The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4 · Chapter 18
¶The .xviii. Chapiter. ¶Of the Popishe Masse, by whiche sacrilege the Supper of Christ hath not only ben prophaned, but also brought to nought.
WIth these and lyke inuentions Satan hath trauailed, as by ouerspredyng of darknesse to obscure and defile the holy Supper of Christ, that at least the purenesse of it shoulde not be kepte styll in the Chirche. But the head of horrible abhomination was, when he aduanced a signe, by which it myght not onelyonly be darkned and peruerted, but beyng vtterly blotted and abolyshed shoulde vanyshe away and fall oute of the remembrance of men: namely when he blynded almost the whole world with a moste pestilent error, that they shoulde beleue that the Masse is a sacrifice & oblation to obteine the forgeuenesse of sinnes. How at the beginning the sounder sort of the Scholemē toke this doctrine, I nothyng regard: farewell they wyth theyr crabbed suttelties: whiche howsoeuer they may be defended with cauillyng, yet are therfore to be refused of all good men because they do nothyng ells but spred muche darknesse ouer the brightnesse of the Supper. Therefore biddyng them farewell, let the readers vnderstand that I here matche in fight with that opinion, wherewith the Romishe Antichrist and his prophetes hauehave infected the whole worlde, namely that the Masse is a worke wherby the sacrificyng Prest which offreth vp Christ, and the other that doo partake at the same oblation, do deserue the fauor of God: or that it is a cleansying sacrifice, wherby they reconcile God to themselues. Neither hath this ben receiued onelyonly in common opinion of the people, but the very doyng it selfe is so framed, that it is a kynde of pacifyeng wherwith satisfaction is made to God for the purgyng of the quicke and dead. The wordes also which they vse, do expresse the same: and no other thyng may we gather of the dayly vse of it. I know how depe rootes this pestilence hath takē, vnderunder how great seming of goodnesse it lurketh, howe it beareth in shewe the name of Christe, howe in the one name of Masse many beleue that they comprehende the whole summe of Faith. But when it shalbe by the worde of God most clerely proued, that this Masse, how muche soeuer it be colored and glorious, yet shamefully dishonoreth Christ, burieth & oppresseth his crosse, putteth his death in forgetfulnesse, taketh away the frute that cometh therof vntounto vsus, doth weaken and destroy the Sacrament wherin was left the memorie of his death: shall there then be any so depe rootes, which this moste strong are, I meane the word of God, shall not cutt downe and ouerthrowe? Is there any face so beautifull, that this lyght can not bewray the euell which lurketh vnderunder it?
Let vsus therfore shew that which hath ben set in the fyrst place, that in it is intolerable blasphemie & dishonor done to Christ.Heb. v.v. &. vii.…vii et. …x. xi.c… x.xxi. For he was consecrate of his Father a Prest and Bishop, not for a tyme as we reade that they were ordeined in the olde testament, whoes life beyng mortal theyr presthode also coulde not be immortall: for which cause also there neded successors that should from tyme to tyme be putt in the place of them that dyed.Psal. cx. xiii. Gen. xiiii xviii. But in place of Christ, which is immortal, there nedeth no vicar to be set after hym. Therfore he was ordeined of the Father a prest for euer, according to the order of Melchisedech, that he shold execute an euerlastyng presthode. This mysterie had bene long before figured in Melchisedech, whom when the Scripture had ones broughte in for the preste of the lyuyng God, it neuer afterwarde made mention of hym, as though he had had no end of his life. After this point of likenesse, Christe was called a prest accordyng to his order. Now they that doo daily sacrifice, must nedes appoint prestes to make the oblations, whom they must appoint as it were successors and vicars in the stede of Christ. By which puttyng in stede of him, they do not only spoile Christ of his honor, and plucke from hym the prerogatiue of eternal presthod, but also trauaile to thrust hym downe from the right hande of his Father, on whiche he can not sitt immortall, but that he muste therwithall remaine the eternall prest. Neither lett them laye for themselues, that their pety sacrificers are not putt in place of Christ as if he were dead, but only are helpers of his eternal presthod, which ceasseth not therfore to continue. For they are more strongly holden fast with the wordes of the Apostle,Heb. vii.x…i. than that they may so escape: namely, that there were many other prestes made, because they were by deathe letted to continue. Therfore there is but one that is not letted by death, and he nedeth no companions. Yet, suche is their frowardnesse, they arme themselues with the example of Melchisedech to defend their wickednesse. For, because it is sayd that he offred bread and wyne, they gather that he was a foreshewyng of their Masse: as though the likenesse betwene hym and Christ were in the offryng of bread and wyne. Whiche is so emptie and triflyng that it nedeth no confutation. Melchisedech gaue bread & wyne to Abraham and his companions, to refreshe them beyng weary after their iorney and battail. What is this to a sacrifice? Moses praiseth the gentlenesse of the holy king: these fellowes vnseasonably coyne a mysterie whereof no mention is made. Yet thei deceitfully paint their error wt an other color, because it foloweth by & by after. And he was ye prest of ye hyest God.Heb. vii.vii. I answer, yt they wrongfully draw to the bread & wyne that which the Apostle referreth to the blessing. Therfore when he was the prest of God he blessed Abraham. Wherupon the same Apostle (thā whome we nede to seke no better expositor) gathereth his excellence, because the lesser is blessed of the greater. But if the oblatiō of Melchisedech were a figure of the sacrifice of the Masse: would the Apostle. I praye you, which s…ar…heth out al euen ye least thinges, hauehave forgotten so earnest and weightie a thing? Now (howsoeuer they trifle) they shall in vayne goe aboute to ouerthrowe the reason whiche the Apostle himselfe bringeth that the righte and honor of sacrificing presthoode ceaseth among mortall men, because Christ which is immortall, is the only and perpetual sacrificing preste.
