A SERMON OF S T. PETER Preach'd before HER MAJESTY THE Queen-Dowager In Her Chappel at Somerset-House on the Twenty ninth of June 1686. BEING St. PETER and St. PAVL's Day By THOMAS GODDEN D. D. Preacher in Ordinary to Her Majesty Published by Her Majesties Command LONDON Printed by Henry Hills Printer to the King 's Most Excellent Majesty for His Houshold and Chappel 1686. A SERMON OF S T. PETER Preach'd before Her Majesty the Queen Dowager On St. Peter and St. Paul's Day 1686. Et Ego dico tibi quia Tu es Petrus super hanc Petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam Matth. 16. 18. And I say unto thee that Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church TWO Years were now elaps'd from the time of their first Vocation that Peter and the rest of the Disciples had been constant Auditors in the School of the Word made Flesh conversing daily with him hearing the Sacred Oracles which distill'd from his Gracious Lips and beholding the great Miracles he wrought for the Benefit of Mankind And now it was high time they should give some Account of what they had learn'd under so Divine a Master In order to this our Lord designs a solemn Examination and having led them into the Coasts of Caesarea Philippi proposes two Questions to them The First Preliminary only to open the way and lead them as it were by the Hand into the Knowledge and Confession of the Truth Quem dicunt homines esse Filium hominis Whom do Men say that the Son of Man is The Second the Substantial Point and which was to be the Test of their Proficiency Vos autem quem me esse dicitis But you Whom do you say that I am To the First of these Questions the Answer was easie because the Judgments of the World are every where to be met with and so without any demurring upon the matter they readily answer'd Some said that He was John the Baptist some that He was Elias others Jeremias or some one of the Prophets These were the Judgments the World made of him But why not one Word of the Messias among the rest since they knew the term of Years was now expir'd and his Coming daily expected No sooner did the Baptist appear out of his Solitude but presently a solemn Embassy of Priests Levites was sent from Jerusalem to ask him if he were not the Christ who was to come But when the Messias himself appears the best Title they can afford him is of a John the Baptist or an Elias or a Jeremias or some one of the Prophets but no mention at all of the Messias O false and deceitful World how Erroneous art thou in thy Weights and Unequal in thy Measures giving to one what is due to another and always deviating from Truth either by Excess or Defect That these Judgments the World made of his Person were such that is Erroneous our Lord sufficiently intimated by leaving them and addressing himself to his Disciples with the Second Question Vos autem quem me esse dicitis But you My Disciples who now for two Years together have been daily Witnesses of my Life and Conversation and seen the great Works I have done Whom do you say that I am Here the rest of the Apostles not knowing what to answer for this Doctrine as St. Cyril says was above their reach remain'd silent Only Peter whom the same Holy Father calls there the Prince of the Apostles and Sovereign Herald of the Church not of his own Invention or induced by Humane Reason but illuminated in his Soul by God the Father answered and said Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God that is not by Adoption as others but by Nature of one and the same Substance with thy Eternal Father And now what was the Reward as St. Hilary calls it of this so Noble and Generous a Confession First He declar'd him Blessed in having been so highly favour'd by God And then as it follows in the Words of my Text and the Sequel of the Gospel He said unto him Et ego dico tibi quia Tu es Petrus And I say also to thee that Thou art Peter which is by Interpretation a Rock and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it And I will give to thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Had these been the Words of a Chrysostom or some other fam'd Orator in a Panegyrick of St. Peter they might have been look'd upon as Hyperboles or Exaggerations of Rhetorick For if they be understood to mean as they sound never was such Honour and Dignity as this conferr'd upon any of the Sons of Adam from the Creation of the World But now that the Eternal Word who is Truth it self has been pleas'd to be the Encomiast of our Saint and to pronounce them with His own Blessed Mouth in so solemn a Manner our Faith is exempt from all suspicion of Hyperboles and the Honours given to St. Peter must be his very True and Proper Elogium And because this is what God willing I shall endeavour to make out in