declared his Wrath against it by dreadfull judgements In this kinde we have a notable example in Eusebius his ecclesiastick Hist 6. book and 8. chapter There he reporteth that three wicked men had conspired against Narcissus Bishop of IERUSALEM in the time of the Emperour Severus who was a man of singular holinesse but somwhat severe These wicked persons fearing to bee censured by him accuse him of Vncleannesse to perswade men to beleeve them did use fearfull curses and impreeaâ—ions against themselves if they spake not the truth The first of them wished that he might be burnt The second wished that his body might rot be consumed The third wished that he might be blinde if it was not true which they spake Notwithstanding of all this the people were so perswaded of the holinesse of their Pastor that they beleeved them not And in the meane time ere it was long the judgement of God came upon these three The house of the first took fire and in it hee and his familie was burnt The second fell into a grievous disease which consumed his bodie away The third considering the vengance of God that had come upon his fellowes is brought to repentance confesseth publickly the whole matter shed tears so aboundantly then and afterwards that he lossed the sight of his eyes So the curse of every one of them fell upon themselves Thus we may perceive that the Apostle his cursing did much aggravate his sin Secondly the matter which he denied with oathes execrations was most great and important It was no lesse then his LORD and SAVIOVR even he to whom before he had said Lord whether shall we go from thee for thou hast the words of eternall life and we know and are sure that thou art the Christ the son of the living God Thirdly he who denied this was no mean person but a great and prime Apostle which aggravateth the offence it was Peter whose name Christ had changed and whom he had called Peter to signifie that the strength and firmnes of a rocke should be in him It was Peter who had been so familiar with his Lord had seen him worke so many miracles and had wrought miracles himself in his Name Peter who had been with him in mount Tabor had tasted there the heavenly joyes had heard this voice from heaven Thou art my well beloved son c. Peter to whom the Father had revealed this That Jesus was the son of the living God Math. 16. And to whom our Saviour said To thee will I give the keyes of the Kingdome of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt binde upon earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth shall be loosed in heaven Fourthly In this his denial appeareth great pusillanimitie weaknes and distrust of God for at the first assault of a hand-maid and doore-keeper he denyed That he knew Christ Behold saieth holy AUGUSTINE The most firme pillartrembls whollie at one small blast of the aire Where now saieth he is thy former confidence and bold promises where now are these words I am ready to follow thee both to prison and to death Is this to follow thy Lord to deny that thou knowest him Is this to lay down thy life for him to deny him at the voice of a damsell for preserving thy life how strangely is thy voice changed now and yet thou art not brought unto publick thou art not presented yet before kings or governours thou art not yet put to the rocke or torture It is not a scribe or pharisee or priest or souldier or executioner that demandeth of thee but a woman a servant and a doore-keeper Thus we see there was in him exceeding great weaknes and feare Lastly There was a kinde of obstinacie in his sinne for he denyed and swore againe and againe and the third time There was betwixt his second and third deniall about the space of an houre wherein the had time to recollect his confounded thoughts and to call to minde what he hade done that he might have repented or at least might have eschewed a new sinne but notwithstanding of this he continued still unmindefull of Christ and what he had done Thus we see his sinne in many respects was grievous which we have discovered not for the reproach of that great and holy Apostle God forbid but that we may learne these uses from it Which the spirit of God would have us to learne which is the third point propounded by us The first use that we should make of this fall of the great Apostle is we may perceive clearly in it humane weaknes infirmitie how great it is and how little it should be trusted unto This great Apostle was by nature fervent and veâ—ement and had received many excellent graces and priviledges from Christ as we said before yet when he trusteth to much in himself and is for triall and humiliation left to himself he falleth and that most foullie He that assured himself of victory before the fight trembleth now before the sound of the trumpet he that should not have denied Christ although the sword had been at his throat denieth him now at the voice of a damsell The