An other vertue of the Masse was, that it oppresseth and burieth the crosse & passion of Christ. This verily is most certaine, that the crosse of Christ is ouerthrowē so sone as the altar is set vp.Heb. ix.xi For if he offred himselfe for a sacrifice vponupon the crosse, that he might sanctifie vsus for euer, & purchase to vsus eternall redemption: vndoutedly ye force & effectualnesse of that sacrifice continueth without any end. Otherwise we shold think nothing more honorably of Christ, than of oxen & calues which were sacrificed vnderunder the lawe: the offringes whereof are proued vneffectuall and weake by this that they were oft ren…ed. Wherfore either we must confesse, that the sacrifice of Christe, which he fulfilled vppon the crosse, wanted the force of eternall cleansyng, or that Christe hathe made an ende of all with one sacrifice ones for euer.Heb. ix.xxvi. &. x.x This is it that the Apostle sayth, that this chiefe Bishop Christ ones appered by offring vp of him self before ye ending of the world, to the driuing away of sinne. Againe, That we ar sanctified by the wil of God, by the off…ing of ye body of Iesus Christ ones. Again, That Christ wt one oblatiō for euer hath made perfect them that ar sanctified: wherunto he adioineth a notable sentēce yt forgeuenesse of sinnes being ones purchaced, ther remaineth no more any oblation. This also Christ signified by his laste saieng & vttered amōg his last gaspings, whē he said, It is ended. We are wōt to note ye last saienges of men when they are dieng,Ioh. xix.…x. for oracles. Christ dieng testifieth yt by his one sacrifice is p…rfited and fulfilled whatsoeuer was for our saluation. Shall it be lawfull for vsus daily to patch innumerable sacrifices to such a sacrifice, (the perfection whereof he hath so shiningly set forth) as though it were vnperfecte? When the holy worde of God not onelyonly affirmeth, but also crieth out, & protesteth, that this sacrifice was ones fully done that the force thereof remaineth euerlasting: whoso require an other sacrifice, do they not accuse this of imperfection & weakenesse? But as for the Masse, which hath ben deliuered in suche sort that there may eueryevery day be made a hundred thousand sacrifices, to what end rendeth it, but that the passion of Christe, whereby he offred hym an onelyonly sacrificed oblation to the father, should lye buried and drowned? Who, vnlesse he be blynde, can not see that it was the boldnesse of Satā whiche wrastled against so open and clere truthe? Neither am I ignorant with what deceites that father of lyeng vseth to color this his fraude, sayeng that there are not sondry nor diuerse sacrifices, but that one selfe same sacrifice is repeted. But suche smokes are easily blowen away. For in the whole discourse the Apostle trauaileth to proue: not only that there are no other sacrifices, but that that one sacrifice was ones offred vp, & shal no more be repeted. The sutteller men do yet slip out at a narrower hole, sayeng that it is not a repeting but an applying. But this Sophisticall argument also is no lesse easily confuted. For neither did Christ ones offer vp him selfe with this condition, that his sacrifice shold be daily confirmed with new oblations: but that by the preaching of the Gospell, and ministring of the holye Supper, the fruite thereof shoulde be communicated vntounto vsus.i. Cor. ii.vii. So Paule saieth that Christe oure Passeouer was offred vp, and biddeth vsus to eat of him. This (I say) is the meane wherby the Sacrifice of the Crosse is rightly applied to vsus, when it is communicated to vsus to take the vse of it, and we wyth true fayth receiue it,
But it is worthe the labor to heare, with what other fundation beside these they vpholde the sacrifice of the Masse. For they draw to this purpose the prophecie of Malachie,Mal. i.viii whereby the Lorde promiseth that the time shall come when throughout the whole worlde there shalbe offred his name incense and a cleane sacrifice. As though it were a new or vnwonted thing among the Prophetes, when they speake of the calling of the Gentils to expresse by the outward ceremonie of the law the spirituall worshipping of God, to which they exhort thē: that they might the more familiarly declare to the men of their age, that the Gentiles should be called into the true felowshippe of religion. Like as also they are wont altogether to describe by figures of theyr law, the truth yt was deliuered by the Gospell.Ioel. ii.xxviii… So they set for turning to the Lord, ascēding into Ierusalem: for the worshipping of God, the offring of al kindes of giftes: for larger knowlege of him which was to be geuen to the faithfull in the kyngdome of Christe, dreames and visions. That therfore whiche they allege, is like vntounto an other prophecie of Esaye,Esai. xix.xxi. where the Prophet foretelleth of three altars to be set vppe in Assiria, Egipte, and Iurye. For first I aske, whether they do not graunt that the fulfillyng of this prophecie is in the kingdome of Christ. Secondly wher be these altars, or when they were euer set vp. Thirdly whether they think that to eueryevery seuerall kyngdome is apointed a seuerall temple, such as was that at Ierusalem. These things if thei wey, I think they wil confesse, that the Prophet vnderunder fygures agreeable with his tyme, prophecieth of the spiritual worship of God to be spred abrode into the whole world. Which we geue to them for a solution. But of this thing sithe there do eueryevery where examples commonly offre them selues, I wil not busie my selfe in longer rehearsall of them. Howbeit herein also they are miserably deceiued, that they acknowlege no sacrifice but of the Masse, wheras in dede the faithfull do nowe sacrifice to the Lord, & do offer a cleane offring, of which shalbe spoken by and by.
