him in the building of his Church, than of the reſt : And they obſerve , | Thar God did make a more eminent uſe of Peter in raiſing his Goſpe/-Church, both amongſt the Fews, A&#s 2. and the Gentiles, As 15. Bur yer this foundeth Aa little harſhiy, tg interpret Upon this Rock, By this Rich. I do therefore rather Ping cline to interpret 1c in the fecond ſenſe; Upon this Rock, i. e. upon this ſolid and unmoyeable Foundation of Truth, which thou hiſt firſt publickly made, [ T will build my Church.) Ir is true, Chritt is the Foundation of the Church , and cther Foundation can ng Man lay. Bur though Chriſt be the Fondation in one tenſe the Apoſtles are ſo called in another ſenſe, Fph.2.20. Rev.21.1, Not the Apoſtles Perſons, bur che Do@rine which they Preacheg : They, by their Do&rine which they preached, ( the Sum, or great Point of which, was, what Peter here profeliled.) They laid the Foundation of the Chriſtian Church, as they were the firſt Preachers of it ro the Gentiles, In which ſenſe foever ir be raken, it makes nothing for the Papis Superiority or JuriC. diction of Sr. Peter, or his Succeffors. Ir follows, [I wil build my Church. | By Church, is here plainly meant, the whole Body of Believers who all agree in this one Faith. Ir is c, ſervable, that Chriſt calls ir hs Church , nor Peter's; and ſaith T will build , not , Thou ſhalt build. Tne working of Faith 5: Souls, 1s God's Work. Men are but Miniſters by whom cthers believe. They have bur a Miniſtry towards , n-t a Loraſh: over, the Church of God, {| And the Gates of Hell ſhall nt pj. vail again8 jt : | That is, the-Power of the Devil, and all hi; Inſtruments, ſhall never prevail againſt ir, utterly ro extinzuith ir; neither co extinzuiſh True Faich in the Hearr of any parti- cular Believer, ner c:> root the Goſpel our of the Werld. The Gates 1s here put tor the Perſons that fit in the Gares, It was their Cuſtom to have the Rulers ro fic in the Garcs, Ay;h ,, I, II, 2 5.2.19, 8. Neither doth Hell fignifie here the Plice of the Damncd , a Hyg no where (2xcepr 1n one place, and as tg that it is Queſtionable , Luk. 15. 23.) fignifies 1o ; bur either Derth, or the Graves, or the State of the Dead : yer the Devi! 5; 449 underſtood here, as he that hath the Power © Dex, Heb. 2. 14. ' The plain ſenſe is, that our Lord would build r-2 Chriſt'an Church up»n chis Propoſition of Truth , 7hat 4:
"« Chri8, th! Son of God. That Peter fhould be an eminenc {:i\ſtrument in convertins Men to this Faiti ; and where this Faith obtained in the World , he would fo tur proteft +, thar though the Devil and his Inftrumenrs ſhould bv all means ima- 2inable artempr the extinguiſhing of it, by the roral exrirpzticn -2F the Profeffors of ir, ard might, as to particular places preva:!; yer they ſhould never ſo prevail , bur to che end of the Werld he would have a Church ; a Number of People called our by his Apoſtles , and thoſe who ſhov!d ſucceed in their Miniſtry, who ſhould uphold this grear Truch. So as rhis is a plain Promiſe | for the Continuance of the Goſpel-Church ra the end of the world.
19 *And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatſoever thou {halt bind on earth, ſhall be bound in heaven: and whatſoever thou {halt looſe on earth, fhall be loofed in heaven.
|
[ And I will give unto thee:] Not , unto thee, exclufivel; that Ss, ro thee, and no cthers: For as we no where read any ſuch Power ufed by Peter, fo our Saviour's firſt Queſtion, Whom think ye that T am 2 letteth us know, thar his Speech, though dire&ed to Peter only ( who, in the Name of the reſt, firſt an- ſwered ) concerned the reſt of the Apoſtles, as well as Peter, Beſides, as we know thar as the orher Apoſtles had, as well as he, the Key of Knowledge and Dorine, and by their Preaching, opened the Kingdom of Heaven to Men ; fo the Key of Dijc:vlin! alſo was committed to the reſt, as well as unto him : 7-1, 20, 22, 23. Whoſe Sins ſoever ye remit, they are remitted unt3 them; and whoſe ſnever Sins ye retain, they are retained. {| The Keys if the Kingdom of Heaven; ] The whole Adminiſtraticn cf the Goſpel, borh with reterence to the Publication of the Defirine of 1t, and the diſpenſing cut the Ordinances of ir. We read 0t the Key of Knowledge, which the Scribes and Phariſees rock away, Luk. 11. 52. and the Key of Government ; The Key of the Hſe 9 David will T lay upon his ſholder, Tſa. 22.22. and wer. 21. I will commit thy Government into his Hand, which is applied to Chrill, Rev. 3.7. Theſenſe is, Peter / I will berruſt chee and the reſt ot my Apoſtles , with the whole Admrmiſiratrm of my G1fe! ; You ſhall Jay the Foundation of the Chriſtian Church ,- and ad- miniſter all the Affairs of ir, opening the Trurhs cf my Golpc! ro the World, and governing thoſe who ſhall receive the Faitn of rhe Goſpel. { And whatſoever thou ſhalt bind on Furth, ſhalt be bound in Heaven; and whatſoever thu ſhalt Io5fe on E.nth, jhal be Ineſed in Heaven.) Some very learned Interpreters ti:ink that our Saviour here ſpeaketh according to the Langvaze ten in ule amongſt che Jews; who, by Binding, underſtood the der2rininis and declaring a thing Unlawful ; and by Loſing , declaring 0) DoFrine, or determining by Judgment a thing Unlawful , tat ſuch as no Mens Conſciences were bound to do, or t9 av9id. So as by this Text, an Authoriry was iven to theſe fir{t Pianters of the Goſpel, ro derermine (by virtue of their infallible Sp'T1s breathed upon them, 70h. 20. 21.) concerning ti:ings co be 92e, and to be avoided. Thus, A&#.15. 28, 29. they w/e. the vow tiles from the Obſervation of the Ceremmial Law. Some O10,
| that by this Phraſe, our Saviour gave to his Apoſtles, and nr
ro them only, bur to the ſucceeding Church to the end of 1c World , a Power of Excomm:nication and A5jolution , t9 admit in, and ro caſt our of the Church, and promiſerh co ratine Va they do of this nature in Heaven ; and that this Text 15-©** pounded by oh. 20. 23. Whoſe Sins ſ2ever ye remit, they are remut- ted ;, and whoſe Sins ſoever ye retain, they are retained. And tit the Power of the Church, and of Miniſters in che Churc?, # ro this, is more than Declarative. That the Church hath 4 Power, in a due Order, and for juſt Caufes, to caſt Perfons our of irs Communion, is plain enough from other Texts : Bur enat
the Church hath a Power to remit Sins commitred againſt Got
Chap. Xviſ ha
P-