vessels Now for the time of the New-Testament observe that our Lord Christ not onely as he was God but also as he was man did officiate this Ministery He forgave sins and reconciled men to God For he saith unto the sick of the Palsie Son be of good cheere thy sins be forgiven thee At which the Scribes murmuring our Lord replies Whether is it easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee or to say Arise and walk but that you might know the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins What could the Lord have said more plainly he spake of very purpose as he said that they might know what power he had not onely as he was God for that was not doubted of whether God could forgive sins but also as he was man and on earth Wherefore when the multitude heard and saw what was done they glorified God who had given such power unto men This power as he was man he purchased by his death upon the Crosse As it is written For the suffering of death he is crowned with glory and honour And againe Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and forgivenesse of sins And in another place He hath obtained a more excellent Ministery Observe the words He hath obtained not as he was God that could not be but as he was man he obtained a more excellent Ministery So that now we may see the Keyes of the Kingdome of Heaven committed to a Man of our own flesh compassed about with infirmities even as our selves The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins This is that Elihu Job 33.6 His words to mankind are Behold I am according to thy wish in Gods stead I also am formed out of the clay Behold my terrour shall not make thee afraid Job 9.33,34 For Job had wisht for such a dayes-man to stand be twixt him and God because if God should speak His terrour would be upon him As it was with Israel at the delivering of the Law when they heard God speaking unto them out of the mount so terrible was it that they desired they might not hear the voice of God again lest they dyed but desired that God would deliver his Law to them by Moses which desire God approves and then said that he would send them a Prophet raise him from among their brethren like unto Moses who indeed is Gods substitute This is that great Prophet into whose mouth he said he would put his word and surely require it of every one Deut. 18. And now our loving Lord condescending to mans request hath in sending his Son in the likenesse of sinfull flesh fulfilled his good word This is the man Christ Jesus whom the Father hath sent with authority to forgive sins Matth. 16. which authority he first promised to Peter saying I will give thee the keyes of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt binde on earth shall be bound in heaven and what ever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Which promise after he was risen from the dead he performed not onely to St. Peter but also to the other Apostles and that in a most solemne manner Ioh. 20. when he said to them again the second time Peace be unto you he then said As my Father hath sent me so send I you And when he had said this he breathed on them and said Receive ye the holy Ghost Whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained Was ever any power upon earth put over from one to another in greater plainnesse then this As the Father saith our Lord sent me to remit and retain sins so send I you What is done is done from God the Father by my commission and the holy Ghost in you To which end I now breathing upon you give saying Receive ye the holy Ghost Whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted to them and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained And let none seriously imagine as some boldly affirm that all this is done onely by Preaching and Baptisme and that is all which is here meant It is most true that sins committed before Baptisme are sacramentally forgiven by the washing of water in Baptisme but sins cannot properly be said to be retained in or by Baptisme And besides the Apostles had authority before our Lords passion both to preach and baptise without this solemne investment which commission was enlarged after his resurrection The first Commission being to Israel onely but the second inlargement to all the world Matth. 10.5 28.18,20 All power is given me in heaven and in earth Go ye therefore into all Nations teaching and baptizing Lo I am with you alwayes even unto the end of the world So that I do here conclude that our Lord Jesus did not onely give unto his Disciples authority to absolve by Baptisme such sins as were committed before but also in a most solemne manner hath given them authority to remit unto the penitent sins committed after Baptisme which mercy the learned call the second Table or board after shipwrack The which who ever contemns must utterly perish For as at Sea when a ship splits some laying hold upon boards are saved from drowning so in the Church such as by deadly sins have made their Baptisme of none effect are likely to perish unlesse they hold upon the plank or board namely penitentiall Confession and priestly Absolution And truly that man doth not argue rationally that questions their authority in the latter more then in the former why a man repenting of particular sins committed after Baptisme may not by the Priest be absolved as well as he was by a generall repentance of all sins committed before Baptisme May we not say Thou fool is it not as easie to forgive a few sins to a man truly penitent though committed after Baptisme as to forgive a multitude suppose to an aged man as in the Apostles