TWO TREATISES OF THE LORD HIS HOLY SUPPER: THE ONE INSTRUCTING THE SERVANTS OF GOD HOW THEY should be prepared when they come to the holy Supper of our only Saviour jesus Christ:  
Whereunto is annexed a Dialogue containing the principal points necessary to be known and understood of all them that are to be partakers of the holy Supper:  
The other setting forth Dialoguewise the whole use of the Supper: Whereunto also is adjoined a brief and learned treatise of the true Sacrifice and true Priest.  
Written in the French tongue by Yves Rouspeau and john de l'Espine Ministers of the word of God, and lately translated into English.  
1. CORINTH. 11.28. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of this bread, and drink of this cup.  
JOHN 6.58. This is the bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers have eaten Manna, and are dead. He that eateth of this bread, shall live for ever.  
PSAL. 51.16. Thou desirest no sacrifice, though we would give it: thou delightest not in  offering. The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit: a contrite and broken heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.  
Imprinted by Thomas Thomas Printer to the University of Cambridge. 1584.   

YVES ROUSPEAV TO THE CHRISTIAN READER, FROM OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST greeting.  
AMong the causes of all public calamities, and of the scourges wherewithal diverse realms & countries are grievously chastised: S. Paul maketh mention of the notable abuse & contempt of the Lord his Supper. For this cause, saith he, many are weak & sick among you, & many sleep: for if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Whereupon we have not to marvel, that the Lord God hath so sharply punished this poor realm of France the last year, 1562. with plague, war, and famine, seeing it is manifest that the contempt of the Gospel with the abusing and profaning of the holy Supper of the Lord, hath brought upon us the foresaid miseries & afflictions. And for this cause, both the Pope his adherents may stop their mouths, with the which they are so ready to cast reproach upon our God, and they that make profession of the Gospel in this lan● may keep like silence, seeing the causes have flowed from both parties indifferently, and the fault belongeth as well to the one, as to the other. To begin with the Papists, we may boldly avouch out of the word of God, that their Mass is stuffed full of blasphemies: that it abolisheth the holy Supper of our Lord jesus Christ: that the remembrance of his death & passion is therein suppressed & made o● none effect: that in the same there is no communion: & that, whereas jesus Christ hath given a general charge to all the professors o● his name, to take, eat, and drink the bread and wine, in the Mass there is but one that taketh, eateth & drinketh for all the rest. Further, we see how there the creature of God, even a morsel of bread, is worshipped in the place of God himself the creator: how they seek Christ jesus upon the earth, whereas the word of God, the Creed of the Apostles, and the ancient Canons do teach us to have our hearts lifted up on high, and to seek him by Faith above in the heavens. lastly, in it we may behold many other most shameful and grievous abuses, which for this time I think best to cover with silence. Now seeing that many do so stoutly and obstinately stand upon that point, that in the defence and quarrel of a thing so vile & wicked, they have put to death so many godly and honest men, so many holy personages and true martyrs of our Lord jesus Christ, I conclude that we have justly been visited of God for their offences. As for the Protestants, we see they also have been marked with the foul spots and blemishes of many gross and notable abuses. How many of them have been found as unable to render reason of their Faith as very Papists, & have offered, like bruit beasts, their presence at the holy Supper of the Lord, some for learning as ignorant as Asses, others for life, as beastly as swine. I overpass an infinite number of hypocrites, of false brethren, of traitors, and such as have fallen from their faith and knowledge, who being inwardly unknown, carried outwardly a show & colour of great virtue and holiness. And therefore not without cause hath the wrath of God been kindled against his people, and they have received double correction, seeing that in the strength of their knowledge they have wittingly abused the knowledge of his holy name. Now to the intent that our good God by his Son jesus Christ may cast his eye of pity and compassion upon this poor realm that lieth so desolate and forlorn: it behoveth the one & the other henceforth to learn, how they may better perform their duty of service and honour to their God according to his word, than they have done in time passed: and chiefly that they be very circumspect and heedful not to defile or profane the holy Supper of our Lord in any kind of condition whatsoever. To this end I have addressed this small Treatise unto their reading, wherein they shall find that the true preparing unto the Supper, consisteth not in the furniture of the body, in rich and costly attire, in gorgeous and stately shows, in counterfeit colours, and in outward professing of the name of God: but in pureness of heart and uprightness of conscience, that God which is a Spirit, may also be worshipped of his in Spirit and truth.   

A TREATISE TEACHING THE SERVANTS OF GOD, HOW THEY SHOULD BE prepared when they come to the holy Supper of our only Redeemer jesus Christ.  

The Preface.  
THat we may worthily come to the holy Supper of our Lord jesus Christ, we must examine ourselves, 
The examining of ourselves, and wherein it consisteth.  as we are advised and counseled by the Apostle. There be four principal points wherein we have to sound our hearts and consciences at the bottom, namely Faith, Repentance, Thanksgiving, in respect of our God, and Charity toward our neighbours.   

OF FAITH. The first Article.  
FIrst it is requisite that we have Faith, that is to say, 
What Faith is.  a certain and undeceivable assurance, & steadfast persuasion, that God, in the name of his Son our Lord jesus Christ, whom he delivered up to death for our behoof, is a Father to us of all mercy, favour, and compassion. 
The causes of Faith God.  This Faith cometh not from ourselves, neither is it built upon us, or upon any thing to be found in us, but it cometh from God, and is built upon God the Father, 
His word.  the Son, and the holy Ghost, and upon the promises made in the Gospel, 
The holy Ghost.  which are inwardly ratified in us by the working of the holy Ghost which crieth in our hearts Abba, that is to say, Father. And this Faith is nourished, confirmed, and increased in our hearts by the holy Sacraments. 
The Sacraments.  For in the Supper, God, most like a loving and careful Father, after he hath brought us into his Church by Baptism, 
The effects of God in the Supper.  doth feed us in spririte with the very substance of his Son jesus Christ, applying and making proper to every one of us in particular the merit of his death and passion. 
Why jesus Christ giveth the bread & the wine of the Supper: and biddeth us to take eat and drink. Matth. 26.  To which purpose it is, that jesus Christ himself doth give us the bread and the wine: that he commandeth us To eat and to drink: that he saith, the bread is his body which is given for us, and the wine his blood which is shed for the remission of our sins. In which words he giveth himself unto us wholly, he will be our spiritual food and life: he will remain in us by his holy Spirit, & will have us to abide in him by Faith, to the end that in believing we do not perish, but may obtain that life everlasting whereof he is the only inheritor and giver. 
What we learn by the breaking of the bread.  In like manner the breaking of the bread in the Supper serveth for the confirmation of our Faith, and ratifying of our salvation: forasmuch as it assureth us, and causeth us to see with our spiritual eyes, that jesus Christ was once in the city of Jerusalem broken with the sorrows of death, for our deliverance from everlasting death and to purchase unto us everlasting life. And whereas by the commandment of jesus Christ we take the bread into our hands, & then the cup: and further that we eat the bread and drink the wine which are converted into the food of our bodies: we are taught by the hands of Faith we should seize upon our Lord jesus Christ, and embrace him for our only Saviour and Redeemer, and that by the same Faith we should spiritually eat his body, and drink his blood, continuing in hope of everlasting life. But the life of every man in particular lieth in his own Faith, according to the confession made in the Apostles Creed, wherein it is written for every one apart to say, I believe, not in general, we believe. We are not in this case to busy or trouble our heads with the faith and belief of another, with his worthiness or unworthiness, but wholly to rest and to stay us upon our own. For S. Paul doth not teach us that we should examine other men, neither yet that other men should examine us, but he speaketh plainly and precisely in these words, 
1. Cor. 11.  Let every man examine himself. Wherefore let every one of us in several assure his conscience, That jesus Christ, 
1. Tim. 1.  the true Messiah, is come into the world to save sinners, of whom he ought, following the example of S. Paul, to account himself the chiefest. Let him believe that jesus Christ came down from heaven to abide upon the earth, that he might lift him up from the earth into heaven: that Christ was made the son of man to make him the child of God: that he was conceived by the holy Ghost, and was borne of the virgin Marie, to purify and cleanse the sinfulness of his conception & birth. Let him persuade himself that the son of God hath overcome the devil, to free him from the cruelty of that tyrant: that he hath fulfilled the whole law (loving God his Father with all his heart, power, and strength, & his neighbour as himself) to purchase righteousness for him: that he made his appearance before Pilate an earthly judge, & received sentence of temporal condemnation as an offender, to exempt him from appearing before the dreadful throne of God his justice where he was to hear sentence of eternal condemnation pronounced against him for his offences committed against a God Almighty and everlasting. Let him be assured in heart, that the same jesus Christ descended into hell for his cause, that is to say, endured the sorrows and terrible pangs of the second death, and the heavy wrath of God, to acquit him from that fearful judgement: that he died a death accursed of God in hanging on the cross, to obtain for him both life and blessing before God: that he rose again from death for an earnest penny and a warrant of his resurrection: that he ascended into heaven for a certain token of his ascension into the same kingdom: that he sitteth on the right hand of God his Father, to be for him an everlasting Priest, Teacher, King, Defender, Reconciler, and Advocate. And to be short that he shall come at his second coming, to his endless consolation, and perfect redemption. In like manner, it is necessary that every one of us do in particular apply unto himself all those graces and treasures that are in jesus Christ, in as much as in giving himself unto us, he hath also given us all his riches. And therefore, in that he is God, it is that we may be partakers of his Divinity: in that he is heir and Lord of the whole world, it is that we may have part of his Lordship and inheritance: and that in him we may recover the title of such possessions as we lost in Adam our first parent: in that he is the well-beloved of his Father, it is that we also may be acceptable in him: in that he is rich, it is to bless us with his riches: in that he hath all power against the Devil, sin, hell, Antichrist, the world, and all our enemies, it is to be our warrant and defence against them all: in that he is righteous & good, it is to justify us, & to make us good: in that he is blessed and immortal, it is to endue us with his blessedness and immortality. Thus when we shall apply unto ourselves all the actions and benefits of the Lord jesus Christ particularly, in like manner all his essential qualities, affying us wholly in him and in his promises, and distrusting wholly our own strength; then we may boldly draw near unto the table of the Lord, where we shall, by the benefit of Faith, have full fruition of jesus Christ, God & man, and further shall feel the same Faith increase and grow in us exceedingly to our great comfort. And now it behoveth us to note, that it is impossible we should be made one with jesus Christ and enjoy the rich treasures that are in him, unless we do first renounce Antichrist & his kingdom: and unless we have in utter abomination all idolatry, superstition, & such traditions of man as are in a direct line set against the pure service of God, the bounds and terms whereof are plainly set down in his holy word. foreseeing that God is our only creator, & that in the person of his son jesus Christ the true Isaac, in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed, he giveth himself entirely unto us his creatures; it is great reason that in like manner we by Faith should give and resign up ourselves wholly to God our maker. And behold, for this cause doth God justly require his people, & command them in his Law, that They have no other Gods before him: 
Exod. 20. Deut. 6.  That they love him with all their heart and soul, with all their strength, and understanding: that is to say, with all their parts, as well inward, as outward. And for this cause also, God not only reproveth those that halt on both sides, but also commandeth that they which sacrifice to strange Gods, should be put to death. To this purpose S. Paul advertising the Corinthians to fly Idolatry, useth an argument taken from the conjunction and union that we have with our Lord jesus Christ in the Supper, saying after this manner. 
1. Cor. 10.  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ? As if he would say, that seeing the Corinthians did not come to the Supper, simply & only to receive those earthly elements, but really and in deed to receive the body and blood of our Lord jesus Christ, to the end they might be linked unto him by Faith, and made flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone, it should be more than exceeding impiety and abomination to be present at the meetings and assemblies of infidels, and to take part with them in their idolatries: and therefore the Apostle soon after addeth to his former reason, that the Corinthians Cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the Devils: and that they cannot be partakers of the Lord his table and of the table of Devils. Wherein he teacheth us to understand, that it is impossible, at once to serve both God and the Devil, and that whosoever hath fellowship with idolatry, doth set up a banner of defiance as it were against the Lord jesus. Forasmuch as therefore, neither is darkness more contrary to light, nor vice to virtue, nor death to life, nor hell to heaven, than the Pope and his doctrine is contrary to Christ and his holy Gospel: it is necessary that all those that have true faith in jesus Christ, do all their endeavour to fly from that poison of papistry, and without delay to shake of the yoke of that Antichrist of Rome, that they may entirely offer up themselves to the service of this good Saviour and Redeemer jesus Christ. And if so be, that neither the fellowship which we have with the Son of God, nor yet the promises of our heavenly father can allure and induce us to resign up our souls and bodies unto God, to put our affiance in him alone, to serve and to worship him alone, according to his good will & pleasure, but we will nevertheless stick fast to Antichrist, and join right hands to perpetual alliance with him, his ministers, & upholders: yet let us set before our eyes, to the end they may strike deeply into our hearts, & we thereby may be driven with fear from their pernicious fellowship, the grievous threatenings, and the heavy judgement of God denounced against us to that purpose, as namely when he saith, 
Apoc. 18.4.  Depart out of Babylon my people, that ye be not partakers in her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 
Apoc. 14.9.  Again, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, yea, of the pure wine, which is powered into the cup of wrath, and he shallbe tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy Angels, and before the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment shall ascend evermore: and they shall have no rest day nor night, which worship the beast and his Image, and whosoever receiveth the print of his name. And again in another place, 
Apoc. 21.8.  But the fearful and unbelievers, and the abominable, and murtheres, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Therefore let us have at the least this point well printed in our hearts, to the end we be not led out of the way, and so for ever cast away with the tymemen of this world, which suppose it is not a thing impossible at once to serve both God & the Devil, jesus Christ and Antichrist, and to follow the commandments of God and of men, and to fulfil the affections of the flesh and of the spirit.   