Nowe I come downe to the third office of the Masse, where I must declare howe it blotteth oute the true and onelyonly deathe of Christe, and shaketh it oute of the remembrance of menne. For as among men the strength of a testament hangeth vppon the death of the testator: so also our lord hath with his death confirmed the testament whereby he hath geuen vsus forgeuenesse of synnes and eternal righteousnesse. They that dare varie or make newe any thing in this testamente, doo denye hys death, and holde it as it were of no force. But what is the Masse, but a new and altogether diuerse testamēt? For why? Doth not eueryevery seueral Masse promise new forgeuenesse of sinnes, new purchasing of righteousnesse: so that now there be so many testaments, as there be Masses? Let Christ therfore come again, and with an other death confirme this testament, or rather with infinite deathes confirme innumerable testamentes of Masses. HaueHave I not therfore said true at the beginning, that the only and true death of Christ is blotted oute by Masses? Yea what shall we say of this that the Masse directly tendeth to this ende, that if it be possible, Christ should bee slayne agayne? For where is a testamente (sayeth the Apostle) there of necessitie must be the death of the testator.Heb. ix:xvi: The Masse sheweth it selfe to be a new testament of Christ: therfore it requireth his death. Moreouer the hoste which is offred, must necessarily be slayne and sacrificed. If Christ in eueryevery seuerall Masse be sacrificed, then he muste at eueryevery moment bee in a thousande places cruelly slayen. This is not myne, but the Apostles argument, If he had neded to offer him selfe ofte, he muste ofte hauehave dyed sins the beginning of the worlde. I knowe that they hauehave an answere in redinesse, whereby also they charge vsus with sclander. For they say that that is obiected agaynst them which they neuer thought, nor yet canne. And we knowe, that the death and life of Christ is not in their hande. We loke not whether they goe aboute to kill hym: onelyonly our purpose is to shew, what maner of absurdity foloweth of their vngodly and wicked doctrine. Which self thing I proue by the Apostles owne mouth. Though they crye out to the contrarye a hundred tymes, that this sacrifice is vnbloody: I wil deny that it hangeth vponupon the wyll of men, that sacrifices should change their nature, for by this meane the holy and inuiolable ordinance of God shold faile. Wherupō foloweth that this is a sure principle of the Apostle, th… there is required sheding of blood, that washing may not be wanting.
Now is the fourth office of the Masse to be entreated of, namely to take awaye from vsus the fruite that came to vsus of the deathe of Christe, while it maketh vsus not to acknowlege it and thinke vponupon it. For who cā call to mynde that he is redemed by the death of Christ when he seeth a new redemption in the Masse? Who can truste that sinnes are forgeuē him, when he seeth a newe forgeuenesse? Neither shall he escape that shall say, that we do for no other cause obteyn forgeuenesse of sinnes in the Masse, but because it is alredy purchased by the death of Christ. For he bringeth nothyng els than as if he would boste, that Christ hathe redemed vsus with this condition that we shoulde redeme our selues. For such doctrine hath ben spred by the ministers of Satan, and such at this day they mainteyn with cryenges out, with swerd and fier, that we whē in the Masse we offer vp Christ to his Father, by this work of offring do obteine forgeuenesse of sinnes, and are made partakers of the passion of Christ. What now remaineth to the passion of Christ, but to be an example of redemption, whereby we may learne to be our owne redemers? Christe him selfe, when in the Supper he sealeth the confidence of pardon, doth not bidde his disciples to sticke in that doing, but sendeth thē awaye to the sacrifice of his deathe: signifieng that the Supper is a moniment or memorial (as the common spech is) whereby they may learne that ye satisfactorie clensing sacrifice, by which the Father was to be appeased, must hauehave ben offred but ones. For neither is it enough to know that Christ is the onelyonly sacrifice, vnlesse the onelyonly sacrificing be ioyned with it, that our faith may be fastened to his crosse.
Nowe I come to the conclusion, namely that the holye Supper, in which the Lord had left the remembrance of his passion grauen and expressed, is by the settyng vp of the Masse, taken away, defaced, and destroyed. For the Supper it selfe is the gift of God, whiche was to be receiued with thankesgeuing. The sacrifice of the Masse is famed to pay a price to God, which he may receiue for satisfaction. Howe muche difference there is betwene to geue and to receiue, so much doth the sacrifice differ from the Sacrament of the Supper. And this truely is the moste wretched vnthankfulnesse of man, yt where the largesse of Gods boūtie ought to hauehave bē acknowleged, & thanks to be geuen, therin he maketh God his dettor. The Sacrament promised, that by the death of Christe we are not onelyonly ones restored into life, but are continually quickned, because then all the partes of our saluation were fulfilled. The sacrifice of the Masse singeth a farre other song, that Christ must be dayly sacrificed, that he may somewhat profit vsus. The Supper shoulde hauehave bene distributed in the cōmon assemblie of the Chirch, that it might enforme vsus of the communion whereby we all cleaue together in Christ Iesus. The sacrifice of the Masse dissolueth and plucketh in sonder this cōmunitie. For after that the error grew in force, yt there must be sacrificers yt shold sacrifice for the people, ye Supper of ye Lord as though it were posted ouer to them, cessed to be cōmunicated to the cōgregatiō of ye faithful according to the commaundement of the Lord. An entrie was made open to priuate Masses, which might rather resemble a certaine excommunication, than that same communitie ordeined of the Lorde, when …pety sacrificer wylling seuerally by hym selfe to deuoure his sacrifice, doothe seuer hymselfe from the whole people of the faithfull. I call priuate Masse (least any man be deceiued) wheresoeuer there is no partaking of the Lordes Supper among the faithful, although otherwise a great multitude of men be present.