my following Discourse I shall divide my Text and it into Two Parts In the First I shall let you see the great Honour conferr'd upon our glorious Saint by our Lord 's confirming to him on this occasion the Name of Peter that is of a Rock Et ego dico tibi quia Tu es Petrus And I say to thee that Thou art Peter In the Second That this Name was not only a Title of Honour but suppos'd or carried with it a real Communication of the Dignity and Authority imported by it which was to be the Rock or Foundation-stone upon which the Church should be built super hanc Petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam And upon this Rock I will build my Church That I may treat worthily of them Let us implore the Assistance of the Divine Spirit by the Intercession of that Sacred Virgin who was chosen before all to be the Mother of him whom St. Peter confessed to be the Son of the Living God Ave Maria. The First Part. Et ego dico tibi And I say unto thee that Thou art Peter IN the First Book of Kings or as some call it of Samuel chap. 2. vers 30. God was pleas'd to make a gracious Declaration in favour of his Servants or rather to enter into a Solemn League or Covenant with them That if they should Honour him he would Honour them Quicunque glorificaverit me glorificabo eum Whosoever shall Honour me I will Honour him Now among all the Honours with which he has been pleas'd to Honour them who Honour him that of foretelling the Name by which they should be call'd or changing the Name given
depart in their unbelief is a convincing Argument that both he spake and they understood him to speak of the giving his true Flesh to be eaten by them This being so our dearest Lord solicitous now for the Twelve whom he had chosen to be constantly with him and to send them forth as occasion serv'd to Preach to others Addresses himself to them with those words full of Tenderness and Love Numquid vos vultis abire And will you also you not only my Disciples but my Apostles and Domesticks will you also go and leave me upon the same Accounts as these others have done When Peter stepping forth with his wonted fervour cries out Domine ad quem ibimus Lord to whom shall we go Thou hast the words of Eternal Life As if he should have said Thou hast promis'd Everlasting Life to those who believe in thee and if that be not to be obtain'd but by eating thy Flesh and drinking thy Blood tho' we understand not how or in what manner it can be done since thou hast said it be it to us according to thy word For we have believ'd and are sure that thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God and therefore canst make good whatever thou hast said as well in this as in all other things how hard and absurd soever they may appear to Sense and Reason Thus did St. Peter give Honour and Glory to Christ by his stedfast belief and Confession of the Truth of what he had said of the necessity of eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood in very deed for the obtaining of Everlasting Life In like manner as Martha afterwards did when being ask'd by our Saviour if she believ'd him to be the Resurrection and the Life she answered with the words of St. Peter Vtique Domine Yea Lord I believe that thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God and consequently as being true God canst by thy Power raise Lazarus again to Life But why was not St. Peter then presently Honoured by our Saviour with a Beatus es Simon Barjona Blessed art thou Simon the Son of Jonas To this Theophylact answers That our Lord suspended praising him then tho' he deserv'd it least being at a time when others deserted him it might seem done out of design and a piece of Artifice to retain him with him but Euthymius more probably thinks it was because he answer'd not for himself only but in the name of all among whom there was one so far from being worthy of praise that our Saviour presently after Emendans Petrum says a learned Expositor to rectifie Peter's mistake told them He was a Devil The Second Confession he made was that of my Text when our Saviour demanding of the Twelve Whom they said that he was He alone answer'd not in the name of the rest or as delivering the Faith of them all as he had done before and found he had been mistaken but as delivering his own proper Sentiment a Sentiment Inspir'd by a particular Revelation from God the Father to him alone but to serve as a Formulary of Confession to the rest Tu es Filius Dei vivi Thou art Christ the Son of the living God Begotten from all Eternity by the Father coequal coeternal and consubstantial with him And This is that full and generous Confession which justifies the Wicked Confirms the Just triumphs over the World confounds the Devil rejoyces the Angels and opens