A30189:127
An answer to two treatises of Mr. John Can, the leader of the English…An answer to two treatises of Mr. Iohn Can, the leader of the English…
An answer to two treatises of Mr. John Can, the leader of the English Brownists in Amsterdam the former called, A necessity of separation from the Church of England, proved by the Nonconformists principles : the other, A stay against straying : wherein in opposition to M. John Robinson, he undertakes to prove the unlawfulness of hearing the ministers of the Church of England ... / by the late learned, laborious and faithful servant of Jesus Christ, John Ball.An answer to two treatises of Mr. Iohn Can, the leader of the English Brownists in Amsterdam the former called, A necessitie of separation from the Church of England, proved by the Nonconformists principles : the other, A stay against straying : wherein in opposition to M. Iohn Robinson, he undertakes to prove the unlawfulnesse of hearing the ministers of the Church of England ... / by the late learned, laborious and faithfull servant of Jesus Christ, John Ball.
London: printed by R.B., 1642
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
V. 26. q. d. Nos saep•, Domine, communicati mensâ tuâ hilare convivium tecum agitavimus, eden do ex tuis sacrificiis: an fores nunc contra nos obserabu? Haec enim ratione Judaeis idem erat cibus sacrificiorum, quod panis & vinum nobis. Neque tamen haec ita sunt accipienda, quasi gaudium electorum finibus hujus vitae circumscriberetur, sed quia caena quae peragitur in terris, est pignus aeterni convivii in caelis. Haec igitur docens duplex adbuc & ingens bonum in Anglicanae Ecclesia residere, Praedicationem nimirum verbi, & legitimam Sacramentorum administrationem. In quibus utrisque se Christus suis impertit, mutuum convivium cum eis celebrans, ipse primum per auditionem a nobis exceptus, deinde caena sui corporis nos vicissim excipiens. O nos igitur sordidissimos, quoties a verbo audiendo refugimus, Christum enim convivam respuimus. O nos impios contemptores, quoties recipiendo Sacramento cum fratribus nos subducimus: Christum enim vocantem ad Caenam spernimus. Sed haec adiiciuntur in singular solatium piorum: Etenim qui non trepidarent & de fugiendo quamprimum ab hac Ecclesiâ cogitarent; cum audirent exosam esse Christo conditionem ministrerum, quos brevi non resipiscentes ev•miturus sit ex ore, nisi verbis ipsius Christi certiores fierent de suâ cum co communicatione? Laus igitur tibi, mitissime Agne, qui fores occlusas contra offendens, non statim te proripis furore percitus, nosque pro meritis omni ratione salutis orbas, sed luculentam adhuc tui copiam relinquis omnibus, qui tibi per verbum pulsanti aperiunt, & suavissimam tuam invitationem per Sacramenta non spernunt: Igitur scelestus & blasphemus est corum error, 1qui sic ab ha• ecclesia deficiunt, quasi Christus hinc prorsus exularet; nec ulla spes salutis manentibus esse posset. Cogitent hic Christum convivantem cum suis. An pudebit eos illic discumbere, ubi vident Christum non pudere? An illo sanctiores & mundiores erunt? Sed quare se non convincunt suo ipsorum usu? Non possunt inficiari, quin prius in Christum creded runt, quam fecerunt a nobis divortium: unde haec fides? Annon ex praedicatione in nostra Ecclesia? Numquid ergo ⟨p. 35⟩praedicare quis potest nisi mittatur? Rom. 10.13, &c. Quid ergo verbum propter labem aliquam externae vocationis tam perverse respuunt, cujus vim divinam in cordibus sentiunt? Etiamsi fructus ipse non magis culpâ liberat depravationes nostras, quam vera proles adulterium.