OF REPENTANCE. The second Article.  
THe former preparing of ourselves in respect of Faith, which apply jesus Christ to us in particular, with all his graces and blessings, can by no means have any place in our hearts, but it speedily begetteth in us a true and unfeigned repentance: that is, a true and earnest loathing of that which is evil, and an ardent love and affection towards that which is good: which we see for our instruction in the examples of David, Peter, Paul, and other holy personages. We must mourn inwardly, even in our bowels, & sorrow unfeignedly that we have offended the Majesty of God, that we have most wickedly in former times abused our creation, read 〈…〉 on, & baptism: that we have provoked G 〈…〉 anger in all the members of our body: that we have abused our wit, our heart, our tongue, our feet and our hands: that we have unchastelie laid open our bodies and souls (which are the temples, wherein our God will have his abiding) to all kind of infidelity, idolatry, filthiness, blasphemy, whoredom, ravening, usury, theft, gluttony, drunkenness, ambition, excess, pride, and of all the other vanities of this world: which is in effect as much, as if we would have God the Father, the Son, and the holy Ghost, to lodge in a base and vile backroome, full of deadly infection and filthy stinking. Wherefore we must be sorry for our wicked life forepast, calling ourselves to a true and strict account which may breed in our hearts an earnest grief & trembling, that we have in former times torn in pieces, and broken in all the parts thereof the law of God, to follow the will of the world, of the flesh, & of the devil. The breaking of the bread in the Supper, ought not only to move us unto the knowledge of our wickedness, but also to an abomination thereof, being none other then whatsoever is to be found in us repugnant & contrary to the pure and holy law of God. For whereas the bread is broken for us, or rather we break the bread of the supper of our Lord jesus Christ, we are to learn, that it is we, that it is our sins and iniquities, which have crucified and 〈◊〉 to death the author of life, which is even 〈◊〉 the same our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ. And therefore we may not do as the infidels in times past, which made great lamentation, & devised sharp invectives against the jews, Pontius Pilate, Herod, judas, and those that had executed and put to death jesus Christ, & yet in the mean time flattered themselves, gloried in their merits, and considered not narrowly, that judas, Pontius Pilate, and Herod were none other, than the executors and ministers of their impieties and offences. Let us consider therefore in the breaking of the bread, that our sins, yea the sins of every one of us in particular, have crucified the Son of God, and have broken him with the pains of the first and second death: And even so is it precisely witnessed in the Supper, that the body of jesus Christ was broken for us, and that his blood was shed for the remission of our sins. And our heavenly Father himself doth testify the same by the mouth of his Prophet Isaiah, saying: 
Isa. 63.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was broken for our iniquities. Now if it be so, that our sins being weighed in the balance of God his justice, are found to be of so gre●t consequence and importance, that his anger and displeasure conceived against us, can by no means be appeased, but by the death of his only Son, yea, by the cruel and shameful death upon the cross, by which alone satisfaction is per 〈…〉ed; why should we not henceforth abhor 〈…〉 ur sins & wickedness, the cruel and bloody murderers of the only Son of God? Behold, the Sun & the Moon, the elements, the vail of the Temple, the stones & rocks were moved at the death of jesus Christ, and showed tokens of sorrow & heaviness; and shall not we, which bear about us the cause of this death, abhor so foul, evil-favored, and unfortunate a guest, who hath taken up his lodging in our hearts? and shall we suffer him to abide, or rather to dwell within us, until he have brought everlasting death into his lodging? No verily. But contrariwise we ought to esteem him most detestable, as one that first did set up a wall of separation between us and God our sovereign happiness: and as one that hath caused us to lose that image and resemblance of God, whereunto at the first we were created. It is he that hath defiled us within and without: it is he that hath spoiled us of our holiness and righteousness: it is he that hath driven & chased us out of Paradise: it is he that hath brought us in bondage to the tyranny of the Devil: it is he that hath made us subject to poverty and sickness, and finally to the first and second death: It is he, that after he had barred and divided us from God, caused us to see our filthiness, and brought upon us shame & black reproach, that caused us to tremble at the voice of our God, which before was to our ears most sweet & amiable. It is he, by whom the wrath of God is heaped up against all mankind, which is in cause that the earth becometh barren, and bringeth forth thorns and briars, that women do labour and bring forth children in sorrow, and that men eat their bread with the sweat of their face & travail of their bodies. Now seeing that sin doth bring upon us continually so many evils & mischiefs, it followeth that we ought to retire & withdraw ourselves from it, except we will be voluntary hinderers and enemies of our happiness & salvation. And here I call into presence all such, as wallowing in all kind of sin and wickedness, and giving occasion of grievous offence to the children of God, are nevertheless so shameless, as they dare presume to present themselves at the Lord his table. I would have them to answer, what it is that they promised to God, & to his church in their Baptism? They will say; they promised to forsake the Devil and all his works. Even so: but sin is one of the chief and principal works of the Devil: & why then do they not abstain from it? why are they traitorous and disloyal to God and to his Church? why have they conspired with the Devil, the world, and the flesh, against their own salvation? how dare they present themselves before God, to crave pardon & remission of their sins at his hands, seeing that from time to time they do heap sin upon sin, and outrageously crucify again, as much as in them lieth, the Son of God, or at the least deride the purgation of his blood, which was applied to them in Baptism? Let the case be of an offendor, beggarly, needy, and destitute of all help & succour, that he were fallen into a fowl and filthy bog, whereout by his own strength & wit he could not escape, and of a King his son passing by the said place, that he took the pains to draw him out of this miry hole, that he made him clean, and that he decked him richly with brave and costly attire. If this miseralbe wretch shall return again into this pit of filth & mire, defiling therein both his body & his garments, and further, placing his life in extremity of danger; may we not justly think him to be unthankful above measure, and careless of that princely bounty and humility? On the other side, may we not boldly affirm, that he hath wittingly & willingly taken an oath, as it were, against his own life and safety? and that he is worthy to come to ruin, and to perish without all help and secure? Like is the case between us and jesus Christ. We are all fallen into the fowl pit of sin, in the person of Adam: we are all offenders before God, worthy of innumerable gibbets: we cannot of ourselves by any means possible get out of this pit of our destruction, into the which we are fallen by our own default and folly. The Son of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, not only draweth us out of this filthy pit, but washeth us clean also with his precious blood, & vouchsafeth to  us with his own garment of righteousness & innocency. If we fall to tumble and to wallow again in the pit of sin, if we please ourselves therein, if we defile and stain the garment of innocency, which he gave us in Baptism clean and unspotted; do we not manifestly contemn the love and the benefit of jesus Christ not able no be valued & esteemed? & are we not worthy to rot an hundred thousand times in our uncleanness, or rather with the Devil in hell to gnash our teeth for ever? It is out of all controversy. Then sith it is so, that the end of our redemption, Baptism, & justification, requireth that we should abstain from sin (so far as is possible, and the frailness of man's nature can permit) it behoveth us to employ all our pain & diligence by the mighty power of the Spirit of God, to drive out of our souls & bodies all uncleanness, filthiness, idolatry, blasphemy, rebellion, hatred, murder, whoredom, stealing, usury, and all other things contrary to his holy law, unless we will be unthankful towards jesus Christ, and open enemies to his Church, and to our own salvation.  
Now, because it is not sufficient, to the end we may be endued with true repentance, that we know our sins, that we abhor them, confess them, & abstain from them; but we must also know, desire, and do that which is good, as we are charged in the word of God: We are to look narrowly to those reasons, whereby we ought to be stirred up to sanctify the name of God. First, whereas we are joined and knit to jesus Christ in the supper; whereas we are made flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone; whereas we live by his holy Spirit: ought not these things to move us to fashion ourselves after the image and likeness of our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ? Can he dwell in us? can he feed us with his own substance? can he quicken us with his Spirit? can he join us unto himself, and tie us with the links of Faith, and yet neither he, nor the holy Ghost, nor Faith shall prevail with us to the bringing forth of good and holy works & actions? Further, seeing it is so, that he giveth not himself unto us by the half, neither yet void of his most excellent qualities and treasures, but guarded with all spiritual graces and blessings, adorned with righteousness and perfection, having innocency and holiness in his train: how is it possible we should receive jesus Christ enriched with all his treasures, but that the righteousness of our head must shine in us which are his members? yea in every of our parts, whither they be of the soul inward, or of the body outward. Is it meet, that the parts of our soul, which are two in number, to wit, our understanding & our will, which ought to lay hold upon the promises of God, which ought by Faith to receive the body and blood of our Lord jesus Christ, that is to say, jesus Christ all and some, very God, equal in all points to God his Father, and very man, compounded of human soul and body; is it meet (I say) that these, our understanding and will, should be applied to the meditation of worldly and wicked things, and should be void of the knowledge and love of God, and of due charity towards our neighbour? Is it meet, that our body, which is the Temple of God, should be profaned and made unholy? that our ears, which God created, to the end we might hear his voice, should be stopped at the sounding of the heavenly voice, and open at the bursting forth of vain and wanton talk, of unchaste songs and lewd sonnets? Is it meet, that our tongue, which is bound by the law of creation to sing out the praise of God, and by the law of redemption to preach the tidings of the Lords death until his coming; is it meet, isaiah, that this tongue, so fit an instrument to God his glory, should be mute in all good occasions, and lose to backbite, to slander, to blaspheme without ceasing, or, at the least, most slippery to cast out idle words, for the which we shall one day give account before the throne of God his Majesty? Is it meet, that our mouth, which receiveth the sacred sign of the body and blood of jesus Christ, should suppress the benefit of our redemption, and that the poison of asps should lurk within our lips? Is it meet, that our hands, which lay hold in the supper upon the assured gage of God his love, of the league which he hath entered with us, and of our salvation, should not only be heavy to do good, but also nimble to spoil, to steal, to murder, to oppress, and to use violence? Is it meet, that our feet, which ought to run to all good actions, should be ready and swift to run after evil? No certainly: neither is it tolerable in any condition. But Even as he which calleth us is holy, so ought we, both inwardly and outwardly, to shine with holiness. As he by holy Baptism hath brought us into his holy house, which is the holy Church, the communion of Saints: so we ought in the same Church to lead a godly life, and to be of an holy conversation. As he hath washed our sins away by the precious blood of his Son jesus Christ: so ought we to die unto sin, and to live unto righteousness. As he hath called us to a never dying or decaying hope of a blessed resurrection & life everlasting: so ought we to lift up our hearts on high, & not to be buried like moles in this frail and transitory earth, which with all things above & under it is sure to vanish. To be short, 
Tit. 2.11.  seeing the grace of God is offered unto us from day to day, and his holy word soundeth in our ears continually for this end only, that the same may bring salvation unto us, and that we denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, should lead a sober, righteous, and godly life in this present world, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the mighty God, & of our Saviour jesus Christ: we must pray unto God, that by his grace we may so carry ourselves towards him in holiness, so towards our neighbour in righteousness, and so toward ourselves in soberness, that we may be found unblamable at the great & terrible day of the Lord, by the mean of the same his well-beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ.   

OF THANKSGIVING. The third Article.  
thirdly it is requisite, that we be heartily thankful to God for the exceeding benefit of our redemption. For to the end was the holy supper called Eucharistia, that is to say, a thanksgiving. And surely if our meats, and the daily bread which God giveth us for the food & nourishment of our bodies, aught to be sanctified by the word, & received with giving of thanks: is it not our parts, so much the rather to give God thanks, for the heavenly bread, and for nourishment of our souls offered and given effectually unto us in the holy supper? yea, that which ought to be unto us a notable provocation, we see that our Saviour himself hath by his own example declared unto us our duty in this behalf. For when he took the bread, S. Matthew and S. Mark record, that he blessed it before he broke it and gave it to his disciples which word of blessing S. Luke expoundeth to be giving of thanks. Now seeing that jesus Christ when he took the bread, gave thanks to God his father, which he did in like manner when he took the cup, and all for the redeeming of mankind: is it not a principal & chief point of our duty, to render like thanks, seeing it is we only which receive so great and excellent a benefit? But to the end we may be the better moved and stirred up to this acceptable sacrifice of thanksgiving, it behoveth us to think upon the worthiness of the benefit of our redemption, and upon that most excellent present which God bestoweth upon us at this holy Table: which cannot be done except we enter into a deep & due consideration of our miserable estate and condition, a sign whereof was long sithence expressed unto us in the temporal captivity and bondage of God's people in Egypt. We see there, how pharaoh was strong and mighty, how he knew not the Almighty, how he pretended to put to death the whole stock and seed of the Israelites by the suppression and cutting short of the male children. We see also how he enjoined the Hebrews to labour excessive & unreasonable, yea without all hope of any wages or reward: how he would not suffer them to offer sacrifice unto the Lord, nor to departed out of the land of Egypt. And this opinion continued not for one year or two, but by the space of four hundred & thirty years: wherein we may clearly behold the lively picture and resemblance of our most wretched and miserable estate. We were all lost in Adam, and brought to ruin & destruction. We were retained captives in the infernal Egypt, under the tyranny of the spiritual Pharaoh, which is the Devil. This tyrant was stung and mighty: he would not suffer us to serve our God: he made us to take an endless and restless labour in the servile and fruitless works of sin, for the establishing of his kingdom: he slew not only our male children, but carried us all without any difference into everlasting destruction of body and soul. Which tyranny had not continued and endured only for a short season, but had been even in a proved strength and fullness for ever, if we had not been thence delivered by the power and mercy of our God, through the ministry and mean of that true Moses, our Lord jesus Christ, the true lamb delivered as it were into the jaws of death, that we might be saved and obtain eternal life. For so it is plainly testified in the scripture, that God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, to the end that whosoever believed in him, should not perish but have everlasting life. Now seeing that God hath been so bountiful and merciful unto us, that he hath set us at liberty from the tyranny of the Devil, of sin, of death, and of hell: seeing that his love towards us hath been so wonderful, that he hath suffered his only son to endure a cruel and shameful death, to deliver us which wear servants and bondslaves to the devil: his well-beloved, for us which were his enemies: the righteous and the lamb without spot, for us which were sinful and altogether corrupted: the only inheritor of heaven, for us the true and lawful heirs of hell: ought we not to be ravished with an admiration of this wonderful and unutterable love of our God towards us? and to have our tongues continually unfolded and untied to chant out with loud & clear voice the praise of this benefit of our redemption? Let us remember that jesus Christ himself doth put us in mind of our duty in this behalf, when he saith touching the celebrating of his holy Supper, Do this in remembrance of me. 
Luk. 22.19. & 1. Cor. 11.24.  And S. Paul expoundeth this remembrance, where he giveth us to understand that as often as we shall eat this bread and drink this cup, 
1. Cor. 11.26.  we show the Lords death until his coming. Then sith it is so, that God requireth at our hands a true and unfeigned acknowledging of those benefits which we receive of his bounty and largeness, by the mean of our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ; let us be well advised, that we be not spotted or infected with the vice of ingratitude, except we will incur the wrath and heavy displeasure of God, & so find him a sharp & severe judge, whom we would not acknowledge a loving, gentle, & pitiful father: to which purpose S. Paul threateneth all unthankful, where he saith, Whosoever shall eat this bread, & drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, 
1. Cor. 11.27.  shallbe guilty of the body & blood of the Lord. and soon after in the same Chap. He that eateth & drinketh unworthily, eateth & drinketh his own damnation. And surely it standeth with good reason that the vengeance of God is discharged upon all those which wickedly suppress the glory of God, especially in that thing which concerneth their own salvation. For if a thief being now in the hands of the hangman for felony whereof he was justly & lawfully condemned, rejecting the Prince his free pardon & grace, and not vouchsafing to thank him for the same, is well worthy to be dispatched with expedition: or if a child which daily and hourly receiveth of his father all things necessary for his life and maintenance, and hath not once in his mouth the word of kindness, I thank you father, is worthy to be beaten with many stripes: how much more are we, which for our manifold and outrageous offences and trespasses have justly deserved to be hanged up in hell, when we contemn and set at nought the grace and favour of God our sovereign Prince, & make no account of the eternal blessings, which he giveth us in Christ, offered unto us in the holy Supper: how much more (I say) are we worthy to perish for our unthankfulness, so fowl and odious a sin before God and man? Now concerning this matter of thankfulness, these points following are to be diligently regarded & observed. First, we must make this recognizance to God alone, by his only Son our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ. For even as God by his Son alone hath created & redeemed us from everlasting death: so he would have us to render thanks to him alone for all his benefits, & that by his only Son in whom he is well pleased. This we may learn of S. Paul in many places, & specially in his Epist. to the Ephe. where it is written in this wise. 
Ephes. 1.3.4.  Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord jesus Christ, which hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenvly things in Christ, as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Then they that call upon Saints, that put their trust in them or to their merits: they that make them the patrons and advocates of their causes: also they that are reposed upon their own strength, free will, or good works, do manifestly rob God of his glory, and cannot truly perform the giving of thanks for the singular benefit of their redemption. For we cannot attribute to any creature, be it never so little in the matter of our salvation, but we shallbe culpable of treason in the highest degree against the majesty of our maker. And therefore, let us, renouncing ourselves and all the creatures of God in the whole or in part, say with the Apostle, Now unto the king everlasting, immortal, invisible, unto God only wise, 
1. Tim. 1.17.  be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.  
Secondly, this giving of thanks must not only sound out of the mouth, but it must also proceed from the heart. For seeing that God is a Spirit, he requireth of us such a kind of service as is fitly answerable to his nature, that is to say, he will be worshipped and served of us in Spirit and truth. And therefore when we shall be occasioned to praise God for the benefit of redemption, we must have our hearts erected: that there may be a sweet agreement and mutual accord between our affections within, and our tongue without, as we see that David exhorted himself to this manner of serving and praising God. My soul, saith he, 
Psal. 103.1.  praise thou the Lord, and all that is within me, praise his holy name. My soul praise thou the Lord, and forget not all his benefits. And the holy Virgin singeth the same notes, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour. Then we may hereby understand, that all hypocrites and dissemblers, and all those that sing & praise God in an unknown language are here reproved for their service. For without understanding there can neither be affection, nor will, nor consequently Faith, without the which what duty so ever we perform to God, bear it never so fair a colour in appearance to the eyes of men, is sin abominable in the eyes of God. Then let us take heed that we be not taken halting in this point, lest we be condemned with the people of the jews, which worshipped and served God in vain, 
Esay. 29.13.  because They came near unto him only with their tongue, and honoured him with their lips, but their hearts were far from him.  
Thirdly, this duty is at all times to be performed, that is to say, as well in time of adversity, as in time of prosperity. 
Psal. 34.1.  To which purpose the Prophet David protesteth, that He will alway give thanks unto the Lord: and that his praise shall be in his mouth continually. 
1 Thes. 5.18.  And S. Paul admonisheth the Thessalonians To give thanks in all things, with this addition, For this is the will of god in Christ jesus. This precept is greatly contrary to our tymemen, & to all such as court the Gospel in time of prosperity, & are then right glad and easily entreated to praise the Lord, whom afterward in time of adversity they curse and dishonour. The cause of this mischief is, for that they came not to be of the Church for any true end and good purpose, as namely, to exalt the glory of God, to procure their salvation with the salvation of their brethren: but rather to become great and mighty in possessions & honourable places, & to satisfy their own private and particular humours. Whereupon it cometh to pass, that so soon as the devil lifteth up his horns against the church of God, and that persecution is at hand, immediately they melt away in affliction as wax before the fire, they are offended, they are dried up & parched in the sun of the cross, they are sorry for all the good which they have done, and repent they have been carried with so hasty a swinge, to confess the name of the lord jesus Christ in the assembly of the faithful: they would they had never known either God, or his word, or his church, or his ministers: because they set more by a mess of pottage as Esau did, 
Gen. 25.38.  then by the birthright and blessing of the heavenly Father. But let this kind of people know, that it shall no more profit them, than it availed Cain, Esau, Saul, and judas to have made a good beginning, and as it were to have lifted up their shield and target lustily at the first in the Lord's quarrel. For seeing the sentence is general, Whosoever persevereth and continueth to the end, he shall be saved: it followeth on the contrary, that all such as hold not out constantly in the confession of the son of God, and such as shallbe let and hindered by their worldly goods and possessions, by offices of honour, by the love of the world, by the ease of their bodies, from confessing and acknowledging as it were in one and the same a continual vain, the worthy benefit of their redemption: I say, it followeth that such shall perish everlastingly.  
lastly, it is to be noted, that we may not only acknowledge God's benefits when we are alone, but also when we are assembled in public places, even in the face and presence of the whole congregation. And therefore saith David, 
Psal. 116.12  What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord, even now in the presence of all his people. Also in another place. I have declared thy righteousness in the great congregation: 
Psal. 40.9.  lo, I will not refrain my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within mine heart, but I have declared thy truth and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth from the great congregation. This is a thing to be deeply imprinted in the hearts of all such as are yet but weak, and of all those that are ashamed to confess and to praise our Lord jesus Christ in open & public meetings. For seeing that God doth openly avouch us for his people, & giveth himself freely to us & to our children in the person of his well-beloved Son our Lord jesus Christ, we can do no less then avouch him publicly for our God and Saviour, in the person of the same his dear son our Lord jesus Christ?   