like we may see in DAVID who was a man according to the heart of God and yet fell both in adulterie murther This should teach us all humilitie feare and watch fulnes and to trust in nothing but in God and his Graceâ— S. Peter himself learned these things by his fall When our Lord after his resurrection asked him whether he did love him more then others did he did not preferre himself to any but was content to expresse his own sinceritie saying LORD thou knowest that I love thee So in his 1. epist 1. chap. He saieth That we are kept by the power of GOD through faith unto salvation and in the 5. chap. of that epist he giveth this exhortarion to all Be sober be vigilant for your enemie the devil goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devoure Let us in like manner learne to be humble and to feare and watch If the strong pillars and mighty cedares be so shaken and so soone what may become of us who have scarce grace rooted in our hearts in the day of our temptation What is man without the Grace of God saieth holy AUGUSTINE in his 124. Sermon of time But that which Peter was when he denied his LORD yea suppose thou had never so much grace yet thou hast this treasure in an earthen vessell thou art like to a rich ship full of precious wares that is tossed in the sea and in danger to be swallowed with the waves or to dash upon the rocks Be not therefore high minded but feare Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall Remember that S. PAUL hath said Worke out your saluation with feare and trembling And that he himself did beat his body down and kept it in
how could he have expressed it more fully then in the termes which he hath used To the will I give the keyes of the kingdom of heaven whatsoever ye binde on earth it shall be bound in Heaven c. Whose sinnes soever ye retaine they shall be retained c. Thirdly the manner of our Saviours speech when he promised this Power which is with a serious and vehement attestation Verily I say unto you and the ceremonie used at the performance of it which was by breathing on them with these words receive the holy Ghost these circumstances I say do shew that our Saviour intended to give and did actually give a greater power then is that of declaring a thing to be which already is beside the Repentance of men is a thing which pastors cannot perfectly know and therefore they cannot certainly declare a man to be loosed from sinne For these and other reasons I make no doubt that the Power promised here by our Saviour is not barely a declarative but also an effectuall Power which worketh some effect upon men So the holy Fathers have understood this CHRISOST in his 3. book of the priesthood saith that Christ hath given to men that are upon earth a power to dispose of things that are in heaven This Power saieth he he hath not given to the angels or Aâ—changels for to whom of them hath he said to the will I give the keyes of the Kingdome of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt binde on earth c. Earthly kings sayth he have power to binde loose also but their power extendeth to the bodies of men only whereas this Power reacheth unto the soul and unto heaven That which the servant doth here beneath the LORD confirmeth above and the LORD in a manner denizeth to follow the servant the binding on earth being prior at least in order of nature to the binding in heaven and the loosing on earth being before the loosing in heaven So writting upon the 20 of S. John on these words Whose sinnes soever ye retaine they are retained he sayeth that our Saviour indued his Apostles with such a Power as a king giveth to governours under him when he giveth them power to cast into prison and to take out of it and writting upon these words To thee will I give the keyes of the Kingdome of Heaven Matth. 16. he saieth that Christ hath given to a mortall man the Power of all things that are in heaven for this cause our Saviour addeth here these words on earth whatsoever ye bind On earth To what purpose is this aded but to signifie the amplitude and greatnes of his Power and that how soever it be done by earthly men yet it shall have an authoritie force of a sentence and law in heaven as if a mighty Emperour would say to one whom he much trusted and to whom he had given a most ample commission Whatsoever thou wilt do in the remotest parts of my dominion I shall alow and ratifie it The farrer that servants are from their Masters they use to take to themselves the greater liberty and it is a token of great trust in the master when he committeth power to them in such a case Thus we see that Pastors have properly a power to binde and loose sinners let us now consider more particularly in what manner they do binde and loose and how their binding and loosing is accompanyed with binding and loosing in heaven The Bond wherewith Pastors by vertue of the keyes do binde sinners is directly and