Imprimatur JO. BATTELY Oct. 14. 1686. A SERMON PREACHED UPON St. Peter's Day Printed at the Desire of Some that heard it WITH SOME ENLARGEMENTS By a Divine of the Church of ENGLAND LONDON Printed for Ric. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII A SERMON PREACHED UPON Saint PETER 's Day c. MATTH XVI 18. beginning And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church THE Text as we call it is part of the Gospel for this Day and according to the Interpretation which some give of it it is the whole Gospel of Christ These two Words PETER and CHURCH being so comprehensive that if they be well learnt there needs no further pains to come acquainted with all the rest of the Christian Religion For in PETER who they say is the Rock here spoken of all the Bishops of Rome in all succeding Ages are included who inherit the very same Prerogative which St. Peter had of being the Foundation of the Church Which CHURCH say they is nothing else but that Body of Men and Women who are united unto the Roman Bishop as their Head From whom all Ecclesiastical Power is derived unto all other Pastors of the Church Over whom and consequently over all Christians he hath a Soveraign Authority to declare the Rule of Faith to determine the Canonical Books of Scripture and the Traditionary Word In brief To be as infallible a Guide in the way to Heaven as Saint Peter was So that if any Man would know infallibly what the Christian Religion is he need be at no more trouble but only to enquire of that Church which adheres to him as the Foundation and resign up himself to the belief of whatsoever it teaches him because it cannot possibly teach him amiss These are wonderful things and we are highly concerned to examine whether there be ground enough in this Speech of our Saviour for the Church of Rome to raise upon it so large so high so glorious a Structure to it self as this is Because if it appear that our Lord did give not only to Saint Peter but to all the Roman Bishops and to them alone this Universal Pastorship and Power to Teach to Rule and Govern all Christians of whatsoever sort they be we must without any Contradiction obediently submit unto it and have not so much as this liberty left us To enquire whether the Roman Bishops do not extend their Power too far in commanding us to do those things which are directly contrary to the Commands of Him from whom all Power comes Because tho we think we see clearly that they do yet we must not believe our own eyes but them who tell us they do not On the contrary if it can be demonstrated that our Saviour in these Words to St. Peter did not confer any such power upon him much less upon all that succeed in the Roman See we shall discern how little reason we have to commit our selves to the Guidance of that Church which builds upon such a sandy Foundation And that it is our certain duty to adhere to the Constitutions of this Church of England whereof we are Members which not only teaches That no manner of Obedience and Subjection is due to any such Forreign Power but commands us who are Ministers in it To use the utmost of our Wit Knowledg and Learning purely and sincerely without any Colour or Dissimulation to teach manifest open and declare four times every Year at least that all such Power is for just Causes taken away and abolished In obedience to which Injunction which is the An. 1603. very first Canon of our Church I shall in this Discourse endeavour according to the best of my Understanding and most diligent Enquiry to give you the Genuine and Sincere Meaning of those Words which are the prime Foundation of that high Claim now mentioned and that as they were expounded in the first and best Times of the Church when the Doctors of it were not engaged in those unhappy Controversies which now disturb or rather distract the Christian World. And if I prove That neither the Apostles after they heard these Words from Christ no not St. Peter himself who is said to be most nay only concerned in them nor the Ancient Bishops that succeeded them no not the Bishops of Rome themselves when they on purpose treat of these Words did think of any such Monarchy it may be truly called as is now built upon them you will conclude that this is a new Doctrine and that the Asserters and Maintainers of it not we who oppose it deserve the Name of Innovators in Religion And for the clearer Exposition of them I think it will be necessary First To observe the Occasion upon which they were spoken and from thence proceed Secondly To show in what sense they were anciently understood And Lastly What Inferences and Deductions are necessarily to be made from their Interpretations PART I. The Occasion of the Words THE meaning of these Words of Christ will be better understood when we have well weighed the occasion on which they were spoken which was this The Opinion and Discourse of the Country concerning our blessed Saviour which was thus reported to him by his Disciples when he askt them about it vers 14. Some say that thou art John the Baptist some Elias and others Jeremias or one of the Prophets That is there were very various and uncertain Opinions conceived of him for tho they all agreed in general he was a great Man nay a Man of God as they called the Prophets yet they were not resolved much less setled in any particular determinate notion of him To try therefore the Proficiency of those who were constantly bred in his School he asks what their Opinion was vers 15. But whom say ye that I am Unto which Simon Peter makes this reply vers 16. Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God. The Question ye may observe is propounded to them all not to Peter alone He doth not say Peter whom dost thou say that I am But he saith unto them that is to his Disciples before mentioned Whom say ye that I am Unto the same Persons of whom he enquired Whom do men say that I am v. 13. He now saith But whom say ye that I am And yet the Answer to this Question is not returned by them all or by several of them as before but by one only Simon Peter answered and said c. What should be the reason of this The plainest and most undoubted answer is That there was no difference of Opinion among them as there was among the common People but they were all of one mind in this matter and therefore no more offered to speak but one because they had all but one thing to say That he was Christ the Son of the Living God. To the first Question one of them alone would not return an Answer
you that ye love one another Have a sincere and hearty Affection for all Christian People and imitate not the Romanists who are out of Charity with the far greatest part of the Christian World. This Love of God and of our Brethren which are inseparable is the fruit of Faith and of Prayer without which they are nothing worth We must not only lift up our Hands to God which is a description of Prayer but lift up our Hands also unto his Commandments which we have loved Psal cxix 48. which is to do God's Will with a sincere Affection to it Without such fruits of Faith we shall not be able to stand fast in time of Temptation as Men built upon a Rock No our Lord hath told us that they who hear his Word and do it not are like to a Man that built his House upon the Sand which is soon overturned If we profess then this Faith which St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God which is the Foundation of Christianity let us be faithful and obedient unto him in all things For what he hath bidden us do as well as what he hath bidden us believe comes with the very same Authority and ought to be look'd upon as the words of the ever living God by his only begotten Son whom he hath sent to reclaim the World both from their Infidelity and from their Impiety This is part of the Foundation of our Religion that we renounce all Wickedness as well as that we believe our Lord Jesus to be the eternal Son of God. So St. Paul teaches us as we translate his words 2 Tim. ii 19. The Foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity As much as to say this a setled Truth in the Christian Religion that they are Christ's they alone are known or approved by him who so profess Belief in him as to depart from Iniquity A profession of his Faith we ought to make but not content our selves with that alone We must add something to it and St. Peter tell us what 2 Pet. i. 5 6 7. Add to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledg and to Knowledg Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness brotherly Kindness and to brotherly Kindness Charity For if these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the Knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ And so as St. Jude teaches you in the last place Fourthly You may look for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal Life That is have a good hope to be saved in the day of the Lord by the great Grace and Mercy of God in Christ Jesus Stedfastly expect this and wait for it with a patient hope whatsoever any Man can say to discourage you Let it not shake you nor make you doubt of the Mercy of God in this way unto which the Holy Ghost directs us all the Power to which the Pope pretends from St. Peter shall never be able to shut you out of Heaven He may shut out himself by his unjust Usurpations and by his Uncharitableness and by his unwarrantable Additions to the Christian Doctrine and Religion but none of those who trust in God after this manner which I have declared shall ever be confounded Let him thunder and lighten as much as he pleases it shall never hurt and therefore should not fright any of those pious Souls nor shall their hope ever make them ashamed The sound of Damnation perpetually in their Ears they ought to hear as an empty noise and vain words which should not so much as startle much less terrify them or turn them out of the way wherein they are All the Conceit which others may have of their own Merits and of the Merits of the Saints and of the Treasures of their Church and the Indulgences of the Pope shall never avail them so much as the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ towards those who look for his appearing unto Eternal Life by an holy Faith and by ardent Devotion and by unfeigned Love to God and to all Christian People Which cannot fail to commend us sufficiently unto him who is able as it follows in St. Jude to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding Joy. You ought not to question it nor suffer others to raise doubts in your Minds about it but in assured hope of it continually bless and praise the Father of Mercies who hath called you into his Church chosen you to be his People wrought Faith and Love and hope of Eternal Life in you saying as he concludes his Epistle To the only Wise God our Saviour be Glory and Majesty Dominion and Power both now and ever Amen FINIS ERRATA PAge 6. line 14. for would not read could not P. 24. l. 14. Marg. r. Faelix iii. P. 30. l. antepen r. the greatest P. 33. l. 19. r. that they make P. 41. l. 21. f. prevent