their measure use it by the vertue of his authority who said whose sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whose sins ye retain they are retained Whereupon we may collect that as the power of the keyes is originally in Christ the Churches universal head and was by him given to the heads of Churches onely so it can be in the whole Church or in its subordinate members no otherwise then as received from their head according to that of Saint Paul When ye are met together and my Spirit c. And therefore to make it farther evident that the heads of Churches are to be understood in the direction of tell it to the Church we are to denote that the power of the keyes in the next verse was directed to the Apostles in the word ye when it was said Whatsoever ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven for unto them was most of this chapter directed the which was the reason of Saint Peters interogating him presently hereupon How oft shall my brother offend c. This power comonly called the power of the keyes and by the Romanists appropriate to the chief of that Sea only is that divine obsignation of Christian authority and precept whereby those laws and edicts of him that sitteth in the seat of judgment as the head of each Church that were but civilly or morally criminal in their own nature and obnoxious to temporal wrath onely for their breach come now to be sinful and damnable as being violations against God and the heavenly thrown it self by whom they are impowred and whose authority they do represent according to that sentence to be given at the last day inasmuch as ye have or have not done it c. Upon which grounds we may know what to conceive of that article of our Creed I believe the holy Catholike Church which some would wrest and make use of to draw mens obedience which way they pleased by proposing unto us what they pleased for Catholike doctrine But we are to conceive that this primitive form of profession of Christian faith therefore called the Apostles Creed was offered to and taken by such as were to be admitted into the Christian Church to shew and state their beliefe before their admittance and not to direct their obedience afterwards For although to believe in God in Christ in the holy Ghost do together with the acknowledgement of their deity draw on obedience by just consequence yet was this form of profession of faith therefore called the Creed made but to denote their beliefe of their true existence by which means being received into the Church their obedience was thence to be learnt For strange it had been for the Church to have proposed to men the matter of obedience to any of whom as yet they had no beliefe in And therefore when I profess to believe the holy Catholike Church the word holy will make it unconceiveable how it should directly import my profession of obedience and that not onely because the Catholike Church or Christs universal body cannot as before noted be ever comprehended under one notion and conception so as to be definitive to me concerning their determinations but also because I can never rightly say of the present or past militant Church to whom I seek for direction that they are all holy nor can men that live in a particular Church be ordinarily able to know what is and what is not Catholike doctrine besides that which is proposeth Whereupon understanding our belief in or of the holy Catholike Church to import our beliefe that Christ hath a true sanctified body which being so made by means of the holy Ghost in the article foregoing comes through their union in Christ and his Spirit to be of one communion from the rest of the world and so to be the Communion of Saints as in the article following So that then although the Creed as a Creed cannot of it self oblige to obedience yet since the beliefe of the articles thereof do by consequent bring men to Christs Church and out of desire to attain that Communion of Saints doth also farther prompt me to acts of obedience to that Church to whom I made this profession it will therefore follow that that obedience which I cannot give to the Catholick Church as such must be to this end given to that part of it under which I live since that I cannot otherwise obey the Catholike then by obeying the particular All which will be cleared by one instance of Saint Pauls who as the present head of that Church gives liberty to the Corinthians in eating of things offered to Idols notwithstanding that the then Catholike representative Church at Jerusalem and he himself amongst them had decreed otherwise Clearly evincing that the power of binding and loosing was to reside in each Churches own head and that they were to perform their obedience to the same party by whom they had learned their Creed who had been their spiritual father and begotten them in Christ. And that this power of the keyes was not given to the Apostles onely as a collective body of Church heads and so to the Catholike Church onely but was also conferred upon the particular heads of the Churches appears in that it was upon occasion particularly given to Saint Peter so that whatsoever head or chief governour should like him acknowledge Christ to be the true spiritual foundation and rock he should from Christ have power also to be herein a rock to others and to bind and loose And both places must contradistinguish the persons binding from those that shall be so bound and the persons telling and complaining to the Church from those that are to hear and have power of redress And as they were in one place spoken to Saint Peter alone to declare against consistorial parity so were they elsewhere given joyntly to all the Apostles the then visible heads of Churches to abate Popish usurpation For they were not to be commanding one another out of their Churches as they might those within them which was forbidden them in the persons of Zebedees Children But in those equalities they were in love to serve one another and in this their parity obeying the precept of submit your selves one to another he that should do it most and thereupon become a Minister and Servant to his fellows will even thereby make himselfe chief among them By which means being converted and become as little Children they shall then be greatest in the kingdome of heaven or have great and kingly power in the Church from the power of Christ that hath taken them into the arms of his acknowledgement From whence it will again follow that Who so shall receive one such little Child in my name receiveth me that is in hearing and obeying him he shal hear and obey me but Who so