And whense the very name of Masse first sprong, I could neuer certainly iudge: sauyng that it semeth to me likely that it was taken of the offringes that were geuen. Whereupon the olde writers vse it commonly in the plural number. But, to leaue stryuyng about the name, I saye that priuate Masses are directly against the ordinance of Christe, and therfore they are a wicked prophanyng of the holy Supper. For what hath the Lorde commaunded vsus? not to take, and diuide it among vsus? What maner of obseruyng of the commaundement doth Paule teache?i. Cor. x.xvi: not the breaking of bread, which is the communion of the body & blood? Therfore whē one taketh it without distributing, what liknesse is there? But yt same one mā doth it in the name of ye whole Chirch. By what cō maundement? Is not this openly to mocke God, when one mā priuatly taketh to hym selfe that which ought not to hauehave ben done but amōg many? But bicause ye wordes of Christ & Paul ar plain enough, we may brefely cōclude, yt whersoeuer is not breaking of bread to the cōmunion of the faithful, there is not ye Supper of ye Lord, but a false and wrongfull counterfaiting of the Supper. But a false counterfaityng is a corrupting. Now the corrupting of so great a mysterie is not without wickednesse. Therfore in priuate Masses is a wicked abuse. And (as one fault in religion from time to tyme bredeth an other) after yt that maner of offring without communion was ones crept in, by litle and litle they beganne in eueryevery corner of Chirches to make innumerable Masses, & diuersly to draw the people hether and thether, which should hauehave come together into one assemblie, that they might reknowlege the mysterie of their owne vnitie. Now let them goe and deny it to be ydolatrie, that in their Masses they shew forth bread to be worshipped in stede of Christ. For in vaine they bost of those promises of the presence of Christ, which howsoeuer they be vnderstode, verily wer not geuē to this purpose, that wicked and prophane men, so oft as they will, and to whatsoeuer abuse they list, may make the body of Christ: but that the faithfull, when wyth religious obseruation they do in Celebrating of the Supper follow the commaundement of Christ, may enioy the true partaking of him.
Beside that, this peruersnesse was vnknowē to the purer Chirch. For howsoeuer the more shamelesse sort among our aduersaries do here goe about to disguise the mater with false colors, yet it is moste sure that all antiquitie is against them, as we hauehave afore proued in other things, & it may more certeinly be iudged by the cōtinual reding of old writers. But ere I make an ende of speaking of it, I aske our Massing doctors, sithe they knowe that obedience is more estemed of God than oblations,i. Samu: xvi:xxii. and that he more requireth that his voice be harkened to, thā that sacrifices be offred: how they beleue that this maner of sacrificing is acceptable to God, whereof they hauehave no certaine commaundement, and which they see not to be allowed by any one syllable of the Scripture. Moreouer when they heare the Apostle say, that no mā taketh to himself ye name & honor of sacrificing presthode but he yt is called as Aarō was: yea & that Christ himself did not thrust in himself, but obeyd ye calling of his father: either they must bring forth God ye author & ordeiner of their sacrificing presthod, or they must cōfesse yt the honor is not of God, into which they have wt wicked rashnes brokē in vncalled. But they cā not shew one tittle of a letter yt mainteineth their sacrificing presthod. Why therfore shal not their sacrifices vanish away, which cā not be offred without a prest?