r. pervert P. 45. l. 18. r. next Chapter but one P. 51. l. 17. r. next Chapter but one P. 56. l. 23. r. next Chapter but one An Advertisment Of Books printed for Richard Chiswell THE History of the Reformation of the Church of England By GILBERT BVRNET D. D. in two Volumes Folio The Moderation of the Church of England in her Reformation in avoiding all undue Compliances with Popery and other sorts of Phanaticisms c. By TIMOTHY PVLLER D. D. Octavo A Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient Church more particularly of the Encroachments of the Bishops of Rome upon other Sees By WILLIAM CAVE D. D. Octavo An Answer to Mr. Serjeants Sure Footing in Christianity concerning the Rule of Faith With some other Discouses By WILLIAM FALKNER D. D. Quarto A Vindication of the Ordinations of the Church of England in Answer to a Paper written by one of the Church of Rome to prove the Nullity of our Orders By GILBERT BVRNET D. D. Octavo The History of the Gunpowder Treason collected from Approved Authors as well Popish as Protestant With a Vindication of the said History and of the Proceedings and Matters relating thereunto from the Exceptions which have been made against it and more especially of late Years by the Author of the Catholick Apology and others Quarto A Relation of the barbarous and bloody Massacre of about an hundred thousand Protestants begun at Paris and carried on over all France in the Year 1572. Collected out of Mezeray Thuanus and other Approved Authors Quarto The Apology of the Church of England and an Epistle to one Signior Scipio a Venetian Gentleman concerning the Council of Trent Written both in Latin by the Right Reverend Father in God JOHN JEWEL Lord Bishop of Sarisbury Made English by a Person of Quality To which is added The Life of the said Bishop Collected and written by the same Hand Octavo A Letter writ by the last Assembly General of the Clergy of France to the Protestants inviting them to return to their Communion Together with the Methods proposed by them for their Conviction Translated into English and examined By GILB BVRNET D. D. Octavo The Life of WILLIAM BEDLE D. D. Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland Together with certain Letters which passed betwixt him and James Waddesworth a late Pensioner of the Holy Inquisition in Sevil in matter of Religion concerning the General Motives to the Roman Obedience Quarto The Decree made at Rome the second of March 1679. condemning some Opinions of the Jesuits and other Casuists Quarto A Discourse concerning the Necessity of Reformation with respect to the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome Quarto First and Second Parts A Discourse concerning the Celebration of Divine Service in an unknown Tongue Quarto A Papist not misrepresented by Protestants Being a Reply to the Reflections upon the Answer to A Papist Misrepresented and Represented Quarto An Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England in the several Articles proposed by the late Bishop of Condom in his Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholick Church Quarto A Defence of the Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England against the Exceptions of Monsieur de Meaux late Bishop of Condom and his Vindicator 4º A CATECHISM explaining the Doctrine and Practices of the Church of Rome With an Answer thereunto By a Protestant of the Church of England Octavo The Second Edition corrected with a Vindication of a Passage in the said Catechism from the Exceptions made against it in A Reply to the Answer of the Amicable Accommodation
ever All which shows how true it is that Peter himself was not that Rock on which Christ promised to build his Church unless we understand thereby only his Ministerial Function which he did not exercise solely but had all the rest Co-workers with him VI. But let us in the last place suppose once more that he was the Rock more than the rest yet it is a strange Conclusion from hence that Christ made him the Lord and sole Governour of his Church For what relation hath a Rock to Power Government and Dominion We may as soon draw Water out of a Pumice as any such Doctrine out of this word Rock which hath relation only to Solidity Firmness Stedfastness or something of that kind as appears from the very nature of the word and the use of it in all Authors where it never imports any thing of that which is now so much pleaded for and made the Subject of the greatest Contests And therefore those Writers who expound these words of Peter say nothing of his Dominion much less of the Dominion of the Popes of Rome for which there is now so much stickling but they give us quite another reason why he is called the Rock Because of the solidity of his Devotion saith one because he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as hard as a Rock or stone in the Faith saith another because of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the firmness of his Faith saith a third because of his Faith in the true Rock saith a fourth because also he laid the first Foundation of Faith among the Gentiles and because that this Faith which he professed viz. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God is the first Principle of our Religion the beginning of Christianity the Foundation and Bottom of all that we believe In which Faith he was so stedfast that he did not fluctuate in uncertainty like the rest of the Jews some of which said he was Elias others Jeremias others John the Baptist but was setled in this constant Perswasion that Jesus was the Son of God which he as constantly preached unto others and converted unto this Faith. I have not thought it necessary to quote the Authors where all these things may be found I will only name Epiphanius a Haeres lix num 7 8. who speaking of St. Peter whom he calls the most principal of the Apostles he adds Who truly was to us a firm Rock founding the Faith of the Lord upon which the Church is altogether built First when he confessed Christ to be the Son of the Living God and heard our Saviour say Vpon this Rock of an unshaken Faith will I build my Church And again he was a firm Rock the Foundation of the House of God when denying Christ he returned and had those words said unto him Feed my Sheep For Christ saying this draws us to Repentance that on him may be built again a well-grounded Faith which doth not deny Life to those that truly repent Who doth not see that this Father thought he was the Rock because he laid the Foundation of Faith in us And there are those who think he had the Name of Peter given him to show also the Difficulties and Dangers he was to go through in that Imployment unto which he was called of preaching the Faith. But more than such things as these is not to be drawn out of these words No such thing as the Infallibility of the Bishop of Rome which is another Presumption built upon this word Rock For supposing Peter to be the Rock that is saith Bellarmine the Foundation of the Church thence it follows he could not err because then the Foundation would prove ruinous and the Church which is the Building would fall to the ground And consequently his Successors cannot err for the same reason because they are what he was the Foundation upon which the Church relies and if they should fail the Christian Religion might come to nothing Which is so wretched a sort of reasoning that it shows the greatest Wits were not able to say any thing considerable in this cause For it supposes that which hath no proof at all that Peter was the sole Foundation of the Church If he were not then if this reasoning be good it proves all Bishops who are the Successors of the Apostles and frequently so called by ancient Writers to be infallible But I shall say no more of this for there are so many flaws in such Discourses as derive to the Successors all that was in Peter or the rest of the Apostles that they are not easily numbred and I have said enough I hope to show that all the pretensions of the present Church of Rome grounded upon this place are weak and without any bottom They fall to the ground when we come to touch them with one rational thought and prove like a Building that hath no Foundation Or they are not like a Structure built on a Rock but like a House that Men build on the Sand. There is nothing of solidity nothing of strength in their Arguments upon this Subject but after much pains to connect a great many things together they fall asunder like a Rope of Sand. There is no solid reason to make us think that our Lord spake here of Peter and not of Himself Or if he spake of Peter that he meant his Person and not that Doctrine which he preached And no reason in the Earth that he spake concerning himself or his Doctrine only to Peter and not to them all Or if we should make this large grant that he spake only of Peter there is not the least shadow of reason to make us think he spake of his Dominion and supream Power but only of his stedfastness in the Faith and his being the first Instrument in gathering a Church among the Gentiles tho he was not the prime Instrument if we thereby understand the chiefest and greatest for that was St. Paul. Some Vses of what hath been said I. And therefore we are a true Church though we have nothing to do with the Bishop of Rome This is no part of the definition of a Church that it is united to him as its Head but it is intire without it The Bishop of Rome makes all his claim from St. Peter who it is plain had no Universal Jurisdiction granted or promised in these words and therefore the Pope can get nothing by them Faith in Christ Jesus Communion with our Christian Brethren and Subjection to those Pastors who are over us in the Lord are sufficient to make us a Church whether the Pope will or no. Though there were no such Bishop in the World though the Chair of St. Peter were overturned and no where to be found the Church of Christ would be where it was built upon the Foundations of the Apostles and Prophets There is not one of the Apostles that say a word in their Writings of the Prerogative of St. Peter Among all their Admonitions
to the Churches they never bid them be subject unto him much less to his Successors but only to those that rule over them to those that admonish them and watch for their Souls that is to their own Pastors and Governors in those places where they lived II. Since therefore we are undoubtedly a true Church of Christ though we have no dependance on him and should have been so though we had never heard there was such a Bishop in the World let us be mindful of the Exhortation of the Apostle St. Jude ver 20 21. which contains the properest Use of what hath been said 20. But ye Beloved building up your selves on your most holy Faith praying in the Holy Ghost 21. Keep your selves in the Love of God looking for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal Life First Build up your selves on your most holy Faith. Do not think of building upon the Successor of St. Peter as the Priests of the Church