the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers This is that Confession which encourag'd the Martyrs to undergo their Torments the Confessors to have their Conversation in Heaven even whilst they liv'd upon Earth And the Virgins to run after the Odours of the Perfumes of all sorts of Vertues which this Divine Bridegroom of Souls left behind him in this World whilst he Conversed in it In a word This Faith and Confession of S. Peter that Christ was the Son of God begotten of his Father from all Eternity and born in time of his Virgin-Mother is in the Language of S. Ambrose no less than a General Definition or Prae-condemnation of all the Heresies that should ever arise in the Church Adversus omnes Haereses Generalis est ista Fides Thus it was that St. Peter vindicated the Honour of his Master by confessing him to be the very true and Natural Son of God And what did our Lord do or rather what did he not do to recompense him for it and to comply with the Condition of the Covenant on his Part that is of Honouring those who honour him First He proclaim'd him Blessed whilst yet upon Earth Beatus es Simon Barjona Blessed art thou Simon the Son of Jonas Then confirm'd to him the Name of Peter which is as much as to say a Rock or solid Foundation-Stone such an one as on it he would not doubt to build his Church and that so firm that the Gates of Hell should not prevail against it Lastly He promis'd to deliver the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven into his hands with so full and ample a Commission that Whatsoever he should bind upon Earth should be bound in Heaven and whatsoever he should loose upon Earth should be loosed in Heaven And had not St. Hilary then great reason to exclaim upon this Passage as he do's with these words O in nuncupatione novi Nominis felix Ecclesiae Fundamentum O happy Foundation of the Church in having this new Name of PETER imposed on thee and worthy Rock for Christ to build his Church upon which should destroy the Laws of Hell and break in sunder the Gates of the Abyss and the Prisons of Death O BEATVS COELI JANITOR O Blessed Door-keeper of Heaven into whose hands the Keys of the Entrance into Eternity are committed and whose Judgment upon Earth shall have the Authority of a Rule or prejudging Sentence in the Court of Heaven Thus St. Hilary with whom the rest of the Fathers both Greek and Latin agree as to the substance of the thing For tho' some of them especially after the Council of Nice chose rather to affirm the Church to be built upon St. Peter's Faith or Confession than upon his Person yet their meaning was to assign the Reason why our Saviour made choice of him above the rest to build his Church upon and not to exclude him from being the Rock on which the Church is built any more than it was the meaning of St. Peter himself to deny that God had made him the Instrument of curing the lame Man at the Gate of the Temple when he said that not he and John by their own Power or Holiness had made him to walk but the Faith which is by Jesus Christ Or than it was the meaning of St. Jerom to deny that the same St. Peter really walk'd upon the Sea when he said Super aquas non corpus ambulasse sed Fidem that his Body walk'd not upon the Waters but his
it be true as most certainly it is what our Saviour said that Every Kingdom divided against it self shall be brought to ruin and on the other side that The Gates of Hell shall never prevail against his Church which is his Kingdom it manifestly follows That as the Church is to continue for ever so also the Authority given to Peter was not to die with him but to descend to his Successors and to remain for ever in the Chair of Peter Of which Chair St. Austin speaking says Ipsa est Petra quam superbae non vincunt Inferorum Portae This is the Rock which the Proud Gates of Hell do not overcome And therefore S. Hierom when three unhappy Factions brake out at the same time and each endeavour'd to gain him to their Party cries out to them Si quis Cathedrae Petri jungitur meus est Let me know which of you holds Communion with the Chair of Peter and him I shall acknowledge for mine Super illam Petram aedificatam Ecclesiam scio I know the Church to be built upon that Rock I know that whosoever eateth the Lamb out of that House is Prophane and whosoever shall not be in the Ark of Noe when the Deluge comes peribit regnante diluvio shall perish in the Waters Some perhaps may think this to be a dreadful Saying and so indeed it is for as St. Austin says Nihil sic debet formidare Christianus quam separari a corpore Christi A Christian ought to dread nothing so much as to be separated from the Body of Christ which is his Church For if he be separated from the Body of Christ he is no Member of Christ And if he be no