If any mā do thrust in short sentēces of the old writers gathered here & there, and do by their authoritie trauail to proue yt the sacrifice which is done in the Supper is far otherwise to be vnderstāded thā we do expound it: let him be brefly answered thus: if the question be of allowyng the forged deuise of sacrifice, suche as the Papistes hauehave fayned in the Masse, the old writers do neuer speake in defēse of such sacrilege, They do in dede vse the worde Sacrifice: but therwithal they expounde, that they meane nothing ells but the remembrance of that true and onelyonly sacrifice, which Christ our only sacrificing preste (as they eche where report of him) made on the crosse.Lib. xx. contra. Faust. cap. xviii. The Hebrues (sayeth Augustine) in the sacrifices of beastes which they offred to God, did celebrate a prophecie of the sacrifice to come, which Christ offred: the Christians doe with the holy oblation and partaking of the body of Christe celebrate a remembrance of the sacrifice alredy made. Here verily he teacheth altogether the same thing, which is written in moe wordes in the boke of Fayth to Peter the Deacon, whosoeuer be the author of it. The words be these, Beleue most stedfastly and dout not at al, that the only begottē himself, being made fleshe for vsus, offred himselfe for vsus a sacrifice and oblation to God into a sauor of swetenesse: to whō with the Father and the Holy ghoste in the tyme of the olde testamente beastes were sacrificed: and to whom now with the Father and the Holy ghost (with whō he hath one Godhed) the holy Chirch throughout the whole world cesseth not to offer the sacrifice of bred and wyne. For in those fleshly sacrifices was a figuring of the fleshe of Christ which he should offer for our sinnes, and of hys blood which he should shed to the forgeuenesse of synnes. But in this sacrifice is thankesgeuing & rehearsal of the fleshe of Christ whiche he offered for vsus, and of his blood whiche the same he hath shed for vsus. Wherupon Augustine himselfe in many places expoundeth it to be nothing ells but a sacrifice of prayse.Cōtra aduersar. legis. Finally you shal commonly fynde in him, that the Supper of the Lord is for no other reson called a sacrifice, but because it is the remēbrance, image, and witnesse of that singular, true, and only sacrifice wherwith Christ hath cleansed vsus. Also there is a notable place in hys fourth boke of the Trinitie the xxiiii. Chapter, where after that he hath discoursed of the only sacrifice, he thus concludeth: because in a sacrifice fower things ar cōsidered, to whō it is offred, and of whō, what is offred, & for whō. The same he himselfe the one and true mediator recōciling vsus to God by the sacrifice of peace, remaineth one wyth hym to whō he offred: maketh them one in hym for whom he offred:Lib ii cō tra parm. cap. viii. is one himselfe which offred, & the thing which he offred. To the same effect also speaketh Chrysostome. But they so chalenge ye honor of sacrificing presthode to Christ, yt Augustine testifieth it to be ye voice of Antichrist if any man make a Bishop intercessor betwene God & men.
Yet do we not deny but yt the offring vp of Christ is there so shewed in vsus, yt the spectacle of ye crosse is in a maner set before our eyes: as the Apostle sayth that Christ was crucified in the eyes of the Galathians,Gal. iii.i. whē the preaching of ye crosse was set before them. But forasmuch as I se that those olde Fathers also wrested thys remembrāce an other waye thā was agreable wt the institutiō of ye Lord (because their Supper cō teined I wote not what repeted or at least renewed forme of sacrificīg) the safest way for godly hartes shalbe to rest in ye pure & simple ordināce of God: whoes also the Supper is therfore called, because in it his authoritie alone oughte to be in force. Truely sithe I fynde that they hauehave kepte a Godly and true sense of thys whole mysterie, and I doe not perceiue that they meante to abate any thyng were it neuer so litle from the only sacrifice of the Lord, I can not condemne them of vngodlinesse: yet I thynke that they can not be excused, but that they hauehave offended somwhat in the maner of the celebration. For they counterfaited the Iewishe manner of sacrificing more nerely than either Christ had ordeined, or the nature of the Gospel did beare. Therefore that same ouerthwart appliance to heauenly thynges is the only thing wherin a man may worthily blame them, for that beyng not contented with the simple and natural institution of Christe, they swarued to the shadowes of the law.
If a man do diligently wey, yt this differēce is put by ye worde of the Lord betwene ye sacrifices of Moses, & our Thankesgeuing, yt wheras those did represent to yt Iewishe people, ye same effectualnesse of ye death of Christe, which is at thys day deliuered to vsus in the Supper, yet the maner of represēting was diuerse. For in those, the Leuiticall Prestes were commaunded to figure y• which Christ should performe: there was brought a sacrifice which should be in the stede of Christ himselfe: there was an altar wherupon it should be offred: Finally al thinges were so done, that there was set before their eyes an image of ye sacrifice which was to be offred to God for a satisfactorie cleansing. But sins the tyme that the sacrifice is ended, the Lord hath apointed to vsus an other order: namely yt it should conuey to the faithful people the frute of the sacrifice offred to hym by the Sōne. Therfore he hath geuen vsus a table wherat we should eate, not an altar wherupon sacrifice should be offred: he hath not cōsecrated prestes to sacrifice, but ministers to distribute the holy bāket. How much more hye & holy the mysterie is, so much more religiously and wt greater reuerence it is mete to be handled. Therfore there is no way safer, than putting away al boldnesse of mans vnderstāding, to sticke fast in yt alone which the Scripture teacheth. And truely if we consider yt it is the Supper of the Lord & not of men, there is no cause why we should suffer our selues to be remoued one heare bredth from it by any authoritie of men or prescription of yeres.i. Cor. xi.xx. Therefore when the Apostle mynded to cleanse it from al faultes which had alredy crept into the Chirch of the Corinthiās, he vseth the rediest way therunto, that is, he calleth it backe to the only institution of it, frō whense he sheweth that a perpetuall rule ought be fetched.