dayes many such there were that came to be baptized committed before baptisme for it is beleeved that the sins committed all his life time whereby the Minister in the name of the blessed Trinity washed away in baptisme may not the same Minister by the same Authority viz. in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost forgive sins committed after baptisme Obj. But they object that sins are loosed or retained by the word preached Ans The Prophets of old preached Men and women by good counsell and advise may occasion the conversion of some if such therefore have they Keyes of binding and loosing there is no excellencie nor speciality in that gift which our Lord is said to bestow upon Peter I will give thee the Keyes c. What shall we say to these things shall we think that the Apostles of our Lord did not so understand their Master and therefore did not so do and practise Certainly
that they did so understand him their own practice with the generall tradition of the Catholick Church East and West Greek and Latin down till this present presumptuous age doth testifie For till this last century it was scarse ever questioned or in any disrespect 2 Cor. 2.6 See Saint Paul sending an absolution by the hands of Titus and Luke for the incestuous person who before had been before excommunicated See the Apostle demonstrating his Authority received from Christ V. 10. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment For your sakes I forgave it in the person of Christ or in Christ stead or name he forgave him What can be more plaine than this example in the first Epistle of binding here of loosing there of punishing here of pardoning there of retaining sins here of remitting them Moreover as our Lord forgave the sins of the man sick of the Palsie Mat. 9. So saith Saint James If any man be sick let him send for the Priests of the Church For I have seen it so translated which translation by moderate learned men is said to be the truest and most consonant to the honour of God and Holy Scriptures For if an originall word about holy things should beare in English two significations the one common and profane the other more sacred shall not the servants of God render it in the most sacred As under the name of an Elder in those times were contained Priests Magistrates and old men to which of these do we think Saint James sends us for the recovery of bodily health by ghostly meanes that we should confesse our sins unto them and they pray over us and in Christs name anoint us with oyle Surely not to Magistrates nor old men but Priests except we will apply this to our Church-wardens or late made lay-elders which experience shewes are as little concerned in this as either Magistrates or old men Therefore let us read it as the Church hath alwayes done and common reason and experience sheweth if necessity constraines that the word must be rendred either Priests Magistrates old men Church-wardens or lay-elders for so the learned affirm it may be Englished of all The word Priests is most proper and consonant both to the matter to which it relates and also to Gods Honour Therefore if any be sick let him send saith Saint James for the Priests of the Church For them it is most proper to pray for the sick to have confession made to them and for them in Christs name to remit sins and to anoint the sick with oyle in the name of the Lord. Besides the late English Church which ever stood at so great a distance from the Roman did allow of the title or word Priest And if she could have had but some handsome colourable ground of an utter rejection of confession and absolution she would not for the advantage it gave to the Roman cause have inserted it severall times in her Liturgy using the very same forme as the Romanists do at the visitation of the sick viz By that authority which our Lord Jesus Christ hath committed unto me I absolve thee from all thy sins in the name of the Father Son and holy Ghost Amen And besides but for some reasons best known to themselves they would have established Confession Penance and Absolution in another manner then at that time they did The words at the beginning of the Commination before Lent are these Brethren in the Primitive Church there was a godly discipline that at the beginning of Lent such persons as were notorious sinners were put to open penance and punished in this world that their souls might be saved in the day of our-Lord and that others admonished by their example might be more afraid to offend Instead whereof untill the said discipline may be restored again which is much to be wished mark that it is thought good that these Scriptures should be read c. By this we may see as in a glasse what opinion the Church of England had of these things And God forbid we should be such enemies to our own souls as spitefully to cast off that which is consonant and not against old or new Testament that which our Lord for our speciall benefit did constitute his Apostles officiate the Churches universally till this present age practise with a full approbation of the English Church scarce ever any contradicting I mean private Confessions and Absolutions for the quieting of consciences It is true that private sins being publickly confessed did occasion scandall to some which was by the Church in that Age forbidden Socrat. l. 5. c. 19. which place with some others of like nature some persons for the hatred they generally bear to all Confession make a ground of writing and disputing against it but such are not sensible of the evils that insue upon the omission of Confession for by this the ordinary