of Rome would perswade you but upon that Christ and that most holy Faith on which St. Peter himself was built There are three things which the Apostles of our Lord speak concerning Faith. First They speak of laying the Foundation of it which I hope is done already so that there is no need to exhort you to it but I may say as the Apostle doth to the Hebrews Ch. vi 1. Let us go on unto perfection not laying again the Foundation of Repentance from dead Works and of Faith towards God. Secondly They speak of continuing in the Faith for by that we continue in the Church the Body of Christ Rom. xi 20. Thou standest by Faith 2 Cor. i. ult by Faith ye stand Thirdly Of continuing stedfast in it Col. ii 5. I rejoyce beholding your order and the stedfastness of your Faith in Christ 1 Cor. xvi 13. Stand fast in the Faith. And here St. Jude adds an Exhortation to building up our selves on it to endeavour that is to increase and grow strong in Faith by understanding all the Grounds and Reasons on which it relies by observing all the Testimonies which God hath given to his Son Jesus Christ for this is the very Foundation of Religion to use the words of St. Chrysostom the original of Righteousness the head and fountain of Sanctity the beginning of all true Devotion the light of the Soul and the gate of Eternal Life But we need not go to Rome for any of these and particularly we may know this great thing St. Chrysostom speaks of and be sure without consulting them that the Son of God is come as it is in the last Verse but one of the first Epistle of St. John and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true i. e. the true God whose Nature and Will is declared by him and we are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ that is Children of the true God or his chosen People in or by his Son Jesus Christ that is by hearty Faith in him who is his only Begotten of one substance with the Father full of Grace and Truth Of all this I say we may be sure and this as it there follows is the true God and Eternal Life though we never know whether there be such a place as Rome and such a Bishop as the Pope of whom many Christians no doubt in several parts of the World never heard so much as one word And therefore let us not be so weak as to think we must needs use any of his Tools and Instruments for the laying the Foundation or for the building up our selves in the Christian Faith. Which relies upon the Testimony of all the Apostles whose words we have recorded in the holy Books and no where else and which all the Ministers of Christ have as much Authority to expound as they and can give as good reason for what they say as appears by what hath been said upon this place which is the Principle from whence they would wring for derive they cannot so great a Power as they challenge To which if you submit it is to undo all that you have done to lay again the Foundation of Faith or rather to overturn it and build upon Human Authority instead of Divine Which is one thing that would prevail with you if it were considered not to give up your selves to their Directions whose great labour it is to unsettle your Faith not to strengthen it to make you doubtful of every thing in the Christian Religion not to build you up on the Faith of Christ Secondly But besides this he would have us pray in the Holy Ghost That is ardently and with such devout Affections as the Holy Ghost sometimes inspires and for such things as the Holy Ghost teaches us to ask in the holy Gospel which is the Mind of the Spirit of God and especially to pray thus in the Christian Assemblies For the Apostle here opposes these things to the practice of those that separated themselves being sensual having not the Spirit ver 19. Our Lord would have us pray always and in our Closet especially in the Assemblies of our Christian Brethren where we must take heed of being frigid or luke-warm of praying to gratify any of our Carnal Desires especially that of Revenge as St. James teaches us ch iv 1 2 3. and of praying in the Name of St. Peter or St. Paul or any other Saint or Angel for which the Holy Ghost hath given no direction but quite contrary told us by the Mouth of his holy Apostles that to us there is but one God and one Lord 1 Cor. viii 6. One God and one Mediator between God and Man 1 Tim. ii 5. So that to use any other is to fall into a Schism to spoil the Unity and break the Communion of the Church of Christ as they of the Church of Rome have done both by this and by changing the ancient Government Discipline and Faith of the Christian Church which believed nothing heretofore concerning St. Peter and his Successor's Supream Power over all the Bishops in the World who took themselves to be the Vicars of Christ as much as the Bishop of Rome Take a Review of what I have said and you will see that it is they who have separated themselves from the rest of the Christian World by usurping this Universal Jurisdiction as well as by many other things and so broken that Charity and quenched that loving and kind Spirit which gives the greatest efficacy to our Prayers and makes them most fervent and most prevalent Joyn not therefore your selves to them but as the Apostle adds in the third place Thirdly Keep your selves in the Love of God. Our Lord Christ tells you how Joh. xv 10. If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my Love c. adding ver 12. This is my Commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you which he repeats again Verse 17. These things I command