Nowe least any wrangler shoulde stirre vsus vp strife by reason of the names of sacrifice and sacrificing prest, I wil also declare, but yet brefely, what in the whole discourse I hauehave meant by a sacrifice, and what by a Sacrificing Prest. Whoso stretche the woorde sacrifice to all holy Ceremonies and doinges of religion, I se not by what reason they doe it. We do knowe that by the continuall vse of the Scripture a sacrifice is called that which the Grekes cal somtyme Thusia, somtime Prosphora somtyme Telete. Which being generally takē cōprehendeth whatsoeuer is in any wise offred to God. Wherefore we muste make distinction: but yet so that thys distinction may hauehave a supernall appliance of similitude from the sacrifices of the lawe of Moses: vnderunder the shadowes wherof the Lord willed to represēt to his people the whole truthe of sacrifices. Of those although there wer diuerse formes, yet they may al be referred to twoo sortes. For either there was oblation made for sinne after a certaine maner of satisfaction, wherby gyltinesse was redemed before God: or it was a signe of the worshipping of God, & a testifyeng of religiō: somtime in stede of supplicatiō, to craue ye fauor of God: sometime in stede of thākesgeuing, to testifie thākfulnesse of mynde for benefites receiued: somtime only for an exercise of Godlinesse, to renewe the stablishing of the couenāt: to which later sort perteined burnt offryngs, drynke offrynges, oblations, first frutes, & peace offringes. Wherefore let vsus also diuide ours into twoo kyndes: and for teachinges sake lette vsus cal the one the sacrifice of worship & of Godly deuotiō, because it consisteth in the honoring & worshipping of God, which the faythfull bothe owe & yelde vntounto hym: or, if you wyl, the sacrifice of Thākesgeuing: forasmuch as it is geuen to God of none but of them y• beyng loden with immeasurable benefites, do rēder to him them selues with all their doinges. The other may be called propitiatorie or of expiation. The sacrifice of expiration is yt which tendeth to appease the wrath of God, to satisfie his iugement, & so to wash & wype away sinnes: whereby the siner cleansed from the filthy spottes of them & restored into puritie of ryghteousnesse, may returne into fauor with God hymselfe.…o. xxix ixxix. So in the lawe those were called sacrifices yt were offred for the purging of synnes: not for yt they were sufficiente to recouer the fauor of God, or to put away iniquitie: but for yt they shadowed out such a true sacrifice which at lēgth was fully done by Christ alone: & by hym alone, because it could be done by none other: & ones, because the effectualnesse and force of yt one sacrifice which Christ hath fully done, is eternal, as he himselfe hath testified with hys own mouth,Iob. xix.xxx. whē he sayd y• it was ended & fulfylled: yt is to saye, that whatsoeuer was necessarie to the recōciling of the Fathers fauour, to the obteyning of the forgeuenesse of sinnes, to righteousnesse & to saluatiō, al the same was performed & fulfilled with yt hys only oblation, and there so nothyng wanted therof that there was afterward no place left to any other sacrifice.
Wherfore I determine, yt it is a most wicked reproch, & blasphemy not to be suffred, as wel against Christ as agaynst ye sacrifice which he hath fully done by hys death vpō the crosse for vsus, if any man by renewyng an oblation thynke to purchace the pardon of synnes, to appease God, and to obteyne ryghteousnesse. But what is ells done by Massing, but that by deseruing of new oblatiō we may be made partakers of the passiō of Christe? And, that there myght be no measure of madding, they thought it but a smal thyng to say yt there is made indifferently a cōmō sacrifice for the whole Chirch, vnlesse they further sayd yt it is in theyr choise to apply it peculiarly to thys man or yt man to whō they would,The cō mon price of a Masse in fraūce is iii. Karolus. Whiche make. xxx deniers, about the value of a sterling grote. or rather to eueryevery one whosoeuer he were yt would bye for hymselfe suche ware with redy money. Now because they could not reache to ye pryce that Iudas had, yet yt they might in some marke resemble their author, they kepte the lykenesse of number. Iudas solde him for thirty siluer pens: these fellowes sell hym, after the French accompt, for xxx. brasen pens: but Iudas solde hym ones, these fellowes sel hym as oft as they can find a bier. In this sence also we deny yt they be sacrificing prestes, that is to say, they that with such an oblation are meanes to God for ye people, they that appeasing God, may purchace ye satisfactorie purging of synnes. For Christ is ye only Bishop & sacrificing prest of ye new Testamente, into whom all Presthodes are remoued, and in whome they be shut vp and ended. And if the Scripture had made no mētion of the eternal Presthode of Christe: yet forasmuche as God, sins that he hath taken away those old Presthodes, hath ordeined none, the Apostles argument remayneth inuincible, that no man taketh honor to hymselfe but he that is called of God.He. v.iiii By what affiance therfore dare these robbers of God, that bost themselues for the butchers of Christ, call themselues the sacrificing Prestes of the liuing God?
Plato hath an excellent place in his seconde boke of Cōmon weale. Where when he entreateth of the olde maners of expiation, and laugheth to scorne the foolishe confidence of euil mē and wicked doers, which thought that their wicked doinges were by these as by coueringes hidden that the Gods could not se them, and did, as if they had gotten warrant of the Gods by couenant, more carelesly folow their own Iustes: he semeth throughly to touche the maner of satisfactorie purging of the Masse, suche as is at thys day in the world. To beguile and vndermine an other man, al men know to be vnlawfull. To greue widowes with wrongful dealinges, to robbe the fatherlesse, to troble the poore, by euil crafty meanes to catch other mens goods to themselues, with forsweringes and deceites to enter forceably into any mans possessiōs, to oppresse any man with violence and tyrannous feare, al men cōfesse to be wicked. How therfore dare so many commonly do al these thinges, as though they shoulde freely be bolde to doe them? Truely, if we ryghtly wey it, no other cause doth so much encourage them, but because they hauehave confidence, that by the sacrifice of a Masse, as by paymente of full price for recōpense, they shal satisfie God, or at the least that thys is an easy way to cōpounde with him. Thē Plato procedeth further to scorne their grosse blockishnesse, which thinke yt by such satisfactorie cleāsinges those peynes are redemed that otherwise they should suffer in hell. And wherto serue at this day the yereli obites, & the greater part of Masses, but that thei which throughout al their life hauehave ben most cruel tyrātes, or most rauenous robbers, or geuen fourth to al mischeuous doinges, should as though they wer redemed by thys pryce, escape the fier of purgatorie?