OF CHARITY. The fourth Article.  
FAith, Repentance, & Thanksgiving to God, can have no place in our hearts and consciences, and it is to no purpose that we are called Christians, or that we brag & vaunt of the practice of the commandments contained in the first Table concerning the service of God above mentioned, except we show the effects & fruits thereof in keeping the commandments of the second Table, which touch our charitable affection towards our neighbour, without the which we cannot come worthily to the holy Supper. To this end and purpose, jesus Christ in that Sermon of the Supper, which he made to his Apostles that very night when he was betrayed & delivered up to death for us, diligently put them in remembrance of this lesson. By this shall all men know, saith he, that you are my Disciples, if ye have love one to another. Also, 
john 13.35. john 15.12.  This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. To the same end also tendeth that action of our Saviour, when he washed his Apostles feet the same night: after which washing he said unto them▪ Know ye what I have done to you? ye call me master, and Lord, and ye say well: for so am I. If I then, 
john 3.12.  your Lord and Master, have washed your feet: ye also aught to wash one another's feet. for I have given you an example, that ye should do, even as I have done to you. We must therefore according to the commandment and example of the son of God; have a careful regard that we be furnished with a true & an ardent affection towards our neighbour, if we will come worthily to the holy Table of our Lord. And if any man ask a description of this Charity, to know the better what it is, he may go to S. Paul, who hath painted it out in very lively & beautiful colours, writing to the Corinthians, after this manner. Love suffereth long: it is bountiful: love envieth not: love doth not boast itself: it is not puffed up: it disdaineth not: it seeketh not her own things: it is not provoked to anger: it thinketh not evil: it rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth: it suffereth all things: it believeth all things: it hopeth all things: it endureth all things: This is the charity which we ought to have, & to use towards our neighbour: the several parts whereof we must diligently provide that we can be able to fetch out of our own bosoms. And to this we are diverse & sundry ways exhorted in the Supper of our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ.  
First, whereas it is our duty to stay one for another, and it is not lawful for every one of us to receive the Supper single, but when the whole congregation is assembled, all the faithful together do take▪ & eat, and drink, the bread & the wine of the Supper, according to the commandment of jesus Christ, saying, Take, eat, drink ye all of this: it is a certain token & witness that we ought to be all united & knit together. Further, whereas we being all met in one and the self same house of God, which is his Church, we all do there together call upon one and the self same father which is in heaven, we have all one and the self same head, advocate, & intercessor which is jesus Christ: whereas we do all hear one & the selfsame word of God, whereas we do all eat one and the self same spiritual meat, & do all drink one and the self same spiritual drink: and whereas we all as brethren lay claim to one and the self same inheritance, which is the kingdom of heaven: ought we not to be stirred up and inflamed hereby to carry an unfeigned & an earnest affection one towards another? Lastly, the very making of that bread & wine which is used in the Supper, doth teach us what union & concord of hearts and minds there ought to be between us the children of one and the same heavenly father. For even as we see that the bread is made of diverse corns, which nevertheless is but one loaf: & as the wine is made of many grapes, which nevertheless, when it is made, is but one wine: so ought all Christians which in themselves are many, to be united by love in one body, which is the Church, whereof jesus Christ is to be the sole head, & captain. Then we must note that this love, whereunto we are exhorted in the supper by so many arguments, is absent where men are infected with hatred, strife, rancour, debate, factions, & with hot suits to the hindrance of their brethren. and therefore before we come to this Supper, which is a witness of our uniting as well with jesus Christ, as with his Church, if there be any strife or quarrel between us & our brethren, we must in all good and amiable sort be reconciled: if we have been offended, we must freely & frankly forgive our brethren, yea our enemies: as we would have God to forgive us, and as we see that our Lord jesus Christ left us an example of this love and charity, when he prayed to God his father for his enemies which put him to a cruel death: whereof Saint Steven also giveth us a godly example. Also it is to be noted, that this love is to be practised of all estates: as well of kings who are to love their subjects, to be nurses for the church of God, to be lovers of the public peace of the land, to entreat their subjects gently & moderately: as also of the people whose part is to honour the king, to pay their tributes truly & faithfully, to obey all his Lieutenants & his officers. It is the sheapherds' duty to love his flock, to watch, to labour, and to pray for it without ceasing. Also it is the part of the sheep to love their shepherd: of fathers to love their children, of children to love their fathers & mothers: of the wife to love her husband, & of the husband to love his wife: of masters to love their servants, and of servants to love their masters: and lastly it behoveth every one of us for his particular part, to exercise charity in that vocation wherein God hath placed him in his eternal providence and wisdom. For otherwise we shall never be able faithfully to acquit us of our duty as well towards God as towards men, except we be guided and governed by the rule of charity, in all our affairs and business whatsoever.   

Necessary observations for all those that desire to come to the Lord his Table.  
THus we have understood, wherein the examining & proving of ourselves consists: whereunto is to be added a good advisement & due consideration of the points & observations following. First we must take good heed, that we be not over busy in making a curious search of the life of another: following the steps of many, which sift so narrowly the imperfections of their brethren, that in the mean while their own infirmities are utterly forgotten. Well may we pray, yea we ought to procure with all our power & ability, that the church may be preserved & kept in purity, & altogether without appearance or show of any offence. But forsomuch as in this world, the corn shallbe always mingled with the chaff, the good fish with the bad, judas with the true Apostles, the foolish virgins with the wise: it is not meet that any of us should hastily take offence thereat, but contrariwise that he endeavour to find that perfection in himself, which he seeketh to bring into another.  
Secondly, we may not think that Faith, repentance, thanksgiving, & love, and the other virtues, which God requireth at our hands, can be perfect in us during this mortal life. For there will be always to be found in us, be we never so thoroughly and perfectly renewed, some relics of sin, of unbelief, of impenitency, of unthankfulness, and of self-love: which all are directly contrary and manifestly opposed to the love of our neighbour. So long as we live, there is a law in our members, which rebelleth against the law of our mind: the Devil and the world will rise up against us in battle, as we may sufficiently be instructed by the lives of the Patriarches, Prophets, and Apostles: yea, even until our last breathing we shall have need to pray unto God, that it may please him to forgive our hourly sins through his Son, our only Lord and Saviour jesus Christ. But yet, the imperfections and iniquities abiding in us, aught to prevail so little to the withdrawing of selues from God, that if we be heartily sorry and grieved for the same, they should rather cause us to draw near unto him, & to this holy banquet, to the end that, like miserable starved creatures, we might receive jesus Christ with the more greediness, who is the true and only food and nourishment of our souls.  
thirdly, albeit a perfect Faith, repentance, giving of thanks, and love, is not necessary to the end we may come worthily to the Supper: yet they must be all true, & not counterfeit; they must come from the heart, and from the spirit. Our Faith may not be feigned, our repentance may not be dissembled, as is the manner of the hypocites: the thanks which we give to God, may not proceed only out of the mouth: neither must we love our brethren only in word, & not in deed: but the whole profession of our Faith & Christian life, must above all things be far removed from vain boasting and dissembling, that we may take more care & pains to be effectually & before God, then to be esteemed & taken for good Christians before men.   

Against those that wittingly and willingly abstain from the Lord his Supper.  
AS they are many which fault in coming unworthily to the Supper: so there are many which offend of the contrary, namely, in not coming at all, nor presenting themselves to the said holy banquet: fearing (as they say) to be partakers of the same unworthily, and so consequently, to be culpable and guilty of the body and blood of jesus Christ. But let them know, which abstain of set purpose from the table of the Lord, that it is no less a vice, through unthankfulness and contempt of the holy meats, which God setteth before us in the Supper, to abstain, than it is to receive it unworthily: even as the patiented which is dangerously sick, if he make no account of the Physician his receipt and order, deserveth no less blame than he that abuseth the same receipt & diet, and doth not use it with discretion & moderation according as it was ordered by the Physician. And let them not therefore abuse & flatter themselves, as if hereby they might escape unblamable before God and men, seeing it is a case most clear, & a thing most certain, that so gross unthankfulness cannot be currant nor by any means possible bear excuse. For first, they wittingly despise the commandment of jesus Christ, who saith to all that be his, Do this, take, and eat. Secondly, they set light by the happy memory of the death and passion of the Son of God, who saith to the faithful, that they shall celebrate and keep solemn the supper in remembrance of him. Thirdly, they contemn the price of their redemption, to wit, the precious body & blood of jesus Christ, which are given and parted to all true Christians in the Supper, as it is written: This is my body, which is given for you, this is my blood which is shed for the remission of your sins. Lastly, they despise the Church, and the union thereof, & of their own accord excommunicate themselves from the fellowship that the faithful have in the Supper, as well with jesus Christ, as one with another. Thus we see, that these contemners of the Lord his Supper, do grossly fault and grievously sin in this behalf, and are altogether void and unworthy of excuse. Let us therefore take heed that we follow not their example, except we will run into the like danger with them that for their oxen, fermes, wives, and traffic of merchandise refused to come to the marriage in the Gospel.   

Of them that come unworthily to the holy Supper of the Lord, and ought not to be admitted.  
Of them that sin against the first Article of the first preparation, which consisteth in true faith.  
ALL Atheists, unbelievers, & ignorant of God & of his word, all heretics, and false prophets, all magicians, idolaters, and superstitious persons which are partakers of the table of devils: Furthermore, all such as have but an historical faith: all the adherents & ministers of the antichrist of Rome, & all such as any way establish his kingdom, or depend thereupon: all such as are not yet brought to be of the number of the church of God, & have not made profession of their faith: finally all such as make it but an ordinary & common matter to swear by the name of God, or by their faith, & apply the same to vain & fruitless matters: all such, I say, may not presume to touch the holy table of the Lord, because they have not true affiance and trust in God, without the which we can not be members of jesus Christ, & so consequently can not be fit & able to receive life of him, who is the only head and chief of all the faithful.   

Of those that sin against the second article of the second preparation, which consisteth of Repentance.  
ALL such as lead an odious, an impudent, & a lose life, all the contemners of God, of his word, & of his holy congregation: all they that deny and blaspheme the name of God: all such as contemn the correction & discipline of the church: again, they that ordinarily frequent & haunt evil company: they that walk in the council of the ungodly, that stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the cheer of the scornful: finally that give no hope of amendment of life, or of renewing of their minds: that commit outrageous, gross, infamous, & monstruous sins, such as are punishable by the civil magistrates, all these, I say, being known to be of so fowl a race, may not be admitted to this supper: and if they offer themselves, they are to be refused, lest that which is holy be given to dogs, and to swine, to the great dishonour of God, and offence to the Church and Congregation.   

Of those that sin against the third article of the third preparation which consisteth in thanksgiving.  
WIthout true faith & unfeigned repentance, we cannot be meet to publish the praises of God, which will not be praised out of the mouth of the wicked & ungodly: wherefore all they that are void and destitute of faith, of knowledge & of repentance, do also sin against this article, and ought not to be received at the Lords table. They also that are bereft of their wits, & foolish by nature, or by accident: they that being under age, as little children, can not show forth the Lords death until his coming; are all uncapable of his supper. Finally they that through weakness, unthankfulness, & want of taking knowledge of God's benefits, have in the troublesome and heavy times of adversity forsaken God's cause & quarrel, and have renounced the name of the Lord jesus Christ, ought not to have access unto his holy table, before they have made confession of their fault in public, and be reconciled to the Church of God.   

Of those that sin against the fourth article of the fourth preparation, which consisteth in Charity towards our neighbour.  
ALL such as are disobedient to fathers, & mothers, to the magistrate, & to all superiors: also all seditious persons, fighters, murtheres, & such as bear hatred or malice against their neighbour: they that are possessed & carried with a spirit of revenging: whoremongers, adulteres, unchaste, given to unnatural lust & uncleanness, drunkards, gluttones, full of deceit, of covetousness, of theft, of usury: backbiters, scorners, false witnesses, liars, men convicted of common perjury, and generally all such as make a trade & occupation of abusing the love of our neighbour, contained in the second table of the law of God, are to be excluded out of the number of the faithful to whom it belongeth to be present at this holy & spiritual feast. For seeing the Scriptures pronounce & testify that such have no fellowship with the Lord, that they are shut out of the kingdom of heaven, & that they shall not rest upon the holy hill of the Lord: they ought by great reason to be barred from those holy singes, by the which the faithful are joined to Christ, & made possessors of everlasting life.   

A DIALOGUE WHEREIN WE are taught how we should come to the holy Supper of our Lord jesus Christ.  Father. 
HOw must we be prepared, when we come to the Lord his table, that we may be worthy receivers of his holy Supper?  Child. 
We must examine ourselves diligently, as we are warned by S. Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians.  F. 
In how many points lieth this trial & examination of ourselves?  C. 
Verily in two points. First, that we carry ourselves towards God, who calleth & biddeth us to this holy banquet, as he hath ordained in his commandments, and as we are bound by our obedience: Secondly, that we have regard of our behaviour & bearing towards our brethren, which are no less bidden nor welcome guests, than we, to this holy Banquet.  F. 
What is required in regard of our duty towards God?  C. 
There be three points, which are principal and heads to many other, wherein this our duty towards God is founded.  F. 
Rehearse those three points wherein principally this duty standeth.  C. 
The first is Faith: the next Repentance: and the last Thanksgiving.  F. 
What is Faith?  C. 
It is a firm & fast persuasion, or a certain assurance, that God is our Father and Saviour, in the name of his Son our Lord jesus Christ.  F. 
Doth this Faith spring out of our hearts as out of the fountain?  C. 
we are not the authors thereof: 
john 1.13.  but it is the gift of God, for the faithful are not borne of flesh nor of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God.  F. 
What be the means which God useth to beget us unto him, and to endue us with Faith?  C. 
None other then his holy and heavenly word, 
john. 17. Rom. 10. Rom. 8. Galat. 4.  established and confirmed in us by the mighty working of his holy Spirit, which crieth in our hearts, Abba, that is to say Father.  F. 
Is not this Faith made firm and warrantable in us by the Lord's Supper?  C. 
It must needs be so▪ first our Faith is signed & sealed in the Supper in this respect, that therein jesus Christ giveth himself unto us, 
Matth. 26. Mark. 14. Luke 22. 1. Cor. 21.  assuring us that his body was given for us, and his blood was shed for the redemption of our sins: and secondly, because the bread and the wine, which we take, eat, & drink according to God's ordinance and institution, teacheth us that by faith we take, eat, and drink the body and blood of jesus Christ, as the only food and nourishment of our souls.  F. 
How say you by all the faithless and unbelieving members of mankind? can they eat the body of jesus Christ and drink his blood?  C. 
By no means: because they want true faith, without the which we cannot be members of Christ, & so consequently cannot receive any life of him who is the only head of all the faithful.  F. 
Then what benefit receiveth the Infidel if he communicate with the faithful in this sacrament?  C. 
He is so far from receiving an earnest or pledge of his salvation, 
1. Cor. 11.  that he eateth and drinketh his own damnation.  F. 
In what place is jesus Christ to be sought for of the faithful, minding to lay hold on him, & to possess him?  C. 

Coloss. 3.  In heaven. For if we be risen with Christ, we must seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God his Father.  F. 
Is not that the reason, why the Priests in old time, when they ministered the Supper, used to say to the people: Sursum corda, Lift up your hearts?  C. 
It is the very true reason of that manner: and to the same purpose the people answered, Habemus ad Dominum, we lift them up unto the Lord.  F. 
Then how can we be coupled, or rather be made one with jesus Christ, who resteth in the heavens, we remaining upon the earth?  Child. 
By Faith, and by the mighty working of the holy Ghost, to whom it is an easy matter to knit and to join together whatsoever things be divided and severed by distance of place.  F. 
What is your mind, or what shall we say to those that seek Christ jesus in the elements of the Supper, namely in the bread and the wine, affirming that the very substance of the bread & wine is changed into the substantial body and blood of jesus Christ?  Child. 
We may boldly affirm, that they are out of the way, for diverse causes. First, in that directly they gainsay three several Articles of our Faith, namely, those that import the ascension of Christ up into the heavens: his sitting at the right hand of God: and his continual abiding there until he come to judge the quick and the dead. And secondly, by their vain and ridiculous changing of substances, they abolish and take away the sign of the Sacrament, to wit, the bread and the wine, and so consequently they take away the supper itself, which cannot remain, if the sign thereof be taken away.  F. 
Are not other gross & unreasonable points to be found, in this strange doctrine of their changing of substances?  C. 
There are yet more: as these by name: that it giveth that which is holy to filthy swine, and no less than the faithful, maketh the Infidel and unbeliever partaker of this holy banquet, wherein jesus Christ is given to be eaten, and only of the faithful: again it causeth men to become idolators, and to worship the Sacrament: also it maketh the glorious body of jesus Christ subject to putrefying and to become no better than the filthy dung of man's body: and lastly it abolisheth the true humanity of the Son of God, because it would have his body to be infinite, and to be at once in all places.  F. 
Why? hath not jesus Christ witnessed, saying, And lo, I am with you always until the end of the world? 
Acts 3.21.  & again, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.  C. 
So it is: but these places import the presence of his divinity, not the presence of his humanity. And this I prove by the testimony of jesus Christ himself, who saith in the Gospel: The poor ye shall have always with you, but me ye shall not have always: also by that which S. Peter witnesseth in the Acts, saying in these words concerning Christ, Whom the heaven must contain, until the time that all things be restored.  F. 
Then you conclude, that jesus Christ, albeit he is among us by his divinity & his holy spirit, in respect of his humanity can be in no more than in one, & that one a certain place, and namely in heaven.  C. 
That is my meaning, & so meant S. Augustine saying, Till heaven & earth shallbe destroyed, the Lord shall continually remain above in the heavens. The Truth of the Lord also remaineth with us: for it must needs be, that the body wherein he rose up, should be in one, & that a certain place: but his Truth is spread over the face of the whole earth.  F. 
What is the sum of this true faith, which seeketh jesus Christ, not upon the earth, but in the heavens?  C. 