one or many men had their distinct copies such a total losse could not have happened And although it may be well thought that the gift of tongues might have enabled such of the holy penmen as wanted natural learning to deliver themselves notwithstanding in Greek yet this cannot make it supposable that all of them the Epistles especially were so written originally because their address is not to the Grecians or Gentiles And that Epistle to the Hebrews and those of Saint Peter and Saint Iames c. must imply them to be written in that language which was best understood by those they were addressed unto and who were to be directed by him Else it were to suppose a miracle wrought to a wrong end even that which Saint Paul doth elswhere dislike namely the speaking in an unknown tongue by which he means no doubt a tongue unknown to the Auditors In which respect to speak or write in Greek to them that understood not the language renders the Writer a Barbarian to the Auditor as well as the Auditor one to him Upon which grounds I do believe against them that doubt that the Gospel of Saint Matthew was like the other Gospels written in Greeks and that because its general address did require it to be set forth in that language which was most generally understood but for some of the Epistles I cannot be so perswaded And if that first exercised gift of tongues be marked we shall finde those endewed therewith speaking to every Auditour in his owne language And although question be made whether those auditours of divers nations might not at the same time have been endewed with the miraculous gift of interpreting and understanding a strange tongue to avoyd a greater difficulty of supposing all of them speaking at once or any one speaking several tongues at once the which Saint Peters after-speaking alone may give countenance unto yet it will plainly appear that as that gift of tongues was then used to edification and to be understood even so afterwards no doubt the penmen of holy Scripture made use of the same upon the like useful occasions and none other And as for Authors quotation of Scripture texts in this language onely none beginning to write till these books had been by the Church all collected into one volume and so put into that one most intelligible language it proves no more their writing at first in the Greek then our Saviours and others quotations of the Greek translation of the Septuagint proves the old Testament to have been written in that language also Not that we would be understood by what hath bin spoken as forbidding the publike knowledg of the Scriptures for even the same reason that makes them chiefly to be trusted to the Church and its head namly to know the better how to govern all others under them will in that regard also make them useful to Fathers Masters and many of the Subjects themselves who by their offices and callings shall have things or persons under their power and government In both which respects if they come not occasionally to concern every one as he may have his Neighbors good or ill under his trust and power even in cases remitted by his Superiour yet will they concern every one in their general precepts to patience humility obedience c. which as the proper and necessary vertues of Subjects and which must constitute government are fit for the notice of all in general without exception of the Prince himself who as under the power of God almighty must submit in a far higher degree then his Subjects can to him The knowledge of which and other necessary duties fit to direct us in our charitable abearances whither in acting upon or suffering from one another may also afford sufficient reason why there should be many precepts of all sorts of duties and concerning all sorts of people promiscuously set down in the New Testament notwithstanding that Gods immediate rule was to be inward even for that our Saviour and his Apostles having charge and guidance of souls under them it was needful for their good deportment sake that they should leave to them and unto such as should succeed in the Christian Churches besides the fundamentals such farther precepts and directions â—s might keep them in a steady course of Charity and peace one towards another when they found their duties set forth by so good authority For want of due regard whereof and of that different respect which the Scriptures do carry in their instructions and for want of that necessary and truly Christian grace of humility instead of learning and practicing those more proper duties which concern us in our distinct callings and relations for which onely we stand accomptable before God we are through pride and partiality too often found to be studious and inquisitive after so much onely as doth concern others in theirs even such as are above us for whose faults we are not to answer that thereupon we may appear more fit to teach then be taught to govern then be governed And this is not onely practised in the more civil relation of Subjects or Servants against their Prince or Master but through this misused liberty a general usurpation is almost every where now made for interpreting Scripture against the sence and authority of the whole Church and of our more spiritual guides therein to whose charge they are most particularly entrusted from which preposterous proceeding what can be expected but what sad experience doth witness even Heresie Schisme disorder and civil broyles to the scandal of Christian religion it self But now when we finde the persons in authority to be expressed in the plural number as Those that have the guide over you those that must give an account for your souls c. or else our obedience directed to the Church in general we are to understand thereby the head of each Church to be chiefly meant In which respect as there were many distinct Churches and thereupon also many heads as before shewed so the Apostle might in his general admonitions to obedience put them in the plural number of those and them And as in this sence we are to understand that precept of tell it to the Church namely to the judiciary head thereof so also are we to interpret and apply the power of the keyes and of binding and loosing to be given to the Churches head and not the diffused body which can never in all its members meet nor can otherwise then by their head hear and determine And hereupon we shall finde this power to be expresly given to the Apostles in Saint John where Christ is saying to them As my Father sent me even so send I you thereby giving them authority over their particular Churches and trusts By which means as he had formerly answered that the Son of man had power on earth to forgive sins So these sons of men also may without Blasphemy in