Under the other kinde of sacrifice, which we hauehave called the sacrifice of Thākesgeuing, are cōteined al the dutieful workes of charitie, which when we extende to our brethrē, we honor the Lord himselfe in his mē bers: then, al our prayers, praysinges, geuinges of thankes, & whatsoeuer we do to the worshipping of God. Al which thinges finally do hāg vponupon the greater sacrifice, wherby we are in soule and body hallowed to be a holy tēple to the Lord. For neither is it enough, if our outward doinges be applyed to the obeying of hym: but first our selues, and then al that is ours ought to be consecrate and dedicate to hym: yt whatsoeuer is in vsus, may serue hys glory, & may sauor of zelous endeuor to aduāce it. This kynde of sacrifice tendeth nothing at al to appease the wrath of God, nothing at al to obteine forgeuenesse of synnes, nothing at all to deserue righteousnesse: but is occupied only in magnifyeng & extolling of God. For it can not be pleasāt & acceptable to God, but at their hāds, whō by forgeuenesse of sinnes alredy receiued he hath by other meanes reconciled to himselfe, and therfore acquited them from gyltinesse. But it is so necessary for the Chirch, that it can not be away from it. Therefore it shalbe euerlasting, so long as the people of God shal cōtinue, as we hauehave before alredy shewed out of the Prophet: for in that meaning I will take this prophecie,Mala. i.xi. For frō the rising of the sunne to the going down therof, great is my name amōg the Gentiles, and in eueryevery place incēse shalbe offred to my name, and a cleane offring: because my name is terrible among the Gentiles, sayth the Lord: so farr is it of, that we would put it away.Ro. xii.i. So Paul biddeth vsus to offer our bodyes, a sacrifice liuing, holy, acceptable to God, a reasonable worship. Where he spake very pithily, when he added yt thys is our reasonable worshipping: for he meant the spiritual maner of worshipping of God, whiche he did secretely set in cōparisō against the carnal sacrifices of ye law of Moses.Heb. xiii.xvi. Phili. iiii.xvii…. So liberall doing of good and communicating are called sacrifices by which God is pleased. So ye liberalitie of the Philippians, wherby they had releued ye pouertie of Paul, is called a sacrifice of swete smellyng. So al ye good workes of ye faithful are called spiritual sacrifices.
And why do I seke out many exāples? For commonly this maner of speakyng is often foūde in ye Scriptures. Yea & while ye people of God was yet holdē vnderunder ye outwarde schooling of ye lawe, yet ye Prophetes did sufficiētly expresse, y• vnderunder those carnal sacrifices was the truthe, which ye Christiā Chirch hath cōmon wt the nation of the Iewes.Ps. cxli.ii Ose, xiiii.iii. Ps li xxi. Hebr. xiii.iv. After which maner Dauid prayed, yt his prayer might as incēse, ascende into ye sight of God. And Osee called geuinges of thanks, ye calues of lippes, which in an other place Dauid calleth ye sacrifices of prayse. Whom the Apostle himselfe folowing, calleth them also the sacrifices of prayse, and expoundeth them the frutes of lippes confessing to his name. Thys kinde of sacrifice the Supper of the Lord can not want: wherein when we declare his death and render thankesgeuing, we doe nothing but offer the sacrifice of prayse. Of thys office of sacrificing, al we Christians are called a kingly Presthode:i. Pe. ii.ix. because by Christ we offer to God that sacrifice of praise of which the Apostle speaketh, the frute of lippes that confesse to his name. For neither do we with our giftes appeare in the sight of God without an intercessor. Christe is he, whiche being the mediator coming betwene, we offer vsus and ours to the Father. He is our Bishop, which being entred into the sanctuary of heauen hath opened the entry to vsus. He is the altar, vponupon which we lay our giftes, that in him we may be bolde all that we are bolde.Reue. i.vi It is he (I say) that hath made vsus a kyngdome and Prestes to the Father.
What remaineth but y• the blinde may se, the deff maye heare, children themselues may vnderstande this abhominatiō of ye Masse? whiche being offred in a goldē cup, hath made dronke ye kynges & peoples of the earth, frō the hyest to the lowest, hath so stryken them with drowsinesse and giddinesse, yt being become more senslesse than brute beastes, they hauehave set ye whole ship of their safetie only in this deadly deuouring gulf. Truely Satā neuer did bende himselfe wt a stronger engine thā this to assaile & vāquish ye kyngdome of Christ. This is the Helene,Quene Helene ye Grecian Harlott, cause of ye warre of Troy. for whome the enemies of the truth fyght at thys daye with so great rage, so great furiousnesse, so great crueltie: & a Helene in dede, with whome they so defile themselues with spiritual whordōe, whiche is ye most cursed of al. I do not here so much as ones touch with my litle fynger those grosse abuses, wherwt they might color ye vnholi purenesse of their holi Masse: how filthy markettinges they vse, how vnhonest gaines they make wt their massinges, with how great rauening they fill their couetousnesse. Only I do point vntounto, and yt with few & plaine words, what maner of thing is euē the very holiest holinesse of the Masse, for which it hath deserued in certain ages past to be so honorable & to be had in so great reuerence. For, to hauehave these so great mysteries set out according to their worthinesse, requireth a greater worke: and I am vnwilling to mingle herewith those filthy vncleannesses yt cōmonly shew themselues before the eyes & faces of al mē: yt al mē may vnderstād, yt the Masse taken in her most piked purenesse, & wherwith it may be set out to the best shew, without her appendances, from the roote to the topp swarmeth full of all kinde of wickednesse, blasphemie, idolatrie, and sacrilege.