Math. 28. Math. 18.20  This is the sum: I believe in God the father, who hath created me: I believe in jesus Christ, who hath redeemed me from sin, from Satan, from hell▪ & from death: I believe in the holy ghost, who sanctifieth me.  F. 
Why say you so in particular, I believe, and say not in general, we believe?  C. 
Because Every man must examine himself, 
Habac. 2. Rom. 1. Gal. 3. Heb. 10.  and live by his own faith, not by the faith of other.  F. 
And how may this be done?  C. 
If we shall apply to every of us in particular, jesus Christ himself with all his blessings and rich treasures.  F. 
What are the rich treasures to be found in jesus Christ?  C. 
There is salvation for them that are lost, life for them that are dead, truth for them that are liars, wisdom for them that are ignorant, righteousness for sinners, holiness and sanctification for the ungodly, and redemption for captives, & them that are in bondage.  F. 
Must we not then by faith apply all those things unto ourselves, seeing we are all by nature lost, dead, liars, ignorant, sinful, defiled, ungodly, and captives.  C. 
Yes verily. For jesus Christ hath taken upon him all our need & misery, to make us partakers of all his blessings & rich treasures which in very deed, are distributed unto us in his holy Supper.  F. 
Now let us speak of the second part of our duty towards God, which consisteth in Repentance: and first, what is Repentance?  C. 
It is a disliking of that is evil, and a love of that is good.  F. 
To the end we may have our sins in disliking & hatred, is it not necessary, that we know them?  C. 
It is necessary.  F. 
How come we to have knowledge of the evil that dwelleth in us?  C. 

johan 3.  First we know by our original birth. For that which is borne of the flesh, is flesh. Secondly because we transgress the law of God, the rule of all perfection and righteousness. And thirdly, by the ordinary afflictions & calamities that God sendeth upon us for our sins and iniquities.  F. 
May we not also behold in the Sacraments a mirror of our sins and offences?  C. 
We may. For if we were no sinners we should not stand in need of that forgiveness of them which is signified in Baptism. And again, except we were dead, it should be in vain that we come to the Supper to seek life & salvation in jesus Christ.  F. 
When we know our sins, are we there to rest, and not to proceed further, namely to make confession of the same?  C. 

Psal. 31. & 51. Luke 18.  We must also confess our sins after the example of David and of the Publican, if we will obtain righteousness before God.  F. 
Why should it be necessary for us to know and to confess our sins before God?  C. 
To the end we may obtain forgiveness, and a full and absolute remission, according as God is just and faithful to perform his promises.  F. 
Why doth God forgive us our sins?  C. 

Math. 5. & 18.  To three especial and principal ends & purposes. First that we should be reconciled to our enemies: secondly, to the end we should freely forgive them, & thirdly, to the end we should abstain from sin and live after righteousness.  F. 
Is there aught in the Supper which putteth us in mind to fly from sin, and to abhor it?  C. 
There is▪ for even the very breaking of the bread in the Supper, doth teach us that our sins have broken and bruised the son of God with the sorrows of death.  F. 
What is hereupon to be gathered?  C. 
That we ought to condemn our sins and to have them in abomination, as the causes of the death of the son of God.  F. 
Is it sufficient to abstain from evil, without further proceeding in doing of good?  C. 
No forsooth. 
Math. 3. & 7  for Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  
And therefore is the evil and foolish servant cast into utter darkness, 
Math. 25.  not because he had unthriftily spent his master's talon, but because by his diligence and painfulness he had done no good therewithal, ne had raised any commodity thereby unto his master.  F. 
Then be like it is requisite that every one according to the talon which he hath received of God, should glorify him in that vocation wherein he is placed and appointed.  C. 
Surely so it is, if we desire to enter with the good servant into the joy of his master.  F. 
To the end we may do the thing that is good, ought we not to seek the knowledge thereof?  C. 
We ought: and namely by these means, by the law of God and generally by all the parts of the holy scripture, which teacheth us plainly what those good works are which God requireth us to perform.  F. 
Whether doth the Supper, or any part thereof exhort us to a godly life, or no?  C. 
It doth: for whereas we are united to jesus Christ, made flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone: also, whereas we are made partakers of his holiness and righteousness, we are taught that we should be holy as he is holy.  F. 
What else?  C. 
Whereas we meet and assemble together in his holy Church, which is the communion of sancts: whereas by the working of the holy ghost, we call upon one father, who is most holy: lastly whereas we hear his holy and heavenly word, and also have part of his holy sacraments: we are exhorted, I say, by all these reasons to an holiness and pureness of life.  F. 
Is this holiness, which God requireth of us, perfect in this world or no?  C. 
It is not: for so we understand even by the examples of the sancts themselves during their life of mortality. And contrariwise, even until the very last gasp, we shall continually have need to be humble suitors to God for the remission of our sins in jesus Christ.  F. 
Can this holiness being unperfect be pleasant and acceptable to God which is perfect?  C. 
Yea verily: so far as we endeavour by the assistance of his holy spirit & by Faith, to obey the commandments of God, by jesus Christ, who with the cloak & mantle of his own righteousness, covereth all our defalts, wants, & imperfections.  F. 
Now let us come to the third point of our duty towards God. Wherein said you ere while it did consist?  C. 
In acknowledging the benefits we have received and daily receive of God, and chiefly the benefit of our redemption by jesus Christ.  F. 
Is it not therefore, that the ancient fathers called the holy Supper, Eucharistia, that is to say, a Thanksgiving?  C. 
It is: and I say further, that this acknowledging of God's benefits is necessary for all those that communicate at the Lords table: as jesus Christ himself hath taught us by his own example: & hath commanded us beside, to celebrate the Supper in remembrance of him.  F. 
How many conditions are to be regarded of us in this acknowledging of God's benefits?  C. 
There are four principal points: of which the first is, that this recognizance is to be made to one God, by his only son jesus Christ: the second, that it proceed not only out of our mouths, but also out of the very bottom and secret corners of our hearts.  F. 
Doth it not follow hereupon, that all those that call upon sancts, & render not thanks to God alone by his son jesus Christ, are greatly deceived?  C. 
Yes verily: & on the other side, all hypocrites praying in an unknown & strange language, are no les out of the way, because they honour & worship God with their lips only, & not with their hearts.  F. 
What be the two other conditions annexed to this recognizance, to the end it may be acceptable and agreeable to God our heavenly father?  C. 
The one is, that it ought to be used at all times, to wit, as well in adversity as in prosperity: the other that it be practised privately & also in public & in the midst of the congregation of the faithful.  F. 
Now, seeing we have sufficiently spoken of our duty towards God: let us speak of our duty towards our neighbour.  C. 
I say, it consisteth in true love & brotherly union, which of necessity attendeth and waiteth upon Faith and upon the pure serving and worshipping of God.  F. 
What is the true rule of love and charity towards our neighbour?  C. 
That we love our neighbour as ourselves: or that we love one another, as Christ hath loved us.  F. 
How hath jesus Christ loved us?  C. 
He loved us when we were his enemies, wicked, ungracious & abominable in the sight of God.  F. 
Are not we taught by his example, to love our enemies, though they be wicked and ungodly persons?  C. 
We are: for in that point we must also be framed and fashioned after the image of our head, jesus Christ.  F. 
Was the love of Christ jesus, wherewith he loved us, a feigned love, or hath it continued only for a season?  C. 
No truly: for he hath loved us, not only in word, but also in deed▪ he hath not loved us only for a short time, but also even to the end, to the death, and to the shedding of his precious blood for our ransom.  F. 
And ought we not herein to follow his example?  C. 
Yea that we ought, for the avoiding of all dissembling and inconstancy, so often as there is occasion to love our brethren, and to declare this our love unto them by our deeds.  F. 
Besides the example of jesus Christ, are we not exhorted to this true love, by certain reasons and arguments in the Supper?  C. 
We are: and first in that we communicate all together in one company, that we eat the same meat, that we call upon the same father, that we have all of us one head jesus Christ, that we are all quickened by his holy spirit, in these respects I say, we ought to be stirred up to true love & brotherly Charity one towards another. Secondly the making of the bread & the wine which we receive in the supper, aught to exhort us to the same charity.  F. 
How so?  C. 
Because, that, even as the bread is made of many corns, which afterward are joined together to the making of one loaf▪ & even as the wine is made of many grapes, which afterwards are pressed together to the making of one liquor: so ought all the professors of Christ, which are many being considered single & several, to be made one by love in one body, which is the church of God.  F. 
Can this love whereunto we are exhorted in the Supper by so many reasons, abide and dwell in them whose hearts are full of hatred and malice towards their brethren?  C. 
It cannot: & therefore we must put all wrongs and injuries out of our minds, we must be reconciled to those with whom we have been offended, we must forgive and pardon them freely, even so as we pray unto God that he would forgive and pardon us.  F. 
Then we may well conclude upon the whole that hath been hitherto spoken, that all those, which do not their duty as well towards God as towards their neighbour, ought not to be admitted to the holy Supper.  C. 
We may indeed and therefore the true minister of Christ, aught to be very circumspect & well advised, that he Give not that which is holy to those that are commonly known, & as it were pointed at of all men with the finger, for Dogs and swine.  F. 
The God of all mercy & love so garnish & furnish our hearts with faith, & repentance, that with a pure & sincere affection we may both publish & show forth his praises, and also love our neighbours as jesus Christ hath loved us, to the end we come not to his holy table as infidels and impenitent wretches do, to our own damnation, but rather to our everlasting salvation: being well assured and certainly persuaded, that so truly we shall enjoy the life, the benefits, and the rich treasures of jesus Christ, as we use the elements which he hath appointed & ordained to be most certain and unfallible tokens of life everlasting, in the same his well-beloved Son our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ.  C. 
Amen.  
FINIS.    