immediatly an ecclesiasticall bond exercised about sinue as it as an offence of the Church So their loosing is directly and immediatly an untying and loosing of that ecclesiasticall bond wherwith they have bound a sinner whence of necessity their binding most go before their loosing in this kinde they can loose nothing this way but that which before they have bound But how then yee will say doeth their binding or loosing reach to a mans sinne as it is an offence of God I Ans This is not but mediatly and indirectly in so farre as they do such a thing upon the doing whereof Christ hath promised to binde or loose the sinnes of a man The like we have in haptisme wherin sinne is taken away if he that is baptised put no impediment all that the minister doth is but a washing of the body and an incalling of the blessed Trinitie yet this Action as an instrument or condition carrieth with it the remission of sinne and purging of the soul So in the matter that we have in hand the pastor bindeth the person guilty with an ecclesiasticall bond directly and againe looseth that same bond by ecclesiasticall absolution or reconciliation yet by vertue of Christs promise set down in these words upon the doing of this GOD in heaven doeth binde or loose the sinnes of such a man Thus we see how God not only principally but also alone immediatly taketh away sin for the minister only performeth an ecclesiasticall action upon the doing whereof GOD by vertue of his own Promise taketh away the sinne of such a man Secondly Yee may ask wherein this ecclesiasticall bond consisteth I answer it standeth in a certaine excoÌ„munication whereby a grievous offender is separated in whole or in part from the Church of Christ and from the society of the faithfull and according the loosing opposed hereunto consisteth in the reconciliation of such an one to the Church or in giving him the peace therof whence our Saviour said in the preceeding words If he neglect to hear the Church let him be to thee as a heathen or aâ— a Publican This excoÌ„munication is of two sorts the one is called the lesser excoÌ„munication the other is called the greater In that a man is bound for some grievous offence by debarring him from the society of the faithfull in some things especially in the participation of the blessed mysteries of the body blood of out LORD and by imposing of the works of pennance and humiliation this is called a ponetentiall and medeoinall excoÌ„munication because the chief end of it is to cure him that hath sinned from that disease wherein he hath fallen This kinde of binding we use toward grievous sinners who submite themselves to the direction of the Church and in the ancient Church it was used with great vigor and severitie In the first 300 years when the devotion of Christians was fervent and their puritie great men were not ordinarly admitted to this outward repentance till for a long time with many teares and with great tokens of unfeigned forrow they had earnestly intreated to be admitted in the number of publick penitents when that was granted then they were not immediatly received to their publick repentance but were thrust down as it were first to the degree of the catechumeny or those who were yet unbaptised and did but learne the mysteries of the christian religion and in this degree they were called
and therefore they against whom this Sentence of the Church is pronounced are not only liable to the contempt and disesteeme of men but also to the Judgement and Condemnation of GOD for saieth our Saviour Verily I say unto you whatsoever yee shall binde on earth shall be bounde in heaven The words ye see containe a promise Therefore we shall shortly first consider to whom this promise is made Secondly we shall consider the promise it self for the first it is to be observed that the promise is made not to one of the Apostles but to all for it is said in the plurall number Whatsomever ye shall binde c. in the 16. of S. Matth. Our Saviour saieth particularly to S. Peter to thee will I give the keyes of the kingdome of heaven and whatsomever thou shalt binde on earth shall be bound in heaven But here that same power is expresly promised to al the Apostles was accordingly performed in the 20 of S. Joh. when our Saviour saith to al the Apostles not only to S. Peter A◠my father sent me so send I you receave the holy Ghost whose sins ye remitt they are remitted and whose sinnes ye retaine they are retained It is manifest therefore that nothing more was promised or given to S. Peter then to the rest of the Apostleis It is true that some do affirme that the keyes promised to S. Peter importeth a greater power then is this of binding and loosing but Cardinall BELLAR in his first book of the bishop of Rome and 12. chap. rejecteth this conceat as new and unheard of and affirmeth that the full and perfect effect of the keyes is to binde and loose The power and