The Reders now hauehave in a maner almost al those thinges gathered into an abridgement, which we hauehave thought behoueful to be knowen cōcerning these twoo Sacramentes: ye vse of which hath ben deliuered to ye Christian Chirch frō the beginning of ye new testamēt, to continue to ye very ende of ye world: namely, yt Baptisme should be as it wer a certaine entry into it, & an admissiō into Fayth: & the Supper should be as it were a cōtinual foode, wherewt Christ spiritually fedeth ye familie of hys faythful. Wherfore as there is but one God, one Fayth, one Christ, one Chirch his body: so there is but one Baptisme, & is not ofte ministred againe. But ye Supper is frō tyme to tyme distributed, that they which hauehave ben ones receiued into ye Chirch, may vnderstand yt they be cōtinually fed wt Christ. Beside these twoo as there is no other Sacramēt ordeined of God, so neither oughte ye Chirch of the faythfull to acknowlege any other. For, yt it is not a thing yt lyeth in the choise of mā, to rayse & set vp new Sacramētes, he shal easily vnderstand ye remembreth yt which hath ben here before plainly enough declared, y• is, that Sacramentes are appointed of God to this end, y• they should instruct vsus of some promise of his, & testifie to vsus his good wil towarde vsus: and he also yt calleth to minde,…sa xl xiii. Rom. xi.xxxiiii. yt none hath ben Gods coūseller, yt might promise vsus any certaintie of his wil, or assure vsus and bring vsus oute of care, what affectiō he beareth towarde vsus, what he wil geue, or what he will deny vsus. For therewt is also determined, yt no mā can set fourth a signe to be a testimonie of any wil or promise of his: it is he himselfe alone, yt can by a signe geuē testifie to vsus of himselfe. I wil speake it more brefely, and paraduenture more grosly, but more plainly. A Sacrament cā neuer be without promise of saluation. Al men gathered on a heape together can of themselues promise nothing of our saluation. Therefore neither can they of themselues set fourth or set vp a Sacramente.
Therefore let the Christian Chirch be contented with these twoo, and let her not only not admitt or acknowlege any third for the presēt time, but also not desire or loke for any to the ende of the world. For whereas certaine diuerse Sacramentes,E…o. xvi.xiii. &. xvii.vi. i. Corin, x, iii. Numer. xxi.viii. beside those their ordinarie ones, were geuen to the Iewes, according to the diuerse course of tymes, as Mā na, Water sprynging oute of the rocke, the Brasen serpente and suche other: they were by thys change put in mynde that they should not stay vponupon such figures, whoes state was not very stedfast: but yt they should loke for some better thing from God, which should cōtinue without any decayeng, and without any end. But we are in a farr other case, to whō Christe is openly shewed: in whome all the treasures of knowlege and wisdome are hidden with so great abundance and plentie,Iohn. iii.xiiii. Col. ii.iii. that either to hope for or loke for any newe encrease to these treasures, is verily to moue God to wrath, and to prouoke him against vsus. We muste hunger for, seke, loke vponupon, learne, and throughly learne Christ alone, vntill that great day shal appeare, wherin the Lord shall openly shewe to the full of glory of his kyngdome, and hymselfe suche as he is, to be beholden of vsus.i. Io. iii.ii. i. Iohn ii.xviii. i. Pe. i.xx. Heb. i.ii. And for this reson this our age is in the Scriptures signified by the last houre, the last dayes, the last tymes, that no man shoulde deceiue himselfe with vaine loking for any new doctrine or reuelation. For many tymes and in many sortes he spake before by his Prophets: in these laste dayes the heauenly Father hath spoken in hys beloued Sōne, which only can manifestly shew the Father: and in dede he hath manifestly shewed hym to the full, so much as behoueth vsus, whyle we nowe beholde hym by a glasse.i. Cor. x…i xii. As therefore thys is now taken awaye from men, that they can not make newe Sacramentes in the Chirch of God: so it were to be wished, that as litle as were possible of mans inuē tion might be myngled with those Sacramentes that are of God. For lyke as when water is poured in, the wyne departeth and is delayed: & as with leauen scattered among it, the whole lumpe of done waxeth sower: so the purenesse of the mysteries of God is nothyng ells but defyled when man addeth any thyng of hys owne. And yet we see how farr the Sacramentes are swarued out of kynde from their naturall purenesse, as they be handled at thys day. There is echewhere to muche of pompes, ceremonies, and gesturinges: but of the woorde of God in the meane tyme there is neither any consideration nor mention, withoute which euen the Sacramentes themselues are not Sacramentes. Yea and the very ceremonies that are ordeined of God, in so greate a route can not ones lift vp their hed, but lye as it were oppressed. How litle is that seen in Baptisme, which only ought there to hauehave shyned and been loked vponupon, as we hauehave in an other place rightfully complained, euen Baptisme it selfe? As for the Supper, it is vtterly buried, sins that it hath ben turned into ye Masse, sauing that it is seen ones eueryevery yere but in a mangled and halfe torne fashion.