A DIALOGUE ENTREATING OF THE LORD HIS SUPPER. Made by I. de l'Espine, Minister of the word of God.  The Minister. 
YOu know my brethren, that jesus Christ when he instituted his holy supper commanded us to prove ourselves before we do eat of the bread and drink of the cup which are offered unto us therein; threatening and fearing us with our own condemnation if we presume contrary to his commandment to eat and to drink not discerning the Lord his body. And forasmuch as by reason of my duty, I have to account before his majesty, not only for myself, but also for you which have been committed to my charge: I purpose to examine you all one after another, touching this point, before I do admit you, or any of you to this holy table: that I may understand whether you have sufficient instruction in these matters, and have rightly conceived and kept in memory such points as I have of late times handled for your better preparing thereunto. Wherefore I pray you Eusebius answer me, and tell me what is the chiefest thing and most requisite to be known for the sufficient understanding of this whole mystery.  Euseb. 
The chiefest point wherein you said we ought to be perfectly informed and instructed, was to my understanding and remembrance, touching the Author, by whom the Supper was ordained: and that it was not to be taken for some dream, or thing only imagined & conceived in the brain & fancy of man, but for an holy & an inviolable ordinance of our God; which, without great impiety & prejudice to our own salvation, we can neither break in the whole, nor neglect in any part or parcel.  Minist. 
What was my reason for this first and principal point?  Euseb. 
It was to this effect, that except we have a certain knowledge and assurance, that this ceremony is one of God his own ordinances, we cannot be persuaded in our consciences, that in keeping the same we do please his majesty: and further, that except this point have taken deep root in our hearts by the power of his word, we are prone and ready continually to take away the honour and estimation thereunto belonging: and by reputing it either a vain and needless matter, or at the most a thing indifferently to be received or refused, we are ever at the point to set light by it & to deride it: For even therefore despise we the whole rabble of Turkish & jewish ceremonies, because they are grounded only upon the will of such as ordained them, and upon the superstitious ignorance and blindness of the common people which keep and worship them.  Minist. 
Show me now by whom it was appointed: to the end we may understand what we do, when we come to the Lord his table. For as you have very well said, it is not only requisite for the assuring & staying of our consciences that our faith be builded upon his promises, but also that our obedience be squared & ruled by his commandments: to the end that our inward intention & meaning in all things may be guided and governed by the light of his word: and as we do acknowledge him to be our father by the trust that we repose upon his goodness, so we may in like manner confess him to be our sovereign Lord, by the fear and reverence which we shall carry towards his heavenly majesty, & by the careful minds which we shall show to be in us towards the keeping of his ordinances: protesting hereby that we will hope to receive nothing but at his hands, and that we will commit nothing which shall not be agreeable to his holy will and pleasure.  Euseb. 
This holy supper was ordained and appointed by our Lord & master jesus Christ, as it appeareth by that which is written by his holy Evangelists, 
Matth. 26. Mark. 14. Luke 22. 1. Cor. 11.  saint Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in their several writings, and by his Apostle S. Paul in his first to the Corinthians: in which places after he had distributed the bread and wine to his disciples he commanded them to do the like in the remembrance of him, and thereby to declare his death, and to preach the same until his coming.  Minist. 
Then it is out of all doubt that the supper is a ceremony ordained and appointed by God, and that all the faithful thereof capable, are bound to celebrate the same by his commandment. But forasmuch as that duty ought to be most reverently performed, and for the better and more holy use thereof it is needful to understand to what end and purpose it was ordained, I would have you to show me for the second point, what is the end of the Lord his supper.  Euseb. 
The supper was instituted to this end and purpose, that we might thereby be edified and instructed, which thing jesus Christ did always set as a mark before his eyes in all that he either taught or appointed to be done in his Church.  Minist. 
How and wherein are we taught & edified by celebrating the supper?  Euseb. 
We are instructed in Faith and Charity, the only points wherein the salvation & duty of all Christians, and in general the whole body of the religion of our saviour jesus Christ is contained.  Minist. 
How I pray you is our faith hereby edified?  Euseb. 
Our faith is edified, 
1. Cor. 15.  as the Apostle saith, when we are instructed, comforted, exhorted, and assured by the word of God, and when as by his spirit the power thereof is engraven in our hearts. Now both the Sacraments, that is to wit, of Baptism and of the Lord his Supper, are nothing else (as it is notably said of Saint Augustine) but visible words, wherein, as it were in goodly and fair Tables, God setteth out before our eyes, his love, his favour, his benefits and graces drawn in lively and natural colours: to the end that we beholding the same therein, and setting our eyes firmly upon the gracious goodness that he showeth to us therein expressed, might be well assured and comforted in our consciences & be even so affected, as we are when we do either read the gracious letters or behold the lively pictures of our loving friends.  Minist. 
What be those graces and benefits which we are principally to consider in the Supper?  Euseb. 
That jesus Christ, who is there represented, is our life; that is the heavenly bread sent down from his father upon the earth for the nourishment & sustentation of our souls: that in taking the bread and wine, we are received into the communion of his body, and so consequently, assured to be partakers of his righteousness and obedience, which are imputed to all them that are knit together and united in one with him: further, that he hath redeemed us, and made eternal satisfaction for all our sins: that he hath purged and cleansed our filthy spots and blemishes with his blood: that the sentence of condemnation pronounced against him, is our absolution: that the payment, which he hath made, is a full and perfect acquittance and warrant for all our debts: that he is the sacrifice, by the which the wrath of God against us hath been appeased and pacified: and that his death is the mean, whereby we are reconciled to him, and received into his favour; without the which we can hope neither for life nor salvation.  Minist. 
You say, Eusebius, that the principal point, that is taught us in the mystery of the supper, and that we are to learn therein and to call to remembrance so often as we come to the table to celebrate the same, is that jesus Christ is our life: nevertheless it seemeth that this is contrary to that which you lately said, speaking of the fruits of Faith and attributing thereunto our salvation: and further repugnant to that which is written in the Psalms, where David magnifying the graces of God, 
Psal. 36.  saith, That in him is the well of life; and that our light proceedeth only from his brightness. Foyes if the humanity of jesus Christ crucified and offered up unto God for our redemption, is the cause of our life, how can it be that God & our Faith are the causes and occasions thereof?  Euseb. 
The one of these is no hindrance to the other, as you declared unto us at large in one of your sermons. It is most certain, and of all men confessed, that God is the author of our life: and that in him we have our being, feeling, moving, and understanding. Further, that in beholding his shining countenance, consisteth the full contentment of all our desires, and our most perfect and blessed estate: because it is the chiefest & most sovereign good, which comprehending under it all other particular good things, hath sufficient in that respect to content and satisfy all our appetites and desires, when we have obtained & do enjoy the same. But the mean to have fruition and possession thereof, and to draw near unto him, is jesus Christ his son. For even as without God there is no life; so without jesus Christ there is no God, as S. john doth witness, saying: 
1. joh 2.  whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: and, whosoever confesseth the Son, the same hath the Father also. And Saint Paul in his Epistles written to the Galathians and Ephesians; to whom he showeth that in the time of their ignorance, and when they knew not jesus Christ, they were without God in the world. And this is the cause why he was called by the Angel and by the Prophet, Emanuel, which in Hebrew is as much to say, as, God is with us: to show unto us that there is no other mean to join and knit us together with him, than that mean of his son; which may also be proved by this reason. It is not possible for us to have any fellowship with God, who is righteous and a most clear and perfect light, so long as we continue in our sins and darkness: in as much as two things so fully and directly contrary, cannot meet together, ne endure each other. Wherefore it must needs be that before any agreement or league can be entreated of between him & us, we are to be freed & deliucred from the causes of our separation from God, which can by no other mean be compassed and obtained then by jesus Christ. For he is the true light which enlighteneth every man th●● cometh into the world: 
John 1.  he is the Lamb that taketh away our sins. Whereupon it followeth of necessity, that if we will be reconciled and joined unto God, we must be made partakers of the righteousness of his son and must be lightened by his spirit: to the end that he covering our filthiness & imperfections with the one, and driving away by little and little the darkness that dwelleth in us with the other, may hereby take away the lets and hindrances, by the which this happy league and agreement is broken and turned aside from our benefit. And forasmuch as he is the way by the which we are to come to this agreement, and so consequently to the life and felicity that dependeth thereon. For this cause he is called life as well as his Father. 
john. 6.  Whosoever eateth my flesh (saith he) & drinketh my blood, hath eternal life: for my flesh is meat in deed, & my blood is drink in deed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, so live I by the Father: and he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. All which places do serve to no other end & purpose, then to give us to understand, that his humanity, crucified for our sins hath the power to bring us to life, & to quicken us, by reconciling us unto God, when we eat thereof: that is to say, when we by a true and lively Faith do, as it were, get a propriety in the sa●e unto ourselves, and being united & engrafted into it, do lie there as it were at a sure anchor, by a firm and steadfast trust and confidence. For by this mean we are joined unto the divinity, which is the well of life & of all blessedness. For this cause Tertullian saith that our flesh is fed with the flesh of jesus Christ, to the end that our soul may be refreshed & filled with God. To which purpose we may refer two notable places of S. Augustine, the one in his commentaries upon S. lohn: where he saith (speaking of the faithful man) By Christ thou comest to Christ: by Christ man, to Christ God. By the word which was made flesh, to the word which was in the beginning with GOD: by the bread which is eaten of men, to that which is eaten of Angels. The other place is in one of his Homilies upon the Psalms, where he setteth forth a most excellent comparison taken from the Nurse and her young child. The nurse and the child (saith he) do eat one self and the same meat, but after a diverse manner: for the milk which the child sucketh out of her breasts, is the bread that his nurse before had eaten: but for the better preparing and ordering of it in such sort as the child might let it down, and thereby receive his nourishment, it was needful that first i● should be incarnate in her, and that it should be turned into blood in her liver, to the end it might become the more sweet and delicate for the child his drinking, and being carried from the liver to the breasts, that it should be there changed into milk, and even there should receive a strange kind of whiteness, lest the child seeing it in the former colour should have been afraid of it and abhor it. Even so (saith he) soon after applying his comparison, the Angels and we do live and are fed with one and the same food: for neither they nor we have any strength or life, or liveliness, but by the only everlasting and almighty word of God: neither is there any other difference, but that the food that they receive in meat, we receive in milk: for by reason of our infirmity and weakness, it was needful that this word should be made flesh, and by that mean should be applied to the capacity and strength of our stomach, that we might be able to digest it, and to be nourished and sustained by it.  Minister. 
I perceive Eusebius, that you were not in sleep at my sermon, who do so faithfully rehearse what you have heard. O that it might please God that all the rest of my auditors would be so attentive and had so great and singular desire to make profit by the word, as I verily believe you have. But the further I proceed in my excercise, I have the better experience, that for the most part they are so cold and careless, that I am constrained to complain of them, and to show you my grief in that behalf.  Eusebius. 
If I be diligent to learn the word of God, and in any small measure capable of the knowledge thereof, I am bound to render unto him all praise and thanks, and to confess that without his Spirit of my own nature I should have as little taste and feeling thereof, as the most carnal and earthly man in the world. But to the end we do not discontinue and break off our former matter, if memory fail not, for a further and more full declaration of the mystery whereof we do now entreat, to the former similitude of saint Augustine you joined another taken from the body of man, the members whereof cannot by any means have part of the life which springeth & proceedeth from the soul remaining in the body, except they be united and joined with it: no more is it possible for us to be quickened by this fullness of the godhead which (as saint Paul saith) dwelleth bodily in jesus Christ, 
Coloss. 2.  and giveth life to the whole Church, except we be members of his body, flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone.  Minister. 
You have sufficiently declared how the humanity and flesh of jesus Christ is the mean of our life. But as concerning Faith, whereof the Prophet and Apostle have written, 
Abac. 2. Rom. 1.  that the just shall live by it, how are we to understand this point?  Euseb. 
I said at the first that there is no life without God, and next, that there is no God without jesus Christ: now I say following the like course, that there is no jesus Christ without Faith▪ for by Faith we rcceive him, as Saint john witnesseth: 
john. 1.  and he cometh to dwell in our hearts, as Saint Paul writeth to the Ephesians, 
Ephes. 3.  by Faith: which he confirmeth by his own mouth, saying. If any man love me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and will dwell with him. For the union which we have with him is spiritual and like to that which is between the husband and the wife. For even as they be joined and coupled together for ever by mutual promises and by that faith and truth wherein those promises are mutually accepted, notwithstanding that their bodies do change neither the outward shape & form, ne yet their natural kind and sex; and that for this coupling and knitting of man and wife it is not required or meant that both of them should visibly become one body, like as wine and water being mingled together in one cup or vessel: so to marry and to join us to jesus Christ, it is not needful that our bodies should be bound in one with his body, as we see the members of one body are bound together by the muscles, cords, sinews and gristles of the same: which happening it would be the most monstrous thing that a man could imagine to be in nature. But the chief and only matter is, that those promises which he maketh unto us, namely, to comfort us, if we will come unto him, to defend us, to save, to quicken us, to redeem us, to raise us up from the dead, to pardon us, and such like, that his promises (I say) be believed of us and firmly persuaded, that we like and accept of them, and have assurance in them, promising unto him in like manner on our behalfs, that we acknowledge none other than him alone for our King and Priest, our shepherd and our Prophet: that we will hear no other voice or doctrine but his: that for our satisfaction, remission, and salvation we will use no other sacrifice than that, which is once offered for us: that we will choose none other Advocate or Attornie than him, when we would be recommended in any of our necessities to the good grace and favour and aid of his Father: that for our defence and safeguard against the evil spirit and against all other our enemies we will have recourse, and put our whole affiance in his power and strength: and to be brief, that we will not hold our life and our whole felicity of any other then of him. In these promises given, taken, and kept of both parties, consisteth the alliance and league, that we have with jesus Christ. And even as a woman, that is lawfully married to an husband misdoubteth not, albeit her husband abide at Constantinople and she at Paris, that notwithstanding the sundering of their bodies, and great distance between the places, where they abide, they are nevertheless one flesh, and that there is a perfect conjunction between them, and such a bond and knot of friendship as is not to be loosed: so albeit that Christ jesus be in heaven and we upon the earth, we ought certainly to be persuaded that after the marriage made between him and us by the mean of Faith, wherein we have accepted his foresaid promises, we are one with him, and that this union is nothing impeached by the difference of places, where we abide and continue.  Minist. 
Then your meaning is, that Faith is not the cause of our life, but inasmuch as it doth marry us to jesus Christ, by whom we are afterward led and conducted even to God, with whom we find all the happiness that we can ask and desire. This is very well meant and understood of you: But what will you say to that which Saint Paul hath written touching the word of the Gospel, 
Rom. 1.  that it is the power of God unto salvation to all believers?  Euseb. 
Saint Paul saith so, because there is no Faith without the word, no more than there is jesus Christ without Faith: 
Rom. 10.  for Faith cometh by hearing, & hearing by the word of God. And to this purpose is the preaching of the Gospel, and the administration of the sacraments. By the one the Spirit of God inspireth and planteth Faith in our hearts, & by the other he confirmeth and establisheth the same: to the end that by this mean being made the members of jesus Christ, we might draw nearer unto God, and live in him.  Minist. 
Then the sum of all that you have hitherto discoursed is, that our blessed estate & eternal life, is to possess God; and to possess him, to be members of jesus Christ: and to be his members, to have Faith; and to have Faith, that the Gospel be preached and the Sacraments administered unto us: in as much as Faith is engendered by the word, and after confirmed nourished, and increased in us, by the Sacraments thereunto annexed.  Euseb. 
You propounded unto us a similitude of the lamp which seemed unto me a very fit and proper way to declare unto us in some good manner, the properties and use as well of Faith, as of the Sacraments: you said that Faith was like unto the fire, in as much as by the light thereof it bringeth us to the sight and knowledge of God, of jesus Christ our saving health, and of ourselves: that the cotton, about the which the fire is lighted, did resemble the word & the gracious promises, whereon the said Faith is built and founded: and that the sacraments are as the oil, that serveth to keep in the fire, so as it neither be diminished, nor put out altogether.  Minist. 
Can you remeber the matter, which I drew out of this similitude, & the end wherefore I brought it into my discourse?  Euseb. 
I take it that it was to show unto us, that the Supper can serve us to small purpose, unless that first we be furnished with Faith in our hearts, & that is it of no more use than oil is in a lamp when no fire is lighted, or then a seal to a letter wherein is nothing written.  Minist. 
Then you may perceive, Eusebius, and understand, that it is not without great reason that the ancient fathers have called these two ceremonies of Baptism, and of the Supper, mysteries and sacraments, the deep, divine, and hidden sense and meaning of them considered: and that S. Augustine hath not amiss applied that unto them, which is written of God by David in the Psalms: 
Psal. 18.  that He made darkness his secret place, and his pavilion round about him, even darkness of waters, and clouds of the air. For who would think at the first assay, that the gracious favour of God, the benefit of jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and generally all the parts of our salvation, and redemption, were so excellently set out in a little water, bread and wine, as you have declared unto us in particularity? David called the ancient ceremonies & the order that was kept in the Church in his days, The face of God, 
Psal. 24.  because the faithful did therein see and behold, as in a glass, his promises, his favour, and his gracious goodness. But this name may be more properly given to our ceremonies, because they are more significant, and do bear the marks and tokens of his favour towards us, more lively and perfectly set out, and more deeply imprinted in them, than the other. But I suppose you have now sufficiently declared how our faith is edified by the Sacraments: proceed to the rest, and show me by what mean our charity is instructed.  Euseb. 

1. Cor. 10.  Saint Paul saith, that we that are many are one bread, and one body, because we all are partakers of one bread. Even as therefore in the supper we are taught that there is no other mean to obtain salvation then by jesus Christ, dead and crucified for us: so we do protest by the bread and wine that we receive, that, if we will be partakers of this salvation, we must be united and made one with him, and in him all of us together one with another. Whereunto is required a charity, not of the tongue, the outward gesture or speech, not common or ordinary, not cold and remiss: but an ardent and hearty affection, holding us also fast, and locking us, at it were, so sure and so close together in one body, that if it were a thing possible a man might no sooner sunder & divide us one from an other, than the grains of corn after the bread is baken, or the grapes can be divided when the wine is tunned.  Minist. 
Yea, but can it be that when we come to the table we should so perfectly love each other, as that there be not in the whole body of the Church more than one heart, one soul, one spirit, and one mind?  Euseb. 
In this case we do not speak of that Faith and Charity, which we have, or can have when we celebrate the supper: but of that only which is taught us therein: for I have heard you say, and rehearse often, that their is great difference between the power of man, and the duty of man, between his practice, and his precepts, and that we are always more indebted than we use to pay, even as we are ever better taught and instructed, than we can learn or follow. For the wisdom of God being perfect and infinite, it cannot be but the law (as David saith) proceeding from him, 
Psal. 19  must needs be very entire and perfect. But if our power and ability to keep the law be either none at all, or so weak, as it can very hardly stir ad remove itself: how is it possible that our obedience should not be unperfect? in like manner our faith, our charity, and in general whatsoever we do, or whatsoever proceedeth from us?  Minist. 
You say well, Eusebius, we may not confound or trouble the order that is to be kept in handling of this matter: and it sufficeth that you have now showed us what is taught and signified unto us in the Supper: for you shall more fitly and more conveniently show forth the property of Faith & Charity which we are to bring with us to this Supper, when we shall entreat what course and mean we ought to follow, to come unto it worthily. Now to continue the vein of your discourse, you shall give us to understand, who they be that are invited and bidden to this supper, and whither that all manner of persons indifferently are fit to celebrate the same?  Euseb. 
As they did eat (saith S. Matthew) jesus took the bread, and after he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples. He noteth plainly, that the bread which he did take and break in the supper was given only to his disciples and scholars, to signify unto us, that we do eat it unworthily, if we know not jesus Christ, & be not in some good measure instructed in his gospel. And so by this reason are excluded & barred from this feast all ignorant persons, all Infidels, contemners, and blasphemers. For if the Sacrament was not ordained to any other purpose, as was said before, then for the confirming, exercising, and increasing of our faith: what benefit would it be unto us if there were no faith to be found in our hearts? Furthermore, is the end whereunto it was deputed, be to shadow forth and to set before our eyes jesus Christ crucified, how can this end be attained and compassed, if our eyes be out and we remain in blindness? For the light is for none other then for such as have eyes to see it. Again if we be dead, as in truth we are no better being utterly void of knowledge and belief, the bread that is ordained only to shape and to strengthen the life of him that eateth, cannot be profitable unto us, except we be first revived and raised up again from death. And yet further, for what reason willeth S. Paul, 
1. Cor. 11.  that we should Examine and prove ourselves before we come to the table, But only to give us knowledge, that we are utterly unworthy of that benefit, being unfurnished of Faith, which is so necessary for the good and lawful use thereof? for if all things be polluted and defiled to the unbelievers, yea if our daily & ordinary meats are not sanctified but by the word and by prayer: if whatsoever is done without Faith, be sin: how should not this holy mystery be profaned and made unholy, when we, either plainly ignorant, or not sufficiently taught, are so hardy as to set us down at the king his table, and to go to the marriage of his son without our wedding garment? Further why is it that jesus Christ so straightly forbiddeth his Apostles, To give that which is holy unto dogs, and to cast pearls before swine, but only to admonish them that they become wise, and well advised to dispense the word & the mysteries of God? Again, the commandment of God, wherein we are charged, that We take not his name in vain, is plainly & generally given to all men: neither yet may we suppose, as you did teach us very well, that only false oaths are in that commandment forbidden: for every unlawful using as well of his name, as of his word, and of his ordinances is in like manner therein contained. Wherefore it remaineth that we conclude upon the former reasons, that the faithful only are capable to celebrate the Lord his Supper. And by the faithful I do understand those that have a lively and actual faith, begotten of the word of God, and grounded upon his promises.  Minist. 
I take great pleasure and contentment in you, Eusebius, in that you are so diligent & painful to gather such texts and reasons, as are alleged to prove & to persuade that which a man shall undertake. For it is not possible that by any other mean the faith of any man in the world could be fast, & firm, and well assured, and that he could render a reason of his belief, to those that require him to make an account thereof: which thing is easily experimented in divers, that have some knowledge & opinion of the truth; but because the same is not well grounded nor fenced with scripture, it cannot be sound and perfect, ne yet of any great edifying, which I thought good to touch beside the matter, whereof we do principally entreat, to the end that hereafter you be yet more curious to follow the same course & custom. And now to come again to our chief matter; having showed what is the mystery of the supper, and who they be that God biddeth to the same; it is time that you proceed and go forward, and that you tell us how we ought to draw near, and to present ourselves unto it.  Euseb. 

