From the speaking of these words unto Peter, there is a contro- versy raised in the world, whether the Lord Christ himself, or the pope of Rome, be the rock whereon the church is built. And unto that state are thinsrs come in relioion, amonsr them that are called Christians, that the greatest number are for the pope and against Christ in this matter. And they have good reason for their choice. For if Christ be the rock whereon the church is built, whereas he is a living stone, those that are laid and built on him must be lively stones also, as this apostle assures us, 1 Epist. ii. 4, 5 ; they must be like unto Christ himself, partaking of his nature, quickened by his Spirit, so, as it were, to be bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh : Eph. v. 30. Nor can any be built on him but by a living faith, efi'ectual in universal obedience. These things the generality of men like not at all ; and, therefore, the fabric of the living temple
32 THE PERSON OF CHRIST.
on this foundation is usually but small, seldom conspicuous or out- wardly glorious. But if the pope be this rock, all the Papists in the world, or all that have a mind so to be — be they ever so wicked and ungodly — may he built upon him, and be made partakers of all that deliverance from the powers of hell which that rock can afford them. And all this may be obtained at a very easy rate ; for the acknowledgment of the joope's sovereign authority in the church is all that is required thereunto. How they bring m the claim of their pope by Peter, his being at Rome, being bishop of Rome, dying at Rome, fixing his chair at Rome, devoting and transmitting all his right, title, power, and authority, every thing but his faith, holiness, and labour in the ministry, unto the pope, I shall not here inquire ; I have done it elsewhere. Here is fixed the root of the tree, which is grown great, like that in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, until it is become a receptacle for the beasts of the field and fowls of the air — sensual men and unclean spirits. I shall, therefore, briefly lay an axe- unto the root of it, by evidencing that it is not the person of Peter who confessed Christ, but the person of Christ whom Peter confessed, that is the rock on Avhich the church is ])uilt.
1. The variation of the expressions proves undeniably that our Saviour intended we should not understand the person of Peter to be the rock. He takes occasion from his name to declare what he designed, but no more : " And I say also unto thee, Thou art Peter." He had given him this name before, at his first calling ; (John i. 42 ;) now he gives the reason of his so doing; viz., because of the illustrious confession that he should make of the rock of the church; as the name of God under the Old Testament was called on persons, and things, and places, because of some especial relation unto hun. Wherefore, the expression is varied on purpose to declare, that what- ever be the signification of the name Peter, yet the person so called was not the rock intended. The words are, Si J Usrpog, zai st! rairri rfj 'jt'irpa. Had he intended the person of Peter, he would have expressed it plainly, 2i) ef 'TirsTpog, xai stI go), x.t.}.. — " Thou art a rock, and on thee will I build." At least the gender had not been altered, but he would have said, 'Et/ toutw tSj 'Trsrpuj, which would have given some colour to this imagination. The exception which they lay hereunto, from the use of Cephas in the Syi'iac, which was the name of Peter, and signifies a rock or a stone, lies not only against the authentic authority of the Greek original, but of their own transla- tion of it, which reads the words, " Tu es Petrus, et super banc petram."
2. If the church was built on the person of Peter, then when he died the church must utterly fail. For no building can possibly abide when its foundation is removed and taken away. Wherefore
CHRIST THE ROCK ON WHICH THE CHURCH IS BUILT. 33
they tell us they do not intend by the person of Peter, that singular and individual person alone to be this rock; but that he and his successors the bishops of Rome are so. But this story of his suc- cessors at Rome is a shameful fable. If the pope of Rome be a true believer, he succeeds, in common with all other believers, unto the privileges which belong unto this confession; if he be not, he hath neither lot nor portion in this matter. But the pretence is utterly vain on another account also. The apostle, showing the in- sufficiency of the Aaronical priesthood — wherein there was a suc- cession of God's own appointment — affirms, that it could not bring the church unto a perfect state, because the high priests died one after another, and so were many: Heb. vii. 8, 23, 24. And thereon he shows that the church cannot be consummated or perfected, un- less it rest wholly in and on him who lives for ever, and wafe made a priest " after the power of an endless life." And if the Holy Ghost judged the state of the Jewish Church to be weak and imperfect — because it rested on high priests that died one after another, although their succession was expressly ordained of God himself — shall we suppose that the Lord Christ, who came to consummate the church, and to bring it unto the most perfect estate whereof in this world it is capable, should build it on a succession of dying men, concerning which succession there is not the least intimation that it is appointed of God ? And as unto the matter of fact, we know both what iaterru]otious it hath received, and what monsters it hath pro- duced— both sufficiently manifesting that it is not of God.