliness and true religion, and that many things were brought in without the authority of Christ:
As purgatory, the oblation and sacrificing ofTheabuses C · b h ·
h l"
· d 0f th8 hr1st y t e priest a one, t e app 1cat10n an papistical . . f h h h masses. apporntrng o t e same to sue persons as t e priest would sing or say mass for, and to such abuses as they could devise, to deliver some from purgatory, and some from hell, if they were not there finally by God determined to abide, as they
DEFENCE, &c.
BOOK termed the matter; to make rain or fair weather, v. to put away the plague and other sicknesses both from man and beast, to ha1low and preserve them that went to Jerusalem, to Rome, to St. James in Compostella, and to other places in pilgrimage ; for a preservative against tempest and thunder, against perils 1:1,nd dangers of the sea ; for a remedy against murrain of cattle, against pensiveness of the heart, and against all manner afHictions and tribulation.
And, finally, they extol their masses far above Christ's passion; promising many things thereby, which were never promised us by Christ's passion: as that if a man hear mass, he shall lack no bodily sustenance that day, nor nothing necessary for him, nor shall be letted in his journey; he shall not lose his sight that day, nor die no sudden death ; he shall not wax old in that time that he heareth mass, nor no wicked spirits shall have power of him, be he never so wicked a man, so long as he looketh upon the sacrament.
All these foolish and devilish superstitions the papists of their own idle brain have devised of late years, which devices were never known in the old Church. c HAP.
And yet they cry out against them that profess xvm.
Which the Gospel, and say that they dissent from the <::hurch is Church, and would have them to follow the to be followed. example of their Church. And so would they
'IHE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
gladly do, if the papists would follow the first 'i:~ili."
Church of the Apostles, which was most pure and incorrupt ; but the papists have clearly varied from the usage and example of that Church, and have invented new devices of their own brains, and will in no wise consent to follow the primitive
Church ; and yet they would have other to follow their Church, utterly varying and dissenting from the first most godly Church.
But thanks be to the eternal God, the manner of the holy communion, which is now set forth within this realm, is agreeable with the institution of Christ, with St. Paul and the old primitive and apostolic Church, with the right faith of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross for our redemption, and with the true doctrine of our salvation, justification, and remission of all our sins by that only sacrifice.
Now resteth nothing but that all faithful A short instruction subjects will gladly receive and embrace the same, to the holy commnbeing sorry for their former ignorance; and everynion. man repenting himself of his offences against God, and amending the same, may yield himself wholly to God, to serve and obey him all the days of his life, and often to come to the holy Supper_, which our Lord and Saviour Christ hath prepared; and as he there corporally eateth the very bread, and drinketh the v~ry wine; so spiritually he may feed of the very flesh and blood of J esu
Christ his Saviour and Redeemer, remembering his death, thanking him for his benefits, and
DEFENCE, &c.
looking for none other sacrifice at no priest's hands for remission of his sins, but only trusting to his sacrifice, which being both the High Priest, and also the Lamb of God prepared from the beginning to take away the sins of the world, offered up himself once for ever in a sacrifice of sweet smell unto his Father, and by the same paid the ransom for the sins of the whole world ; who is before us entered into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of his Father, as a Patron,
Mediator, and Intercessor for us ; and there hath prepared places for all them that be lively members of his body, to reign over him for ever, in the glory
·of his Father; to whom with him, and the Holy Ghost, be glory, honour, and praise, for ever and ever . .A.men.
BOOK v.
END.
SUPPLEMENTARY
NOTES
BY THE EDITOR.
No. 1. Page 6.
Archbishop Cranmer, writing against Bishop Gardiner on the misinterpretation which the latter Bishop had put on John vi., points out that Christ did not speak there of corporc1l or bodily, eating of his flesh. Cranmer
Hpeaks on this point as follows' (Parker Society edition, p. 25):- " Cyril, I grant, agreed to Nestorius in the substance
"of the thing that was eaten (which is Christ's very "flesh), but in the manner of eating they varied.
For "Nestorius imagined a carnal eating (as the Papists do) " with mouth, and tearing with teeth.
Hut Cyril, in "the same place, saith (Cyril Anathemastismo, 11), "that Christ is eaten only by a pure faith, and not that "he is eaten corporally with our mouths, as other meats
"be, nor that he is eaten in the sacrament only. . . ."
But your understanding of the sixth of John is such as never was uttered of any man before your time, and as declareth you to be utterly ignorant of God's mysteries.
For who ever said or taught before this time that the sacrament w:is the cause why Christ said: "If we eat
"not the fles11 of the Son of man, we have not life in us?"
The spiritual eating of his flesh, and drinking of his blood by faith, by digesting his death in our minds, as our only price, ransom, and redemption from eternal damnation is the cause wherefore Christ said: "That if "we cat not his flesh, and drink his blood, we have not "life in us; and if we eat his flesh, and drink his blood we
"have everlasting life." And if Christ had never ordained the sacrament, yet should we have eaten his flesh and -drunken his blood, &nd have had thereby everlasting