1. Cor. 11.  The Apostle saith: Let every man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. Wherein he warneth us diligently to examine our consciences, so often as we are minded & purposed to celebrate the same.  Minist. 
Wherein ought we to examine ourselves?  Euseb. 
In two points: to wit, whither we have both Faith and Charity.  Minist. 
What manner of Faith is required?  Euseb. 
The whole Christian Faith is in a sum contained in the Apostles Creed: wherefore we are to consider, not only whither we do understand the history of those things, which are briefly set forth therein by articles; as, That jesus Christ hath taken our nature, that he died, rose again, & ascended into heaven, where he sitteth at the right hand of his Father, and from thence he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead: but it is further requisite, that we search and sound the bottom of our hearts, to know whither they be settled and reposed upon that which we confess, as upon the only mean of our salvation, and whither we be resolved to persever and continue constantly in this affiance and trust only, even to the end of our natural life, renouncing all other as most vain and pernicious to our salvation. And above all things we ought to beware that we be not deceived by hypocrisy or simplicity, which may bring us in a conceit, that a bare opinion and credulity or lightness of belief, is true Faith: for there is nothing that can make so grievous a fault excusable, but rather it is damnable before the majesty of God.  Minist. 
Whereby may we learn and judge that we have a true and sincere faith, and such a Faith as is required to the worthy eating of the bread at the Lord his table?  Euseb. 
When we do perfectly understand the things that are delivered in the articles of the Apostles Creed, with the end of Christ his coming into the world: when we are well and surely persuaded of the truth and certainty of them, and this persuasion doth comfort and assure our consciences of the remission of our sins, in such manner as it taketh away the horror and the dreadful conceit that we have apprehended of God his eternal judgement; lastly, when this is so deeply engraven and imprinted in our hearts, that notwithstanding any temptation or affliction that may happen unto us, we do always hold a steadfast hope of his gracious favour, & of the life eternal that dependeth upon the same: then we may assure ourselves that we have a Christian Faith allowed and approved of him, in the use and receiving or understanding of his mysteries.  Minist. 
And would you require in a man perfect knowledge of the Creed, in the which the whole sum of the scriptures is in a manner contained? and further, perfect trust and affiance in all the promises of God, the accomplishment and fulfilling of the which is procured unto us by the intercession and favour of his son? and thirdly a constancy in all this so perfect, that no temptation should shake us and make us to stagger therein, or otherwise exclude it and cast it out from the Supper?  Euseb. 
No: for the Apostles themselves, to whom jesus Christ did first distribute the same, were unperfect in all this matter, as experience showed in the temptation that happened unto them soon after. Further, if we should not be fit to receive it except our Faith were fully perfect; than it is evident it should have been instituted and ordained in vain, for so long as we continue in this mortal life, we are no more able to believe in God perfectly, than we are able to know or to love him perfectly. Again, the end for which it was ordained, is it not to uphold and to underset our Faith? If then our Faith had been sufficiently strong and able of itself, what use should there be of the sacraments? These reasons are sufficient to prove, that we are not uncapable of the Lord his supper, by the imperfection and weakness of our Faith: provided always, that the same be unfeigned, and that we acknowledging the baseness and weakness thereof, do pray unto God to have it augmented and increased by the working of his holy Spirit: and also that to this end we use the means that he hath left to be used.  Minist. 
It is sufficient that we believe that jesus Christ by his obedience hath purchased unto us the grace of God, and in this grace and favour hath gotten us righteousness and life: and that by his cross, he making satisfaction for our sins hath appeased his wrath, and hath freed us from the danger of death, and of the curse?  Euseb. 
No sir; but when we have believed thus much, we must be well assured that we are received into the communion of this obedience & satisfaction, when we receive the bread and the wine which are presented unto us in the supper. And for the last and most principal point, we must believe that we are made one, and incorporate with jesus Christ, and allowed of him & of his Father, not only for his flock, his disciples, his brethren and friends, but also for members of his body, and flesh of his flesh. Out of which point we may draw matter of singular and manifold comforts and consolations. For by this mean we are sure, that so long as we continue in this union, we cannot be condemned ne kept & holden in the bands of death, no more than he himself: and that the prince of this world hath no more part in us, or power over us, than he hath in or over him: and that righteousness and life are as well inseparable from us, as from him: and that we are coheirs with him of all the honour of his kingdom: & that where he is, there we shallbe of necessity, not impeacheable by all the power and practices of the Devil.  Minist. 
I have two questions to ask you, touching that you said even now of the participation, that we have in the humanity of jesus Christ, when we do take and eat the bread in the supper. The first is, whither that before the bread is given unto us, we be not already united unto him; and if we be, what profit we can receive by the supper?  Euseb. 
It is necessary that by Faith we be joined unto him, before we come unto the table: otherwise we should be wholly unworthy: and yet we come, that we may be yet more nearly knit in one with him. For even as two divers things, when they be tied & bound together with a cord, may be yet tied with another; and if a man would use an hundred cords to that purpose, it might be very well said, that they are still tied together more and more: so albeit that we by baptism and Faith, wherein we hear and obey the word of God, are allied unto him, and engrafted in the body of jesus Christ, yet that is no hindrance, but that by the supper, when we do celebrate it, this alliance is renewed, and more & more confirmed.  Minist. 
What needeth it, that we have so many assurances of pledges & tokens, to confirm the agreement that he hath made with us? for it might be gathered hereupon, that he should be a deceiver or inconstant, & that we therefore could not be to sure and to wary in our dealing with him.  Euseb. 
The word of God is eternal, and the effect thereof most sure and certain: even as he being the speaker, is everlasting and unchangeable, his gifts and his callings without repentance, neither is our unbelief able to make the Faith or truth of God of no effect. Yea (as S. Paul saith) the verity of God is more abundant, through our lying, unto his glory. Therefore the reason why he sweareth, and sealeth his promises with a double seal, after they be made, is not, for that they are, of their nature, doubtful & uncertain, but because our hearts are so full of suspicion and wicked distrust, that we will never take his bare word for sufficient assurance: yea, we will hardly trust him with all the solemnities of swearing, signs, and sealing, that are used of him for our warrant in this behalf.  Minist. 
Herein the frowardness and wretchedness of our nature is the more apparent. For we can be content to rest ourselves wholly upon the dreams and conceit of our own vain and foolish wisdom, or upon the bare word of a mortal man, by nature a liar, and every moment changeable: yea, diverse times not proving and seeing upon what ground, what reason and appearance it is either conceived or delivered. Nay, we go further than so: for all the errors, lies, fooleries, illusions, dreams, and vain visions that the Devil can forge to destroy and seduce from God, we receive both without any difference or difficulty, and also without any reasoning or debating of their nature, or of their end. I will say more, that if God were on the one side telling us one thing, and Satan on the other affirming the contrary, this Father of lies and prince of darkness will find more credit and faith with us, than God shall find with all his truth and light. And hereof we have long agone seen and known the woeful experience of our first parents, who being wiser and better than all their children that came after them, only jesus Christ excepted, were soon and easily persuaded the very contrary to that which God had spoken, yea by the serpent being but a beast, and using no great and long discourse or many words to confirm his sayings. And that which maketh me to marvel, & to detest the more our malice herein, is that we are so ready to receive and believe whatsoever this wicked abuser and deceiver of mankind is able to put into our ears to our destruction, though he have no reason or argument to prove his purpose: & that on the contrary we are so slow to allow that which God doth tell us, & confirmeth by so many oaths, signs, witnesses, & miracles that we might be saved. But I will leave that matter to ask you another doubt, to wit, whither the union, whereof you have spoken, which we have with jesus Christ be of our bodies, or of our souls and minds only: and whither we are to go up into heaven from the earth where we abide, or he is to come down from heaven where he remaineth, that we may be joined and coupled together.  Euseb. 
You propound a question unto me, which in these days much troubleth and exerciseth the heads of many men: yet me thinketh, that a man of a modest and sober mind, that seeketh not to be contentious, might satisfy himself with so much as you have taught us in that point: that is to wit, that the union is corporal and of the bodies, but the mean is spiritual: even as the uniting together of man and wife, which is the fittest comparison that can in this case be used and alleged. Their bodies are united and coupled together, not corporally, or so as their union may be discerned and judged by the outward senses (for we see that they are diverse times sundered by distance and difference of places) but by the Faith of wedlock which they have mutually given.  Minist. 
It is not sufficient to say or to do any thing, but the same must be with reason, to the edifying of them that see our works, or hear our words. Wherefore Eusebius, you shall rehearse, if it please you, such reasons as you take to be the fittest for the proving of that which you have said.  Euseb. 