means both of the forgivenesse and purgation of sins is rejected and how salvation may be had in a Church which hath so done is very doubtfull This donation of our Lord to his Apostle was a great mercy an high prerogative to the Apostles as ever was given to the sons of men To what men on earth Angels or Arch-angels in heaven did he ever say Whose sins ye remit they are remitted what ye binde on earth shall be bound in heaven what ye lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven yet to his Apostles and their successors was this grace given Wherefore I pray such as tender their soules safety seriously to think and consider on what the wisdome of God hath appointed for mens sins namely 2 Courts one in Heaven and another on earth Of that in Heaven our Lord is the onely judge for the Father hath committed all judgement to the Son But that on earth our Lord hath delegated and put over to his Ministers or Priests given the Keyes to them and hath promised that what sins they bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and what they loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven he seems to give them the precedency and promise to confirm in Heaven what they do on earth Then what art thou O man that darest deny or presume to contradict the blessed trinity The Father authorizeth the Son and the Son authorizeth his Apostles and their successors to forgive sins to which end they had the Holy Ghost given them and therefore what they do is done in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and wilt thou venter to go time after time to the blessed Sacrament and at last to death and so to judgement without a penitential preparative by confession presuming of a pardon from God the Father without his substitute because thou didst beleeve and fancie such a thing Dost thou think that he will be pleased with thy presumption Thou wilt not except of a pardon from his Ministers but wilt have it from himself Oh the soule is pretious and the
redemption thereof ceaseth for ever Tremble when thou thinkest of going thy own way at the best thou dost but venture and to walk with God at adventure is a dangerous path Remember that saying of our Lord. The Father heareth you if you ask according to his will and whereas the Scriptures say that sins of Infidels after conversion are washed away in Baptisme had it been pleasing to God and according to his will for the Gentiles to pray for pardon without a Baptisme The like may be said of penitentiall confession Let therefore the humble conscientious Christian addresse himself to God in Gods own way namely by those who are appointed Shepherds to watch over the souls of men Quest But some quaerie Are no sins forgiven in heaven but such as are confessed to a Priest on earth Ans I answer our loving Lord layes no impossibilities upon us for to relate all and every one of our sins and failings which as our hairs are numberlesse Psal 19.12 For who can understand his errours but when they come to our knowledge we are bound to confesse them For so was Israel under the Law which is as a School-master leading unto Christ For as then upon confession contrition and restitution atonement was made by the blood of beasts in like manner do the Christians Priests by virtue of the blood of Christ warranted from our Lord absolve the truly penitent And this is the ancient beaten path the good old way which whosoever faithfully treads finds rest unto his soul But besides these there are other forcible inducements moving honest hearts tender of their souls good not to slight Confession 1. Confession much represseth pride for as much as it occasioneth shame and blushing which breeds humility 2. As it is a cause of humilitie so is it also of charitie moving pitie towards the penitent considering that our selves have been tempted also A motive it will be that we bear the burdens of such penitents 3. Confession weakens the very power and dominion of sin for sin having its seat strength and residence in the flesh so long as the flesh is lustie and frolick sin is so too but Confession ashameth astonisheth and casteth down the flesh by which sin looseth strength and doth not so easily carry captive 4. It is a means to make the soul to be at enmity with sin and even to cause it to loath detest and abhor that which doth daily bring it to such shame and in the end if amendment be not to utter destruction 5. It is a strong means to reduce a sinner to a good life for what man whose conscience is not totally seared and in a reprobate sense will come often to Confession with one and the same sin but that such a one must needs be somewhat reformed 6. It helps the Priest much both in his private exhortations and rebukes and also in his publick preachings for by confession he comes to know the disease of his sheep and what remedies to administer 7. As it helps the Minister in applying the word of God seasonably to the sinner so doth it how to put up petitions for the penitent For as the Priests under the Law carried the names of the twelve Tribes before the Lord and Ezekiah spread the letter before God in the Temple so doth the faithfull Pastor those Souls committed to his charge And the confessions of penitents do both inform the Pastors understanding how to pray and stir up his fervour in prayer for the penitent 8. It is an excellent meanes to set in this world many crooked things straight which through the Pastors wisdome may be done many suites in law Scandals and offences stopped or hindred Yea how many are there that by this meanes might be kept from making themselves away 9. It