should through subtilty be beguiled as the Serpent beguiled Eve from the simplicity that was in Christ. That is least as Eve in a desire and presumption of farther knowledg was by the Serpent tempted to disobey God so they by listening to such superstructures as were taught by others might be drawn to neglect those Fundamentall directions which he as their Master-builder had laid and wherewith he had espoused them to Christ and so suffer themselves to be brought into bondage by relying on the wisdomes of such false Apostles and deceitfull workers as transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ would under colour of Mission and authority immediately received from God be directing men in their Christian Morall duties contrary or above the direction of their own generall and authorized head who must now be in danger to be accounted as a fool in comparison of these transformed Angels of light and Ministers of righteousness To warn us against which seduction and to shew that the interpretation of Divine rules and precepts were by God and Christ now referred to that person who was next representing them it is observable that whensoever Christ is urged with the text of the Law or when himself is expounding it he always makes the sense thereof other then was formerly received releasing it to the generall law of reason or morality and not tying himself to the Letter as it was particularly morall to the Jews as by making Murther and Adultery to be inward and releasing by his Power sometimes the outward acts as by dispencing with that strict precept of the Sabbath and other instances may appear These precepts binding the Jews as Divinely Morall but Christians no farther then as rationally or politically so And St Paul having thus largely in the fore-recited and in the next Chapter spoken to the Colossians of our participation of God through â—hrist and of Christ through Christian obedience in this precept of love he then particularly instances how this love is to be outwardly stated and made perfect by obedience to rightfull Superiours in Christ naming such Masters in the flesh as were then Christians and saying Whatever yee doe doe it heartily as to the Lord And not unto men Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of his inheritance for we serve the Lord Christ that is we serve him by these in his stead But he that doth wrong that is disobeys or serves him according to his own will which must cause wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done and there is no respect of persons Clergy and Laâ—ety high and low are made culpable by disobedience And in the next Epistle being the first to the Thessalonians having set down some particular commands for them to follow saying Yee know what Commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus he after adds He that despiseth despiseth not man but God who hath also given to us his holy spirit meaning this authority which he might be bold in as the Apostle of Christ. And this he doth as presuming them inwardly guided and instructed from God himself in the generall precept of love saying but as touching brotherly Love ye need not that I write unto you for your selves are taught of God to love one another Meaning that this precept onely is of immediate Divine direction and injunction being able if rightly performed to estate us innocent according as he noted in his former prayer for them saying The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one towards another and towards all men even as we doe towards you to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints At which time it will be found that Charity shall cover the multitude of sins or make us innocent And so far would he have them seek Peace the fruit of this love That they should study to be quiet and to doe their own business not taking upon them to censure the actions of others especially of those that are their Superiors And the means to accomplish and perfect this he after sets down We beseech you Brethren to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake That is count them directors of your love so far as it is operative and be at Peace among your selves Which is the same with the precept of study to be quiet Because being obedient to them we shall be at peace with one another but if we follow and beleeve them not in the manner how Christ is to be served and this our love to be exercised outwardly as well as we have already believed that these things are to be inwardly embraced it will follow that our private Will-worships to him and private apprehensions of love to our Brother will by their Crossings and thwartings one upon another prove to be their mutuall subversion and upon occasion of division and discontent hereabouts rankor and malice will break in to the reall overthrow of both true Faith and Charity It being impossible that any voluntary particular act of my love to any Neighbor can be so great and extensive as that more generall good to all which obedience must produce Whereupon follow directions both to Superiors and others for effecting it Warn them that are unruly comfort the feeble minded support the weak be patient towards all men that is see that no man render evill for evill unto any man or take upon him to avenge his own wrong but ever follow that which is good both among your selves and to all men That is let your Obedience be continuall that your Charity may be Universall For if you should be so unruly as to raise Civill commotions and quarrels upon the score of your own particular enmity and revenge how would this confused return of evil for evil by the severall Members of a Kingdom one against another dissolve all bonds of Peace and Charity whilst every man should be both persecuting and persecuted Whereas by a joynt submission and acknowledgment of them that are over them in the Lord and acquiescence to them in their publick Charge and Trust all rankor will cease and generall Amity be preserved And these two fundamentall precepts of Faith and Love wrought by God in the Thessalonians he again mentions in his second Epistle to them as he had done in his former Epistle for as there he thanks God alwayes for them in his prayers remembring without ceasing their work of faith and labor of love So here he saith We are bound to thank God always for you Brethren as it is meet because that your faith groweth exceedingly and the Charity of every one of you all towards each other aboundeth So that we our selâ—es glory for you in the Church