Ephes. 5.  The first is, that S. Paul, after he had taught that we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones, allegeth not only the resemblance, but also the first institution of marriage, saying: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shallbe one flesh. This is a great secret, but I speak concerning Christ, and concerning the Church: To the end he might show us the mean whereby this conjunction is made; and for our better and more ready conceiving of the same, that we might set before our eyes the union and conjunction that is between the husband and the wife.  
The second is, that the kingdom of jesus Christ is spiritual: whereupon it followeth that the order, the government, the laws, the promises, the power, the glory, & all other things that appertain to the honour and renown of a kingdom, are in the kingdom of jesus Christ spiritual. Therefore when we do speak of the conjunction of the members with the head, which is one of the principal members, we may not think, that the mean to attain unto it, is other then heavenly and spiritual.  
The third is, that jesus Christ entreating of this matter covertly under the figure and shadow of eating of his flesh; & seeing that some of his disciples had forsaken his company, and were offended at his talk, because they had not well understood them, and had interpreted them carnally: said for the better & more ample expounding of them, as followeth: It is the Spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I speak unto you are spirit & life. Can there be any thing more clear to show that the eating of his flesh, that is to say, that the union which we have with his humanity, is made and brought to pass spiritually? Even as therefore the ignorance and bluntness of Nicodemus deserved to be blamed, and to be controlled of jesus Christ, because he did carnally expound and construe the reasoning of jesus Christ, touching the new birth of the faithful: so if any man hearing speech of the eating of his flesh, or of the drinking of his blood, made simply and according to the letter, understand the same without all figurative speech and spiritual meaning; his ignorance were not only to be derided as a vain and foolish thing, but also to be contemned as impious and tending to the diminishing of our faith and of the glory of God.  
The fourth is, that Our Fathers (as Saint Paul saith) did all eat of the same spiritual meat, and did all drink of the same spiritual drink: for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, & that Rock was Christ. Now certain it is, that they could not eat that rock corporally, as we do eat our bread made of corn: because Christ jesus was not yet incarnate and made flesh. wherefore it must needs follow, that as their eating is spiritual, so is our eating spiritual, being wholly like unto theirs, if we will believe the Apostle.  
The fift is, 
Act. 3.  That the heaven (as Saint Peter saith) must contain jesus Christ, until the time that all things be restored, which God had spoken by the mouth of all his Prophets since the world began. And this is one of the articles that we protest, that we hold, when we rehearse the Creed. Therefore it is a great folly, yea an impiety, to think that it is requisite for the eating of his flesh, and the drinking of his blood, that he should come down from heaven, & that corporally, and in person, he should deliver the same unto us to that end and purpose.  
The sixth is, that jesus Christ speaking to his disciples, said unto them, 
john 16.  That it was expedient for them, that he should leave the world, and go his way. Whereupon it followeth, that it should be a thing not only unprofitable, but also hurtful and dangerous to the Church, that he should return hither in his own bodily shape before the time prefixed and purposed.  
The seventh is, that the supper must be celebrated in the remembrance of him, as it is plainly showed in the commandment that he gave when he did institute the same: now the remembrance that we have of any matter, presupposeth the same to be absent corporally: for otherwise if it be present, there is no more a remembrance, but a sight and enjoying: whereupon it followeth, that because the Supper is ordained to exercise us in the remembrance of jesus Christ, he is absent from us in body.  
The eight is, that we are not commanded to celebrate and to declare his death, but until the time of his coming: and therefore if he should come among us in body when we are assembled for that purpose, we ought to cease and to leave of this whole ceremony.  
The ninth is, that as a glorious and spiritual body doth not eat: so it cannot be eaten corporally: for otherwise we might say that it might be digested in the stomach as other meats may be, and consequently might be subject to corruption: which is a thing contrary to the condition of bodies glorified, which are not only immortal, but also free from all corruption.  
The tenth is, that the thing that is not ordained for the life of our bodies, is not to be eaten corporally. But the flesh of jesus Christ crucified, and his blood shed for our redemption, are not ordained for the life of the body, which may be and is preserved and kept by other means: therefore we must needs conclude that we neither eat the one, nor drink the other corporally.  
The eleventh is, that Saint Paul saith, that Meats are ordained for the belly, 
1. Cor. 6.  and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Teaching us, that as this life is frail and subject to corruption, so are also all those bodily meats that are ordained for the nourishment of the same: so then, if the flesh of Christ were bodily eaten, it should follow that it should be subject to corruption: a thing clearly & merely contrary to that whole discourse of S. john upon this matter: whosoever eateth my flesh, 
john 6.  hath eternal life. Where he further maketh a difference between it & Manna, given to our Fathers in the wilderness; saying, that the one is corruptible, the other is void and free from all corruption.  
The twelfth is, that if jesus Christ were bodily eaten, there were no necessity to prove & to examine our Faith or our conscience, when we would prepare ourselves to the eating of his supper; but only our teeth, to wit, whither they were sharp, and able enough to chew it: and the stomach, to see whither it were apt to digest it: as we do in all other corporal meats.  
The thirteenth is, that we eat the flesh, and drink the blood of jesus Christ, even in the self & same manner, as the Apostles have done long before us. But they did not eat the same corporally: for so men might have seen the Apostles eating his body with their bodily eyes, even as well, as they did see his body before them, when he ministered the same unto them. Now we must infer, that no more do we eat his flesh corporally. If any will say, that God by a miracle provideth that this eating be not discerned with bodily eyes, to the end it should not be abhorred; I answer, that in this case the only conceit and inward imagination were sufficient: as we read of S. Peter, who in a vision abhorred the eating of those creatures, 
Act. 10.  that were in the law forbidden to be eaten.  
The fourteenth is, that it is plainly forbidden in Genesis, 
Gen. 6.  To eat flesh with the life thereof, that is, with the blood thereof. Whereupon it may be inferred, that jesus Christ, who is not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil the law, hath not enjoined us a thing so strictly forbidden, & even more abominable than murder. And the reason alleged by S. Augustine, to show, that all the places, wherein jesus Christ doth exhort his disciples to eat his flesh, and to drink his blood, are used by way of figured and shadowed speeches. I will turn the place of S. Augustine in his book of Christian doctrine, to the end that the readers may understand his judgement in this matter. If there be any sentence, or any manner of speech in the Scripture (saith he) that seemeth to command any outrage or wickedness, or contrarily, to forbid any bountiful and liberal action, the same is spoken by way of a figure. But this sentence following, 
joh. 9  Except you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you; seemeth to command an horrible and detestable case: wherefore it followeth, that this is a figure, by the which he commandeth us to be partakers, and to have communion in the death and passion of the Lord: and for the profit and comfort of our consciences, to enclose this point within the most secret corners of our memory, that his humanity was crucified and wounded for our cause. This is S. Augustine his judgement, which I have turned word for word.  
The fifteenth is, that we cannot receive the corporal eating of the flesh of jesus Christ, but we must admit & allow his body to be infinite: which thing entirely derogateth from the truth of his nature, and by the same means utterly overthroweth the chiefest grounds & most principal foundations of our Faith. For except we believe him to have been man, and the son of man in all things (our sins and imperfections only reserved) like unto us: whereupon shall we build our assurance and persuasion, that he hath redeemed and ransomed our nature, and that he is our high priest, which hath compassion upon all our infirmities? Further it may be alleged, that we cannot devise to speak any thing more favourable and available for the herises of Martion and Apollinaris: the one of whom maintained that the body of jesus Christ was a fantastic body, and the other said, that it was an heavenly body, as the foresaid corporal eating of the flesh of jesus Christ is heavenly.  
The sixteenth is, that if we eat the flesh of jesus Christ bodily, the substance of our bodies must of necessity be augmented thereby, and nourished, even as it is by other corporal meats that we receive: a thing wholly and altogether contrary to experience, for the bodies of the faithful, notwithstanding the eating only of his flesh, & drinking of his blood, must of necessity perish and whither away, except they be nourished and preserved by some other food or else by some other mean.  
The seventeenth is, that as we do not eat corporal meats spiritually: even so we can not eat according to this proportion, things spiritual carnally.  
The eighteenth is, That if we eat the flesh of jesus Christ corporally, so little a body as his was, being so broken in pieces and parted, should not suffice so many, as by eating were made partakers thereof.  
Wherefore we may safely infer upon all these reasons, that the mean whereby we are joined to jesus Christ is spiritual, and that by Faith wrought in us by the power of the Spirit we do eat his flesh and drink his blood, that is to say, that we are united and engrafted in his body, and more and more linked and allied unto him. And so saith Saint Augustine very plainly, writing upon the 26. Psalm: Behold (saith that holy father) our pledge and our assurance: that we by Faith, Hope, and Charity are for ever joined to our head in heaven: as he by divinity, bounty, & union is with us upon the earth even unto the world's end. And upon the 30. Psa. Whole Christ is the head with the body, the head is the saviour of the body, the head (I say) which is already ascended up into heaven: and the body is the church, which yet doth labour and is sore troubled here upon the earth. Now if the body had not been joined and bound to the head with a chain of Charity, that of the head & body there might be made but one, he would never have spoken from heaven in this manner rebuking that persecutor Saul: Saul, Saul why persecutest thou me? 
Act. 22.   Minist. 
Then this joining is not after the manner of things natural, or contained and circunscribed and enclosed in any place, as the joining together of two stones in one place with lime and sand, or of two pieces of wood the one to the other with glue; but it is a divine and mystical joining as you have sufficiently declared, and what manner of faith we ought to bring with us when we come to celebrate the Supper. Now if it please you I would have you to proceed, & to show me in like manner what manner of Charity is required.  Euseb. 
We may carry no hatred ne any evil affection in our heart against our neighbour, but forget and pardon one another all such injuries and offences as being remembered might break or otherwise offend that mutual friendship which ought to compass in and enclose the whole body of the Church. And yet thus much is not sufficient: but we must moreover, reknowledge ourselves to be brethren and the sons of one father, and members not only of one body but also of another, have but one heart, one soul and one mind. And as we have but one Baptism, one Faith, one Law, one spirit, one saviour, one heritage, one hope, and one table: so we may not be but one body in our God being evermore priest and ready to help one another both with such blessings as God hath outwardly bestowed upon us, and also with council, with carefulness, with painfulness, with our friends, and generally with our whole strength and power, whereof our neighbours may stand in need. And forasmuch as we are all of us unperfect in this charity, as well as we are in Faith: when we come to the supper, we must remember to call upon God that it would please him to increase the same in us by his spirit, and to forgive us our manifold infirmities and imperfections.  Minist. 
Then it is not sufficient that we have this Faith and this Charity, which you have handled, to come to the supper: but it is further required that we humble ourselves before God, and pray unto him, that notwithstanding our unworthiness it would please him to receive & to admit us thereunto of his bountiful, gracious, and free favour.  Euseb. 
It is even so, sir, as you say.  Minist. 
May it please you, Eusebius, to rehearse the form both of your prayer and of the confession that you use when you come to the Supper? might it not be overmuch trouble unto you, I would gladly hear it in those self & same terms, wherein it is your wont and manner to utter it.  Euseb. 
I join them both together, and falling down before God, I say unto him in this manner following.  
O Lord, who and what am I, that I should receive so many graces & favours at thy hands? to be invited, received and entreated so honourably in thy house? to sit at thy table and there to be fed and refreshed with the flesh and blood of thy son, to be linked and joined with him in such sort as we shall never be sundered, to be called to take part of all the benefits and blessings, and to be adopted by thee into a certain hope to be thine heir, and to enjoy the glory of resting and abiding for ever in that life and true blessedness which thou hast promised, and keepest to the benefit and behoof of thy children? Was it not sufficient, my unthankfulness and unkindness towards thee considered, and the spoil and waste of all thy good blessings bestowed upon me remembered, that when I came home again to thee, thou wouldst forgive my trespasses and offences, and taking pity of me thy poor creature lost and utterly cast away, thou wouldst make me as one of thy hired servants? 
Luke 15.  & yet Thou didst embrace me in thine arms, and kiss me, and yet thou didst cause the best rob to be brought forth and to be put upon me, thou didst put a ring upon my hand, thou didst kill the fat calf that I might eat and be merry in so great joy, and so good company of my friends. Was it not sufficient, this being regarded that my condition was no better, and it may be, well worse than the condition of a dog, that thou wouldst suffer me, only to gather the croomes that fell from thy table, 
Matth. 15.  as the poor Cannanite besought thee? but thou gavest me the whole loaf, which belongeth only to thy children, or that thou wouldst only speak the word? & yet thou didst come under my roof, & even into my house to heal me. Am I more worthy, is my faith greater than the faith of the Centurion, who accounted himself unworthy of so great favour? was it not sufficient, that as thou didst pass by, thou wouldst vouchsafe only to speak unto me, & to look towards me? & yet thou didst come home with me even into my house, 
Luke. 19  and thou didst feast me at thy proper costs & charges, was it not sufficient, that thou wouldst call me after the marriage to break my fast with the leavings at thy table? and yet thou didst bid me to the feast, & receive me to the chiefest of the banquet, wherein thine oxen & thy fatlings were prepared & served. Is it not marvelous much, 
Matth. 22.  that in things which proceed only of thy gracious liberality, thou hast added an oath & signs & seals, yea & hast left thy holy spirit for a gage & pledge of thy promises, to the end we should in no case doubt but that it will please thee to perform them, & having thy bond under so many assurances, that we might go with boldness & confidence to thy throne of thy mercy, to be helped of thee in due time, & there to obtain both pardon and life? Is it not wonderful, that with all thy creatures thou wouldst give thyself unto us, & after we have justly deserved many afflictions and calamities, we have contrarily received of thee so great blessings as we are not able to value nor to number them, not to comprehend them, nor sufficiently to consider them? And what meaneth this, O Lord, that to make satisfaction for our sins & to redeem a company of robbers, murderers, thieves, adulterers, blasphemers, proud, covetous, traitors, faithless, liars, idolators, thankless, & such rogues, & beggars, as wear, thou thyself hast delivered thy only son to the death, not only in hostage for our deliverance, but also in pledge that he might abide in the same in our place, if happily he had not been of sufficient righteousness to ransom us, & of sufficient power to fight with death, & of sufficient life to swallow him up & to confound so deadly an adversary. What meaneth this, O Lord, that thou hast contrary to thy justice, thy nature, thy custom, & thy promises not acknowledged him for a season, notwithstanding he was thy son? refused & cast him off, notwithstanding he entreated thee? forsaken and let him pass, notwithstanding that in thee he had reposed all his hope: looked upon him without all pity & compassion, notwithstanding that he endured great extremities, and that his soul as he himself witnessed was heavy and sorrowful even unto the death. And further, what is this, that as if thou hadst been the most cruel tyrant that ever was heard of, thou hast condemned him being innocent and guiltless: and cursed him being the blessed seed, and having perfectly accomplished the whole Law: and lastly delivered him into the hands of many executioners to be put to death between two thieves, the most shameful death that ever man died: notwithstanding he was righteous, faithful, & the author of life unto all creatures. Who could believe, if thou hadst not spoken it, if it were not written in thy word, if thy signs and tokens did not show it, and lastly if thy holy spirit did not assure it unto our consciences, that a God, merciful, patiented, and slow to anger, that a God of all comfort and consolation, and a loving Father, as thou art, the stay and refuge of all afflicted and forlorn persons, the haven and sunny seat of all those that are tossed and wearied, the freedom and safety of all sinners when they are chased and pursued: who would believe (I say) that such a God had locked up as it were, all his pity and compassion from his own son, and that he had now no more either eyes to behold and to look upon him in his distressed estate, nor ears to hearken unto his prayers and complaints. Was it not sufficient, that he should come into the world, but he must live here in so great misery as he did? or if he must needs live here; that he might not have died? or if he must needs die; that he might not have died on the cross? or if upon the cross; it might have been without shame? or if with shame; it might have been without the curse? or if with cursing, at the least it might not have been without some pity on thy part? If thou be forced, after we have infinitely and grossly sinned, to take up thy rods and scourges to give us due correction, thou art grieved: if thou see that we are stiffnecked, thou art well contented for the first to let us see thy rods in readiness: if we be not the better after that sight, thou liftest thy arm, thou shakest it long before thou strikest, thou stretchest it out, and then suddenly pullest it in again and withholdest thy stroke: and thou showest plainly by thy countenance what grief and pain it is unto thee to smite us: if thou smite us, thou dost it sparingly, and often feelest the hurt that thou dost us sooner than we ourselves: if we cry out unto thee, by and by thou ceasest thy correction and repentest: yea we can no sooner open our mouth to show our sorrow and to confess our sins unto thee, but thou openest thine also at the same instant to forgive the same, and to comfort us in our distress. Wherefore then being so gentle and easy towards us who are no other than wolves and very Devils in the shape of men hast thou held so hard and so sharp an hand over this Lamb, who is so much more mighty, unspotted, and innocent than all his Angels, as they cannot have the like pre-eminence and advantage over us? what had he deserved to be so little spared? or we, to be so greatly forborn? if he have not offended, in That he made himself of no value and took on him the form of a servant, 
Phil. 2.  when as he, being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God his Father, and in that he humbled himself and became obedient unto the death, even the death of the cross. Wherein hath he so greatly offended, that he should deserve so strange and rigorous punishment? If Satan himself, as Saint Matthew said, could place his hope in thee, and call upon thee, he should find place also in thy grace and mercy: and yet thy son who felt in his soul an horrible distress, and was oppressed with the anguishs and pangs of death, notwithstanding his often cryings & humble requests and prayers, yea the bloody sweat that dropped down his face, even unto the earth for very anguish & pain that he endured in bearing that huge and heavy burden which thou didst lay upon his shoulders, could not in the extremity of this his misery provoke one drop of pity & compassion in thy bowels. What meaneth all this I say? alas! O Lord, I may not inquire, nor reason long with thee to seek the cause thereof and to understand it. For it is nothing else but a singular and sovereign mercy which it pleased thee to show us that we might be saved: and on the other side, the like justice which thou hast executed against thy son, in him to punish our trespasses and transgressions. It is we that have sinned, and it was thy pleasure that he should receive the shame, the condemnation and the torments: he was righteous, and the only innocent and guiltless before thee in all the world, yet his innocency did profit him nothing to escape thy judgement. For we have gathered the fruit, & by thy grace have received the glory, the life, the recompense, & generally all the good things that he had deserved: he was made a sinner in us, & we are made righteous in him: he became poor, to make us rich: sick, to make us whole: low & humble, that we might be exalted & set aloft: and received nothing of us but a mortal misery, giving us in counterexchange a blessed life, so certain, as it cannot be changed, so great, as it cannot be increased, so lasting, as it can never be ended. Before, by our sins & evil deserts, we were lost, but now, by thy gracious favour, and by the merits of thy Son we are found again: before, we were dead, but now we are raised up again: we were banished out of thy presence and out of thy realm, but now we are called back again, & our banishment is repealed: we were the servants and slaves of Satan, in continual fear of death: but now we are made thy friends and children, to whom by promise thou hast given a certain hope of life. Out of hell in a moment thou hast raised & lifted us up into heaven, & of earth and dung (as we were) thou hast made us precious vessels unto thy golrie. The very depth of darkness remained in us and in our nature: but by the power of thy word & of thy Spirit, thou hast caused the day to shine continually in thy church, and that some of the members of the same do glister as the stars of heaven, other more bright than the Sun itself. This is our second creation, thus hast thou of nothing renewed us the second time, and made us of nothing new creatures. S. Peter perceiving that he was escaped out of the hands of Herod, and out of the prison, wherein he was so straightly kept and locked, thought for a season that he dreamt of his deliverance. And is not this a dream, O Lord? or is it true? I mean that which I think and speak of thy innumerable graces toward us, & of this most blessed freedom, wherein thou hast set us by the death of thy Son. No, no, it is no dream by any means. For there is nothing so certain as thy graces & blessings upon all those, that will receive them with confidence in thy promises. I cannot speak in the honour of them so much as I conceive, nor conceive so much as I believe, nor believe so much as is in truth. For they are so great, that my tongue, my cogitations, and my Faith cannot reach & attain, nor measure the greatness and height thereof. David considering the infinite unconceivable malice & wickedness of mankind, asked this question, whither there were any that could reckon and understand their faults? But contrarily, 
Psal. 19.12.  I ask this question: who is he that can number, or speak, or think of all thy benefits? For albeit that our sin aboundeth, yet thy grace aboundeth more: without the which, O Lord, what should become of me? whither should I go? what hope should remain for me? upon the earth there is nothing but thy curse: from heaven thy wrath is revealed upon my wickedness and unbelief: in all things that are under the sun, there is nothing but vanity. Therefore when I look to see from whence my help shall come, after I have cast mine eyes every way round about me, I must of force confess with thy Prophet, that from thy goodness only I am to look and to wait for my help: and, 
Psal. 52.  that among men there is given no other name under heaven, whereby we must be saved, than the name of thy son. I am wicked and wretched more than I can express: but thou art good and merciful, more than I can think or conceive, when I look upon myself, all my hope of salvation departeth: but as soon as thou turnest thy face towards me, by & by my hope returneth, namely, when thou showest in thy countenance the compassion that thou takest of my misery, to defend me against the fancies and illusions of my carnal understanding, and to uphold me in the dreadful and terrible skirmishes, wherewith my poor and weak conscience is often assailed & sore amazed, to repel and to drive back all the temptations of the wicked Spirit, & to give me courage and an assured hardiness against those horrible threatenings laid out in thy law against all the transgressors of the same: and in brief, to keep me from falling, and to lift me up when I am down, I have no other mean but thy mercy, and the grace that thou hast promised me by the merits of thy son. This is my fort & castle, when I am besieged by the enemy of my salvation, & my place of refuge and rescue, when thy wrath and judgements do follow & pursue me. This is the staff and the prop, not only of my age, but also of my whole life: for there is no part or age of my life, wherein I am not so weak, that without it I cannot be able to stand. O most excellent & perfect receipt, which never man yet proved, but was cured of his sickness, and readily found remedy of all his diseases. Am not I greatly bound to the, that thou hast taught me this receit? and further, that thou hast made it for my use, & applied it to my infirmity, and healed me by it? O good God O how great and how wonderful is thy goodness? There is nothing so great, as I suppose, as are the benefits that thou hast bestowed upon me, & dost continue upon me day by day. And yet I must believe and confess, that they are small, & almost of no price, in respect of those, which thou keepest in store for me, & I look for and hope for at thy hands. But this seemeth a very pitiful case, that they should be so great; and on the contrary, that my Faith should be so little and so weak to receive them, and my spirit so rude & ignorant to understand them, and my tongue so unsmooth to express them, and that which is worst of all, my affection so cold to acknowledge & to esteem them at their price and value. And yet this cursed and damnable unthankfulness of mine doth not withdraw thy goodness & largeness towards me, which day by day thou dost continue more and more, yea in such sort, as the latter favour and graces which thou showest me, do far surmount & surpass the former, which thou hast bestowed upon me. It is not possible to reckon or to imagine the thanks that I own unto the: the let & the hindrance whereof is partly my own insufficiency and weakness, and partly the hugeness and infinite number of thy benefits. But to discover all my shame and all my nakedness unto the, it proceedeth from the small remembrance and feeling that I have of thy goodness, what remaineth, but that I shallbe esteemed altogether unthankful towards thee? nothing remaineth, but only to pray thee that thou wouldst open my lips by thy holy Spirit, to the end that I may acknowledge and confess mine unthankfulness and unworthiness, to be sorrowful that I can no better feel and conceive of thy benefits in my heart, to cry out aloud, that thou art infinite in goodness, who hast bestowed so many graces upon me, and that for my part I am infinite in wickedness, who do price, esteem, & regard them so little: and in general to protest in public, that my salvation proceedeth from thee, & my destruction from myself, if it were not thy good pleasure of thy singular grace & favour to provide for & to meet with that inconvenience. Help me now, o Lord, that I may do this by the whole course of my life, and that the readiness & good affection hereunto, that thou hast given me at this present, be not in vain & of none effect. Suffer me not, o God my father, to take delight & pleasure in any other thing, than in the knowledge, meditation, speaking, & praising of thy mercy and great favours towards me: & of the contrary, to take no greater sorrow & displeasure, then in the crimes, offences, and lewd demeanours, that I commit against thy Majesty. This is the prayer and confession that I make, before I come to the table of my Saviour.  Minist. 
Yet this is not all that I will require: for you must now let me understand, what you think at the very instant, when the bread and wine is ministered?  Euseb. 
The bread and wine that I take, that I see and behold, and that I taste, are, as it were, certain steps and traces, to guide, and to lift up my spirit by little and little, to the regard and remembrance of that league and alliance, which God hath made with us, of the forgiveness of my sins, of life everlasting, of the adoption of children, of the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven, of all spiritual joy, of perpetual rest, of glory, of grace, of peace, and in general, of all the great and true felicities therein contained. After that I call to mind jesus Christ, the Mediator and worker of this new league, who hath by his death found means, that it shallbe available, and of full strength and virtue, and canceling the bond & obligation wherein we were bound before, and acquitted us, and set us free from all the whole curse. Thence I go farther, and I come on to behold the charity and love of God towards us, not able to be conceived; who spared not his only Son, but delivered him and gave him over to the death, that he might make satisfaction for our iniquities and offences. Lastly, I do shut up my inward thoughts, with repeating over and over, when I arise from the table, how many ways I am bound unto him, and with rendering unto him such thanks, as it pleaseth him to inspire into my heart.  Minist. 
You have greatly satisfied & contented me, Eusebius, in all your answers: & I thank God for the knowledge, that he hath given you of the substance & meaning of this mystery: beseeching him, (to the end it be not profaned & made unholy) that by his good will and pleasure all such, as shallbe to celebrated the same mystery, may have like measure of understanding. And now, because I have no leisure to continue longer with you, I will commit you to God, and leave you to his protection, until our next meeting.  

A TREATISE OF THE TRUE SACRIFICE AND TRUE PRIEST. Made by I. de l'Espine, Minister of the word of God.  
THere be many that marvel why we refuse and condemn the Mass with so great constancy and vehemency, and slander us grievously in that respect: spreading & sowing rumours of us in the ears of the common people, and also of great and mighty Princes, that we are opinative, arrogant, seditious, rebellious, factious, and many other slanderous lies wherewith they do fill and break continually the ears of the unlearned and ignorant, and of those that take any delight in hearing them. But to show that we are not led by any opinion or fond and foolish fancy, nor by seeking of any vain glory, nor by any other passion which troubleth and carrieth away our wits, I will in this small treatise render reason, as it were in a sum, of that which we hold and maintain, to every one that is willing to know the same. And I doubt not, my Lord, if it will please you to do me so much favour as to read and to mark my writing, but you will stop your ears henceforth against the lying and slanderous speeches of our adversaries whereby they seek to defame & to discredit us, and in time you will take upon you the protection and defence of our cause.  
I will not spend time in expounding the name of the Mass, nor in showing of what pieces, in what age, and by whom it was first patched together: neither will I blaze the crosses and other petty aperies and monkeries therein used, serving more to move laughter then to edify in true piety & godliness. All such trifles I will overpass, and will handle only the chiefest and most principal points, such as are thought to be the grounds and foundations of the Mass, namely the office of the Priest, the Sacrifice, and the things that have been added to the one and the other.  
Touching the office of the Priest it is an honour and an estate, the title & execution whereof cannot belong to any other then to jesus Christ. For we believe, that he alone is our Christ, that is to say; he whom God the Father hath anointed and ordained to be our king: that he might govern and defend us: and our Prophet to teach and to instruct us in all things appertaining to our salvation, and to his honour and glory: and our Priest to offer Sacrifice, and by his sacrifice to appease the heavy wrath and displeasure of God against us: and further to pray and to make intercession for us, and by his suit to entertain and to keep us in his favour. Therefore even as it were blasphemous, to acknowledge & approve any other king and lawmaker to rule and to govern our consciences then jesus Christ, or any other master & teacher then him to train us up in matters of God: so we commit blasphemy against his honour, if we admit or acknowledge any other Priest to sacrifice for us then him.  
Further, no man may attribute unto himself any honour herein Except he be called thereunto of God, as Aaron was. But there is none save only jesus Christ, whom God hath glorified by ordaining and creating him high Priest, and to whom he hath said, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Whereupon it followeth, that unto him alone belongeth this honour and dignity.  