authoritie promised sayth he is expressed by the keyes the use thereof by binding loosing which our Saviour setteth forth in these termes to shew that the power expressed by the keyes rather then by opening and shutting is in borrowed tearmes that heaven is opened or shute when men are loosed from their sinnes or bound therein So the Iesuet Maldonat writting upon the 16. of S. Matthew saieth that the power of opening and shutting heaven is Mataphorically expressed by the keyes and the same power saieth hee is thereafter declared by another Metaphor of binding and loosing Thus it is cleare that as all the rest were equall unto S. Peter in the power of binding and loosing So were they equall to him in the power of the keyes and therfore S. Hilarie in the 6. book of the Trinitie saith of all O holy and blessed men who did obtaine the keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven and power to binde both in heaven and in earth Secondly It is to be observed that this power of binding and loosing was promised to the Apostles not as a personal priviledge which was to die with them It was appointed given by our Saviour for the benefice of his Church unto the worlds end and without it his Church had not been sufficiently provided of helps necessary for the preservation of it as we shall see hereafter This power therfore was promised to the Apostles as they were pastors of the Church to their successors in that office even to them to whom the Ministry of reconsiliation ordinarly belongeth whence this power hath ever been exercised by them in the Church of Christ as may appeare by the innumerable examples and canons of the christian Church But we come now to the promise it self Whatsoever saith our Saviour ye binde c. First when he saies that Whatsoever they binde shal be bound in heaven he meaneth not that he was to give the Apostles or their successors an absolute power to do in this whatsoever pleased thē No he sent them as he was sent in his own vice and stead to bind such as he will have to be bound and to loose such as he would have to be loosed In this he hath not left them to their own judgement but will have thē to follow his direction set down in his word he will have them rightly to use and governe the keyes and if they do that his promise is that whatsoever they binde on earth shall be bound in heaven c. Secondly The thing whereto the promise is made is their binding and loosing upon earth Whatsoever yee bind c. For clearing of this consider that a sinner is bound by his own sinne before any sentence of the Church be pronounced against him He is bound first by it in so far as being overcome by his own corruption hee is made the servant thereof unable to do good or eschew evill Secondly he is bound by his sin with the guiltines of eternal death and condemnation Hence sinners in scripture are so often compared to prisoners and captives and the effect of Christ his grace is called a deleverance from this Captivitie But this is not the Bond that is meaned here for it is not the Church but the sinner himself that bindeth himself in this kinde There are some who think that this loosing of the Church is nothing else but the preaching of the Gospel and that the power to loose is only a power to preach the Gospel This Exposition cannot stand for first the seaventie disciples received a power to teach the gospell Luke 10. but they had not the power to binde and loose which was given to the Apostles and not to them Secondly The Apostles had the power of preaching given to them long before this time as we may see Matth. 10. Thirdly A man may be well taught and yet not loosed from his sinnes and on the contrary many are not bound in this manner that our Saviour speaketh of who are not taught as all these who are without the Church to whom the power of the keyes extendeth not There are others who think that to binde and loose here is nothing else but to declare that a mans sinnes are bound or loosed by God But first this agreeth not with the words of our Saviour who saieth not Whose sinnes yee declare to be bound shall be bound but Whatsoever yee binde shall be bound so IOHN 20. hee saieth Whose sinnes yee retaine are retained and whose sinnes ye forgive they are forgiven and in the 16 of S. Matth he promiseth this Power under the name of the keyes as we said now if a man had only power to declare a doore to be opened that was open before or a man to be loosed that was loose before how could he be said truly to have the keyes of the house or to have the power of binding and loosing such a man certainly if it were thus it should not be so much pastors as sinners themselves who should have the keyes of heaven and the power to binde and loose Secondly suppose it had been the minde of our Saviour to give a true and proper Power of opening and shutting heaven of binding and loosing sinners of retaining and forgiving sinnes