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V.

will hereafter be our Judge, and having raifed ȘER M. our bodies from a state of death and filence, fhall receive us to thofe mansions of endlefs blifs which he has obtain'd and purchased for us; that fo "thro' the very δε grave and gate of death we may pass to our joyful refurrection, for his merits "who died, and was buried, and rose again " for us, our Lord and Saviour. Jefus "Chrift;" who was first delivered for our offences, and then raifed again for our juftification: To whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, be all honour and glory, now and benceforth for evermore.

Amen.

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SERMON VI.

The Pope's Supremacy not founded on SCRIPTURE.

SERM.

VI.

MATT. XVI. 18.

And I fay alfo unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

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F all the are both is fcarce any one

errors of Popery (which many and grievous) there of greater importance in a political view, or more useful to bind and preserve the people of different countries in a common confederacy, than That of THE POPE'S SUPREMACY.

This is the grand cement which unites their numerous parties and divided interefts; and tho' some countries may be less tame and obfequious than others, and know how upon occafion to dispute their

The Pope's Supremacy, &c.

153

points with this fupreme Bishop, yet in fome SER M.
kind or other, they are all bound to ac- VI.
knowledge his univerfal Primacy and Jurif-
diction. They found this doctrine on his
boafted fucceffion to the Apostle of this
day, in the fee of Rome, whom they fup-
pose to have been conftituted by our Lord
himself a Prince over the other Apostles,
and to have tranfmitted that authority to
the Bishops of Rome thro' all after-ages to
the end of the world.

Now, altho' there might be many things to offer, in bar to fuch entail of authority upon his fucceffors, even fuppofing himself to have been vefted with it, yet if it can be proved that St. Peter himself had no fuch primacy as they pretend, but was coordinate with the reft of the Apostles, there will be little need to enter into that controverfy the rivulets cannot be fuppofed to rife higher than their fountain, nor they who would derive their power from St. Peter, challenge a greater power than St. Peter himself. For this reafon I have chosen to discourse at present from these words of our Saviour to that great Apostle, which the Romish Doctors infift on as containing a promife of that Primacy, with which they pretend him to have been afterwards invested. But how little ground there is for their interpretation, will eafily appear,

when

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SERM. when we have confider'd this paffage as

VI. engaging

I. For the foundation of the church.
And then

II. For its fecurity. And

I. FIRST, the foundation of the church is spoken of in these words, I fay unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.

The main difficulty here is to account who or what is meant in this paffage by the rock; and as the demonftrative Pronoun this, fhews it to have been fomething prefent either substantially or in discourse, so there were three things concurr'd on that occafion, to either of which this metaphor might be pertinently applied, and has been accordingly by very good expositors.

The

1. First is the Confeffion which St. Peter had made in the verfe next but one before the text, where, upon our Saviour's enquiring of his difciples what was their belief concerning him, whether they had no higher notions of him than the common Jews, St. Peter readily anfwer'd and faid, Thou art Chrift the Son of the living God. Upon this immediately enfues our Lord's reply of benediction; Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in bea

ven.

And then it follows in the Text; SERM. And I fay alfo unto thee, that thou art Peter, VI. and upon this rock (i. e. in the fenfe which we are now propofing, upon this confeffion thou haft made of my Meffiahship) I will build my church.

This fenfe has been advanced by fome celebrated Fathers of the church, as well as modern Divines, and embraced by fome even of the Romanifts themselves. And in this view, it cannot be difficult to explain how the church fhould be built upon the rock of this Confeffion. For this is that pillar and ground of truth, by which the church is fupported and must always fubfift. It is that firm and immoveable foundation, upon which we build our hopes of everlasting happiness. Take away this belief, and the caufe of chriftianity muft fink, we are left undiftinguished from the reft of mankind; but it is the invincible truth and certainty thereof, which gives ground for the diftinction, and will preferve the church thus firmly founded, impregnablé against every affault, and triumphant over all oppofition.

2. Secondly, the fenfe of this paffage is not greatly varied, if instead of that confeffion of St. Peter we understand the object of his confeffion, JESUS CHRIST himfelf.

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