Heb. 7.26.  Again the qualities and conditions of the Priest of the new Testament are these, that he be holy, innocent, unspotted, separated from sinners, and exalted far above the heavens. Which points cannot belong to any other than to jesus Christ, because all men, he only excepted, being borne and brought forth of flesh, are flesh, that is to say, defiled & sinful, as their parents were, and therefore uncapable of the Priesthood.  
Again, the Priest must be eternal and for ever, after the order of Melchisedech: 
Heb. 7.3.  that is to say, as it is expounded by the Apostle, without father, without mother, without kindred, having neither beginning of his days, neither end of his life. Which cannot be applied to our Priests nor to any mortal man.  
Again, 
Heb. 7.22.  He needeth not daily to offer up Sacrifice for his own sins, as the Priests of Levi did need. From which necessity there is none that can be freed and delivered, but only jesus Christ; insomuch as by reason of sin abiding in them, and of infirmities wherewith they are enclosed and compassed, they have need continually to pray unto God and to ask him pardon for the same.  
Again, if any other were capable of the estate of the Priesthood than jesus Christ, they must needs be Priests after one of these two orders: to wit, of Levi, or of Melchisedech: but they cannot be after the order of Levi, because all the ancient ceremonies, yea, and the Law itself that commanded them, are now abolished. So it should remain that They must be after the order of Melchisedech. 
Psal. 110.  But that is no more possible than the other, because they should be Priests for ever, which is not incident to any mortal man.  
Again, the Priest must be more worthy & honourable than the sacrifice that he doth offer: for the Sacrifice of whatsoever it be, cannot please God, but only in respect of him that offereth. And it is the reason alleged by the Apostle, 
Heb. 11.  why Abel by Faith did offer unto God a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain: meaning thereby that the price and worthiness of the Sacrifice proceeded hence, that he which offered being faithful, was by Faith acceptable to God. Whereupon it must needs be that if the Mass Priests were true sacrificing Priests and did offer jesus Christ in their Mass, as they pretend, that they should be of more worthiness and honour than he, and that he should not be in the favour of God but by their credit and favour.  
lastly, whosoever is Priest, by the same mean is become Mediator between God & man, for the end of the Sacrifice is to procure the remission of sins, and so consequently to reconcile man unto God. So if the Massepriests could be Sacrificing Priests they should also be Mediators, which they cannot be. For even as there is but one God, so there is but one Mediator between God and man. And thus ye see by these proofs that the name, the title, and dignity of Priesthood cannot belong to any other then to jesus Christ, and without great and monstrous blasphemy that we cannot attribute the same to any other.  
In like manner it is he only that can exercise the office of priesthood: for the Priest must appease the wrath of God, and reconcile him unto men that are in his displeasure, And this is not possible to be done, without a most perfect obedience: even as his wrath & heavy displeasure at the beginning was stirred up & inflamed against us by no other thing, than the disobedience of our first parents. But none is able, except jesus Christ alone, to yield such obedience to God as is required, by reason of the perfection & integrity of his nature. Therefore for this respect, no man can execute the office of the Priest but he.  
Further, the Priest must satisfy the justice of God for the iniquities and transgressions of those, in whose favour he offereth the sacrifice, inasmuch as he appeareth and presenteth himself before him, as a pledge and a surety for their debts: which no carnal and sinful man is able to perform. For how should he acquit the debts of another, 
Luke 7.  being himself always indebted, and unable to pay his own? as it appeareth by the parables of those two, that were bound to one creditor, whom they could not pay & satisfy: and of him, 
Marth. 18.  that aught the King ten talents, which by no means he was able to discharge: and by the ordinary confession of the Church, 
Matth. 6.  which (I say) the Catholic Church doth make unto God, praying for the remission and forgiveness of her sins and offences. Wherefore, there is no other, that can in this point discharge the office & duty of the Priest.  

Heb. 9  Again, The Priest must obtain remission of sins for those for whom he doth sacrifice, which cannot be obtained without shedding of blood: 
Heb. 9.22.  For without shedding of blood (saith the Apostle) is no remission. And this blood may not be the blood of bulls, goats, calves, lambs, or of any other beast, which cannot purge & purify the conscience; but it must be the blood of the Priest himself, & the same without spot. Seeing then that never in the world there hath been blood with that condition, but only the blood of jesus Christ, we may hereby well conclude, that it is he only, that can execute the office of the Priest.  

Heb. 9.17.  Again, the Priest must procure the confirming & ratifying of the Testament, and of the new league and alliance with God. But the Testament is yet of no force, as long as he that made it is alive. If then our Massepriests could be true sacrificing Priests, they ought, for the performance of their duty & charge, to die, & so to become testators, to the end, that by their death the Testament might be confirmed. Now they are no Testators, because they are not God; neither do they yet die: and albeit they should die yet their death would not be available to the confirming of the Testament, which they had not made before, wherefore it followeth, that they cannot exercise the state of the Priesthood.  

Heb. 9.26.  Further, The office of the Priest is to destroy sin: as the Apostle showeth, which is not possible for any mortal man to do, being the servant and slave of sin, bearing it about him in his bosom, nourishing & maintaining it continually with him, giving it being, strength, & vigour, bringing it forth of his mother's womb, and keeping it ever after until his dying day; & being unable to live without it, so greatly unwilling to destroy it, that if it were dead in him, he would quicken and revive it. Seeing then that there is none but jesus Christ, that is come into the world, to destroy sin, and the other works of the Devil (as S. john saith) there is none but he that can execute the office of the Priest. 
1. john. 3.5.   
Again, the office of a Mediator, 
Heb. 9  is to appear before the face of God, continually to make intercession for us, and to keep us in his grace & favour. But none, save only jesus Christ, can perform this point. For Isaiah the Prophet, speaking of men, saith in this manner: 
isaiah 33.14.  Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with the everlasting burnings? And David confirmeth the same, saying; The foolish shall not stand before thy face, nor come into thy presence: thou hatest all them that work iniquity. Then if no man be altogether pure and free from foolishness, but every one committeth often times iniquity, we must infer hereupon, that the Massepriests, which are like other men, have need themselves of one to present them unto God, and to bring them to the presence of his Majesty, which otherwise they were not able to come unto, so much are they unable to bring in a sinner into the presence of God, to beg his pardon, or by their own credit and favour to incline and to bend the Majesty of God to show him favour.  
We have showed, that the Priest must pacify the wrath, & appease the anger of God. Now I say that he is to pass on farther, and namely, to charge his own shoulders with the burden of God his wrath, to the end that he may discharge those, that he would reconcile unto him. Now we are to consider what strength a mortal man can have, to bear so great and so heavy a burden, as the heaven, the earth, the mountains, and the whole frame of the world is not able to endure. jesus Christ himself being innocent, the arm, the power, & the right hand of God, did shrink, and sweat blood in great abundance, for the hugeness and heaviness of this burden, when he had taken it upon his shoulders. For it was the very feeling of the judgement of God, and not of the death of the body, which caused him to feel such anguishes as he endured & complained of, when the hour of his crucifiing was at hand. And how then can a poor chaplain, clothed with all manner of iniquity, & drinking down unrighteousness as water, be so hardy as to offer himself to bear so heavy a burden, under which jesus Christ, with all his strength and innocency, remained almost overwhelmed?  
Lastly, the office of the Priest is, 
Heb. 2.  To have compassion of the infirmities of all the elect that are in the world, to comfort them, and to sweeten the bitterness of their evils and sorrows. And this is not to be done of any, but only of jesus Christ: because there is none but he, that can understand them, and provide remedy for them. For the men of the West cannot learn the afflictions of them that dwell in the East: nor they of the South, the miseries of those that inhabit the North, by which reason, they cannot take any pity either of other, nor provide due remedies for them, by reason of their weakness and insufficiency. By this reason with the former we may conclude, that they can by no means execute the office and estate of the Priesthood.  
We have proved, that our Priests cannot be true Priests for sacrifice, neither yet discharge that office. Now let us prove in like manner, that their sacrifice cannot be available nor forcible to please or to appease God, nor any manner of way to procure or to obtain the remission of sins.  
First, a sacrifice, to be of such a property, must be perfect, as Moses taught us in the law: when as by the ordinance of God he commanded so expressly, that the beasts, which should be offered unto him, to shadow him, should be perfect, & without blemish, & whole of all their members. But the sacrifices of men cannot be perfect, because they themselves being unperfect, and all their works unperfect, have not in regard of their persons, or of their righteousness, any other perfection then that which is imputed unto them by the grace of God, in the name and favour of jesus Christ. Therefore it followeth, that they can offer nothing unto God, that may make him well pleased and favourable unto sinners.  
Further, it is required, that all Sacrifices (as all other works) should be joined with obedience, & so by consequent, that they should be commanded. For otherwise they should be offered without Faith, & so become abominable before God. Yea the very sacrifice, that jesus Christ did make of his own body, if it had not been foreappointed of his Father, had not been received nor accepted. And therefore it is, that he maketh the greatest reckoning and the greatest account of his obedience. For thus he saith: 
Psal. 40.9.  Burntoffering and sinoffering hast thou not required: then said I: lo, I come. For in the roll of the book it is written of me, that I should do thy will, o God. S. Paul in like manner doth attribute all the fruit and profit, that cometh by the death of jesus Christ to his obedience, when he saith, That he became obedient to his father even until the death, and therefore that God had highly exalted him. Now let our priests show us by scripture, that God hath commanded them to chaunte & to sing mass, if they will have us to approve their sacrifice. If they cannot do it, no more can we without it avouch their sacrifice to have power and virtue to satisfy and to please God as they do hold, neither yet that it is acceptable nor holy before God. Again the power of such a sacrifice must be eternal and infinite that it may surpass and exceed the disobedience of the first Adam. And as the one hath spread abroad the poison thereof, & a general calamity upon all the men in the world, in what country, time, or age soever they have lived: so the obedience of the second Adam being opposed to that of the first must bring a general blessing & felicity upon all them, that are predestinate to eternal life: to the end, That where sin hath abounded, 
Rom. 5.  there the grace of God might more abound. But the sacrifice of a Popish Priest cannot have this virtue and power, yea less than the ancient sacrifices of the Priests of Levi, which were ordained & appointed of God, and were a type and shadow of jesus Christ. Then let us conclude against their opinion, that it neither is, nor can be sufficient to please God.  
Also, the sacrifice, wherewith God must be pleased, and his wrath appeased, must be but one: for otherwise it should not be perfect, if it were renewed, neither the power and virtue thereof infinite, wherefore the Priests that sing so many masses, do evidently declare by the multiplying of their Sacrifices, that they are unperfect, and therefore they cannot be propitiatory; that is to say, of nature and force to please and to satisfy God. If they say (as commonly they do) that they offer jesus Christ; we answer: First, it cannot be so: because jesus Christ can die no more: 
Rom. 6. Heb. 9  which must needs be, if he were sacrificed again: because there is no Sacrifice without death.  
secondly, this renewing of the Sacrifice should be unprofitable and serving to no use, in respect of the remission of sins, which by Faith we do believe and obtain: 
Heb. 10.  for Where no remission is, there is no more sacrifice for sin. For if the end of the Sacrifice be, to sanctify and to perfect him, for whom it is offered; what need we to have any more sacrifices, seeing that by the sacrifice, 
Heb. 7.  that jesus Christ did offer unto God, of his own body, we are already sanctified and made holy for ever.  
Thirdly, it would be a great prejudice, and a notorious injury to him, if his Sacrifice should be renewed and offered again by any other, then by himself. For if it were so, then should he be rob and spoiled of his honour, 
Heb. 7.  and the oblation that he made once of his body, should be reputed and taken as unperfect and insufficient: for the renewing is a certain reason and argument of imperfection.  
And if there were other Priests to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin, 
Heb. 8.  and jesus Christ were yet abiding upon the earth, he should be no Priest at all. For if he were Priest, he should be Priest alone, neither can he have any fellow to be joined and associate unto him in the priesthood, no more then in his other offices. So we may be resolved, that we ne have, ne can have other Priest to reconcile us to God, than jesus Christ: ne other sacrifice then that, which he hath once offered, to purchase unto us remission of all our sins. And so He is both the Priest, and also the oblation, as saith S. Augustine. For as there was never in the world any perfect body, save his only, worthy to be offered up unto God in sacrifice: so there was never any other man so perfect, as he was fit and capable to offer up the same body in sacrifice.  
The third point, which we have to consider in the Mass, is touching certain things annexed to the sacrifice and to the Priesthood: which point may briefly and in few words be dispatched. For they are confessions, prayers, or praises, or the reading of Epistles and Gospels, or of ceremonies. As concerning praises, such as are the orisons or confessions, made at the beginning & entrance of the Mass, they are to be rejected and refused: because they are for the most part, against the express commandment of God, consecrated to creatures. 
Psal. 9  As concerning prayers, this is much ungodliness or impiety, and no less infidelity or unbelief in them, forasmuch as the intercession or merit of some Saint is most commonly mingled and joined with them. 
joshua. 7.  As for the reading of the Epistle and Gospel, in that the name of God is used & taken in vain, because they be red in a strange language, it cannot bring any edifying to the congregation. As for the ceremonies, to the end I say nothing more grievous, they are all superstitious, because they are all the inventions of men, without any sense or signification, save only such, as slumbering and dreaming monks have forged in their mindless and witless brains, and after have pleased to bestow upon them: yea some of them are mere idolatries: as the worshipping of the bread, censing, and kneeling.  
By this that hath been discoursed, as in a sum, touching the chief and principal points of the Mass, every one may judge what it is, and in what account & reckoning to be holden, and whither we have many and sufficient reasons to condemn, and to abhor it, and to withdraw all men from taking part in so horrible blasphemies & impieties, whereof it is pieced and patched together. 
1. Cor. 10.  For, It is impossible (as S. Paul saith) that we can be partakers of the Lord his table, & of the table of devils. Then whosoever he be that goeth to the Mass, he leaveth, in so doing, the Lord his table, and forsaketh all the benefits there presented: that is to say, he renounceth the sacrifice of jesus Christ and all that thereupon dependeth: to wit, his righteousness, life, the grace of God, and all the happiness that he is to hope for, and to look for one day in his kingdom.  
There be some that say (to cloak and to cover their forfeit and offence in this behalf) that albeit they are present at Mass, yet notwithstanding they mean not to be partakers thereof, but in truth it is not possible for a man to do the one, but he shall commit the other. For as S. Paul saith, 
2. Cor. 6.  He that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifices, is he not partaker of the altar? that is to say, whosoever cometh to the ceremonies, maketh present profession, that he is partaker of the mysteries therein understood and taught, that he that goeth to the Mass, forsaketh and departeth from the table and benefits of jesus Christ. This reason only might be sufficient to withdraw all men from the same, and to hinder that they should not be present: and also that we have an express commandment, that by no means we do communicate with the unfuitefull works of darkness, but rather that we do blame them and reprehend them. Again, That we do not couple ourselves with infidels: that we depart out of their company: that we separate ourselves from such, and handle nothing that is defiled or unclean, for the reasons following: Because there is no fellowship between righteousness and unrighteousness, between light and darkness, between Christ and Belial, between the faithful and the infidel, lastly, between the temple of God and Idols. Again, we are commanded To departed out of Babylon, that we be not partakers of her sins, nor feel her wounds. Which testimonies of Scripture are clear & plain enough to turn aside the minds of all men, that they have no fellowship nor agreement with infidels, and chiefly in the exercise of religion, and of all things thereunto belonging.  
I beseech God who hath given you, my Lord, this willingness and desire to be informed of this great abuse, I mean of the Mass, that it would please him to lighten your understanding that you may rightly and truly conceive this treatise, briefly handled and in few words: and to give you such strength and fit occasions, as you may thereby be able to withdraw yourself wholly from all these cursed abominations and horrible impieties, no doubt the cause & principal root and spring of all the miseries and cursings that are this day throughout the whole world. And surely, my Lord, there is no other way to win and to keep the favour of God, from the which only you are to look for all the honour, prosperity, and increase, that you desire and promise to yourself, then to seek by all means possible the setting up of his service and honour: yielding and applying yourself with your whole heart to his whole pleasure: & contrarily, eschewing and avoiding whatsoever may offend and displease him: chiefly and principally, all the kinds of idolatry, which above all other crimes and sins is most odious to him and most abominable. I pray God to give you the grace to seek, and to procure unto him this honour and service.  
FINIS.