is a special meanes not onely to obtaine pardon by Gods messenger in a ministeriall way but also peace to the conscience For true penitentiall confession doth pierce the very heavens and so move God that he saith to penitent Ephraim being ashamed and confounded because of his sin Jer. 31.19 My bowels are troubled for him I will surely have mercy on him saith the Lord. 10. True and real confession prepares and makes a man ready for death For the penitential sinner doth so manifest and lay open his sin with hearty sorrow shame and blushing for the same that the soule is thereby arreigned yea judged and acquitted Of such a one saith God Job 33.27,28 He looked upon men and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it profited me not If any make that manner of confession which God requires mark the answer of God ver 28. He will deliver his soule from going down into the pit and his life shall see the light These things considered if there were no Tract of Confession in the old Testament no Institution of Christ in the new no practise of the Apostles or succeeding Ages to be found if God should so please that the Church of this present Age for the much profit that comes to the soules of men by confession should think fit to lay this so necessarie and profitable a burden upon her members what man without manifest sin and wrong to his own soul but would yeeld obedience By what Scripture can any man shew did the Apostles do away circumcision but onely by a conference one with another in that holy counsell at Jerusalem Act 15. by which they perceived the unprofitablenesse thereof And after St. Peter had shewed how the holy Ghost was given to men uncircumcised in the very same miraculous manner as it was to the circumcision in the beginning Act 11.15 and that want of circumcision did not hinder the holy Ghost from descending upon men then forthwith they concluded that the Gentiles should not be circumcised and so sent their Decrees to all the Churches never mentioning any Scripture onely the unprofitablenesse of circumcision which St. Paul mentions in severall places as 1 Cor. 7.19 Circumcision is nothing nor uncircumcision but the keeping of the Commandments of God Again Gal 6.15 Circumcision availeth not nor uncircumcision but faith that worketh by love Gal. 5.6 Again Circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth not but a new creature Upon this very ground did the holy Apostles do away circumcision which did not give the proud and self willed of that Age satisfaction but was an occasion of their stumbling and falling into Sects as those of the concision Ebionites and others And therefore most offensive to God and dangerous to the soul is the sin of disobedience to things commanded and enjoyned although the grounds thereof be not so clear and manifest as we would have them to be If a disputable controversie did arise in Israel the men were to ascend from Councell to Councell till they came to the great Sanhedrim in Jerusalem wherof the high Priest was chief and who ever did not submit his understanding to what the said high Councell determined was to be put to death that all Israel might hear and fear and do no more presumptuously This was God Law Deut. 17. And certainly that counsell of the Apostles Act. 15. did not give satisfaction to all Christians then in being The proud and presumptuous would not submit Their not conceiving how such and such things could be done would not serve their turn they must submit God approves not of such proud self-willed ones The sin of disobedience is great and if it be so for things not so manifestly plain to be understood as the doing away of circumcision by the Apostles not onely without but seemingly against Scriptures for circumcision was not of Moses but before him of the Patriarks what may be thought of disobedience to a thing so manifest as this of Confession is as appeareth by the Tract thereof before Christ the Institution of it by Christ and that in so great a solemnity the manifest practise of the Apostles and all succeeding Churches down to this age and that upon such godly and wholsome grounds as no pious soul can gainsay If all this be not ground and reason sufficient for our generation to move and binde them to obedience God knows then what will become of them but as others by disobedience fell from the Church and as we may say even perished in the gainsaying of Core so it is to be feared that even these will fall into divers Sects and never return to take hold of the paths of life And let none say they cannot beleeve that any men on earth can forgive sins in their own name and authority It is true none can but God through our Lord Jesus Christ having given them this authority let us not question the wisdome of God but beleeve 2 King 5.12 When the Prophet bid Naaman the Syrian for the cure of his leprosie to go and wash in Jordan he was angry at the Prophet and said I thought he would have come and prayed and put his hand over the place and will he not but bids me go and wash seven times in Jordan Thus Naaman in his conceit contemned the wisdom of God and if he had so persevered he had not been cured of his leprosie God Almighty grant us heavenly wisdome humble minds and grace not to contend and contest against his Church especially in things evident because to worldly wisdome they seem but foolishnesse Let us remember that saying The wisdome of God is foolishnesse with men he taketh the wise in their own craftinesse Our Lord preserve us from all proud and by-pachs and every evill way Which is the earnest prayer of Your Friend T. S. FINIS