Member of Christ he is not quickned by the Spirit of Christ The Spirit quickens only the Members which are united to the Body How much then are They bound to give thanks to Almighty God whose good Lot it has been either to have been brought up from their Infancy in the Communion of this Chair upon which the Church is built or after having been bred otherwise to have been powerfully and yet sweetly drawn and incorporated into it Who can recount all the Graces and Blessings which those enjoy who are in this happy Communion and of which those remain destitute and depriv'd who are out of it I shall give a brief Account of some of them in the words of the Great S. Austin and so conclude First then by being Members of this Holy Communion it is as the same Father says that we are Inhabitants in that Holy Mountain of which David foretells in his 42. Psalm that when God has brought us into it by his Light and Truth he graciously hears the Prayers and Supplications we offer up to him in order to our own Eternal Salvation Mons Sanctus ejus Ecclesia ejus est This Holy Mountain is his Church There it is that as himself has promis'd Every one that asks shall receive Every one that seeks shall find and that knocks at the Gate of Heaven shall have it open'd to him Happy Condition to be thus assur'd of being heard when we pray for our selves And then again of being Partakers also of the Prayers and good Works of others For the Soul of all true Believers as the same S. Austin says being One Soul per unam Fidem by the Vnity of the same Faith and all the Faithful One Man by reason of the unity of the Body of Christ As the Functions of the several Parts in the Natural Body so also the Prayers and good Works of each Member of this Mystical Body redound to the benefit of the Whole Every one has a share in the Prayers and good Works of all and may say with holy David Particeps ego sum omnium timentium te I am a partaker of all those that fear thee and keep thy Commandments And this not only whilst they were labouring in this Life to gain Heaven for themselves but after that they are reigning in it with Christ Their Charity by change of State is not diminish'd but increas'd Securi says St. Cyprian de sua salute de nostra sunt soliciti Being now secure of their own Salvation they are solicitous for ours And the Prayers they offer up for us are so much more efficacious and available by how much the Saints in Glory are in greater union and favour with God Nor do we reap this benefit of partaking the Prayers and good Works of others only whilst we are in this Life but also after we are departed out of it for as the same St. Austin speaking of the Custom of the Catholic Church in his Time as in ours of Praying for those who were departed in the Communion of it says Neque negandum est It is not to be deny'd but that the Souls of the Faithful deceased are reliev'd by the Piety of their living Friends when the Sacrifice of the Mediatour that is of the Body and Blood of Christ is offer'd or Alms given for them in the Church These dear Catholic Brethren with many others too long to be insisted on at present are great Advantages which those only can be partakers of whom the Grace and Goodness of God has plac'd in this Holy Mountain his Church Quisquis praeter hunc montem erat non credat se exaudiri ad salutem aeternam Whoever Prays out of this Mountain says St. Austin let him not flatter himself with a vain belief that he shall be heard to Eternal Salvation Many who Pray out of the Church have their Petitions granted in many things as for Health Wealth Children and the like But he that will obtain Eternal Salvation for himself must Pray in this Holy Mountain if he will be heard There says he let him Worship who will be accepted there let him Pray who will be heard and there let him Confess who will obtain remission of his Sins And as those only Prayers which are offer'd in the Communion of the Church are by vertue of this Communion efficacious to Eternal Life so also those good Works only which are done in it and those Sacraments which are received in it Multi says he quasi exercent bona Opera Many exercise themselves in Works seemingly good but they belong not to that Husbandman whom our Lord calls Father because they dwell not in the Land which he Cultivates and Waters Ipsam formam habet Sarmentum c. A Branch cut off from the Vine has the same Form it had whilst it was in it But what will it avail it to have the same Form of Godliness if it live not from the Root What more glorious State of Life than that of perpetual Continency a State so high and sublime that our Saviour do's not enjoyn it to any but only exhorts to it with a Qui potest capere capiat Let him that can take it take it And yet the same holy Father